A Glimmer of Hope

Chapters

Incurable
Escape
The Winter of Our Discontent
Shadows of the Past
Incorruptible
Double-Crossed
Ambush
The Cold Light of Day
Don't Call It "Friscolt"
Viva Las Pegasus
One More Footpath Untrod
Lailoken
The Empress of Equestria
Forlorn Hope
Hopeless
Hope Springs Eternal
Never Fear
A Thousand Years
Post Tenebras Spero Lucem
Redemption
Closer to the Heart
Seaddle
Radiant Starlight
The Chimes at Midnight

Incurable

The faces peered out once more from the darkness. Their features, once so beautiful and sweet, had been misshapen until every one of them had taken on a gaunt, ghoul-like visage. They reached out to her, their limbs seeming to end not in hooves, but in daggers. Were they reaching out for help? Or did they want to drag her down with them?

Hope opened her eyes. She stood before the doors of the psychiatric ward. She had not managed to steel herself for going inside. But she knew she had to, and that the longer she waited, the more difficult it would actually be.

Hope lit up the touchpad on the impressive-looking electronic lock beside the doors. Recognizing her magic signature, it beeped. The doors slowly opened. Hope stepped inside.

It wasn’t the atmosphere of the place that bothered Hope. How could it, when this was probably the nicest part of Seaddle Specialist? It was even more clean and well-lit than the rest of the hospital. Each “patient” enjoyed a private room — not something the patients with physical injuries could boast — and these rooms were probably larger than any other place in the hospital, save Dr. Fie’s study.

Nor was it the thought of being among the insane. For, even if she could still care about that, Hope had never to her knowledge come across anypony who was actually insane down here.

Hope was certain her magic could cure any insanity, but she never had much recourse to use it. The ponies that lived in these cells were obviously not insane. And that was what bothered her. As she walked by the cells, Hope could feel eyes on her from some of the little windows left open on the doors. She heard catcalls and rude remarks as she passed by. And even when she did not, there was a certain air of smugness that pervaded the whole area.

The ponies in these cells had reason to be smug. They had beaten a system that should have put them in a very different place. Most of them were criminals. Criminals with money. Money that could be used to bribe a mental health professional into returning a verdict of insanity that would guarantee an easy existence in a fine establishment such as Seaddle Specialist.

Dr. Fie often liked to point out the mental health Ph.D. on the wall of his study….

This was what gave the place its nickname of the “incurables’ ward.” The vast majority of the ponies in here would never be cured because they did not want to be. It was just as well that Seaddle Specialist had nothing in the way of psychiatric treatments, because nopony down here actually needed to be treated. None of them may have particularly wanted to live out their lives here, but they all knew it was the best kind of prison they could hope for. Because that is what it was, with its locks and guards and the censors who read all the mail. But it was the nicest prison you could find in all of Equestria.

Which is why it was so strange that a pony would check herself in for treatment here. It was usually Dr. Fie who recommended that ponies be transferred to his care. A pony with actual mental health issues would get nothing out of his “treatment.” So why come voluntarily? Hope did not know, but she figured that, if this pony was suffering from some mental illness, she could always make it better and save them a lifetime in solitary confinement.

Hope paused at one of the cells. She was not entirely sure why, but she always seemed to stop at this same cell and the same patient on the rare occasions she came down here.

Hope could not help herself. She opened the little window and looked through it at the unicorn beyond. He was a blue stallion, probably handsome enough in his day, but now considerably aged. His eyes were purple, his cutie mark was a staff, and his mane was all white. His white beard had grown long enough that it wrapped itself several times around his body and each of his limbs. It should have been cut by now, but apparently none of the regular orderlies had ever undertaken to do it. She had mentioned it to Dr. Fie, but still no action had been taken. And the patient certainly wasn’t going to do it himself. It played in too well to his claim that he was Starswirl the Bearded.

Of course, Hope didn’t believe this pony to be Starswirl. Starswirl was already a legend in her time. There was no way he’d end up at a place like the psychiatric ward of Seaddle Specialist a thousand years later. But something about him made her keep coming back. Something strange and yet somehow familiar.

Hope almost felt like she knew him. Or maybe it was just the fact that, of all the ponies in this place, he was the only one who seemed truly insane. Hope had tried her healing spell on his several times, without results, so he could not actually be insane. But he certainly played the part well.

Hope had hoped to get away before she was noticed, but it was not to be. The blue stallion had continued to stare off into space for a while, but his purple eyes suddenly locked onto Hope’s, sending a shiver down her spine.

She knew what would come next.

“Hope, Hope, Radiant Hope!” he said in a singsong voice. “No hope for us, whatever she’s called. Why she’s not in here with us, I’ll never know, and I’m Starswirl! Ha ha! Hope, such a poor name. All she does is let us down. But the day will come, yes, when the bird flies from the tree, when darkness engulfs light, when ships break apart at sea. On that day, ponies will have much to fear. Hope! No hope where there is fear. And there is always fear around Hope.”

Hope slammed the visor shut. She still could not explain to herself why she had opened it in the first place. All she had gained was a pronounced case of the shivers.

Hope tried to collect herself, only to hear frantic cries from the cell of, “Hope! Hope! Hope! Beware the fire, Hope! No pony should ever hope!”

Hope couldn’t stay here. She almost broke into a gallop as she sped down the corridor, trying to get the shouting as far behind her as she could. She knew the other orderlies would not pay it much mind – “Starswirl” was known to go into screaming fits of gibberish quite often – but she still could not bear it. She felt wounded deep inside.

Maybe there was some truth to what he said? Hope did not need to remind herself how painful it was to say things like “I’m Radiant Hope,” when she felt neither particularly radiant nor seemed capable of giving hope to anypony.

But Hope did not have much chance to dwell on these thoughts. For here was the cell where the new arrival would be staying. Hope entered it and sat down on a chair far too comfy to belong in a mental ward. In fact, the whole room looked more like what you’d find in a five-star hotel than in a hospital.

Hope tried to collect herself. She closed her eyes. The faces returned, but now they seemed almost benign in comparison to what she had just gone through. Hope took several deep breaths and began to feel herself becoming calm, calmer than she had felt all day.

I am ready to do this, she thought.

She did not have to wait long for the new patient to arrive. A set of orderlies guided the patient into the room and left Hope to her work. Hope had been getting the papers together on the clipboard and did not look until the door closed on the new arrival. When she did, she gasped.

“You’re not Aurora Gleam!” she said.

Hope’s first thought had been that this pony looked rather similar to herself, in so far as they were both lavender unicorns. The second had been that this pony was not who she said she was. Hope had never seen Aurora Gleam, but she was certain Aurora Gleam looked nothing like this. Not like this unicorn with that well-styled purple mane and tail which both had violent and turquoise streaks running the length of them. That bouffant hairdo had been old-fashioned in Hope’s day. There was that cutie mark, with its violet starburst and turquoise swirls. And then there were those indigo eyes, and the absolute smugness that pervaded them. Hope was used to smug looks down here, but these eyes took smugness and made it into an artform. No, this was not Aurora Gleam.

“You’re Starlight Glimmer,” Hope said.

Starlight Glimmer made herself comfortable on a chair directly opposite Hope. She didn’t endeavor to say anything, but just stared at Hope with those smug eyes and that sickeningly-contented grin.

“Welcome to Seaddle Specialist Hospital, Ms. Starlight Glimmer,” Hope said, trying to sound as professional as possible. “I’ve just got a few questions to go over with you so that we can determine how best to help you in the coming weeks and months.”

From Hope’s previous experience, this was the point where the new inmate would say something. As often as not, it would be insulting and would likely be meant to make the new arrival look tough. Inevitably, it was mostly hot air and just had to be plowed through. It never worried Hope much.

After all, all incurables had to be stripped of all but the most basic magic upon arrival and, even though her own specialty was healing, Hope’s magic was powerful enough that she could hold her own if the situation called for it.

But Starlight Glimmer did not respond. She did not say anything. She did not do anything other than fold her hooves in her lap.

“Okay,” Hope said. “Let’s start with the questions. Like why did you check yourself in here using an assumed name?”

Starlight did not answer.

“Right….” Hope said as she looked back down at the clipboard, her voice getting sharper. “I can probably figure that out on my own. You’re worried about the princesses finding you. But why come to a psychiatric ward? Dr. Fie’s notes say you’re suffering from severe anxiety and depression. That doesn’t sound like what I’ve heard of you. So what are you really doing here?”

Starlight did not answer. Hope stared at her, and she seemed fully content to stare back. All with that grin, as though she was aware of a joke that Hope was not and that awareness was what made it all so funny.

“Well, then,” Hope said quietly, “what about–”

“I never got my invitation,” Starlight said suddenly.

“What?” Hope said.

“Never got it, though I am sure it was merely a mix up. I’m sure you meant to send it to me all along but, well, things happen. You know who I am well enough, so you clearly must have done your research and had me in mind when you were putting it all together.”

“I don’t know what you’re–”

“That was you, wasn’t it? Gathering all those ne’er-do-wells to assault the Crystal Empire? Releasing the Umbrum? Blowing up the Crystal Palace? They did say a crystal pony was the architect of the Siege.”

Hope felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. The severe shivers returned, now accompanied by sweat. Hope tried to look at some of the notes Dr. Fie had written for her, but her vision had gone blurry.

She began to stutter out “I…. I’m….” But that was all she could manage.

“You’re Radiant Hope, aren’t you?” Starlight said, her voice sickeningly-sweet. All the more sickening considering that Hope could sense that it was a false sweetness.

“How do you know my name?” Hope responded. And then she realized that she should not have said that.

“I have my sources,” Starlight said. “I still would not have believed a crystal pony would turn against her own homeland like that. But here you are.”

Hope did not respond.

“I’m not judging you,” Starlight said. “I’ve always found the crystal ponies to be a little too… ostentatious. How are we ever supposed to achieve true equality when their pretty crystal bodies so clearly set them apart and inspire jealousy? So you can go ahead and betray them all your heart desires.”

Hope still did not response. She would not let herself respond. But she must have given something away, because Starlight’s smile grew wider.

“Nice work on that, by the way. Too bad it fell through in the end, but don’t they always?”

Hope turned her head. She could not look Starlight in the eyes.

“So, what was it you were trying to achieve, anyway?” Starlight said. “Nopony’s ever been able to quite explain that to me. My guess is you must have had some noble purpose or other, something righteous and grand. You look too innocent for it to have been anything else. Am I right, or are you just one of those wealth-and-power sort of girls?”

“Shut up! Shut up!” Hope finally managed to choke out.

Starlight shook her head. “My, my, is that any way for a nurse at this fine hospital to speak to a poor, deluded, patient?” Every word was purposefully exaggerated and dripping with irony.

Hope did not see fit to dignify these words with an answer. Starlight seemed to sense she had hit a brick wall, because when she spoke again, her voice was softer. Almost like she was offering sympathy. But the words themselves were still cutting.

“You’re getting awfully worked up about this. Haven’t you had to answer these sorts of questions before? Oh, unless…. Nobody knows, do they? You’ve really managed to stay here all this time without somepony once recognizing you?”

Hope twitched a little. An uncomfortable little movement – or maybe more than that. Enough, she feared, to let Starlight know she was getting to her.

“Then again, the news never did mention who orchestrated the Siege,” Starlight continued. “They seemed to think Sombra restored himself and brought the Crystal Empire to its knees on his own. I suppose, unless you’re from the Crystal Empire, you would never know the true story. But you’re probably wondering how I know who you are.”

Hope was, but she had no intention of showing it.

“Well, after Princess Twilight launched her little coup and forced me out of my town and community, I had some time to go… traveling. I ended up in the Crystal Empire at one point, and everypony there was talking about the Siege and the crystal pony who had caused so much mayhem, the crystal pony who had betrayed them all.”

Hope could not help herself. At the thought of what she had done, she let out a sob. And then another. And then, it was like a dam had burst.

Starlight looked around the room. There was a box of tissues on the little mantle at the far end. She levitated them toward her. One tissue came out of the box and floated toward Hope.

“Oh, please stop that,” Starlight said. “I don’t think that much water is used to irrigate the hanging gardens of Nagylon. And I’ve seen them.”

Hope did not take the tissue.

Starlight put down the box and the tissue and stood up. “Well, if this is going to take a while, I might as well put on some tea. Tea will cheer you up. It always works for me, and we’re so much alike. I’m sure we’re going to be fast friends.”

Hope’s eyes, wet with crystalline tears, locked with Starlight’s.

“I am nothing like you….” Hope said.

Starlight leaned on her chair so that her face was level with Hope’s. “Oh, really? Then, tell me, Hope — if I may call you Hope. I’m sure I can; we’re already practically best buddies. Tell me, how many ponies died in the Siege?”

Hope buried her head in her hooves.

Starlight nodded and stood back up. She went over and began to look through the few cupboards that had been provided her.

“You and me, we’re not that different,” she said. “Clever, calculating — some ponies might say ‘scheming’ but that has such a nasty ring, doesn’t it? Yes, ‘calculating’ sounds much better. We’re the ponies that know what needs to be done and we do it. We don’t quibble about moral niceties and the little things like honesty and kindness. We see the big picture. And this world needs more ponies like us, ponies that see the big picture. Who else is going to save the other ponies from themselves?”

“Ponies like us don’t save anyone,” Hope said, wiping her tears with her hoof.

“Why do you say that? What is it that you’re fighting for?” Starlight asked. “You already know what I fight for. But I suppose we’re both fighting for the same thing. We’re fighting for the greater good. Where in Equestria is that teapot?”

“You have to page the orderlies to bring you tea,” Hope said. “They don’t put any sort of cooking implements in the rooms. They’re afraid some of the patients might use them to start fires.”

“Well, nice to see that this hospital takes the threat of teapots seriously,” Starlight said with a grimace. “With the money I had to pay for this place, I should at least get to make my own tea!”

“How did you afford it?” Hope asked. “Your family doesn’t have money any more. It hasn’t been wealthy for a few generations.”

Starlight spun around, her smile incredibly wide and almost serpentine. “My, you did do your research.”

Hope bit her lip.

Starlight approached, almost like a timberwolf stalking prey. She sat down once more.

“My mother’s family has no wealth, it’s true. I still have what I inherited from my father. Oh, and I found out that great-great-uncle of mine was something of an eccentric. He didn’t trust banks and hid his share of the family fortune in a wall in the basement of his old mansion. The place has been a ruin since before I was born, but while I was traveling, I felt a certain desire — nostalgia or homesickness, I guess — to see what was left. I found the basement untouched and, after tearing through a few walls, I found his wealth. That’s how I was able to pay the… the ‘donation’ that got me into this place.”

A blue glow surrounded Hope’s pen as it began to write.

“You’re not writing that down, are you?” Starlight said.

“I have to write something, or Dr. Fie will want to know why I didn’t.”

Actually, Hope was quickly jotting down a summary of who Starlight Glimmer was for Dr. Fie’s benefit. If he knew the type of pony he was harboring, he might inform the authorities.

“Well, I suppose it doesn’t do any harm. I’m sure your doctor has already figured out that I must have money stored away. He was the one I had to pay, after all. And he doesn’t know where I’ve hidden it now. But I might be willing to share some with some other pony, one I considered a friend….”

“I don’t want any of your money,” Hope said..

“No, of course not,” Starlight said, sounding a little disappointed. “I didn’t mean to suggest it. I was merely saying how generous I can be to those who stand with me. But now, I’ve shared some deeply personal information with you. Why don’t you do the same with me?”

Hope bolted up. “I think I got everything I need,” she said.

“Well, if you need anything else,” Starlight said, “feel free to stop by. I’m not going anywhere.”

As Hope opened the door, Starlight added, “Even if you just need to talk. I’m a very good listener.”

Hope slammed the door on her way out.

Starlight nodded to herself. It hadn’t been a smooth experience, but all in all, not bad. Starlight felt a twinge of worry about Hope guessing her true identity so quickly. But she reassured herself that Hope would not share it with anypony and risk outing herself in turn. And if Starlight’s summation of Dr. Fie was correct, he wouldn’t say or do anything as long as he was still getting paid.

Starlight rose from her chair.

“But seriously,” she said to herself, “no teapots? I hate when somepony else tries to make me tea. They never do it right. I suppose they’ve at least left me a quill and paper, unless they expect me to origami the sheets into a knife or something.”

There was a quill on the small writing desk near the bed, and Starlight could found some paper in one of the cupboards. She sat down and began to write:

“Dearest brother,

“Your most recent letter has not been lost. I was going to reply, but then too much happened. You’ll please believe your own dear sister, who apologizes for the pain I’ve caused since we’ve last met. I have acted poorly, the fact is clear as crystal. “Now be a better pony,” you say. Truth is radiant. I shall try. I hope only that you shall not lose your faith in my reformation.”

Starlight looked up and rubbed her eyes. “This drivel gets harder to write each time,” she said.

The last rays of sun were disappearing behind the mountains. There was a hazy pink band above them that separated Celestia’s day and Luna’s night. And the view of it through the large windows in Doctor Fie’s study was marvelous.

But Doctor Fie was not enjoying it. He wasn’t even witnessing it. Rather, in a large arm-chair beside a roaring fire, he was fast asleep. A bottle of wine on the little table beside him, now half-finished, had no doubt been the culprit.

And then the door slammed open.

“Dr. Fie! Dr. Fie!” came the panicked voice.

Dr. Fie jumped up, nearly spilling the glass of wine sitting on the arm of his chair. “No, sir, I have no idea how the zebras got prototypes of our new weaponry! Please believe me, General!”

“Dr. Fie, it’s me!” Hope said as she came up beside him.

Dr. Fie stared blankly at her for a moment before shaking his head. “Oh, yes, Hope. Forgive me. I had been resting my eyes from the paperwork when the wings of slumber carried me off. But only for a moment.”

“Umm-hmm,” Hope said, eyeing the glass of wine and the half-empty bottle nearby. “I thought you didn’t approve of drinking while on duty.”

“Ah, but this wine is strictly medicinal, I assure you,” said the doctor. “I take it for my bad back. But never more than the smallest amount necessary. Fiddly Fie is the very soul of moderation.”

Hope did not press the point. Instead, she hovered the clipboard over to Dr. Fie’s desk and dropped it. It made quite a noise.

“Did you finish processing the new arrival? Of course you did. Why else would you be here?”

Dr. Fie walked over to the desk and looked at the clipboard. “Hmm. What’s all this?”

“Do you know who she is?” Hope asked.

“Aurora Gleam, I think she said her name was,” Dr. Fie answered while reading through Hope’s hastily-scrawled note.

“That’s not her name,” Hope said. “Her real name is—“

“Starlight Glimmer?” Dr. Fie asked.

Hope nodded frantically. “Starlight Glimmer. That’s her. Do you know who that is?”

“Sounds like one of those pop stars the kids are so obsessed with these days. They're always going on about Sapphire Shores and Countess Coloratura and ponies like that.” Dr. Fie rolled his eyes. “Oh, how I long for the days when ponies knew what real music was!”

“Starlight Glimmer is a criminal!”

“No, no, she’s not. She’s not one of the ones I ruled criminally insane. She checked herself in, remember?”

Hope was only growing more upset. “That’s not what I meant! Listen, do you remember a while ago, when Princess Twilight and her friends went to a small town at the edge of Equestria and lost their cutie marks?”

“Oh, that,” Dr. Fie said with an amused smile. “That was a mere rumor! Too utterly fantastic to be true!”

“But it was true! That was Starlight Glimmer. She was never apprehended. And now she’s here!”

Dr. Fie shook leaned against his desk and folded his forelegs. “How would you know any of this, dear girl? You weren’t even there.”

Hope looked down at her hooves. She did not want Dr. Fie to see the shame in her eyes. “I’ve... I’ve done some research on her before. Besides, she didn’t deny it. She even tried to bribe me. She said she had a fortune hidden somewhere and that she would share it with her friends.”

“A fortune, you say? Well, I knew she had money, but I didn’t dream it was that much.”

“I refused, doctor.”

“Why, yes, of course you did, dear child. I would expect nothing less.”

Dr. Fie turned away, but Hope thought she could still see the edges of his mouth curl upward slightly and his eyes light up with something like glee.

“Tell me, did she happen to mention where this fortune was hidden?”

“I wouldn’t let her.”

“Pity. Perhaps you could go back down there and get her to divulge the location? Purely for scientific purposes, of course. We can learn so much about what ails these poor lunatics from the type of places where they hide their trinkets, hmm.”

“But doctor, you should inform the authorities. The princesses will be looking for her!”

Dr. Fie waved his hoof. “Yes, yes. I’m sure there’ll be time for all that later. Anypony who does the sorts of things to our princesses as you claim this Starlight Glimmer has will be punished in due course, mark my words on that.”

Hope felt her eyes grow itchy, perhaps from crying earlier, perhaps from the long and difficult day. She did not know, but she levitated a tissue from the nearby tissue box and began to wipe them. Apparently, Dr. Fie saw her do so.

“Hope, dear girl, is anything the matter?” he asked, his voice once more filled with concern. “You’ve been acting strangely all day. Have a chocolate. Maybe it will make you feel better.”

Hope threw away the tissue. On a drawer, near the tissue box, was an incredibly large assortment of sweets, of all sorts, shapes, and colors. Probably of all tastes and textures as well. Hope looked them over and then picked out a round one. It glowed blue as it rose from its platter.

“Thank you, doctor,” she said. She did not really want one, but best to humor Dr. Fie while he was in one of his kinder moods, she thought.

“Oh no, dear girl, not those. I have those imported directly from Trottingham. They cost an extravagant amount, but I can’t seem to give them up. Take one from the end. Those come from the shop down the street and the whole lot is only a bit.”

Hope put down the chocolate and took one from the end. Biting into it, she could see why all of them had only cost a bit. They tasted like they could have been made from one.

“I confess that having a sweet tooth is one of my very few vices,” the doctor said as he came up beside her. “Probably the most serious of them, as well.”

“Why, doctor?” Hope asked quietly.

“Why? I wouldn’t know. Who can say why such things go into the make-up of a pony’s personality? Some ponies like music. Others play sports. And some, perhaps of a more refined, a more heavenly nature, prefer the finer things in life. It’s as if—”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Then, what did you mean, dear child?”

Hope lifted up her head to look Dr. Fie square in the eye. He was not much taller than her, but she looked as though she was trying to size-up a giant.

“Why do you do it?” she said. “I know you take money to put all those ponies down there, when… when they don’t deserve it. But why? Don’t you make enough money already? Doesn’t being the top doctor in Equestria pay well? Why do you need to do it?”

Dr. Fie took some steps back and put his hooves to his chest. “Hope, your words wound me. Why would you come in here with such hurtful accusations?”

“You didn’t need me to tell you about Starlight Glimmer, did you?” Hope asked. “You already knew.”

Dr. Fie clasped his hooves together. “Well, yes, I had my suspicions. One doesn’t get to the top of the medical profession without keeping one’s ear to the ground with these sorts of things, you know.”

“Then you know what she’s done,” Hope said. “But I can tell you don’t want to report her. You know she’s not crazy. She’s probably saner than you and I are. She’s dangerous, doctor. But you don’t care. She nearly deprived Equestria of a princess, but you don’t care. Is she really paying you enough money to overlook all that?

"Actually, it was a much smaller amount than I usually charge for my...." Dr. Fie caught himself. He shook his head. “It’s not about the money. Well, not entirely. But I wouldn’t expect you to understand. Besides, from my perspective, nearly depriving Equestria of one princess is not nearly as great a sin as nearly depriving her of all four by, say, letting your boyfriend turn them all to stone. Wouldn’t you agree, Hope?”

Hope’s jaw dropped. “Doctor….” was all she managed to get out.

He sighed. “How long do you want to keep up this charade, dear child?”

“Doctor, don’t tell me that—”

The doctor shook his head again. “I cannot begin to fathom it. After all I’ve done for you. After what you did, you just showed up on my doorstep and expected me to take you in. And I did, Hope. I made sure nopony who could identify you ever made it here. I turned down all applications from other crystal ponies, refused to accept crystal pony patients, I even made sure that there were no crystal ponies enrolled in any course the professor who brought her dear students to us today teaches before I accepted her request to come. I have monitored the news tirelessly to make sure your name never came up. Excuse me.”

Dr. Fie lifted up his wine glass, brought it over to him, and downed the wine in one go before sending the glass to his desk.

“Declaiming does make me so thirsty. Now, as I was saying. I have done everything for you, Radiant Hope. I gave you a second chance, purely out of the goodness of my heart. And when, out of that same goodness, I would have pity on another poor soul who has merely lost her way as you did, you come in here and start throwing around these barbed words, assassinating my character. Oh, the ingratitude! Oh, the indignity!”

Hope barely managed to move herself to the doctor’s armchair. She collapsed into it.

“You knew,” she said, her voice almost a whisper.

“Of course, I knew, dear girl,” Dr. Fie said. “The Siege of the Crystal Empire was such a frightful business. What, upwards of a hundred souls perished when the changelings swarmed the city? Another two hundred during the rampaging they went on after Sombra turned the Royal Sisters to stone? And then, when the Umbrum were released…. How many perished in total? That’s not even getting into the wanton act of violence perpetrated against one of the finest pieces of architecture in all of Equestria, the Crystal Palace. And even worse, you could have killed us all — you could have killed me — with those monsters had Princess Twilight not cut the rails leading out of the city. So, really, if you want to go around deciding who ends up in prison and who does not, you should start by sending yourself there. You’ve done far worse than any other pony in this building ever has.”

Hope, for the third time today, felt tears falling down her cheeks. She buried her head in the armrest to hide them from Dr. Fie.

“Dear girl, can you please not do that on my armchair,” Dr. Fie said. “You might soil it. I purchased it from a highly-respected furniture store in Manehatten, you know. I don’t believe that kind of fabric is even manufactured anymore.”

Hope ceased crying but she did not leave the armchair. She stared up at Dr. Fie. For a very long while, neither of them spoke. Occasionally, Hope would let out another involuntary sob and another tear. Dr. Fie would start squirming, clasping his hooves tightly together, his mouth contorted in fear and his eyes anxiously watching every teardrop fall.

This lasted until Dr. Fie walked over and put his hoof on Hope’s shoulder.

“There, there, child,” he said. “It’s obvious you’ve had a trying day. I forgive you for the things you said. Let’s not speak of this anymore and we’ll forget all about it.”

Hope looked deeply into Dr. Fie’s eyes. Dr. Fie visibly squirmed once again.

“1, 306,” she said.

Dr. Fie was, for a brief moment, speechless. Hope thought she must be the first pony in his life to render him so, and she would have appreciated the triumph under other circumstances. But at last, he swallowed hard and croaked out. “Beg pardon?”

“That’s how many died during the Siege. One thousand, three hundred, and six.”

Dr. Fie began to shiver. “Yes, well, be that as it may, time heals all wounds, as they say. Life goes on. We must rush to meet it. 'The moving finger writes; and having writ, moves on.'”

“It was my fault.”

Hope lowered her head and looked out the window. Or rather, stared blankly in the window’s general direction. “Long ago, I lost my best friend, I lost the pony I looked up to most in the world, I lost my home, and I lost my people. All at once. And then, trying to fix it all, I lost my soul.”

The doctor drew his hoof back swiftly, as though it had been bitten.

Hope rose just as suddenly and swiftly. She hurried for the door.

“Hope, wait!” Dr. Fie called.

Hope stopped as the door was opening. She turned to face Dr. Fie. The look in her eyes must have alarmed him, for he stepped back several paces.

“You’re right, doctor, I should be the first one in prison,” she said. “But the thing is, I already am.”

The door closed behind her.

Dr. Fie was left alone as the night crept into the study. He walked over, lifted up a poker with his magic, and absent-mindedly stoked the fire. He then set down the poker before it had even had a chance to do its work. The wine bottle lifted up and the doctor took a giant swig from it before falling into his armchair.

He could not stop thinking of Hope. He had thought it best to avoid mentioning the events of her life before her arrival until absolutely necessary, but he had still not been prepared for how she had reacted. That look in her eyes, what was it? Dr. Fie could not recall having seen it before. Was it sadness? No, no. It wasn’t sadness. It was....

Despair

“Hope….” Dr. Fie mumbled as his eyes fixed on the darkness. Otherwise, he made no sound and made no move.

But then, Dr. Fie realized that his right foreleg felt suddenly very wet. He lifted it up and ran his other hoof over the arm of the armchair. It was completely soaked. He shook his hoof, trying to get the feeling of Hope’s tears off of him. It just made him feel even worse.

“Oh, ho-hum!” he exclaimed.

Who was Starlight writing to?

Read on.

Escape

Sleep was getting increasingly rare for Radiant Hope. She must have gotten just an hour or two. It had been hard enough to get to sleep, seeing as how the faces she saw every time she closed her eyes were getting more vivid. More vivid, more detailed, and more horrid. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, she would open her eyes and would think that she could still see them, hovering and gliding around her head. She would close her eyes and pull her pillow over her head. But then she would hear the dull moans.

“Hope! You let us down! Hope! You could have saved us! Hope, why did you do it?”

Hope would just clutch Sombra’s withered horn tightly to her chest and roll into a ball, hoping and wishing that morning would come soon.

Hope was having more and more trouble driving those voices out of her head. She supposed that all the talk of the Siege, of her past, had taken a great toll on her psyche. But even though it had been some three weeks since she had last heard the Siege mentioned, the voices were only getting louder.

Thankfully, like most phantasms of the night, they were gone with the coming of dawn. As the sun appeared through her window, Hope flopped out of bed. All was quiet now. The faces were gone. So were the voices. Hope dragged herself toward the little curtain that served to separate her room from the rest of the hospital. Just as she pulled it back, there was one more voice. Sombra’s voice.

”Hope.”

Hope shuddered. She felt something pulling at her, pulling her gently but firmly back toward the bed. She didn’t know why but she went back over, moved the blanket out of the way, and grabbed Sombra’s horn. Hope tucked it underneath her foreleg, concealing it as best she could, and proceeded to head out. She was not sure why she needed to carry the relic around on her shift today but she just felt that she needed to.

Raspberry Ripple was already on duty.

“You look terrible,” Raspberry said.

“I haven’t been sleeping well,” Hope said, nearly falling asleep as she said it.

Raspberry’s mouth curved into a wicked smile. “Haven’t been getting to sleep? Why not? I thought you and the doctor were kaput.”

Hope was too tired for this to even register. “Is there anything for me yet?” she asked.

Raspberry looked a little disappointed. Turning to the papers on her desk, she said, “No, not yet. Nopony was rushed in during the night, and I have a feeling it’s going to be a slow day. That, plus how quickly we get ponies out of here, means you might not have anything to do at all today.”

If only…. Hope thought.

“Oh, but Dr. Fie wants to see you. ‘As quickly as mortally possible, if not even more so,’ were his words, I think.”

Then a sneer appeared on Raspberry’s face. “Maybe he wants to kiss and make-up!”

“He’s not going to have any better luck than he’s had for three weeks,” Hope said as she sleepily began trudging toward the elevator. Then she mentally kicked herself. Raspberry would have a field day with that one.

When Hope came up to the study, she did not bother to knock. “You wanted to see me, doctor?” she said.

Dr. Fie was sitting at his desk, hooves together in front of him, looking out the window. He did not answer.

“Doctor Fie?” Hope said.

The doctor did not acknowledge her presence.

Hope walked further into the room. “Doctor, is everything alright?”

“Sit down,” the doctor said, his voice cold and almost sinister.

Hope sat in the chair on the other side of his desk. She pushed Sombra’s horn behind her back. “What’s this about?”

“Speak when you’re spoken to, dear girl,” responded the doctor.

And so, Hope didn’t speak. But neither did the doctor. He continued looking out the window. Hope bent over so that she could see what was holding his focus. All that was there was a tree, where a few sparrows were singing. They were very pretty to look at, Hope thought, but she could not understand why Dr. Fie was paying them far more attention than the meeting he himself had requested.

Finally, Dr. Fie turned his attention on Hope. “I had thought for a moment that I heard the distinctive song of the speckled bluebird,” he said. “I am considered quite the expert in ornithological circles, you know.”

Then his features became set in a stern look, his eyes growing narrow and the nostrils of his snout flaring. “So, the magnanimous Radiant Hope has finally decided to grace undeserving me with her magnificent presence. Never mind that it comes late in the day, when I requested it as soon as possible. I guess certain ponies simply have too many important things to do other than listen to their employers.”

Hope’s mouth fell open. “But... but Dr. Fie, it’s morning! Early in the morning. The first thing I did after Raspberry told me to see you was to come up here.”

“Do not try to trip me up with trifles, dear girl. It won’t make your case go easier.”

Hope’s face went from confusion to concern. “M-my case?”

“I do not understand it,” Dr. Fie said. “I am lenient with you, Hope. I give you wide latitude. It was I who gave you your job when you had nothing, only receiving the minor benefit of your little healing spell in recompense. And, until recently, I had no cause to complain. But then you started first with that unacceptable coldness toward me. And I let it pass. For some reason, I let it pass. I should never have done so and would not have done so had I known that I was only encouraging further audacity on your part.”

Hope shook her head in disbelief. “Dr. Fie, I haven’t done anything!

“Oh, ho-hum, my dear! If everypony could prove their innocence by saying that, the prisons would be empty.”

“Doctor, what exactly do you think I did?”

Hope had said it in complete innocence but it only seemed to push the doctor into a rage. “Think? Think? A fine word, ‘think!’ I don’t think, Hope, I know!”

“Doctor, whatever it is you think I did, I didn’t do it!”

“Hmph! Then how do you explain this!”

Doctor Fie levitated a newspaper out from behind his desk. He lifted it high in the air before letting it drop, so that great gusts blew in all directions when it landed on his desk. Hope had to close her eyes as the hair of her mane whipped around her.

When she opened them, she saw that the newspaper was called the Liberation News of Equestria. She had never heard of it. Not that Hope read newspapers much. But then her eyes fell upon the headline, written in letters so big that she was surprised she had not been drawn to them immediately:

“Radiant Hope — Equestria’s Lost Princess”

Hope gasped. Slowly, she locked eyes with Dr. Fie. He looked back at her coldly.

“Read the byline,” he said, his mouth almost curving into a sneer as he said it.

Hope read, “How Princess Celestia robbed the Crystal Empire from its rightful heir and put an imperialist puppet in her place.”

Hope shook her head in shock and disbelief. “Doctor, I... I didn’t….”

“Where should I begin?” Dr. Fie said. “With how I do not pay my employees to have delusions of grandeur on hospital time? Or about how you’ve just ruined all the effort I put in to keep you sheltered here, so your identity does not get out, and now how you may have just gotten us both in very serious trouble?” After a moment of consideration, he said, “Definitely the second one. Crystal princess, indeed!”

“I was going to be a princess,” Hope said. “But that was a long time ago! That’s all over now!”

“Then why did you go babbling about it to the…. What is this revolting rag called? The ‘Liberation News’? Oh, if this is the reward that the generosity of a kind pony like Fiddly Fie warrants, no wonder there is so little of it in this decrepit world.”

“I don’t know how they found out about me,” Hope said. “I never said a word. And it was my own fault.”

“Of course, it was, dear girl. I’m glad you’re finally being honest with me. Admitting to our misdeeds is the first step on the long, rocky road to redemption.”

“No, I didn’t mean the story. I meant, it was my own fault that I never became a princess. I… the… Princess Celestia had nothing to do with it!”

“I should think not, dear girl.” Dr. Fie put his hoof on his heart. “I would not hear a word against our sovereign in these halls. Fiddly Fie is nothing if not a devoted patriot!”

Hope began flipping through the pages. “What is this newspaper, anyway? Where did you get it?”

“An ‘underground’ paper is what I think they call it. Nopony knows where it’s printed at but it has a habit of appearing in all the seedier sections of the city. It’s mostly denunciations of the princesses, little picturesque reports of the agonies ponies suffer because of their cutie marks, and nonsense of that sort. However, the cartoons can be quite funny sometimes.”

Realization dawned on Hope like a shard of ice. “Agonies from cutie marks? That sounds like… Starlight Glimmer!”

“Indeed, I think it’s by a fan of hers or something. She’s never mentioned by name, mind you, but it is always dedicated to, and I quote, ‘a very brave martyr of a mare who has suffered so unjustly at the hooves of an unfair, oppressive cutie-markist system.’ I started picking it up when the so-called ‘Aurora Gleam’ contacted me about coming into residence. I wanted to make sure there were no manifestoes against the medical profession in here before I accepted her. But the paper’s been hinting about a ‘lost princess’ for three weeks now. This is the first time they’ve actually revealed what they’re talking about.”

“Three… weeks?” Hope was stunned.

She did the best she could to work up her courage and said, “Dr. Fie… it was my fault….”

“Of course it was, talking to whoever writes this drivel,” the doctor responded.

“I never talked to anypony about this. Nopony on the outside. But I’ve talked to you… and Starlight Glimmer.”

Dr. Fie’s eyes opened wide. “You told Starlight Glimmer all this?”

Hope leaned forward, planting her hooves on Dr.Fie’s desk. “No! I just told her that I was supposed to become a princess once long ago. She made up the rest, or whoever wrote this for her. But I didn’t mean for this to happen! I never thought it would get past her room!”

“Put down your hooves, you’re not a yak” Dr. Fine snapped. “You’re going to get scuff-marks over my desk. It’s genuine Everfree pine. Do you know how much it costs to get Everfree pine waxed?”

Hope did not. But it did not matter. Dr. Fie put a hoof to her shoulder and pushed her back. She fell into the chair and then jumped up with a sharp cry. Her back had made contact with the still-sharp tip of Sombra’s horn.

Dr. Fine held his hooves over his ears. “Alright, alright, settle down, dear girl! I know you’re upset but no need to go screaming your head off! Just like a mare, though. A few harsh words, and they all go to pieces.”

“Doctor, it wasn’t that. I just....” Hope realized that she did not have a good reason ready. Dr. Fie already knew too much. She did not want him to know about the horn.

Dr. Fie shook his head in confusion. Then he looked at her. His eyes were softer now. Hope could almost think he was genuinely concerned. He spoke more softly, “Let’s quiet our emotions for now and try to work through this like rational ponies. Hope, dear girl, it almost sounds like you’re saying that you never talked to the writer of this article.”

Hope only barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. “I didn’t! I already told you that!”

Dr. Fie did not seem to notice. He was rubbing his chin and looking past her. “But Starlight Glimmer is secure in her room. That’s why I let her come here. I knew she couldn’t cause any trouble for us down there. The only way that she could have sent any messages to the outside world is if… But our security is top-notch. There can’t be a breach in it.”

“Maybe the ponies who check the letters the inmates send out missed something,” Hope suggested.

“If they did, they’re as much buffoons as every other employee in this Celestia-forsaken hospital,” Dr. Fie said.

Then, quite suddenly, he jumped out of his chair. “Come along, dear girl,” he said. “I’ll attend to you later. But for now, we’re going to get to the bottom of this.”

Dr. Fie leapt to his hooves in a surprisingly spritely fashion for a pony of his age. With a full, confident stride, he marched out of the room. Hope began to follow.

Then the voice came again. ”Hope.”

Hope stopped in her tracks, turned on her hooves, and looked down at Sombra’s horn. She shivered again.

“Come along, come along,” came Dr. Fie’s impatient voice from beyond the study. “We don’t have all day, child!”

“Coming!” Hope called back. She grabbed the horn and put it under her foreleg once more. Then she left the room.

Hope and Dr. Fie stood silently at opposite sides of the elevator. Hope lifted up her head occasionally to steal glances at the doctor, who was impatiently watching the numbers as the elevator descended.

I’ve never seen him this upset, she thought. She wondered if she should try to say something but realized that there was nothing she could say that would fix what had happened.

And then the elevator went dark. And that was not the worst of it. The worst of it was that Hope heard those horrid cries again, filling her ears with recriminations.

“Hope, we counted on you! Hope, everything is your fault! Hope, you will never be happy after what you did to us! You will pay for your failure, Radiant Hope!”

Briefly, in the darkness, Hope thought she could see faces, like the faces she saw whenever she closed her eyes, but much more twisted, much more sinister, and much more terrifying. And her eyes had never closed.

Hope felt herself jolted first upward and then down as the elevator plummeted. All that she was aware afterward was Dr. Fie’s screaming.

Then came the crash and the inevitable thud as Hope and the doctor fell to the ground. Hope landed on her chest, her chin hitting the floor at a particularly painful angle. Her forelegs groped in the darkness, trying to find Sombra’s horn. And then she felt it, just underneath her left shoulder. As Hope’s hoof reached for it, she cautiously opened her eyes. There was Sombra’s horn, its sharp point having just barely avoided Hope’s own neck.

As Hope lay curled on the floor, her forelegs cradling Sombra’s horn close against her chest, the lights came on and the door opened. Hope’s horn glowed blue — a quick healing spell. Hope felt guilty; her injuries were more painful than serious, and so it felt like an indulgence. But she could not be injured if she was going to get herself and the doctor out of that elevator. Hope picked herself up and made sure that she had Sombra’s horn held tightly under her foreleg. Then she looked for Dr. Fie.

“Dr. Fie! Dr. Fie!” she called out.

She found him on his haunches, his head on the floor with his hooves covering it. Hope put her hooves on his shoulders and began shaking him.

“Dr. Fie! Dr. Fie! Are you hurt?”

“Oh, dear me! Dear me!” he yelped. “We’re going to die! We’re going to die! Oh, that poor Fiddly Fie should end his very distinguished life in such an ignoble manner as being crushed by a rickety elevator! Oh, dear me! Oh, the indignity!”

Hope did a healing spell on him but found that there was little to heal. If anything, he was less banged up than she was. Hope guess that he must have fallen to the ground as soon as the elevator began hurtling down.

“Dr. Fie, you’re alright,” she said.

Dr. Fie continued to moan and squeak for a while before Hope’s words sunk in. And then, “I’m fine? I’m fine! Well, yes, of course I am. I knew that my expert survival strategy of getting low to the ground would keep me from any truly serious harm. All a matter of using one’s brains, you know.”

“Doctor, I’ll help you up,” Hope said.

And she tried. But the doctor did not come up. She tried again, putting more strength into it. But still Dr. Fie remained on the ground.

“Doctor, I’m going to need you to help me,” she said.

And together, they both tried. But still, Dr. Fie could not get up. Hope got down on his level and found the problem.

“Oh, what is it, dear girl?” he asked. “What do you see?”

Hope smiled a little. “It’s your horn, doctor. It’s gotten stuck in the floor!”

“It has? Oh, dear me, dear me! Don’t just stand there! Get it loose!”

“I can’t. It’s jammed in there pretty tight.”

As Dr. Fie went on and on about “the cruel fate of being trapped in the floor of an elevator for the rest of one’s natural life,” Hope had an idea.

There was a flash of blue light and then Radiant Hope and Dr. Fie were standing at the doors of the incurables’ ward. Dr. Fie was holding his hooves in front of his face. Slowly, he removed them and looked around him in disbelief.

“What… what happened, dear girl?” he asked.

“We couldn’t get you out the normal way. So I teleported us out of there instead.”

“You… you can do that?”

Hope nodded.

The doctor brushed himself off. “I can’t even do that. Whenever I try, I just end up teleporting something else. Can’t get it to work on myself.” Then he froze as he realized what he was saying. “I mean, I simply haven’t had the free time to acquaint myself with such childish tricks.”

Hope sighed quietly. “I know what you meant, doctor.”

Dr. Fie looked back toward the elevator. “What happened, anyway?”

“The elevator fell. Luckily, we were already on the second floor when it did, or else we would have been seriously hurt.”

Dr. Fie sneered. “I shall have a long, stern talk with whatever maintenance worker let the elevator get in so shoddy a state just as soon as I deal with Miss Gleam, or Miss Glimmer, or whatever she calls herself. And then I shall give a piece of my mind to whoever installed that deathtrap of a floor that breaks at the slightest touch of a pony’s horn.”

“I don’t think it was the maintenance ponies’ fault,” Hope said. “Doctor, there’s something I have to tell you. When the lights went out, I—”

“Later, Hope, later!” Dr. Fie said as he put his magic signature into the lock and opened the doors.

“But I saw something in the darkness!” Hope protested, her voice taking on a note of urgency.

“I don’t have time for the wild imaginings of your mind,” Dr. Fie said. “Let’s proceed onward.”

That brash confidence soon disappeared as they walked down the corridors of the psychiatric ward. Radiant Hope was lost in her own thoughts but still could not help noticing how the doctor grew more and more anxious the deeper into the ward they went. It was fortunate for her, in a way, that he was so distracted. That way he wouldn’t notice how strangely she was walking in order to hide what she was carrying.

“I’ve never much liked this place,” he said, stopping by one of the doors. He lowered his head, tilting it this way and that so as to see into every corner of the corridor. But he did not notice the door right next to him.

Neither did Hope until it was too late. It was a shame some careless orderly had left the viewing window of this particular door open.

“Doctor, get away from there!” Hope said as she went to pull Dr. Fie away. But his eyes had already locked with the crazed purple eyes on the other side. And Hope’s voice was drowned out by that of the mad-pony on the other end.

“Darkness! Darkness and then everything ends!” shouted the lunatic. “Be afraid, doctor, for the darkness is coming. But there shall be light. And then everything ends. The bluebird has come home to its nest at last! The eagle has come, only to be attacked by the dragon! The ship is sailed! The phoenix shall not rise from the ashes! Darkness! Darkness and we all run free!”

The entirety of the ward — and possibly the entire first floor — was filled with the sound of Dr. Fie’s screams. Before she knew it, Radiant Hope felt hooves digging into her shoulders. She turned her head to see Dr. Fie trying to make his own form disappear behind hers.

The lunatic continued to rave. “Get the point, Hope? The stars will all fall from the sky! Dark clouds shall suffocate us! We are not long for this world! We have no more hope! No more, Hope!”

“Come on, doctor,” Hope said as she put her foreleg around Dr. Fie’s shoulders. “Let’s get out of here.”

But even as she tried to put on a brave front for the doctor, Hope could not help but look back at the door that contained the strange mad-pony who claimed to be Starswirl the Bearded. Once more, she felt like she should know him. But she could not remember him at all.

When they got far enough away — thought nopony could ever get out of range of the mad-pony’s cries unless they left the ward — Dr. Fie began to recover himself. Straightening up his posture, he said, “That they should allow such a creature in here, hmph! This is supposed to be a place for civilized lunatics!”

“Didn’t you approve his transfer?” Hope asked.

“Well, maybe I did. And you see how he repays me? If that is what gratitude looks like in our degenerate age, I can understand why simply pony-kindness is on life-support!”

Starlight’s room was in front of them. Dr. Fie quickly threw it open. He was about to charge in when Hope put her foreleg out in front of him.

“Let me first,” she said.

The doctor stood aside and let Hope enter. Starlight had paused in the middle of pouring herself some tea and was watching the doorway. When she saw Hope, she smiled.

“Ah, Hope, it’s been awhile. Come to have another friendly chat?”

Radiant Hope tried to stay back and avoid facing Starlight straight-on. She didn’t need any more of her prying. When Hope spoke, her voice was low. “You told somepony about me.”

“Oh, you found out about that?” Starlight said, without a hint of being surprised or confused. “I suppose it was bound to happen sometime. Well, come on in, have a cup of tea, and I’ll explain the whole thing.”

“Whatever it is you have to say, I don’t want to hear it,” Hope said. “I’m not surprised. But I would like to know how you told somepony outside this ward.”

Starlight raised her hoof as though she were in court. “Hope, I swear I never meant to take advantage of you.”

“Everyone takes advantage of me,” Hope responded. “It’s the theme of my life.”

“I thought it was, ‘the road not taken,’” Starlight said. “I was just trying to help fix that.”

“Fix it? Fix it? How? By making up lies about me?"

"It's only what you told me, with some creative embellishments."

"You only used what I told you about how I could have been a princess. You never mentioned how I've left that behind."

Starlight’s eyes narrowed. “For someone who’s left that behind, you sure seem to talk about it quite a bit. Can’t blame you, though. Being a princess would be so much better than playing stooge to that pompous windbag of a—”

“That sentence better not end as I think it is going to,” said Dr. Fie as he pushed Hope out of the way and entered the room himself. “Not for your sake, dear girl.”

Starlight jumped to her hooves. “Hope, you brought him down here? Why would you do that?”

“Actually, I brought her,” said the doctor. “Since we’re all in hot water now because of what she said to you, I thought we all should come together to figure out how it happened.”

“She talked to me, that’s how it happened,” Starlight responded.

“Don’t act cute with me, dear girl,” Dr. Fie said. “I know you got that story out somehow. How was it? Microphones hidden somewhere in this room, hmm? Did you bribe one of those insipid orderlies? Or was it through telepathy?”

Starlight Glimmer flashed him a coy smile and said, “Now, doctor, you should know that a mare never gives up her secrets!”

“Spare me the jibes and just tell me where I can find those microphones!” the doctor snapped. Before Starlight could even answer, he began his search.

He ripped the teapot from Starlight’s hooves with his magic. Looking underneath it and finding nothing, Dr. Fie tossed it over his shoulder. It made a loud clang on the floor as it shattered, spilling tea everywhere.

“With how much those bribes cost, I better not have to be the one to clean that up,” Starlight said defiantly.

But before she had even finished the sentence, Dr. Fie had thrown over the table and began inspecting every inch of it. Hope just watched him. With nopony watching her, Starlight got up from her chair and slipped behind Hope. The door was still wide open. Had a pony wanted to escape, it could not have been easier. But Starlight had no intention of doing so. Not yet, anyway.

“What are you doing?” Hope said as Starlight passed behind her.

Starlight put her hooves on Hope’s shoulders and whispered into her ear. “Giving me up to the doctor, that was a cold-blooded move if ever I saw one. But it’s okay, I don’t blame you. I might have done the same thing myself.”

Hope whirled around to face Starlight. “What are you trying to do?”

Starlight smiled that motherly smile. “I’m just trying to give you a helping hoof. I just felt so bad about you missing your chance to be a princess that I had to do something to help you. Maybe then you’ll be willing to help me, too. I could use your help, when the time comes."

“I’m not going to help you,” Hope said. “And I don’t want any of your help!”

Starlight ran her hoof through the folds of Hope’s hair. “From the quality of your relationships over the past thousand-plus years, I'd say you need a real friend. Please, let me be that friend. Your relationship with Sombra was rocky, to say the least. Each of the Umbrum turned out to be a false friend. And Dr. Fie here, well....”

“You’re just like the Umbrum. You're just like Dr. Fie.”

“And since you’re just like me,” Starlight said, “what does that make you?”

Hope smacked Starlight’s hoof away. As she did so, Sombra’s horn fell to the floor.

“Now what’s that?” Starlight said, raising an eyebrow.

Hope looked over her shoulder. Dr. Fie was still busying himself with tearing up the cell. She quickly lifted up the horn with her magic and pointing it threateningly at Starlight.

“You just stay away from me,” Hope said. “I’m nothing like you.”

Starlight looked at the horn, then to Hope. She let out a little laugh. “Oh, no?”

“You really want to laugh at me?” Hope said, her voice becoming both soft and sharp. “You know I’ve... I’ve killed ponies before. What makes you think I won’t do it again?”

Starlight knocked the horn away with a light touch of her hoof. “Psycho doesn’t suit you, Hope. Ponies like us, we’re not crazy. We always know what we’re doing.”

Then Starlight’s eyes glanced past Hope to Dr. Fie. “Besides, what would your precious doctor think?“

“It doesn’t matter what anypony thinks of me. Not anymore.”

“Doesn’t it, though?”

Then the lights went out.

Hope felt herself thrown against the wall. Sombra’s horn flew from her grasp. As she hit the ground, Hope’s eyes turned upward. There she saw a swirling mass of purplish mist. And then, the mass began to take a more concrete form. A form somewhat like a pony, somewhat like an insect, and in many terrible ways like neither. Hope felt a sharp chill run down her spine. She did not need to doubt. She knew what she was looking at.

Umbrum! I thought they were all sent back to the Prison of Shadows!

Then she felt a hoof on her throat. The hoof, the first thing out of the smoky cloud, lifted her upward. Hope felt it digging into her neck, putting pressure on her windpipe. Next a large, narrow head came into being. Its dead eyes looked into her own as its massive, piercing teeth emerged from the darkness. Several times, the horrid jaws snapped at her, the razor-like teeth only barely avoiding contact with her body. Hope knew it was toying with her. She just didn’t know how long it would keep the game up before the end. But certainly, the end would come.

Hope almost felt a sense of relief. Finally.

Then the creature let out a laugh, a shrill laugh not unlike the buzzing of a thousand bees. Hope tried to look away but it tilted her head until her eyes could not help but look into those dead orbs of white that functioned as its own.

“Greetings, my Empress,” it said with a wicked grin. “It is good to see you again.”

Hope could not speak. She tried, but she could not get enough air through her throat. She only coughed and sputtered. This seemed to amuse the Umbrum, who let out another chuckle. Finally, though, he let up a little on her throat so that she could speak.

“I thought you were gone.” Hope coughed out.

“We’re never gone,” the Umbrum said.

“But why? Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

The Umbrum grinned wickedly. Or at least, Hope chose to construe his expression as a grin. It was better than the possible alternatives.

“You are our Empress,” he said. “We will always follow you. Especially when there is so little left—“

In his free hoof, he held up Sombra’s horn, waving it mockingly in Hope’s face.

“—of our great Emperor.”

Hope’s eyes fixed on the horn. “Is that... is that what you want? Sombra’s remains? Or do you want... revenge?”

The Umbrum threw the horn playfully at Hope. Luckily, her reflexes still worked. Or, at least, she made them work. For Sombra. She grabbed the horn and held it close to her.

“All in good time, Empress,“ the Umbrum said. ”There’s so much to do. There’s so much for us to do together.”

"What do you mean?"

"You’ll find out everything soon enough. But not yet. I just wanted to come and pay my respects."

And then, Hope dropped to the floor. It was only as she lay there that she began to hear that there was more going on than just the Umbrum. There were screams and shouts coming from outside the cell, from the ward. They were angry.

The inmates! Hope thought. She forced herself to get to her hooves. We have to fix this quickly!

But then she saw Starlight Glimmer, her foreleg wrapped around Dr. Fie’s neck and her horn precariously close to puncturing his cheek. Hope could recognize that it was not one of those calculated moves Starlight prided herself on. She was looking to Hope and then to the door and then back to Hope. As much as she tried to hide it, Hope could see that there was fear in Starlight’s eyes.

“Not the way I wanted to get out of here, but we’re all opportunists, right?” Starlight said.

“Starlight, don’t do this!” Hope said.

“Get me out of here, Hope, before those crazies get to us! Do it or I’m going to blow the head right off your dear doctor here.”

“Do as she says, dear girl!” Dr. Fie whined. “I don’t want to die!”

Hope put out a hoof as though to urge calm. “Starlight, you have no offensive magic in here, remember?”

“Nice try,” Starlight said, “but if the lights are down and all the doors unlocked, my guess is that whatever field you’ve got that takes most of our magic away is down too. And do you really want to gamble with your doctor’s life?”

“Did you say gamble? I’m considered quite the expert at games of chance, you know,” Dr. Fie said, his tone suggesting that he somehow thought this would keep Starlight from blowing his head off.

“Starlight, we can work this out,” Hope said. But before she could say more, she was once again knocked to the ground.

She found herself being shaken uncontrollably. All she could see was white. She held Sombra’s horn tight and tried to peer through the folds of hair covering her eyes.

“Hope! Hope! Hope!” came a voice from on top of her.

It was only after the mad-pony himself was blasted off of her that she realized what had happened. Hope picked herself up and looked from the lunatic rolling around on the ground and then to Starlight, whose horn was smoking.

“I guess I got my magic back,” Starlight said.

But in order to fire the blast, Starlight had had to let go of Dr. Fie, who was now scampering to the door. Starlight’s horn began to glow as she aimed it at his back.

“Don’t even think about it,” Hope said as her own horn began to glow. She also lifted up Sombra’s horn like a sword or a wand. Hope had no idea what that would do but she figured two horns were better than one.

The glow on Starlight’s own horn immediately went out. Hope thought for a moment that she had successfully intimidated the other unicorn. But then Starlight flashed a knowing smile at Hope.

“Of course,” she said. “I would never do anything to upset my friend.”

Dr. Fie stopped in his tracks and let out a little yelp. Hope and Starlight both turned their heads and saw why.

“There he is! Let’s get him!” came the shouts from outside as all the inmates began galloping toward the cell. Dr. Fie quickly back-tracked, not stopping until he had backed up into Hope. He let out a loud yelp as Sombra’s horn stung him in the rear.

“They’ve got us surrounded on all sides,” he bellowed. “Oh, save me! Save me! Get me out of here!”

The first batch of inmates — of which there were many — were just about to burst into the cell. Dr. Fie scampered around, whining and crying. Starlight tried to hold back the inmates with a few blasts but found Dr. Fie constantly jumping and falling around her line of fire.

“Get out of my way, you idiot!” she shouted, panic in her voice.

This spooked Dr. Fie, who dropped to the ground and quickly positioned the unconscious lunatic in front of him as a sort of defensive barrier, from which he peered over like a soldier in the trenches awaiting a particularly massive enemy charge.

The charge was coming quickly. The inmates had been in no way deterred. Hope could see that there was no stopping them; there were just too many. Hope could think of only one thing to do. So, she did it.

A blue flash filled the cell. When it faded away, the inmates found the room completely devoid of ponies.

And then, for the second time that day, all that Hope could see was white. White everywhere. And she felt cold. Very cold. She had not felt this cold since she had last been to the Prison of Shadows.

As she tried to find her hooves, she realized what she had landed in. Snow.

Hope pushed her front half out of the snow and looked around. Dr. Fie was lying nearby, moaning. Starlight Glimmer was already on her hooves and was magically wiping snow from her body.

“Nice work on the teleportation,” Starlight said. “I’m still trying to get range like that with mine. Thanks for helping with the escape.”

Hope looked around at the snow-covered mountains on all sides of them.

“But where did we escape to?” she said.

Where did they end up?

Read on.

The Winter of Our Discontent

“Somewhere north or northwest of Seaddle would be my guess,” Starlight said. “It’s not cold enough to be the Frozen North, so we’re still south of Vanhoover.”

Hope lifted Dr. Fie out of the snow and helped him stand up. But as soon as he did, he galloped away from her. He began to spin himself around rapidly.

“Where? Where is that accursed lunatic?” he said. “He could be anywhere. He could be hiding in the snow, waiting to jump out and strangle us all! Oh, he could be the snow itself!”

Starlight walked up beside Hope. “Does he always make this little sense?”

“Most of the time,” Hope responded.

“Well,” Starlight said, loud enough for the doctor to hear her, “I don’t think he’s going to be jumping out at us. There’s some hoofprints over there and they look like they lead far away.”

“He must have scampered off as soon as we landed,” Hope said.

“No! No!” Dr. Fie said. “It’s a trick! A dirty trick! He’s trying to throw us off our guard so that he can pick us off one by one!”

Hope approached Dr. Fie, offering her hoof. “Doctor, you know how you start to get a little delirious when you’re upset?”

Dr. Fie whacked her hoof away. “Stay away from me, you murderer!”

“Doctor….?” Hope said as both she and Starlight tried to approach Dr. Fie.

“You’re both murderers! Stay away from me!” Dr. Fie said as he began pacing backward. “I know what both of you have done! Remember that! I know what both of you are capable of!”

“And what about you, doctor,” Starlight said, “what are you capable of?”

Dr. Fie put his hooves to his chest. “What, me? I’m no murderer! I’m not like either of you.”

“Doctor, please….” Hope pleaded.

Dr. Fie tried to put more distance between himself and them. “I see it all now. You both had this all worked out. You were in league this whole time, a coalition, a conspiracy! I should have known! It’s always the kindly ponies like me that fall prey to the vicious sharks of this world! You two leaked that story together, then you lured me down there so you could escape and set free that vicious barbarian to tear me apart in the snow!”

“Doctor… how could we have knocked out the power?” Hope said. “The electrical system is proofed against pony magic.”

Dr. Fie eyed her suspiciously. “So, you have no idea what happened?”

Hope did not meet his gaze, instead looking upward for any airborne shadows. “No, doctor, I don’t,” she said. It had been a while since she had had to lie like that. And yet, Hope was surprised at how easy it came.

“Oh, fess up, girl!” responded the doctor. “You can’t lie to me! I know you too well! Dr. Fiddly Fie is an excellent judge of character! I have judged both of your characters and found them wanting! Spies! That’s how you did it! You had your spies in place everywhere. They arranged everything. And after I had gone through so much trouble assassin-proofing the hospital!”

“Is he serious about that last one?” Starlight asked.

Hope nodded.

“You had your spies knock out the power, then you lured me down to the incurables’ ward, where you two were just waiting for… for… for….” Suddenly, Dr. Fie began to wobble around, his eyes rolling upward and his expression becoming blank. He plopped down face-first into the snow.

“Is he… going to be okay?” Starlight asked. Not out of concern, but because that was the only response she could muster.

Hope’s horn glowed blue. “There’s nothing really wrong with him,” she said. “It’s just a fainting spell.”

“Does he do that often?”

“No, that’s a new one. I’m a thousand and sixteen years old and I’ve never seen anypony actually faint like that before.”

“Hmm.” Starlight began to survey her surroundings. “He did have a point, though. The crazy pony may be gone, but we don’t know if he’s coming back and he could attack us from anywhere if we stay here.”

“That pony isn’t crazy,” Hope said quietly. “If he was, my healing spell would have fixed him by now.”

“Fix? Like what, a lobotomy?”

Hope shook her head. “No, I would never use my magic for something like that!”

Starlight nodded and smiled at Hope. “If we’re going to be working together, I’m glad to know where you draw the line.”

“We are not working together,” Hope responded, looking to Dr. Fie.

She went over to give Dr. Fie another look-over. She then recalled her other important priority; Sombra’s horn. Hope hurried back to where she had landed and began digging frantically through the snow. No matter how snow she threw around, she could fine nothing but more snow.

“Looking for something?” came Starlight’s voice behind her.

Hope wheeled around. Starlight was holding the horn up in her hoof. “And what’s this, hmm?”

“Starlight, put that down!” Hope yelled.

Starlight chuckled and began bouncing the horn up and down in her hoof. “Not until you tell me what this is. It seems awfully important to you. Could it be the key to another little scheme you’re cooking up? Please say that it is.”

Hope shook her head in frustration. “No, it’s not that. Nothing like that. It’s... personal. Just let it go. Please.”

Starlight shrugged. She levitated Sombra’s horn above her head and turned toward the vast snowy hills beyond. “Fine. I’ll put it down. Somewhere. I’m sure it won’t be easy to find among all this snow, though.”

Hope’s horn began to glow. “Starlight, don’t.”

Starlight smiled over her shoulder. “Nice to see you’ve got your bite back. But you know you can’t hit me before I lob this as far as a unicorn of my power can. And I’m a very powerful unicorn.”

The light around Hope’s horn disappeared. She sighed. “Fine. You win.”

“I always do.”

“Not when Princess Twilight is involved.”

Starlight snarled. “I can still make this thing go bye-bye, you know.”

“Okay, okay,” Hope said. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. But I can’t lose that horn. It’s the only thing I have left of... of Sombra.”

“Wait, it’s Sombra’s horn? Like, his actual, physical horn?”

Hope nodded sadly.

Sombra’s horn landed like a missile between Hope’s hooves. Starlight began to quickly try to rub her hooves off against each other and the snow, and then tried to clean off her horn for good measure.

“You freak!” she snapped. “That’s like a corpse! It is a corpse! And you’re just carrying it around with you!”

Hope picked up the horn. “It’s all I have left of Sombra.”

“I don’t care. That’s just weird. And wrong. Maybe I was mistaken about you. I would never do something like that.”

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Hope said. “And maybe it’s because you never had real friends to begin with.”

And then Starlight lunged at her. The horn fell to the ground once more. Before she knew it, Hope had been slammed against the nearest tree. Starlight held her up, one foreleg against Hope’s throat.

“Strangely enough, this is the second time this has happened to me today,” Hope managed to say.

“You’re one to talk about friendship,” Starlight said, her eyes and tone both fierce, “you’re no expert at it. You’ve always picked wrong and you picked wrong again when you refused my friendship. But listen up, Radiant Hope. We may not be friends, and that little scene back at the hospital may have played havoc with my schedule, but I still have plans for you and they are still moving forward. You’re going to help me whether It’s your particular cup of tea or not. Because there are a lot of angry ponies in the Crystal Empire who’d love to get their hooves on the architect of the Siege. Just imagine what they’ll do to you when I turn you over.”

“Do you think I care anymore?” Hope asked.

“You’ve been in hiding, so I know you do,” Starlight responded. “But if that’s not incentive enough, I’ll also end that dear doctor of yours myself and then I’ll rip that cutie mark straight off your flank so that you can’t do anything to save him.”

Starlight smiled. With her free hoof, she began to twirl strands of Hope’s mane. “Do we have an understanding?”

Hope did not answer immediately. Instead, she looked up to the sky. And she saw them. Briefly, but she saw the shadows flying fast, trying to spend as little time as they could in the open day air. There were three of them. They seemed to be heading south.

But why would they have come northwest from the hospital just to head south? And why would the Umbrum, so skilled at hiding in even the tiniest of shadows, fly so openly through the sky?

Hope’s eyes grew wider, but not because Starlight had just applied more pressure to her throat. They’re trying to lure me somewhere. They said there was something we had to do together.

Hope’s eyes met Starlight’s and she could tell the other mare was growing impatient. Of course, Starlight’s plans for her could be nothing good. But then again, Starlight might be useful in the short term.

“Okay,” Hope said.

Starlight pulled back and let her drop. “I’m glad we’re friends now. Let’s find a cave to make shelter in until we can figure our way out of this.”

Radiant Hope picked herself up. She was sore but not enough for her to mind. She retrieved Sombra’s horn and then went over to Dr. Fie. Hope began to lift him up onto her back. He was heavier than she expected, now that she had to support his full weight.

“A little help here?” she asked.

Starlight had already begun to trot away. “He’s your doctor,” she called back breezily. “You’re the one who cares whether he freezes to death or not, not me!”

“Dr. Fie. Dr. Fie.”

The doctor felt a hoof gently patting his cheek. For a brief moment, he hoped that earlier events had been a bad dream and that he would wake up in his large, comfortable bed. But what he was laying on was hard, rocky even. And there was still a chill in the air. Not as much as earlier, but far more than he would ever have allowed in his nicely-heated rooms.

His eyes fluttered open. He saw above him light reflected in lavender crystal. And then, two very blue crystal eyes. Hope was looking down at him.

“Oh, dear me, dear me,” he said. “Tell me, dear girl, is it serious?”

Hope smiled a reassuring smile. “You just fainted, doctor. There’s nothing at all wrong with you.”

Dr. Fie pushed his front half up and put his forelegs on the ground to support his back. “Oh, but it must be more than that. I feel dreadful, just dreadful. There’s a ringing in my ears, spots over my eyes, and my poor back is aching!”

Hope shook her head and her smile widened. “There’s nothing wrong with you. I did a healing spell and you’re fine.”

“In that case….” Dr. Fie jumped to his hooves, nearly knocking Hope over in the process. “I feel fit as the fiddle I'm named for! Clearly, a mere ounce of sleep was all I needed.”

“Is that what you call it when you fall unconscious in a bed of snow?” said Starlight Glimmer, who was standing by the entrance.

“You!” Dr. Fie said. “I had hoped you were nothing but a bad dream!”

“So does Twilight Sparkle most days,” Starlight responded.

“Come along, Hope,” Dr. Fie said. “We must get back to the hospital and make sure the inmates haven’t burned the place to the ground yet.”

Starlight turned toward Dr. Fie. Her horn began to glow. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Dr. Fie jumped back.

Hope stood up and stepped between them. “Starlight, we have an agreement.”

Dr. Fie felt his mind swimming. “An agreement? What sort of agreement? Hope, dear girl, you can’t make an agreement with this maniac!”

“Dear girl?” Starlight said. “You were calling her a murderer only about an hour ago.”

“I would thank you to keep out of our private conversations, madam,” Dr. Fie shot back.

“Well, for your information, she can’t go back,” Starlight said. “Word is going to get around about what happened. Twilight Sparkle still has ponies looking for me. Now they’ll know where I was. I’m a fugitive again. And when word gets around that Radiant Hope, infamous mastermind behind the vicious assault that took the lives of over a thousand crystal ponies and nearly drove all Equestria into darkness, helped me to escape, she’s going to be just as much a fugitive as I am.”

“That was rather poorly played on your part, dear girl,” Dr. Fie said to Hope.

“I was trying to save your life!” Hope responded.

“Oh, well then, that does shine a better light on things,” said the doctor.

“And word will get around,” Starlight said. “If she or you try to leave, I’ll make sure it does. Even if I don’t, somepony’s going to make the connection sooner or later. So she is really better off here with me than going back.”

“That might be so, madam,” said Dr. Fie, “but there is nothing stopping me. Fiddly Fie has an impeachable reputation for rectitude.”

“How impeachable will that reputation be once it gets out that you employed the infamous Radiant Hope—”

“Can we please drop the ‘infamous’ part?” Hope interjected.

Starlight was undeterred. “When it gets out that you employed the infamous Radiant Hope, who orchestrated the hostile takeover of the Crystal Empire, and that you allowed Princess Twilight Sparkle’s personal enemy — yours truly — safe shelter under your roof, how long will it be until you get sent to prison? And I mean a real prison. You can’t do a psych evaluation on yourself, after all.”

“Prison? I can’t go to prison!” the doctor protested, holding his neck as though he were choking on something. Trying to appear calm, he added, “Perhaps, for the time being, we should avoid returning to Seaddle Specialist.”

“I knew you’d see reason eventually,” Starlight said. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have to try and think up a way to get us out of this wasteland without being detected. Oh, and the crazy pony is still out there somewhere, so I’ve got to keep a lookout for him.”

Ignoring Dr. Fie’s squeak of fear at the mention of the lunatic, Starlight looked out of the cave, studying the snow for any signs of irregularity. Behind her, Dr. Fie crept toward Hope. Before Hope could say anything, he was behind her, his hooves digging into her shoulders, hoping she would shield him from any glimpses Starlight may throw back their way.

He spoke to Hope, his voice barely above a whisper. “Now’s your chance, dear girl.”

“My chance for what?” Hope asked, lowering her voice to match his.

“Her back is turned and she’s distracted. A quick blast from your horn should be enough to get rid of her.”

Hope’s eyes widened. She turned her head; she wanted to look the doctor directly in the eye.

“If I did that, she’d probably die.”

Doctor Fie looked exasperated. “That’s the intention, dear girl.”

“Doctor, you said you weren’t a murderer.”

“I’m not. But you, on the other hoof….”

“Doctor!”

Doctor Fie shrugged. “I’m just saying, with your record, is one more really going to make that much of a difference? Who cares if it’s 1,036 or 1,037? You can already round it up to 1,040 anyway.”

Hope gritted her teeth as her eyes pleaded with the doctor. “It doesn’t matter who does it, it would still be on your conscience.”

Dr. Fie closed his eyes and shook his head. “Dear girl, you know I am a pony of science. And in science, we have an axion; ‘No action at a distance.’ What that means is, if you got rid of her, I would not be the one who actually did it, so I would have nothing to feel guilty about.”

“I don’t think that’s what that means.”

“Don’t be simple, child! Of course, it does. I’m a doctor so I know about these things. This axiom has been the guiding principle of my whole life.”

“That explains so much, doctor.”

“So, get going! She won’t shoot herself in the back of the head. Eh, bouffant mane-dos, I never understood them.”

Hope shook her head a little. “No, doctor. I won’t do that. I’m responsible for too much death as it is. I never wanted any of it to happen and I can’t add a single pony more to that total. I don’t want to be like the Umbrum. I don’t want to be a monster.”

“But you are a monster, dear girl. Accept it and move on.”

“I can’t do it,” Hope said. “My magic saves lives, it doesn’t take them. Not anymore.”

“What is all that annoying chatter about?” Starlight said, glaring at them.

Hope stepped forward to meet her, despite Dr. Fie trying to hold her back. “What have you figured out?”

“None of your business, Hope.”

“I thought we were partners. If you want to be my partner, let me help.”

Starlight thought for a moment and then smiled. “Partners isn’t the word I would have used. But fine. I was just trying to figure out a way to get a message to an associate of mine in Seaddle.”

“The same associate who publishes the Liberation News?”

Starlight nodded. “But I just can’t figure out how to get anything out of this place. Unless you can teleport us….”

“Such a big jump exhausted me,” Hope responded. “I won’t be able to try again for hours. Maybe a day or more.”

“Hmm. Like I said, I’m still working on my range. I couldn’t jump all the way back to Seaddle yet. So, what are we to do?”

An idea sprang into Hope’s head. She cast a sideways glance at Dr. Fie. “You did say you only need to send a message, right?”

“Right….” Starlight clearly did not see where Hope was going with this.

“Do you think you can find something to write with? And write on?”

“I didn’t survive wandering through Equestria being completely clueless.”

“Then I think I have the solution,” Hope said with a smile. “Go write your message.”

Starlight managed, in under an hour, to find a piece of loose tree-bark large enough to write on. Then, using a magic spell, she was able to carve a message on it in no time. When that was done, she brought it to Hope, who in turn brought it to Dr. Fie, who was currently huddled in a corner at the far end of the cave.

“What do you want me to do with that?” he said contemptuously when he discovered the message hovering over his head.

“You said you couldn’t master self-teleportation,” Hope said.

“Is that how far you’ve fallen, child? First, working with her and now gloating over what you wrongfully perceive as my deficiencies?”

“Is there anything you don’t perceive as an insult to your massive ego?” Starlight said.

“Yes, compliments to my massive ego,” Dr. Fie retorted.

Hope shook her head. “Let’s not bicker now. We have to survive. Doctor, you said whenever you tried to teleport, you always teleported something else instead.”

“What of it?”

“We want you to teleport this.”

“Send it to Stirring Words at the offices of the Seaddle Daily Stablegraph,” Starlight said.

“Why should I?”

“Doctor, it could be the difference between life and death,” Hope said.

“Oh, alright,” said Dr. Fie as his horn began to glow. “But I can’t promise anything. It’s not like I meant to do this before. We’ll be lucky if it even ends up in the same city.”

“This is your brilliant idea?” Starlight said to Hope.

“It’s not brilliant, but it’s not like we have any others,” Hope responded.

The blue glow around the message was replaced by a purple one. And then the message poofed away.

It was another busy day at the offices of the Seaddle Daily Stablegraph. Fast Facts, Editor-in-Chief, was sitting in his office, finishing a tomato-and-daffodil sandwich while deciding which intern to fire over the relative sparseness of daffodils in comparison to tomatoes between the two slices of bread.

It had been Greg who had brought the sandwich, but Fast Facts had a soft spot for Greg. He nearly always cried whenever you yelled at him. Eddy, on the other hand, was getting a little too big for his horseshoes. Maybe he should be the one to pack his bags after this culinary fiasco.

This weighty and important matter so preoccupied Fast Facts’ mind that he did not see the giant piece of tree bark materialize in his office until it had landed on his head and knocked him from his chair. The bark was sturdy though, having not ruptured despite forceful contact with Fast Facts’ hard head. This allowed him, as he struggled to lift himself from the floor, to see who the unexpected delivery was addressed to.

His scream of “Stirring Words!” could be heard as far as the next building.

Stirring rushed from his desk into the office, where he saw his boss trying to steady himself while gripping the bark tightly under one of his small wings.

“I think this is yours,” said Fast Facts as he tossed — no, threw — the bark into Stirring’s chest. It was all Stirring could do to both grab the thing and stay upright.

Stirring read through the message immediately. One of the skills journalism had given him was the ability to digest a lot of words in almost no time.

“Mind explaining this?” his boss said, his voice that particular sort of calm that precedes a hurricane of rage.

Stirring tried his best to put on a smile. “I need to take some personal time.”

“Take all you like. You’re fired!”

“Thank you, sir,” Stirring said as he rushed out of the office.

The great hall of Canterlot Castle was a magnificent sight to behold. The great vaulted ceilings were put to good use as tapestries of gold and green, featuring pastoral scenes and famous episodes from Equestria’s history, flowed down almost to the ground. The windows and floors gleamed from their most recent polishing. Long tables, some the span of at least a dozen ponies, were set up everywhere. And on each table were plates and plates and more plates, with giant piles of food atop them, each competing to be the tallest.

Swift Strike had to admit, even with all his jaded cynicism, this was impressive. Never mind that it was all wasted on the rich buffoons that were busy striding self-importantly around the various parts of the hall. None of them could let themselves be seen filling their bellies — not in high society — so they all just ate hors-d’oeuvres and sipped champagne. A few of them tried to comment on the tapestries, but invariably showed their lack of knowledge, culture, and even taste.

And, of course, there were three princesses in attendance, all there to stand around and let these rich people make themselves feel even more important just so they would hand over cash for some no-doubt worthy cause.

Swift Strike never donated to worthy causes. Nor did he like seeing royalty treated like nothing more than a photo-op. Luckily, he would soon have a chance to put an end to it. Never had a serious threat to the state filled him with such satisfaction as at this moment.

A unicorn, he was small for a stallion. In fact, he was slightly smaller than your average mare. Nor was he particularly well-built, instead being quite on the thin side. His coat was a sort of unremarkable purple and his mane was black. His cutie mark, an upraised sword appearing out of a cloud, was the only thing about his looks that had any flair. His dull appearance was an asset; it meant that he could sneak through the crowd quite easily without anypony paying much attention. Not that these snobs could ever be bothered to pay much attention to anypony but themselves anyway.

Finally, he reached Princess Twilight. She was wrapped up in conversation with some glitzy billionaire, a large and strapping blond stallion with white snout and fetlocks. Twilight was clearly quite taken with him. Swift internally sighed. She had a lot to learn about being a princess….

Swift Strike tapped the princess on the shoulder and cleared his throat.

Twilight did not notice. Too enthralled in the conversation. Or the physique of the stallion. “And, if I may ask, what are your favorite books?”

“I’ve never been much of a book pony,” responded the stallion. “I wouldn’t know where to start.”

Twilight’s eyes lit up at this, no doubt thinking of all the many and varied books she could introduce this dashing fellow to. Just as she seemed about ready to rattle them off, the stallion said, “I think somepony else needs to talk with you.”

“Ma’am, it’s a matter of national security,” Swift said.

With an embarrassed grin, Twilight made a quick apology to her conversation partner and led Swift toward followed a secluded corner of the hall. The billionaire stallion let out a sigh of relief and made sure to get lost in the crowd.

“National security? What is it?” Twilight was maintaining her composure, but there was worry in her voice.

Swift did not beat around the bush. “Ma’am, its Starlight Glimmer. We’ve finally found a trace of her.”

“What?” Twilight yelled, loud enough for several rich donors nearby to start giving her strange looks. She smiled bashfully at them before turning back to Swift and saying, “Where is she? Did you catch her?”

“No, ma’am, I’m sorry to say,” Swift said. “She was in Seaddle. Apparently, she checked herself into a psychiatric ward up there under an assumed name. Probably trying to wait out all the heat we were putting on her. We only got word that she was there after she escaped.”

“Escaped? Why would she escape if she was there to hide from us? Why would she risk alerting us to the fact that she was in Seaddle at all?”

Swift shrugged. “You’ve said it yourself, ma’am. She’s unhinged. Maybe somepony figured out who she was and she had to make a getaway. But three other ponies disappeared from the hospital at the same time. One of them was a lunatic patient who probably just got loose. But the other two both worked there. We think they must be accomplices of Starlight.”

Twilight nodded. “This is bad. Any idea who they were?”

“You’re not going to like it,” Swift said.

“Do I ever?” Twilight responded. “Whenever I see you around, chances are I’m not going to like it.”

“Aw, Princess, that hurts,” Swift said sarcastically.

“You know what I mean. Who are the other two?”

“One is the head physician of Seaddle Specialist Hospital himself. He’s the one who approves all the admissions. We figure he had to have known who she was when he admitted her.”

“But why would he risk losing a high-paying and prestigious job like that to help somepony like Starlight Glimmer?”

Swift shook his head. “He does have something of a record. Nothing definite, but he was in the armed forces a while back and there were accusations of espionage on behalf of foreign powers. Seems he covered his tracks pretty well, so nothing came of it. Then there may have been some shady dealings involving some of his insanity diagnoses, which is what got us to look into the hospital. And from the employees we’ve already talked to, he’s widely considered to be off his rocker himself.”

“I see. And who is the other pony?”

Swift sighed. “That’s where things get a bit more complicated. Given the description, we’re around 85% certain that she’s none other than Radiant Hope.”

“What?” Twilight said, even louder, and once more catching the attention of some nearby nouveau rich. “She's supposed to be dead! Part of the Crystal Palace collapsed on her!"

"You never found the body," Swift pointed out.

"I know, but with the power that was flowing through her, some ponies were saying her body could have burned itself up."

Swift knew exactly how to play this. This was Twilight Sparkle he was speaking to, after all. "But as a pony who values rational explanations, you never quite accepted that, did you?"

Twilight gave a small shake of the head. "Well, no. But Cadance said something that stayed with me. She spent more time with Hope than I ever did and got to know her, at least a little bit. She told me after it was all over that it was probably for the best, that as Princess of Love, she knew ponies’ hearts. And a heart like Hope’s, a heart that lived only for Sombra, that had given up everything for him... to see what he truly was would have broken it completely. Had she survived, it would have been a continual, living death. So I just... hoped, I guess, that fate had been easy on her."

"That’s one way of putting it,” Swift said, vaguely amused by Twilight’s attempt at a bright spin on death. “But, best hopes aside, we always knew she must be alive somewhere, yes?"

"Yes, it's obvious now that she survived," Twilight said somberly. "Cadance also told me that she was quite proficient with teleportation spells. But what is she doing with Starlight Glimmer? Hope was misguided, but she never really wanted to cause harm, not like Starlight."

“Maybe she played us all,” Swift said. Of course, by ‘us all’ he meant ‘you,’ — Swift Strike was too suspicious to ever think a pony was just “misguided” — but one did not remind royalty of when one had been right and they had been wrong.

Twilight shook her head. “This is bad, this is bad! We have to tell the other princesses immediately.”

“I’ll inform Celestia and Luna presently,” Swift Strike said. “I’ve already taken the liberty of sending a message to Princess Cadance in the Crystal Empire.”

The party would have to go on without its princesses, and Swift Strike could not be happier about that.

Later, behind closed doors, he listened to the princesses debating what to do.

“I still cannot believe that, after everything Hope has been through, she would willingly turn to this,” Celestia said.

“Believe it, sister,” Luna responded. “Radiant Hope brought down the Crystal Empire. And then, once the Siege was over, she was quite content to let us all think she was dead. Now she's in league with this 'Starlight Glimmer' vagabond. It is obvious that we were wrong about her."

“I don’t know if Hope is involved or why she’s doing what she’s doing,” Twilight said. “But our big problem is Starlight Glimmer. She has to be stopped. Who knows what she could be planning to do now?”

“You’re right, Twilight,” Celestia said. “From what you've told me of her, Starlight Glimmer sounds like a mare of vision, and mystery, and vanity. Those are all dangerous traits, especially when combined in one pony. We should focus our efforts on finding her before she can put them to good use. Then we’ll worry about the other two.”

Luna stamped her hoof. “And so we are just going to give Radiant Hope a free pass because she is a former student of ours? I too once felt sorry for her. I suppose I saw some of myself in her. But now we see how different she is from us, and we must face facts here.”

“We don’t know the facts, Luna,” Celestia said.

“We know enough,” Luna said.

“If I may interject,” Swift Strike said, “we have the resources to both pursue Starlight Glimmer and Radiant Hope.”

“If they did escape together, it’s likely they’re still together,” Twilight said. “We should work from that assumption. There’s no need to overcomplicate matters yet.”

“My thinking exactly, Your Highness,” Swift said. “I just need approval from all three of you.”

“You have it!” Luna said. “Isn’t that right, sister?”

Celestia looked out the window at the clear sky beyond.

“Sister?”

“You were thought irredeemable once too, sister,” Celestia said quietly, without looking back. "Even after you came back to our side, ponies still expected you to become Nightmare Moon again at any moment."

“What are you saying?”

“I just want you to remember that. That’s all.” After another moment of hesitation, Celestia added. “Very well, I approve. But Luna, Twilight, it will be up to the both of you to monitor Swift Strike’s progress and I expect that you shall bring this matter to a satisfactory conclusion.”

Swift Strike smiled. “Thank you, majesties. I promise, none of you will have to lift a hoof. Starlight Glimmer and Radiant Hope will be bunkmates in Tartarus before you know it.”

Swift waited to be excused. But he was not. Instead, Celestia turned to him. She had not looked directly at him at all until now.

"Don’t jump to conclusions where Radiant Hope is concerned," she said. “She’s surprised all of us before. I’ve never met a mare more likely to challenge your expectations of her.”

Swift Strike had to keep himself from rolling his eyes.

"As you say, ma’am," he said tersely. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

"See that you do. You may go."

Swift bowed his head. "Yes, Your Majesty."

As he left his princesses' presence, Swift decided that it was one of those occasions when it is better to follow the spirit of their commands than the letter.

Don’t jump to conclusions, indeed, Swift thought. Radiant Hope and Starlight Glimmer need to be brought in immediately. I know just how to do it and I don’t need anypony slowing me down. Princesses, you'll thank me for this later.

Stirring Words rushed to clean out his desk. Well, not his whole desk. He cared little about most of the junk on it. That was just scene-setting, after all. The only thing Stirring really cared about preserving was in that secret compartment. After making a quick sweep of the surrounding area with his eyes, Stirring dropped down to his haunches and began to open it.

"What's up, Stirring?"

Stirring jumped up with a start, smacking his head against the desk.

"Oh, sorry about that, buddy," Joe said as Stirring rose, hoof rubbing his head in pain.

"Joe, I don't really have time to chat," Stirring said. "I've just been fired."

Joe was aghast. "Fired? I know the boss can be a hard-flank, but why would he fire an ace reporter like you? Unless... you did get that story in, didn't you? I remember you were having some trouble with it."

"I got that in," Stirring said, being honest for once. "But something else came up. The boss is throwing me out on my ear."

Joe shrugged his wings. "Well, I'm sure he'll change his mind. Just stick around until he cools off. You'll see."

Joe looked up at one of the fans on the ceiling as he said this. It gave Stirring rushed to retrieve the remaining letters from the compartment under his desk. He thought he got them all, but he did not have time to check. He was just able to get back up just as Joe looked back down.

"I wish I could, but I really can't. There's someplace I have to be."

Joe began to say something. But Stirring did not wait before galloping toward the nearest elevator. Joe just stood there, mouth open, watching him go.

Meanwhile, Fast Facts came stomping out of his office. "Stirring Words!" he called out.

“He’s gone,” Joe said, still in shock. “He said you fired him.”

Fast Facts looked over to see that Stirring's desk was cleaned off and unoccupied. “Boy should have known I didn’t mean it. I just need to let off steam sometimes. I wanted to catch him tell him I didn’t mean it.”

“He said he already had another gig lined up,” Joe said. “The Daily North Equestria, if you want my guess.”

Fast Facts pounded Stirring’s old desk with his hoof. “Horse-apples! The Colonel’s always poaching my best reporters. Well, I ain’t going to allow it this time, Joe. This means war.”

Joe just shook his head. “They’re the biggest outfit on the west coast,” he said under his breath. “We barely have reach beyond the city. Now I know that piece of bark hit you too hard.”

“What?” Fast Facts bellowed.

“I didn’t say anything,” Joe said. “Anything not true, at any rate.”

“I heard what you said! Don’t you forget, I have excellent hearing!”

“Just like my wife,” Joe said with a sigh. “If I wanted the noise, I would have gone home to her already.”

“Then you do that, then!” shouted Fast Facts. “And don’t come back! You’re fired too!”

“Fine,” Joe said, walking over to his desk and taking the few things he had on it. “Nobody wants to work here anymore anyway.”

Once Joe was gone, Fast Facts looked around at the now-empty newsroom. He counted the number of desks that had been vacated over the last few months. There were many more of them than the ones which remained occupied. He shook his head.

“Horse-apples!” he repeated, once more slamming his hoof on Stirring’s desk. A small compartment popped out. Fast Facts was surprised. He would never have known that was there. He didn’t know how anyone would. But somepony did, because there was something inside. Fast Facts picked it up. It was a letter.

No, wait, two letters. One was of uninspiring personal drivel. Yet it was all marked up, and the markings seemed to correspond to the other in some fashion. Even a pony as unimaginative and concrete in his thinking as Fast Facts could recognize the rudiments of a code. And this second letter, it was more interesting. It said something about a princess... no, a lost princess.

Fast Facts looked it up and down and scratched his head. “Who the Tartarus is Radiant Hope?”

What challenges were on the horizon for Radiant Hope and Starlight Glimmer?

Read on.

Shadows of the Past

“Oh, that the esteemed Dr. Fiddly Fie should meet his end like this. Freezing to death in a cave side by side with a psychotic criminal. Oh, dear me, dear me. Oh, cruel fate! Ye gods, you do love to bring a great pony low!”

“Be quiet,” Starlight snapped at the doctor. “You’ve only been out here for half a day.”

Dr. Fie, still sitting at the far end of the cave, huddled down even more than he previously had. “Has it been that long? No wonder I was beginning to feel light-headed. I think the frostbite is already taking its toll. I can’t feel my hooves, my tail, my tongue! Oh, my tongue! Without it, I can’t even talk anymore. I shall be rendered mute for life! However short that may be…. Oh, dear me, dear me!”

“Trust me, doctor,” Starlight said. “Your tongue is working just fine.”

“I suppose, madam, that a little sympathy is too much to ask for?” responded the doctor. “We don’t all have your freakish resistance to the cold, you know? What are you, a pony or a polar bear?”

Starlight dug a hoof into the snow on the cave’s threshold and muttered, “I swear, if I didn’t need him to hold over Hope….”

She spotted something in the distance. Something brown moving over the white snow. She leaned her head out of the cave and squinted her eyes. Dr. Fie watched her. He watched her become totally engrossed in what she was looking at.

Then he looked down and saw what appeared to be a tree-branch about equidistant between him and Starlight. It was a rather large branch, no doubt snapped off and thrown in here by a particularly violent gust of wind. And, more to Dr. Fie’s interest, the part which had been severed from the tree looked to be exceedingly sharp and jagged.

Starlight did not take her gaze off whatever was so fascinating in the valley below. Dr. Fie moved as quietly as he could toward her. As he passed it, the branch glowed purple and rose up until it was level with his head. The sharp end was directed toward Starlight. Dr. Fie made his way toward her, being very careful not to make a noise. Not a single noise. Now, he was right behind her. He made sure the branch was aimed for the back of her neck. He pulled it back, building up momentum. And then….

“Got everything you need, ma’am,” Stirring Words said as he appeared from next to the cave.

Dr. Fie let out a squeak of fright and grabbed his chest. The branch dropped to the ground.

“Stirring! Nice to see you finally found us!” Starlight responded.

“I’ve hiked this area a few times, but it still wasn’t easy,” Stirring said. “Add to that all the weight I had to carry.”

“You poor dear,” Starlight said as she levitated three sets of saddlebags off of Stirring’s back. “I hope I didn’t put you through too much trouble.”

“Anything for you, ma’am,” Stirring responded. “What’s with him?”

Starlight turned around to see Dr. Fie, still sitting there with his hooves on his chest. Then she saw the tree branch lying next to him.

“Just trying to get a bit of fresh air, madam,” Dr. Fie said. “This cave is unbearably muggy.”

“Mm-hmm,” Starlight said as she kicked the branch into the snow outside.

Dr. Fie was already focused on the new arrival. Or rather, the newly-arrived saddlebags. He began to dig through one.

“I do hope you’ve brought something in the way of nourishment, dear boy,” he said. “I haven’t had anything to eat in hours. A mere few minutes more, and I fear I would have perished from starvation! My corpse would have been food for the wolves. Food for the timberwolves, even!”

Dr. Fie stopped searching to look up anxiously at the other two. “You don’t suppose there are any timberwolves around this part of the woods, do you?”

“Yes, doctor,” Starlight deadpanned. “There are timberwolves all around. And they’re all famished.”

“Oh, dear me,” said the doctor as he resumed his search of the saddlebags. “I thought I heard their infernal howling earlier. We should hurry up and eat whatever this boy here packed so as not to attract their attention.”

“Don’t eat too much,” Stirring said as Dr. Fie pulled out a sandwich and began aggressively devouring it. “It supposed to last the three of you quite a while.”

Leaning over to Starlight, he whispered. “There aren’t any timberwolves around this area. At least not this time of year.”

“Don’t tell him that,” Starlight whispered back.

“Where is you-know-who, by the way?” Stirring asked.

“We sent her out to collect some wood for a fire,” Starlight said. “We didn’t know how long it would take you.”

“Is that wise?” Stirring asked. “From what you wrote, I thought she’d bolt at the soonest opportunity.”

“We have an understanding,” Starlight said. “Besides, she seems strangely attached to the good doctor here. She won’t leave us as long as I have him.”

“She always did like bad boys, from what I hear,” Stirring said. “Maybe he reminds her of Sombra or something.”

The wind picked up, making a whistling sound. Dr. Fie’s eyes darted about. “Timberwolves!” he said. Taking the last bit of bread from his sandwich, he levitated it out in front of him. “You can have it, you dear, friendly creatures! I was finished with it anyway. Honestly, I was.”

“Nope, not Sombra,” Starlight remarked.

“Ma’am, can I speak to you in private?” Stirring asked. “As long as you think… we can leave him….”

Dr. Fie began digging in the second saddlebag and found another sandwich. “This one must be for dear Hope,” he said. “Oh, but given the extremely high probability that she’s been devoured by timberwolves by now, I suppose I shall have to eat it. I must keep my strength up, after all, and it’s what she would want.”

“Help yourself, doctor,” Starlight said. To Stirring, she added, “He’ll be fine.”

They walked a few meters from the cave and stood out in the open snow.

“Ma’am, if you don’t mind my asking,” Stirring said, “what is your plan now?”

“I’ve been trying to figure that out,” Starlight responded. “I was expecting to be in that hospital for a few months more. At least until the Equestrian Intelligence Service finally gave up on looking for me in Seaddle and we started getting a real following with our little newspaper. How is that coming, by the way?”

“I can’t say with any sort of certainty, but I think we’ve got quite a few new readers. The papers I leave around town are disappearing at a much faster rate than normal. Several times, I’ve had to do second and third printings.”

Starlight nodded. “At least that’s some pleasant news. But I don’t know what our next step shall be.”

“Don’t come back to Seaddle,” Stirring said. “The news about what happened at the hospital is all over the city. The EIS has already started distributing ‘wanted’ posters with your picture on them. You’d be recognized immediately. Ponies everywhere are wondering just who you and Radiant Hope are to be of so much importance. Well, when they’re not talking about all the stories the doctor’s employees are telling about what a very bad boss he is to all of them.”

“Hmm, interesting. How close do you think anypony is to finding out Hope’s real story?”

“Rumor is that the government’s close to releasing it. I think they’re trying to counter the one we’ve been telling. So many more ponies are talking about it now that your faces are plastered all over town.”

Starlight smiled. “This could work to our advantage. We have a chance to spin this our way. If we could just explain the escape in a way favorable to us and if we can preempt the government, we’ll be the big winners here. I’ll leave the exact details to you. You’re so much better at coming up with these things than I am, Stirring.”

“What did happen, ma’am?”

Starlight shook her head. “I don’t know. Hope might, but she won’t say anything yet. All I know is that she and Dr. Fie had come down to chew me out about the story in the newspaper. Then the power went out and everypony else in that ward got loose and started to attack us. Hope teleported us out of there and we landed here.”

Stirring scratched his head. “That will be a tough one to spin, ma’am.”

“I’m sure you can do it, Stirring,” Starlight said. “I have absolute faith in you.”

Stirring’s eyes lit up. “Assassins!” he exclaimed. “We say that the Royal Sisters sent assassins to stop Hope from speaking out about how they stole her rightful title from her. You and the doctor, her loyal supporters, managed to get her out of there before they could and you’re now in hiding so as to avoid the sisters’ unholy wrath.”

Starlight considered it. “A bit melodramatic, but it will do. It should also win us a bigger audience. For how much ponies in Equestria seem to love the royalty, they love scandals about them more.”

“I’ll get on that, then,” Stirring said. “My boss fired me when I got your message today, but I’m sure I’ll be able to get my job back. Just means taking on more stories. I can do it. If not, I still have a key to the office.”

He looked suddenly downcast.

“What’s the matter?” Starlight asked.

“Well, ma’am, I was kind-of hoping, since you were out… that I could finally get rid of this blasted cutie mark for good.” Stirring pointed to the quill and papers on his rear.

Starlight patted his head with her hoof. “Not now, I’m afraid. We’ll all have to keep our cutie marks for the time being. But soon, Stirring, soon. I promise you, when all ponies throughout Equestria have been freed from their cutie marks, you’ll be rewarded for all the sacrifices you’re making for the cause.”

“Thank you, ma’am. But what do you have in mind for the doctor and Radiant Hope? What I mean is, what purpose do you see them fulfilling for the cause?”

“Well, the doctor… he’s useful for the moment. We’ll figure out how to dispose of him once he isn’t. But Radiant Hope…. Any great movement needs a leader.”

Stirring’s face filled with alarm. “But you’re our leader!”

Starlight’s eyes narrowed and her smile broadened. “It does me good to hear you say that. But the truth is, my words are not going to hold much weight with most ponies. I’ll soon be known by everypony as a personal enemy of the beloved Twilight Sparkle. But if they came from a princess…. Back in the village, I wanted to bring Twilight to our cause because, as a princess, she could do more to spread it than I could.”

“And we know how that turned out,” Stirring said sadly.

“Hope is better than Twilight, anyway. I still get my princess, but without all of that annoying moralizing. After the Siege, Radiant Hope can’t even get close to being so high-and-mighty. I’ll call all the shots, of course, but she can be the one in all the pictures. I bet she’s photogenic — if she even knows what a camera is.”

“But she’s not even a princess! She was just supposed to be one once and never made it.”

“Even better. Ponies love to root for somepony who has had everything stolen from them. We’ll get the glamor of a princess and the pathos of a pony who’s suffered injustice. What could be better for our cause? Besides, unlike Twilight, Hope is going to join us willingly.”

“How can you be sure of that?”

Starlight’s smile turned devious. “She’s like me. To get what I want from her, I just have to give her what she wants. A little quid pro quo, if you will.”

“But what does she want?” Stirring said. “Her precious Sombra’s gone forever. You can’t bring him back.” He began to look concerned. “You can’t do that, right?”

Starlight laughed. “It would be a nice bargaining chip. But no. Sombra’s deader than dead. I have proof."

"Proof?"

"Don’t ask. You don’t want to know. Trust me."

“Of course, I do!” Stirring was quick to say, as though it had been a question and not a statement. “But are you sure she’s not trying to bring him back. Maybe he’s not even dead. Maybe they’re working together and they have something planned, and all they need is an opportune moment—"

"No, Stirring, they're not," Starlight responded. "Hope's pain at losing Sombra is genuine. I can tell that much. But I wouldn't help her get that monster back even if I could. I want to save Equestria and her ponies, not destroy them.”

Stirring relaxed. “But then, what can you give her that she wants?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll figure it out. I’m still working on her, but I have the feeling I’m about to make a break-through. Just trust me for now.”

“Always do, ma’am.”

“That’s a good boy. Any word on the other matter I wanted you to look into?”

“I’ve been digging and digging since I started working at the Stablegraph. I’ve sent inquiries throughout Equestria. But nopony has any information. Are you sure that the spell even exists?”

Starlight became indignant. “Of course, it exists! I’d bet my cutie mark on it!”

Stirring frowned. Starlight tried to recover herself. “Not that cutie marks have value worth betting on. It’s a saying, Stirring. But I do need that spell. And knowing the Princesses, they’re keeping it locked up in the Royal Library….”

“But I’m sure you remember how it turned out the last time we tried to break into there,” Stirring remarked. “I know how much we've lost and how much we've been set back. Maybe we don’t need the spell. We are making progress, slowly but surely.”

Starlight walked alongside Stirring and leaned in close, rubbing her body against his. “Maybe we don’t. But it never hurts to have a backup plan. Just keep trying to find things out. See if there’s any chance of finding out if it is at Canterlot Castle or if it’s somewhere else.”

Stirring looked down at his hooves. “Yes, ma’am.”

“You always do come through for me, don’t you?” Starlight began to look around her. “But Hope should have been back by now. Do you mind staying awhile and keeping an eye on that doctor while I go find her?”

“For you, ma’am, it would be my pleasure,” Stirring responded.

Radiant Hope lifted up a small branch and added it to the bundle floating next to her. It had taken her longer to collect than she had expected it to. Trees were sparse in this area of the woods and those that were around did not seem all that strong or stable. It may simply have been because their leaves had all disappeared for the winter, but Hope doubted that any of the trees would be that impressive even in full bloom.

There was a noise, the snapping of a branch or twig somewhere. Hope wanted to tell herself that it was just the wind, but she knew better.

She dropped the bundle and began to turn her head and body in every direction. She didn’t see anypony or anything until she looked directly across the glade.

There stood the old blue pony with the long white beard, the beard that was now being pulled in every direction by the wind.

“You,” Hope said.

The pony just stared at her, motionless. So motionless, in fact, that had Hope not known better, she would have assumed he was a statue. But she had had too much experience with statues….

She began to approach him slowly. “Why are you so obsessed with me?”

He continued to stare at her, saying nothing. Until she had walked half the distance between them, that is.

Then his shout of “Princess Hope!” shook just about every tree in the glade. Hope held her ears against her head and tried to avoid showing how much pain they were in.

A pettier pony may have questioned why he had to wait until she was near him to say something loud enough to hear from across the valley. But whatever else a thousand years with the Umbrum and then the Siege had made her, Hope hoped that they had not made her petty.

When she was sufficiently recovered, Hope said, “I’m not a princess. I never was.”

“You could have been,” was his reply, as quick and as cutting as the wind blowing around them.

“That was a long time ago.”

“Yes, a long time, a very long time. But time is short now.”

“What do you mean?”

“What does it matter what I mean? You think I am mad. Perhaps I mean nothing.”

Hope shook her head. “I don’t think you’re mad. If you were, my healing spell would have worked on you.”

“If you think that, then maybe you are the one who’s mad.”

He was apparently quite amused with his remark, for he burst out laughing immediately after it.

“I’m not mad,” Hope said. “Just broken.”

“Broken crystal is very dangerous. Broken crystal is sharp. A broken crystal can cause pain.”

Hope looked down at her hooves. Or, more accurately, at the snow which had by now covered them completely. “I know,” she said quietly.

“But broken crystal doesn’t carry around the husk of evil like a relic. Only a mad-pony does that.”

Husk of evil? Hope felt a chill, a cold that came from within her rather than without. She looked to the bundle of sticks, in the middle of which she had hidden Sombra’s horn. But he couldn’t know about that, could he?

The blue pony raised an eyebrow. “Get the point, Hope?”

For a moment, Hope thought she heard another voice, saying her name along with the lunatic. Sombra’s voice.

”Hope.”

Hope’s whole body shook. The bundle dropped to the ground beside her.

“Ah, nerves, nerves, nerves,” said the blue unicorn. “You are unwell. You are mad.”

“I’m not mad.” Hope could not prevent a hint of pique from finding its way into her voice.

“Only a mad-pony turns down the chance to be a princess.”

“That was my choice to make. I did it to help Sombra.”

More laughter. “Help Sombra? Help Sombra? Help Sombra take over the Crystal Empire? Help him destroy Equestria? Were you just trading your princess crown for an imperial one? That’s a thousand years of foresight! I too have foresight!”

“I thought you were crazy.”

“Crazy ponies see better than sane ponies. Only if you see the world upside down do you truly understand it.”

“Good luck with that.”

“Luck. Lady Luck. That lady gives her favors away freely. But not to ponies like us.”

Hope nodded. “That’s true. But how do you know so much about me? You seem to know... too much. Nopony knows this much about me. About us."

Hope glanced down at the bundle of sticks. The mad-pony followed her eyes. He grinned a chimp-like, rather frightening grin.

“Because I am Starswirl the Bearded!”

“No, you’re not.” Hope said as gently as she could, but her patience was being put to the test.

“Maybe I’m not. Maybe I am. Maybe I am just raving mad. How would you know, when you are not a princess?”

Why does he keep bringing that up? Hope thought.

Before she could respond, he spoke for her. “Or are you? Are you a princess or an empress? Or are you something else? Something more?”

“Ponies tell me I’m a monster,” Hope said. “Sombra was the only friend I ever had, but even the ponies who think they’re my friends call me that.”

“And are you?”

“When I went to live with the Umbrum, they told me that other ponies would not accept what I was trying to do by freeing them. They said I had to be prepared to do things that I might not like. They said I had to be prepared to do anything that was necessary. They said ponies might have to get hurt. I didn’t believe them at first. I knew I could never do any of those things. But I came to love Sombra’s people so much — I loved Sombra so much — that somewhere, somehow, I became a pony who could do those things. And I did do those things.”

The other pony began to open his mouth, but Hope spoke up before him. “If you’re here to remind me of how it turned out, you don’t need to. I know now what the Umbrum are, what they were planning. I know what I helped them do. I know what Sombra did under their influence. And I know what I did all on my own. And I know it was all for nothing, because I lost him again.”

“That’s not why I’m here,” he said.

Hope did not hear him. Or rather, she did not register at this moment what he had said. She continued speaking, “Whatever kind of pony you think I'm supposed to be, I’m not. I’m just not that type of pony."

"You were once, when you were young. Before a thousand years had passed."

"The girl I was... she’s gone now. I look back and I don’t even know who that girl was. She died the day Sombra embraced his darkness. Maybe I am a monster, because that girl hasn’t been here in centuries.”

Whatever Hope had expected from this declaration, she did not expect the laughter that resulted. A petty pony may have been tempted to say “Excuse me?” but Hope was still holding on to not being petty. She had nothing else left to hold onto.

“You still think it’s all about you, don’t you?” he said.

“Isn’t that why…. No, it doesn’t matter. I’m not a princess. Princess Celestia has found the ponies who actually deserved that role. Twilight Sparkle and Cadance make better princesses than I ever could.”

The mad-pony began to shake his head wildly, so that his beard went flying every which way in the wind. Then he stopped abruptly and said, “You could have been greater. You could have been the greatest princess of all. If you had only wanted to be….”

“What do you mean?” Hope said quietly.

She wanted to say more, felt the need to say more, but then she saw the dark mass arising from the trees behind the mad-pony.

“Get down!” she said as she pushed him to the snow. The dark mass swooped right over the top of them. Both of them looked up to see the mass forming into one of the Umbrum, a sickly light purple in color. It was the same Umbrum from the hospital.

“Empress Hope, what is taking you so long?” it said in a mocking tone. “You saw that we were going south. Why haven’t you come after us? You always followed wherever we led before.”

Hope tried to maintain her calm. “And which one are you?”

“You don’t recognize me?” the Umbrum mocked. “Oh, Empress, I am hurt!”

“It’s been a while and your faces don’t look exactly how I remember them.”

“Invidia!” the lunatic called out.

“How do you know that?” Hope asked.

“I am Starswirl,” he said. “And I am also mad.”

“He’s right,” the Umbrum said. It made a bowing gesture, but in a mocking fashion. “I am Invidia, my lady, your ever-humble servant.”

“Invidia,” Hope nodded, recalling this particular individual. “We used to go on picnics together. Down to that lake of yellow sludge.”

Invidia reared back. “How I hated those picnics! A thousand years of listening to you prate on about whatever came into your head. Not that there was ever much up there. Which made it all the more tedious.”

“I enjoyed those picnics….” Hope said in barely more than a whisper. She knew that she should not be so hurt by this still, but she was.

“You would….” said the shadow being dismissively.

“But what are you trying to do?” Hope said, recovering herself. “If you want to hurt me, you can do it here just as easily as anywhere.”

“Oh, we do want to hurt you, Hope,” Invidia said. “We want that more than anything. But this isn’t just about you.”

“Then what do you want?”

Invidia did not answer. He just stared at her as though he was pitying an idiot. Just then, a second Umbrum appeared, a smaller one of blue-green color.

“Luxuria wants to rest, but I think we should move,” he said. “We should move before we must confront the Empress.”

Invidia snarled. “Pay attention, you foal! Who do you think I’m talking to?”

The smaller Umbrum turned and saw Hope. A look of shock seemed to fill his eyes. Or at least, that’s the conclusion Hope drew from those dead-looking orbs. It could have been anything, though, if she was being honest to herself.

But then, self-honesty had never been her strong suit.

“Misericordia,” Hope said. “I remember you from the picnics too.”

Misericordia bowed low, his large and ill-formed head nearly touching the ground. “Hail the Empress.”

Invidia smacked him with his elbow.

“Don’t do that!” Hope said.

“Sympathy for the devil?” Invidia responded. “Same old foolish Radiant Hope.”

“Is that how you talk to your Empress?” Hope asked.

“She has a point,” Misericordia whispered to Invidia.

“Shut up!” Invidia responded. “Tell Luxuria to get ready to move. And don’t worry about the Empress. I am your true leader here. Don’t you forget it.”

The lunatic laughed. "You, a leader? Then why do you have the mentality of a slave? No, you look for another leader, still."

The shadow looked from Hope to the other pony. Or, at least that is what Hope thought he did. In their true forms, it was near impossible to tell where the beady white eyes of the Umbrum were actually directed at any given moment.

“Oh, hello,” it said to the mad-pony in the same mocking tone. “Nice to see that our Empress has a friend to bring along. I feel like we already know each other.”

The mad-pony looked up at Invidia, seemingly unfazed. “Coward, coward! Unable to come out of the shadows! The shadow remains in the shadows! The dragon shall seize the eagle in its claws and tear it up. Then a great dome shall surround the world and everything will end.”

“Daft fool,” Invidia said before turning his attentions back to Hope. “We do need you again, my Empress. This time, you won’t get to fail us.”

“What do you need me for?”

Invidia let out one of the characteristically-hideous laughs of that species and said, “Oh, not yet, Empress, not yet. Telling you now would just ruin the fun. But since you don’t want to follow our little hints, I’ll make things simple for you. Come to Las Pegasus.”

“And why would I do that?” Hope asked, incredulous.

Invidia answered, “Because we can find you and hurt you if you don’t.”

Hope shook her head. “I could run away. I could hide from you. There’s all of Equestria to hide in.”

“We’d find you, just like we found you now.”

“How would you do that?”

Invidia seemed to realize that Hope was just fishing for information. He shook his hoof at her. “No, no, don’t be clever. It doesn’t suit you. But let’s just say you have a presence about you.”

Hope was unnerved but did her best not to show it. She had a feeling it wasn’t working. “And if I don’t care about my own safety? Because I don’t, anymore.”

“Then you’ll care about your friends.”

“I don’t have friends. Not anymore.”

Invidia let out a harrowing Umbric cackle. “You became a good liar over a thousand years, it’s true. But you can’t lie to us, little Hope.”

“Don’t act like you know me.”

“But we do. And we know that, for whatever reason, you do not accept what you truly are. You don’t accept that you’re not like us.”

“I’m not like you,” Hope said.

“She isn’t,” Misericordia added. He received another jab from Invidia’s elbow.

But the purple shadow kept his eyes entirely on Hope. “You are. You are just like us. It would go so much easier for you if you just accepted it. But you won’t. You’ll still want to save ponies. You’ll want to save all the ponies we’ll destroy if you don’t. So many, many ponies. One thousand, three hundred, and six maybe?”

It was like a knife in Hope’s heart.

“Besides, you’ll come after us, if for no other reason than to try and make right the mess you made.”

Invidia spoke slowly and let that last part hang in the air. Hope took it in in silence. She had nothing more she could say. But the mad-pony, on the other hand, did find words for the situation.

“Yes, two and one do not always equal three,” he remarked. “But two and two and one can equal one.”

So, they were not good words. But they were words. Which is more than Hope had managed.

“Hope, you have to live awhile longer,” Invidia said, “but we don’t need him. He can die now.”

Invidia signaled for Misericordia to stay back and watch Hope. Then he circled around toward the mad-pony and reared up. But before he could do anything, a blast of turquoise light came from the other side of the glade. Hope looked past Invidia to see Starlight Glimmer.

Invidia also turned his attentions to the new arrival. “Another friend? My, my, with all the problems Hope said she had relating to her own kind, we never thought she’d become so popular. But she’s ours. Do not interfere if you want to live.”

“I need her more than you do,” Starlight answered. “We have a bargain, and nopony is going to cheat me out of it.”

“Starlight, don’t antagonize him!” Hope said. “One unicorn can’t defeat any of the Umbrum!”

“She’s right, you know,” Invidia said. “And I don’t need you alive, either.”

But Starlight kept blasting away, even as Invida was approaching her. While her magic was not showing a great deal of effect, it did seem to cause him to move a little more slowly. This being a small glade, it made little difference.

“Is your horn broken or something, Hope?” Starlight shouted. “Help me!”

“And are you just going to stand there, you idiot?” Invidia snapped at his fellow. “Do something useful!”

“I thought you wanted me to watch the Empress,” Misericordia said.

“I want you to keep her from interfering,” Invidia answered. “Do whatever it takes. Just don’t kill her.”

“Okay,” Misericordia said. Then he looked to Hope. “You’re not going to interfere, are you?

“Is it interfering if I’m your Empress,” Hope said. “It seems like I kinda have a right to get involved.”

Misericordia ran his gnarled hoof against his distended chin. “Huh. That’s a good point. I wonder....”

While Misericordia was busy pondering this, Hope took the opportunity to blast Invidia along with Starlight. The two beams of magic together had a little more effect, and the shadow was beginning to falter.

Seeing this, Misericordia shrugged. “Well, I tried.”

“No, you didn’t, you idiot!” Invidia shouted back. He began pushing forward harder, using all of his might to move closer to Starlight. “And Empress, just for that, I’m going to take my time tearing apart your new friend,” he said.

“No, leave her alone!” Hope responded. “What happened was my fault, not hers, remember? I’m the one you hate!”

“Oh, dear Hope, as much a blockhead as always. It’s because we hate you that I’m going to kill her.”

Misericordia shook his head. "Hate? I don't...."

“Shut up!” Invidia hollered.

Misericordia seemed a little shaken up. Even as hard as the movements of his eyes were to make out, Hope thought she saw him roll them. “Rude....” he said to himself.

Invidia was now just a foot or so distant from Starlight. He was about to swipe down at her when another beam joined the two already striking him. A green beam. Hope looked beside her to see that the mad-pony was also firing at Invidia. And this was having an effect.

Invidia suddenly pulled away from Starlight and flew high into the air. Surveying his opponents, he let out a deep growl and said, “You’re lucky that we’re still weak. I can’t afford to drain my energies playing with you. But when we meet again, it will be different. Hope, you will know despair.”

“I already do,” Hope responded.

“Come on, Misericordia,” Invidia said as he sped away to the south.

Misericordia looked once more at Hope. She looked up at him, unsure why he was staring at her so intently.

“Thank you for standing up for me,” he said.

“Any... any time....” Hope said. That probably wasn’t the right response. But she had been caught by surprise and didn’t know what the right response could be.

Misericordia bowed low and then followed after his leader.

As Hope regained herself, she turned to the mad-pony. “Thank you for helping us. Why did you do it?”

“Lost shadow, lost pony, lost shadow,” said the mad-pony, as though that was somehow supposed to explain things.

He then focused a sharp, penetrating stare on Hope. "He’s not lost, you know," he said. “He’s still with you. Always.”

Hope was confused. “He? Who? What do you mean?”

She never got an answer. Before she had even finished asking her questions, the lunatic ran off toward the direction the Umbrum had disappeared in.

Hope tried to stop him. “Wait! Don’t follow them! They’re extremely….” But the mad-pony was gone. “…dangerous….”

“So, what in Tartarus was that?” Starlight said as she came up beside Hope.

Hope looked to the sky and then to Starlight. “You just met the Umbrum.”

Hope knew that it took much to startle Starlight, but this evidently did. Starlight’s usually unflappable expression came undone. Her eyes grew wide.

“The Umbrum? Your Umbrum?”

“There aren’t any other kinds of Umbrum as far as I know.”

“I thought you said they looked like fairies!”

“I thought they did, once.”

Starlight stared at Hope. Hope recognized that look. It was the same one other ponies at the orphanage gave her when she was little.

“What kind of demented fairies did you dream up as a foal?” Starlight said. “No, don’t answer that. I’m sure I don’t want to know.”

“They’re gone now,” Hope said.

“What were they even doing here? I heard they were all sealed away at the end of the Siege.”

“Apparently not all of them. A few must have got out. They must have caused the power outage at the hospital and then followed us here. The big purple one, he said he was their leader.”

“Okay, one: I don’t even want to think about how you can tell what gender that thing is. And two: What did it mean about needing you?”

Hope shook her head as she looked back to the skies. “I don’t know. But you’re probably in danger if you stay with me.”

“We have an agreement,” Starlight said. “We can still be useful to each other. No shadow monster is going to keep me from getting my part of the bargain.”

“At least we know where we stand,” Hope said. “I was starting to think you tried to save me because you cared. Oh, wait, nopony cares.”

“You just want somepony to feel sorry for you. All life is suffering, Hope. You should have realized that by now.”

“Oh, I have.”

“You don’t seem to accept it. But I suppose that’s an unfortunate side-effect of being too attached to a cutie mark. You should really think about giving yours up.”

Hope turned to Starlight in disbelief. “You really want to do that now?”

“Why not? The shadows are gone now,” Starlight paused and grew more serious. “They are gone, aren’t they? They’re not going to ambush us or anything? Did they say anything about their plans?”

“No. They didn’t say anything.” Yet again, lying came easily. Uncomfortably easily.

Starlight looked to Hope, then to the sky, then back to Hope. “Well, we dealt with them once. We can do it again if they come back. Not conducive to my plan, but my father always said that you have to be ready for anything. Speaking of which, what were you doing with that lunatic of a pony, anyway?”

“Honestly?” Hope said. “That is the one thing I’m having the most difficulty figuring out.”

At the cave, Stirring Words and Dr. Fie sat across from each other, the three saddlebags in-between.

“Your loyalty to your comrade is admirable, dear boy,” Dr. Fie said, “but I assure you that, given how long they’ve been gone, the only rational conclusion is that the timberwolves have eaten both of them.”

“You’re not getting Starlight’s sandwich,” Stirring responded.

“Oh, come now,” Dr. Fie said as he levitated the sandwich out of the third saddlebag. “I am not greedy. We can split it, half and half. And then, with our bodies well-fortified for the long trek, we can return to Seaddle and explain to the proper authorities how this whole fiasco has been nothing more than a major misunderstanding.”

Stirring whacked the sandwich down with his hoof. “No. That is Starlight’s sandwich and you are not getting any of it.”

“Fine. I shouldn’t want it anyway. They were decidedly subpar. The tomatoes were your basic garden variety. That mustard was not Dijon and, by the taste of it, did not have a drop of wine in its composure. And I can tell that the radishes were not shipped in from Baltimare. I should not be surprised to find that all the ingredients were entirely local.” Dr. Fie pronounced the word ‘local’ as though it indicated the presence of the plague.

“Well, it wasn’t easy to find Dijon mustard and genuine Baltimare radishes when I was rushing to pack these bags for you. I didn’t realize one of you had such a refined palette.”

“If Starlight Glimmer has such wretched taste in cuisine, I can see how she got to the low point she’s in today!”

“Because you’re just flying as high as a pegasus, aren’t you, doctor?” came Starlight Glimmer’s voice.

Starlight and Hope entered the cave, a bundle of branches floating between them.

“I don’t intend us to stay long, so we just got enough for the night,” Starlight said.

“What kept you two? The doctor here was about to finish your sandwich.” Stirring asked.

Starlight looked to Dr. Fie and her eyes narrowed. “Timberwolves,” she said.

Dr. Fie let out a yelp.

Stirring now turned his gaze to the crystal pony besides Starlight. Standing up, he offered a hoof. “You must be Radiant Hope. I’ve heard so many things about you.”

Hope did not take the proffered hoof. “You’re the one who wrote those things about me in that newspaper.”

Stirring nodded.

“They weren’t true. Princess Celestia didn’t have anything to do with my not becoming a princess.”

Stirring raised a hoof as though to object. “I grant you, that maybe Princess Celestia herself was not involved. That was just a little bit of journalistic liberty. But have you considered that maybe the institution which she represents, the institution of Princesshood, was to blame? The way it’s set up, the deck is stacked against worthy candidates such as yourself. I’m just trying to bring that to light.”

“Bring that to light, indeed!” Dr. Fie said. “I have no respect at all for any pony that tries to hide his inadequacies behind fancy words!”

Stirring continued, “I’m on your side, Hope, just like Starlight is. We don’t like seeing ponies face the sort of discrimination you did.”

“I didn’t face discrimination,” Hope said. “It was my—”

“I mean, the Crystal Empire should be governed by a crystal pony. That much seems obvious to me. But Cadance isn’t one.”

“She’s descended from Princess Amore.”

“Or she claims to be.”

“She doesn’t. I do. I’ve seen them both and the resemblance is undeniable.”

“Put that in your local-ingredient sandwich and eat it,” Dr. Fie chimed in.

“Doctor, I don’t need help,” Hope said.

“But you do,” Stirring said. “You need us to help you overcome the system than perpetuated such injustices against you. We can help make sure that no pony has to suffer those same injustices. We can make all ponies equal.”

Seeing that Hope was about to object to this line of argument as well, Starlight put her foreleg around Stirring and said, “Is it any wonder I have him writing the newspaper?” Then, leaning in so that only Stirring could hear her, she said, “Like I said, leave Hope to me.”

Stirring nodded and smiled bashfully. “Well, anyway, I’m happy to finally meet you. I made you a sandwich, but Dr. Fie ate it.”

“It was unavoidable, dear girl,” Dr. Fie said. “I was on the verge of slipping off this mortal coil and in desperate need of sustenance. Had I not done so, I might not be with you all now.”

“If we could be so lucky,” Starlight muttered.

“It’s okay, doctor,” Hope said. “I wasn’t hungry anyway.”

“What are you guys going to do now?” Stirring said.

“I had hoped to use Seaddle as a base of operations,” Starlight said. “It’s decidedly liberal and the princesses don’t pay too much attention to it. I figured it would be the perfect place to spread our message and prepare to take on Twilight Sparkle. But they’ll be looking for us there, so that’s out of the question now.”

“What you guys need is a big city, some place you can blend in easily enough,” Stirring said. “But also someplace where ponies’ll be receptive to our cause.”

Dr. Fie rubbed his hooves together and blew on them. “Preferably somewhere warm, where life is easy.”

“There’s cloaks in the saddlebags, doctor,” Stirring said. Dr. Fie immediately pulled one out and wrapped himself in it like a blanket.

Starlight rubbed her chin with her hoof. “What city would have everything we need?”

“What about Las Pegasus?” Hope said.

All eyes focused on her. “I know it’s a long way,” she said, “but they wouldn’t expect us to go that far. It’s big enough that we could blend in and, erm, ‘liberal’ enough for your cause. We could accomplish so much there.”

“Didn’t I tell you she’d be useful to us?” Starlight said to Stirring.

Dr. Fie got to his hooves. “There are casinos in Las Pegasus, aren’t there? Casinos where you can win a lot of money very fast?”

“The odds of winning a substantial amount are incredibly low,” Stirring said.

Dr. Fie waved a hoof. “Do not bother me with odds! I’ll have you know that I’ve already devised a full-proof formula for winning at games of chance.”

“You can’t do that,” Stirring said. “It’s not possible.”

“Oh, tut! What would you know about it, anyway? Unlike you, I’m a doctor, so I know about these things.”

“Ignore him,” Starlight said. “Stirring, do you think you can make arrangements for us in Las Pegasus?”

“Well, if I can get my irate boss to give me my job back, getting him to let me go on assignment to Las Pegasus should not be too hard. He might do it just to get rid of me for a while.”

Starlight nodded. “Then the three of us will start tomorrow. What is that inane thing they say? Viva Las Pegasus!”

Hope nodded, but her heart fell. She knew she had gotten what she was after, but Invidia's words haunted her. She was following where the Umbrum were leading. Again. Try as she might, Hope felt like she would never be free.

What dangers would our heroines encounter on their journey?

Read on.

Incorruptible

“I, for one, don’t understand why Hope can’t just teleport us to Las Pegasus,” Dr. Fie said as the three of them, covered by their cloaks, walked down an old trail leading south.

“I’ve never tried to teleport that much of a distance before,” Hope responded. “I don’t think that I could.”

“Such defeatist thinking never got anypony anywhere, dear child,” Dr. Fie said.

“This from the pony that teleports objects whenever he tries to teleport himself?” Starlight Glimmer said. “Besides, if I know Twilight Sparkle, she’ll be trying to track us by now and has probably blanketed the western coast of Equestria with magic-detecting spells. Trying to teleport that distance would alert her to our general area. Best not to do that.”

“As though we should be taking dictations from a manipulative, egomaniacal fanatic!”

“I am the only one of us with adequate experience as a dictator,” Starlight said. “And all of us are manipulative, egomaniacal fanatics.”

“Speak for yourself!” the doctor responded. “I am no fanatic!”

“But you are manipulative and egomaniacal?”

“I am resourceful and I possess a healthy level of self-esteem. Are these traits by which ponies should be judged harshly now?”

“Not ponies, just you.”

They had been bickering like that all the way from the snowy valley outside Seaddle. Radiant Hope tried to tune them out and was, most of the time, reasonably successful. After all, she had quite a few things of greater import on her mind. Particularly the Umbrum. Thinking about them always made Hope feel deeply uneasy inside. She put her hoof to her saddlebag, feeling Sombra’s horn within it. She hoped it would give her comfort, but she received little.

Hope had turned Invidia’s taunting words over and over in her mind. However much she wanted to deny it, he did know her well. He knew that she would walk straight into his trap, willingly and of her own accord. He knew that she would not let more ponies get hurt.

She wouldn’t let any pony get hurt. Not another one. She would face doom rather than allow it. That had to mean that she wasn’t a monster, didn’t it?

Maybe it was time for a distraction after all.

“Starlight, how do you know Stirring Words?” she asked.

Starlight turned to her, looking rather pleased. “You want to know more about me?”

“We are traveling together and we’re putting a lot of trust in Stirring. I would like to know a little more about him.”

“But Hope, you can’t expect everypony to tell you every little detail about themselves while you still keep so many secrets. How about I tell you if you first tell me something about yourself?”

Hope looked away. “You don’t need to know any more about me than you already do.”

Starlight invaded her personal space. “But I do! If we’re going to be partners, I want it to be mutually-beneficial. What would you like me to do for you?”

“‘Throw yourself from the highest peak in Equestria,’ would be my request,” Dr. Fie said.

Starlight ignored him and focused on Hope. “I could make you a princess. Think of it, Hope, you help me turn Equestria into a utopia of equality, and you can be the ruler of that utopia. Of course, I would be your loyal chief minister, focusing on all those boring affairs of state that princesses shouldn’t have to worry about.”

“Why does everybody assume that I still want to be a princess?” Hope said. “It was a long time ago and it can’t come back.”

“I could bring it back for you, Hope. Can you really tell me that you don’t want it?”

“I don’t want it.”

Starlight looked at Hope, looked deeply at her. “You’re lying. I can always tell when you’re lying.”

You haven’t been able to tell before, Hope thought. But she said nothing, instead concentrating on the road in front of them.

Starlight waited for a response, but when it became clear she would not get one, she sighed and said, “Stirring is from my town. The one that I founded to be an exemplar of Equality, a place of happiness, tranquility, and harmony.”

“A veritable 'city upon a hill,' I’m sure,” Dr. Fie said contemptuously.

“It was in a desert, actually,” Starlight responded before returning her attention to Hope. “Stirring was one of my most loyal followers. He was one of the first to join the village and he stayed loyal even after Twilight had managed to turn most of the others against me.”

“It didn’t bother him that you still had your cutie mark?” Hope asked.

“Hope, when you revived Sombra, I’m sure he did a few things you could not understand, but you stood by him, didn’t you?”

“I knew he had reasons for what he did,” Hope said quietly. “Maybe they weren’t the right things to do, but I knew why he did them.”

“Stirring is the same. He accepts that, with any great undertaking such as ours, sometimes corners must be cut and sometimes we must go against the letter of our cause to uphold its spirit. He understands that I had to keep my cutie mark for the spell to work and that hiding it was necessary to prevent suspicious minds from thinking I was a mere hypocrite. When I was banished from my town, he came and found me and has been helping me ever since. Nothing can shake his faith in me.”

“I knew he was daft from the moment I met him,” the doctor said. “Locally-grown radishes on a sandwich! Really!”

“He didn’t mind giving up his cutie mark?” Hope asked.

Starlight laughed. “Nopony minds giving up their cutie marks. They merely forget, after they have had them removed for a while, how troubled their lives truly were when they had them.”

“I meant, even after getting it back, he still didn’t want it?”

“I’ve told you before, Hope, that cutie marks are too difficult to interpret to bring happiness. Stirring understands this. When he got his writing cutie mark, he spent all his time penning doggerel poems left and right. They were absolute drivel, and he knew it. By the time he met me, he was so miserable that he gladly gave up his cutie mark and would do it again, if asked.”

“My dislike for him grows every minute,” Dr. Fie said. “Anypony that would so butcher our native tongue and the fine form of poetry deserves nothing less than the gallows.”

“But, if he doesn’t want it, why does he still have it?” Hope asked. “Shouldn’t you have removed it again?”

“I wish that I could,” Starlight said, with a look of (probably staged) remorse. “But cutie marks are so unpredictable. When Stirring was trying to find ways of helping me during my wandering, he started writing again. That newspaper of ours was his idea. He thought that, if he could spread our message, we could start to build up a following and maybe even a new town. Stirring’s special talent, it turns out, is not in poetry but in propaganda.”

“So, cutie marks are useful sometimes?” Hope asked.

“They can be a necessary evil,” Starlight said. “And now that I’ve answered your question, would you please answer mine? Do you want to be a princess?”

“I already answered that.”

Starlight looked down for a moment, probably thinking through her next avenue of attack. When she looked up, she said, “Maybe you don’t want to be a princess anymore. But Hope, we both care about others. It’s why we do what we do. Don’t you see that Equestria needs a pony like you as princess? Celestia, Cadance, Twilight Sparkle — they are all corrupt. They cannot lead Equestria anymore. But a pony like you could.”

Hope sighed. “And you really think that I’m not corrupt?”

“You are as uncorrupt as I am,” Starlight responded. “Whatever ponies think of our actions, we did them out of selfless motives. I always have. That’s why, at the Rational University, they used to call me Starlight Glimmer the Incorruptible. Because I never backed down and I never compromised. Hope, you’re the same way.”

She quickly turned to Dr. Fie and said, “If you dare claim that you’re the only incorruptible pony here, I’ll buck you down the next gorge.”

“The truth hurts, does it, Starlight?” the doctor responded.

“I think I see a gorge now.”

Dr. Fie jumped back a little and tried to put some space between himself and Starlight. There was no gorge anywhere in sight.

Starlight turned back to Hope. Hope was staring blankly down the road. It was hard not to suspect that she was losing her. She needed to reel Hope back in.

“Do you still want to save Sombra?” Starlight asked.

“That’s impossible,” Hope said, in a distant, foggy sort of way. “If I’ve proved anything, it’s that Sombra could never be saved. He was always....”

“Always what?”

Evil Hope could not bring herself to say the word. She was aware that Starlight was staring at her, waiting for her response. She did not care.

“Well, there must be something we can do. I can help you with that, Hope. I will help you with that.”

Hope finally answered Starlight’s gaze. “Don’t make me promises you don’t intend to fulfill. I’ve done that enough that I know when somepony is doing it to me.”

Starlight put on an innocent ‘who me?’ face. Hope was unmoved.

“But, Hope, what do you want, then? You can’t still want to free the Umbrum!”

“I just want to put the past behind me. I just want to live without being constantly reminded of it. I don’t want anything else.”

Starlight gave her a knowing look. “You don’t want that. That’s not the type of pony you are.”

Hope looked ahead. “Everypony seems to know what type of pony I am. Except for me.”

“If you just wanted to forget, you wouldn’t still be using that healing spell of yours,” Starlight said. “You wouldn’t have ended up at a major hospital. Hope, you still want to help ponies. You still want your life to have meaning and purpose. You still want a full and fulfilled life. I can give it to you.”

“A full life?” Hope spat out. “A fulfilled life? You mean, a happy life?”

Starlight never seemed to be surprised. But she was surprised now. More than surprised, actually. Startled.

“Of course, a happy life.”

Hope looked to Starlight again. Starlight was even more astonished. There was a fiery look in those blue eyes that she had never even thought Hope capable of.

Hope spoke, her voice rising in pitch. “Can I have a happy life? Let's see... I lost both my parents when I was a foal, my only real friend was turned into a monster and banished my home for a thousand years, a thousand years which I spent in a dank, smelly prison. At least I thought that I had at least found a family there. But they hated me. I gave them all the love I had to give, but they still hated me. They made me their weapon, and I let them do it because I thought they cared. I nearly destroyed Equestria, just to save Sombra, and even then it wasn't enough. I did everything to save him, how I gave him every opportunity, and yet, he still... he still....”

Hope’s voice grew very weak. “He still betrayed me. Everyone betrays me.”

For a moment, Hope was silent and crestfallen. Starlight seemed about to speak. A piercing glare from Hope and she held her tongue. She clearly had decided it was better to wait out the storm rather than jump in the middle of it.

Hope's voice rose again. “And all so I could end up stuck with the two of you! A thousand and sixteen years! Never gonna get them back! And I don't think I'll get another thousand to make up for them, either. I think it’s a bit late to be trying for a full, fulfilled, happy life!”

Starlight did not respond immediately. She still seemed a little shaken. But then all of her evident uncertainty seemed to evaporate. Starlight stood up straighter and regained her usual self-possession and confidence. She offered Hope a gentle smile and a reassuring voice. “Hope, I know it’s difficult, but you must think about ponies other than yourself!”

“That’s all I’ve ever done,” Hope responded. “And it’s turned out so well, hasn’t it?”

Dr. Fie let out a dramatic sigh. “Hope, dear girl, we really need to talk about these flights into self-pity that you keep having. They practically reek of self-importance.”

“Hope, I’ve suffered too,” Starlight said. “I lost my mother when I was young, so I know what it’s like to feel robbed of your parents. It wasn’t easy for my father raising me. Especially considering that the family was convinced he murdered her.”

“It’s no wonder you turned out how you are, having come from such distinguished stock,” Dr. Fie said.

“He didn’t murder her,” Starlight responded, staring coldly at Dr. Fie. To Hope, she said, “And then, I too had a friend, only one real friend. But I lost him, just like you lost Sombra. And then, when I tried to make everything right, Twilight Sparkle came in and stole it all from me. So you don’t exactly have a monopoly on unnecessary suffering.”

“Remember, too, dear child, my many sacrifices,” Dr. Fie said. “To narrate all the episodes of my life is too daunting a task to be done in my current weary condition. Besides, I wouldn’t want to spoil anything from my upcoming five-volume autobiography. But let it suffice for me to point out the many hardships I have endured just since being spirited away from my modest yet agreeable home in Seaddle. I have had to eat cheap sandwiches, subject my delicate back to sleeping on the hard ground, been forced to climb up and down these dangerously uneven dirt roads, suffered the unbearable extremes of weather, and so on. But do I ever complain? No, I put on a brave face and go stoutly about it. No matter what hardships fortune throws my way, I face them with courage.”

“Be quiet, both of you!” Hope snapped. She increased her pace so as to leave a gap between her and the other two.

Starlight glared at Dr. Fie. “We were starting to win her over until you had to go overboard with that last part.”

“I hardly think your continued persecution fantasy regarded Twilight Sparkle inspires much confidence in her, madam,” Dr. Fie responded.

“When my revolution succeeds, you’ll be the first to be stood against a wall and shot,” Starlight said.

“I look forward to seeing you on the gibbet on some fine day in the not-too-distant future,” the doctor responded. “Let me talk to her. I’m sure I can get through to Hope.”

Dr. Fie ambled forward so that he was now beside Radiant Hope.

“Leave me alone, doctor,” she said.

“Hope, dear girl, I apologize if our companion once again showed herself to be an uncivilized brute,” Dr. Fie said. “But we don’t want to see you beating yourself up like this. It’s true that your life has been one-thousand-plus years of unending and utterly meaningless misery, that you’ve been an unloved, uncared-for pawn throughout nearly the entirety of your existence, but that is really no reason at all to be as gloomy as you’ve become. Brighten up, dear girl!”

Hope gave the doctor a biting look. “You really don’t get it, do you?”

“Don’t get it? I get it perfectly well. Better than you do. I understand that your existence seems pointless, one of missed opportunities and undeserved agony. But you don’t see how lucky you are, dear girl. After all, an opportunity greater than princesshood has presented itself to you and you aren’t even aware of it. You see, child, you’re one of the few ponies who has ever gotten to actually meet me. Just think of how many have lived their whole lives without ever getting that chance, merely because they had the misfortune — Oh, grave misfortune! — of being born before I was. But those thousand years that you lived, all the circumstances of your life, they all sent you along the path to meeting me. And isn’t knowing me for even the briefest period a massive recompense for everything you’ve had to endure?”

The two stopped in their tracks. Hope stared at Dr. Fie. “I don’t know whether I want to hug you or to smack you,” she said.

“The latter,” Starlight said from behind. “Definitely the latter.”

“But you still don’t get it, doctor,” Hope said. “You just don’t understand.”

And she began to walk again, leaving a stunned Dr. Fie to watch her go. Starlight came up beside him.

“Nice job getting through to her,” Starlight said.

“Oh, pish-posh!” Dr. Fie responded. “If she does not see things my way, it is only because my empty stomach has dulled my powers of argument. If we can halt for a moment in order to nourish ourselves, I shall soon persuade Hope.”

“We just ate two hours ago,” Starlight said.

“Has it been that long? No wonder I feel so weak. A lesser pony would have already collapsed under these trying exertions.”

As they began to move again, Dr. Fie opened his saddlebags and began to dig through for any morsel he could find.

“Oh, cruel fate!” he said at last. “We’re out of food!”

“I figured it would be about now that what Stirring gave us would run out,” Starlight said. “Though it might have lasted longer if somepony hadn’t insisted that he ‘needed nourishment’ constantly.”

“Don’t berate me for your precious subordinate’s inability to calculate the necessary number of meals for such a massive expedition as ours,” Dr. Fie said.

“We’ve avoided other ponies so far, but we’ll have to stop at the next town and get some supplies,” Starlight said. “All of us need to keep our hoods up and stick together.”

“Nonsense,” Dr. Fie said. “Whatever settlement is out here is much too far from civilization to have heard of your unfortunate escape.”

“Never underestimate the speed with which gossip travels, doctor,” Starlight said. “Let’s just find a town and quickly get what we need.”

“I think I see one up ahead,” Hope called back. “It’s a little off our path, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to reach.”

The three passed a few rows of shacks as they entered the outskirts of the town. Dr. Fie looked at these dwellings and turned up his nose. “A rustic little hick village,” he said. “Charming.”

“They remind me of the houses in my town,” Starlight said.

“Then your tastes in architecture leave as much to be desired as those in food and company,” responded the doctor.

“Let’s not start this again,” Hope said.

“She’s right,” Starlight said. “If we keep bickering like this, we’ll attract attention. We need to keep our heads down and our hoods up.”

“Madam, as I said before, there is no way this backward corner of Equestria would have heard anything about—”

They had entered the commercial district, though in an area where few other ponies were. But as Dr. Fie was talking, Starlight pointed to a nearby wall. There were three 'wanted' posters, ones with likeness of herself, Hope, and the doctor, in that order. On each was a request for information and the promise of a reward.

“ —us….” The doctor held his hooves to his chest and his eyes grew wider. In a voice nearly breaking, he said, “That can’t be us. Look at me! I don’t have a nose like that!”

“I can see our names,” Hope said. “It’s us.”

“Like I said, we have to be careful,” Starlight said. “I have a feeling Twilight is going to pull out all the stops to catch me this time. Let’s find the nearest grocer or market and resupply.”

There was currently a farmers’ market going on in the commercial district and the three soon found their way to it. Starlight and Hope both pulled their hoods further down over their heads as they walked between the stalls. Dr. Fie did not, but he did keep turning his head every which way, expecting danger around every corner.

“Keep together,” Starlight said. “We need to get in and get out.”

And so they did. All went well for the majority of the afternoon. It was a chilly day, and the sight of ponies in cloaks and hoods, while somewhat uncommon, was not so ridiculous as raise much suspicion among the vendors — most of whom were too busy accepting and giving back coin and glancing over their wares to even look up at who was buying from them.

“Nearly finished!” Starlight whispered to the other two as they approached the last stall from which she intended to buy.

However, the pony at this stall, a rather heavy earth pony mare, was far more attentive than most.

“Hey, you’re a crystal pony, ain’t you?” she said to Hope.

Hope nodded while trying to keep as much of herself under the hood as possible. “Yes, I am.”

“We don’t get many crystal ponies around here,” the vendor continued. “How’d you end up in this part of the country?”

“I’m just passing through,” Hope said.

“We’re saddlebagging across Equestria,” Starlight added. “Avoiding the tourist traps and looking for its… its true heart.”

The vendor sighed. “Oh, you’re a couple of those ponies….”

Hope could hear a rare timber of alarm in Starlight’s voice when she said, “What do you mean by ‘those ponies.’”

“University students. During the summer, we get so many of them, trying to find the ‘real Equestria.’ Which means, as far as I can tell, whichever part of Equestria has the strongest cider. You’re those ponies, ain’t you?”

Starlight did not miss a beat. “Yes, we are! Rational University of Canterlot! Go Parasprites!”

“Are you sure you should be giving her your actual alma mater?” Hope whispered. Starlight shushed her.

The mare at the stall nodded. “At least it’s not more unicorns from the Royal Academy. A bunch of snobs, the lot of them.”

“Looks like my alma mater is better than yours,” Starlight whispered to Hope.

“That doesn’t sound very equal,” Hope whispered back.

“Without exclusivity and elitism, it wouldn’t be college.”

Hope pulled back her hood just enough to give Starlight a sharp look.

Starlight smiled. “Don’t worry. There will be no colleges in the new Equestria. I do have some ideas for an ‘Academy of Equality,’ or an Academequality, if you will.”

“I don’t want to hear your five-year plan.”

“It isn’t going to take five years.”

The vendor rolled her eyes as she watched the two ponies in hoods whispering back and forth. “College fillies. Always the same….”

To them, she said, “You know, we don’t get much of you college kids during winter break. It’s always in the summer months.”

“We’re iconoclasts,” Starlight said.

“Ain’t all college kids?”

The mare now focused on Hope exclusively. “Hey, crystal, I been hearing that one of your types is on the run in these parts. They say she’s some nutjob who nearly brought down the Crystal Empire last year. Brought back King Sombra and everything. What do you think about her?”

Starlight and Hope exchanged nervous glances from underneath their hoods. Each was trying to silently reassure the other, without being reassured herself. Both tried to put on a calm front, but Hope thought she heard Starlight gasp a little as she waited for Hope to say something.

“I… I don’t know,” Hope said, managing to sound completely calm and even a little uninterested. “It’s been a while since I lived in the Crystal Empire.”

“Well, if she were here, I’d buy her a cider,” said the vendor. “I got a cousin in Vanhoover who writes to me complaining about crystal ponies, suddenly just appearing from the north and taking all the jobs that normal ponies used to do. It’s about time somepony put them in their place!”

“Don’t take her up on that offer,” Starlight whispered. “Let’s just pay and go.”

“Nice talking to you,” Hope said as she gave some bits to the vendor.

“Do me a favor, crystal,” the vendor responded as Hope and Starlight walked away. “If you see any more ponies like you, tell them to stay away from here! We’re all honest hard-working ponies here, and we don’t need those metallic freaks taking that away from us!”

Hope did not bother looking back. She hurried out of the general vicinity as quickly as she could. Starlight had to quicken her own pace to keep up.

“I’m glad that’s over,” Starlight said once they were out of earshot.

Hope shook her head. “I thought only the Umbrum hated crystal ponies that much.”

“You suddenly pop out of nowhere after a thousand years and add yourself to Equestria’s population, and ponies are going to hate you,” Starlight said. “It’s a fact of life.”

Hope raised her brows a little. “I’ve learned that the hard way.”

“We got lucky back there. Let’s try to avoid situations like that again,” Starlight said. “At least Dr. Fie didn’t go off on one of his absurd tangents and get us found out.”

“He was rather quiet, wasn’t he,” Hope said. “I’ve never known him to be that quiet. Ever.”

Starlight and Hope once more exchanged nervous looks. Things had become clear to them both at once. Slowly, they turned their heads in unison to look behind them. And then each looked along the side of the market nearest to her.

“Hope,” Starlight said, “where is Dr. Fie?”

“Excuse me, dear boy, but are you equipped to send telegrams from this establishment?” Dr. Fie asked as he entered the building.

“This is a telegraph office,” responded the grey earth pony, a young male with an unruly black mane, from behind the counter. “What do you think?”

“I’m a traveler,” Dr. Fie said. “An eminent naturalist, in fact. I’ve come studying the flora and fauna of this area and I need to get an urgent telegram to my colleagues in Canterlot. I can’t send it by pegasus mail, because it needs to be there immediately.”

“What? Discover a new species that’s about to leave for a vacation to Griffonstone?” asked the pony behind the counter.

“Don’t make smart remarks, dear boy,” Dr. Fie said. “No one likes a pony with such bad manners.”

“Whatever. Just fill out a telegram and give me your bits.”

Dr. Fie took a piece of paper and a quill and started to write his message. He nearly dropped it when he looked up and happened to see himself staring back at him from the wall.

“I still say the nose looks nothing like mine,” he said.

“What?” said the telegraph-pony. He then looked to the three ‘wanted’ posters. “Oh, those. You better be careful out in the woods there, mister. These three fugitives escaped from a mental ward the other day. Some folks from the government came in earlier and told us to be very careful, as they’re all supposed to be highly dangerous. My guess is they must be psychotic, coming from a mental ward and all.”

“Psychotic, indeed!” said Dr. Fie, standing up tall. “Highly dangerous, indeed! I’ve never heard something so preposterous in all my life!”

“How would you know, mister?” the telegraph-pony said, eying Dr. Fie suspiciously.

Dr. Fie quickly pulled the cloak down over his face and huddled over the piece of paper.

“The first two, I’ll grant you, are clearly highly-dangerous and probably psychotic,” he said, stealing glances at the telegraph-pony. “But is it not obvious that the third one is not?”

“No.”

Dr. Fie pointed his hoof theatrically toward his own portrait. “Observe the high brow and large forehead. These are signs of intellect. Observe too the classical features of the face and the firm outline of the jaw. This is a pony who is refined, cultivated. But no dainty dilettante is he, no, sir! He is a pony of action, fully capable of mustering courage when courage is what is called for! It is quite evident that he is an innocent in the whole affair. I do not doubt that those two vicious fugitives have taken him against his will and that he wishes for nothing more than to return to the simple, albeit distinguished, law-abiding life from which he was so-cruelly torn.”

The telegraph-pony studied the portraits. “Nah,” he said, “I don’t get that at all. Now, those two girls are cute, but the guy? He looks like the real criminal to me. I think it’s those shifty eyes or the way that grin of his makes him look like he’s gloating. Or maybe it’s that nose.”

“I should sue whoever drew that and made my nose so hideous,” Dr. Fie said under his breath. To the telegraph-pony, he said, “It is clear that your mind is too much in the gutter to appreciate the marks of genius! This pony — no, this prince among ponies — is no more a criminal than you or I!”

The telegraph-pony raised his hooves. “Okay, buddy, calm down! You act like you know the guy or something.”

Dr. Fie barely managed to suppress a squeak of anxiety. “Know him? That’s absurd. It is merely that I am an excellent judge of character. I can take the measure of anypony instantly. I have never been wrong before and I doubt very much that I am wrong now.”

“The poster says the guy’s a doctor. I guess all you intellectual-types stick together, huh?”

“Only those of us with the very greatest of minds.” Dr. Fie, in a huff, quickly scribbled down the remainder of his message and floated it over to the telegraph-pony.

“That’ll be two bits,” the telegraph-pony said.

“Two bits? For a single telegram? Why such an excessively exorbitant amount?”

The telegraph-pony shrugged. “I don’t set the prices. The company does that.”

Dr. Fie reluctantly parted with two bits. “Well, I think whoever runs this company should be the one with his or her face on that poster instead of that innocent, kindly doctor over there. This is highway robbery, and you do it in broad daylight, too!”

“Where do you want the telegraph sent to in Canterlot?”

“The headquarters of the Equestrian Intelligence Service!”

The telegraph-pony looked from Dr. Fie to the ‘wanted’ posters. Under each one was the words, “If you have seen this dangerous fugitive, contact the Equestrian Intelligence Service immediately.”

“Don’t look so suspicious,” Dr. Fie said when the telegraph-pony looked back to him. “My colleagues and the EIS both have offices in the same building. Not wholly a satisfactory arrangement for either party, but they both manage. They’ll make sure the message gets to the right ponies.”

The telegraph-pony stared at Dr. Fie, looking him over carefully.

“Well, get a move on!” Dr. Fie said, shooing the pony along with his hooves.

“I do not get paid enough for this job,” the telegraph-pony said as he began to transmit.

“Any luck finding him?” Starlight said as she and Radiant Hope met up again.

“No, he was nowhere to be found,” Hope responded.

“He wasn’t down my end, either. Hope, how could you let him get away?”

“I didn’t know I was in charge of him,” Hope said.

Starlight gave a light whack to the back of Hope’s head, nearly causing her hood to fall off.

“Don’t do that,” Hope said. “You’ll expose me.”

“Oh, I think you’ve done a fine enough job of that!” Starlight said. “You’re the reason I’m even keeping the doctor with us, so he’s your responsibility.”

“You keep him around because you think it gives you leverage over me, is that what you mean?”

“Hope, don’t make it sound so calculated. But, yes, I keep him around because of what he means to you.”

Hope looked down the nearest aisle of stalls. “Maybe it doesn’t matter that he left. We don’t need him.”

“We need him not to turn us over to the authorities,” Starlight said. “I really wish I had knocked him into a gorge when I had the chance.”

“It wouldn’t be smart to turn us in, since they’re looking for him, too,” Hope observed.

“The word smart does not describe your Dr. Fie, Hope,” Starlight said.

“You’re right,” Hope responded. “He’d probably use brilliant, genius, or some other word like that.”

“This is serious,” Starlight said. “We have to find Dr. Fie or—”

“I thought I heard my ears burning.” Dr. Fie walked up beside Hope, with a basket of various fruits, vegetables, and a bottle of wine floating next to him. “Especially, when the terms brilliant and genius were employed.”

Starlight knocked him to the ground. As she stood over him, her horn beginning to smolder, she said, “Where were you?”

Dr. Fie’s own horn lit up. He managed to magically catch all of the foodstuffs in his basket before any hit the ground. He missed the wine, though. The only really terror on his face came when it nearly shattered on the ground, but Hope managed to catch it with her magic at the last moment.

Looking at Starlight’s furious face, he smiled. “I merely bought us some real food — or at least what passes for it in this podunk town. All of this may only be imported from around Canterlot, but it’s better than what your pony was feeding us. And probably better than what you bought. You should be thanking me, madam.”

“Starlight, get off of him,” Hope said.

“No,” Starlight said. “He must have been doing more than buying groceries.”

“You’re making a scene,” Hope whispered to her.

Starlight looked up to see that ponies were beginning to notice the tussle of the hooded strangers in the middle of the street. She resumed a dignified posture and backed off of Dr. Fie. With one of those fake smiles she was so good at, Starlight said to anypony watching, “My friend just had one too many ciders today. We’re helping him up.”

The explanation seemed enough, as the other ponies went back to their shopping. Dr. Fie rose to his hooves and began brushing himself off.

“I know you did something,” Starlight said, her voice deceptively sweet and kind. “When I find out what it is, I will blast your horn off of your head.”

“Starlight, calm down,” Hope said. “You don’t know that Dr. Fie was doing anything. If he alerted anypony to our presence, don’t you think they’d have come for us by now?”

“I have an alibi, see?” Dr. Fie said, shoving the basket in Starlight’s face. “You think a demanding connoisseur such as I could pick all this up in a flash? It takes patience and diligence to find the best this market has to offer. How could I possibly have managed to have made the acquaintance of any authorities while I was doing that?”

Starlight looked from Dr. Fie to Radiant Hope. “Do you trust him?” she asked.

“He might be telling the truth, at least about this,” Hope said.

“Oh, thank you, dear Hope!” Dr. Fie said. “You stand by your beloved Dr. Fie. Oh, what loyalty!”

“He does need to have the best of everything or he starts to whine,” Hope continued.

Dr. Fie’s expression changed to one of offense. “I do not need the best of everything! I simply cannot agree with the opinion that one should deny oneself of it when it’s there just begging to be taken!”

Starlight looked from Hope to Dr. Fie. Suddenly, a smile reappeared on her face. “Fine. I’ll believe you. For now.”

She began walking. As she passed Hope, she whispered, “It’s on your head if he’s lying.”

Then, to the both of them, she said, “We’ve got everything we need. We should get a move on so that we can make camp somewhere before nightfall.”

“Actually, I think it will be nightfall before we reach the outskirts of this Celestia-forsaken place,” Dr. Fie said. “I recommend that we should find some lodgings for ourselves for the night and continue on first thing tomorrow.”

Starlight stopped. She looked to Hope, her eyes narrow.

“He does have a point,” Hope said. “We lost too much daylight looking for him.”

Starlight looked up at the sun, which was quickly setting. The moon would be out very soon. Reluctantly, she nodded. “Let’s find someplace where they accept bits and don’t ask too many questions.”

“There’s an inn down the street,” Hope said. “I noticed it when I was looking for Dr. Fie. From what I saw, I doubt that they pay much attention to the clientele they get. It might be the best place for us.”

“Hope, take us there,” Starlight said.

The inn was a small place, two stories and barely that, and not very well-maintained. Most of it was dark, but there were a few lights on the bottom floor. There were windows, but most of them were boarded up. Radiant Hope and Dr. Fie waited outside while Starlight made preparations.

Dr. Fie sighed. “I had hoped for something with a five-star rating.”

“You won’t find many stars in this place,” Hope said, “but if you want to stay in town, this is the best we’ll get.”

“Oh, dear me,” Dr. Fie said. “The sacrifices I make for the greater good.”

What did Dr. Fie's message say?

Read on.

Double-Crossed

Swift Strike stepped off the train and onto the platform. It was the dead of night, probably about midnight or so. No, it was exactly midnight. Swift Strike had always needed to be precise about these sorts of things, and so he had trained himself to be able to make extremely accurate estimates of time no matter his circumstances.

And his circumstances could not be worse. What was the name of this place again? It didn’t really matter. The colts back at the EIS had even had to pull out Maredeville’s Comprehensive Atlas of Equestria (Sixth Edition, which would not be officially published for another year) just to find it. The message they had received had been cryptic — “About what you’re looking for in re Seaddle, I can find it. Meet me at the train station of the town this message originates from at midnight tonight.”

Of course, whoever was contacting them had information about the fugitives. But why be so secretive? The lads had all thought it must be either a hoax, a prank, or an attempt to lure the EIS into an ambush. But Swift Strike knew better. He had been pouring over all the information he had received about the three over the last week or two and felt he knew them better than they knew themselves.

Then again, Swift Strike knew most ponies better than they knew themselves. That was his job, after all.

He had just been fortunate that this little hamlet even had a train station and tracks leading to it. They had had to requisition a train from another line just to get here, and the haste required meant that only the barest of necessities were provided. Swift Strike could not remember a more unpleasant train-ride.

What I have to do in service of princesses and country….

It was amazing that the train-station stood at all. From the dust, from some of the broken windowpanes, and from the fact that at least one door had fallen off its hinges and was lying sideways in its doorway, it was obvious that nopony maintained the upkeep of the place. The line must have fallen into disuse some time ago — which would also help to explain the general bumpiness of the ride itself.

It was beginning to look like it might be an ambush after all. Swift Strike looked to the other railcars, each of them filled with highly-trained agents ready to jump out and defend him should things go awry. They were all as skilled as they could be, and their sudden collective jumping to alert behind the blacked-out windows would be imperceptible to anypony. Anypony but Swift Strike himself.

Swift looked to see what had put them all on edge. There was a dark figure coming toward him. Though visibility was poor, he could tell by the general outline that it was a pony in a cloak. He made a rough guess that it was a male, though there was not much to definitively point in that direction.

Swift Strike wondered whether this was some assassin sent to take out whoever stepped off the train. He quickly banished the thought; he had tussled with assassins before and they all had more brains than to dress in a way that practically advertised their occupation.

He raised a hoof to steady all the eyes he knew were nervously watching him and approached the pony. Swift lit a small yellow light on his horn as the pony approached. It wasn’t much, and he could do better, but he did not want to scare his informant off. And it gave him just enough light to make out who his informant was.

“Dr. Fie, I presume,” Swift said.

The doctor stepped in front of him and pulled down his hood. “The very same, my dear sir.”

“It was you who sent us the message, wasn’t it?”

Doctor Fie nodded. “Yes. But you have the advantage over me. How might I address you?”

“My name doesn’t matter,” Swift Strike responded. “I’m not even here.”

Dr. Fie poked Swift in several places and lifted up the agent's foreleg. “Really? You seem pretty solid to me. I’ve never seen a projection this convincing.”

Swift pulled his foreleg away. “I’m not a hologram. What I meant was, my presence here is to be known only by the two of us.” And the battalion of agents in the train, but best not to let the good doctor know that.

“Oh,” Dr. Fie said, beginning to wipe off Swift’s foreleg. “Of course, I knew that, but I merely wanted to make sure. Can’t be too careful with the sensitive information I have. Speaking of which, I had hoped that I could relay this information to a pony directly connected to the princesses. Are you such a pony?”

“I assure you, if your information has any merit, it will be passed along to the princesses,” Swift said, pushing away Dr. Fie’s hooves.

“Excellent,” said the doctor. “But do you mind if we talk indoors?”

“This train station seems perfectly secluded. There’s just the two of us.” Swift looked back to the train and hoped the agents would not do anything to reveal themselves. He didn’t need another Fillydelphia Incident to clean up.

“Oh, yes, of course. But there is such a draft in the air and this cloak itches terribly. If I’m going to be aiding the authorities, there’s no reason I shouldn’t be comfortable doing it.”

Swift looked back to the train one more time, making sure the others were still concealed. Then, he nodded. Dr. Fie began to lead the way. Swift knew his agents must be biting their hooves by now, but he was certain he knew Fie and what he was capable of. There would be no ambush.

Dr. Fie walked to a door and magically opened it. It was not locked. Inside was a small room, almost completely empty. By the dust it was covered in, they may have been the first ponies to enter it that decade. There was a single large window from which a vague impression of the station outside might be deciphered, but that was all. The only furniture was a single chair by the door. Dr. Fie undid his cloak and threw it on the chair.

“That’s better,” Dr. Fie said. “It is a shame that we must conduct ourselves in such ghastly surroundings, but it can’t be helped.”

“No, it can’t,” responded Swift. It suited his purposes well enough.

Dr. Fie sat back on his haunches and pressed his hooves together. His eyes grew narrow and the grin on his face grew wide. Swift was standing next to him, and the doctor insisted on looking at him from the corners of those narrow eyes.

“It is my understanding that you are currently interested in the where-abouts of certain ponies of questionable character. Is that so?”

“We are looking for three ponies we consider to be extremely dangerous,” Swift said. “In fact, doctor, you are one of those ponies.”

“So I have been made aware, but I assure you, my dear sir, that my part in the whole affair was completely involuntary. In fact, I contacted you because I would like to bring those two treacherous mares behind this to justice just as much as you would.”

Swift did his best to play along. “You would?” he asked in a tone that was meant to be surprise.

“Indubitably,” Dr. Fie said. “Not because of any personal cowardice on my part, for I would gladly endure the thousand pains they threaten me with, but because I feel it is my duty to my country and her princesses. That, and I too wish to see the cause of justice prevail.”

Swift nodded. “And you are ready to aid us in the apprehension of Starlight Glimmer and Radiant Hope?”

“Indeed. I know where they are currently staying. At much risk to my own person, I managed to separate myself from them earlier to send you that message and have just now once more escaped from underneath their hawk-like gaze, so great is my sense of duty to my sovereigns. You will tell them that, won’t you?”

“Dr. Fie,” Swift said. “I believe you. You are our country’s most eminent physician, a respected member of society and a pillar of the Seaddle community. Your recent paper on healing spells has turned the whole field on its head. And anypony that doubts your deep love and devotion to your motherland only has to look at your distinguished record of military service. I always knew you had nothing to do with whatever Hope and Glimmer are planning.”

Dr. Fie’s already-wide grin widened. “My dear sir, I can tell that you are a trustworthy pony. I’m a doctor, so I know about these things. I shall take you into my confidence. Hope and Starlight Glimmer are staying at the Dragon and Eagle Inn not far from here. I can lead you to the very spot if you like.”

“That won’t be necessary, doctor,” Swift said. “Your information is more than enough.”

“Oh, but I know how much you would benefit by consultation with a pony of my incredible discernment and vast intellect. I shall propose a plan to you that will take these two villains unaware.”

“We would value any advice you can give us.” Swift Strike told more lies than truths in his profession, but he could not recall any lie being harder to tell as this one.

“Both Starlight Glimmer and dear Hope are incredibly crafty, make no mistake about it! It is probably why they joined up together and how they knew to take me as a hostage. Any attempt to capture them in town is bound to fail. There is too much clutter everywhere, buildings and things, that they can use to slip from your grasp. Instead, what we shall do is this. I shall return to them and act as though I have never left. Tomorrow morning, I shall use my superior persuasive powers to convince them to take the southeasterly road out of town. I have heard from locals that there is a bridge along that road. I imagine that there are trees and other such elements of nature for you to conceal some ponies of your own. I shall lead them to the bridge and, as they cross, your ponies shall jump out. They will have no place to go and you shall take them practically unaware.”

“Oh, what an excellent plan! So much foresight and wisdom!” Swift Strike sincerely hoped that the increasing difficulty of saying these lies was not because he had suddenly and inconveniently developed a moral compass.

“I did think it was rather good, myself,” Dr. Fie said. “But I suppose that goes without saying.”

“Rest assured, doctor,” Swift said, “We shall follow your recommendation.”

“You once more vindicate my judgment of you as a pony of reason,” Dr. Fie said.

And then, though Swift would have sworn it was not possible, his eyes grew even narrower and his grin became even wider.

“I offer to do this completely without thought of my own well-being, concerned only with seeing the rule of law upheld in every corner of our fair land,” Dr. Fie said. “But I did notice that your posters promise anypony who aids in the arrest of these wicked wretches is to be entitled to… a reward?”

Swift nodded. “Yes. In addition to the gratitude of the princesses and every law-abiding citizen of Equestria, a reward of 500,000 bits is on offer.”

Dr. Fie’s grin became, briefly, a toothy smile. Then he put one of his hooves to his chest and raised the other as though swearing an oath. “Of course, I have no interest in such a paltry thing as money when matters of principle are at stake! But I suppose that it would encourage our less noble breed of citizens to themselves aid the authorities if they saw that the authorities were willing to pay out a pony’s due reward.”

“I suppose it would,” Swift said. “I will explain that to the princesses and I am sure they will see the wisdom of what you say.”

Dr. Fie nodded, his eyes glowing. “Good, good. And I’m sure it has only been a mere oversight on their part that has kept me out of the Hearth’s Warming honors every year?”

“Let’s focus on nabbing Hope and Glimmer,” Swift Strike said. “I’m sure the princesses will be more than appreciative of the role you’ll play.”

There was a limit to how much even Swift Strike could stand to indulge an informant.

“Of course, of course. But you know how mares are. Things slip out of their little heads so easily….”

Swift forced himself to remain stone-faced, despite the fact that he felt certain that such insinuations against the princesses must constitute treason somehow. “I promise you, doctor, that I shall use all my influence with them to see you get exactly what you deserve.”

Dr. Fie rubbed his hooves together as his grin became a full smile. “I thank you, my dear sir, for once more showing yourself to be a pony of honor and merit. I know we shall achieve great things together. We two shall be very great friends, indeed. But, for now, I must get back to the inn before either of our enemies is alerted to my absence. Farewell, my good friend, until we meet again.”

With the bow of an actor receiving a standing ovation, Dr. Fie snatched up his cloak and exited the room. Swift Strike followed and watched him disappear into the night.

Once the doctor was gone, one of Swift’s agents came from the train and stood beside him.

“Should we apprehend him?” the agent asked.

“No,” Swift said. “Just let a few of our lads trail him. We need to get a message to the princesses.”

“What are you going to tell them?”

“That I’ve located the inn the fugitives are staying at and that in a few hours, I shall have surrounded their position entirely. The princesses can expect that all three of them shall be brought to justice before morning.”

Swift nodded in satisfaction and walked past the agent toward the train. He would make some final preparations and then he would follow the colts down to the inn. Everything was in place.

As inappropriate as it was, Swift felt a rush of anticipation as he looked up at the moon and the stars above. He even began to smile.

This may just be the operation that defines my whole career, he reflected. And with that happy thought, Swift Strike disappeared into the night. Almost like a shadow.

And if anyone should know about shadows, it was three dark beings swirling high above, almost indistinguishable from Luna’s somber night.

Would Swift Strike succeed in taking our heroines unaware?

Read on.

Ambush

Hope lay on the little cot, alternately resting her eyes and wondering whether the cracked boards above them would come crashing down while they were still in the room. She had only managed to sleep a little. There was too much on her mind to allow her to get much more, but she didn’t want to awaken her companions, so she just lay there as though she was asleep.

Occasionally, she closed her eyes. She saw the faces again, and the hooves clawing at her. Then she would open her eyes and look up at the ceiling. Then she would close her eyes again.

“Why do you keep doing that?”

Hope looked over to the cot nearest hers and saw Starlight Glimmer looking back at her.

“Can’t sleep, either?” she asked.

Starlight sat up. “Not more then two hours or so. There is just so much of a risk with us being here that I can’t let myself get more than that. I should never have agreed to Dr. Fie’s suggestion. It was clumsy of me, and I didn’t survive this long being clumsy.”

“At least he’s getting some sleep,” Hope said, nudging her nose in the direction of Dr. Fie’s cot, where she could see the covers pulled up tightly.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard him this quiet,” Starlight said. “He even talks in his sleep! If I have to listen to that dream where Celestia awards him the Hero of Equestria medal one more time, I swear I’ll….”

“He was probably so glad to be in halfway comfortable surroundings again that he went right into a deep sleep,” Hope said as Starlight made a strangling gesture with her hooves.

Starlight looked over her shoulder and then looked back. “I should have knocked him into a ravine.”

“You couldn’t do that to him for no reason,” Hope said.

Starlight sighed. “We’re not having this discussion again, are we? I thought we agreed we were both far beyond ‘I would never do something like that’ territory.”

“You’re ruthless, Starlight,” Hope said, “but you’re not that ruthless. I think you really believe that you’re a good mare.”

“I am a good mare, but I do what the circumstances require, or at least I should. My father taught me that a good pony does whatever the circumstances require. I can hear him now, ‘Glimmer, why didn’t you drop that namby-pamby professor in a ditch when you had the chance? Nice and clean, Glimmer. That’s how I taught you.’”

“You care about your father a lot, don’t you?” Hope asked.

Starlight smiled. “It was only the two of us after mom died. I was still just a foal. Then the way the family and all the high-society ponies turned on us because they said he murdered her…. He didn’t murder her!”

“I never said he did,” Hope said.

Starlight shook her head. “Anyway, it wasn’t easy for him. He had been a colonel, fought in the Zebra Wars, brought back a lot of gold, so we never struggled financially. I think the only reason the family agreed to the match was because he had all that treasure and they needed it more than anything.”

“None of them ever thought to look for the hidden family fortune like you did?”

“I got my brains from my father, as well. But we always knew what everypony thought of us. To them, he was a murderer and I was the daughter of a murderer. We had to rely on each other. And then when it took me so long to get my cutie mark, the other ponies really got nasty. They said it must have been how I was raised, or who raised me, that kept me from getting it.”

“I didn’t get my cutie mark until I was nearly full-grown,” Hope said. “At the orphanage, they all used to tease me for it. They could be so mean.”

“You never told me that,” Starlight said.

“It never came up.”

“You should know better than anyone the pain cutie marks can cause.”

Hope just stared at Starlight. There was no way they were having this conversation again, not at half-past midnight.

Luckily, Starlight was not in the mood for another ideological debate. “My only friend back then was a colt named Sunburst. He was the only one who would give me a chance when nopony else would. He was the only one who was friendly with me. I think it was because he took a while to get his cutie mark, too.”

“Sounds familiar,” Hope said with a half-smile.

Starlight nodded. “We were inseparable and we had so much fun. Those were good days, some of the best days of my life. But then, they ended. He got his cutie mark and suddenly, he wasn’t an outsider anymore. He wasn’t shunned by everypony like I still was, like I would always be. I lost him. I lost him to them. I never really made another friend after that. Even after I got my cutie mark, it didn’t matter. It just all seemed so unfair.”

Hope was deep in thought. “That must be how Sombra felt after I got my cutie mark,” she said quietly. “I should have realized back then what it was doing to him….”

“You probably should have,” Starlight said, a little pain in her voice. “But I suppose you can’t do anything about that now. My dad wouldn’t let me moan like this. He said we had to do whatever it took to survive and not look weak. He said he did a lot of things in zebra country that most ponies would look down on. He said they just couldn’t understand what it was like out there. He said that if they wouldn’t accept me, their feelings and opinions didn’t matter. What mattered was what I did with my abilities and power. He got me through a lot of tough times.”

“I can see why he’s so important to you. I’ve never known a pony like that. I’d like to meet him someday.”

Starlight’s eyes clouded with moisture. “He passed away just after I entered the Rational University. I wasn’t going to even go on with my magical studies, not after being rejected by the Royal Academy, but he made me go. And then, my first term there, he passed. I think the alcohol got to him eventually. He always did like to drink…. I remember feeling like it was all their fault. First, they had taken Sunburst, and then they had driven him to drink. I felt like it was all of Equestria’s fault what happened….”

“And how’d you get over it?” Hope asked.

Starlight smiled through her tears, but it was a cold, ironic smile. “You know ponies like us, Hope. We don’t get over things like that.”

“I’m sorry,” Hope said. “It was so hard, wasn’t it? It was unfair that all that happened to you.”

“Thanks,” Starlight said. “When ponies used to say that to me, I would want to buck them in the teeth. What did they know about it? Easy enough for them, with their easy lives. But you, you’ve had to go through these kinds of things too. What happened to your parents?”

Hope rolled around to face the other way.

“Hope, that’s not fair,” Starlight said. “You know how this works. I say something about me, and you tell me something about you. Nopony really knows about my father or about Sunburst. At least, not anypony I’ve met since I founded the village. Stirring doesn’t even know that much about my past. But I told you. Doesn’t that mean anything?”

Hope did not turn around. “At least you still had a father. You had somepony to take care of you and look out for you. Some of us never had that.”

“Hope, I just wanted—”

Hope sat up in her cot. She looked off into the distance. “I can’t remember my parents anymore. I used to be able to. But then a thousand years passed and now I can’t remember them at all. I just have some vague impressions, like when they took me to the Crystal Faire. But I can’t even picture their faces!”

“Okay, okay,” Starlight said, “maybe I pushed a little too hard. I know you feel like everypony you ever knew betrayed you or let you down. I get that it’s still a sore spot for you. I mean, I went through the same things and am willing to open up about them, but whatever.”

“No, not the same,” Hope said, her voice growing harsher. “So Sunburst left you. But you still had your father. Who did I ever have like that? Who did I ever have that didn’t abandon me, one way or another?"

Starlight was silent. She seemed to be thinking.

“My father wasn’t perfect either, Hope,” she said at last. “Maybe he didn’t take over the Crystal Empire like Sombra and the Umbrum did, but he fought in the Zebra Wars, and there weren’t any knights in shining armor there. I’m well aware that he probably would have disappointed your moral expectations if you ever met him. The ponies that care about us often disappoint us. Accept it. I have.”

Hope’s finally turned to Starlight. She raised her eyebrows. “Sure, you have.”

Starlight was a little piqued. “What? Of course, I have!”

“Aren’t you afraid of disappointing them?” Hope asked. “Isn’t that why you want them see you as their beloved, faultless leader?”

Starlight seemed fazed. But then, the fire returned; Starlight was ready for battle. “It was never about me, Hope. Believe what you want, but it was not about me. I did what I had to do to keep our utopia together. Yes, I admit that. But I didn’t make them worship me. I gave them an ideal to worship, because an ideal can’t disappoint you like a pony can.”

“Now who’s the naïve one?” Hope said as she settled once more into the cot and turned back toward the wall.

“And what gives you the right, Radiant Hope, to even—”

Starlight was interrupted by the sound of the door creaking open. She immediately rolled out of her cot and crouched on the other side of it, her horn ready to blast any intruder that came through the door. Hope also braced for possible danger.

Dr. Fie appeared. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” he said casually.

Starlight jumped onto her cot and prepared to pounce upon the doctor. “You, I thought you were asleep!”

Dr. Fie pulled back the covers of his own cot to reveal a pillow propping them up. “Sleep? How can anypony sleep with the noise you two are making, madam? I should not be surprised to learn that the whole inn’s been woken up by now.”

Starlight was undeterred. “What… where… you… doing… out… of …bed?”

“Is a pony to be persecuted for getting out of his own cot when he chooses?” the doctor said nonchalantly. “Is this one of the rules of your Equalist regime? All ponies must stay in their cots from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Monday to Friday, and 9 to 7 on Saturday and—”

Starlight leapt to the floor in front of Dr. Fie and stamped her hoof. Hope watched several pieces of wood fall from the ceiling.

“Explain!” Starlight demanded.

Dr. Fie rolled his eyes. “If you must know, I needed a glass of warm milk. I simply cannot sleep without it some nights.” He gestured to the glass levitating beside him.

“Starlight, calm down,” Hope said.

“You’re one to talk,” Starlight said. “You were perfectly happy to stir up an argument just now.”

Hope got out of her cot and put herself between Starlight and the doctor. “Dr. Fie is not our enemy. If he was, he would have tried something by now.”

“Hope, my dear, I really should complement you on your incredible good sense more often,” Dr. Fie said.

Starlight looked from Hope to Dr. Fie and back again. With a sneer, she said, “On your head be it, Hope.” She then went back to her cot.

Dr. Fie took a sip of his milk and then began to stretch. “The accusations I have to endure! I won’t be surprised if I don’t sleep a wink tonight after those cruel slanders! Excuse me, ladies, while I do my pre-bed exercises.”

Hope was about to say something to the effect that it would probably be best for all concerned if Dr. Fie skipped the exercises tonight — he had, after all, already subjected the two mares to his noisy routine at 8:00 — but she never got the chance. They were soon disturbed by something much louder than Dr. Fie’s calisthenics.

“Starlight Glimmer, Radiant Hope, Dr. Fiddly Fie, give yourselves up! We have you entirely surrounded!”

Starlight jumped from her cot and huddled beneath the window. Hope and Dr. Fie quickly joined her there. All three lifted their heads up just enough to see out. A large number of fearsome looking unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies — some in armor, some in suits — were assembled on the street outside, along with a growing crowd of curious civilians and, soon enough, all the other ponies from the inn. In front of them was a small purple unicorn casting a vocal spell on himself.

“They’ve found us!” Hope said.

“Thank you for that, Hope,” Starlight said. “I really needed help interpreting all those big words.”

“She was just stating the facts, madam,” Dr. Fie said.

Starlight turned to Dr. Fie. “You did this! You brought them here! This is where you were!”

“Madam, I really have no idea what you are—”

“Starlight Glimmer, Radiant Hope, Dr. Fiddly Fie,” the purple stallion outside repeated. “You must all give yourselves up and face the justice you have been fleeing from!"

“Me?” Dr. Fie said. “What’s he playing at? Why aren’t they waiting at the bridge like I said?”

Starlight threw Dr. Fie to the ground and began choking him. “You betrayed us! I knew I should have done this when I first had the chance!”

Hope grabbed hold of Starlight and tried to pull her off. “No, Starlight! Starlight, no! We can’t do that now. We have to get out of here!”

Starlight flung Hope off of her with surprising force. Hope hit the side of her cot and collapsed to the floor. Starlight now began approaching her, with the same deadly look in her eyes.

“If you do not surrender yourselves, we will send ponies in after you!” announced the purple unicorn.

“You trusted him!” Starlight said to Hope. “I knew he did something, but you trusted him!”

“No, Starlight, I didn’t,” Hope said.

“Yes, you did! You either trusted him or you were in it with him!”

“No, Starlight, you have to—”

Starlight threw her hooves onto Hope’s neck and began pressing down.

“I told you that it would be on your head if he did something like this!”

“This… happens… to me… way too often….” Hope managed to gasp out.

“Well, it’ll be the last time!” Starlight said.

Dr. Fie, meanwhile, got to his hooves and, seeing that Hope and Starlight were distracted, began sneaking toward the door.

Outside, Swift looked to the building and then to his ponies. An assault team had assembled itself behind him. He nodded to them and they filed past him toward the inn.

Then Swift noticed something he had not anticipated, despite his many calculations. Two winged figures were descending out of the night sky. Swift dropped to his haunches as Princesses Luna and Twilight Sparkle made touch-down.

“Princesses, what are you doing here?” he said, causing them both to cover their ears.

“Quiet down, subject,” Luna said as she cast a spell to remove Swift’s. “Only I am allowed to speak at such a pitch.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Swift said as he rose. “But what are you two doing here?”

“Sister did task us with personally overseeing this operation,” Luna said. “Besides, my colleague was certain that Starlight Glimmer would somehow slip through your capable hooves.”

Twilight smiled a bashful smile. “I didn’t say that! But I know how smart Starlight Glimmer is. I wasn’t going to be able to relax until I saw for myself that you had arrested her.”

“The rug in sister’s study is quite worn out from the pacing,” Luna said.

“I assure you that we have everything under control here,” Swift Strike said.

“Of course, you do!” Twilight responded. “We’re just here to observe and only take command on the off-chance that three ponies are too much for Equestria’s finest to take down.”

Swift smiled. He knew that if he asked, Twilight would give him her exact calculation of what that chance was. But he wasn’t going to ask. He knew he had this. The raid would be over before it had even begun.

Hope’s horn began to glow. Starlight was in too much of a frenzy to notice. She was caught unprepared by the blast and was sent flying onto the floor. She sank down into it a bit. Had Hope put just a little more magic into the blast, Starlight probably would have gone straight through.

“I didn’t want to have to do that,” Hope said as she got up, rubbing her neck. “I know you’re angry, but we need to focus on escaping right now.”

Starlight got up from the floor, paying no mind as that particular section fell through after her. From the look in her eyes, Hope was almost certain she would try to choke her again. But she didn’t.

“Fine,” Starlight said. “But when we get out of here, both you and the doctor are going to pay for this.”

“Fair enough,” Hope said. “Where is Dr. Fie?”

Both mares looked to the open doorway. Outside, they could clearly hear Dr. Fie’s distinctive baritone voice. “Oh, thank Celestia you’ve arrived! Those two maniacs were about to…. Wait? What are you doing? No, I’m on your side! I’m the one who brought you here!”

A deafening scream shook the inn as the two mares watched spears fly in the hallway outside.

Luna and Twilight watched from behind the barriers, each sipping a coffee.

They heard a scream and saw the whole building shake.

“Why does everypony insist on speaking so loudly? Why do they all imitate what was mine originally?” Luna asked.

“Welcome to modern Equestria,” Twilight responded.

Dr. Fie ran back into the room. His suitcoat had been cut in several places, and blood was visible. But otherwise, he did not seem badly injured.

“Time to go,” he said.

Immediately after him, a large number of stallions in armor charged into the room. Dr. Fie and Starlight surrounded Hope.

“Hope, get us as far from here as you can,” Starlight said.

“I won’t have a chance to concentrate!” Hope said. “We could end up anywhere!”

“Good heavens, dear girl,” Dr. Fie said, “we’re not trying to book a flight to Griffinstone! Just get us out of here!”

The stallions pulled back their forelegs, the spear-points glistening in the moonlight.

Hope closed her eyes. A blue light surrounded the three. In a flash, they gone, and the spears met the wall.

The structure began to shake and, before the stallions could do anything but exchange worried glances, collapsed in on itself.

There was a bright blue flash as Radiant Hope and the others appeared on the sidewalk outside. Hope looked back at the inn.

“I hope nopony was hurt!” she said as she cast a quick healing spell over the rubble.

“I think you should worry more about the ponies in front of us,” Starlight said.

Hope looked in front of her to see that they were directly in front of the barricades.

Her horn began to glow. There was a flash, and the three were gone.

Immediately, a long file of unicorns used magic to project a bubble all around the ruins of the inn. Hope, Starlight, and the doctor reappeared, exactly where they had disappeared.

“That bubble, it blocks teleportation spells!” Hope said.

“We’re doomed!” Dr. Fie shouted. “We’re all doomed!”

“No, we’re not!” Starlight said. Her horn began to glow turquoise. The light also surrounded the line of unicorns and, all in unison, their cutie marks tore off their rears and floated into the sky. The bubble immediately disappeared.

“Starlight, we can’t hurt anypony,” Hope said. “That includes stealing their cutie marks.”

“Who’s stealing? I’m borrowing. They’ll get them back when we’re gone,” Starlight said. “Now, Hope, get us out of here!”

Hope closed her eyes and her horn began to glow. There was a flash. She was gone. Dr. Fie was gone. But the moment before the teleport, a violet beam had knocked Starlight out of Hope’s immediate vicinity.

Hope did not realize it until only two of them appeared at the next street-corner.

“What are you all waiting for?” Swift Strike said to his task force. “Go find them!”

“Do what he says, all of you!” Twilight said. “I’ll take care of Starlight Glimmer.”

“I’ll find Radiant Hope,” Luna said. “You and your ponies find the doctor.”

Luna took to the air. The force of ponies began galloping and flying. Swift looked to Twilight. “Nice shot, by the way, your highness,” he said. Then he too went after Hope and Dr. Fie.

Twilight fluttered up into the air and landed in front of Starlight. Starlight rose, a look of savage determination on her face. She knew that she could teleport a little ways away herself and avoid the confrontation. But, with Twilight standing there, she did not want to.

“Starlight Glimmer….” Twilight said.

“Twilight Sparkle….” Starlight responded.

“Okay, Starlight, we know how this is going down. You know you can’t beat me in a fair fight.”

“Good thing I’m smarter than you are, then,” Starlight said. She sent what she thought was a surprise broadside blast Twilight’s way.

Twilight managed to fly over it easily and sent one back at Starlight. Starlight got out of the way, but just barely. The two powerful ponies looked to each other, pure hatred in their eyes. Their horns both began to glow.

Hope and Dr. Fie were running down the streets. She was going as fast as she could and, surprisingly, the doctor was keeping up with her. Fear for his life must have gotten him into some semblance of physical shape.

“Let’s hide here!” Hope said as they passed one of the stalls from the farmers’ market. Both ponies dived in just as a troop of guards passed by.

They sat there, hidden from view, recovering their breath.

“Oh, the indignity of it all!” Dr. Fie said. “Here I am, a law-abiding pony, in the middle of being hunted down by the very government I pay taxes to support!”

“I doubt very much that you pay taxes,” Hope said between gasps.

“Well, maybe not in a literal sense. But I think about it from time to time and manage to almost convince myself that I should.”

“Doctor, why did you tell them?” Hope said.

“Hope, I am a pony of duty and patriotism! You know that!” Dr. Fie said. “I never wanted to be a part of this travesty of—”

“I know why you’d want to,” Hope said. “I saw that they were offering a reward. But didn’t you realize that they’d want to take you in too?”

“It is hard to think straight when one has been under the constant strain that I have, dear girl,” Dr. Fie said. “But I thought I could trust them. If one cannot trust one’s government, than who can one trust?”

“I don’t know.”

Dr. Fie took a few more deep gasps and put his hoof to his chest, feeling his heartbeat. “Oh, such physical exertion! Ponies weren’t meant for it! It shall be the end of me if I have to do anymore!”

“I feel fine,” Hope said. And other than being a little winded, she did.

“Nopony likes a braggart, dear child,” Dr. Fie said. “We are not all cousin to the cheetah and the gazelle, you know! Can’t you just poof us out of here?”

Hope peered over the stall just long enough to see that guards were at both ends of the street and that pegasi were flying overhead.

“It’s not going to be that easy,” she said as she came back down. “Besides, we have to save Starlight.”

“Save Starlight? Have you gone completely daft, girl? She is a criminal, a felon! She’s the one that forced the two of us into this crazy scheme in the first place! Save her? Hardly! Now is our chance to escape and return to normal society. We two are the innocent parties here. Let her get what’s coming to her, I say!”

“And did you tell that to the princesses?” Hope said.

“What?”

“Did you tell that to the princesses, when you were negotiating to turn us over?”

Dr. Fie shook his head. “I didn’t actually get to speak to the princesses. Didn’t even think they’d leave the comforts of Canterlot Castle for this. This wasn’t even my plan. I had worked out a much better one and their pony agreed to it, but I guess ponies’ words don’t mean what they used to! Ho-hum on him!”

Hope was not swayed by the swish of Dr. Fie’s foreleg. “You know what I mean. When you were negotiating to turn us over to the princesses, did you say that both you and I were innocent? Or did you just try to save yourself?”

“Hope, how could you even ask that of me?” Dr. Fie said. “Of course, I told them you were innocent. I said to them, ‘Starlight’s a scoundrel, through and through, but I know that Hope and she’s an upstanding girl!’”

Hope did not believe it for a moment. She shot Dr. Fie a cold look.

He squirmed a little. “Well, I… I had to make it believable, and they were intent on believing that you had gone back to your old ways.”

“When would you have mentioned that I hadn’t? After Starlight and I had ended up in cozy cages next to each other in Tartarus?”

“Oh, it wouldn’t have come to that, dear girl. I would have had you ruled criminally insane and transferred to Seaddle Specialist long before you ever saw the inside of that horrid pit of despair.”

“It might be preferable to the pit of despair we’re in now,” Hope said.

Dr. Fie flicked his wrist. “But none of that matters anymore. The past is as a wisp of smoke. The present is what counts. And presently, we need to get out of here before they find us!”

“No, doctor, I can’t do that,” Hope said. “Not without Starlight.”

She looked back up to see that the guards were now searching stall-by-stall. And what was more, they were coming very close to the stall where Hope and Dr. Fie were concealed.

“We have to get out of here, now,” Hope said. Her horn began to glow. But then she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. Dr. Fie let out a squeak. Hope saw a guard holding a spear, its blade stained with crystalline blood. The tip of the blade was in her.

“Found ’em, boys!” he called out. Hope heard the clanking of armor as the others came galloping.

“I say, that’s very bad form, spearing a lady!” Dr. Fie frantically protested.

“From what I hear, she ain’t no lady!” the guard said as his cohorts arrived around him. “Let’s take ’em in.”

He had just begun to lift Hope out on the point of his spear when a light came on from the building up above them. The windows opened and out came the portly mare Hope and Starlight had met earlier.

“What’s all that racket?” she called out. Then she saw the guards. “What are you doing to my stall? That’s my property you’re wrecking!”

“We’re sorry, ma’am,” called out the guard. “But we’re in the middle of apprehending two dangerous fugitives!”

“Dangerous fugitives? In this town!” she called back down. “That would be far too exciting for this place! You know what you are, you’re just a bunch of guards on leave, aren’t you? You think that because you’re from Canterlot, you can get away with anything! So, you come up here, get drunk, and start destroying honest ponies’ property.”

“No, ma’am, that’s not it at all!”

While the guard was distracted, Dr. Fie removed the spear tip from Hope’s shoulder. It hurt incredibly, but Hope knew she had to bear up.

“Now, get us out of here!” Dr. Fie said.

“Oh, yes, it is!” said the mare. “I’ve seen it before, plenty of times! But you never think it’s going to happen to you!”

Hope’s horn began to glow.

“Please, ma’am, just calm down and let us do our job!” said the guard.

“If you’re still messing with my stall when I get down there,” said the mare, “those spears won’t do you any good! I’ve been known to put quite a few stall-wreckers in the hospital in my time.”

“Maybe we should get out of here,” one of the guards said to his chief.

“Let’s just secure these two first,” said the main guard as he looked down into the stall.

He gasped as he saw his spear jabbing into nothing. “They’re gone!”

Hope and Dr. Fie reappeared a few streets away. Hope cringed as she felt the blood pouring out of her wound.

“Come on, dear girl, use a healing spell on yourself!” Dr. Fie said.

“I normally don’t let myself….” Hope said as she grit her teeth.

“Poppycock! This is an emergency! You do it or I’ll do it myself. You’re not the only one who knows healing spells! I do have a very well-regarded paper to my name on the subject, after all.”

“I wrote that paper for you,” Hope responded.

“This isn’t the time for quibbles!” the excited doctor said. “Just do it so we can get out of here!”

“I know, doctor,” Hope said. Her horn glowed and the wound disappeared. Hope would have to wait to wash off the blood which had already dripped out, but it that was a minor inconvenience.

“Now, what do we do?” the doctor said, sounding as though he was on the verge of hyperventilating.

Hope looked around her. She had not had much of a chance to explore the town, but from what she had seen, she felt she could make some reasonable conclusions about it. The streets they were on had all been main streets, but Hope had noticed plenty of alleys and crooked roads during their entrance into town. She saw one now.

She grabbed the doctor with her hooves. “Listen to me, doctor. There’s plenty of alleyways around. They’ll have places to conceal ourselves. If we just stick to them and be careful, we’ll eventually make it out of this town. Let’s start with that one.”

“Excellent idea!” the doctor said.

Hope and Dr. Fie dashed for the alley, but just as they were about to reach it, a large pegasus landed in their path.

“I’ve got them!” she called out to the heavens above.

Immediately, several more pegasi came from the night sky and began to swirl around the two. Some landed on the ground, while others kept making circles over their heads.

A handful of unicorns came up behind them and created another bubble.

“Spread the word that we’ve got them,” the lead pegasus said.

Hope and the doctor looked to each other in alarm. “Any other bright ideas, dear girl?” Dr. Fie asked.

But before Hope could respond, pegasi began flying left and right. The unicorns too were thrown far away, causing the bubble to disappear. It took Hope a moment to realize what had happened. It was as though the darkness itself had come down and knocked them all away.

Which could mean only one thing.

“Let’s get out of here, child!” Dr. Fie pleaded as he grasped at Hope’s shoulder.

But Hope did not pay attention. She was looking up at the Umbrum as they swooped down at the other ponies, who ineffectually tried to hold them off.

“No, don’t hurt them!” Hope called out. “You’ve hurt enough ponies already!”

“Hope, please, let them destroy each other,” Dr. Fie said, sounding like he was on the verge of tears. “Please, let’s just get out of here!”

One of the Umbrum ceased it’s attacks to float over to Hope. It was Invidia.

“Such compassion for the ponies hunting you down. Since when do you care so much for your enemies, Radiant Hope?”

“They aren’t my enemies,” Hope said. “You are.”

“Yet we are the ones helping you. And you are our Empress.”

“I am not your Empress and I do not want your help! I’d rather be locked up in Tartarus than let any more ponies die because of you!”

“Such noble sentiments,” Invidia said. “But we can’t have you missing our meeting in Las Pegasus just because they got in the way!”

Princess Luna soared through the sky. She had seen all the pegasi dive and knew that they must have found something. She arrived just in time to see the circle around Radiant Hope and Dr. Fiddly Fie broken, shattered by the darkness of the night itself.

“Radiant Hope is still in league with the Umbrum!” Luna said, her eyes growing wide. “She never reformed at all. It was a ruse all along!”

The lead pegasus got to her hooves. The third of the Umbrum, a portly grey-blue one, dived down toward her. She could have tried to fly away, but she could see that, at the speed which the monstrous thing was approaching her, she’d never escape from it. Instead, she braced herself for the impact and for whatever the thing would do afterward.

But it did nothing to her. For a blue light hit it from the side as it was coming down. Not enough to injure it, but enough to get its attention.

“I did not come here to endure cheap shots!” complained the Umbrum in a voice that sounded distorted and terrible, but also strangely feminine.

“Walk it off, Luxuria,” Invidia said.

“Fly it off, actually,” Misericordia added. Invidia promptly whacked him with a grizzled hoof.

A blue blast shot between them, causing them to scatter.

“Leave her alone,” Radiant Hope shouted. “Leave them all alone.”

Invidia regained himself and swooped down to Hope. “Do you think you can stop us? You are what you have always been, our pawn. Do you think you can change that?”

Hope looked up with determination in her eyes. “I don’t know. I may still be your pawn, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let you hurt any other ponies without a fight.”

“Very well,” Invidia said as he reared back. Hope prepared for the impact. She pushed Dr. Fie out of the way and steadied herself. She put everything she had into the beam of light she was directing against the dark figure. She thought she was having an effect, but she knew she would still have to take the brunt of the shadow’s hooves.

It was going to be a good day to have advanced healing powers….

But then, Invidia paused. He just floated over Hope. Hope looked up, unsure what to make of it. He should have brought his hooves down by now.

He let out another hideous laugh. “You would like that, wouldn’t you? A martyr’s death to make up for a traitor’s life? But it shall not come so easily. We still need you.”

Hope’s lips curved into a little sneer. “Why? Why do you need me? What are you trying to do?”

“Oh, don’t be like that. Let’s not fight. Not yet. We came to help you out of here, after all. Speaking of which, we brought you a goodwill gift.”

Invidia waved down Misericordia. As Hope looked on, perplexed, Misericordia flew down and offered her his hooves. Or rather, what was in his hooves. Sombra’s horn.

Sombra’s horn! Hope realized that she must have left it in the inn when they escaped. How had she forgotten it? How had she not even thought of retrieving it before teleporting?

“Careless, careless Empress,” Invidia said. “To just leave the remains of our beloved Emperor lying around like that. Maybe you just never cared about him at all.”

Hope did not respond to the taunt. She swiftly grabbed the horn from Misericordia and pressed it tightly against her chest.

“You will need to do better than that, careless girl,” Invidia began to say. “You will never make up for your mistakes like—”

He was launched back into the night by a blast of blue from Hope’s horn. It was not enough to stun him for long, but it clearly took him by surprise.

“Ah, help me!” he snapped to his subordinates.

“Here we go again,” Luxuria said as she sluggishly moved forward. “I don’t know if that one’s going to heal easily, Invidia. It’s a shame, too. You had such a pretty face.”

Pretty? One of the Umbrum? It was probably meant sarcastically, but still, Hope shuttered at the thought.

The three Umbrum began circling around, like vultures. Hope looked from one to another and steadied herself. Invidia may not want her to die. Yet. But he seemed to want revenge. Another fight was in the offing.

That is, until another, different beam of blue light shot through the middle of the Umbric circle and caused the creatures to scatter.

“Enough!”

Invidia looked. Hope looked. Dr. Fie looked.

There stood Princess Luna, the moon reflecting in her eyes.

The other Umbrum stopped what they were doing as well. All looked to Princess Luna.

Her horn, already smoking, began to glow. “Begone, foul creatures!” she said. “Begone now, or I shall vanquish you!”

“One princess cannot vanquish all of us!” Invidia replied haughtily.

Luna was unfazed. “Would you like to test whether your estimate is correct?”

The Umbrum exchanged glances and fell silent. And then, all together, they began to float away.

“We will not waste our energy anymore,” Invidia said. “We will see you in Las Pegasus, Empress.”

Misericordia waved at Hope as he left. Hope, taken aback, offered a little half-hearted wave in response. Then she looked to Luna, who was fast approaching her.

“You saved us!” Hope said.

“I saved my subjects,” Luna responded. “A bond which you forsook long ago.”

Hope shook her head. “Princess, this isn’t what it looks like. I never meant for any of this to happen.”

Luna laughed a mirthless laugh. “A likely story! I suppose you and those vile creatures were both out for a midnight stroll — which I would recommend because I must say that I outdid myself on making this night — and bumped into each other.”

“Princess….”

“Do you deny that you knew the Umbrum were here?”

“Not here, exactly, but I knew—”

“Aha! I knew it! And what is that in your hooves?”

Hope remembered that she was still holding Sombra’s horn, just out in the open. She quickly put it behind her back and tried on a sheepish smile. “Oh, that? It’s nothing....”

“I may be a thousand years, but I assure you that my eyesight is not failing,” Luna said. “And from what I see, that looks like the horn of King Sombra! Or at least what was left of it after his death. You claim you have nothing to do with the Umbrum, and yet you carry their ruler’s horn like a trophy.”

Hope clutched it close to her. “He wasn’t just an Umbrum! He was my friend, too!”

It was then that she heard Sombra’s voice again, carried on the wind. Hope.

Hope shuddered again. She felt a newer, deeper chill with each recurrence.

Luna gave a disgruntled little nod of the head. “Unbelievable. Even after everything that happened to the Crystal Empire, you have learned nothing. You still think fondly of those monsters. You are still in league with them.”

Hope grew anxious. “What? No! I’m not in league with the Umbrum! Just ask Dr. Fie. He’ll tell you!”

Hope looked beside her to see that she was now alone. Turning around, she saw Dr. Fie disappear into the shadows of the alleyway.

“So, your confederate isn’t even willing to stand by you,” Luna said as her horn began to glow. “If that isn’t an admission of guilt, I don’t know what is! Sister will be so disappointed to learn that you were irredeemable after all.”

“Princess Luna, you have to listen!” Hope exclaimed.

“The time for talk is ended,” Luna said. “But I am not without fairness and mercy. Prepare yourself and ‘take your best shot’ — as I think they say these days — at me.”

“I won’t fight you, princess!” Hope said. “You have to believe me! Everything that’s happening, with Starlight Glimmer, with the Umbrum, I know how bad it must look to you. But I didn’t mean for any of this to happen!”

“No, you meant to unleash the Umbrum on all Equestria back during the Siege, when you helped Sombra put my sister and I in stone.”

Tears welled up in Hope’s eyes. “No! I never wanted that! Please, Princess Luna, you have to believe that I never wanted any of that!”

“It is much too late for crocodile tears,” Luna said. “Fight or surrender. It does not matter which.”

“But Princess,” Hope said, “what about what you did as Nightmare Moon? You still want ponies to trust you, even after you tried to throw Equestria into eternal night. You’ve tried to make up for that and you’re trying to be a better pony. Why won’t you believe that I’m trying to do the same?”

Luna had looked on Hope, through all this, with a look of disgust, but not one of anger. Until now. Now, the look in her eyes was pure rage.

“How dare you!” she bellowed, loud enough to shake the windows in all the buildings. “You have no right to play that card with me!”

Luna’s horn glowed even brighter. Hope recognized it. She was about to unleash a powerful blast. Hope did nothing. Hope did not prepare a spell herself, nor did she get out of the way. She just kept her eyes locked with Luna’s own.

“Maybe I don’t,” Hope said. “I’m sorry.”

And then, the light of Luna’s horn went out. Luna took a step back. She seemed uncertain. The look in her eyes changed from one of rage to one of... recognition?

“Hope….” Luna said, her voice a whisper.

“I’m sorry,” Hope said again, her voice also a whisper. And then, her horn began to glow. There was a blue flash.

“Hope, wait!” Luna called out. But it was too late. Radiant Hope was gone.

Luna turned her gaze to the lead pegasus breathing heavily in the snow. The pegasus met it and stared back at her, each silently asking a question, to which neither had the answer.

Luna had, without meaning to, given Hope just enough time to concentrate, so that her teleportation would not be random. Hope carried herself a few blocks, back to the ruins of the inn, back to where Starlight Glimmer and Twilight Sparkle were still dueling.

The two magic users were standing across from each other and breathing hard. Starlight managed to summon up a little blast that Twilight deflected easily. Twilight then did the same, only for Starlight to deflect it.

“What now, Starlight?” Twilight said. “You should see by now that you can’t beat me.”

“You’re not doing so great yourself,” Starlight countered with a sneer.

“But I’m going to win eventually,” Twilight said. “I always do. Do you know why, Starlight?”

“If you start another friendship lecture on me, I swear I will make your death twice as painful!”

Starlight readied her horn for another blast. Twilight, having indeed been on the verge of another friendship lecture, did the same. But then, a blue flash appeared in between them.

“We should really be going,” Hope said.

Starlight tried to pull away, but she saw that Hope was already revving up for another jump and that there was no getting out it.

“This isn’t over!” she snapped at Twilight as she and Hope disappeared.

Twilight’s beam just missed them. Tearing into the snow with her hoof, Twilight let out a frustrated yell.

“Twilight Sparkle, what is the matter?” Luna said as she landed beside her co-princess.

“What was Radiant Hope doing here?” Twilight said as she turned on Luna. “I thought you were supposed to handle her.”

“I was,” Luna said, “but—”

“But? But what?” Twilight snapped. “If you had taken care of Hope like you were supposed to, Starlight would never have gotten away! Now we need to get everypony together and form search parties to fan through the town! We have to catch them before they escape!”

“Twilight,” Luna said.

“Didn’t you hear me? We need to move immediately before Starlight gets past the town limits. Once she’s gone, we might never get another chance to stop her!”

“Twilight, please listen….”

“There’s no time for that! Every moment we waste, Starlight Glimmer gets further and further away!”

“Twilight Sparkle!” Luna boomed.

Twilight fell silent, stunned both by Luna’s powerful voice and the sharp look in her eyes. But Luna’s features softened as she saw Twilight become receptive.

“Things aren’t all as they seem here,” Luna said. “I share your frustration. But you do not understand what is happening. Neither do I. I confronted Radiant Hope tonight. I had thought she was evil. I had thought she was irredeemable. But that’s not what I saw when I looked into her eyes. They were the eyes of a broken pony, of a pony who has made mistakes but who wants to set them right.”

“Then why would she take up with Starlight Glimmer? That isn’t exactly righting her mistakes.”

“I have no answer for that. None of us can know what she is thinking. Maybe this is the only way she thinks she can make up for her mistakes.”

“By helping Starlight Glimmer? Are you listening to yourself right now? Twilight had meant to make an outburst like that, but her temper was getting the better of her.

Luna lifted a hoof to signal her young co-princess to calm down. “I know how it sounds, and I don’t know Hope’s reasons. But I know what I saw and I know what she said. I saw some of the Umbrum tonight, circling around Hope.”

“The Umbrum!” Twilight said in alarm. “Well, that just proves that Hope has turned completely against us!”

“No! Twilight, please let me finish. Or at least listen to our subject here.”

The lead pegasus, still somewhat sore but capable of movement, trudged up behind the princesses.

“Tell her what you told me,” Luna said.

The pegasus bowed and said, “We cornered Radiant Hope like your highnesses commanded, but then these black shadow things swarmed us from the sky.”

“Umbrum!” Twilight said.

The pegasus nodded. “Yeah, Umbrum. That’s what she called them. They started attacking us. But then she started fighting back, trying to protect us from them. And then I could’ve sworn they were about to attack her too when Princess Luna came and scared them off.”

Twilight shook her head. “But if Hope and the umbrum are together, why would they be fighting?”

“Radiant Hope told me that she was trying to stop the Umbrum and that I should trust her,” Luna said.

Twilight looked to Luna. “Trust her? You think we should trust her now?”

“Not exactly,” Luna said. “But I think we must take a step back and look at things in perspective. There is so much we do not know yet and charging in blindly, like we did tonight, is only likely to make things more difficult.”

“We don’t have time to take a step back!” Twilight said, spreading her wings to take off. “Starlight is getting away!”

“Twilight, stop!” Luna commanded.

Twilight, again stunned, folded her wings. Luna walked up beside her and put a wing on her shoulder.

“My sister told me that I needed to remember that I was once considered irredeemable too,” Luna said.

“I remember,” Twilight said, chastened. “I remember how hard it was for you back then.”

Luna’s face became pained. “So do I. Always.”

Then, however, the pain disappeared. “But I think it was the remembering which made me so angry, so angry and so driven to capture Radiant Hope. It’s why I could never let myself consider what reasons she might have for her actions. I was afraid. I was afraid that if she could have fooled us all about being redeemed, then maybe I was just fooling myself about my own attempts at repentance. That’s why I felt I needed to bring her to justice, to prove that I was not like her. But I realized tonight, when I saw the pain and the regret in her eyes, that we are not that different.”

Twilight was confused. “Princess Luna, what are you saying?”

Luna smiled reassuringly. “I am saying that I let my anger and my fear get the better of me. I only saw what that anger and that fear let me see. I never let myself consider that things might be different than I thought they were. And because of that, I feel like I almost became again what I have always feared myself to be. And now I worry that the same thing is happening to you as far as Starlight Glimmer is concerned.”

Twilight did not bother trying to hide how much of an insult she considered this. “I am not afraid of becoming like Starlight Glimmer.”

Luna nodded. “I know you are not. I didn’t mean that. But you are angry at Starlight Glimmer for what she did to your friends and you are afraid of what she will do in future. And you should be. But you cannot allow it to affect your judgment. It will just lead you to make mistakes that you will come to regret.”

Twilight began to calm down. “I suppose you’re right. I didn’t even care about Radiant Hope, to be honest, until I saw her pop in and take Starlight. I’ve been so focused on stopping whatever Starlight is planning that I didn’t think about how and why Hope is with her. There is so much we still don’t know.”

Luna nodded. “Yes, Twilight, there is still much we do not know. Perhaps, if we both proceed with a little less aggression, we shall find the answers we are looking for.”

“It’s worth a try,” Twilight said.

Twilight turned around to once more cast her eyes upon the demolished inn. She jumped back in shock and nearly toppled over. There was Swift Strike, standing right beside her. She had never heard him approach.

“We’ve yet to apprehend the fugitives,” Swift said. “But, with your permission, I’d like to begin combing the town. I’m certain they won’t escape.”

“Just like you were so certain that this plan of yours would succeed?” Luna said.

“It should have worked. I did everything perfectly,” Swift said.

“Apparently not,” Twilight said. “Didn’t I send a message to you earlier saying that I was worried about trying to capture them in the center of town?”

“Yes, ma’am, but I felt that time was of the essence.”

“And what about now?” Twilight said. “Now that we’ve followed your approach and they’ve escaped, was it worth it?”

Swift stood up a little straighter. “I assure you, ma’am, that by morning, all three fugitives will be in our custody.”

“See to it that they are,” Luna said skeptically, “or I’ll have you reassigned to Fillydelphia until this crisis is over. And we both know what it is like to work in Fillydelphia.”

Swift Strike visibly shuddered. Twilight thought she heard him say, “Never again,” under his breath.

But Swift Strike quickly composed himself. Though visibly upset, he just nodded and said, “As Your Highness commands. Radiant Hope and Starlight Glimmer are as good as ours. I promise you, there is no escaping us this time.”

Would our heroines escape?

Read on.

The Cold Light of Day

Radiant Hope and Starlight Glimmer did, in fact, reappear in the town, in an alley some blocks away. Ponies in armor were posted all around, in greater numbers than before. However, they were mostly worn out by the night’s events, so, by being careful, moving slowly through the alleyways, using every nook and cranny, and hiding in the shadows, they were slowly able to make their way to the outskirts. By dawn, they had made it out of town completely and were in the woods beyond.

“Do you think we lost them?” Starlight said.

“I think so, but let’s just get past that bridge there,” Hope said. “Then we can rest.”

“Rest, that sounds good,” Starlight said.

Hope noticed that, with every step, Starlight seemed to be gritting her teeth and suppressing a moan. The light of the sun was rising over the trees and Hope could get her first good look at Starlight since the previous night. She saw that much of Starlight’s body was singed black.

“You’re hurt!” Hope said.

“It’s nothing,” Starlight responded, “A few of Twilight’s blasts just made it too close for comfort. That’s all. I’ll be fine.”

“You’re not fine! You’re in pain! Sit down and let me take care of it.”

They were not past the bridge, but on it. Hope led Starlight to one of the posts and made her lean against it. Hope put down Sombra’s horn and began to concentrate. Starlight, meanwhile, looked around at where they were. The bridge was out in the open, and it was surrounded by forests. The paths leading to and from it were both on hills with steep inclines. In short, a pony could see them, could sneak up on them, before they were even aware of it. This was perhaps the worst place to stop. But Starlight could no longer hide how much pain she was in and it was evident to both mares that she would no longer be able to walk soon without proper treatment.

“Why didn’t you say that you were hurt last night?” Hope asked.

“You didn’t ask,” Starlight said.

“I didn’t ask because I thought you were fine. If I had known you were hurt, I wouldn’t have made you climb and crawl through all those alleyways.”

Starlight looked up to the sky as Hope’s horn began to glow. “That’s precisely why I didn’t tell you. We needed to get out of there and to do that, we had to keep moving. Stopping to heal me might have just got us caught.”

Radiant Hope did not respond. She knew Starlight was right.

“How long do you think it’s going to take?” Starlight asked.

“A few minutes,” Hope responded.

Starlight was alarmed. “A few minutes?”

“What? That’s pretty good, given that I’m functioning on next to zero sleep and don’t have that much energy to put into it in the first place. You’re still going to feel a little sore, but it’s the best I can do until I get a nap.”

Starlight shrugged. Hope had a point.

“Why did you come back for me?” Starlight said. “You didn’t have to.”

“We have an agreement,” Hope said. “I wasn’t about to let you down.”

“You know that, if it had been reversed, I’d have left you in a heartbeat.”

“I know.”

Starlight looked at Hope for a moment. She could see that the magic was having an effect. Hope’s eyelids had come halfway down her eyes. She looked almost punch-drunk. Starlight would not have been surprised if she passed out there and then.

“You’re putting a lot of energy into this, aren’t you?” Starlight said.

“As much as I have left,” Hope said.

“You don’t need to. I think I can manage for a while.”

Starlight tried to stand on her own. Immediately, she fell back against the post.

“No, you can’t.” Hope tried to guide Starlight back to the post even though she was already leaning against it. “You got hurt more than you want to admit. Twilight is a much more of a challenge than I think you want to admit.”

Starlight smiled smugly. “Maybe. But she’s going to be feeling some of my shots this morning.”

Hope did not answer. She just saw to her work. From the looks of her, Starlight could lose her at any moment.

“What are you playing at, Hope?” Starlight asked, wanting to get the question in while Hope was still conscious.

“What do you mean?” Hope responded, sounding as though she was half-asleep.

“I don’t understand why you saved me. I haven’t been so nice to you.”

“I thought you said we were friends.”

“You and I both know I was lying through my teeth. I’ve been using you. And you know it. You’ve always known it. So why didn’t you just take the opportunity to be rid of me once and for all?”

Hope began to wobble around like a prizefighter hit one too many times. “Maybe it’s because I felt responsible, in a way. I was the one who didn’t think Dr. Fie had it in him to contact the authorities. I was the one who told you not to worry when he disappeared. And I’m the one who hasn’t been completely honest about….”

Hope nearly fell over. Starlight quickly grabbed hold of her.

“You haven’t been honest about what, Hope?” Starlight said. “What have you been hiding?”

Hope seemed to recover herself a little. “Or maybe it’s because you were right about the two of us being so much alike.”

Hope’s horn lit up again, but Starlight immediately moved out of the way.

“That’s enough for now,” she said. “I feel much better.” Which she did, to an extent. But Hope was right about the soreness. Starlight could not believe how right Hope had been about the soreness. “Besides, anymore and I’m going to have to be carrying you from now on.”

“Oh, you’d probably just ditch me. You said so, yourself.”

Starlight shook her head. “But you saved me, so I guess I owe you a favor. And we do have an agreement to fulfill.”

Hope nodded. “Let’s get out of here.”

Hope picked up Sombra’s horn and leaned on Starlight. Starlight grimaced. She did not like being near that horn. Now, she was a rational pony, and it was just a dead piece of bone, but there was still something about it. It gave her a chill whenever she got too close. Starlight wondered if Hope was out of it enough for her to take the horn away and chuck it over the bridge. On the other hoof, Hope would probably jump to alert straight out of the deepest sleep if Sombra’s name was so much as mentioned. But that hoof made her uncomfortable.

Not as uncomfortable as Hope did by unintentionally putting all her weight on Starlight’s still-bruised shoulder, but still. Starlight knew she would just have to bear up with it, for now.

“Wait, what about Dr. Fie?” Hope said, suddenly.

“Where is he, anyway?” Starlight said. “I haven’t seen him all night.”

“We got separated,” Hope said. “He got down an alleyway, but I came back for you. I thought we’d meet up with him, but we never did.”

Starlight shrugged. “Well, he’s probably escaped by now. Gone off to who-knows-where. Or they caught him and he’s trying to bargain our lives for his again.”

“Yeah, something like that,” Hope said. “That’s our Dr. Fie!”

Suddenly, there was a squeak from up ahead. Both Starlight and Hope braced themselves, expecting to see the authorities coming from around the bend up ahead. But then they saw a figure crawling up from the trench below the path. A very familiar figure.

“Oh, thank Celestia!” Dr. Fie said as he approached them, looking dirty and disheveled, but otherwise fine, with a satchel around one shoulder. “When we got separated, I feared that you two girls had been captured! I made my way to this bridge, figuring that, if you did indeed make it, you would come here. I set up a look-out in that trench, certain that my steely and unfailing gaze would pick up anypony that approached. But then — I swear that it must have been the exhaustion from the incredible exertion of last night — I… I… fell asleep….”

“Give me one reason I shouldn’t fry you,” Starlight said.

Dr. Fie shifted back a little. “Oh, madam, you’re not still angry about last night, are you?”

Starlight gave a false smile. “No, of course I’m not angry that you sold us out.” The smile disappeared. “I’m furious.”

“I think you’re forgetting something,” Dr. Fie responded. “It wasn’t me that attacked you. It was the princesses and their lackeys.”

“They only found us because you told them where to find us.”

Dr. Fie looked as though Starlight had just said something incredibly insulting about his mother. “So, somehow that makes me responsible?”

Starlight’s eyes narrowed. “How can you even deny it?”

Dr. Fie’s eyes also narrowed. “No action at a distance, madam.”

Starlight growled and her horn began to spark. “I’ll show you action at a distance. I say it’s all your fault, no matter how you got it done.”

Dr. Fie began rubbing his hooves nervously. “But you must understand. You coerced me into being here. I never wanted any part in this. But I was a good sport. I went along without so much as the smallest complaint. But a pony can only take so much. You cannot blame me if, in a small moment of weakness — if you can even call it weakness — I saw an opportunity to extricate myself from this whole sordid business and took it.”

“Fine,” Starlight said. “I can understand that you wanted to get away. You wanted to go back to your happy life in Seaddle. If I could go back to how life was before Twilight Sparkle, I would do anything I had to. But you didn’t just try to escape. You tried to get us caught!”

“For a reward!” Hope added, in a giddy sort of tone that suggested she was dangerously short of energy.

“Oh, there was a reward involved, was there?” Starlight said. “So it wasn’t even to protect your own skin. It was just simple greed!”

“Oh, madam, be serious!” Dr. Fie chided. “Do you really think you have the right to lecture me, after you have been nothing but callous and cruel? Why should I owe any loyalty to you in the first place?”

“Not to me, maybe,” Starlight said, “but what about Hope here?”

“What about her?”

“You sold her out just as much as you sold me out.”

“You’d have done the same thing.”

“If I had friends, I wouldn’t sell them out for money, I can tell you that.”

“The only friends you can get, madam, are the ones you force into it. It’s what you did at your town and it’s what you’ve done with Hope and I!”

Starlight smiled wickedly. “We’ll never be friends, doctor. Make no mistake about that.”

The doctor gave a sharp nod of his head. “That is the only thing you’ve ever said that I approve of!”

“But it doesn’t answer the question, ‘Why should I keep you around?’” Starlight said. “Why don’t I just shoot you dead and roll you back into that ditch?”

Dr. Fie’s eyes filled with fear. His hooves began to shake and he swallowed hard. “Because… because… dear Hope here would never let you do that!”

Little snores came from the vicinity of Starlight’s neck. She and the doctor looked to see Hope, her head on Starlight’s shoulder, fast asleep. Starlight wiped away a bit of drool that had landed on her foreleg and gave Dr. Fie a smug, satisfied look.

“You were saying?” she said.

Dr. Fie backed away from Starlight. “Come now, madam, you don’t want to do anything rash! We are civilized ponies, after all! We don’t simply shoot each other dead and drop one another in ditches! It’s not done!”

Starlight’s horn began to glow turquoise. “Any last words, doctor?”

“No, please,” Dr. Fie said, on the verge of tears. “Please! Haven’t I suffered enough?”

Starlight’s smile widened as Dr. Fie cowered in front of her. He held the satchel in front of him in a desperate attempt to shield his face.

The glow disappeared from Starlight’s horn. “Wait. What is that?”

Dr. Fie lowered the satchel and looked at it. “What, are you blind as well as insane? It’s a brown bag for carrying things in!”

Starlight sneered. “I know that, you buffoon! Why do you have it, and what’s in it?”

“Oh. Oh!” Dr. Fie said as he opened the satchel and started to levitate items out. “During last night’s confusion, I may have acquired certain necessities. Food, water, hot chocolate, that sort of thing. I may have forgotten to pay for any of it. The whole night is a blur.”

“It’s not a whole lot, but if we’re careful, it could last us until we get to someplace where we can get more supplies,” Starlight said.

Dr. Fie nodded as he put everything back. A hesitant smile began forming on his face. “Does this mean… you’ll keep me around? You won’t ‘shoot me dead’ as you so eloquently put it?”

Starlight almost chuckled. Then she looked to Hope, still asleep on her shoulder. “If I got rid of him now, I’d never hear the end of it,” she said to herself.

Then she waved Dr. Fie over. He came, hesitantly, but he came. She gently pushed Hope off of herself and onto Dr. Fie.

“Fine, I’ll let you live a little while longer,” Starlight said, “but you’re carrying her!”

As Starlight lobbed Hope off of her and onto Dr. Fie, Sombra’s horn fell from when Hope was cradling it. It hit the ground with a clank.

“What’s that?” Dr. Fie asked, curious.

Starlight looked at the horn. She went over to grab it, but she shivered again.

“It’s Hope’s,” she said. “You’ll have to talk to her about it. But since she’s your responsibility now, catch.”

Starlight lifted up the horn with her magic — and even that was too much like touching it for her comfort — and tossed it to Dr. Fie. He caught it in his hoof. And he too shivered.

A chill wind whipped through the forest behind them, screeching and screaming and almost sounding like a deep, cold voice.

”Hope.”

The first thing Hope felt as she regained consciousness was motion. Initially, while she was still in the strange realm of sleep, all that she felt was a little up-and-down motion, as though she were on a ship gently rocking upon a gentle ocean. But oceans are rarely gentle for long, and as sleep faded, she felt more motion. It was not gentle at all. It was jerky and sharp, sometimes quick and sometimes slow. And it was moving upward.

And she heard a voice. Half asleep, she was not able to make out what it said. She could not even tell if it was a voice from her surroundings or the last remaining fragment on some forgotten dream. And then it became clearer.

“Oh, that I should have to be the one to carry this burden! Me, with my delicate back! I think I shall never hold up under the strain!”

Hope knew now that it was definitely not a dream.

“The deal was, you carry her and I don’t throw you down the nearest ravine,” came Starlight’s voice from up ahead.

Dr. Fie continued, “Yes, I know. But she is so heavy! I don’t even know why! She eats so little, the girl’s practically a waif!”

“Then you should have no problem,” Starlight said. “Also, ask me if I care.”

“Do you care, madam?”

“No, you twit.”

“Oh, dear me, dear me,” Dr. Fie whined.

Hope became cognizant of where she was. She was on Dr. Fie’s back. The doctor, for all his complaints, did not seem to be weakening under the strain. He occasionally stopped to catch his breath, but otherwise, was fine.

Hope wasn’t so sure about herself. She opened her eyes to see the gravel on the ground of some wooded trail. Looking to either side of her, she saw both of her front hooves hanging down beside her head. She felt her long tail sweeping like a broom across the ground. It was tremendously uncomfortable. Hope wondered how she had slept so well like this.

The amazing thing, though, was that Hope felt herself once more drifting to sleep. She wanted to fight it — if only to give Dr. Fie a break from his exertions — but it felt so inviting. As though she could not resist if she wanted to. Hope was used to that feeling, but not in the form of sleep.

When next she awoke, Hope opened her eyes to see a rock-ceiling above her. Another cave. She could smell a fire and could feel the heat. Starlight had managed to get one up and going already, then. Or, more likely, she had made Dr. Fie do it. The floor was not exactly soft, but it was smooth. Hope furtively looked around. The cave was larger than the ones they had been staying in so far and the pale orange light the fire threw onto the walls made it seem almost homey.

Radiant Hope stretched and rolled into a position that was half-sitting, half-laying. Immediately, as sense and feeling came back to her, she patted her hoofs in the snow. ”Where is it?

“If you’re looking for the horn, it’s safe. Don’t worry.”

She saw the fire, a surprisingly large fire given how few logs were feeding it. And she saw Starlight Glimmer on the other side of the fire. Starlight was levitating a small pot. She caught Hope’s incredulous look.

“Would I lie to you?” she asked. “Okay, don’t answer that. But you can trust me on this one. I can show you where it is once I’ve finished.”

“What are you doing?” Hope asked.

“Trying to make hot chocolate,” Starlight said.

“Where did you get hot chocolate from?”

“The good doctor provided it. Seems he picked up a few things while fleeing for his life back in town. It’s almost done.”

“How are we going to drink it?”

Starlight gave Hope a knowing look and levitated up a couple of wooden cups.

“Dr. Fie took all this?” Hope said.

“Seems your doctor has quite the sticky hooves. He claims that it’s anxiety-induced kleptomania.”

“Well, he is a doctor, so he would know about these things,” Hope said.

Hope and Starlight exchanged amused smiles.

“Where is he?” Hope asked. She looked around but did not see him anywhere in the cave.

“Oh, we’re not rid of him that easily,” Starlight said, gesturing behind her with her hoof. “I made him go stand outside in the cold.”

“That seems a little harsh.”

“It’s what he gets for betraying us.”

“He betrays us so he has to go stand out in the cold?” Hope seemed about to burst out laughing. “I take it back; that actually seems rather tame for you, Starlight.”

“I wanted to kill him, but I knew it would upset you,” Starlight responded.

“No, I bet you wouldn’t really do it,” Hope said. “You’re too nice a pony.”

Starlight smiled. “I am nice. When I founded my town, I made niceness a requirement. Everypony always wore such big, happy smiles.” Then her face darkened as she stole a glance at Dr. Fie. “But all ponies, even the nicest ones, have their limits.”

“You didn’t leave me behind, either,” Hope said.

Starlight looked at the pot and stirred it with a twig. “I do still need your healing magic. You weren’t kidding about me being sore afterward.”

“I didn’t get to finish,” Hope said. “I can do that once I’m sure I’m up to it.”

“You’re just holding out for hot chocolate,” Starlight said.

“Maybe. It’s been over a thousand years since I’ve had it.”

“What did you eat in that shadow prison for all those years?” Starlight asked. “I don’t know why I ask. It just popped into my head and I’m curious.”

“Something about the prison of shadows kept me from needing to eat much, in the same way it kept me from aging,” Hope said. “But I did eat sometimes. Mostly some plants that grow down there.”

“And how did they taste?”

“Pretty bad.” Hope stuck out her tongue at the memory. “But what about you? In your town, what did you eat, if it was out in the desert?”

“Muffins, mostly.”

“How were they?”

“Pretty bad.”

Hope and Starlight both started laughing.

“I’m glad to hear you’re so amused in there,” Dr. Fie called in from outside. “If I have to endure the unbearable burden of this freezing cold, at least somepony is warm and happy!”

“Oh, be quiet!” Starlight yelled back at him. Turning back to Hope, now with that motherly smile once more upon her face, she said, “Hot chocolate’s ready!”

Starlight lifted up two cups and poured hot chocolate in each one. She kept one by herself and floated one over to Hope.

“By the way, do you think you can help me improve my teleportation?” Starlight asked. “I think you’ve got a better range with it than Twilight does. I could really use that against her.”

Hope decided not to dignify that with a response. She took a sip of hot chocolate and then stopped. Hope pulled the cup away as her eyes drifted toward the entrance of the cave.

“Oh, no,” Starlight said.

Hope looked to her with pleading eyes. “But it must be so cold out there! And he is the one who got us the hot chocolate in the first place.”

“Hope, doesn’t matter to you at all that he just betrayed us?”

“Should we really hold it too much against him, though?”

“Let me think. Hmm, let’s see...” Starlight made a mock-thinking pose with her hoof on her chin. “Oh, wait, yes!”

Hope tried to deflect Starlight’s sharp gaze by glancing once more out of the cave. “I just don’t think we should leave him out there by himself to freeze.”

“That is exactly what we should do. I thought about freezing him myself earlier, but chances are his mouth would still somehow keep moving.”

Hope brought back her sad, pleading look. “Please, Starlight. Just this once.”

Starlight sighed as she began to pour a third cup. “Well, okay. Just this once.”

Hope quickly grasped the two cups with the magic from her horn and stood up. She made her way toward the entrance. All the while, she was aware that Starlight’s disapproving eyes were watching her.

Hope looked back, thinking briefly that she could somehow persuade Starlight. But Starlight was ready for her.

Looking at Hope and then out at the figure of Dr. Fie in the cold, Starlight said, “Even after everything that happened with the Umbrum, you never did stop believing in fairies, did you, Hope?”

“Why do you ask?”

Starlight raised her brows a bit. “Never mind.”

As Radiant Hope stepped out into the cold, with the two hot chocolates beside her, she thought of Sombra’s horn. The chill wind began to blow and she once more thought she heard the deeper notes of Sombra’s voice. Maybe I should go back for it.

But then she shook it off. Hope decided that, this once, she might as well trust Starlight. If she was lying and the horn was gone, there was nothing Hope could do now. And besides, for once, she did not want to think too much of Sombra.

Hope was surprised to find that the ground outside was covered in snow. While it was winter, and snow was not unusual, she had thought that the whole forest had been clear earlier.

There, in the middle of the snow, sitting on his haunches with his forelegs wrapped around him, was Dr. Fie. He was looking out over the forest and did not notice her approach.

“I brought you some hot chocolate, doctor,” Hope said.

It was as though someone had just resuscitated the good doctor. He practically sprang to Hope’s side. Quickly taking one of the cups, he downed a massive gulp.

“Oh, thank you, dear girl!” Dr. Fie said. “You could not imagine the incredible misery I have been forced to endure by that conceited cockatrice in there! Oh, I fear that had you not arrived when you did, I should have been frozen to the bone!”

“Where did the snow come from?” Hope asked. “I didn’t see any earlier.”

“There wasn’t,” Dr. Fie said. “But then, after Starlight had me standing out here for half an hour, some clumsy pegasus clod came and dumped snow over the whole area. I should like to know whose idea it was to dump snow at one in the afternoon! I think, when we get out of this, I shall write a very long letter to the head of the weather department in Cloudsdale expressing my dissatisfaction with the way he allows his underlings to behave in any willy-nilly way they want.”

“I think the head of the weather department is a mare.”

“That explains it.”

“Oh, doctor….”

"After all the suffering I have already endured, that I should have to face this too! And me still wounded!"

"They're just little cuts. I can heal you quickly."

Hope's horn glowed, and the doctor was healed.

Dr. Fie looked over his forelegs, where the cuts in his coat revealed his uncut forelegs. "Hmm, so much for 'Physician, heal thyself!'"

Dr. Fie and Radiant Hope both took sips of cocoa. Hope could tell that, despite the warming effect of the beverage, Dr. Fie was getting increasingly agitated. He was doing that fidgeting thing he did that he thought nopony ever noticed.

“What is it, doctor?” Hope said.

“Oh, nothing,” Dr. Fie said. “It’s nothing at all. What would make you ask? Well, actually, there is one thing I’m curious about.”

Dr. Fie curious about something other than himself? This was an interesting development.

“Is there something you want to ask me?” Hope said.

Dr. Fie looked down at the swirling cocoa in his cup, as though he was ashamed to meet Hope’s eyes. But Dr. Fie was never ashamed of anything. He was utterly shameless. Or so Hope had always thought.

Dr. Fie took another sip of his cocoa and said. “But why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you bring me this? After I… after I made my arrangements with the government pony… the ones that could have proven so disastrous for you….”

“After you betrayed us, you mean?”

“Hope, please! ‘Betray’ is such a loaded word! But I’m sure we’re talking about the same incident, so I’ll let it pass on this occasion. Why, after I ‘betrayed’ you, are you still looking out for me? I could understand in town. That was all the heat of the moment. But now?”

Hope took a sip of her cocoa. Then she smiled at Dr. Fie. “I suppose that, after the things I’ve done, I figure, who am I to judge you?”

Dr. Fie nodded and returned to his cocoa.

“You’re the only one who has never judged me,” Hope said. “I mean, aside from the fact that you think you’re better than all ponies—”

“Only because I am.”

“—and you’ve brought up what I did quite often. But I never felt like you were judging me for it. Everypony else who knows my story, even when they didn’t say anything, I always felt like they were judging me. Like they were asking themselves, ‘How could a pony like her do the things she’s done?’ But not you. You never seemed to care.”

“I didn’t know,” Dr. Fie said. “I didn’t know you felt that way.”

“I’ve never talked about it before.”

Hope took a long sip of her cocoa.

“I’m fond of you,” Dr. Fie said. “You do know that, don’t you, dear girl?”

“Mmm-hmm,” Hope said from behind her cup.

“I worry sometimes that you don’t know that. I know it doesn’t seem like it all the time, especially not now. How hard it must be for you to believe it after everything that’s just happened. But I am fond of you.”

Hope said nothing. Dr. Fie began to fidget some more.

“It’s true that I haven’t been fond of many ponies in my life,” Dr. Fie said. “I find most ponies to be quite tedious and hopelessly misinformed at best. Complete ninnies at worst. I look at them all with disdain. At least, I did until you showed up on my doorstep. Suddenly, everything changed. Oh, I’m not blind to your little moods and I suppose I can’t blame you for them. But, suddenly, when you started working at the hospital, the whole place seemed like it was filled with light.”

Hope cast a sad, incredulous glance at Dr. Fie.

“Doctor, I don’t have any light in me, not anymore,” Hope said. “I did once, but after what I did—”

“Hang what you did, Hope!” Dr. Fie said, with so much vigor that Hope nearly dropped her cocoa. “I’m sorry, dear girl, but it’s just that—”

“Dr. Fie, you said it yourself. I’m a monster.”

“You are not a monster, Hope! I was wrong. Mark this down as a red-letter day, because Dr. Fiddly Fie admits that he was wrong about something! The first, and I should think, the last time it shall ever happen in all my life!”

“Princess Luna thinks I’m a monster.”

“Oh, pish-posh! Who is Princess Luna to judge, after all she’s done, hmm? Nightmare Moon twice tried to throw Equestria into darkness. But she can pronounce other ponies monsters with a flick of her hoof? It’s good to be the princess sometimes, I suppose. That was the real benefit you missed out on with that line, Hope. Getting to judge others while not being judged yourself.”

Hope shook her head. “Princess Luna has gone through a lot of guilt over what she did. Everypony knows how she’s struggled to forgive herself. But even after all that, even after coming to terms with what she’s done, she looked me in the eye and I could see, she only saw a monster in me. She must think that I’ve done so much worse than she ever did, if even she can’t understand me. I’m sorry, doctor, but if she thinks I’m a monster, if even she can’t overlook what I’ve done, then I must be one.”

Dr. Fie stamped his hoof, causing snow to fly all around. “No, Hope, listen to me! What you did, the things you did, I’m not the pony to absolve you of them. I can’t explain them and I’m certain I don’t understand them. But what I do understand, what you need to understand is that, however far you fell, however bad those things were, they did not make you a monster.”

“You act like you know me,” Hope said. “There were a thousand years that you weren’t there for.”

“But I do know you, Hope,” Dr. Fie said. “Maybe I don’t know all the particulars of your life. But I know this; you are a pony of light. I can see it every day. If you don’t believe me, just look at yourself! You’re a crystal pony. You reflect light.“

Hope smiled wistfully. “Maybe I did once. But my coat hasn’t done anything like that for a while now.”

Dr. Fie guffawed softly and raised those defined eyebrows of his. “Look at yourself, dear girl.”

Hope looked down at her body. This time she did drop her cup. It landed snuggly in the snow, only spilling a small bit of cocoa.

“You see,” Dr. Fie said, “you’re reflecting the light of the sun right now. You are still a receptacle of light. Any pony who shines with so much light could never be a monster.”

Hope looked herself all over. Her body was no longer a dull purple but a bright, vibrant lavender. Her mane and her tail, the color of the blue sky above, practically gleamed silver in the light of the sun’s rays. And every bit of her was made up of translucent, glowing crystal. Hope wiped crystalline tears from her eyes. They sparkled as they disappeared into the afternoon air.

“Thank you, doctor,” she said.

“I’m going to try and get a message to Stirring,” Starlight said as she joined them outside. “It’s obvious that we can’t keep going like we are. I wouldn’t be surprised if Twilight had search parties combing this whole area. But Stirring should be in Las Pegasus by now. Maybe he knows of a way to get us there without alerting Twilight or her stooges.”

Dr. Fie nodded. “Yes. We don’t need any more run-ins with our government. Not when there are so many other things that want us dead. Like those Umbrum. And the timberwolves. Especially the timberwolves.”

“It’s only two Umbrum, and from what I saw, they’re very weak,” Starlight said.

Hope bit her lip. She looked anxiously to Dr. Fie, certain that, being Dr. Fie, he would have to open his big mouth.

“Only two Umbrum, madam?” Dr. Fie said. “I could have sworn there were at least three of them last night, and they all looked far from weak.”

Hope braced herself.

“What?” Starlight yelled. She quickly turned a burning glare on Hope. “You encountered the Umbrum last night, and you never bothered to tell me?”

“There wasn’t really time,” Hope said in a small, apologetic voice.

This did nothing to cool Starlight’s wrath. “There wasn’t time? We spent all night dodging Twilight’s goons, and you couldn’t find a single moment to slip in that, oh yeah, there are at least three Umbrum on our trail?”

“There may have been ten Umbrum,” Dr. Fie said. “It was dark, so it was hard to tell.”

“Ten? Ten! Ten!” This seemed to be the only word Starlight was capable of uttering clearly.

Maybe it was time to start telling the truth. Hope took in a deep breath and said, “No, Starlight, it wasn’t ten. There are only three. I’m sure of it.”

“How do you know, Hope?” Starlight said. “Have you been in... communication with them?”

“Of course, Fie was fearless that night,” Dr. Fie chimed in. “The fifteen Umbrum did their best, but there was no frightening this stout heart!”

Hope lowered her head. “A little. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Starlight.”

“Sorry? You’re sorry? You’ve been talking with them this whole time and you’re sorry? What else did they tell you, Hope? What else are you hiding?”

Hope looked away. “It wasn’t the whole time. Only twice, really.”

“Just tell me one thing," Starlight said. "When you said you didn’t know what they want from you, was it a lie? Were you lying to me then?”

“Fiddly Fie has been around far too long for the presence of a mere twenty-five shadow creatures to daunt him much,” Dr. Fie said.

Starlight waited for Hope to answer. She did not.

“It was a lie!” Starlight said. “You know what they want! You know what they’re planning!”

“I know... some things,” Hope said reluctantly.

There was a flash of turquoise and Starlight was gone. In an instant, she was back. She was also carrying Sombra’s horn. She threw it at Hope’s hooves.

“And what about this, Hope?” Starlight yelled. “Is this also just a memento or is it part of their plan too? Or your plan, should I say?”

“The others were all scared stiff,” Dr. Fie said, “so I immediately took charge of the situation, putting to good use the fighting skills and tactics I refined during my time in the armed forces. It’s like riding a bike, you know; you never forget it. Those fifty Umbrum never stood a chance. I had struck at all one-hundred of them before they even knew what was happening!”

Hope scooped the horn up into her forelegs. “At least your teleportation range is getting better.”

“Don’t change the subject,” Starlight snapped. “And to think, I was almost beginning to trust you!”

Hope remained calm. “You still can, Starlight. I haven’t kept anything from you that you needed to know.”

“Oh, I soon had those five-hundred Umbrum on the run, alright!” Dr. Fie said. “The whole thousand of them could not flee fast enough after that first taste of my daring battle-prowess.”

“Well, hail the conquering hero!” Starlight bellowed at the doctor. “I’ve got my hooves full with one liar! Why can’t you just shut up, just for a little bit? Do you really love the sound of your own voice that much?”

“It is one of the most pleasing sounds known to pony ears,” Dr. Fie said. “In fact, it has often been compared to the harps and the singing of the heavenly choir. Mostly by me. Actually, exclusively by me. But I am a doctor, so I know about these things.”

“Maybe if you would just be quiet for a little while, you could listen and learn some things,” Starlight said. “Like, didn’t you even notice me throwing that horn at Hope? Do you know what that is? That’s Sombra’s horn. Hope has been carrying it around since we left Seaddle, right? Are you okay with that?”

“Sombra’s horn?” Dr. Fie shook all over in evident disgust. “Keep it away from me! Whatever dark power is in there, I don’t want any part of it! Dr. Fiddly Fie is an upstanding individual.”

“You see, Hope?” Starlight said, motions to Dr. Fie. “Don’t you think that’s something he needed to know? He had to carry it while you were knocked out, after all.”

Dr. Fie waved his hoof in Starlight’s face. “Now hold on, madam. I will concede that it is deeply troubling that dear Hope has become morbidly attached to that item, which is something you would never see from me.”

“Because you don’t take things you shouldn’t all the time, doctor?” Hope said quietly.

“Now, that’s not fair, dear girl. You know I have anxiety-induced kleptomania. It’s a genuine medical condition! I diagnosed it myself!” Dr. Fie turned back to Starlight. “But as I was saying, madam, as I recall, it was you who forced me to carry that hideous relic of terror, and Hope on my back, to boot! To you belongs all the blame.”

Starlight’s nostrils flared. “You’re still going to take her side over mine? After everything’s she’s been hiding? She’s endangering our lives! I’m the one who can save them!”

“Because your leadership has been absolutely sterling so far, hmm?” Dr. Fie responded with a smug grin.

Starlight screamed and put her hooves to Dr. Fie’s throat, ready to push him down and strangle him again. Dr. Fie did his best to resist, but it was of little use. Hope tried to leap in between and separate them.

“Starlight, stop!” Hope said. “You’re letting your emotions get the better of you.”

Suddenly, Starlight ceased trying to wrap her forelegs around Dr. Fie’s neck. She smiled.

“You’re right, Hope,” she said. “I shouldn’t be taking my anger out on poor Dr. Fie here.”

“The first sensible thing I’ve heard you say, madam,” Dr. Fie responded as he brushed himself off.

“No, I should be taking it out on you!”

Starlight tackled Hope, taking her to the ground. With all her might, she began to choke the crystal pony. Dr. Fie looked on, his hoof at his mouth in dread.

“Starlight…. please….” Hope gasped.

“What are you trying to do?” Starlight said. “Are you in league with the Umbrum after all? Is that how you intend to get Sombra back?”

Dr. Fie hovered nervously over them. “Well, you know, the dear girl can’t speak if you’re holding her throat like that.”

Starlight ignored him. “Tell me, Hope! Was that your plan all along? You still want to save Sombra and the Umbrum? How thick are you? Didn’t you learn anything from the first time?”

“Now, that’s uncalled for,” Dr. Fie said. “Who among us hasn’t released a species of eldritch abominations intent on plunging the world into darkness from time to time? That is a natural part of life.”

Starlight stopped choking Hope to look at Dr. Fie. “Are you seriously saying you’ve done it too?”

“I did have a life before I met the two of you,” Dr. Fie responded.

“This conversation got too surreal too quickly,” Starlight said as she returned to choking Hope.

Dr. Fie began to bite his hoof as Starlight began to pound Hope’s head against the snow. “Oh, dear me, dear me, I should do something!”

Looking around, he saw a mound of snow. Lifting up a part of it with his horn, he magically patted it down into a perfect snowball. Then he looked to Starlight. Maybe a quick drop of snow would cool her temper down.

Dr. Fie considered throwing the snowball, but realized that, with his aim, it would probably either fall short or overshoot the two struggling mares completely. He thought for a moment and had an idea. Dr. Fie closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on teleporting himself. If this worked right — for a loose definition of right — the snowball would disappear instead and reappear over Starlight’s head. And she would never know he did it.

Dr. Fie concentrated all his mental efforts into the attempt. The snowball dropped to the mound from whence it had come. Instead a nearby rock began to glow purple. It disappeared and reappeared over Starlight’s head.

Dr. Fie opened his eyes and looked on with pride at his spell working so well. That pride soon turned to horror as he noticed the rock. The rock fell, hitting Starlight clearly on the head. She fell on top of Hope. Hope wriggled her way free from underneath, leaving Starlight lying face-down in the snow.

“I didn’t mean to do that,” Dr. Fie said. “She’s not dead, is she?”

Hope, her throat too sore to talk for a moment, shook her head. “Unconscious….” She hoarsely croaked.

“Pity, that would have been a preferable outcome,” Dr. Fie said. “Now she’ll probably buck me off the nearest precipice when she wakes up.”

Hope’s voice was returning. “That was new,” she said. “You’ve never done something like that for me before.”

“What are you talking about, dear girl,” Dr. Fie said, regaining his usual bravado. “Fiddly Fie is the very soul of gallantry! Whereever a lady is threatened by some maniac mare who likes applying chokeholds, there you will find me coming to the rescue. Never fear—”

“Radiant Hope!” came a voice from high above them, interrupting Dr. Fie.

The doctor looked up with a mixture of apprehension and gall. Radiant Hope did not need to look up.

“Oh, not you again!” Dr. Fie said as he caught sight of the blue-coated, long-bearded lunatic standing on the top of the cave.

“Radiant Hope, failing again!” the pony taunted. “Radiant Hope, failed princess. Failed empress. Failed friend!”

“Oh, enough of that, you!” Dr. Fie said. He began to make a shooing gesture with his hooves. “Get along now! Go! Shoo! Scat!”

The lunatic merely aped Dr. Fie’s gesture back at him. “Oh, fiddly-fie, fiddly-fie! Such a funny name for such a funny pony.”

“Now, see here,” Dr. Fie said. “I’ll have you know that mine is a very distinguished name! Why, some of the greatest ponies in the history of Equestria have born the name of my family! Case in point, myself.”

“Oh, fiddly-fie!” the lunatic said again, now with a fiendish laugh. “The doctor, stuck in his bubble. Will he make the sky give way? And will he become the pillar of light he tells her she is? Hope won’t save him. Poor doctor. Poor, poor doctor.”

“Oh, this is so tedious,” Dr. Fie said. “It makes one wonder why lobotomies fell out of fashion.”

“The doctor thinks he’s a healer, but he’s not,” said the lunatic. “Just like Radiant Hope. She couldn’t heal Sombra. She couldn’t heal anypony.”

“Do you have to keep taunting me?” Hope said. “What do you want? What do you want from me?”

“I want you to be the pony you’re supposed to be,” responded the mad-pony. “Be a radiant hope for once. Do not let ponies get hurt around you.”

“I don’t let ponies get hurt when I’m around,” Hope said.

“Well, except for a certain one,” Dr. Fie said, gesturing toward Starlight.

“I didn’t know you were going to hit her with a rock!” Hope said to the doctor.

Starlight Glimmer was slowly getting up and rubbing her head. “Who hit me with a rock?”

Dr. Fie let out a squeak and pointed his hoof up to the mad-pony. “He did. Just came along and dropped a stone right on your head.”

“Why?” Starlight said as stood up fully.

“He’s mad, madam! There is no reason to his actions!”

“Reason to my actions there is!” shouted the pony.

“You see,” Dr. Fie said, “he’s so insane he can’t even form sentences properly.” Looking up to the blue pony, he said, “I’m sorry, but that was pitiful, dear boy.”

“Why do you call me ‘dear boy’?” the lunatic said. “I am older than you are! I am older than all of you! I am older than the sun and the moon! And when the sun and the moon perish, I still shall be! I am Starswirl the Bearded! Fear my power!”

“Starswirl?” Starlight said, as she focused her still-blurry vision on the blue unicorn. “Is he still keeping that up?”

“Starlight Glimmer plays naïve,” the faux Starswirl said. “But she’s intrigued. She too knows of Starswirl and she’s looking for something, something of mine. She’ll find it, but I’ll not give it to her! Oh, woe to Equestria on the day she does! Then the sun is blotted, ponies shall raise sword and axe, and the world shall come to its ruin!”

“Look, I don’t care who you are or think you are,” Starlight said. “But following us around like this, appearing on top of caves and at the edge of glades, it’s getting old! Can you please just leave us in peace?”

She may have asked politely, but Starlight was willing to back up what she said. Her horn began to glow.

“You do like to shoot things, don’t you?” Dr. Fie said.

“My father was a colonel,” Starlight responded.

“So was I,” Dr. Fie said. “That doesn’t mean I enjoy such a barbarous means of settling disputes.”

“You prefer to get someone else to settle them for you.”

“No action at a distance.”

“I shall go, I shall go,” said the faux Starswirl. “I have said to the doctor and to Starlight Glimmer what I had to say. But I must still speak to Radiant Hope.”

Starlight and Dr. Fie looked to Hope, who just gave an “I-don’t-know” kind of look.

“Still haven’t got the point, Radiant Hope?” he said, his voice harsh and grating.

Hope held up Sombra’s horn. “I think I got it.”

“You still don’t know anything,” said the lunatic. “Hope is gone! Hope is gone! Hope is gone! We have no hope. No hope. No Hope for Sombra. May you destroy each other. All darkness shall burn under the dome of fire. Equestria doesn’t need you.“

“Are you just saying that to taunt me again?” Hope said. “You’ve done it before and I think I got the message. You don’t like me very much.”

“It is not about me liking you,” said the lunatic. “I say that Equestria does not depend upon you. It does not need Radiant Hope. It does need the pony you are.”

“I know, I know, you think I should have been a princess,” Hope said. Even she was growing tired of the refrain.

“Who cares what you are. What matters is the Hope that could have been. The Hope that still could be.”

“How many ways can I say that that was far too long ago?”

“Past is present. Present is future. Fate is character. Up is down.”

“Mareclitus,” Dr. Fie noted.

"What is this? What do you think I could be?" Hope asked. "And why does any of this have to do with Sombra? He’s lost, I know it. And I don’t know what I’m supposed to be without him. But I’m trying."

The mad-pony let out another laugh. "What you and Sombra could have been.... What I could have been.... In another life and another world.... Then shall rise up the boar, and the boar shall sharpen his tusks against the tree where perches the eagle and the eagle's brood. The eagle shall fall. But no pony shall know what happens to the boar."

"Please," Hope said, "Please, stop. I made my choice."

“No, you haven't, not yet! But this may be your last chance, Hope. What choose you?”

“I can’t be a princess,” Hope said. “I don't want to be. I just want to stop the Umbrum.”

“Think you, then, that I still ramble about princesses? Do you think that that is what it is all about?”

Hope shook her head. “Isn’t that what you’re trying to say? I don’t understand what other choice I could make!”

The lunatic let out a loud laugh, a laugh that seemed to join with a sudden blast of wind that nearly knocked all three ponies below off balance.

“Then strike out her name, record one lost soul more,

One task more declined, one more footpath untrod,

One more devil’s-triumph and sorrow for angels,

One more wrong done to pony, one more insult to God!”

After saying these words, the lunatic let out another chilling laugh. And then, in a voice strangely quiet, strangely somber, he added, “I shall die three times.”

There was another sharp gust of wind, sharp enough that it stung the eyes of the three and made them avert their gaze. When they looked back, the lunatic was gone.

“This day is just getting too weird,” Starlight said. Looking to the doctor, she said, “Okay, I’m going to write a message and you’ll send it to Stirring in Las Pegasus.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” Dr. Fie said. “I don’t even know where he is in the city.”

“I’m sure you could just concentrate on him and you’ll find him.”

“Find him, indeed! You think it is just that simple to whisk a message from the middle of the wilderness to the middle of the city? We’re still far off from Las Pegasus and the energy required would be too much even for a stallion of my boundless capabilities.” Dr. Fie finished with a flourish of the hoof.

“It’s just a little message,” Starlight said. “I’m sure you’ll manage.”

“And what should I do?” Hope asked.

Starlight nodded her head in disgust. “Live up to your name. Hope. Hope that I don’t end up in a strangling mood again.”

Hope watched Starlight walk down the slope, looking for a loose piece of bark. “I really hate my name sometimes,” she said.

Dr. Fie came up beside her. “Give her time, dear girl. She won’t stay mad at you for long. She knows she’d have probably done the same thing if she were you.”

“That doesn’t seem to count for much, sometimes,” Hope said. “I shouldn’t have lied to her. But I knew she’d be useful for getting me to Las Pegasus and I didn’t want her to go back on getting me there. And lying just came so easily.”

“Why do you want to get to Las Pegasus at all?” Dr. Fie said.

“The Umbrum will be there.”

Dr. Fie did his best to contain a spasm of panic. He failed, for the most part. But he tried to put on a calm voice, for Hope’s sake. “The Umbrum will be there? Then why in Celestia’s name would you want to go anywhere near that accursed city? Shouldn’t we be going the other way?”

“I have to do this,” Hope said. “It will be the only way to stop the Umbrum.”

Dr. Fie shook his head and let out a sigh. “Oh, Hope, if this is your way of redeeming yourself for the past, don’t you know it won’t work? All this suffering of yours, it comes from wanting to hold on to things. Things like this. If you’d just learn to let them go—”

Hope looked down at Sombra’s horn. “I know, I know. But it’s so hard....”

“It’s always going to be hard, child,” responded Dr. Fie, putting his hoof on her shoulder. “But you have me. You have....”

He looked back toward the direction Starlight had gone in. “Well, you have me.”

Hope held Sombra’s horn up to the light. For a moment, she thought she saw a flicker of purple light run up and down it. “I hope that’s true, but I have a feeling this is something I’m going to have to confront alone. It’s what I had to do. It’s the only way.”

“But why is it the only way? How are you going to stop the Umbrum? I have a feeling that there is much that you’re still not making us privy to.”

Hope glanced knowingly at the good doctor.

Dr. Fie shrugged. “Well, it is your secret to keep, I suppose. I would just like to know what I’m getting into if I’m expected to put my life on the line in that death-trap of a tourist-trap.”

“You could get away,” Hope said.

“What?”

“Starlight needs you to send Stirring another message, but after that, you could escape. She might even be willing to let you go. Now that she knows I’ve got other reasons for going to Las Pegasus, she won’t need to keep you.”

Dr. Fie’s expression turned glum. “Oh, so she’ll finally have the opportunity to shoot a laser beam through my head. Thank you, dear girl, that makes my day so much brighter.”

“I don’t think Starlight will do that. But even if she does, you could get away before she has a chance. I could help you. I don’t know what the Umbrum are planning, and there’s no reason you have to risk your life. You could go back to Seaddle, back to how things were.”

“Without you, Hope, there is no ‘how things were.’” Dr. Fie sunk down onto his haunches and stared gloomily into the distance. “Besides, you two could never survive without my guiding hoof. And I’m a wanted pony in Seaddle anyway. Staying here might be the best option I have.”

Hope smiled a little. “Well, I would miss you, I suppose.”

“I suppose you would,” Dr. Fie said. Raising his hoof, he continued, more to himself than to Hope, “‘Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more!’ How I’m going to regret this decision….”

How would the trio reach Las Pegasus?

Read on.

Author's Note

The lines of poetry are lines 21-24 from Robert Browning's "The Lost Leader," , with an emendation of "him" to "her" in line 21 and the necessary if metrically unsound replacement of "man" with "pony" in line 24.

Don't Call It "Friscolt"

The country road was deserted. The wind was howling as it blew through the trees. Stirring Words wrapped his jacket more tightly around himself as he stood by the road and waited. He had gotten himself settled in Las Pegasus (nice, warm, Las Pegasus) and had finished making arrangements when he had gotten Starlight’s message. Well, actually the griffon in the apartment next store had gotten the message when it came crashing through his window.

Explaining magical messages to an enraged griffon while simultaneously coughing up the money for a new window was not something which Stirring ever wanted to have to do again….

Stirring looked up to the winter sky. At least it wasn’t snowing. This far north, it probably should be snowing. But then, the increasingly erratic performance of the weather pegasi of Cloudsdale was becoming something of a national controversy. Stirring had nearly been forced to do an investigative report on it but had managed to get sent to Las Pegasus instead.

Fast Facts had probably just wanted to be rid of him for a while, Stirring thought. He had been acting rather strangely ever since Stirring had come back. He seemed to be working on a big story but wouldn’t let Stirring in on any of the details. Stirring felt he was being purposely frozen out.

Oh, well, it works to our advantage anyway.

Stirring was shaken out of his skygazing by a turquoise flash. He let out a cry of surprise and nearly fell to the ground.

“Don’t be that way. It’s only me,” Starlight Glimmer said.

“I… I didn’t see you anywhere, ma’am,” Stirring said.

Starlight smiled. “I know. I’m increasing the range of my teleportation spell. I got Hope to give me some help. It’s the price of forgiveness for all her lying.”

“Do you forgive her, ma’am?”

Starlight’s smile became one of amusement, as though she was looking at a child. “Of course not. But I’m letting her think I do.”

“From what your message said, I get the feeling that you two aren’t particularly good at keeping secrets from one another,” Stirring said.

Starlight’s smile turned cold. “Well, she kept a big one from me. She’s been in communication with the Umbrum this whole time. She says they want something from her, but she won’t say what. Which is fine, because I’m pretty sure it has something to do with Las Pegasus.”

“What makes you think so?”

“I was always suspicious of why she was so eager to go to that city, out of all she could have chosen. Now I know it must have something to do with the Umbrum. The Umbrum will probably be waiting for us in Las Pegasus.”

Stirring’s eyes grew wide with alarm. “Then you can’t go there! It isn’t safe for you.”

“Do I look like a pony who cares about being safe?”

Stirring lowered his head. “I know your courage, ma’am. But I would feel better if you didn’t put yourself in harm’s way.”

Starlight lifted Stirring’s head up so that his eyes met hers. “I know. But, for the cause, we must all make sacrifices.”

“But I’m sure you can find another city to lead the cause from,” Stirring said. “It doesn’t have to be Las Pegasus!”

“How many papers have you distributed since you arrived?” Starlight asked.

“Oh, I can’t even keep count. They’re going faster than they did in Seaddle,” Stirring responded.

“And you’ve moved on to the pamphlets?”

“Leave them everywhere. Bars, stores, train-stations….”

Starlight gave a pleased nod. “Any contact with new supporters for our cause?”

“I’ve overheard more than a few expressing interest. I’ve even contacted some of the ones I thought were more reliable. Covertly and securely, of course.”

“Of course. We should be able to get them together into some organization or movement soon. And was I right about Hope?”

Stirring smiled. “I wouldn’t have thought it, but you are. From what I hear and overhear, not a lot of ponies get the whole 'Equality' message. At least not initially. But there’s so many that just feel so bad for that poor crystal princess and don’t like the lies the government is telling about her.”

Starlight seemed on the verge of laughter. “What did I tell you? Hope can be a symbol for the cause in a way I can’t right now.”

“Then let her come and lead the cause! You don’t have to come to Las Pegasus.”

“If I still trusted her, maybe. But now I know I can’t put anything past her. I’ll have to keep my eye on her at all times. At least until she’s no longer useful.”

“And when will that be, ma’am?”

Starlight quickly changed the topic of conversation. “And the other thing I wanted you to look into?”

Stirring nodded. “I’m in Las Pegasus doing a follow-up to my story about the Empress of Equestria. Aside from the fact that it got me to Las Pegasus, it also gives me access to the ship and what they’re planning for it.”

“All very interesting, I’m sure, but none of that answers my question.”

“I only brought it up, ma’am, because I learned that they’re going to be hosting the travelling exhibition on Starswirl the Bearded. They figure it will help promote the ship, I guess.”

“So what? I’ve been to that. They didn’t have what we needed. Besides, I could use a break from Starswirl for a while.” Starlight let out a little huff and rolled her eyes.

“Yes, I know,” Stirring said, “but just to celebrate the opening of the ship as a tourist-attraction, they’re sending over several highly-valuable Starswirl artifacts from the Royal Library, ones which have never been shown in public before. My contact at the Empress said that they’re even trying to get some of Starswirl’s spells.”

Starlight raised her brows. “I see. You will keep listening in case the one we want is among them, won’t you?”

“Of course, ma’am. But I still don’t understand why we need it. How will it help the cause in any way?”

“Trust me, I need it.”

Stirring bit his lip. “Okay, ma’am.”

Starlight smiled wickedly. “That settles it. I am going to Las Pegasus. If there’s even a chance that scroll will be there, I can brave the Umbrum.”

“I mean no disrespect, ma’am, but how do you intend to get there? You’re not even at San Franciscolt yet.”

“How far is San Franciscolt?”

“A few hours. I just came from there.”

Starlight nodded. “I see. Good to know. But you’re right. We still need a way to get to Las Pegasus. That’s one reason I wanted to talk to you. Any ideas?”

Stirring thought for a moment. “The fastest way would be rail…. Unless, of course, you can teleport all that way.”

“Hope says that teleporting can’t be used to go that far,” Starlight said. “Not that I believe her, but I still have so much work to do on it. Rail is completely out of the question. I’m sure Twilight Sparkle has guards at all the railways.”

“Not the San Franciscolt railway,” Stirring said with a chuckle.

Starlight’s face became serious. “What? Why not?”

“Oh, that’s right. You probably haven’t heard. There’s been a dispute between San Franciscolt and the government for a while now about whether the city or the royal treasury gets most of the gold that is mined in the surrounding area.”

“Fascinating, I’m sure.”

“Well, recently, the dispute turned serious. San Franciscolt is threatening to secede and crown its own ruler if one of the princesses doesn’t come to arbitrate the dispute. They’ve thrown out the guards from the train stations in a show in independence.”

Starlight’s eyes danced. “Interesting…. And the princesses have not intervened?”

“No. Cadance is in the Crystal Empire, of course. The other three are too focused on chasing you three down.”

“So, San Franciscolt is free of any EIS presence?” Starlight asked.

“As far as I know,” Stirring said. “Why?”

Starlight’s smile turned devious. “I think I know how we’re getting to Las Pegasus!”

“Where are the other two?” Stirring asked.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Starlight said. “They’re back at our latest campsite.”

“Aren’t you worried they’ll escape?”

“The doctor can escape if he likes. I have no more use for him. I really only still need Hope herself.”

“But what if she tries to escape?”

“She won’t. She won’t dare desert me. You can be certain of that.”

“Why?”

“Because now I’ve finally figured out what Radiant Hope wants.”

Stirring tilted his head. “And what’s that?”

Starlight let her mouth slowly form the word, so that each syllable came out with added emphasis and weight.

“Redemption.”

Stirring nodded solemnly. “I can imagine, after what she’s done.”

“My mistake,” Starlight said, “was assuming that she was like me. I thought that she wanted to complete whatever she started in the Crystal Empire with Sombra and the Umbrum. Or that she was still upset over never getting to be a princess. I thought that maybe what she wanted was revenge against whoever she blames for all her misfortunes.”

“But that’s not like you, ma’am,” Stirring said. “You’re just out to see the cause succeed. You don’t want power or revenge.”

Starlight smiled. Images of Twilight Sparkle danced in her head, taunting her. “You’re right, Stirring. I almost forgot that I’m incorruptible. But I too have temptations — I just would never act on them.”

She continued, “All along, I was overestimating Hope. Redemption is such an unambitious goal. I was certain she’d want more. But I guess I was wrong.”

Stirring shrugged. “Then again, its two sides of the same bit, isn’t it? Revenge, redemption — they’re both about righting a wrong, somehow. It’s just that, with revenge, you blame other ponies, but with redemption, you blame yourself.”

“Hope certainly does that,” Starlight said. “But San Franciscolt…. Can you get us in there without being noticed?”

Stirring considered and then nodded. “Sure. I don’t think the city will be the difficult part. They’re so anti-government right now that they probably wouldn’t arrest you even if they knew who you were. But once you’re on the train, you’re going to have to stay out of sight at every stop.”

“We can handle that,” Starlight said. “Right now, our priority is getting to San Franciscolt. Let’s collect the others and get there as soon as possible.”

“We?” Stirring said.

Starlight put her foreleg around his shoulder as her horn began to glow. “Of course! It makes no sense for you to go back to San Franciscolt and meet us there when we’re only a few hours out!”

“Not to be disrespectful, ma’am, but this isn’t going to end with half of me at the campsite and the other half here, is it?”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Starlight said as a turquoise flash enveloped them.

The San Franciscolt train station was bustling with activity. The railroad was one of the two veins that pumped the blood of life into the city. The harbor was the other, and the blood was commerce. San Franciscolt had been a mere outpost — not even a town — until just a few generations ago, when gold had been found in the surrounding hills. And there were many hills, which meant much gold, which meant many more ponies came to that outpost. That outpost became a town, and that town became a city. The gold mines had mostly all dried up in the previous few years, but not before San Franciscolt had struck the motherlode in quite a different way. The bay and the rail; these two together had made San Franciscolt the center of trade on Equestria’s western seaboard. A visitor to San Franciscolt could sense this immediately, as the whole city seemed to boast of its newfound prominence. Every building, every square, seemed to be an attempt to transmute that prominence into its more elusive cousin; prestige. This city had ambitions; it wanted to be seen as commanding, grandiose, even imperial.

And yet, San Franciscolt was still a frontier town at heart. One was reminded of that in every marketplace where older ponies still bartered for goods, in the crowded neighborhoods where travelers from all corners of the world had made their homes, and in the bars and saloons that all advertised that crowning glory of frontier civilization, “Lunch counter free to access with purchase of a drink.” Here and there, among the merchants and other wealthy citizens, one could still often see some dusty old prospector making his way to or from one of the few claims that still produced gold. Or maybe his claim had gone dry long ago but, knowing no other life, he works it still, finding nothing, but undaunted in his belief that there is more gold out there, just a little out of reach.

One such exemplar of this noble profession was currently attracting quite a bit of attention in the train station. A red earth pony, he was squat and fat but also seemed the picture of strength. A long beard, gone mostly white with years, hung unevenly along his muzzle, longer here, shorter there. Years in the sun had played havoc with his eyes, as even in the relative shade of the station, he still squinted so much as to make it impossible to figure out his eye-color. He wore an old and worn brown hat — or maybe it was only the layers of dust that made it brown — and a pair of overalls over a shirt that was probably once as red as himself, but had since faded into something like salmon pink. His mining implements, chiefly a pickaxe and a pan, lay discarded nearby. He had no use for them now, as he was standing on a soapbox addressing the crowd.

“Yep, that’s right, folks! The gov’ment’s trying to come in, take all our gold!” he said. “They never cared when we was bringing in gold by the score, no siree! But then, when the gold starts drying up and there ain’t enough for everypony, that’s when the gov’ment gets greedy! Trust me, folks, I’m an old miner. Spent my whole life lookin’ for gold and minding my claims, ever since I was a colt! And let me tell you, when the gov’ment starts getting involved, the gold disappears right quick!”

The crowd around him was a rag-tag bunch. There were a couple of dragons and a griffon over here, a few other earth pony miners over there, pegasi that looked like they worked down at the docks, and a few rich unicorns standing only slightly apart from the rest. But despite their diversity, they all nodded in approval as the miner spoke.

Two other ponies watched from further away. Both wealthy, by the looks of them. One, a slender dapple grey gentle-pony with a finely-shaved black goatee and a dark, three-piece suit, leaned on a cane. The other was dressed in a tweed suit. He was khaki-colored and had beady, brown eyes. His hair was well-combed and he boasted an impressive auburn beard. The pride of that beard was the large, curled moustache that seemed to stand at attention like a soldier on the top of his lip. He was a handsome stallion, if a bit on the dandyish side. He chomped at a cigar. Both of them were too engrossed in the spectacle to pay much attention to brown earth pony and his three hooded companions that were walking behind them.

“And I tell you,” the miner continued, pointing his hoof out into the audience, “that the princesses, they don’t care what goes on. They just let it happen.”

“It ain’t fair!” one of the dragons yelled, to grunts of approval from the rest of the crowd.

“No, it ain’t!” said the miner. “These princesses, they act like they care, but do we ever see it? Where are they? All we ask is one princess to come and see what strains our city is under, why we need the gold. But they don’t come! Why? Maybe they ain’t such good princesses after all. Maybe we should sweep’ em all out and get ourselves a new ruler!”

“You mean, a new princess?” one of the unicorns called out, her upper-class accent a stark contrast to most of the others present.

“A new princess, sure!” said the miner. “Or a prince! How ’bout that?”

His audience was eating it up. They let out several cheers.

“Yeah, a prince would do nicely. Or maybe, maybe a king!” Then with a twist of his hoof, the miner exclaimed. “I’ve got it! An emperor!”

The tweed-dressed pony stopped chomping on his cigar long enough to say, “What lunatic would want to be Emperor of San Franciscolt?”

“I don’t know,” said the pony with the cane, “but I’ll back the first guy who says he’s building a bridge to Oatland. Having to ferry all the goods over is draining my business’ coffers.”

Suddenly, the face of a lavender mare whose bouffant hair-do was just visible underneath her hood appeared in between them and said, “Vote Radiant Hope!”

Starlight pulled back and kept pace with her companions. “I hope you appreciate that I’m still getting your name out there, Hope.”

“I was an Empress once,” Hope said. “I didn’t like it very much.”

“Maybe you should settle down here,” said Stirring. “You might actually have a chance of winning a fair election.”

“A thousand-year-old pony who masterminded the conquest of her homeland by a race of wicked fiends?” Starlight said. “You really think she’d have a chance?”

“Can we please stop bringing that up?” Hope said quietly.

“Only in this city,” Stirring responded.

“Stirring, my boy, I thought I heard your voice!”

Stirring Words stopped dead in his tracks and mentally facehoofed. He looked behind him to see his three companions, all silently asking, almost pleading, with him to explain this away. And behind them was the pony in the tweed jacket, with the cigar.

“Get to the compartment, now,” Stirring whispered to the other three. Then he put on a fake smile for the cigar-chomper.

“Thought you could sneak by without saying hello, did you?” said the tweed pony.

“Not from you, Colonel,” said Stirring. “I just had something on my mind.”

“As well you should. As well you should. Have you made the smart choice and decided to come over to my newspaper instead of that dreary Seaddle rag?”

Stirring looked over his shoulder as the three cloaks headed away from him. “It’s a big decision, sir. There’s a lot to think over.”

“What’s there to think over? The Daily North Equestria is the biggest paper on this coast! It’s an honor just to be considered for a position with us.”

“I know, sir, and I’m deeply honored. I am. And I hope that I’ll be able to come to San Franciscolt and accept it soon.”

“Look around you, boy. You are in San Franciscolt.”

Stirring nervously looked over his shoulder. He could barely see the cloaks anymore. “I know I am, sir, but I’m just passing through. They got me doing a story down in Las Pegasus.”

“Las Pegasus? What could you be writing about down there? Sand dunes? Cacti?”

“They don’t actually have sand dunes down there. And I haven’t seen that much cactus either.”

The Colonel gave a large puff of his cigar, almost making Stirring cough from the smoke. “Still, wretched place. If ponies were meant to live in the desert, we wouldn’t need to drink water!”

Stirring looked behind him again. Now the cloaks had completely disappeared. He could only hope that they had made it. But speaking of Hope, maybe this encounter could be of use to the cause.

“I heard that guy talking over there,” Stirring said, pointing his hoof at the miner.

“Ah, him!” said the Colonel. “Don’t pay much attention to him. I see ponies like him all the time. After a few ciders, they think they have the answers to everything.”

“Still, a new ruler for San Franciscolt? Sounds a bit drastic. That can’t be happening.”

“Happening? Of course it’s not happening! Celestia controls the sun and Luna controls the moon. One of them could scorch us and the other could change the tides and sink us!”

The Colonel puffed on his cigar and thought. “But, of course, we’ll play it up in the papers, make ponies think it’s a thing. Get them riled up. Then, when they start to get over the idea, we’ll say there was a major breakthrough in negotiations or nonsense like that. Should at least double our circulation for the next year!”

“That’s a shame, because I hear that there’s a forgotten princess in Equestria.” Stirring pointed to a wanted poster of Hope, half-torn down but with her face still visible. “Maybe she could be a viable candidate.”

“I heard about that story,” said the newspaper-pony. “Some conspiracy theory from up north. I understand your boss is cooking up a story. Something about publishing some letter or other. At least, that’s what my spies tell me.”

The Colonel let out a ‘joking-but-not-really’ kind of laugh. Stirring mentally kicked himself.

So that’s the story he was working on, Stirring thought. No wonder he didn’t want me near it. I’m in big trouble if I ever go back to Seaddle. Stirring reflected that he should count himself fortunate that Fast Facts, a consummate news-pony, had chosen to try for a big scoop instead of turning the letters over to the authorities and thereby revealing to them Stirring’s role in the conspiracy.

“You know, I think I might have just become a free agent,” Stirring said.

“Excellent, my boy!” the Colonel responded. “Maybe you’ll be able to tell me whether there’s anything to this princess character. You should know better than most what to make of the balderdash pouring down on us from the rainy north.”

“I really haven’t had much time to keep track of it,” Stirring lied.

The Colonel blew out a thick cloud of smoke from his cigar. “Apparently, she just escaped from a mental ward but the word is, the official story’s a cover-up and that she’s really this princess that got shafted by Celestia.”

“I heard she worked at Seaddle Specialist, not that she was in the mental ward there.”

The other pony shrugged. “Mental ward makes a better story. Ponies get a kick out of that sort of stuff.”

“Sounds like you don’t believe it.”

The Colonel dropped some ash from his cigar. “I don’t put much stock in news that I don’t make up. Besides, she’s a crystal pony.”

“So?”

“Well, they’re ponies and all, but they’re not really like us, are they?”

After some more cigar-chomping, he added, “Still, we might roll with it if it gets popular enough. If nothing else, it’ll get another one over on that pretentious oaf Fast Facts; no offence, my boy. Maybe I’ll even have an interview with her. Just pen something in my spare time and say it’s an interview. Ponies will believe anything. She’s cute too. That means we can slap her face on the front page and it’ll sell like cider. A lot of lonely stallions in this town.”

“You should do that,” Stirring said.

The Colonel, clearly not used to be told what he should or shouldn’t do, raised an eyebrow and gave Stirring the longest, most disapproving look he could ever remember receiving.

Stirring quickly tried to save himself, saying as meekly as possible, “I mean, I can’t tell one of the foremost journalistic authorities in Equestria how to do his very important job, but I have a feeling that story’s going to be big. You should get a jump on it before anyone else does. Certainly before Fast Facts and the Stablegraph.”

If Stirring had played his cards right, he would succeed in getting Starlight’s preferred story out and perhaps dent any repercussions from Fast Facts’ publication of his letters. Luckily, Fast Facts’ reputation for truth and honesty was only slightly better than the Colonel’s.

The Colonel, standing up a little straighter, took a long, satisfied drag of his cigar and puffed out a luxuriant black cloud of smoke. “The foremost journalistic authority in Equestria. You’ll need to remember that if you come to work for me. But I think I will print this story. I can already see the headline now: ‘Celestia Illegitimate. True Ruler of Equestria Steps Forward.'”

“Celestia?” Stirring asked, trying to correct the Colonel but not trying to be perceived as doing so. “I’m confused. Wouldn’t it be Cadance? The forgotten princess is a crystal pony, after all.”

“So much to teach you, my boy,” the Colonel said as he thoughtfully inhaled cigar smoke. “Ponies care about Celestia. They’ll buy papers when the story’s about her. The pink princess, nopony cares, other than that she’s pretty. But we’re not doing page-three girls.”

“And here I thought we would be printing the truth.”

The Colonel let out a loud belly laugh. “Oh, Stirring Words, my boy, you do have so much to learn.”

Stirring turned his head around one last time. He noticed, in the crowd, a small purple stallion moving in the direction where his companions had gone. For a moment, there was a pang of panic. Wasn’t that the pony Starlight had said had tried to capture them? But no, couldn’t be. What where the odds?

“Still, I’ll make something of you,” said the Colonel. “You have the instincts to edge out the competition. And I can use ponies like that, as long as inconvenient things like honesty and integrity don’t get in the way.”

But Stirring was no longer listening. All of his attention was on the pony he had just seen.

“Yeah, yeah, sure….” he muttered.

Then he turned and ran into the crowd, chasing a purple pony that might not even be there.

The Colonel chomped at his cigar. “Colts these days. No more respect. You wouldn’t see me doing that to a pony. Lying, spreading rumors behind their back, blackmail, sure. That’s how a gentlepony does things. But to turn his back on me in the middle of the conversation? It’s beyond the pale! Maybe I don’t need a pony like him at my paper after all.”

After he once more puffed out a massive cloud of smoke, the Colonel scratched his beard and then twirled his moustache. Equestria’s foremost journalistic authority was in thought. “It’s a good story, mind you, about the princess. I’ll still have to print it. Never let it be said that I don’t know a good idea when I steal it.”

“Oh, how I loathe this dreadful city!” Dr. Fie complained as he managed to just weave past a burly pegasus.

“I would have thought that San Franciscolt would be just the city for you,” Starlight responded.

“How could it? It’s so crowded. There are too many ponies here!”

“But they’re your kind of ponies.”

“I don’t have a kind of pony, madam. I am one of a kind.”

Radiant Hope tried to ignore them both. She was certain that bickering was not the best way to avoid being detected in public, but she also knew that it would be impossible to get them to be quiet. So Hope just pulled her hood down a little more. At the moment, she was thankful that new cloaks were among the things Dr. Fie had felt the need to shoplift. Those, and the blue pouch which she had tied around her neck, just big enough to fit Sombra’s horn. But still, it didn’t make up for the noise the Dr. Fie and Starlight were making. Hope tried to act as though she was only beside the other two by chance, not by design.

But maybe there was no need for such caution. Stirring had been right. Nopony cared much about three fugitives from Seaddle. The only thing everypony was talking about was the proposed secession. Earlier, some ponies had even chatted her up about it. Hope had done her best to sound like a pony not on the run from the law and the other two did not once bring up the fact that she was made of crystal. Had she pulled down her hood and said, “My name is Radiant Hope,” she might not have fazed them at all.

Hope felt more comfortable then she had perhaps since before the Siege. Maybe this was a place where nopony would care about her past.

And then she saw him. It was quick and it was just by chance. Hope had happened to glance over her shoulder, wondering when Stirring was going to rejoin them, and she had seen the small purple stallion with the sword for a cutie mark. It was just briefly, but there was no forgetting the pony that had not too long ago instigated what was possibly the most harrowing night of Hope’s harrowing life.

“We’re being followed,” she said to Starlight and the doctor, quietly but with urgency.

“Nonsense, dear girl,” Dr. Fie responded. “I see no one. And my eagle-eyes are never mistaken.”

Starlight looked back and scanned the crowd. “Hope, who do you think you saw?”

“It was that purple stallion! The one with the princesses that night at the inn.”

“The one who was calling the shots,” Starlight said, almost with amusement. “I would like to get my hooves on him.”

“Please keep your revolting fantasies to yourself, madam,” Dr. Fie said, wiping himself off as though her words had physically contaminated him.

For once, Starlight didn’t respond. She was still scanning the crowd. But now her eyes had fixed on one spot. Only for a moment, but just long enough that Hope knew she must have seen something.

“He’s back there.” Starlight said, trying to keep her voice calm. “We just have to avoid him. We can do that.”

“And what about all the goons he probably has posted throughout the crowd?” Dr. Fie asked.

“I don’t think there’s anypony else,” Hope said as she looked around for any signs of ponies moving toward them. “At least not here. And it’s a big crowd. It’ll be hard for them to get to us.”

“And, if what Stirring said is right, the princesses wouldn’t risk angering the natives by sending in the EIS,” Starlight said.

“Well, they sent in one, didn’t they?” Dr. Fie remarked.

Though he would never have believed it, Dr. Fie was wrong on this occasion. Or partially, at least. Swift Strike had been sent to San Franciscolt by the princesses. But it wasn’t to apprehend these three. He was there on quite different business. Somepony had to make sure that the citizens' talk of picking their own ruler was just talk and that there was no real threat to the throne.

That was the official story, at least. But Swift Strike was not the type of pony to believe official stories. He had crafted so many that he knew better. He suspected that the assignment was either a punishment on Luna’s part or that Twilight Sparkle had decided he was too inefficient to lead the hunt. He seemed to still have Celestia’s ear, judging by the fact that she had been all set to come to San Franciscolt until he had warned her that the security situation was too dire.

But then, maybe Celestia was against him too. After all, she still held enough power to overturn any of Luna or Twilight’s decisions. But she did not. Didn’t that suggest at least a level of approval?

No matter, Swift thought. He just needed something that would get him back into the princesses’ good graces. And what could be better than capturing Starlight and Hope? Swift had guessed that they’d try to use rail eventually, so he had been staking out the San Franciscolt train–station since he arrived. Of course, it was always going to take a bit of luck for them to be taking the train from this particular station. But then, today was shaping up to be Swift Strike’s lucky day.

Then the fugitives started picking up pace and weaving through the crowd. Swift mentally kicked himself. Despite all of his caution, they must have seen him. Maybe he really hadn’t been at the top of his game since the inn fiasco?

No time to think about that, though. Swift Strike picked up his own pace and began to weave more quickly through the crowd. He could still see the cloaks, but he himself would be invisible to them.

The three ponies hurried through the crowd.

“Where is he? I don’t see him!” Starlight said.

“This isn’t going to work!” Hope said. “If we can’t keep sight of him, he’ll catch us before we know it!”

“Oh, cruel fate! That Fiddly Fie should escape countless fatal perils only to be finally cut down—”

“Quiet!” Starlight said. “I think I have a plan. You two keep running and keep him distracted. I’ve got something I need to do.”

In a flash of light, Starlight disappeared.

“She really wants to show off how well she can teleport now, doesn’t she?” Hope said.

The two kept moving, without any clear sense of where they were moving to. But they successfully managed to weave through the crowd. Hope did it without crashing into anypony. Dr. Fie was not so lucky, knocking a few onto their backs as he pushed through, often followed by an impromptu apology as he went flying past. Hope found herself splitting her concentration between finding her own way and sending out healing spells to whatever pony the doctor had just made contact with. It was a miracle she was able to keep going at all.

But at least none of the ponies seemed particularly offended. Apparently, being knocked to the ground in the chaos of the crowd was a common occurrence at train-stations in the fine city of San Franciscolt.

“Here, girl, stop!” Dr. Fie said, as he himself stopped and began gasping for breath. “I don’t think I can run anymore! You know what overexertion does to me!”

Hope wheeled around and grabbed hold of him. “Dr. Fie, this is not the time!”

“And what are we supposed to do? Just keep running forever? It’s not going to work, child. We should try to blend in another way!”

“What do you propose?”

Dr. Fie looked past Hope. Her eyes followed his. He was gazing intently at a large piece a sculpture. Hope could not make heads or tails of it; apparently it was part of a new enthusiasm called “abstract art,” the chief purpose of which, as far as Hope could tell, was to install eyesores like this in places of public transportation in a desperate bid to make those places seem to possess an iota of culture. A crowd of ponies had gathered around it, not to look at it, but just because it offered a safe rest from the otherwise perilous waves of movement and momentum in the station.

“I always said that you needed more culture.” Dr. Fie began to amble and signaled for Hope to follow. “Come along, dear girl. We should take in some modern art!”

Hope could only stare quizzically as Dr. Fie seemed to become deeply immersed in a sculpture at a moment when their freedom was on the line.

Meanwhile, in another part of the station, Stirring was still trying to catch up. He had lost sight of the purple pony now and was just galloping in the general direction he had last seen him. But it appeared hopeless. He could not see the purple pony or the three cloaks. For all he knew, they could have been apprehended by now.

But he still kept running. That is, until, he felt a pony grab his arm and pull him back. The whiplash almost sent him falling to the floor. But then Stirring was surrounded by a turquoise light and set on his hooves again. Starlight was standing next to him.

“You’re safe, ma’am!” Stirring said.

“Yes, but the others aren’t,” Starlight added. “I have a plan to save them, but I’ll need your help. Do you remember where that miner was earlier? Would his soapbox still be there?”

“I imagine so,” Stirring responded.

“Take me there.”

Dr. Fie wandered around the sculpture, leaning in close and apparently taking in every inch of it. Radiant Hope followed close behind, staring more at the doctor than at the sculpture.

But she did glance at it. “What is it supposed to be?” she said.

What it looked like was three large blocks stacked one on top of the other. The bottom one was just a plain block, but the middle one had wings, and the top one had a horn sticking up from it. Or it could have been a weathervane. Impossible to tell, really.

“It’s about death,” Dr. Fie said.

“How do you know?”

“These modern art pieces are always about death.”

Hope saw a little plaque and bent her head down to skim the words thereon. “It’s called Unity in Equestria, apparently.”

“Hmm,” Dr. Fie said. “And what rambunctious Roandin was able to tear himself away from sticking macaroni on paper for mom and dad’s fridge long enough to put this together?”

“If you don’t like it, why’d you insist we stop and look at it?” Hope asked.

“Oh, dear me. Did I give the impression that I didn’t like it? What I meant to say was that it’s all a matter of perspective. Why, from this angle over here, it looks like it could be one of the friezes from the Percheron. If the friezes of the Percheron were carved by a blind parasprite. A blind parasprite working only with a cheese grater….”

Hope shook her head. “Okay, doctor. But why are you making us stop here? That pony could be here any moment!”

That pony was here. Dr. Fie saw him, coming through the crowd.

“Hope, my dear, I’m counting on it!”

Just as their pursuer leapt to tackle Hope, Dr. Fie pulled her out of the way and pushed over the sculpture. It collided with the small purple unicorn and knocked him to the ground, trapping him beneath it.

“I don’t know if you should have damaged the sculpture like that,” Hope said. “Even if it is modern art.”

“Really, Hope?” the doctor replied. “There are so many dubious things you’ve tolerated. But when it comes to pushing statues over, that’s where you take the moral high-ground?”

“I did what I thought was necessary. But dropping the sculpture on him just seemed… mean….”

“It was him or us, dear girl.”

The unicorn squirmed underneath the weight of the sculpture. Hope’s horn lit up blue.

Dr. Fie put his hoof over it. “Don’t do that now, dear girl.”

“But he’s in pain. You know I have to do it.”

“Maybe, just this once, you could… I don’t know… not?”

It did not matter, for the purple pony had managed to wrangle his way out from under the sculpture while the two were debating. A little worse for wear, maybe, but he was still determined on getting his mare.

"You ponies have to learn," he said. "Swift Strike isn't so easily beaten."

“Oh, dear me. I thought that would have worked better,” Dr. Fie said glumly.

“Should we run again?” Hope asked.

But there was no need. For soon, another voice was heard, booming throughout this part of the station. Starlight’s voice.

“There you are, my fellow ponies!” she said. “There, that little purple runt is the one I was telling you about. He’s here from the government to steal your gold!”

Starlight was standing, hood down, in the middle of a large group of ponies. Stirring Words was beside her.

“I came here today to talk to you all about how the Equestrian royalty is exploiting you,” Starlight said. “But I am shocked to see them be so bold as to do it in the middle of a public place! That purple pony is a known operative of theirs!”

“What, the glowy one with the blue hair?” asked a pony that looked to be a dockworker.

“No, not ‘the glowy one with the blue hair’,” Starlight said, her voice lapsing briefly into disgust. “The small one with the black mane. He’s the one who’s trying to bleed this city dry. He’s trying to destroy it!”

“Indeed, he is,” Dr. Fie said nervously to the crowd. “Just look at how he unnecessarily damaged this really quite exquisite work of art!”

“He is trying to take away everything that makes this city great. And what do we do with those types of ponies?” Starlight asked, her tone provocative.

Swift looked at the mob. The mob collectively looked at Swift. For a moment, neither made a move. Then, suddenly, Swift took off at a gallop. The mob let out a collective roar and stampeded after him. The din of their shouts and hooves made the noisy station somehow even noisier. Indeed. Hope, Starlight, and the others had to cover their ears until the mob had disappeared into the distance.

“That speech you gave them was really something,” Stirring said, lowering his hooves. “One of your best, if I do say so, ma’am.”

“Why, thank you, Stirring,” Starlight said.

“I didn’t know you cared so much about letting ponies keep their hard-earned gold,” Stirring said.

“I have a bleeding heart like that,” Starlight responded.

“That would imply you have a heart, madam,” Dr. Fie said as he and Hope joined them.

“It’s a heart of iron, doctor, but it’s still a heart,” Starlight answered with a smirk.

“But, if you don’t mind my saying,” Stirring said. “I didn’t hear you mention anything about cutie marks. If they hate what the government’s doing with their gold, won’t they hate being enslaved to their cutie marks even more?”

“Foal steps, Stirring, foal steps,” Starlight answered. “They are all like children. We must guide them gently by the hoof if we ever want them to see the truth. We must start with small victories before we go on to larger ones.”

“I hope they don’t hurt him,” Hope said, looking in the direction the mob had gone. “He is just trying to do his job.”

“No, they’ll probably just tar-and-feather him,” Starlight answered. “I had, I think, eight pegasi volunteering to donate feathers for the effort.”

“You are the soul of moderation, dear lady,” Dr. Fie remarked with a sneer.

“If I wasn’t, you’d have been dead a long time ago,” Starlight said, “But let’s not stand around and wait for more of them to come. Stirring, get us to our train.”

Stirring nodded and guided them onward. The scene with the mob had not cleared the train-station out at all. Ponies and assorted members of other species continued to walk by, utterly unmoved by what had just occurred. Perhaps this was another common occurrence in the fine city of San Franciscolt.

The boarding process was uneventful. Both Hope and Starlight had considered teleporting when the attendants when round to punch tickets. However, Stirring was able to engage their attendant in conversation as he provided four tickets and she never even bothered to look at them. This particular car had only three other ponies, and these were all huddled at the opposite end and were paying no attention. It seemed like they were finally safe. Dr. Fie even felt uncharacteristically daring enough to pull down his hood. Starlight no longer bothered with hers.

Hope continued to keep her hood up, but that was mostly because she was too distracted to think about it. She was busy looking out the window. Or, not really looking, but just staring in that general direction, lost in her own thoughts.

“Oh, you’re not still worried about that nasty little EIS agent, are you?” Starlight said, sitting across from Hope.

Starlight focused again on Hope. “Oh, don’t worry! I’m sure he got away. Half those ponies were almost too drunk to stand, much less capture a pony as fast as that. I just sent them after him because I knew they’d keep him busy.”

Hope closed her eyes.

“What are you doing now?” Starlight asked, mildly annoyed.

“Whenever I close my eyes, I see faces. Twisted, mangled faces. And they reach out to me, begging me for help.”

“After how long you spent with the Umbrum, I’m not surprised you’re still seeing them,” Stirring Words said.

Hope opened her eyes. Even though Stirring had spoken, she focused squarely on Starlight Glimmer. “It’s not the Umbrum.”

“Then who is it, dear girl?” Dr. Fie asked.

“After the Siege,” Hope said, “I stood outside the city and looked down at all the destruction the Umbrum caused. All the destruction I caused. I watched the smoke rise up from fires nopony had been able to put out and I listened to the sirens of the ambulances. And then I knew. I knew for the first time what I had done. I actually went back. I went back to the city with my hood up and walked around. I heard the stories and watched the reports and saw the pictures. The pictures of all the ponies that had died. I had to. I saw the faces of everypony that lost his or her life during the Siege, during the changeling attacks, after the Umbrum were released, and when Sombra and I were Emperor and Empress….”

“Hope,” Dr. Fie said quietly, putting his hoof on her shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“Wasn’t it, though?” Stirring asked.

“Time and place, dear boy,” Dr. Foe chided. “Time and place.”

“I wanted to do something to make it right,” Hope said. “But you can’t, can you? It's not just the ponies that died, but the friends and families that were left behind after. Just like I was after Sombra fell. Just like I am now that he's gone again. So I left. I just began to wander, until I ended up in Seaddle. But I still see those faces whenever I close my eyes. Not as they were in their pictures, not happy and smiling, but how they must have looked when they died.”

Starlight gave Stirring a knowing look. To Hope, she said, “So, you just keep punishing yourself?”

Hope touched the porch at her neck. “I have to.”

An image appeared in the window, though Hope was certain it was only for her eyes. A familiar image. King Sombra. But he did not look so menacing now, or angry. He mostly just looked sad. Hope put up her hoof to touch the glass where his cheek was.

There was a soft rumbling below as the train began to move. Hope though she heard something else among the deep, rhythmic sounds of wheels hitting the track.

”Hope....”

“You could do something about it,” Starlight said. “Try to make up for it, somehow.”

Hope laid her head against the glass and the vision of her first friend. She closed her eyes. “I want to. Except, I don’t think it’s possible. Not for me.”

Hope opened her eyes. The image was gone. But in its place was the golden-green of verdant fields, and the darker green of playfully rolling hills beyond. Ponies worked these fields, cracking jokes and singing songs as they went about their simple work. Further in the distance, the vast ocean shimmered like a great jewel of lapis lazuli in the rays of Celestia’s glorious sun. Even in the cabin of this train-car, the warmth and heat could be felt. Hope smiled and once more faced her companions.

She spoke with resolve. “But I can’t add another face to all those I already see. I can’t feel the guilt of one more life lost. That’s why I can’t stop healing ponies. It’s all I have left.”

“It’s not all you have left,” Dr. Fie said. “You have me. Never fear—”

“She has me, too!” Starlight said, pointedly interrupting Dr. Fie. “Hope, I can help you. Together, we can make up for the damage you’ve done.”

“Thank you, Starlight,” Hope said. “But it is something I’ll have to do alone.”

Starlight tried to avoid Stirring’s gaze.

“Don’t talk like this, dear girl,” Dr. Fie said. “I don’t like the way it sounds.”

Everypony fell quiet. The train now picked up speed and soon San Franciscolt and its environs were nothing but a memory. It seemed they were safe at last.

There was more silence. And then, without turning back from the window, Hope spoke. “The faces, they’ve been getting less and less pronounced. They’re more like a blur, lately. I hope that doesn’t mean I’m forgetting them. I don’t want to forget them.”

Dr. Fie put his foreleg around her. “Of course not, Hope. You’re just moving on.”

“Can I move on? After what I’ve done?”

“Everypony has to, sooner or later, no matter what they’ve done. I speak from experience.”

To Starlight and Stirring’s amused looks, Dr. Fie added, “Not that I’ve ever done anything seriously despicable, anything that I would need to move on from. But I am a doctor, so I know about these things.”

“I hope you’re right, doctor,” Hope said. “I hope you’re right.”

What had become of Swift Strike? Would the four reach Las Pegasus safely?

Read on.

Viva Las Pegasus

Swift Strike was back in that same royal meeting room, the one where he had felt so much satisfaction at getting the princesses to back his operation. But this time, there would be no such satisfaction. Two princesses were with him now. He still had hope that there was one princess who trusted him. But she was not there.

“My sister apologizes for not being present,” Princess Luna said. “But under the circumstances, she decided to travel to San Franciscolt immediately. It seems that the advertised intelligence of an imminent threat was somewhat… questionable.”

“I just wanted to keep all Your Majesties safe!” Swift said.

“By continuing to pursue Starlight Glimmer and Radiant Hope even after we had reassigned you?” Twilight Sparkle asked.

“It wasn’t like that. I saw them and I took a chance. I was doing my duty to you!”

“We had things all set up to apprehend them,” Twilight said. “We couldn’t get guards into San Franciscolt. But they were at every other station on that route and had orders to check all trains that came in thoroughly.”

“That is, until they received a distress spell and all rushed to San Franciscolt immediately!” Luna said. “As if our subjects there were not paranoid enough! I don’t even know what Sister will have to agree to in order to calm them down. Did we not specifically command you to avoid inserting yourself into the mission?”

Swift tried to look repentant. “I know, Your Majesties. And I would not have called in the other agents if I didn’t think my life was on the line. Those two and their doctor friend are very crafty! They lured me into a trap!”

“When the other agents arrived, they didn’t find you in any danger,” Twilight said, reading from a report.

“I am highly-trained,” Swift said. “I am quite capable of escaping such dangerous situations.”

“Yet you still called for reinforcements?” Luna asked, clearly unconvinced.

“That was before I got away from those hooligans,” Swift said.

This was bad. It was the first time he had openly lied to his sovereigns. He had stretched the truth with them on occasion and had omitted certain things which it is not fit for royals to know, but he had never directly lied. Of course, Swift had never been in any real danger from that pathetic excuse for a mob. They had been a distraction and, while it took him time, he did outmaneuver them and leave them scratching their heads.

But he would not have gotten to where he was (well, at least before recent events) without being able to turn crisis into opportunity. Knowing that the fugitives would be on the lookout for him and figuring that they’d never be able to get out of the train station if agents were descending upon it en masse, Swift decided to use the distress spell. True, he had broken maybe a few hundred different regulations by calling in every agent on the western seaboard, but had it succeeded, it would have been clearly justified.

But it had not succeeded and that made the justification all the harder. Add to that the fact that he was now lying to the only ponies he felt any loyalty to, and Swift Strike was in a type of difficulty he had never experienced before. He also felt something he had never experienced before.

Is this what guilt feels like? Or is it shame? Both?

This is why Swift had never liked emotions. They were too difficult to categorize.

“I’m sorry, Swift,” Twilight said, “but we just can’t trust your story. You’ve always been such a tried and true officer, but too many details just don’t add up here.”

“What Are you saying?” For the first time in perhaps his whole life, Swift Strike’s voice contained a trace of panic. Emotions were awful things.

“We thank you for your service,” Luna said, in something like a monotone. “But, given current circumstances, we cannot afford to entrust you with missions that are vital to Equestria’s national security.”

“Are you saying I’m fired?” Swift said. His ever-unchanging face was now marked by so many emotions that he did not even look like the same pony. Too many emotions. And they were all painful.

How do ponies live like this?

“It’s not as bad as that,” Twilight said, her tone apologetic.

“You’re suspended,” Luna said, her tone decidedly not. “Suspended until we have determined that you have overcome this unfortunate inability to perform your duties.”

“Suspended? How is that not as bad?” Swift snapped. He tried to stop his voice from rising into anger, but he could not. “This is my life! Serving you has been my life! I have nothing without this! What am I supposed to do?”

“We didn’t want to have to do this,” Twilight said. “We still want you in charge of the EIS. Just take a break and maybe relax a little. Then we’ll see.”

“Take a break? Relax a little?” It took all of Swift’s willpower not to add, You’re one to talk.

But then, he collected himself. Though still very angry, he appeared calm.

“I understand, Your Majesties,” Swift said with a bow. “I understand and accept. I shall work hard to win back your trust and confidence.”

“Thank you, Swift,” Twilight said with a smile.

“See that you do,” Luna added, with no smile.

Swift Strike gave another, lower bow and began to leave. He pretended not to hear Luna whispering to Twilight, “I’ve always found there to be something rather sinister about that one.”

His face lost its pretended serenity as soon as he was out of the room. And he soon felt the presence of something else he was not accustomed to; tears.

Swift managed to hold back sobs, but it did not make him feel any better. “How could they do this to me?” he said under his breath. “After everything I’ve done for them! For Equestria! They need me! Without me to help them run this country, without me to do the dirty work, their rule will collapse! It’ll be anarchy! They can’t do it alone!”

He quickly wiped the tears away with his hoof and looked around to make sure nopony had seen them. There was nopony to see, which was fortunate. Any pony who had been there could expect to have a terrible, inexplicable, and probably fatal accident in their near-future.

Swift collected himself. “They can’t do without me. I’m going to fix this. Then they’ll see.”

A chill wind whipped through Las Pegasus. There were few ponies on the streets of the desert city. It was much too cold. Nopony ever thought that Las Pegasus could get cold — barring another snow-dumping mix-up like those that were in the news recently — but it could. It could and it did. And it was just the luck of Radiant Hope and company to be arriving in the city just as the winter cold-front was also coming in.

“I thought you said this place was supposed to be warm!” Dr. Fie complained as they stepped out of the train station and into the streets.

“It always was when I was here before,” Stirring Words responded. “How was I supposed to know that a cold front could blow in this far south?”

“It is not my concern where you get your information,” Dr. Fie said, “as long as it is accurate. Which is not the case. As a reporter, you should be ashamed. I’m ashamed for you.”

“Come now, doctor,” Starlight Glimmer said. “We all know that you’re completely shameless.”

The only pony not contributing to this conversation was Radiant Hope, who was looking up into the sky, where brilliant colors of purple, red, and yellow played against the usual blue and the white clouds as Celestia’s orb descended below the mountains in the distance.

Then she cast her gaze down upon the city below, standing level on the plain below the mountains. There were many tall buildings scattered throughout, and a massive urban sprawl that seemed to reach right up to the mountains themselves. Bright lights were everywhere; everything seemed to shine, as though in protest at the quick onset of darkness. Even here, In the outskirts, Hope could hear the noise as the city continued to go about its business, with no thought of the hour. Day and night were artificial divisions here.

But beyond all that was the sea, grey and quickly blackening below the setting sun. Somewhere on the sea, boats were beginning to turn on their lights. And the brightest lights of all came from the large liner docked in the waters at the very edge of vision.

And out there, somewhere, were the Umbrum. Hope knew that. She had been trying to get to Las Pegasus, doing everything she had to do to get here. And now that she was here, trepidation seemed to fill every ounce of her body. It weighed down her steps.

Hope looked over to her companions. Was it for her life that she feared, or theirs?

A train-whistle sounded, its shrill cry carrying in the twilight air across the whole of the valley. The train was leaving. There was no going back now.

“So, what do we do now, ma’am?” Stirring asked.

“I recommend that we stop at one of the higher-end clothing stores,” Dr. Fie said. “My suit still has the tears in it from when those savages attacked us!”

“You’re calling the EIS savages, now?” Starlight asked. “I thought you were a patriot.”

“One can love one’s country without approving of what it does,” Dr. Fie responded. “Especially what it does to upstanding ponies’ expensive suits!”

Turning from the doctor to Stirring, Starlight said, “You were the one who was supposed to be making the arrangements. What did you have in mind?”

Stirring’s smile was as wide as a foal on Hearth’s Warming Day. “Well, ma’am, I did have something special planned for when we got in….”

“And that is yet another example, my friends, of how cutie marks have been the cause of so much misery in the history of Equestria,” Starlight Glimmer said. Polite applause came from the crowd as she stopped to sip from a glass of water that had been placed on the podium for her convenience.

Radiant Hope looked to Starlight and then to the crowd. Stirring had said that these were ponies who had been completely won over to the cause, converts ready to do and die at Starlight’s word. But as she looked at them now, they looked more curious than disaffected. Novelty-seekers, not freedom fighters.

There were a few younger ponies around, dressed in suits that could with kindness be described as ‘high-class on a budget.’ College ponies, probably. Well, they were always disaffected about something and looking for a way to solve it. But they were hardly converts. In a month or two, they’d lose interest and go on to some other cause.

The rest looked like high-society ponies. Some of them had to have money, as someone had to have paid for the private room at this upscale restaurant. And money must have bought protection, as well, since Hope, Starlight, and the doctor were able to walk into said restaurant hoodless with no pony batting an eye.

It was very strange for Starlight not to see the danger in this, Hope thought. Countless ponies of wealth and connections now knew they were here. But that had not stopped Starlight from getting up to the podium and delivering a long rant against cutie marks, the Equestrian authorities, and Princess Twilight Sparkle in particular.

Hope supposed that the part about Twilight Sparkle being deathly afraid of quesadillas was a rhetorical flourish on Starlight’s part.

“Are you not hungry, dear girl?”

Hope was awoken from her reverie. She looked over to Dr. Fie, sitting next to her at the table nearest the podium.

“You’ve barely touched anything since we’ve sat down,” he said. “I would have thought that, after the barely-edible slop we had to subsist on for so long, you’d be more than happy to dine on real food again.”

The doctor clearly was. He had already finished nearly the entirety of his plate and gulped down several glasses of wine.

“I’ve just got a lot on my mind,” she said.

“Like the Umbrum?”

“Yeah.”

“Hope, I know you think you have to stop the Umbrum. You think it’s your responsibility. But you don’t have to. I’m sure the princesses can handle it.”

“The princesses didn’t handle it that well last time.”

“Everypony has on off-day. But, be that as it may, it doesn’t make it your burden to carry. I’m sure there’s some other pony in Equestria who could do it.”

Hope shook her head. “But I’m the one that caused this. I have to be the one to fix it.”

Dr. Fie fell silent. His expression switched back and forth between one of sympathy and one of befuddlement. Several times in fact. But Hope did not want to discuss the Umbrum further.

“But you must be enjoying your dinner,” Hope said.

Dr. Fie gave a rather exaggerated shrug. “One makes do with what one has. But I will say, the vegetables here are slightly undercooked. The cheese, on the other hoof, has been overdone. It has been allowed to melt to an unforgiveable degree. My heart grows heavy at the thought that one iota more of attention could have saved this whole meal from becoming the fiasco which it clearly is. And the wine! Do not get me started, dear girl! Why, the vintage is distinctly post-Luna’s exile. From that vineyard down the street, no doubt. How dare they serve such unrefined stuff to me! It’s like drinking water! And not a Baltimare radish to be seen!”

“Nothing ever satisfies you, does it?” Hope said, with a hint of amusement.

“My life is constant suffering,” Dr. Fie responded. Lifting his hoof up, he said loudly. “Mr. maître d’, more wine!”

Loud enough that he spoke over whatever point about the injustices of the cutie mark machine Starlight Glimmer was currently making. Starlight closed her eyes in frustration for a moment before continuing, looking like she was trying to fight back the urge to strangle the doctor again.

“I thought you didn’t like the wine,” Hope said.

“It’s dreadful,” Dr. Fie said, “but after nearly being frozen and strangled and starved to death, I do not intend to perish by dehydration!” Once more, he waved to the waiter. “Come, come, dear boy, more wine, more wine!”

Hope looked down to her own plate again. Then she looked up at all the ponies around her. And then she closed her eyes. The faces were much fainter now, but she could still make out their features. She opened her eyes and looked at the faces that actually where before her.

The thought struck her, What if everypony here also dies, because of me?

The thought was too much for Hope to handle.

The waiter had finally come to the table. “Remind me to never rely on you in a pinch,” Dr. Fie scolded him. “I had very nearly passed out from unquenched thirst waiting for you!”

Hope stood up.

“Hope!” Dr. Fie said, his attention drawn away from the poor maître d’, who was happy to beat a hasty retreat. “Is something the matter, dear girl?”

“I just need some air,” Hope said as she sped out of the room.

Dr. Fie watched her go. Then he made shifty eyes at all the other ponies in the room. His horn began to glow. Hope’s plate lifted up and landed in front of him, while his own now-empty one took its place in front of her vacant chair.

Dr. Fie caught Stirring watching him.

“Oh, go point that disapproving eye elsewhere,” he said as he began to dig in. “She’s not going to eat it. She told me so herself!”

The air had only gotten colder as night had descended over the valley. For once, Hope considered all her trudging along the arctic wastes of the Frozen North to have been fortunate, since this chill hardly bothered her now.

She had gone outside and found herself somehow at the back of the restaurant, the unkempt, dirty place that you’re never supposed to see unless you happen to be a worker dropping off a bag of garbage. It smelled terribly, but Hope was used to that after a thousand years in the Umbrum’s prison.

But it was quiet and it was secluded and she was completely alone. One of the chefs had come out briefly to smoke a cigarette and had tried to engage Hope in conversation. Luckily, however, he had had to hurry back in before anypony noticed his absence. Hope had been kind and polite, but she was relieved when she was once more left to her own thoughts.

I can’t let anypony else suffer for what I’ve done, Hope thought. I have to stop the Umbrum and I have to do it alone.

Hope reached for the pouch hanging down from her neck. Her magic undid the little bow tied around it and then floated the horn out into her hoof.

“Oh, Sombra,” she said. “I know I couldn’t save you but I wish you were here. You were the only other one to have this connection to the Umbrum. You were the only one who could understand.”

Once more, Hope heard the deep voice in the whistling wind.

It sounded almost like, ”Hope, I am here....”

Hope shook if off and wiped a small tear out of her eye. “No, Sombra, you aren’t. Our lives were intertwined for so long. But they aren’t anymore.”

Then, Hope felt the fur on the back of her neck begin to stand up. It was the chill again. Not the chill that naturally had been haunting the air since they arrived. No, this was the other chill, the one Hope felt whenever she touched the horn or even thought about Sombra too much. And it chilled Hope to the bone.

“My Empress….” came a sickening, sinister voice.

Hope turned around, to see Invidia, making another parody of a bow. Misericordia and Luxuria were behind him, and both also bowed.

“So, you finally got here,” he said. “Took you long enough, even after we spelled it out for you. I didn’t think you could be any more dense then you did on those horrid picnics….”

If he thought it would hurt Hope again, he would be disappointed. The words barely registered.

“I used to be so angry at you,” Hope said. “For so long, I was mad at the Umbrum. For what you did to Sombra. For what you did to me.”

“What we did? We gave you Sombra in the first place. You would have been a mere princess, but we made you an Empress. All the rest was your choice.”

“I know,” Hope said.

Invidia swirled around Hope. “Then maybe you should be angry at yourself.”

“I am,” Hope said. “But maybe if I put a stop to you, once and for all, I’ll be able to let this anger go.”

“Is it always about you, Hope?” Invidia said, his cloven hoof rubbing Hope’s chin.

“You don’t have to do this,” Hope said.

“Do what?” Invidia said, his voice dripping with bile.

“I never want to do anything,” Luxuria said. “Especially when there are so many cute stallions around to torment.”

“Whatever it is you’re doing,” Hope said, “I know it’s bad. But you don’t have to do it. You don’t have to be like Sombra. You don’t have to be like me.”

“So you admit we are alike?” Invidia said in amusement. “I suppose even you have to finally recognize that Sombra was evil and that you are just like him.”

Hope looked down to Sombra’s horn. She carefully laid it on the ground. “I am just like Sombra. But not in being evil. I’m like him because we both made a choice. And we both made the wrong one. He died for his and I have to live with mine. But you too have a choice. You could choose to be different. You could choose to be better.”

“Wait, we have choices?” Misericordia asked. “Why did no one tell me about this?”

“Because you’re incapable of thinking for yourself, idiot,” Invidia snapped back.

“Oh,” said Misericordia, chastised.

“Don’t worry about it,” Luxuria told him. “Choices are too exhausting, anyway. Just enjoy all the evil we cause. It’s what I do.”

“But you don’t have to,” Hope said, pleading. “You don’t have to be evil. I always told Sombra it was a choice.”

“And look where it got you!” Luxuria shot back, causing both herself and Invidia to howl with laughter. Misericordia did not join in.

Hope looked down. “Look where it got me. Maybe I was wrong. All those years, I shouldn’t have trusted you.”

Then, she looked up, her eyes brimming with strength and resolve. “I won’t make that mistake again. If you insist on going through with whatever it is you’re planning, I will stop you. No matter what it takes, I will stop you.”

More laughter from Invidia and Luxuria.

“It’s a pity you’re so set on opposing us,” Invidia said. “Because we didn’t bring you here to fight. In fact, I think we could be mutually-beneficial to each other.”

Hope felt worried for the first time. “What do you mean?”

“You want something, don’t you, Hope? The same thing you’ve wanted since you first came to us a millennium ago? You want to set Sombra free.”

“You can't offer me that. He’s... he’s gone.”

“Ah!” Invidia and Luxuria said, or rather screeched, together. They swirled around Hope. Luxuria wrapping herself around Hope’s shoulders and resting her head beside hers. “See, it is what she wants. I knew it,” she hissed, “I told you. These ponies are slaves to their desires.”

Invidia once more rubbed Hope’s chin with his hoof and lifted her head up until her eyes locked with his.

“It’s not that, Luxuria. Our Empress is too noble for such base feelings. She wants to save the pony she loves,” he said. “Now, Hope, you think Sombra will never have a chance at freedom again. Maybe you’re right. But you also think the same about yourself. And you are right. All that pain that you must feel, all the guilt and the shame. Tell me, Hope, what was it like to look into the eyes of your fellow crystal ponies, knowing it was you who robbed them of their husbands and wives, their sons and their daughters?”

“You always said that sacrifices had to be made,” Hope said, trying to remain unmoved even as Luxuria’s hooves dug deep into her shoulders, drawing blood.

“Yes, but it takes a certain kind of pony to make them,” said Invidia. “We always sensed that you were that kind of pony. You seemed so sweet and innocent and good. But we saw the real darkness that was inside of you.”

“What do you want?” Hope asked. She was not about to give into Invidia’s taunting.

“No, this is about what you want,” Invidia responded.

“I want to stop you.”

“That’s not really what you want. What you want is for the pain to go away. You want the memories to go away, the memories of all the faces of innocent ponies, never again to be filled with life, the memories of the families, broken because of what you did. You want the sorrow of a thousand wasted years to disappear. And that mocking name, Radiant Hope, which reminds you every day of your crimes, you want gone. That is what you want. And we can make it all go away.”

“But you don’t want to hear me go on all night,” Starlight Glimmer said from the podium. “I think the reason you’ve come here is because you’ve heard the sad tale of a certain crystal princess. Or, she would be princess if not for the cruel jealousy of Celestia and Luna, who have stopped at nothing to keep her silenced for well over a thousand years. But they have failed, for the unjust must always fail in time. Let them be warned that all oppression must someday crumble. And so, our heroic princess is not silenced. She is here to speak to you tonight. Everypony, please give a big round of applause for Radiant Hope!”

Starlight smiled as the ponies applauded. Though it stung a bit that they applauded much more for Hope than they did for her, and with more real enthusiasm, Starlight reminded herself that this was what she wanted. Ponies loved sob-stories, princesses, and scandals a lot more than they loved ideologies and battling oppressive systems of injustice. And Starlight was the one who was giving them what they loved.

Then Starlight looked to the table from the podium. There was Stirring Words, there was the doctor who must be on his fifteenth glass of wine, but there was no Hope. Starlight trotted over.

“Where is she?” she whispered to Stirring and the doctor.

“She said she had to get some air,” Dr. Fie responded.

“Get some air? Where?”

“How should I know? I’m not the girl’s nanny, you know!”

Starlight let out a hiss of disgust. “I need to go find her. I need somepony to keep the crowd distracted while I’m gone.”

“I’ll do it,” Stirring said, beginning to rise.

“No,” Starlight responded. “They’ve already heard you. They’ll get bored.”

As Stirring’s face saddened, Starlight said, “I didn’t mean it like that. You know what ponies are like. They always need something new to keep their attention. Dr. Fie will have to do it.”

“Me?” Dr. Fie said. “I can’t speak in front of this monstrosity of crowd! What if I run out of things to say?”

“I doubt very much that that will happen,” Starlight said as a turquoise glow surrounded Dr. Fie and forced him out of his chair.

“Fine, fine! You don’t need to be rough about it!” Dr. Fie said.

Starlight let him go and hurried back to the podium. Dr. Fie brushed himself off, mumbled some things about ingratitude under his breath, and followed her.

“But first, my friends, you need to know what kind of pony Radiant Hope is,” Starlight said to the crowd. “And, here to explain how kind, good, and gentle she is, how deserving of princesshood, is the pony who knows her best out of anyone in Equestria; the esteemed Dr. Fiddly Fie, M.D.”

Dr. Fie was about to ask what he should talk about, but before he could, Starlight was gone. Looking out at the assembled crowd, Dr. Fie leaned against the podium, his hooves at his chest.

“Oh, dear me, what am I going to say?” he whimpered. But then he straightened up and put his hooves to the podium. “What am I saying? If anypony can come up with a speech off the cuff that will dazzle and excite the minds of this city’s finest, surely it is Fiddly Fie! This challenge would, admittedly, break a pony of lesser strength and character. But with my ever-stout heart and perpetual resolve, I welcome it!”

Dr. Fie extended his forelegs out toward the crowd and almost fell over. Quickly, he recovered his footing, looked out at the crowd, and began.

“Ah, yes, Radiant Hope,” he said. “I have come to know her incredibly well. She looks up to me as a mentor, a role model, and a friend. In fact, she would not have survived the many perils that we have recently faced had I not been there to courageously risk my life for hers. But why jump into the middle of the story like this? Any proper story begins at the beginning! So let me begin there. I shall take you through it, chapter by chapter, leaving out nothing except for those few, minor details I would like to keep for the upcoming release of my five-volume autobiography. Forgive me if I am somewhat laconic. One rarely has the opportunity to give speeches when one is constantly saving lives. Now, to begin! It was quite frosty the morning I was born, if I recall….”

“I can’t trust you,” Hope said, the darkness around her becoming stronger. She felt as though it would suffocate her. “You’re monsters. And monsters can’t change.”

“You should know,” Invidia responded. “But won’t you at least hear out my proposal?”

Hope had a bad feeling about it. But there was nothing she could do. Might as well hear what he had to say. Maybe she would learn something about the Umbrum’s plans.

“Yes,” she said.

Invidia smiled and pulled away from Hope. Standing in front of her, he said, “My siblings and I are weak. We have been gaining energy, but not enough to return us to our full power. But you can do that, Hope. You can return us to our full power.”

“I don’t know if I can,” Hope said.

“You did it for Sombra.”

“There was only one of him. And after what happened with the Crystal Heart, I don’t know if even one of my spells could repair you. How did you escape that, by the way?”

Invidia let out a hideous laugh. “Curious, aren’t we? How we escaped is none of your business. At least not yet. And your spells mean nothing to us. We know they are useless.”

The glare from his pale, death-like eyes filled Hope with dread, as did Luxuria’s hissing whisper in her ear, “But you, Radiant Hope…. Radiant Hope, a crystal pony. Radiant Hope, that could have been a princess. Radiant Hope, whose magic can heal any wound and cure any sickness. Radiant Hope, who bears the mark of the first mage on her rear. You have so much magic flowing through you. Imagine what all of it could do.”

Hope tried to pull out of Luxuria’s grip, but the shadow held her fast. “You… you want to drain my magic? Isn’t that what Tirek did?”

Invidia’s grin grew large and wide, showing off his dagger-like teeth. “We don’t want to do what Tirek did. He was just out for the manifest magic in ponies. But what about when a pony has so much magic that is latent, dormant, unmanifest? Your whole life-force is magic, Hope. And we want it all.”

Hope’s jaw dropped. She could not believe what she was hearing. “That’s impossible! You can’t take a pony’s whole life-force! There’s no magic powerful enough to do that!”

“Well, not without some cooperation….” Invidia said.

Hope closed her mouth. Her eyes grew cold and distant. “That’s the bargain….”

Invidia swirled around her again. “Yes, Hope. You give your life to restore ours. No more sorrow, no more guilt, no more pain. It will all be over."

Hope was unimpressed. "That's not much of a bargain. I give up my life and let you destroy Equestria. For what? So that I won’t hurt anymore? I could just throw myself in the bay if I just wanted to die."

“See, I told you it was a dumb offer,” Misericordia said. “I told you there’s no reason for her to agree.”

“Shut up!” Invidia snapped over his shoulder.

He turned back to Hope and gave her a dark, wicked look which made Hope’s blood thicken. Then, his empty eyes looked downward — or, at least, it seemed to Hope like they did, though it was so difficult to tell — and landed upon Sombra’s horn. Without a word, he reached down toward.

“No, Sombra!” Hope shouted. She tried to move, but Luxuria restrained her. “Leave him alone!”

“It’s just a dead piece of bone,” Invidia said, his voice cruel and mean. His hoof made contact with the horn. Suddenly, a dark, sludge-like aura emerged from the tip of the horn and ran down its entire length. “Or maybe not so dead after all.”

Hope gasped. Sombra’s horn had changed. No longer grey, thin, and gnarled, it had become full and red, just as it had been when Hope had first found it during the Siege, when she had first brought Sombra back.

A million thoughts raced through Hope’s mind. “Is he....”

“Yes, Empress,” Invidia said. “His power is still there. His essence. But the ponies and the Crystal Heart did much worse to him than they had the first time. You won’t be able to bring him out on your own. Neither will we. We can do it together. But it will require... sacrifice.”

Hope could not stop staring at the horn. “Sombra. He isn’t gone. He’s still... still alive? Close to alive, at least. And I could save him.”

“Yes, you could,” Luxuria whispered into her ear.

“I could bring him back. I could finally save him.”

Luxuria stroked Hope’s hair. “Yes, yes.”

“You could finally do what you’ve been trying to do for a thousand years,” Invidia said.

“None of it would have been in vain,” Luxuria added.

“It wasn’t in vain,” said Misericordia. Both Invidia and Luxuria flashed him what seemed like extremely sharp looks, even for Umbrum.

Hope picked the horn up in her hooves. She could feel the dark power inside of it. The power of the Umbrum. The power of Sombra. It was pulsing through her even as she stood here. She could now hear Sombra clearly now, speaking through the horn.

“Hope, save me. Save me, Hope.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered to the horn. Then there was a flash of light, a blue flash. Luxuria shrieked and clawed at her own eyes.

Hope reappeared a few feet away.

I didn’t think that would work, she thought.

Using her magic, she opened the pouch around her neck and returned Sombra’s horn to its new home. As the pouch rubbed against the side of her shoulder, she could still feel Sombra’s power flowing through her. It was like a small electric current. Annoying but, for now, bearable.

She barely had time to consider this, however, as she found herself lifted in the air. Invidia had grabbed her and was holding her up by the neck.

“Is there a ‘please choke me’ sign on my neck or something,” Hope croaked out.

“Do you think this is a game, you stupid pony?” Invidia screamed in her face.

Hope realized that he had left her throat just enough room for her to speak. “Sombra was my only friend. I wanted to save him more than anything. I still do. But I can’t. So many bad things happened the last time. I can’t risk it again.”

The fall hurt. Hope was certain she had sprained her back legs when she landed. Invidia had let her go and floated over to Luxuria. They huddled and spoke to each other in whispers.

Misericordia floated over. “Are you alright.”

“Yeah, I’ll live,” Hope said. Then she fully realized who she was talking too. “Why do you care?”

Before Misericordia could answer, Invidia flew back over.

"And what about your other friends?" he said with wicked glee.

“I don’t have friends anymore,” Hope responded. “You took that from me.”

Invidia chuckled. “Then who are those ponies that have been following you around since Seaddle? Don’t tell me you don’t care for them.”

Hope was silent.

Invidia nodded. “Personal attachment was always your greatest weakness, Hope. It makes you so blind. So easy to manipulate.”

“Everypony thinks so,” Hope answered.

Invidia fluttered his massive, fly-like wings a bit. “You know what? I wouldn’t do this for anyone else. But you are my Empress, after all, so I feel like I should be a little more respectful.” Another mocking bow of the head. “If you help us, we’ll spare your friends. Everypony you care about — that prissy doctor, the crazy mare with the bouffant mane, her little lap-pony — they can all be safe and happy. We'll give them a free pass and they can seek refuge in whatever forsaken corner of this world we spare from our wrath. Maybe Norneigh.”

Hope could not hide her confusion. “Why Norneigh?”

“There are places even the Umbrum won’t dare to tread.” Invidia, the fearsome shadow pony, seemed to shake a little. Luxuria and Misericordia both nodded in agreement.

This did nothing to soothe Hope. “But you’ll still destroy Equestria! I can’t let you do that!”

Invidia mockingly shook his head. “Oh, poor deluded Hope. You couldn’t stop us if you wanted to. You are a monster, too. And you yourself said that monsters can’t change. You can’t suddenly become the hero you’re not. Whether you help us or you don’t, you can’t save Equestria. You can’t save your friends. But we can spare them. They can live out the rest of their futile existence in peace."

“In Norneigh?”

“I hear it’s a lovely country, once you get used to the constant and crippling depression that emanates from the place.”

Hope shook her head fiercely. “No, I could never do that! I can’t sacrifice all of Equestria just for my friends. I can’t!”

“You sacrificed the Crystal Empire for us. Don’t tell me you’re suddenly a patriot! Equestria has changed from the country you knew. These ponies are strangers to you. Why should you care what happens to them? Why should you put them above your friends?”

“I’m not!” Hope practically shouted. Becoming quieter, she said, “I just want to make everything better.”

Invidia waved over Luxuria, who wrapped her forelegs around Hope and whispered in her ear, “It can be better. You just have to make the right choice.”

“The world wouldn’t be better off under Umbric rule,” Hope said, more to herself than to them.

Invidia smiled, his face a diabolical parody of affection and reassurance. “But it would be better off without you. You know that, don’t you?”

Hope was silent for what felt like ages. Finally, she spoke with a voice only slightly above a whisper.

“I know.”

“So then, Your Imperial Majesty, what do you choose?”

Then, a turquoise light. A beam, strong enough to send Luxuria flying over Hope’s head.

“Leave her alone!”

Invidia turned to Starlight Glimmer. “Oh, look, Empress. Here’s one of your little friends now. Wouldn’t want to know what we’d do to her, would you?”

“Starlight, get out of here!” Hope shouted.

A turquoise flash and Starlight was standing beside her. “Not without you, Hope,” she said.

Misericordia tried to help Luxuria up, but Luxuria swatted back his hooves. Even so, she wobbled as she rose up and seemed to have difficulty staying steady. Invidia looked at his compatriots and gnashes his teeth. Then he again turned his attention to Hope and Starlight, sizing them up. He let out a sigh.

“As I told Empress Hope, we didn’t come here to fight. We just came with an offer. Consider it carefully, Hope. I’m sure you’ll make the right decision this time.”

Invidia signaled his fellows to follow him and began to rise into the night sky.

“But where will I find you?” Hope called out.

“My siblings and I have found a place that is… conducive… to us. A place filled with dark energy.”

“What place? Where?”

Invidia shook his head. “Oh, Hope. I can’t tell you. Wouldn’t want you and your friends trying to come up with some wrong-headed plan of storming the place and stopping us. You couldn’t, anyway, but it would be so annoying if you tried.”

“But what if I want to accept your offer?” Hope ignored Starlight’s glare.

“You must have brains in your head somewhere,” Invidia said. “I’m sure it’ll be obvious to you once you’ve made your choice.”

And then he faded into the night. Hope watched the three Umbrum go and then looked to the moon above.

“How much did you hear?” she asked Starlight.

“Not all of it, but enough to get the gist.”

“You stayed back to listen.”

“And it was a good thing I did,” Starlight said. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have known anything about that insane proposal of theirs. You’re not going to accept it.”

“Are you asking me or ordering me?” Hope responded, looking Starlight in the eye.

Starlight shook her head in disbelief. “You can’t tell me that you’re seriously considering going through with what he said!”

“I just want to fix everything,” Hope said. “I want to make right all the things I’ve done wrong.”

Starlight nearly facehoofed. “Hope, it is not all your fault! Okay, I get it. The Siege. Releasing the Umbrum. That’s all pretty bad. But it wasn’t just you. The Umbrum deceived you. They have to get some of the blame. And Sombra does too. He could have chosen differently.”

“Maybe. But I could have chosen differently too. I could have chosen not to let myself be deceived.”

“Well, how does helping the Umbrum out now make any of it better?”

Radiant Hope opened her pouch and lifted out Sombra’s horn with magic. It hovered between Hope and Starlight. Starlight jumped back in fear and disgust.

“Hope, what’s going on? I thought Sombra was....”

“I can save him. I can bring Sombra back. He could be free.”

Starlight grabbed Hope, being very careful to avoid contact with the horn, which was now crackling with black sparks.

“No,” she said. “Hope, you can’t save Sombra. And that’s not your fault. It’s his. If you brought him back, he’d be the same pony he was before. It’s because the power to save him was never in you. It was in him.”

“But he’s an Umbrum,” Hope said. “He always felt he was forced to become what he was.”

“He was wrong. He made a choice to be what he was. Don’t you see? He made a choice!”

“I know,” Hope said softly. “But maybe I’m wrong, I tried to get him to make a different one. Why didn’t it work?”

“I don’t know. But, listen to me, his choice is not your fault.”

“But if I could maybe give him a chance. Another chance to make another choice....”

Starlight’s grip tightened. “No, Hope, no! You can’t seriously be considering this!”

“There’s only three of them,” Hope said as she returned the horn to its pouch. “I think the Crystal Empire can withstand three Umbrum. Princess Cadance, Twilight and her friends, Celestia and Luna, they can do it. They can do it better than I could. I don’t know what I was thinking, trying to stop them on my own.”

“You don’t know that they can do it! Not with the Umbrum at full power,” Starlight said. “And as for Twilight and her friends, I have a feeling they might not be around for very long.”

“Why do you say that?”

Starlight chuckled. “Let’s just call it… a premonition….”

“I thought premonitions were the specialty of that other mad-pony.”

Starlight shrugged. “Well, when it comes to Twilight Sparkle and I, it may be more than just a premonition.”

Hope raised her brows. “Is that what this is about? Your whole plan is to get revenge on Twilight and her friends? Were you only willing to come to Las Pegasus because somehow it gets you closer to getting back at them?”

Starlight let go of Hope. She would no longer face her. The righteous act was gone.

“What about your cause, Starlight?” Hope asked. “You always say that everything is for your cause. That’s not true, is it?”

Starlight turned back, anger in her eyes. “Twilight and her friends took my cause from me! I’ve been trying to rebuild it, but you saw those ponies in there! It’s a passing interest, a curiosity to them! At this rate, we’ll never have the strength to take on Twilight. I need something else, something I can find here!”

“So it is more about hurting Twilight than about Equality,” Hope said.

“They are the same thing,” Starlight responded.

Hope nodded. Turning her head slightly, she looked downward at the hard gravel on the ground.

Starlight trotted in front of her. “Hope, you have to understand—”

“I do understand,” Hope responded.

“You know the kind of pony I am. You can’t seriously be disappointed in me now.”

“I’m not disappointed,” Hope said. “I was just thinking, this might be the first time we’re being really honest with each other.”

“Maybe it is,” Starlight said. “But Hope, be honest with me. Are you really willing to give up your life? For the Umbrum?”

“Not for the Umbrum,” Hope said. “Not even for Sombra, not really. But maybe the world would be better without me, the world could be so much better. You would be fine, Dr. Fie would be fine. Maybe even Sombra.”

Starlight shook her head slowly. "You don't know that, Hope."

"No, but there's a chance. And then Sombra could be free and happy, because the Umbrum would spare him. Just like they'd spare all of you."

“The Umbrum won’t keep their promises.”

“Maybe not. But I can’t stop them anyway. And if there’s a chance….”

Hope pushed past Starlight and began walking down the alley. Starlight considered using teleportation, but Hope could do that too if she wanted. Words would have to suffice for now.

“Hope, you’ll die!” Starlight called out.

Hope stopped. She turned around and walked back to Starlight. Soon, they were looking each other square in the face.

“You never got tired of telling me, Starlight,” Hope said, “how you and I are not so different, how we are the same.”

Starlight’s expression was one of confusion, but also pity. “I only said those things because I wanted you on my side.”

“You were right, though. We are so much alike,” Hope said. “Wouldn’t you too choose death, if it could make up for how you wasted your life?”

“How will it make up for anything?” Starlight asked. Hope was surprised by how worried Starlight seemed. “The Umbrum will just destroy Equestria.”

“And you wouldn’t risk Equestria’s destruction,” Hope said, “if it meant a chance at what your heart wants most?”

Starlight shook her head firmly. “Never.”

“And we were doing so well with not lying to each other.”

“Well, maybe I am lying,” Starlight said. “But Hope, you don’t understand. You don’t have to do this!”

“And you don’t have to do whatever it is you’re trying to do to Twilight Sparkle,” Hope responded.

“Now we’re both lying,” Starlight said.

Hope nodded, “Yes, we are.”

Then, there was a flash of blue. Hope had vanished. Then, another flash at the end of the alley. Hope was there.

“Where are you going?” Starlight said.

“I need to be by myself. I need to think,” Hope said. “Don’t follow me.”

Starlight knew, as she watched Hope disappear around the corner, that she should follow. But for some reason, some strange reason, she could not. Even though she could not make sense of it, Starlight felt she had to respect Hope’s wish to be alone. In fact, if not for the dinner going on inside, it is what she would want, too.

“And that doesn’t even get into how I single-hoofedly snatched glorious victory from the very jaws of defeat, saving our whole battalion, at Roan’s Drift. Ah, there was but a mere hundred of us that day, against what must have been a hundred-million zebras. All the boys in the regiment were terrified, certain that their superior numbers would overwhelm us. But not I, oh, no. I said to them, I said, ‘Let them bring as many zebras as they can. Let the whole of Zebra-land rise up against us! We few are ponies, and have the strength and character of ponies! No zebra could ever’…. What are you doing, dear lady?”

Starlight was pushing Dr. Fie out of the way. “I’m sorry, friends, but Radiant Hope will not be able to speak to you all tonight.”

“Why, what’s happened?” Stirring said, having come to Starlight’s side as soon as she returned to the room.

“Stirring, get rid of them,” Starlight commanded. She pulled Dr. Fie down from the podium.

As Stirring tried to salvage the situation by flattering the crowd and thanking them for coming out, Starlight marched to the table and sat down. She took a drink from one of the wine glasses, but found it was empty.

“Is there somepony around here that could get me another drink?” Starlight asked.

“Oh, I don’t think you’ll want to wait for that,” Dr. Fie said. “I have not, in all my life, seen such detestable wine service. Besides, I overheard them saying something about locking up the wine after they finally brought me my last glassful. Apparently, some pony on the guest-list has been over-indulging. Seriously, what is Equestria coming to as a civilization if the rich can’t even set a proper example for the lower classes?”

Starlight wanted to make a witty retort about ‘class warfare’ but was feeling too shaken for verbal sparring.

“Okay, I think ponies will get the hint and start leaving now,” Stirring said as he rejoined them, “the ones who didn’t leave during Dr. Fie’s speech.”

“Oh, ho-hum! Your words have no effect on me, dear boy,” said Dr. Fie. “For I can already sense that it was superb triumph. I only wish dear Hope had been here to hear it. She will regret it later.”

“That’s not going to be the biggest thing she’ll regret,” Starlight said quietly.

“I thought the whole thing about saving Princess Celestia’s life nine times was taking it too far,” Stirring remarked.

“Nonsense!” Dr. Fie responded. “After all, I was our dear sovereign’s closest confidant for a while, ever since she realized that I have a much greater propensity for writing laws and governing ponies than she does.”

“That’s not true, either, is it?” Stirring asked.

Dr. Fie lifted his brows, a look of condescension on his face. “You’re the propagandist. You tell me.”

Dr. Fie felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see some finely-dressed pony in a large top-hat standing behind him.

“Yes, how may I help you, dear boy?” he said.

“I just wanted to shake the hoof of the pony who invented the barrel,” said the pony in the hat. “I ship cider and my business would be completely sunk without it!”

Starlight gave a glance which more-or-less said, “Really?” at Stirring. Stirring gave a sad nod.

“My only regret,” Dr. Fie said, “is that the time set for tonight’s speech was far too brief for me to go into the intricate detail my wide-ranging life so properly deserves! Why, in my upcoming autobiography, the whole length of tonight’s discussion would not have even reached the point where my mother and I were discharged from the hospital.”

“Well, I’ll be sure to read that book when it comes out. Maybe even buy it,” said the other pony.

“And how about our other speaker?” Stirring interjected, pointing to Starlight.

“Oh, yeah,” the other pony said. “That was the anti-government speech, right? I wasn’t paying that much attention to it, to tell the truth. Did it have to do with that fiasco in San Franciscolt?”

“I did mention it,” Starlight said, “but it wasn’t the main focus of my speech.”

“Too bad,” said the pony. “Somepony needs to call that what it is. I was so angry after reading about it in the Daily North Equestria today. To think, a generation ago they were a rat-infested frontier town, yet Princess Celestia capitulated to all their demands like nothing, A disgrace is what it is! An utter disgrace! It’s like we need a new pony in charge in Canterlot. I’da liked to have heard what that princess had to say.”

“She was called away on important business,” Starlight said.

“Shame,” said the pony. “But I think we’ve got the pony we need right here. If you ever decide to go into politics, doc, you give me a holler. I know a few ponies that could help you out.”

The pony once again shook Dr. Fie’s hoof, this time with enough force to make Dr. Fie’s whole body shake. Once he was gone, Dr. Fie then turned to the others, his eyes narrowing craftily and a smile appearing on his face.

“Just think of it, Dr. Fiddly Fie, champion of the public good, pony of the people,” he said.

“Doctor,” Starlight said, “the only thing that could make politicians worse is if they were you.”

“Well, that’s just great,” Stirring said. “We brought them here so that we could win the city’s support for a new princess. Instead, we won their support for Dr. Fie!”

“I’m sorry, Stirring,” Starlight said. “I know how much work you put into this.”

“Oh, you’re sorry?” Stirring snapped. “I’m sorry! I’m the one who’s been working non-stop for our cause, the cause you’re supposed to be leading! And then when we finally have some success, due to my hard work, you and that Radiant Hope go and ruin it! You told me to trust you. You told me Hope would be on board with us by the time you reached Las Pegasus. And I never questioned you. I never question you. But now, not only does she disappear at the very moment she knows she has to give a speech—”

“She didn’t know,” Starlight said.

“She didn’t know? You never mentioned it in the hour or so before the dinner you had to prepare?”

“I didn’t think she’d be going anywhere,” Starlight said. “And I figured it would be better if it was sudden. They’d see the tragic innocence we want to project.”

“Well, all they got to see was that Dr. Fie thinks he’s the greatest pony in Equestria!”

“I know so, dear boy,” Dr. Fie said. “Thinking has nothing to do with it.”

“We know that, doctor,” Starlight said as she stood up. “And Stirring, calm down.”

Stirring slammed his hooves on the table. “Calm down? Calm down? I’m sorry, ma’am, but I won’t calm down!”

Stirring stormed out of the room. Starlight watched him go. She sank back into the chair, eyes closed, with one hoof massaging the temples above them.

“Is this even my seat? I can’t remember. It’s been one Tartarus of a night,” she said.

“I’m sure it will turn around, dear lady,” Dr. Fie said. “Stirring will get over it. He’s just frustrated.”

“Did you say you fought at Roan’s Drift?” Starlight asked.

“Oh, yes, I did!” he said, pulling out the nearest chair and sitting down. “Let me tell you all about it. I expect you’ve never learnt of it before. Ponies these days are so ignorant of their nation’s famous moments. But the way I shall tell it, you shall think that you are there. You shall see the savanna, you shall hear the bloodcurdling cry of the zebra savage, you shall—”

“My father fought at Roan’s Drift,” Starlight said. “He never mentioned anything about you saving the regiment single-hoofedly.”

“A mere oversight, I’m sure,” Dr. Fie responded.

“He did say that there was this one medical officer who spent the whole day cowering in his bunk. They had to sedate him until the battle was over.”

Dr. Fie fidgeted a little and tried to suppress a grimace. “Hmm, I wonder who it was. I don’t seem to recall him. But, of course, when one is constantly throwing oneself into the front lines of the fray, one does not always notice these little details.”

“Of course,” Starlight said skeptically. “He later said that he had to help that same medical officer out of some trouble. Something about selling top-secret weaponry to the zebras.”

“What a cad that fellow must have been,” Dr. Fie said, affecting righteous indignation. “It wasn’t me. Though I’m sure he had a good reason for his actions. I’ve always said that the weapons charges were trumped up, anyhow.”

Starlight’s eyes narrowed.

Dr. Fie’s fidgeting grew worse. “I’m sure they were, I mean. And I would have always said that, had I been there. Which, of course, I wasn’t.”

“I was just thinking,” Starlight said. “It would explain why you let me into the psychiatric ward of your hospital, all the while knowing who I was. But then, you’re not that noble. I’m sure the money was incentive enough, even if it was paltry compared to what some of your other patients pay you.”

“So you say, dear lady,” Dr. Fie said. “But, of course, I didn’t even know your father. And where is dear Hope? How could she be called away on business?”

Starlight sighed. “You might want to see if you can find another glass of wine. Or another bottle. This is going to be hard for you to hear, doctor.”

Where did Radiant Hope go? And what would she choose?

Read on.

One More Footpath Untrod

Dawn was breaking over the mountains in the distance, sending pink light streaking through the still darkened sky. And Radiant Hope had no idea where she was. Las Pegasus was a big city, after all, and she had been walking all night. It would have been wise, Hope knew, to have noted some landmarks by which to retrace her steps. But her mind was too preoccupied. She barely noticed what the pavement in front of her looked like.

She had spent the night alone, walking up and down the city streets. She was surprised. The streets were never not busy. Even the most ‘deserted’ ones had one or two other ponies on them. But ponies in this city were different, more distant, less likely to take note of others. It was as though each pony was in his or her own private world.

Normally, it might have bothered Hope — though who knew what her normal was anymore? — but now, it was just what she needed. She was at once in the company of other ponies, but also completely alone with all the thoughts swirling through her brain and the massive decision lying before her.

She was no closer to making that decision, but she had to admit that the calm night and the warm, dry desert air had helped to settle her mood. It almost felt, despite everything, as though Radiant Hope could still believe in the promise of a new day.

A cold wind brushed down from the mountains, casting her blue hair fully into her face. Hope finally had to come to a stop, just to get her mane back in place before she walked into something. It took a while, as further gusts of wind continued the work the first had done. But, using both her magic and her hooves, Hope was eventually able to get her eyes free and clear.

A mere instant before she did, however, she heard the sound of a large crash. Hope looked around her. There were so many mares and stallions on the streets. It was so early, and yet, most of them seemed already firmly locked into their daily routine. But as Hope caught sight of them, they all seemed frozen into place.

They had all turned around, looking to one spot on the street. Hope followed their eyes and saw what they saw. Two carriages had crashed into each other at high speed. The two, or at least their constituent parts, were now joined together into one formless, grotesque mass.

The stallions pulling them seemed okay, as they had unlatched themselves and were arguing back and forth over whose fault it was and who was suing who. But the same could not be said of the passengers. Hooves could just barely be seen reaching out from the large pile of sharp, jagged wood and bent, twisted steel which had only recently been two proud and mighty vehicles of transport.

Somepony shouted, “Ambulance, ambulance, somepony get an ambulance! Ambulance to the corner of Bruins and Andalusian! Hurry!”

Ponies scurried in every direction. Some fled, hopefully, to get hold of an ambulance. Others were surely just looking to flee the scene as fast as they could. Wherever they were going, they were galloping away, putting distance between themselves and the accident.

Hope did the opposite. She did not even think about it. It was automatic. It just felt right. She galloped into the middle of the chaos, right to the wreck itself.

The two stallions were still arguing. Hope pushed her way between them.

“Can’t you see that ponies are hurt?” she scolded. “Stop arguing and help me get them out!”

“But it was all his fault!” said one of the stallions. “If he hadn’t been speeding! Seriously, at this hour, where’s he gotta be?”

“I was going within the speed-limit,” responded the other. “If you hadn’t made that illegal turn, we’da been just fine.”

The stallions nearly crushed Hope between them as they got in each other’s faces.

“Can’t you stop arguing until after we’ve gotten the other ponies out?” she asked. “Let’s save them first, then you can fight it out over who was right and who was wrong if you want.”

Either this suggestion was not amenable to the stallions or they did not hear it, for they continued to argue, squeezing Hope even further. Hope had never been more thankful to be a crystal pony, as crystals are hard to squish.

Looking around, she noticed that the EIS had managed to plaster some ‘wanted’ posters in the area. With a flash (the blinding blue light having no effect on the stallions’ argument), she teleported over to the wall and found a wanted poster featuring the so called, “rogue princess,” herself. A blue aura formed around it and the poster tore itself from the wall. With her own image floating beside her, Hope teleported. She appeared right in front of the bellowing stallions, who again took no notice.

“Listen to me!” Hope said, the wanted poster waving in the stallion’s faces. “I am a dangerous fugitive. Do you really want to keep ignoring me?”

The stallions fell silent. They focused their full attention on Hope. Their whole demeanors had changed. They had fallen silent and waited for Hope’s next move. She was relieved. Fear might be only marginally better than anger, but at least they were alert.

“Alright,” she said. “How many ponies were in your carriages?”

“Three in mine,” said one.

“Four for me,” said the other.

“Okay. Come and help me dig them out,” Hope said. Without hesitation, she dashed to the wreck and started pulling some wood away.

The stallions glanced at each other, unsure. Realizing that nopony was helping her, Hope looked over her shoulder at them. She levitated the poster again and shook it. “Dangerous fugitive, remember?”

The stallions exchanged worried glances. At the gallop, they were there to help. The used their strength to pull away as much of the wood as they could, while Hope and her magic did the rest. Soon, the stallions managed to wrestle the first pony free from the wreckage.

“Okay, lay him down there,” Hope said, nodding to a spot nearby.

“But he looks pretty badly hurt,” said the first stallion. “Maybe we should get him to a hospital.”

Indeed, this particular unicorn did look pretty badly hurt. He had been cut and injured in several places and, though the wood had thankfully not remained inside of him, he was losing a lot of blood.

“I’ll take care of him,” Hope said. “You get the others.”

“I don’t know. He should really go to a hospital or something,” the stallion said.

“We might not make it that long,” Hope said. “I can handle this.”

The stallion looked unsure. He did not put the unicorn down.

Hope rolled her eyes. Once more, she levitated up the ‘wanted’ poster at his eye-level.

With a neigh of fright, the stallion put the unicorn on the ground and returned to the wreckage. Hope approached the unicorn. Her horn began to glow. He was seriously injured. But it wasn’t a problem. The blue glow from her horn spread over his entire body and his wounds began to close. Soon, they had all closed up and there was no longer any trace of them. As the glow faded, he woke up.

“What happened?” he asked as he pushed himself to his hooves.

“You were in an accident,” Hope said. “Get to a safe distance but don’t overexert yourself. You’re not hurt anymore. But you’ll need to rest.”

Hope did not get a chance to answer the unicorn’s confused, “Anymore?” The second stallion brought her the crash’s second injured pony. Soon, she had healed this one, just in time for the next.

And so it went, with her healing the third and the fourth pony. Then the stallions brought out three ponies all together and placed them before her. Hope looked them over. These three made the wounds on the others look like papercuts. They were all in very bad condition and each looked ready to expire at any moment.

Hope looked them over and, all at once, she felt tired. She had not felt tired before, not even after all the grievous injuries she had faced and all the healing she had done. It must have been the adrenaline, she thought. But now, looking at these three ponies, the worst injured of them all, Hope felt utterly exhausted.

There’s too much to do. But I can’t let them die. How can I save them all?

Blood was spilling everywhere. If she tried one by one, she would probably lose the last. But she felt so weak. She had been walking all night, probably not eaten in twenty-four hours, and was already under intense mental strain from trying to sort out the Umbrum’s proposal. How could she possibly do it?

Hope closed her eyes. She felt tears beginning to well up inside.

I can’t do it, she thought. I can’t do it!

She saw the faces again, the faces of every pony that had perished in the Siege. She saw the faces of her parents, for the first time in a thousand years. She saw the faces of all the fairies she had once believed the Umbrum to be. She saw the face of Starlight Glimmer, and that of Dr. Fie, and those of all four princesses. And finally, she saw the face of Sombra.

Her eyes opened. There were no tears.

“I can’t do it,” she said. “I can’t lose another pony.”

Hope’s horn began to glow, and its blue light enveloped all three wounded at once. She stood there, feeding her power into them, sending every last ounce of energy she could muster. Hope felt tired, exhausted, drained. But she did not stop. She could not stop. She would not let herself stop, even if that meant she exhausted her own life-force before she restored theirs.

So much destruction, so much meaningless pain, so many ponies who had to suffer, she thought. No pony will ever hurt again because of me. Not again. Never again.

Hope suddenly felt herself become lighter. Though she had been wavering, she stood up tall. With renewed vigor, she sent as much magic through her horn as she could. And, for a brief, shining moment, Hope thought she saw the blue stream flicker green.

Then it was over. Hope could not keep her legs from collapsing under her. She was tired, very tired. She wanted to sleep. But she could not. Hope forced her head up, to look at her three patients. They were all groggily returning to consciousness. Their wounds had closed up entirely. They were fully healed.

Her work done, Hope laid her head down and slept.

Radiant Hope awoke. She was lying down. Something was underneath her, supporting her. Something hard and cold. Her eyes fluttered open. She saw the intersection, the same intersection she had been at this morning, the intersection where the accident occurred. As her senses returned, she realized that she was suspended off of the ground. But she was clearly on something solid. Solid and long.

The answer was obvious. A bench.

It was one of those modern benches, made entirely of metal. Those types of benches had not existed in Hope’s time. Back then, and even in much of Equestria today, benches were made of wood. Hope had never gotten used to seeing the metal kind. But Hope was in Las Pegasus, a modern city, and one that wanted everypony to know about it.

She didn’t know what to think about this addition to modernity. The cold steel had much less give than wood, even of the sturdiest kind and thus, while wood was uncomfortable to sleep on, steel was more so. Hope could feel aches along her whole body. But she did have to admit, it was nice not to end up with any splinters in unfortunate places.

Hope hadn’t even noticed this bench here before

As Hope’s grogginess subsided, she turned onto her stomach. As she looked down at the bench below her, Hope almost jumped to her hooves. She was staring face to face at her own face.

A greyscale version of her face, below an inscription written in big, bold letters, “RADIANT HOPE: TRAITOR!”

“Can you believe what passes for news these days?” came a gruff, somewhat raspy voice.

Hope pushed herself into a sitting position. She looked once more at the image and saw that it was not an isolated phenomenon. No, it was part of a long sheet of paper with several sections. There was a large heading at the top, printed in ugly, pretentious letters, “Seaddle Daily Stablegraph.”

A newspaper. The very newspaper, if Hope recalled correctly, that Stirring Words had written for. She scanned over the paper once again, particularly the article which pertained directly to her. Underneath her portrait — it turned out to be a drawing and, perhaps it was Dr. Fie’s influence, but Hope could not help but find it a very poor likeness — was the lead for the article, “EXCLUSIVE! Letters exchanged between secret cabal reveals plot to overthrow princesses.”

Hope shook her head. She looked at the byline again. Whoever this “Fast Facts” pony was, he had things all wrong. She had no desire to overthrow the princesses. She never had. But now everypony in the Seaddle environs would think she did. They would think the worst of her.

Well, no different than normal, she thought.

Hope glanced upward. Another pony was sitting there. He must have been the one to have spoken.

Hope could not make out much of him, other than that his coat was light brown in color. Otherwise, his whole upper body was blocked by the large newspaper he was holding up.

This one was from the “Daily North Equestria.” It too offered Hope the sight of her own visage. But this image was completely different. Whereas the Hope on the paper below looked fairly disheveled and very mean, this Radiant Hope looked refined, elegant, and poised, indeed more like a goddess than a mortal mare. In fact, she looked very much like the pony a young Hope had once seen in the Crystal Heart so very many years ago.

The headline of this paper proclaimed, “CELESTIA ILLEGITIMATE! THE TRUE PRINCESS SPEAKS!” Underneath was a lead which said, no less impressively, “Off with their heads! All four ‘princesses’ implicated in thousand-year conspiracy as Equestria’s true ruler emerges. Princess Radiant Hope speaks. Exclusive interview, p. 9.”

“Rationality, discernment, intellectual curiosity. Ponies have all that,” the reading pony said. “And what do they do with it? ‘Is Princess Cadance’s baby-bump showing? Page 3,’ ‘Is the Great and Powerful Trixie Engaged Right Now? Page 6,’ ‘Sapphire Shores’ Mane Routine, Revealed! Page 12.’”

He lowered the paper and Hope got a good look at him. He was an elderly pony, adorned in a red flannel shirt. The grey-white hair of his mane was short and even and fell neatly behind his ears, which were rather large for a pony of his size. Equally large horn-rimmed glances were perched on his snout and brought out the blue in his old, yet still crisp, eyes. His thin lips were curved into a wry and wily smile. He was an earth pony.

“I’m beginning to think bigger brains were a mistake,” he said. “There was a terrible accident here today, you know, and not a word of it in any of these papers.”

The accident! Hope looked once more to the intersection. She was shocked. It was only noon, judging by the position of the sun above, but the intersection was completely clean. There was barely even a speck of dirt on it, and certainly no debris to signify that a terrible wreck had been there just a few hours ago.

“What happened?” Hope asked. “What happened to everybody? Are they okay?”

“They’ll be fine,” the pony said. “You did good, kid.”

Hope’s jaw dropped. “Wha.... How did you....”

“I read a lot,” the pony said, tapping the paper with his hoof.

“It’s not true!” Hope said. “The things they’re saying about me. None of them are true.”

The pony flipped through the pages and came across an ad for a fast-food restaurant. “Look at this. ‘1 lb. double hayburger with the works; ketchup, mayo, mustard, grilled onions and mushrooms, all for only 12 bits.’”

Hope didn’t look. She had other things on her mind. “I don’t want to overthrow the princesses! I’m not the rightful ruler of Equestria. I’m just, I don’t know.”

“Only. There's the word. I'll admit, it is a steal. Those burger people are stealing your twelve bits. And they'll be happy to steal some more if you want fries."

"I’m just trying to help ponies. That’s all I want."

"Twelve bits. Hay can’t cost twelve bits these days. It’s basically grass. Last I checked, grass was still free. No, what you’re paying for is the cholesterol.”

“Isn't it enough to want to help ponies? Does there have to be anything else?”

“And what's this? ‘Chipotle-ranch and avocado also available. Two bits extra.' Regular robber-barons, these fast food people."

“I know, I once wanted to be a princess. But that was long ago.”

"And Chipotle-ranch? Why does ranch need to have more done to it? They already threw in nearly everything just to make it the first time. Now they're complicating the complications. Whatever happened to the simple things?”

“It hurt to give it up, but it was what I had to do. At least, I think it is."

"And avocados. Eh, those were a mistake.”

“I've never regretted it. It was my choice to make and I made it. No regrets.”

“‘Also try our Impossible Hayburger. Tastes just like real hay.’ They’re right. It is impossible. Hay doesn’t even taste like real hay anymore. Too many chemicals.”

“I don’t want to be a princess anymore, I really don’t.”

The pony didn’t look up from the paper as he folded it closed. “Princesses. Now there was a mistake. I don’t know why ponies have to have princesses.”

“Those days are over. All I want is.... What do you mean?”

The pony put the newspaper down next to him. “These princesses. What makes them so different from any other pony?”

“They’re all tall and slender, for one,” Hope reflected, a little of the old glamor capturing her imagination again.

The pony smiled. “Sure, but if you had to lift solid gold horseshoes at every step, you’d lose a lot of weight too.”

Hope looked down at her body. “I don’t need to lose weight.... Do I?”

The pony let out a harsh guffaw. “I didn’t mean it like that. Body-consciousness, there’s another mistake. But what’s this about wanting to be a princess?”

“It was a dream,” Hope answered. “An old dream. But it’s gone now. I don’t even really want it anymore.”

“If you say so,” was the pony’s reply. He did not seem convinced.

Hope felt a little hurt. “Don’t you believe me?”

“Do you?”

Hope could not answer.

The pony shrugged. “Well, it doesn’t really matter. All that’s concealed will be revealed eventually. We just have to wait. But as far as hierarchy goes, I’m not a fan. Ponies would be better off thinking for themselves. Not that they ever much showed much aptitude for it.”

Hope tilted her head. “Huh?”

“Ponies always have to control everything. Why can’t they just let things be? The sun, the moon, love, friendship; whatever it is, there’s a princess for that. It’s just a mess. Look, they have these pegasi in Cloudsdale to manage the weather, and have you been reading the news?”

“I haven’t had much time,” Hope said.

The pony opened the paper to show Hope an article with the headline, “Weather team drops unscheduled blizzard on Appleloosa. Again.”

“Like I said, a mess.” He threw the paper down again. “Ponies need every little thing to fit in a nice box, or they go crazy. It’s why they need cutie marks.”

“Cutie marks?”

“Sure. Without cutie marks, they’d have to take responsibility for their own lives. Could you imagine that? It would be chaos.”

Hope nodded. “And I know how hard taking responsibility is. Especially when you’ve made some bad choices.”

“Everypony makes bad choices. Most just refuse to admit it.”

Hope sighed. “But they don’t make choices like I do. And now I’m left here trying to make it right. And I don’t know what to do. I just want to make things right for everypony, for Sombra....”

Sombra!

Hope’s hoof darted to her neck. The pouch! The pouch was gone.

Hope frantically looked all around. She ran her hooves along the metal bench. Nothing. She lifted up the copy of the “Stablegraph.” Nothing.

“Don’t worry. It’s right over there,” the pony said, pointing with the paper to the other side of the bench, just past Hope.

She looked over. Sure enough, there was the blue pouch. Hope scooped it up. She began to untie the string. Then she thought better of it. She sent a cautious glance in the other pony’s direction.

“Don’t worry about me,” he said without looking up. “Why should I care what you’ve got?”

Hope remained unsure. She would not remove the horn, she decided. She peered into the open pouch. She could make out nothing but darkness. And yet, the darkness had a tangible, inky quality. Umbric magic. The horn had to be in there.

Just then, a chill wind picked up. The wind carried with it a voice, uttering a single word.

Hope.

“I think we can do without that for now,” said the pony.

Hope had been shuddering, but she stopped as soon as she heard these words. “Wait. You can hear him too?”

“Of course,” the pony said. “I’m old, not deaf. Not with ears this size.”

Hope dropped the pouch, which fell on the bench beside her. “But if you can hear him, you must... I don’t know. I’m being foalish. I’m sorry. Something’s getting the better of me.”

The other pony folded up the paper and put it next to him. “Why don’t you tell me about it.”

“It’s just, I have a choice to make. A choice that should be easy, but it seems like whatever I choose will be the wrong choice,” Hope said. “Just like last time.”

The pony offered a nod of comprehension. “From what I’ve seen, the choices that should be easy are always the most difficult to make. What’s making it so hard for you?”

Hope shook her head sadly. “No offense, I don’t think you could understand.”

“Try me.”

“You may have read about me, but you don’t know me. I’ve done things. Bad things.”

“Ponies do from time to time. Even the best. Did you see Princess Celestia’s outfit at the last Grand Galloping Gala? The 'fashion hits and misses' pages had no room left over for hits the week after.”

“But I did some really bad things,” Hope said. “Ponies died.”

“They’ve been known to do that from time to time, as well.”

Hope looked up, her eyes sad and full of hurting. “They died because of me. They died because I made choices which led to their deaths.” Suddenly, her tone changed. She pleaded with the other pony through her eyes, begging him to understand. “But I didn’t want them to die! I didn’t want anypony to die! I was trying to fix things for everyone!”

“There’s a saying for this. Something about the road to Tartarus....”

“I know, I know,” Hope said. “It doesn’t matter, does it? It doesn’t matter that I wanted everything to be okay. Because I knew what could happen, what would happen. I knew ponies would die. But I was so sure that Sombra and his people needed me. And I was wrong.”

“But then again,” the pony said, “I guess we can’t know what road is the road to Tartarus until we travel down it. It would be helpful if somepony would put up street signs on life’s highways and byways every so often. Would save a lot of trouble.”

“I’m a bad pony, aren’t I?”

The pony offered a gentle smile, “No, Hope, you’re not a bad pony.”

“But I did bad things.”

“Yes, you did.”

“And I made bad choices.”

“Maybe. Do you regret them?”

Hope was taken aback. “Of course, I do! I’d take it all back if I could! If I could go back, if I could travel through time and rewrite the past, I would. In a heartbeat.”

The other pony chuckled to himself. “Eh, time travel. It’s not what it’s cracked up to be. Everypony thinks they’ll be the ones to do it right, they’ll be the ones with the answers. Then, before you know it, you step on a butterfly in the Cretaceous and ponies are no longer the dominant species on this planet. It could be squids, or dogs, or... hairless apes....”

The pony thought about it for a moment and shook his head. “Intelligent hairless apes. Now, that would be a mistake.”

Hope dangled her hooves over the edge of the bench. “I don’t have any answers. But I have regrets. I could have avoided all of them.”

“Don’t be so sure,” said the pony. “Would you have regretted nothing if you became a princess and just forgot about Sombra?”

Hope did not need time to think. “No, I would have regretted that for as long as I lived.”

The pony raised his hoof. “Bingo. A thousand years of regret, by my reckoning.”

Hope looked to her hooves. “So, you’re saying I was out of luck either way.”

The pony was undaunted. “At least you had a thousand years of hope. That’s something, isn’t it?”

“I guess.” Hope was not convinced.

“Sometimes we can’t avoid regrets, no matter what we choose. You made the choice that made sense to you at the time.”

“But I was wrong. I let myself be deceived. I was what my friend Starlight calls a useful idiot.”

“All the best ponies were idiots at one time or another. If they weren’t, they’d never become good ponies. It’s one of life’s little jokes.”

“Life has some sense of humor,” Hope said glumly.

The other pony grinned wryly. “Maybe it’s just that people don’t know how to laugh.”

“There’s no laughing over 1,306 deaths.”

“No, no, there isn’t. But it does happen. You’re not the first pony who cost lives by trying to do the right thing. And many more have done worse because they didn’t care about the right thing.”

Hope looked up at the pony. “Are you saying... I’m not responsible?”

“That wasn’t the question you asked me. You asked if you were a bad pony.”

“And am I?”

The old pony tilted his head a little. “Good. Bad. Right. Wrong. Sometimes, words don’t capture the whole situation. Sometimes, they just make it a bigger mess than it already was. That’s why people like your friend Starlight love them so much.”

“But, then, what am I?”

“A pony who cares, maybe a little too much. A pony who has always followed her heart.”

“And look where it got me. Look at all the damage it caused. I should have known how bad it would get.”

The pony looked up at the sky. “We can never predict what’s going to happen. I can’t and you can’t. Nobody can.”

At this moment, there was a crack of thunder. The sky above, once a clear cerulean blue, had darkened to an overbearing, oppressive grey. Large clouds, dark and heavy, spread in every direction and obscured the light of the sun.

The pony held out his hoof. Drops of rain, so light as to be nearly imperceptible, fell into it.

“Did the Cloudsdale ponies mess up again?” Hope asked.

“It looks like it,” the other pony answered. “But as I was saying, all you can do sometimes is follow the best light you have. Sometimes that light turns out to be darkness. Somepony said that, I think.”

The rain was pouring more heavily now. Hope could feel water rushing through her long, wavy mane, making it resemble nothing so much as a stormy sea. She could feel it coursing down her body and, even in the shade of the clouds, causing her glistening coat to glisten even more.

“But how do we know the difference?” she asked.

The other pony did not answer. Instead, he looked down at the street below them. The rain was now falling just hard enough now for water to coalesce in the little inlet along the sidewalk. The water became a little river, coursing and flowing down toward the large storm-drain nearby.

The old pony picked up a small rock and tossed it into the stream. The water rippled and sputtered in different directions. Some of these ripples dislodged bits of rock, twig, and dirt which had until recently laid safely on the road and carried them down into the depths below. Other particles of similar size, however, remained firm and steady as the water passed above and around them.

“There’s no way to know,” the pony said. “Sometimes you just have to throw yourself into the stream of life and let the ripples go where they will. That or stay out of life altogether. Take your pick.”

“I don’t want to stay out of life,” Hope said, “but I don’t know if I deserve to be a part of it. Because it wasn’t just that I did something and ponies got hurt. I knew they were going to get hurt. Not as much as they did, but I always knew other ponies would pay for my actions.”

“Then why did you do it?” asked the pony, in a manner which suggested he already knew the answer.

“Because I thought it would help Sombra and the Umbrum,” Hope answered. “I thought it would help the ponies I loved.”

“There you go.” The old pony sounded quite satisfied. “You acted out of love.”

“Love led me into darkness.”

“And love can lead you out again. And I’d much sooner trust a person who let love lead her down the tangled paths than one who can’t love at all.”

Hope looked up at the sky above. She saw the dark clouds beginning to dissipate. From behind them, a small portion of the radiant sun beamed its light down upon her.

Hope thought long and hard about this. Finally, she said, “I don’t think love can save me. Nothing can. I’m fated to be the monster everypony thinks I am.”

The pony let out an amused laugh. “And I thought you didn’t believe in fate.”

Hope was shocked. “I didn’t. I mean, I don’t. But how did you know?”

“I’m not one for fate either,” said the pony. “But people just want to think there’s something in control. They think it makes it easier. But then you miss out on so much.”

“I’ve already missed out on so much,” Hope said. “So much I’ll never get back. I won’t get to be a princess.”

“No, but you’ll get to move forward.” The old pony winked. “And that’s better.”

Hope guffawed. “Move forward? What, through love? I don’t think anypony will love me again.”

“Sometimes the way forward isn’t through being loved but through learning to love. And I think you’re already most of the way there as it is.”

Hope lowered her head. “But ponies will still think I’m a monster.”

“People will,” admitted the pony with a sad nod. “The kind of people who have never had to make the kind of choices you have. People who have walked the straight and narrow for so long, they've forgotten how the path of life has some sharp turns. Nobody gets anywhere worthwhile without getting turned around first. And there are some people who really need to get turned around.”

Hope sighed. “Maybe if I hadn’t loved the wrong ponies and the wrong things....”

The pony was unconvinced. “You had to love something. People are like boats. The waves of life are choppy, so if they don’t tie themselves to something, they’re bound to get tossed upside-down. And who can say if you loved wrong? I can’t.”

Hope looked the pony deep in the eyes. “You can’t. But you said it yourself. I cared too much. I loved too much.”

The old pony merely sat there, his smile radiating warmth. “I’d never blame a pony who loves too much. They’re the best ponies there are.”

“I wish I could believe that. I wish I could believe in me again. But I can’t.”

The pony’s smile turned into a smirk. “Then it’s a good thing it’s not all about you.”

High above, the sun broke free of the dark clouds and shined in majesty once more. The pony reached down and swiped the newspapers off the bench, causing them to flow and flutter in the gentle wind. Both rose up together and conjoined themselves almost into one. For a brief moment, they looked like two serpents coiled around each other, with two wings spread out proud and free above them. Then all was light.

Hope awoke.

She looked around. Light was streaming in from the large windows outside. It was more than enough to illuminate the room, and it reflected off of every surface in the room. White was the dominant color here and the particular manner in which it reflected the sun’s rays made it seem particularly aggressive. This was all very familiar.

Hope knew where she was. It was a hospital and she was lying on a hospital bed.

Hope felt a twinge of panic, but knew she had to keep calm. She looked to all four legs. No restraints. That was a good sign. She felt at her neck. No pouch. That was a bad sign.

Hope’s eyes darted around the room. They alighted on a spot of blue on a white counter across from the bed. That had to be it.

Hope rolled off the bed and landed on her hooves. She trotted to the counter and grabbed the pouch. She did not even need to look inside. She could feel the dark power of the horn radiating outward and into her own body as she tied the pouch once more around her neck.

Hope....

“Not now, Sombra,” she said.

A doctor came in. Or, Hope surmised he was a doctor, based on the white lab-coat he was wearing. As far as she knew, all doctors but Dr. Fie wore them, so this must be a doctor. And quite a distinguished one as that. He was a tall, angular unicorn, green in color, with a proud bearing and an equally proud beard. He was currently flipping through a clipboard, but his imperious demeanor suggested that it was more for show than anything.

“Ms. Jane Dole,” he said in a haughty voice, “I hope you’re enjoying your stay. Now, listen carefully while I.... Hey, what are you doing? You can’t be up and about yet! Rest and observation is what I called for!”

“I’m sorry, but no time, doctor,” Hope said.

The doctor moved toward her, with a hint of menace in his approach. In a flash, she disappeared.

Hope did not target her teleportation. She did not know where in the hospital she had been, or how close to an exit. She had just taken a guess. When she reappeared, she cast a quick glance around, trying to get her bearings. Hope knew she could be anywhere.

There were chairs all around. Most of them were occupied. At some distance, there was a desk behind a glass window and a pony sitting there, doing paperwork. There were many widows all around, theoretically offering glimpses of the outside world but, without exception, heavy blinds covered them all from top to bottom. In one corner of the large room was a fish tank which, however, contained absolutely no fish.

Hope breathed a sigh of relief. It was a waiting room. It meant she was nearly free.

But then something caught her attention. Just as she had reappeared, a large door by the front desk had opened. From out of it had stepped a female unicorn in scrubs. Beside her was one of the victims of the car-crash, one of the ponies Hope had worked so hard to save. Nearby stood the other six. They were all together. The two stallions who had driven the cabs sat together in two chairs by the far end of the room. Hope was glad to see that they were no longer bickering.

“Now, we’ve checked you all over and nothing,” the unicorn said to the assembled group. “You’re all perfectly fine. We have no more reason to keep you.”

Hope was glad to hear that her healing had worked. She decided, though, that it was best not to hang around. She wanted to slip out without being noticed, or at least without being noticed until she was gone.

Her horn began to glow. But before she could leave, one of the ponies spotted her.

Pointing a hoof, this mare said, “There she is. That’s her.”

Hope’s heart leapt to her chest. The whole waiting room turned to face her. The two stallions cowered in fear. Hope looked all the ponies in the face one by one. She feared what was coming next.

“She’s the one who saved us!” the mare said. “It was all her!”

And the whole room (save the two stallions) broke out into applause.

Hope looked at each pony once more as they pattered the closest surface with their hooves. She tried to discern any hint of trouble in their features. But there were none. Hope finally let go of the fear and let the applause roll over her. She could not believe what she was hearing. She could not help but smile.

“Applause? For me? I don’t think I deserve it,” she said to herself. “I just was trying to fix things. I mean, I’ve hurt so many ponies.”

“And saved seven,” came a raspy voice behind her. “Not a bad place to start.”

Hope whirled around. There she saw an old beige earth pony with large horn-rimmed glasses. He was dressed all in white, with a cap on his head and gloves on his hooves. He was standing next to a cleaning cart and emptying a trash can of its contents.

“You,” Hope said.

“Me,” he responded.

“You did this, somehow.”

As Hope said it, her eyes fell upon a wanted poster with her own face on it, pinned up to a board in a small alcove where ponies were unlikely to see it.

“I didn’t do anything,” the pony said.

He next turned his attention tot he wanted poster. In one surprisingly speedy swoop, he tore it down and dropped it into his mobile trash-bin.

Then he added, “I just make sure everything here’s in order. You did everything yourself.”

“Did I?” Hope said. She turned her gaze once more to the assembled ponies in the room.

“Well, those ponies didn’t just heal themselves. So it had to be somepony else. A healer.”

Hope let his words sink in. “A healer? Is that what I am, even after everything?”

The other pony picked up his mop and began to clean the floor. “It is if you want it to be. It’s your choice. What do you choose?”

Hope nodded. Her eyes focused clearly on the ponies in the waiting room, specifically the ones she did not recognize, the ones sitting in the seats, waiting for healing. Hope’s smile grew large.

Her horn began to glow, first blue, then green, then purple. The same glow enveloped every single pony who was waiting and lifted him or her upward, until all these ponies were hovering above their seats. There were a few sounds of panic. But then the gleam disappeared and they all fell back into their seats again. The cries of panic were replaced with sighs of relief. All the ponies had come in with various aches and ailments. They would all leave with none.

The old pony looked on, satisfied. “I thought so. How’s it feel, kid?”

Hope wheeled around. “I had forgotten how good it felt to help ponies. It’s been so long. Now I remember.”

The pony leaned on his mop and nodded with approval. “You live for other ponies, Radiant Hope. That is who you are and who you have always been.”

Hope’s eyes lit up. “Is that who I am? Are you telling me the truth?”

“It’s true if you want it to be. And for now, it’s the only truth you need to know.”

Hope was beaming now, and her crystal coat was shining bright enough to justify the first half of her name. Seeing this, the pony added, “But don’t let it go to your head. There’s still work to do. You’re going to find an old friend out there. See if you can help him out like you helped out these ponies today.”

Hope was confused. “What do you mean?” she asked.

A loud commotion came from behind the big door. Suddenly, it swung open to reveal the green doctor and a number of orderlies.

“There she is, come on!” the green doctor called out. “Miss, stop! You must obey the hospital staff! Miss! Stay where you are!”

Hope looked at them in alarm. Then she looked back to the old pony.

He smiled one of those wry smiles of his. “There’s a big world out there and it’s in need of a healer. Go get ’em, kid.”

Hope nodded. In a blue flash, she was gone.

“Hurry, hurry! She’s going to get away!” the doctor shouted. “We’ll be a laughing-stock at this rate. Go on! Go on!”

He signaled the orderlies to follow him. He broke into a gallop and so did they. The whole group came to resemble a cavalry unit launching a full charge of an enemy position. They were clearly not about to let a single mare escape their grasp.

The old pony began mopping again. As he did so, his back leg bumped into his cart, sending it rolling. It rolled into the path of the doctor and his subordinates just as they were about to reach the exit. There was no time to stop a collision.

Ponies and cleaning materials flew everywhere. The doctor fell to the ground. Trash fell on top of him, as did two quite burly orderlies.

“Get off of me! Get off!” he shouted. “Somepony, get them off of me!”

“Physician, heal thyself,” the old pony said with a chuckle as he trotted over.

“You! You did this!” the doctor snapped. “This is the result of your carelessness!”

The old pony only smiled. “Well, you know me. I can’t help making mistakes.”

Hope tried to find her way around the city, but she just seemed to get more and more lost. Every street led to more twists and turns, and Hope had no idea where the others would be staying. She could try to concentrate on them and teleport, she did not want to risk it. As much as she did not want to admit it, the green doctor had been right. She needed her rest.

On the other hoof, this ceaseless wandering was just tiring her out more.

As Hope concentrated, a glow surrounded her body. But Hope quickly realized this was not the rich blue that came from her own horn. Rather, it was a light green. Suddenly, she felt herself shaking. Shaking very rapidly.

A blue pony with a long, tangled white beard jumped out of the nearest alleyway.

“Radiant Hope! Radiant Hope!” he yelled wildly.

Hope had once been slightly afraid of the mad-pony and the dark aura he gave off. But not anymore. Now, she was just somewhat annoyed.

“W-w-wha-what d-d-do y-y-you w-w-wan-want n-n-now?” she managed to sputter out.

“Radiant Hope, I need you to help me!” he said.

“T-t-that w-w-would b-be e-e-eas-easier if y-you’d s-s-stop s-s-shaking me!” she responded.

The mad-pony’s horn stopped glowing; he let her go. Hope had not realized that, in addition to shaking her, he had also lifted her slightly off the ground. Hope fell to the pavement with an audible thump.

“Did you just come to attack me and insult me some more?” she asked, half-dazed, from the ground.

The lunatic lifted her up, with his hooves under her forelegs this time. “I need you to save me, Radiant Hope!” he said, his voice becoming even more hysterical than usual.

“Save you? Save you how?” Hope asked as her mental clarity returned.

“I… I am dying today!” he said. “I am dying today! I need you to save me!”

“Save you from dying?”

“No! Such a slow girl! Always so slow to catch on! Always has been!”

“Back to the insults, I guess.”

The lunatic let go of Hope, who was finally able to stand under her own power.

“Okay, let’s take this slow,” she said, trying to remain as empathetic as possible. “You’re dying today?”

He nodded frantically.

“How do you know?”

“Same way I know everything,” he said. “I have seen it in a vision!”

“A vision…. Okay….”

“You laugh at me? You mock me?”

Hope shook her head gently and tried to sound reassuring. “I’m not mocking you. I’m just having trouble understanding. Can you help me?”

“Help you? Help you? You have to help me!”

“I will… if I can. But you need to calm down and tell me what’s wrong.”

The mad-pony let out an insane laugh. “Wrong? Wrong? Nothing’s wrong! This is the way everything is supposed to be! The vision showed me. It showed me I would die three times today!”

Hope nodded, pretending to finally comprehend. “Oh, okay. So, the vision told you that you would die... three times?”

The mad-pony nodded his head up and down so fast that Hope was herself three times covered in his long white beard and mane.

Pushing it off of her with her magic, Hope tried to figure out how to say what she needed to say in a kind and compassionate manner. “I understand. But you can’t die three times. It’s not possible.”

“The vision is never wrong!” shouted the mad-pony, suddenly filled with righteous rage.

“Maybe the vision showed you something else and you only thought—”

“I am never wrong about the vision!” he hollered. Hope had to lay her ears against her mane just to avoid going temporarily deaf.

“Okay, okay,” she said. “So, you will die… three times…. And you want me to stop it? You want me to save you from dying… three times?”

More laughter from the lunatic. “You cannot do that, Radiant Hope! What the vision shows must be. Ponies have no choice in it!”

Hope sighed. “I used to know another pony who thought we had no choice in our fate. Things turned out very badly for him. For us.”

“I know,” said the mad-pony. “It turned out very badly for us, yes!”

This struck Hope as odd. Admittedly, it was probably just more gibberish. But something about it struck her deeply. She was going to ask what he meant but held back. Instead, she asked, “If I can’t stop it from happening. How am I supposed to save you?”

“You heal me.”

“I can’t heal you. I can’t raise the dead.”

The mad-pony stomped his hoof against the ground in frustration. “Always slow! How do you expect to beat the Umbrum being so slow? You can’t even figure out whether to beat them or not! Always so slow!”

“I’m trying to help,” Hope said, staying calm to hide her frustration.

The lunatic growled, a feral growl, the type of growl Dr. Fie would have had no trouble mistaking for a timberwolf.

“I need you to heal me now!” he said. “When I die today, I want to die sane!”

“You want me to cure your insanity?”

The mad-pony bobbed his head up and down like a monkey. “That is what I always wanted. That is why I follow you.”

Hope closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She did not know how he would react to what she had to say.

“I’m sorry, but you’re not insane. I tried to heal you already. It didn’t work.”

“Hope is more powerful now. Hope could do it,” the mad-pony said with another monkey-like nod.

“Power doesn’t have anything to do with it. I can’t fix what’s not there to fix.”

The lunatic fell down on his haunches and put his dirty head into his dirty hooves. “Oh, so slow! So slow! So slow to remember! I followed you all this time, waiting for you to remember. Waiting for you to remember so you would heal me. But it is the day I die, and you still don’t remember. I will die mad!”

Even after everything the lunatic had done, Hope could not help feeling sorry for him as he huddled on the ground before her. He was another pony, whatever he had done to her. And was worthy of her pity, if not love.

“Remember?” she asked, confused. “What am I supposed to remember?”

The mad-pony did not answer. He just sobbed into his hooves.

Hope got down on his level. She reached out her hooves and delicately took hold of his face so that he would look at her.

“What am I supposed to remember?”

“Remember me!” he cried. “You don’t remember me!”

Hope pulled back, stunned. “Remember you? Why should I remember you? I never saw you before I came to Seaddle Specialist.”

“Hope does not remember me! Hope does not remember me! All is lost!” the mad-pony wailed.

Then, suddenly, he was calm. He raised his head from his hooves and just stared. His eyes were looking in Hope’s direction, but they were not staring at her. They were just staring.

Hope looked at him. She stared at him intently and attempted to see him as clearly as she could. She tried to remove the wrinkles from his face in her mind. She tried to remove the beard and the wild, unkempt mane. She tried to remove the madness that danced in his eyes. She tried to picture him as he once might have been. As she once might have known him.

And then, in a flash, she remembered. She saw again one of the faces which had appeared in her mind earlier that day. The face of a pony she had known a very long time ago.

“Lailoken?” she asked quietly.

He looked up. He looked at Hope now, not through her. And, for the first time, his eyes did not have that characteristic gleam of madness.

“It has been a thousand years since anypony has called me that,” he said.

Hope crouched down on his level. “Lailoken, what happened to you?”

“I went mad,” he said. “And you drove me mad.”

Hope pulled away. “I drove you mad? I haven’t seen you in a millennium! Not even when the Crystal Empire reappeared. I haven’t seen you since the day… the day Sombra… the day I had to flee to the Royal Sisters.”

Hope’s eyes widened. “No….”

It was too terrible to consider. But she knew it was true. Hope struggled to form the words, but she knew she needed to speak.

Finally, in a weak voice, she said, “Sombra did this to you....”

Lailoken nodded. “He did it. Because of you! All because of you!”

The pupils of Hope’s eyes wobbled back and forth, reflecting the workings of her brain as she tried to process what she had just come to understand. She knew why she had not been able to heal him before. It was no mere malady that troubled Lailoken. Dark magic was involved. The dark magic of the Umbrum. No wonder it had avoided her detection for so long.

But she could beat it. Maybe she couldn’t before. But Hope knew that she could now.

She closed her eyes. Her horn began to glow. The blue glow transferred itself from the horn to Lailoken.

“Sorry, but this is going to hurt!” Hope said.

“I have hurt long enough,” Lailoken answered. “A little more won’t hurt.”

The light intensified. His body contorted in uncontrollable spasms. He let out a scream. Hope hoped that nopony had heard it and would come to investigate or call the authorities. Because it was that type of a scream.

The process seemed to go on forever. Hope felt energy draining like it had not all day. In her mind, she could picture the darkness, the very blackness, that was inside Lailoken’s brain. And she focused on mentally shooting a light through that darkness. She imagined the darkness slowly being poked and pierced and torn apart and dissolved by the light. It took all of her concentration, and even that seemed like it wouldn’t be enough.

Hope drew everything she had into the effort. She fought and struggled. When the darkness pushed, she pushed harder. She pushed herself harder than she ever had before. The light of Hope’s horn turned from blue to green. And then from green to purple. And then from purple to red.

Finally, the darkness broke. The light invaded every corner of it and burned it away. Hope opened her eyes as the blue glow disappeared. She and Lailoken hit the pavement at the same time.

But Hope could tell it had worked. Lailoken looked different. He looked like crystal. Like shining blue crystal. His natural luminescence, having faded with his mental state, was restored.

“How do you feel?” Hope said, exhausted.

Lailoken did not answer. He blinked. He blinked and his eyes darted all around. Then, with surprising speed, he jumped to his hooves.

“You should take it easy,” Hope said, forcing herself to rise despite every muscle in her body telling her to stay put.

Lailoken immediately jumped back. “Stay away from me! You stay away!”

Hope’s eyes widened again. “But… I just healed you.”

“Healed me? You only healed me because your boyfriend hurt me!” he said. “I was like this because of Sombra and because of you!”

Hope tried to approach him. But with each step she took, he took another step backward.

“Just tell me what happened,” she said.

“What, Sombra didn’t tell you?” he replied. “You two didn’t laugh about it when you were Emperor and Empress of the Umbrum?”

“There… wasn’t really time to catch up, honestly.”

“Fine,” Lailoken said, in a tone which clearly signified that nothing was fine. “I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you what you and your beloved boyfriend did to me!”

What had happened to Lailoken?

Read on.

Lailoken

Lailoken was a gifted pony. Everypony said so.

He had gotten his cutie mark at an early age. The oaken staff was taken as a sign that he was meant to join the druids, an ancient and mysterious order that had long ago chosen to make its home in the Everfree Forest. While rumors were often told about them in whispers, wild rumors of dark rituals and bloody sacrifices — how else could a pony possibly survive the Everfree other than by appeasing whatever malevolent spirits were native to the place? — most ponies just saw the druids as natural healers. They were reputed to have an unsurpassed mastery of shrubs and herbs, and nopony this side of the Neighgyptians knew more about how to make concoctions capable of healing the body and soul.

Lailoken was destined to be a druid.

It would mean leaving the Crystal Empire someday. Someday was still quite far off, as far as Lailoken was concerned. The druids did not like taking colts into their ranks. The wise old elders of the order regarded any pony too young as barely more than a foal, incapable of the attentiveness and discipline which the life of the forest required. Maturity was an important druidic characteristic.

So Lailoken would remain in the Crystal Empire for a while. That pleased him because, truth be told, he had never been outside the city’s borders. He knew no other world than the verdant lands which the Crystal Heart kept safe from the chill and cold. He did not want to know another world. At least, not yet.

But even though he remained in his crystalline homeland, he was not given a free pass by the druids. Lailoken was expected to spend the next few years before initiation developing his talents. The best place to do this, Lailoken soon found out, was the Crystal Empire’s premier place of healing, the Hospital of the Crystal Heart. Here, he could use his ever-increasing knowledge of herbs to make healing remedies for the sick and the injured.

It was here he met Radiant Hope.

The day had been the most memorable of his life. Only the day he had received his cutie mark could compare and then only at a considerable remove. For while that day had brought the highest joy a young colt could experience, this day would initiate Lailoken into the kind of joy that signifies the life of a stallion.

He had been working in the potions lab. The day was slow, and so Lailoken was amusing himself by mixing the herbs he had collected and the potions he had brewed into ever newer and more wonderful concoctions. He was carefully observing a particularly promising admixture when his supervisor gently rapped a hoof on the open door..

“Lailoken,” she said. “We have a new volunteer today.”

Lailoken hated being disturbed. But he had to keep on the supervisor’s good side. The pudgy crystal earth pony was normally quite agreeable, but was known to have a secret mean streak which other ponies called forth at their peril.

As Lailoken looked up, the supervisor said, “She needs to be shown the ropes. Normally, I’d do it. But I’ve just been called to an important meeting and I suspect it’ll take all day. Can you show her around, please?”

She made it sound like a favor being asked, but Lailoken understood it to be a command. He nodded ruefully. He hated this already. All he wanted was to be left to return to his potions.

That is, until he saw the pony who came in behind his supervisor. Her lavender coat seemed to sparkle and gleam and reveal new facets as it reflected ever-shifting beams of light. The shimmering blue ripples of her hair were like so many waves lapping gently upon each other within the confines of a crystal-clear sea. Her blue eyes resembled the rich vault of the sky on a particularly lustrous summer day. At least, what he could see of her eyes, as one was partially obscured by the way her hair hung down over one side of her head, giving her an air of sweet innocence. Her whole body was like a vast field of luminosity

She was, in short, the most beautiful pony Lailoken had ever seen.

“This is Radiant Hope,” said his supervisor. “Miss Hope, this is Lailoken.”

Hope gave him a shy smile. “Nice to meet you,” she said.

“Same,” Lailoken answered. It was all he could answer. He had wanted to say more, to offer up some clever witticism that would win her approval and her favor. But he knew that if he opened his mouth for too long, he’d have started drooling. And that would have been embarrassing.

“I’ll just leave you to it,” the supervisor said as she made her exit. “Be sure to show her everything, Lailoken. Take your time.”

Lailoken grinned. He would take his time. He would take as much time with Radiant Hope as he possibly could.

“That’s an interesting cutie mark,” Hope said. “What is it?”

“Just got here and you’re already checking out my flank?” Lailoken mentally kicked himself. Stupid!

But Hope laughed. It was not a nervous laugh and it was more than just polite. She sounded as though she actually found it funny.

“It’s nothing like that, silly!” she said. “I was just curious what it meant.”

“It’s the type of staff druids use in their ceremonies,” Lailoken said as he leaned back in his chair, trying to look relaxed and debonair. “Don’t mean to brag, but I’m in training to become one of them. A druid, not a staff. You know what a druid is?”

“Do I!” Hope responded. “I know all about druids! They’re the ones who commune with fairies!”

Fairies? Fairies? Lailoken had heard quite the druids accused of quite a few outlandish things. But most of them involved constructing large stone circles in alignment with the sun and moon. That and overindulging in cider from time to time. No pony, as far as he knew, had ever gone so far as to say the druids talked to fairies.

Hope’s eyes widened and she seemed ready to burst with excitement. “Do you think you’ll meet any fairies?” she asked.

Lailoken felt a burst of anxiety. There was no attractive way to answer this question. “I… Uh, to tell the truth, I’m not really sure what I’ll be doing as a druid. That’s why I’m here, so that I can learn some stuff before I have to go to the Everfree and join them.”

“Wouldn’t that be so cool, if you did, though!” Hope continued, undaunted. “If you could actually meet real, live fairies! Oh, I’d give anything to be able to do that. It would be so exciting!”

“Yeah, exciting,” Lailoken said, not very excited. He desperately wanted to change the subject to anything not fairy-related. “But what about your cutie mark? That looks interesting.”

Lailoken mentally kicked himself again for making it sound as though he was checking out Hope’s flank. Which he totally was. But she didn’t need to know.

“Oh, this?” she said modestly. “It’s not much, I know. I haven’t had it for too long. It means that I’m going to be a healer.”

“A healer, huh? I guess that’s why you ended up volunteering at this place.”

“Yep. I used to just heal ponies around the orphanage where I grew up, but Ms. Chestnut said I needed to quote unquote ‘expand my horizons.’ So I came here.”

It was a simple enough statement. Too simple, as Lailoken learned. Working alongside Hope over the next few weeks, he discovered that she could do far more than just help heal ponies. She could heal anypony of anything. Alone. Without needing a doctor’s assistance and without needing Lailoken’s potions. The days when Hope came to volunteer, Lailoken usually found that he had even less work to do than on the day he met her. Actually, he often had absolutely no work to do at all.

Which was perfectly fine, because it meant he could follow Hope around during her rounds and chat her up. And she was always happy to chat. Lailoken had never known a pony to be able to talk so much. Hope talked about the orphanage, about work, about things that were happening around the empire, Princess Amore, her extensive ‘knowledge’ of pixies and fairies and, well, anything that popped into her head. She could speak for hours, practically in conversation with herself, with him only able to offer a word or two at brief, opportune moments. There were days where he just stood there in silence, amazed, listening to her go on and on.

Not that he was complaining. She could go on and on for the next thousand years, and it would be okay with him.

Lailoken was in love.

There was only one problem. Whenever Hope talked, it was not long before another name came up — Sombra. Sombra this and Sombra that. Sombra lived with her, shared everything with her, grew up with her, knew her like nopony else. Lailoken had not been too bothered by this at first, since he assumed Sombra must be another girl at the orphanage. But then he mistakenly responded to one of Hope’s statements by referring to Sombra as, “she.”

Hope had chuckled. “Sombra isn’t a she, silly,” she had said. “He’s a colt!”

A colt? A colt?

Lailoken had been in a bad mood for the next week.

Hope had noticed but, bless her heart, she never could tell what had suddenly made him stand-offish. Nor did she let it affect her much. She just kept talking and talking and talking. Hope’s friendliness and enthusiasm remained infectious. And Lailoken wasn’t mad at her — well, not per se — so they were soon on the best of terms again.

Except for the fact that a ghost now seemed to hang over them at every meeting. A ghost Hope was completely unaware of, but one whose presence Lailoken felt with increasing discomfort. A ghost named Sombra.

Lailoken decided that he had to find out more about who this Sombra was. Maybe if Lailoken could discover what Hope saw in this fellow, he could make himself more attractive to Hope and steal her away. Some other ponies who had once lived at the orphanage had also gotten jobs at the hospital, and Lailoken was able to grill them for info. In the least obvious way, of course.

“So, you know anything about this Sombra that Radiant Hope is always talking about?” he asked a pegasus from the orphanage one day.

“Why, you want to ask her out and afraid he’ll get jealous?” the pegasus responded.

“Just curious,” Lailoken lied. “Curious, nothing else.”

The pegasus shrugged her wings and went back to what she was doing. “I didn’t interact with them much. Nopony did. We all thought they were a bit weird. She was kinda loopy, but other than that, she was alright, I guess. But Sombra. There was something wrong with him.”

Suddenly, Lailoken was alarmed. “What? What was it?”

“I don’t know. Just… just something…. There was something not right, some sort of energy he gave off or something. All of us could sense it. All of us except Hope. But then, they always did seem made for each other.”

“What do you mean?”

“Those two always just seemed like they were in their own little world. Like nopony else mattered. They were such weirdos. We all agreed that it’s better to just stay away from them.”

Lailoken had laughed at the time, until the pegasus flashed him a ‘No, I’m serious,’ look.

“You should stay away from them too,” she said. “Trust me.”

Lailoken did not trust her.

Lailoken continued digging. He asked everypony he knew that had lived at, worked at, or ever even been to the orphanage. It was always the same story. Nopony could say what was wrong with Sombra, exactly — other than the fact that he was not a crystal pony and didn’t look much like other types of ponies, either — but they all felt that there had to be something. It was there, even if they couldn’t explain it.

This was becoming an obsession, Lailoken knew there was something here, but every lead was a dead end. It was taking over his thoughts. Whenever he and Hope where together, Sombra was all he could think about. If she talked to long, he would find his thoughts wandering back to the pony who stood between him and everything he wanted.

This was why he almost didn’t hear Hope when she informed him that she was considering applying for the Royal Academy in Canterlot.

“Do you think I should do it?” she asked.

“Do I?” Lailoken responded, refocusing his attention on her.

It was a difficult question. It would probably mean that she would leave the Crystal Empire. Maybe she would return someday, maybe not. Lailoken was obviously not thrilled. Even though he had only known Hope for a short time, he was afraid to lose her from his life. But, then again, he too would be leaving the Crystal Empire, possibly never to return, in a few years’ time. And he could see the potential that was inside of Radiant Hope. Her destiny was clearly much larger than the bounds of her homeland and she deserved the chance to seek that destiny beyond its ice-fringed borders. It would be selfish to deny her this opportunity.

“Of course, you should apply! You have such a talent for healing ponies. You’re one of a kind. You’ll get in, no problem. And can you imagine what it’ll be like to learn from the Royal Sisters themselves? I mean, it’s not as cool as learning from the druids, but still!”

Hope laughed. “That’s what everypony tells me. I guess I should do it, then.”

Then she gazed deeply into Lailoken’s eyes. Lailoken felt his heart start to race.

“You know,” she said, “I’ve never told this to anypony except Sombra, but I’ve always wanted to be a princess. Ever since I saw myself as one in the Crystal Heart.”

“You saw that in the Crystal Heart?” Lailoken asked, amazed. He had heard the Crystal Heart had such power, but he had never tried it out for himself. After all, he had practically always known he’d be a druid anyway. Everypony said so. What did he even need to see?

“In that case, you definitely need to go for it!” he said. “Just think! I’ll be able to tell ponies that I knew a princess before she was famous!”

Hope pulled Lailoken into a giant hug. She was quite strong and Lailoken was well-aware that all his innards felt like they wanted to scream. But her coat was soft and her body was warm, and she did not seem to mind being so close to him. Lailoken’s heart palpitated even more rapidly.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” she said as she let him go. “Wait till I tell Sombra that I’m going to do it! I’m going to apply!”

Lailoken felt an immediate change of mood. “Yeah, Sombra. I’m sure he’ll be so excited.”

She did apply. And then not too long after came the acceptance. It was hardly unexpected, at least from Lailoken’s perspective, but that’s when things really went crazy. Sombra suddenly disappeared. Nopony knew what happened to him, least of all, Hope. Some ponies said he had just up and decided to leave the Crystal Empire and seek his fortunes elsewhere. (After saying so, they almost invariably added “Good riddance!”) Hope never believed it. But she was at a loss to explain Sombra’s disappearance. It weighed on her; just as she prepared to make the largest transition she had ever known, her best friend had vanished and was no longer there to support her. Into the void stepped Lailoken.

He should have been happier. But he wasn’t. He could tell Hope was not the same pony she used to be. She was suddenly quiet and reserved. No more marathon conversations with herself. Some days, it was a miracle when he was able to get a simple "yes" or "no" in response to basic questions. She did not much seem to care about anything. The lives of other ponies and the minutia of the medical business no longer provoked any interest. Even healing the sick and injured, the thing which usually seemed to fill her with the most happiness, did nothing to help. Hope still did what she could, but in a perfunctory manner. When she most needed to focus on her healing magic, she Invariably seemed distracted and made simple little mistakes that she should never have made.

Lailoken was worried. He decided to talk to Hope about it. Maybe he could help her feel better. Maybe he could even score some brownie points.

But, of course, he already knew what the problem was; Sombra. Still, he had to ask.

“Is everything okay with you?” he said to Hope as they were finishing their shifts for the evening. It was twilight, and the sun’s departure had caused a beautiful red glow to fill the sky. This was in the morning of Celestia and Luna’s reign, before Luna’s fall, when the whole world seemed to shine with promise.

Hope had looked like she wanted to cry. She clearly needed to unburden herself but something seemed to be stopping her from doing so. She almost seemed to fear giving an answer, afraid to face her true feelings. But Hope didn’t lie. Lailoken knew that. She never would. Whatever she was feeling, she would tell him the truth, in her own time and in her own way.

Lailoken was willing to wait.

“It’s… it’s Sombra,” Hope said at last.

Figures, Lailoken thought.

“It’s just, he’s been gone from the Crystal Empire for so long now, that I’m worried.” This was an understatement, Lailoken could tell that Hope was far more than worried.

“He’s a big boy,” Lailoken said, trying to sound reassuring. “I’m sure that he’ll be alright. He probably just needs some time alone. Once he’s had enough, he’ll come back.”

Hope didn’t seem able to comprehend the idea. Indeed, she seemed very near panic. “Time alone? How much time does he need? He’s been gone for weeks! And why? The Crystal Empire is his home. He’s never been away from here. I’m afraid for him out there.”

Lailoken got closer to Hope. “I know it’s hard,” he said, “but he has to make his own decisions in life. He’s not your responsibility.”

“But he is!” Hope responded, her voice becoming high and strained. “He is my responsibility! He only has me and I only have him. We’ve always looked out for each other.”

Lailoken put his hoof on her shoulder. “Well, maybe it’s time you had other ponies to look out for you.”

Hope pulled out of his grasp, utterly oblivious. “Other ponies…. They mean well. They just don’t understand us.”

That was like a dagger in Lailoken’s heart. “Don’t understand you?” he said, a trace of anger in his voice. “What do you mean, we don’t understand you? I understand you, Hope.”

Hope smiled at him wistfully. “You only think you do. You don’t really.”

Lailoken turned his head away so that he could roll his eyes. I really know how to pick ’em, he thought.

“There’s been something wrong with Sombra since the day we went to see the Crystal Heart,” Hope lamented. “That was the day I saw that my destiny was to become a princess. He saw something… something else. I don’t know what it was. He’s never talked about it. But it upset him. He didn’t think I knew he was upset. But I knew. I could see it. I kept waiting for him to finally tell me, all these years. He never did. And then I got my acceptance letter and he just disappeared.”

Yep, I really do pick some real winners, Lailoken thought. In hindsight, he probably should have checked the girl’s baggage before falling head over hooves for her. But it was too late. Whatever Hope had gotten herself into with this Sombra character, Lailoken was certain he could get her out of it. He was a gifted pony, after all. Everypony said so.

“Look, Hope, I don’t know what happened to Sombra,” Lailoken said, subtly moving into her personal space. “I don’t know why he left. But I do know that, if he doesn’t come back, he’s crazy. He’s crazy if he’s going to leave this place when there’s a girl like you here waiting for him.”

Hope stepped back a few steps. Foiled again. “But you’re going to leave,” she said. “You’re going to join the druids.”

“Well, maybe I could be persuaded not to,” Lailoken said with a furtive smile. “For the right reasons….”

Hope looked both shocked and incredulous. “But… but it’s your destiny! You can’t turn your back on your destiny!”

Lailoken let out a cocky laugh. “Who says I can’t? Destiny isn’t ever going to be the boss of me! It’s like I’ve always said, we make our own destiny.”

“I’ve never heard you say that,” Hope said quietly. Then her eyes glazed over a little. She seemed to be caught up in her thoughts.

Lailoken had to think fast before he lost her completely. He felt that this was his moment — their moment — and he wasn’t about to squander it.

Putting his hooves to her shoulders, Lailoken gazed deeply into Hope’s eyes.

“Don’t worry, Hope,” he said. “I’m sure everything is going to turn out alright. Sombra will be fine. You’ll see. He probably be back before you know it.”

“Thank you,” Hope said, a sense of relief in her voice.

“And, you know,” Lailoken said, leaning his head in close to Hope’s, “you don’t have to go through anything alone, just because Sombra’s not around. I’ll always be here for you. You’re never getting rid of me.”

Lailoken kissed Hope.

Whatever he had dreamt it would be like, it wasn’t. Mostly because Hope tore herself away before anything could really happen.

“Hope?” Lailoken said.

Hope looked back over her shoulder at Lailoken. Tears streamed down her beautiful face. “I’m… I’m sorry…. I can’t,” she said. And then she broke into a gallop.

“Hope, wait!” Lailoken called after her as she galloped away. But it was no use. Hope was gone.

Lailoken kicked a stone with his hoof. “Guess I really messed that one up,” he said.

“I guess you did,” came a voice. A deep, dark voice.

Lailoken looked around but saw no one. “Who said that?” he asked. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but it’s not very funny!”

Then he saw, out of the shadows, come a pony as dark as the shadows. This pony was wearing a cloak, but quickly pulled it down to reveal a curved red horn and eyes that glowed a malevolent combination of green, red, and purple.

“You must be Sombra, am I right?” Lailoken said. He did not know how he knew. He just did.

Great, the boyfriend’s here.

Lailoken could probably expect a beating now. He was starting to feel afraid. Whether it was from the prospect of serious injury or just because of the strange dark aura the guy let off (or both), Lailoken didn’t know. But he knew he couldn’t let Sombra see how afraid he was. Jealous boyfriends could smell fear, after all. He would have to put up a brave front.

“I don’t think we’ve ever met,” Lailoken said. “But I feel like I know you. Hope never stops talking about you.”

“You’re going to wish we had never met,” Sombra said. His voice was low, but the rage was palpable.

Before Lailoken knew it, he had been thrown against the nearest crystal wall, with such force that he was certain he had put a dent into it. And, before he had a chance to even process the blow, Sombra was up against him. The ugly curved horn was getting close enough that, should he move just a little, he would lose an eye. It oozed an inky black substance which seemed to such the light out of the air around it.

“How… how do you do that lighting effect with your eyes and your horn?” Lailoken asked. “Is that some new kind of magic?”

“Something like that,” Sombra said with a sneer. “Maybe you’d like to experience it first-hoof.”

“Hey, buddy, easy!” Lailoken said. “I’m a friend of Hope’s. She wouldn’t want you to hurt me, would she? She’s been awfully worried about you—”

“Don’t mention her name!” Sombra snapped as he smashed Lailoken against the wall once more. “You hurt her, just like everypony has hurt her. Just like everypony has hurt us.”

“Hurt her? I didn’t—”

Sombra’s eyes flared with a dark fire. “I saw you! I saw you forcing yourself onto her!”

“That wasn’t… that wasn’t what it looked like!” Lailoken said in panic. “That shouldn’t have happened. But Hope and I are friends. I would never do anything to hurt her.”

“Yes,” Sombra said, “you never will.”

Before Lailoken could reflect on all the ways he did not like the sound of that statement, Sombra’s horn was firing up with dark energy. Sombra held Lailoken helpless against the wall, almost choking the life out of him. And then, the energy erupted from Sombra’s horn. The blast hit Lailoken dead-on.

All was fire. That was the only way to describe the feeling inside Lailoken’s head. Nothing made sense. Nothing was rational. Lailoken could not even put together a coherent thought. All that he knew was that he was in pain. Pain so severe that he could not even comprehend the outside world anymore. It was all a jumble of sense and emotion and pain. All of his senses were fighting each other for primacy, and the light and the sound and the feeling of the wall behind him, all of it was too painful to endure.

When Lailoken fell to the ground, it did not even register. It was just more pain. But somewhere in the pain, Lailoken heard Sombra’s voice. “No one will ever hurt Hope again.”

How long he lay there, nopony could have told. Especially not Lailoken, his mind torn apart. But slowly — or so it seemed — the chaos and the clutter began to coalesce. The random lights took form, first becoming strange shapes, shapes like Lailoken had never seen before. And then, they became figures. One was Sombra. The other was Princess Amore.

Lailoken could not hear what they were saying. Sound was still too much of a cacophony. But he could see them. He could see Princess Amore trying to calm Sombra and Sombra, furious, refusing to be calmed. He saw Sombra unleash once more the fiendish power of his hideous horn. Princess Amore’s face was frozen Into a grotesque expression with mouth hanging open in what looked more than a gasp and less than a scream. It would never change; she had become stone. Sombra stomped his hoof. Amore was no more, shattered into ten-thousand pieces.

“No!” Lailoken howled.

And then it was gone. All that Lailoken saw was the street in front of him.

But it had been real. Somewhere in his addled mind, Lailoken knew that it was real. It had been more real than anything he had ever seen with his eyes. And he knew he had to stop it. So, despite the pain, despite the burning that seemed to consume every inch of his being, Lailoken forced himself to crawl. He crawled slowly, painfully, but purposefully. He had to reach the Crystal Palace.

But when he finally arrived, Lailoken’s eyes were met with the very thing he had put all of his broken body and spirit into preventing. Just as he pulled himself to the rim of the Crystal Dais, he saw Sombra stamp his hoof. The hideous statue that had once been the beautiful Princess Amore shattered and scattered to every corner of the world. Hot, burning tears streamed down Lailoken’s face. He saw Sombra, triumphantly surveying his dominion, and he knew that the Crystal Empire had a new sovereign.

And he saw Hope, standing right beside Sombra. Hope? Hope? Even in his maddened state, she still meant something to Lailoken. Surely, she would fix this. But she did not. She and Sombra seemed to be… talking? After all that Lailoken had just witnessed, that Hope has just witnessed, nothing had chanced. She had still not given up on Sombra.

And Lailoken knew. He had never really understood Radiant Hope at all.

But then, the world started to change again. Hope was still there, Sombra was still there. The Crystal Empire was still there. But it was not the same. There was Hope, hidden underneath a cloak, stealing the Crystal Heart. There she was, restoring Sombra to full health and power. There were Celestia and Luna, petrified just as Amore had been. There was Sombra, unleashing a horde of dark, demonic creatures onto to poor inhabitants of the Crystal Empire. There was much slaughter and destruction. And then, there was Sombra and there was Hope, surrounded by these monsters, who all paid them deference.

And a voice rang out, “All hail Emperor Sombra and all hail Empress Hope!"

And then, in a flicker, Sombra was gone and Hope was alone. Again came the voice, "All hail Radiant Hope, the Empress of Equestria!"

Lailoken was so struck by terror and the weight of it all, he did not even realize that he had gotten to his hooves and had been backing away from the Crystal Palace. But now he ran. He shrieked and he ran. Ran to the very outskirts of the Crystal Empire. Ran into the white vastness beyond.

“I eventually found my way to the Everfree Forest,” said Lailoken. “Some part of me must have remembered the druids, and thought that they could help me. If they could or not, I never found out. They took me in, but they thought my madness was sacred. They though that some spirit of prophecy had possessed me so that it could communicate with them. And so they kept me, tended to me, and all of them came running whenever I began to babble about the things I was seeing in my head. But they never tried to help me. None of them. I was stuck as this prisoner until, after a few hundred years, the last of the druids passed away and the order became extinct. And I was left alone.”

Hope could only look on. She did not know what to say. The only appropriate emotion was horror; horror at what Lailoken had gone through, and horror at her part in it. Hope could barely wrap her mind over what she had heard. She could only imagine how Lailoken must be feeling.

Finally, she managed a small, “I’m sorry.”

And then, collecting herself somewhat, she added, “How did you survive outside the Crystal Empire for a thousand years?”

“The same way you did, I suppose,” Lailoken said. “The Umbrum’s dark magic not only cursed me with madness, cursed me with prophecy, but also cursed me with immortality. Immortality without eternal youth. I kept getting older, but I couldn’t die. At least, not until the day my visions showed me I would die. Today.”

“But what happened?” Hope asked. “In your visions. Maybe if we knew, we could stop it from happening.”

Lailoken closed his eyes and a look of pain crossed his face. “I can’t remember. It’s gone. But, I know that if the visions say it is going to happen, it will happen.”

“You told me once that we can make our own destiny,” Hope said. “I thought of that when I chose to leave the Royal Academy and go looking for Sombra. You gave me the courage!”

“And look what happened,” Lailoken said scornfully. “I was wrong. Wrong about all of it.”

Hope wanted to argue. But she did not know how. Maybe he was right.

“I spent a thousand years looking for you, Hope,” Lailoken said. “The visions, they showed me that you were out there. But I never could find you. They didn’t actually show me where you were and what had happened to you, so I never found you. Until the day, not too long ago, when I saw a vision of you in Seaddle. So, I came there to find you, and got locked up in that accursed hospital. But, destiny wills out, and you were there. Except you didn’t even recognize me!”.

Hope could not blame Lailoken for being upset. She knew well the pain of having other ponies let you down.

“I’m… I’m sorry…” she said, “but you’ve changed so much!”

“I needed you to heal me, and you didn’t even recognize me!”

“I tried to heal you, but the Umbrum magic was too strong! I didn’t realize what I was facing!”

Hope put her hoof on Lailoken’s shoulder. “But now we know. And I want to help you. I know I can’t make up for everything that’s happened to you over the past thousand years, just like nopony can make up for what’s happened to me. But we’re friends, and we can get through this together.”

Lailoken swatted her hoof away. “Don’t you dare touch me!”

“Lailoken?”

“Don’t come near me. I don’t want anything to do with you. Radiant Hope. What a name. I wonder what your parents were hoping for when they gave you such a name. I’m glad they didn’t live to see what you became.”

“I know you’re angry at me. I probably deserve it.” Hope’s voice became firm. “But you don’t have the right to say that to me! Nopony does.”

Calming down, she began to approach Lailoken again. “I’m sorry. You’ve been through a lot and I shouldn’t have snapped like that.. But I just want to help.”

Lailoken backed away from Hope He stared at her like she was the mad one. “Hope, you’re a monster. You can’t help me.”

“I know I did things that you can never forgive,” Hope said. “But I’m trying to be better now.”

“You can’t,” Lailoken said. “You’re a monster. Maybe you always were, I don’t know. You can try to be better, you can try for redemption. And maybe it’ll make you feel better. But it is not going to change what you are.”

“Lailoken, please….” Hope pleaded.

“Just stay away from me,” Lailoken said. “You just stay as far away from me as you can! Whatever time I have left, I just want to spend it in peace!”

“But where will you go?” Hope asked.

“I don’t know, and I probably shouldn’t tell you if I did,” Lailoken said. “But maybe I’ll go see the sights, take in a tour of famous places or two. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do after recovering from a thousand-year bought of dark magic-incurred madness? Maybe I’ll stop by the Empress of Equestria and try to clear my head. With how long that ship has been around, I’m sure there are some dark spirits lurking around. I’d fit right in!”

“Lailoken, please just let me try to help,” Hope said.

“You’ve done enough already,” Lailoken said, his voice dripping with contempt. “Everypony who gets close to you ends up badly. It may be too late for me but I’m not going to let you hurt me anymore. This is one aspect of my destiny, maybe the only one, which I can still control.”

Hope wanted to plead more, but there was no appeasing Lailoken. He left her. Hope thought about using her teleport spell to appear in front of him, but she knew it would make no difference. His mind was made up. He would not let her save him.

“I’m sorry,” Hope whispered into the chilly gusts of the night wind. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save your life. I’m sorry I couldn’t be the mare you needed me to be.”

The wind picked up, emitting a howl as it tore through the city streets. Hope barely noticed. All she could do was keep her eyes on the place where Lailoken had been.

She wondered, What could his life have been if it not for me?

What would Radiant Hope do now?

Read on.

The Empress of Equestria

Hope looked around. She was surrounded by light. This was the great hall of the ship. Here, wooden furnishings, made from trees across Equestria, glistened in the light of the magnificent chandelier above. The wood was a rich, polished mahogany that, due to such heavy illumination, seemed to emit a red glow. But these were not alone in adorning the walls. Amongst and between the wooden panels, great bas-reliefs towered mightily over anypony who passed beneath. They were cast in a luminous bronze and each one depicted a famous episode from Equestria’s storied history. When caught in the gleaming metal, light seemed to dance and twirl, giving the larger than life figures here depicted the appearance of movement and life. It was truly a sight to behold.

But the greatest thing of all was the light. There was so much light. The light from candles and bulbs, from chandeliers and lamps, lights from above and from below, not only illuminated their own little areas, but reflected off of every surface, and every surface shined. Hope did not know if she had ever seen so much light. Even the Crystal Empire in its golden prime had never seemed to shine so bright.

These lights were soon added to by another, a turquoise one.

“Thank Celestia, dear girl!” Dr. Fie said. “We thought we’d already lost you!”

“This place is so big,” Hope said absently. “I don’t know how I’ll find anything.”

“Maybe we should come back during the day,” Dr. Fie said. “Then we can have a nice stroll, exploring the ship at our leisure, maybe stopping for lunch, and then getting to the business of rooting out those nasty Umbrum, hmm?”

Hope felt once more the pulsation of dark energy from the pouch at her neck. It reminded her of what she must do.

She fixed her eyes forward. “No. This ends tonight.”

“But why, dear girl?” Dr. Fie said. “Why do you insist on this?”

“It’s what I have to do,” Hope said.

“Where’s the Starswirl exhibit?” Starlight asked. “We need to get those scrolls and quick!”

“I was just trying to figure that out,” Hope said.

“There’s a room on the top deck,” Stirring said. “That’s where they’re keeping the exhibit. I’m sure we’re too late, though. The place is probably already locked up.”

Starlight gave Stirring a sideways glance.

“Oh, right,” Stirring said. “You’re just going to pop in.”

“Literally,” Starlight responded.

“Okay, let’s do it,” Hope said. “I’ll go with you two to get my spell. Dr. Fie, you stay down here. I’m sure this ship has a telegraph room or a pony at a night desk somewhere. You need to get a message to the princesses. Tell them what is going on. They’re going to need to know in case I can’t stop the Umbrum.”

“Hope, dear girl, don’t you dare talk like that!” Dr. Fie said.

“I just want to be prepared for the worst, doctor,” Hope said.

Dr. Fie stood directly in front of Hope, as though to block her path. “What could be worse than blowing yourself up? Hope, you have such a future ahead. Don’t throw that away.”

“I lost my future the day I met Sombra,” Hope responded. “It seems now like this was always going to be how my story ends. It’ll be okay, doctor. None of you will even miss me, probably.”

“Don’t say that, dear child!” Dr. Fie said, his voice cracking. “You can’t leave me! I need you.”

Dr. Fie fell to his haunches and grabbed Hope’s hoof in his own. “Please, Hope! You can leave Starlight and you can leave Stirring if you want. Just leave them behind if you think they don’t care about you. But don’t leave dear, old Dr. Fie! Please, Hope, don’t leave me! I’ve only had two real friends in my whole life. I lost one many years ago, and you’re the other. I can’t survive losing you!”

“You can, you will,” Hope said gently. “I know it seems hard now. But in a month or two, you’ll find some other orderly to boss around and it’ll be like I was never there. It’ll be okay, doctor, you’ll see. As soon as you find the next pony who’ll let you get away with not doing your own work, you won’t even think about me anymore.”

Dr. Fie could not respond. All he could do was choke back tears.

“But please, doctor, if you want to do something for me, contact the princesses. That’s all I need now. Since this is probably the last time that we’ll see each other, that is what you can do for me.”

Hope’s hoof gently pulled away from Dr. Fie’s increasingly weak grasp. She turned to Starlight and Stirring. “Okay, let’s get those spells!”

Starlight’s horn lit up. There was a flash, and all three were gone.

Dr. Fie got to his hooves and began wiping his eyes with his foreleg. “Was it just me,” he said to nopony in particular, “or did she seem so serene just now? Is she that ready to face death? How can anypony be that ready to depart this vale of tears? Oh, 'goodnight sweet princess,' indeed!”

Steadying himself as much as he could, Dr. Fie turned his gaze upward. All this grandeur and opulence would once have made quite an impact on him. But none of it seemed to matter anymore. Dr. Fie turned his back on it all.

“You’re wrong, dear girl. I will never forget you. Every day for the rest of my life, I will always think of you.”

“You’d think they’d have better security in this place,” Stirring said as he trotted around the different glass-enclosed exhibits.

“Teleportation isn’t exactly a common skill,” Starlight responded as she looked from glass case to glass case. “I’m sure they figured that between locking the place up and whatever alarms they have on the doors, they’d have no trouble. They didn’t count on me when they set this all up, after all.”

“I think this is the spell I want,” Hope said. Starlight and Stirring gathered round. The three ponies looked into the case, where an ancient scroll was unfurled.

Starlight read the little card beside it. “This has to be the one. The card says Starswirl never used it himself because he feared that the damage it caused would be irreversible.”

“Then why do they just have it in a glass case where anypony could read it?” Stirring asked.

“You’re not a unicorn, Stirring, so you probably don’t understand,” Starlight said. “Anypony can read the spell, but its complex magic. It would take a very powerful magician in order to actually activate it.”

“But I thought it didn’t matter what a pony was. If all ponies are equal, then magic shouldn’t be any harder for a pegasus or an earth pony than a unicorn. Just like with everything else.”

Starlight did not need a lecture on her own philosophy. Especially not now. “I never said the three races didn’t have their own natural specialties,” she said. “Just that cutie marks stood in the way of accessing those specialties.”

“That’s not how I understood it, ma’am.” Despite Stirring’s respectful tone, it was obvious that he was somewhat upset by Starlight’s words.

“So, Hope, you want to get it out of there?” Starlight asked, raising her hoof.

“No,” Hope said without taking her eyes off of the spell. “There might be an alarm. But I think I can memorize it if I just have a moment or two.”

“Okay,” Starlight said. “Stirring and I will look for that other spell.”

“You never told me what that one does,” Hope said, still not taking her eyes away from the words on the scroll.

“It can’t be that important to you now,” Starlight demurred. “You are planning to give up your life in the next hour, so what’s it really matter?”

“I was just curious,” Hope said.

“Don’t worry yourself about it,” was Starlight’s only answer.

Starlight led Stirring toward the other glass cases, where other spells were on display. They studied each one rigorously, just as Hope studied this one spell. She knew she had to be quick. But she also had to be thorough. After all, she would only get one chance at this.

“I don’t understand it!” Starlight said after a while. “We’ve looked at every spell here. I don’t see it anywhere!”

“My informant couldn’t be sure that they would actually bring it,” Stirring said. “She just thought they might.”

Starlight let out a deep growl. “But it has to be here! We can’t have come all this way from Seaddle for nothing!”

“But it wasn’t for nothing!” Stirring said. “We’ve made great strides for the cause!”

“None of that will matter if we don’t find that spell!” Starlight snapped.

“We don’t need the spell, ma’am,” Stirring said. “We just need to redouble our efforts on building a following. Then we can start to change things.”

“What I want to change doesn’t come from spreading messages and holding hooves,” Starlight responded. “Besides, Twilight Sparkle—”

“Ma’am, I’m angry at her too for what she did to our town,” Stirring said. “But I don’t that paying her back is as important as you make it out to be.”

Starlight whipped her head around. Stirring took a few steps back. Starlight’s teeth were grit in a hard scowl and her eyes burned. “It is the only important thing!” she hollered.

“Ma’am….” Stirring said. It was all he managed to say.

Even Hope took her eyes off the spell long enough to look up at Starlight.

“What are you looking at?” Starlight snapped. “At least you have a spell that will fix things!”

“Starlight, after I’m gone, I don’t want you to be so consumed by revenge,” Hope said. “I know you think what Princess Twilight did to you was wrong. But if you keep letting that rage grow inside of you, you’ll just do something much worse than what she did.”

“What do you know about rage, Little Ms. Woe-is-Me?”

“I’ve felt rage,” Hope said. “I felt rage for what fate had done to me and Sombra. For what I thought the crystal ponies had done to the Umbrum. And maybe that was where I first went wrong. Maybe that was when I stopped being the innocent pony I once was and became the Radiant Hope that nearly destroyed Equestria. I don’t want you to go down the same path.”

“Oh, be quiet, Hope!” Starlight said with a snarl. “You don’t have the right to talk to me that way!”

“But, as your friend—”

“We were never friends! It was always just an arrangement, remember? It only worked because we were useful to each other. Well, you’re no longer useful to me! And you were right earlier. Now that I can’t use you for anything, I don’t care anymore what happens to you! Finish with your little spell and go blow yourself up so that I don’t ever have to see your face again!”

“I’m finished,” Hope said, speaking nearly in a monotone.

“Then just get out of here!” Starlight said.

“I just have one more thing to ask,” Hope said. “I know you’re not in the mood to do anything I say, but please do this, Starlight. There are a lot of ponies on this ship. You need to get them all out before the ship blows up. Can I trust you to do that?”

Starlight didn’t answer. She would not even look at Hope.

“If I die tonight, I want it to be without adding a single pony more to my total,” Hope said softly. “I need to know that I can trust you to do this.”

“You can trust us, Hope,” Stirring said, his voice low and shaken. “I’ll make sure that we get everypony out.”

“Thank you,” Hope said. “Thank you both for everything. Goodbye.”

Blue light enveloped radiated from Hope’s horn and enveloped her completely. There was a flash. Radiant Hope was gone.

“Hope, wait!” Starlight called out. But it was too late.

Starlight looked to the floor in shame. “What if that was the last thing I’ll ever say to her? She was right. We are friends. And now I’m losing another friend. It always happens this way….”

A tear began to form in Starlight’s eye. “You know, maybe I have let my obsession with Twilight Sparkle go on for too long.”

“You think?” Stirring said, angry.

“Stirring?” Starlight was genuinely surprised and taken aback by this outburst.

“Why does everything have to be about Twilight Sparkle?” Stirring snapped. “We didn’t even know who she was a year ago. Why has she suddenly become so important to you?”

“You know what she did, Stirring,” Starlight responded. “She nearly destroyed our cause. Everything we’ve done has been to try and repair that damage.”

“Don’t you ever get tired of lying?” Stirring asked.

Stung by these words, Starlight stood a little taller and regained some of her usual haughty bearing. “Excuse me?”

“The cause? Equality? You don’t care about any of it, do you?” Stirring said. “I’m the one here who genuinely wanted to make your vision a reality. But all you’ve ever cared about since you got thrown out of our town is getting even with Twilight Sparkle!”

“I need to get even with her, Stirring!” Starlight fired back. “After what she did to me, to all of us—”

“No, only you, Starlight. And if your ego wasn’t so large, maybe you could see that this has all been about your personal vendetta all along. You aren’t Starlight Glimmer the Incorruptible anymore. You’re just another sad pony who blames others for her mistakes.”

“How dare you talk to me like that!” Starlight bellowed. “I’m the one who made you what you are! You’d still be writing sappy love sonnets if I hadn’t showed you a better way to live!”

Stirring’s voice managed to outdo hers in noise and intensity (which was quite an achievement, given the power of Starlight’s vocal cords). “You turned me into a liar! You made me write so many things that I knew weren’t true! And it was alright when I thought we were doing it for the cause, when I thought a little lie would help them see the larger truth somewhere down the road. But it was never about that. You made me a liar so that I could help you hurt Twilight Sparkle! What were you going to do once that was done? Send me to blow myself up like you sent Hope?”

“You’re on thin ice, Stirring!” Starlight scolded. “You just saw how I lost another friend!”

Starlight had expected this to put Stirring in his place. Instead, it just riled him up to a crescendo. “I saw, alright. You know, I really used to admire you. I looked up to you for so long. And because of that, I forgave you whenever you went against your own stated principles. I just ignored it or pretended it didn’t happen or justified to myself by saying that every great cause requires a little bending here and there. But now I see the pony you really are. I saw how you lost your friend just now. And, let me tell you, Starlight Glimmer, you just lost another one! Probably the last one you’ll ever have!”

Stirring stamped his hoof hard on the floor, visually capturing the exclamation point that ended his tirade. Starlight’s face, had it not been covered by her lavender coat, probably would have looked white. Her jaw had dropped. Her eyes were wide with disbelief. She was almost catatonic.

“No, not more friends lost,” Starlight whispered, entirely to herself. “I can’t lose any more….”

“Come on,” Stirring said, his voice calm now, but still hard. “We have lives to save.”

Stirring walked into the other room. Starlight did not follow. Instead, feeling tears starting to well up in her eyes, she made for the back of the room. She had noticed a small nook there and felt that it would give her some privacy until she processed everything

Starlight put her forelegs on an antique cabinet in the nook and buried her head in them. Tears flowed freely. “All my friends…” she sobbed to herself. “I always lose all my friends….”

She pounded her hoof on the cabinet and felt it shake from the force. But she did not care.

“Sunburst and Double Diamond and the other towns-ponies and Radiant Hope and now Stirring.... I lose them all!”

The tears continued to flow. Starlight held her head down, her eyes closed, as they spilled out. Then her expression changed from one of sorrow to one of anger.

“Twilight Sparkle caused all of this!” she said, quietly but fiercely. “She’s the cause of all my pain! Had she never showed up in my village…. Had she never interfered with Hope and Sombra in the Crystal Empire, Hope would still be alive…. Had Twilight Sparkle never become a princess, never met those friends of hers, I would never have lost mine!”

Starlight slowly picked her head up. She opened her eyes. They were full of water, but she could still see with moderate clarity. And what she saw made her almost gasp.

There, on the cabinet, was another case. It was dark over here and she had not noticed it initially. But now, here it was. And she saw the spell inside. Starlight quickly read it through. It was Starswirl’s time-travel spell. It was what she was looking for.

“Are you coming?” Stirring called from the other room. “We don’t have all night to get this done!”

When Starlight and Stirring reappeared in the main hall, it was filled with security guards, galloping every which way a pony could gallop in.

“I guess they heard the alarms upstairs,” Stirring said.

At this moment, a guard stopped and turned to look at them. He approached. Starlight silently signaled for Stirring to act natural and then turned her body so that she was visible only in profile. That way, the guard could not see the two scrolls pressed against the right side of her chest.

“Haven’t seen you two around before,” the guard said. “You wouldn’t happen to be involved in the break-in that’s just occurred on the sun deck, would you?”

“You can’t be familiar with everypony who comes and goes,” Starlight said. “There must be a thousand or more on board.”

“Only a few hundred,” said the guard. “We’re still having trouble filling up the rooms. And I think I would have remembered you.”

“We just got in today,” Starlight said. “We’re touring the ship. But how could we have broken into something on the sundeck? That’s two decks up. You’d have to be able to teleport or something to get up there. Have you ever heard of a unicorn teleporting?”

“Princess Twilight Sparkle can teleport,” the guard responded.

Starlight gritted her teeth and forced herself to say the words, “Princess Twilight is… special….”

The guard nodded. “Well, you’re right, there. She sure is something, ain’t she?”

“Oh, she’s something alright,” Starlight said. “Definitely some sort of thing.”

Starlight was bracing herself for a long and painful discussion of Princess Twilight’s alleged ‘virtues,’ but then the guard made to leave.

“Well, I’ve got to get back to looking for the real culprit,” he said, “Sorry to bother you folks.”

“Wait!” Stirring said as the guard began to walk away. “Don’t you think you should evacuate the ship? If somepony’s breaking into something, they could be very dangerous!”

“Evacuate the ship? Where you from, mister?” the security guard said. “We aren’t going to evacuate hundreds of ponies just because there’s a thief on board. We’ll get the sun-deck cordoned off in no time, and then that thief will be as good as caught!”

“This isn’t working….” Stirring muttered.

“Bravo, Stirring,” Starlight said with audible contempt. “But let me try.”

Starlight’s horn glowed and, across the room, the fire-alarm lever pulled down. The alarm that now sounded made the ones in the sun-deck sound like toy whistles. It rocked the whole vessel.

Starlight teleported herself and Stirring to the deck below, where the first long corridor of rooms was. They stood in a large area that functioned as the floor’s lobby. There was a large area which served as the ‘front desk’ for the floor, which looked like a large, ornate cube with a few flat tabletops and some cabinets, all of it constructed of the same fine mahogany which dominated the ship’s decor. Across from the desk was a fairly large seating area with several chairs and a few couches. None of these were particularly large or impressive but they were all well-upholstered and of the finest material. The walls were wood-paneled; all this wood too was also the finest mahogany, giving the room as a whole a distinctive red-brown color. To Starlight and Stirring’s right there was a large pair of double doors. These led outside the ship to an even larger ramp which led to a platform and stairs which in turn led all the way down to the pier. There had been a similar ramp to one side of the main hall and, Starlight assumed, there would be others on the lower levels.

Ponies in their night-clothes were sleepily coming out of the doors to see what was going on. “Fire?” one of them asked to the two ponies in the lobby.

“It's not a fire,” Stirring said. “But there is something very important you need to know. You are all in grave d—”

“So, there’s no fire?” another pony said.

“Well, no, not exactly,” Stirring said, a little taken aback. “But there is—”

“What do they think they’re playing at, doing a fire drill this late at night?” somepony from further down the corridor yelled.

“I’m going back to bed!” said somepony else. There were general nods and voices of approval as all the ponies turned back to their rooms.

“You’re just batting zero today, aren’t you?” Starlight said with malicious enjoyment. “Once again, let me try.”

Starlight stepped in front of Stirring. “Everypony, can I have your attention for a brief moment?” she bellowed.

All the ponies paused to look at her.

“Thank you,” she said. Her horn lit up and turquoise light surrounded everypony in the hallway. Starlight was certain its range stretched to cover anypony in the rooms beyond, and possibly anypony on the floor.

Suddenly, dramatically, the cutie marks of all the ponies were ripped from their flanks. They all came to float in a circle above Starlight’s head.

“Now that I have your attention, please take the ramp to my right and then take the stairs down to the pier. Once there, get as far away from the ship as you can.”

Zombie-like, all the ponies grunted and slowly made their way toward the double doors and the ramp beyond.

“A little more quickly, if you please,” Starlight said. All the ponies picked up their pace considerably.

“Wow,” Stirring said. “I knew your cutie mark spell could make ponies a little more docile. But how did you know it would put everypony on the floor into such a mindlessly obedient stupor?”

“Simple,” Starlight said. “They’re tourists. Days of lying in the sun for hours and eating too much food did most of the work for me.”

Afterward, Starlight and Stirring traveled to every floor, using Starlight’s cutie mark spell on every pony they could find. Finally, they had completed their sweep of the hotel rooms and reappeared in the main hall.

Starlight and Stirring paused at a small table in the middle of the hall. Starlight leaned against it. The explosive spell fell out from under her foreleg onto the table itself. But she dared not let the same thing happen with the time-spell, which she still clutched very close to her chest.

“That takes care of all the guests,” Stirring said. “But what about the employees?”

“They should have already evacuated, except for those softheaded security guards who refuse to leave the sun-deck,” came a refined voice behind them.

Starlight and Stirring turned around.

“Did you do what Hope asked, doctor?” Starlight said.

Dr. Fie nodded. “It took me ages, what with all the twists and turns on this blasted ship, but yes. I sent several messages. And while I was chatting up the night clerk, I happened to inform him that somepony may have put a bomb on board the ship and that it was in immediate danger of exploding.”

“And he believed you?” Stirring asked.

“I might have casually mentioned that my name is Swift Strike and I work for the Equestrian Intelligence Service.” Dr. Fie looked rather proud of his little deception.

Starlight had to admit, if only to herself, that even she was impressed by the doctor’s work.

Dr. Fie looked up to the legion of cutie marks floating overhead, strange stars in the great heavenly vault that was the main hall’s ceiling. “I see you’ve used your usual method of persuasion on the guests; brute force.”

“It’s what was called for at the time,” Starlight said. “As a ‘pony of action,’ you should understand all about that.”

“Oh, I do,” Dr. Fie said. “But I’m sure, had I been there, such coercive methods could have been avoided. Never use the fist when you could offer the open palm, dear lady.”

“‘Fist’? ‘Palm’? What strange words are you using now?” Stirring asked, seriously confused.

“Ah, tut!” Dr. Fie responded. “As usual, my language is too cultivated and worldly for a simple pony like you, dear boy.”

“What do you know about persuasion, doctor?” Starlight asked.

“I’ll have you know, my methods are highly effective. Everypony gives into me.”

“They give into you to shut you up. That’s not persuasion, doctor.” Starlight turned her back on Dr. Fie. ”But if you’ll excuse me, I have some blockheads to get off this boat before it explodes.”

“I suppose we should get out of here, too, doctor,” Stirring said. “There’s nothing else for us to do but maybe keep order with the ponies outside.”

“I don’t think they’re in much of a state to complain,” Dr. Fie said. “Does Starlight Glimmer not intend to keep them in cutie mark-less serfdom indefinitely?”

Stirring glared at Starlight. “Not this time.”

Starlight returned his glare with an even harsher one. Meanwhile, Dr. Fie had noticed the spell on the table. He read through it quickly. As the staring contest between the other two continued, he discreetly began to use his magic. The scroll glowed purple, disappeared, and reappeared in the inner pocket of his tweed suit.

Dr. Fie, with narrow eyes, turned his gaze back to the Equalists. “Oh, is there trouble in paradise now? Have the dark clouds of disharmony blanketed your eyes? Such a shame, such a shame.”

“No, doctor,” Stirring said, keeping his eyes locked with Starlight’s, “everything is now perfectly clear for the first time in a very long while.”

“Oh, good, good!” Dr. Fie said, sounding far too chipper for the situation. Ambling up to Stirring, he began to push him toward the floor’s exit ramp.

“Then you had better get going, dear boy. Don’t want to be caught in the blast, do you?”

Dr. Fie pushed Stirring all the way to the ramp. He then turned around and began ambling back in the direction they had come.

“But what about you, doctor?” Stirring asked.

Dr. Fie looked back casually over his shoulder. “I’ll be right behind you, dear boy. There’s just something which I would like to speak to Starlight about before she goes off on her noble errand.”

Stirring Words shrugged and trotted out onto the ramp. Starlight and Dr. Fie were left alone.

“What is it, doctor?” Starlight asked impatiently. “I have lives to save.”

“I know,” Dr. Fie said. “I wouldn’t dream of keeping you from them. But there is something I have to tell you.”

Starlight rolled her eyes. “If you want to get back at me for that jab about your methods of persuasion, it’ll have to wait. We’re on a clock here.”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Dr. Fie’s voice suddenly friendlier than Starlight had ever heard. It worried her.

“I just have to tell you this one thing,” Dr. Fie said.

Starlight raised her brows, her expression halfway between interest and skepticism.

Dr. Fie fell back on his haunches and rubbed his hooves together. “I need to tell you this. I did know your father. He wasn’t a sterling character by any means, but he did come to my aid when I needed it, when there were questions about certain top-secret plans for newly-developed weapons mysteriously disappearing and reappearing in the hooves of the zebras.”

“So, it was you,” Starlight said. “I figured.”

Dr. Fie nodded. “Yes, it was me. Your father helped me out of that. To this day, I still have no idea why. I had never behaved with particular kindness to him. I’ve never behaved with particular kindness to anypony. But I suppose that, despite his many faults and the many, many despicable things he had brought himself to commit out there, there was still true nobility in him. I’ve always felt like I owed him a debt of gratitude. I like to think that we were, however briefly, friends.”

“Why bring this up now?” Starlight asked, putting up a stern front.

Dr. Fie fidgeted a little. “Because…. Well, because, dear lady…. As I said, your father was no saint. I know you think that what you’ve been doing honors his memory in some way, that it makes up for what he was and the hardships he endured. But I am certain that, his failings aside, your father would be much prouder of you for what you’re doing now than any of the things you’ve done with all that nonsense about cutie marks and Equality.”

Starlight nodded. She thought of her father. Really thought of him. Even as she tried to live his lessons, she had strenuously avoided giving the pony himself much thought until now. It had been too painful. And she had always thought pain was weak. Now, however, Starlight felt more than just pain.

As she remembered her father, all the love she had felt for him came rushing back. Starlight did not want to cry again, but her vision was getting a little foggy. Starlight quickly wiped her eyes. At first, she was upset that Dr. Fie had seen her do it, but then she felt the good doctor’s hoof upon her shoulder.

“Thank you, doctor,” Starlight said. “I think my father would have liked having you for a friend.”

Then she remembered what work she still had in front of her. “But I have to go. I have to finish what Hope wanted me to do. Like she said, it’s all I can do for her now. Goodbye, doctor. Keep yourself safe.”

One teleportation spell later and Dr. Fie was on his own.

“No, thank you, dear lady,” Dr. Fie said. “Maybe with you, I’ve somehow managed to repay that debt. I suppose only time, that great vindicator, will tell.”

Dr. Fie put his hooves to his chest and felt the scroll there. “And as for you, dear Hope, I hope you haven’t done anything too drastic yet. Poor girl. Please wait just a little longer. Oh, dear. Oh, dear.”

Dr. Fie set off on the long, circuitous path which led to the boiler room.

What would Radiant Hope find below decks?

Read on.

Forlorn Hope

From light, Radiant Hope entered into darkness. After teleporting down from the exhibit, she had reappeared in the main hall, with its gleaming, lucent brightness. She had then taken the stairs down and found her way toward the restricted portion of the ship. Hope had decided not to use her teleportation spell any further, both to save the vital energy she would need and to give Starlight and Stirring more time to get everypony off the ship. So, she made the long trek entirely by hoof.

And, at each level, there was a little less light. First came the long corridors and winding staircases that made up the hotel area. When Hope had begun, there were still ponies in those rooms, albeit asleep. But Starlight must have come through while she was making her way down a staircase, because suddenly all the rooms were left wide-open and empty.

Hope had a pretty good idea of how Starlight had achieved that. It was fortunate that she had just barely missed it, or else she would have lost her cutie mark, too. And this was the moment in all of Hope’s life that she needed her cutie mark the most.

Now, the corridors and the stairways were deserted. The lobbies, scattered here and there, remained well-lit, but the corridors themselves were less so. Walking the distance in the gradually decreasing light, Hope was surrounded by silence. Other than her own footsteps and her own breathing — which was, Hope observed, becoming noticeably heavier — the only sounds came from the slight creaking of the wood as the ship floated upon its watery rest. Here, Hope could easily believe all the tall tales of the ghosts that filled the brochures in the lobbies. The fur on the back of her neck was standing on end.

Perhaps, Hope thought for a fleeing moment, there are worse things on this ship than the Umbrum.

Finally, she came to a large metal door which some employee or other must have left open in the bid to evacuate. Above the door was a sign that said, “Restricted access.” This was the way.

As Hope entered, there seemed to be only darkness in front of her. There was light still, but it was all the light from the corridor that she had just left. And it was not much. With every step she took, it seemed to decrease exponentially. It would not be long before Hope would be in total darkness.

There was a sound of dripping coming from somewhere. Hope had no hope of telling where it was. She speculated that she was on a catwalk of some kind, but it was impossible to be sure. The darkness was closing in, and she had just enough light left to make out the next few steps.

And then, darkness was complete. Radiant Hope knew that, from here on out, there was no more light. As much as she hated to burn up the energy, the light would have to come from her alone. She would have to use her horn which, at least, would require only a small energy output.

With her own light to guide her, Hope continued onward. Her steps, however, became closer together and less certain. Out of the corners of her eyes, the darkness seemed to take palpable form. She turned her head swiftly several times, expecting the Umbrum, or something else. Each time, the darkness retreated before the blue light, revealing nothing but old pipes and bolts.

Hope reflected that a rich, deep blue did not make for the best color of magic in such situations. For, wherever she pointed it, it bathed everything in that direction in an ethereal, mist-like glow, the kind of glow which made even the most mundane things seem spectral and ominous The type of glow one would expect to see just before the manifestation of an apparition.

The pathways, the suffocating narrow hallways, led downward. Ever downward. Occasionally, there were some stairs. Not that many, certainly not enough to satisfy a demanding Umbric resident, but enough to pose a hazard. Hope had nearly lost her footing several times when the floor dropped out from under her, and only managed to avoid serious injury by regaining herself at the last possible moment.

Other than these and the occasional ridges that signified a new hatchway was being entered, the pathways were straight, even, and down. Hope stopped for a moment and tried to listen. She believed she was below the waterline, but she really could not be sure. She could no longer hear the sound of water lapping against the hull. It was like being sealed in shut.

Hope felt that, Umbrum or no, she could die down here and nopony would ever find her.

“Well, Sombra, at least I still have you,” Hope said as she touched the pouch by her shoulder and the horn within it. “Let’s get this over with. Together.”

She half-expected a response, the sound of Sombra’s voice in the air or the image of him reflected in some discarded sheet metal. But nothing came. Hope had barely even been able to feel the pulse of his dark energy since setting hoof on the ship. Now, she could not feel it at all.

Once again, even he had abandoned her. As the spaces she traveled became more and more constricted, Radiant Hope understood that she was now truly alone.

Finally, however, this claustrophobic pathway opened up onto a large, incredible space. It was so unexpected that, behind and beneath all these narrow confines, such a space still existed. It even made Hope gasp in surprise and awe. Hope stopped for a moment as her eyes tried to take everything in. She knew she should keep moving, but even now, she was still wowed by the grandeur of it all.

And this room had grandeur. It reminded Hope of the main hall far above. Or maybe a dark parody of that hall. Once, it had surely been the main hall’s equal, if not its better. The room was two stories, and the one Hope was on was the second, which consisted mostly of wide corridors and balconies arranged in a square formation beneath sweeping colonnades, providing an excellent view of the lower level below.

The lower level itself was accessed by means of a magnificent staircase, the largest and most finely-wrought Hope had seen in any part of the ship. She was standing before it now. There were two sets of stairs and a wide platform mid-way down separating them from each other. There was enough space for maybe ten ponies to walk down side by side. And the wood, like all the rest a gorgeous mahogany, was carved into the most wondrous shapes; charming flowers and long-lobed leaves wrapped themselves around the bodies of proud animals, none of which seemed to find such entangling objectionable. A kind of exquisite harmony governed the whole, which was remarkable to see. It was truly beautiful

Or, it would have been beautiful, if it all did not seem so ominous in the blue light. The leaves and flowers did not like the pleasing plants one finds in a garden, but the mysterious produce of some alien world. The animals, no longer serene, seemed to dance warlike in the blue haze, twisting and writhing to break free of their leafy snares. There was a fierceness to the whole, a sense of struggle and strife quite inimical to their carvers’ original purpose. Hope averted her eyes. There was no longer any harmony to be found here.

Finally, on the lower level was a pool. A massive square pool, paneled. Its length and width took up a full third of the lower level’s area. And it was deep. It must have gone down for at least three or four more stories. It had been painted a pearly white and, even after many years of disuse, the paint was still somewhat lucent, giving Hope a sense of how the whole pool must have shimmered and shined in it prime, when it had been illuminated by chandelier above. What a sight it must have been in the days when it was filled to the brim with water, sloshing this way and that during the turbulent ocean crossings.

But the pool was empty now, drained entirely of water save for the tiniest layer of moisture at the very bottom. And the bottom was sagging down, too. It was as though the slightest touch would cause the whole of it to give out and come crashing down into the unknown depths which must surely lay beneath.

Around the pool was marble tile that had surely once glistened as brightly as the woods and bronzes in the main hall, but which had now become so covered with soot as to have no gleam at all. At the far end of the lower level were the changing rooms. Or the broken remnants of changing rooms. These were too much in the distance for Hope to make much of them out, but what she saw of them, of the absent doors and faded walls, was enough to send a chill down her spine.

It was magnificent. There was no possible argument there. But it was obvious that nopony had come down here in a very long time. Everywhere Hope turned, there was dirt, dust, and debris. Nothing shined. Hope’s light barely reflected off of anything. And where it did, it only revealed more scars of abandonment. The old chandelier and the lamps which dotted the walls and banisters could provide no light even if called up. Not only was the floor of the pool on the verge of collapse, but all four walls seemed ready to cave in upon themselves at a moment’s notice. Hope was not so sure that the walkways of the upper floor had been sound enough to support her weight for very long. And all the wood carvings, worn away with age, seemed more like half-living phantoms than the majestic creatures they had once been. The glory was long gone. All that remained was a kind of reminder of what once had been. In short, a ruin.

Except it was not wholly like looking at a ruin. Hope had seen ruins before. Some pile of stones or some half-collapsed tower might make a pleasant spot for an afternoon lunch. Most ponies could look at them, sit on them, explore them all day and never consider the many lives and many deaths that had gone on inside them. They were too worn away for that. At best they conjured up romantic notions of knights, giants, and dragons, as they had for Hope when she was younger.

Looking at this room was not like that. For all of its ruinous quality, the room also seemed to be preserved in some way, as though a pony could expect to see all the old guests come out of the dressing rooms and dive straight into the pool. Years of neglect had not shaken the feeling that this was a space to be occupied and an occupied space. It was at once ravaged by time and frozen in time, as though everypony had just stepped out and would be back shortly.

And yet, the ample evidence of disrepair and decay made it abundantly clear that nopony would be coming back. There was nopony left to come back. The room would be left waiting like this forever, its faded grandeur a testament not to the ponies who had constructed it or who had used it, but to a very special, bleak kind of loneliness, the loneliness of the hopelessly abandoned.

It was a loneliness Hope knew well. Maybe it was this that made not only the neck-hair but the hair on every inch of her body stand on end.

“Oh, this is such a ghastly place!” came a small voice behind her.

Hope let out a scream and jolted herself around, nearly sending herself for a tumble down the staircase. Her scream was met by another, louder and more blood-curdling. Hope saw that, directly behind where she had been standing, there was a figure, huddling down, bathed in an eerie purple light. She tried to steady herself, even as her whole body shook. She did not know what the dark mass was, but as she slowly approached, she could feel the room giving off a palpable aura of dread.

She shined her light in the direction of the mysterious form.

“Oh, please don’t startle me like that, dear girl,” it said.

Hope was still uncertain, but she began to feel relief. As she got closer, leaning in just enough that, by the two lights together, she could just make out Dr. Fie.

“What are you doing here, doctor?” she said as she helped him to his hooves. Her voice was little more than a whisper.

“I came after you,” Dr. Fie said, anxiously rubbing his hooves together. “Though I suppose if I knew where you’d end up, I might have had second thoughts. This is supposed to be the most haunted place on this entire Celestia-forsaken barge.”

“How do you know that?”

“It’s amazing what you can learn from perusing a pamphlet while trying to convince the night clerk that you’re an important government functionary dealing with a deadly mass threat.”

“Okay, doctor,” Hope said. “But what I meant before was, why did you come after me?”

“Give me a moment, dear child,” Dr. Fie said as he closed his eyes and put a hoof to his chest. “I need to collect myself. This place taxes the nerves of even the most stout-hearted of ponies. Those of us who would not think of flinching at mortal danger, who would look it in the face and, with a gleam in our eye, let out a hearty laugh, can still be shaken when it comes to facing things unseen and unseeable. When the supernatural comes into play, it changes the equation for even the most fearless of ponies.”

“Tell me about it,” Hope said, looking around. “I’ve always been afraid of ghosts.”

“Seriously, dear girl?” Dr. Fie said in disbelief.

“What?” Hope responded, indignant despite herself. “You just said that you were afraid.”

“I said no such thing! But it can only be expected that a pony such as I, who am used to facing dangers of a more this-worldly nature, should feel some unease when upon the threshold of the next. But you, you’ve stood alongside Sombra. You’ve lived with the Umbrum. No mere ghost should worry you!”

Hope eyed the rest of the room nervously. “What can I say? I’ve never been comfortable with death.”

“No pony ever is, Hope. No pony ever is.”

“But Dr. Fie, why are you here now? Didn’t you do everything I asked?”

“Yes, but—”

“Then you shouldn’t be here. The Umbrum are waiting for me not too far up ahead.”

“Down below, actually.”

“What?”

Dr. Fie pointed his hoof at the swimming pool. “The boiler room is directly below the pool. That’s why the pool sags so much. The boilers originally held it up, but they took them out when they docked the ship at Las Pegasus. And the pool has been one stage away from collapse ever since. It is truly astounding what you can learn from a pamphlet these days. I would not be surprised if they replaced books completely soon. Someday in the near future, Hope, we shall have nothing but pamphlet libraries.”

“Uh-huh,” Hope responded.

Then, Dr. Fie let out a squeak of fear and, instinctively, latched onto Hope’s shoulders. He shivered behind her, trying to make himself look small.

“What are you doing?” Hope asked, more alarmed for what Dr. Fie might have seen than upset by his behavior.

“Oh, excuse me, dear girl,” Dr. Fie said, letting go of her and standing up straight again. “I could have sworn I saw an apparition taking shape in one of the dressing rooms just now. It’s supposed to be a portal to the other side, you know.”

“The other side of what?”

“Don’t be simple, girl. The other side. The great unknown. ‘That undiscovered country from whose bourn no pony returns.’ The afterlife.”

“Oh.”

Dr. Fie peered nervously over Hope’s shoulder. “Well, it seems to have gone now. Must have had some other place to be. Purgatory is probably quite lovely this time of year.”

Hope looked at the changing rooms. She saw no apparitions. But if there were ever a place for them to appear....

“I think I’ll be grateful when I finally reach the Umbrum,” she said.

“So,” Dr. Fie said, his voice now incredibly solemn, “you say you don’t like death. And yet you’re still just going to charge straight into it.”

“Oh, doctor!” Hope said. “Did you come all this way just to try and talk me out of facing the Umbrum again?”

“Assuredly not! What I came down here to do was talk you out of throwing away your life.”

Hope shook her head. She couldn’t help pitying Dr. Fie. “I’ve made my mind up. You know that. You know you can’t change it.”

“But what I don’t know is why!” Dr. Fie said, his voice rising to a high pitch that echoed through the vast emptiness of the pool room. “Why do you have to do this? You have your whole life ahead of you!”

“My life is behind me,” Hope said. “I’ve already lived a thousand years. I don’t think I’m going to live another thousand.”

“So what? What does it matter, dear girl? You barely aged those thousand years. You have a long, natural lifespan to look forward to.”

“After a thousand years, it doesn’t seem so long.”

“But it’s long enough. You told your friend out there that he should live with whatever time he has left. Dear child, I’m telling you that you should do the same!”

Hope shook her head again, more vigorously this time. “It’s different with me.”

Dr. Fie grabbed her by the shoulders. “Different? Different how? You mean, because of everything you did? I told you, Hope, hang everything you did! It doesn’t matter anymore! You can’t change it and you can’t fix it. So how can you throw your life away over it? You only have now, Hope. You can only make the right decisions now and you can only be the pony you want to be in the present. Don’t throw that opportunity away.”

“That pony died a thousand years ago,” Hope answered. “I’m just a ghost. I’m as much a ghost as any spirit that haunts these halls.”

Dr. Fie’s face became increasingly contorted with worry and sorrow. “No, you are not, Hope! You are not a ghost! You are a being of light! You are light! I know you don’t see it in yourself, but I see it in you! Please, Hope! This world has too little light. It doesn’t need to have less.”

Hope’s brows rose. “Light? All I feel inside is darkness.”

Dr. Fie shook his head feverishly. “Do you think that they’re ever separate in this life? I know there’s darkness inside of you. There’s darkness inside of me, too. More than my fair share, probably. There’s darkness inside all of us. But you have what I don’t have. You have the light that can transform that darkness. You did that for Sombra—”

“I failed to do that for Sombra.”

“You didn’t fail. He failed you. I don’t know why he did, but you did all you could. And there’s still so much you can do. If not for Sombra, then for other ponies. For me....”

Hope pulled away from Dr. Fie’s hooves. “Doctor, this is the only thing I can do. Even if I have any light left in me, what am I supposed to do? I’ve lost my home, I’ve lost my family, I’ve lost Sombra, and I’m going to lose Starlight and lose you too. So, what’s it matter?”

“Lose me? You won’t lose me,” Dr. Fie said. “I’d never desert you!”

Hope gave him a look that was kind, gentle, and yet asked, ‘Oh, really?’

“You forget how well I know you, doctor,” she said.

“Fine, but if you won’t believe me, then Starlight—”

“Before I came down here, the last thing Starlight said to me was that she had just been using me and was glad that I was going to die. She said she didn’t care about me now that I had finished being useful to her.”

“Starlight’s under a lot of strain, dear girl. You can’t go by what she said in the heat of the moment.”

“But she was right. All my life, everypony I’ve cared about has never really cared about me. Sombra was the only one, maybe, and even he just used me in the end.”

Dr. Fie spoke with uncharacteristic hesitancy, “Hope, I know I’ve used you in the past—”

Hope tried to sound reassuring. “I’m not upset about that, doctor, I’m really not. It was fun. But we both know your only interest in me is in what I can do for you. I accept that that is just who you are. You don’t have friends. You just take advantage of ponies.”

Dr. Fie looked down at the pool. He shook a little, rubbing his hooves together. Not anxiously, but very slowly. It was evidence of an emotion Hope had never seen in him before; shame.

Hope caressed his face with her hoof. She smiled at him. “Please, doctor, cheer up. I can’t stand to see you like this. Please, just leave the Umbrum to me and get yourself to safety. Then you can go back to Seaddle. Go back to your warm study, to your glorious views of the sun and moon, to your birdwatching, and to your large comfortable armchair. You can go back to your vintage wine and your imported chocolates. And you can have things easy again. It will be just like you never left. It will be exactly the same.”

“No, it won’t!” Dr. Fie boomed. “Don’t you see, Hope? Nothing will be the same without you! None of that, none of that is worth anything without you! I used to think that was all that mattered in life. The finer things, and getting as much of them as possible. But they’re nothing without someone there to share them with.”

“You don’t share them with me. You make me eat the chocolates you bought at the corner store.”

“Don’t twist my words, girl! You know what I mean! I was so lonely and pitiful before you arrived. And the worst thing was that I didn’t even realize how pitiful I truly was. But now I do, and I don’t want to go back to that. I don’t have anyone else to share things with. I never have and I never will!”

“You’ll find somepony else.”

“Not like you, Hope,” Dr. Fie said. His whole body was shaking now. He tried to steady himself, but to no avail. “Not like you. Never like you. Nopony will ever have your light. I don’t care if Twilight Sparkle herself decides to abdicate and become my secretary, she won’t be you.”

Finally, steadying himself, he said, much more quietly, much more softly. “Hope, it’s probably no surprise to you that I never had children. But, knowing you, even for so brief a span, I feel like…. I know about what you’ve done. You know I do. But do you know what I feel when I look at you? I feel pride for the pony that you are. Not the pony who masterminded the Siege, not the pony who wanted to release those foul creatures down there, but the pony you are today. Looking at you, I feel like I know what it must be like to have a daughter.”

Hope felt tears starting to trickle down her muzzle. She quickly wiped them away. “Please, doctor, let’s not make this harder than it has to be.”

Hope looked at Dr. Fie. Something was strange about him, something was different. He was acting as he never had before, not even in deepest fear for his life. For the first time that she had ever know, Dr. Fiddly Fie was crying.

“You don’t believe me!” he sobbed.

“Doctor….”

“No, you don’t believe me!”

“It doesn’t matter. I appreciate what you’re trying to do.”

“But you don’t believe me! Just say it!”

“Doctor, just calm down. You’re not yourself.”

Dr. Fie refused to calm down. His sobbing only became worse. And then, Dr. Fie looked Radiant Hope straight in the eye, blue-grey eye meeting blue eye.

“I’m sorry,” he said. Hope was taken by surprise. The apology sounded sincere. And apologizing sincerely was one thing which she was certain Dr. Fiddly Fie would never do.

“Sorry? For what?”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for every lie I’ve ever told. I’m sorry for everypony I’ve ever taken advantage of, and there is no shortage of those. I’m sorry for every act of cowardice and every misdeed. For the first time in my whole wretched life, I’m sorry for all of it. I’m sorry for every time I lied to you, dear girl. I’m sorry for every time I took advantage of you, Hope, every time I acted like you were just a prop to be used and not a pony who’s been through Tartarus. I’m sorry because it means that I’m being completely sincere with somepony for the first time in my whole life and you don’t believe me now! No matter what I say, no matter how true it is, you will never believe a word of it. It's my fault and I'm sorry, because now you’ll never believe me when I tell you this; I love you, dear girl.”

Hope and Dr. Fie stood there, in the dim glow of blue and purple, in absolute silence. Hope felt a few tears gliding down the contours of her face. Dr. Fie, for his part, had never stopped crying.

Hope leaned in and kissed the doctor on the cheek.

“I’m sorry, too,” she said. “I’ve spent so much of my life, over a thousand years, feeling sorry for myself because I never had a real family. And I’m just realizing, now too late, that I have.”

An enormous smile broke over Dr. Fie’s pain-wizened features. “Does that mean you’re not going to go through with this suicide mission, dear girl?”

“I have to,” Hope said, her voice stern and determined. “It’s the only way.”

“But maybe there’s another way,” Dr. Fie said hysterically, reaching for the inside pocket of his jacket. “I’ve got the spell right here! Maybe together, we could figure out a way to use it from a distance, so that nopony gets hurt!”

“That’s not going to work,” Hope said sadly. “I memorized the spell thoroughly. It requires that the mage be directly at the center of the blast. It’s just like you always say, doctor, ‘No action at a distance.’”

“I wish I had never even heard that accursed phrase,” Dr. Fie said. “But, Hope, you can’t do this. You said you’d never add to that total of yours. That 1,036….”

“I’m not.”

“But you’re willing to blow up the Umbrum? I know that they’re fiends and they deserve it, but can you really do that? Will the light inside of you really let you do that?”

“I guess we’ll find out.”

Dr. Fie was pleading now. “But you’ve come so far! That light that’s inside of you, it could have been snuffed out at the Siege. But it wasn’t. It’s because of who you are. You’re a healer, Hope! That was what you were born for. Not to be a princess or an empress, not a monster or a slayer of monsters. You are a healer! And a healer is sworn to do no harm! I don’t want you to have to break that vow.”

“Some things are worth breaking your vows for,” Hope said calmly. “If it means protecting ponies, then I will have to face the Umbrum. I have to stop them, whatever it takes.”

“Why, Hope? Why? Why not let the princesses do it? Why not let Twilight and her friends do it? They’ll all probably be here any minute!”

“The Umbrum will have their guard up against the princesses. They won’t have their guard up around me.”

Dr. Fie looked like he was about to collapse from emotion. “But you could do so much good for pony-kind.”

“I know,” Hope answered. “And I choose to do it here. All that I could do doesn’t mean anything if I don’t make this right. Otherwise, I’ll just go on, hurting from the same wounds, hurting more ponies than I help. But I can change it all tonight.”

“But what about your light, Hope> Hope, you’re light!”

Hope took a good long look at Dr. Fie as she gathered her words in her mind. “Maybe I have light. Maybe I am light. But like you yourself said, there’s also darkness. And I have to face my darkness. I have to overcome it. That’s more important than just going on with the kind of life I’ve been living.”

Dr. Fie’s sad eyes said it all. He knew he could never convince her to change her mind. He knew she was going to do this no matter what he said. And he knew too that he wasn’t ready to give up, that he wanted to fight on, to argue until the end of the universe to keep her from going down there. But he also knew that he could only do those things if he could find the words to keep going.

And, for once in his life, Dr. Fiddly Fie was completely out of words.

“Goodbye, doctor, and thank you for everything,” Radiant Hope said. “Please, try to find some sort of peace in your life. Wherever I am, that much will at least make me happy.”

Dr. Fie watched her go, helplessly. He tried to speak. He could only say one word, “Hope….”

Over and over again, as she left, he said, “Hope….” Low, very low, but he was sure she heard.

It did not matter, because she was soon gone, having disappeared down another dark and dreary passageway.

Dr. Fie looked up to the ceiling, trying to peer through it to the heavens above. “Oh, dear. Oh, dear. This has left me without hope, utterly without hope. Whatever am I to do now?”

He looked down to the pool. Then he looked from side to side. No ghosts, though they no longer seemed to hold the power over his imagination that they had until now. He stepped to the edge of the pool, near a rickety old ladder, and looked down at the bottom, several stories below. It was almost completely submerged in darkness, but the film of water was barely visible, reflecting ever-so-slightly the purple light of his horn.

“Oh, well, I guess there’s nothing for it but this,” Dr. Fie said.

A large crowd stood on the pier, forming a rather irregular semi-circle. Two ponies stood in the middle of the semi-circle and above them, like stars in the sky, floated a massive collection of cutie marks.

“You know, you’re going to have to give those back,” Stirring Words said.

“I know,” Starlight Glimmer responded. “I just wanted to take a moment to admire my handiwork.”

With a nod, Starlight released all the cutie marks and they returned to their respective ponies. Most of the ponies, however, continued to remain in a stupor.

“What did I tell you?” Starlight said. “Tourists!”

Stirring nodded. Hesitantly, he approached Starlight. Together, they leaned with their backs against the railings on the pier.

“Do you think Hope will be able to stop the Umbrum?” Stirring asked.

“We can only wait and see,” Starlight responded, her face losing its smug grin. “We can only hope for Hope.”

“I didn’t see the doctor come down,” Stirring said. “He said he was going to come down right after he talked to you.”

“Oh, he’s out there somewhere,” Starlight said. “He would never stay on that floating deathtrap a moment longer than he had to. Saving his own life has always been his first priority.”

Stirring looked down at his hooves. “Look, I’m sorry about what I said earlier. It was all in the heat of the moment.”

“It’s all forgiven,” Starlight responded. “We all say things we come to regret.”

“I shouldn’t have said those things to you,” Stirring said. “I just… for a while, I just thought that you had lost it completely. I’m sorry about that. You came through in the end. You got all those ponies off this boat.”

“I did do quite nicely, didn’t I?” Starlight said. The smug smile returned.

“I guess what I’m saying is, can we forget it ever happened and just move on?”

“Of course, Stirring,” Starlight said, her smile turning genuinely warm. “What would I do without my first lieutenant?”

Stirring smiled back. “I’m so glad we—”

Then he noticed something under Starlight’s right foreleg. “What’s that?” he asked.

Starlight realized that her posture had given her away. “Oh, that? It’s nothing,” she said as she tried to turn her body to hide it.

Stirring trotted over to Starlight’s other side, to where he could see the thing more clearly. It was a scroll.

“That’s the spell, isn’t it?” Stirring said, his voice growing cold.

“Nothing to worry about, Stirring,” Starlight responded. “This is Hope’s spell. I guess I was still carrying it around without realizing it.”

“No, it’s not,” Stirring said. “I saw you put that spell down inside. I’m pretty sure you didn’t pick it back up. That’s a different spell.”

“Don’t be silly!”

“That’s the spell!”

“Okay, maybe it is,” Starlight said, showing no signs of losing her cool. “I just happened to run across it while we were leaving and I grabbed it. That’s all.”

Stirring eyed her suspiciously. “We didn’t just leave. I was ready to leave. But you stayed behind, doing Celestia-knows-what. You were still looking for the spell, weren’t you?”

Starlight grinned in amusement. “I can honestly say, Stirring, that I wasn’t looking for it. At least not directly.”

“I am sick of these lies!” Stirring complained.

The amusement disappeared from Starlight’s face. All her smugness was gone. In its place was genuine worry.

“Stirring, this isn’t what you think!” Starlight said. “Don’t get angry about this!”

“Don’t get angry about what?” Stirring asked, increasingly angry. “Don’t get angry about the fact that you continued to look for the spell even after I told you how you were letting your vendetta cloud your judgment? How, even when the lives of innocent ponies were at stake, you still put that spell and your revenge against Twilight Sparkle first? Is that what I shouldn’t be angry about?”

“Stirring, please let me explain myself,” Starlight said. “It wasn’t like that at all!”

Stirring shook his head and waved his hoof dismissively. “You know what, I don’t care. I don’t care what you do with that spell. Use it against Twilight Sparkle or don’t. I don’t care. I’m done caring.”

“Stirring, listen!”

“No, not anymore. I will never again believe a single one of your lies. I’m through. I’m through with you, Starlight. I only wanted to help other ponies discover the joys of Equality. I’m not here to wage war on Twilight Sparkle. And, if that’s all you want to do, I’m not here for you.”

Starlight reached out a hoof to stop Stirring, but he knocked it away.

“I’m getting out of here, Starlight,” he said. “Maybe, if I’m lucky, I can still get that job at the Daily North Equestria. Because I’m pretty sure the Seaddle Daily Stablegraph will never take me back after what I did for you! You know, there’s a pony in there who’s giving up her life for you. Do you even care about that, Starlight?”

“Of course, I—”

“You’ve sacrificed everypony and everything just to get your revenge. Well, you won’t sacrifice me. No wonder all your friends leave you. With the way you are, that’s how it’s always going to be.”

“Stirring!” Starlight Glimmer called out. But it was too late. Stirring Words was walking away.

“Stirring, come back! Stirring, halt!” It was no use. Stirring just kept going faster each time his name was called.

“I order you to halt!” He did not halt. He just kept going.

“Fine!” Starlight bellowed. “You were always a poor lieutenant, anyway! Only a pony with an incredibly small brain would turn his back on me!”

Insults did not work either. Starlight knew there was one last weapon in her arsenal. One thing which should do the trick if anything could. Because however devoted an Equalist as Stirring might be, there was still a part of him which remained proud of his cutie-mark granted aptitude. It was the part he never wanted to face up to having. It was the part Starlight would target.

“No wonder you couldn’t write without my help!”

This would have done it if it could be done. It should have done it. But it didn’t. Nothing stopped Stirring Words. The last Starlight saw of him was when he turned around a bend in the street. He was gone. Another friend lost.

“This always happens,” Starlight muttered. “This always happens to me.”

Starlight’s horn began to glow. The scroll worked itself free from her foreleg and floated in front of her. Her mouth was half-way between a smile and a sneer.

“Oh, what you’ve cost me....” she said. “My last friend has left me because of you. Still, I can’t blame you too much. I let Stirring have too much individuality. I should have taken him up on his offer to have his cutie mark voluntarily re-removed. Maybe then he wouldn’t have been so free-thinking. But you’re going to help me fix everything. You’re going to help me make sure Twilight Sparkle feels the same pain I feel.”

Starlight kissed the unfurled scroll. As she did so, she got a clearer eye of its contents.

“Hmm,” she said. “This spell isn’t going to work in its current form. It’s going to need a bit of rewriting first.”

Starlight felt a chill in the night air. A cold wind whipped strands of her well-styled mane into her face. She could not help but shiver.

But Starlight shook it off. She rolled up the scroll and returned it to its place between her foreleg and her chest.

“Speaking of Twilight, she should be here any moment,” she said. “I’m not ready to spring this on her just yet. I’ll need a little more time.”

As quickly as she could, Starlight pushed her way through the crowded semi-circle and onto the streets beyond. Taking one final look back at the ship, Starlight let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry, Hope,” she whispered.

Would Radiant Hope have to face the Umbrum all alone?

Read on.

Hopeless

The boiler room. Not a very appropriate name, Hope reflected. Maybe it was when there had been boilers here, giant, steamy things that reached ten or so stories in length. But all the boilers were gone. To say that their absence was notable was an understatement.

The pool room, for all its eeriness, had looked like a room, looked like a place ponies had once inhabited. This place did not. It was a cavern, shrouded in darkness. It was impossible, looking up, to see the ceiling. The same could be said for the floor. There were a few catwalks crisscrossing the area, and that was how Hope was able to get around. But otherwise, the walls just seemed to go up and down forever, appearing from blackness and disappearing back into it, as though they were the very first things to emerge from the void that preceded the beginning of the world.

The walls themselves looked like cavern walls, not ship walls. They were jagged and broken and uneven. Hope thought she could even see some stalagmites and stalactites piercing the darkness here and there. Though, they could have just as easily been debris, or Hope’s imagination. It was impossible to tell. Easier to recognize were the large pipes that, every so often rose up from the darkness, twisting and twirling around the visible area before fading into darkness again. From whence they came, whither they were going, and their ultimate destiny; these were entirely unknown.

And this place was vast. Even in the darkness that made every step seem the only thing left in existence, one could not help but feel overwhelmed and tiny. It was more massive than the pool room, more massive than the main hall. More massive, perhaps, that the great, glittering halls that were the pride of Canterlot Castle and the Crystal Palace. Hope had been in those halls. They were like the hives of ants compared to this.

The catwalks kept descending, and the darkness kept moving in. It seemed as though it got heavier as Hope went lower, crowding around her, trying to suffocate her, trying to snuff out the tiny light that came from her horn. That blue light barely even made a difference anymore. Where it had once illuminated the darkness, now it was just a flicker in it.

No wonder the Umbrum had chosen this place, Hope reflected. It was just like the Prison of Shadows, for those who felt that the Prison of Shadows was perhaps a little too cheerful and inviting.

Somewhere, Hope reminded herself, somewhere in this darkness were the Umbrum. They were aware of her. They were watching her. She knew that. They could strike at any moment.

But they didn’t. They were giving no signs of their presence, unless the general atmosphere of gloom and despair was them and not what this room normally gave off. But Hope was pretty sure that it was what this room’s par for the course, Umbrum in residence or no.

Hope stopped. She had reached a platform, wide and spacious. She could not make out its size, exactly. It was far too dark for that. But the claustrophobic feeling of being on the narrow catwalks had gone. Wherever Hope pointed her light, she could see only the girded steel mesh stretching out until darkness reclaimed it.

She took a step. The platform creaked and swayed, as though it was ready to collapse. And if it did, Hope thought, what would become of her? The floor below could be just a few feet or it could be a near-infinite chasm. She could not tell without making the trip herself. But she had the sense that it was not a fall most ponies could survive.

Hope closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. She saw no faces this time. Was it because she was finally doing something to right her mistakes? Or was it just the knowledge that there were far darker things outside than inside? Indeed, the darkness that came with closing her eyes seemed less than the darkness that came with opening them.

Hope looked upward. She could sense that the Umbrum were up there, circling her. There were no visible signs (nor visibility), but after a thousand years — or in spite of them, maybe — Hope felt she could at least know when Umbrum where nearby.

“I’m here,” she said. She had said it with as much force and vigor as possible without actually yelling. And yet, it seemed quiet and small in the desolate vastness.

And nothing happened. Hope looked around frantically, expecting the Umbrum to appear overhead. But they did not. She pointed her light to and fro, making zigzags and figure-eights in the chilly air. There was nothing.

Hope stopped herself and caught her breath. She forced herself to calm down. It was not easy. But it was necessary. Hope stood there, gathering herself, feeling her courage coming back. It had almost returned to her. Just another deep breath was needed. Just another quiet moment when she could close her eyes and refocus her center of gravity.

She never got it. A voice came, quietly, stealthily, seeming to tiptoe over her shoulder, digging upwards through the folds of her mane, and crawling into her ear. “Hope….”

Hope spun around and pointed the light in the direction of the voice. But she saw nothing.

Then, beside her, was another. “Empress….”

She jolted around, but again found nothing. And then, she felt a hoof sliding down her shoulder, and then another stroking her mane.

“Welcome home, Hope….” came the voice. It was barely audible, but Hope recognized it. Invidia.

“I came,” Hope said. “I came like you wanted. Please, show yourselves to me.”

And then, peals of laughter. A massive din of manic cackling was sent ringing and resounding throughout the vastness, magnified by the echoes produced as the sound waves bounced off of pipes and steel. And audible darkness was even worse, it turned out, than silent darkness.

“Hope, a thousand years and you still don’t know us!” Invidia taunted. “How can we show ourselves to you? This place is filled with darkness, and we are the darkness!”

Hope’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve seen your true forms, remember? You may hide in darkness, but you are not it.”

“I suppose you should know,” Invidia responded. “Being made up of so much darkness yourself.”

The laughter continued. From every direction, Hope felt their cloven hooves, pawing at her, tearing at her, scratching her. She kept turning and turning but could never make them out. Her light was becoming too weak. She could see nothing beyond her own eyes. And the laughter just kept getting louder.

“What’s the matter, Empress?” Luxuria said. “Does the presence of your subjects cause you so much discomfort?”

“After we found this palace, this palace for you,” said Invidia with a mocking laugh, “a palace more fitting than crystal, because darker.”

Then Invidia and Luxuria shouted together, a shout which shook the darkness. “All hail Radiant Hope, the Empress of Equestria!"

Their cackling was loud enough to cause the very platform itself to tremble.

Hope felt her knees begin to buckle under her. She felt ready to fall. But she steadied herself. She could not stop them from coming at her, or from mocking her, and they knew it. That’s why they were doing this. They knew it would disorient her, confuse her, frighten her.

She could not let it. She could not stop them from doing it, but she could stop responding. She could, instead, do what she came here to do.

Let’s make this quick. Before I have a chance to think twice. Before I can start to regret....

So, as the hooves continued to run themselves over seemingly every inch of her body, Hope took her deep breath. She closed her eyes. When she opened them, they showed no fear, only resolve.

Hope was ready. The Umbrum thought the fun was just beginning. But it was time for an end. It was time for the spell.

Her horn began to glow. And do more than glow. Sparks and even lightening shot forth.

The Umbrum stopped their flitting about and froze in place. They all seemed shocked. And more than shocked. Afraid.

Guess I finally managed to do something they never expected, Hope thought.

“What are you doing, Empress?” Invidia asked, fear creeping into his voice.

“I’m making sure you never hurt another pony or take advantage of them like you took advantage of me,” Hope answered as her horn began to glow brighter.

Invidia flew in close. “But I thought we had a deal. You coming here alone was your agreement to our terms.”

“Yes, and I’m going to fulfill my end,” Hope said. “I give up my life and you don’t hurt the ponies I care about. Wasn’t that the ‘deal’?”

“Now you’re just twisting my words around,” Invidia said. “I could almost admire you for it, if I didn’t hate you so much.”

“Hate?” came Misericordia’s voice from the air above.

“Hate me? Maybe you fear me,” Hope said, her horn now quite luminous. “But isn’t it better for an Empress to be feared rather than loved?”

“Yes….” Invidia said, his voice suggesting the calculations that were going on in his mind. “It shows that maybe we were right to choose you all those years ago. Maybe you were never that innocent girl you pretended to be.”

“After everything that’s happened, I don’t even know what I am anymore,” Hope said. “But I know that I am the pony that will never let you hurt anypony ever again.”

“Oh, but Empress, there’s no need for all this,” Invidia said, his voice sounding deceptively sweet and kind. “I’m sure we can work out some sort of agreement.”

“I am not your Empress and you are not getting out of this.”

“Oh, but Hope, is that any way to talk to an old friend?”

Invidia started to change. It looked as though he gathered all of his darkness, all the smoke and haze, into himself. He looked to be collapsing in on himself. And all of his features, the gaunt, wicked face, the giant fly-like wings, the sharp hooves, were all rearranging themselves, like a giant Rubik’s cube. And when he was done, he had a new form.

Or rather an old form. He was how Hope remembered him. He was once again one of the little pixies that she had fallen in love with so many years ago.

He flew directly into Hope’s face and gave her a warm and winning smile. “Friend Hope, you could never hurt one of us, could you?”

He was slammed to the ground beneath Hope’s hoof. “Nice try,” she said.

Then, however, she felt her hoof vibrate. She felt a force forcing it up. Soon, her hoof was thrown up into the air and then so was she. Invidia had grown back to his full size in an instant from underneath her. The spell was broken and she was sent flying.

Hope felt herself careen through the air and through the darkness. She knew she was flying backward, but she did not know where. She was tumbling head over hooves, and every so often caught sight of the platform below. It seemed to be receding into the distance, though in this blackness, who could say for certain?

Hope knew she was no pegasus. If she was flying, eventually she would fall. If lucky, she would land on the platform or a catwalk — lucky is a relative term here, given it would still hurt quite a bit. If unlucky, she would not land upon anything but fall deep into the empty void below. And Hope did not relish the chance to discover what was ultimately at the bottom, however far down that may be.

Hope’s horn began to glow. She would have to teleport. She hated to do it. Though the Umbrum had stopped her from performing Starswirl’s spell the first time, she had only just begun, so she felt as though she still had enough energy for another try. Except it would require so much energy that even something as second-nature as teleportation could drain too much of what she had left. But the choice was between taking the risk or falling to her doom. Hope knew which one gave her a chance at beating the Umbrum.

She began to concentrate. A bubble began to form around her.

Before it got big enough to spirit her away, Hope felt herself come to a stop. It was a rough stop, to say the least. She was not prepared for it when she hit into something large with the entire force of her body. Luckily the large thing was soft, almost like....

Smoke?

Hope looked up. She was surrounded by smoke and fog, of a distinct blue-green color. Hope realized immediately what had happened.

“Put me down!” she demanded. “Put me down now!”

Misericordia looked confused. “Empress. Why do you seem so upset? You were in danger and I saved you.”

He flew slowly back toward the platform, making sure not to ride the air too roughly or rock too much.

“Why?” Hope asked. “Why did you say me?”

“That’s what we’d all like to know,” the grey-blue form of Luxuria said as she rose up to meet him.

“A little pain would have been good for her,” Invidia said, floating up as well. “It might teach her some respect after what she did to me.”

“But she is our Empress,” Misericordia protested as he laid Hope gently down on the platform. “We cannot hurt our Empress.”

“Can we just stop pretending she is our ruler?” Invidia said. “Can we finally stop? There are far more deserving creatures among the Umbrum to rule us, rather than this weak and pathetic crystal pony.”

“I always said Emperor Sombra should have chosen a mate from among his own kind,” Luxuria said, looking Hope up and down. “I mean, obviously, she’s not even good breeding stock.”

Hope felt a little offended by this, though she did not know what about this offended her, exactly. Being reduced to a foal factory, or not even being good at it.

“Well... um... she still has the Emperor,” Misericordia said. “If she had fallen off the edge, he would have gone with her. And then is plan would be for naught!”

Hope’s ears perked up. His plan? Sombra’s?

Invidia swooped down toward Hope. She braced herself for a frontal assault. She did not want to fire a blast or use a defensive spell — definitely too much energy — but she could at least brace for impact.

The impact never came. Invidia brought down his sharpened hoof and cut the strings around Hope’s neck. The pouch opened as it fell, and out came Sombra’s horn.

“Good point, Misericordia,” Invidia said. “I knew I kept you around for a reason.”

Sombra’s horn fell hard onto the iron grating and began to bounce. It went up and down several times and landed several feet away.

“Well, the Emperor’s not going to like that,” Luxuria said. “It’s not very dignified.”

“He’s trapped inside a horn and has been living inside a pouch like a set of marbles,” Invidia said. “I don’t think dignity comes into it anymore.”

Hope made a dash for the horn. She knew she could make it with teleporting. But again, she didn’t want to teleport. She would just have to bet on the ability of her own four hooves to outpace the Umbrum.

It was a bad bet. Invidia swooped down just as she was about to take the horn and snatched it from out of her grasp. He floated around her head and waved it in her face mockingly.

“What’s going on?” Hope shouted. “What do you want with me and Sombra?”

There was more horrendous Umbric cackling.

“You stupid girl,” Invidia said raising his free hoof as though to strike. “I should just kill you now and get it done with.”

“You can’t do that!” Misericordia yelled as he zoomed in between Invidia and Hope. “She’s our Empress!”

“Not this again.”

“And, I mean... um.... the Emperor needs her for his plans. He would not like her to die.”

Invidia drew back. “I was just having fun. I’m well-aware that the Emperor does not want his beloved Empress to die prematurely.”

“What does any of this have to do with Sombra?” Hope asked. “Where is he?”

The white balls of light which constituted Invidia’s eyes suddenly went out. Or rather, they seemed to have. But then Hope realized that Invidia had just closed them as he shook his head in disgust. He clearly really did find her stupid. Which was fine by her.

“He’s in the horn, you blockhead!” Invidia snapped.

“I used to feel him there,” Hope said. “All this way, I felt him. But when I got to the ship, I didn’t feel him.”

Invidia was growing greatly annoyed now. “Listen. I’ll try to explain it in simple terms. This whole ship is filled with dark energy now. It’s running through you, penetrating every inch and every pore of your insignificant little body–“

“I don’t think crystal ponies have pores. Our skin is too tough.”

“Would you just listen? There’s dark energy all around. You’re feeling it all the time, so of course you don’t feel anything special from the horn. The whole ship is a dark energy field now.”

“But I don’t understand,” Hope feigned. “How can that work? Shouldn’t I have felt more dark energy, not less?”

Invidia held his one hoof to his forehead, exasperated. “Okay, I’ll try this one more time. You did feel it, I’m sure. Didn’t you feel uneasy at all, or afraid? Didn’t the atmosphere feel rather unsettling? That was because— Hey!”

Invidia’s frustration caused him to largely forget about the horn. The hoof he was holding it with dropped down more toward a neutral position, putting the horn within Hope’s reach. While Invidia was busy yammering, Hope jumped and seized it in her mouth.

She landed on her hooves and tried to put some distance between herself and the Umbrum. She did not know what purpose they had for the horn, but she knew that it could not be good. She had to keep it from them.

But once again, she found that the Umbrum were faster in the air than she was on hoof. One of them — Hope didn’t get a chance to see, but she thought it was Luxuria based on the weight — hit her dead on in the side. Hope felt no cutting or clawing. Rather, it was something like a tackle. But it did the trick. Hope fell onto her side and the horn flew out of her mouth. It landed, once more, at a considerable distance.

“You guys really need to start pulling your weight,” Luxuria said from out of the darkness. “I can’t be overexerting myself like this all the time.”

“And who are you to lecture us on weight?” Invidia responded.

“I am not fat, just big-foamed,” Luxuria shot back. “Come on, Misericordia, defend me! I made sure to only hurt your beloved Empress a little!”

“I don’t think I like the tone of this conversation,” Misericordia said.

From somewhere in the darkness, there was the sound of hoof connecting with head, followed by Misericordia going, “Ouch!”

But Hope was not really listening. The Umbrum bickering amongst themselves had given her a lucky break. Not to retrieve the horn. She figured that would just cause them to swoop down at her again. No, it gave her the chance to do something else. If she could do it quickly, while they were distracted, she could destroy them before they got the horn. She could end everything before it was too late.

Hope would use the spell again. And this time, she would not let herself get distracted. She would finish this.

She concentrated. A light appeared. At first, it was small, just a spark at the tip of her horn. But then it spread downward until her whole horn was glowing a dull blue. But then the glow increased in luminosity, becoming brighter and brighter, bathing the platform around her in a cerulean ocean. Hope felt the magic building upside of her. Her horn sparked and crackled. Lightning appeared. The pressure was becoming greater and greater with each passing moment. Hope could not keep it inside any longer.

Her eyes began to glow. A massive beam of blue-white light burst forth from her head and shot upward, creating a massive pillar of fire and light that reached far into the endless darkness above. And from that pillar spread a smoky, swirling vortex.

Post tenebras spero lucem.

Overwhelmed by waves of light, the darkness withdrew. She could see everything now. She could see the length of the platform and the catwalk that led to it, as well as the many catwalks running above and below. She could see the walls also, with pipes running up and down them and various nooks and crannies carved out along their sides. Somehow, seen like this, they did not seem so ominous or threatening.

Everything, it turned out, looked better in the light.

Except for the Umbrum, who looked as hideous as ever. But, while they may have not been paying attention thus far, the pillar of light was impossible for them to ignore.

“What’s she doing?” Luxuria asked.

“I don’t know, but it can’t be good,” Invidia answered.

Misericordia flew over and circled around her. “Empress, what are you doing? This does not look good! Empress!”

Hope ignored him. She would not break her concentration, not for any Umbrum. She only focused harder. The spell felt like it was coursing through every part of her body. More than that, it felt like it was tearing through every fiber of her being.

Just a little longer now, she thought, and then....

And then? No, Hope couldn’t think about that now.

The vortex began to extend itself. The beginnings of a dome appeared and slowly began to lower around the general vicinity.

“Please, Empress, tell me what you are doing!” Misericordia pleaded.

It was difficult to speak under the pressure, but Hope wanted the Umbrum to know. She wanted them to know just what was happening to them. After everything they had done, they had to know.

“I’m ending it,” she said, forcing the words out. “I’m ending everything. You, me, this whole messed up game you’ve been playing with me my whole life. It ends tonight.”

“But Empress, our games were never messed up. Remember the ones we used to play? During the picnics to the lake of sludge?”

“No more mind games!”

Hope’s vision was becoming blurry (an unfortunate side-effect of having light streaming directly out of your eyeballs) but she thought she saw this particular Umbrum coil up around himself. His long face seemed longer than usual. He looked.... Sad?

“Misericordia?” she asked. Her voice, while uncertain, contained a hint of tenderness. She did not know why she was concerned for an Umbrum of all ponies. But she was.

“Empress, do you hate me?” Misericordia asked, his voice low and perhaps even upset.

What do you think? That was what ran through Hope’s mind. However, she knew better, even in her current state, than to say it out loud.

Instead, she asked, “Don’t you hate me?”

“Hate you? How can I hate you? You are my Empress.”

It was getting increasingly hard to speak. But Hope had a point to make. “I am not your Empress. I am nopony’s Empress and nopony’s princess. Everypony keeps trying to make me into something I’m not, but I’m not either of those things.”

“No!” Misericordia responded. “You are my Empress forever and I love you!”

To be loved by an Umbrum. What a strange notion, Hope thought. On the other hoof, Sombra loved her, or at least he had once. But still, Hope did not know what to make of it. He sounded genuine, but Hope had been fooled by the Umbrum before.

She could not take the chance again. This Umbrum could just be trying to distract her. She could not let that happen. She had to focus on the spell.

“Empress, Empress, do not do this!” Misericordia shouted in alarm. “You will kill yourself! I do not mind dying for you, but I do not want to see my Empress die! Please!”

“You’re pathetic,” Invidia said as he came flying toward Misericordia. He slammed into him with enough force to send Misericordia spinning into the distance.

“What an idiot,” Luxuria said as she joined Invidia.

Invidia nodded in agreement. “He was never like the rest of us, anyway.”

They then turned their attention to Hope.

“We really should stop her,” Luxuria said. “One of us should go into there and get her.”

“Be my guest,” Invidia responded.

“What? I’m the one who brought her down before. And I’m still exhausted from it!”

“I was the one who stopped this spell last time. And I got enough of a static shock from it.”

“Then why do you want me to do it? I’ll probably get fried!”

“Because, it was your idea and—“ Invidia smacked Luxuria’s back with his hoof, sending her flying into the vortex. “-you’re expendable!”

Luxuria sped into the vortex and then sped back the other way, landing just below Invidia. Her whole body sizzled with electricity.

“This tingling actually feels kind-of good,” she said woozily.

Hope could see Invidia pause and just float there, his hoof to his chin. She knew he was considering his next move. But she couldn’t let him get to her. She had to finish the spell. Nothing could be allowed to stop her now.

Finally, Invidia floated over. He did not try to enter the vortex. Rather, he started to revolve around it, his eyes locked on the pony in its center.

“Hope, what are you doing?” he cooed. “Don’t you want to save your friends?”

Hope ignored him.

Luxuria picked herself up. She seemed ready to complain, but a sharp look from Invidia silenced her. Instead, she joined him and also began to orbit the vortex.

“She can’t save her friends,” she said playfully. “She’s never been any good at that. Everypony she cares about ends up badly.”

“I for one would not want to get close to her!” said Invidia. “I probably would not outlast the week.”

“What do you expect?” said Luxuria. “The only thing she’s capable of is causing pain and suffering. Just ask our Emperor.”

Hope bit her lip. She knew what they were doing and she could not allow them to get to her. Her energy levels were falling. That must mean that the spell was reaching its climax.

Invidia continued, “What do you really think you’re going to achieve? This won’t atone for what you’ve done. But we gave you a way to fix things.”

Both Umbrum got closer, circling Hope so closely that she could feel them as they passed.

“You could have saved everypony you cared about,” Luxuria said.

“You could have saved everypony you failed to save before,” said Invidia.

Luxuria let out a sinister, piercing laugh. “You could even have saved Norneigh."

“What?” She added, as Invidia stopped circling to glare at here. “Okay, okay, let me correct that…. You could have saved yourself.”

“Shut up! Shut up! I’m not listening to you anymore!” Hope shouted. The dome had nearly descended fully. The pressure was growing far too intense. It was the last thing she would be able to say, she knew.

Not famous last words, were they? Well, nothing I can do about it now.

But the message landed. The Umbrum ceased to orbit. The vortex grew wider, forcing them back. As they regrouped a short distance away, they seemed to be in conference.

“Do you think we should do it?” she thought she heard Luxuria say. “Without Misericordia?”

“We don’t need him,” Invidia seemed to respond. “It’ll work without him. I just hope the Emperor does not get too angry.”

“I think he’s cute when he’s angry,” Luxuria said.

Hope could see Invidia smacking Luxuria with his hoof, followed by her audible, “Ouch!”

“Let’s just get to work,” he said.

The Umbrum began to move. Hope was curious as to what they were doing. But she could not worry about that. She was protected within the vortex. That was obvious now. They might try to distract her again, but nothing would keep her from completing the spell.

Wait, are they going for Sombra’s horn?

Indeed, they were. Invidia and Luxuria took up position, one on each side of the horn. Their white eyes began to glow even whiter.

Hope was worried now. She did not know what they were doing. She wanted to shout out, to scream, to yell at them to stop. But that would have required breaking concentration.

Sharp, narrow beams of light shot out from the Umbrum’s eyes and connected with the horn. The dim and pale light enveloped it fully. The horn began to rise up, suspended in the air.

Except, Hope quickly realized to her horror, the horn was not being suspended.

No, it had risen because a dark mass had risen beneath it. The mass grew and grew. It expanded until its height was roughly equal to that of a particularly tall stallion. Its bulk formed a shape vaguely like a stallion as well. Yet, somehow, it was nothing like a stallion at all.

Hope’s heart sunk. She did not know what they had done to the horn... to Sombra... but she knew it had to be bad. Hope wanted to move, to see what had happened, to try and stop them if stopping them was still possible.

But she remembered the spell. She remembered her concentration. She would not break it, not so close to completion. She would achieve her end, no matter what.

The dark form and the two Umbrum approached. Hope felt a pang of panic. But she would not let it move her. She couldn’t. Nothing they did would distract her.

“Hope, like we said, you could have saved the ponies you cared about,” Invidia said as he made way for the black shape.

“You could have saved everypony,” Luxuria added.

“But most of all—”

The shape spoke, “You could have saved me.”

In the light, Hope could see it clearly. Or, rather, she could see him.

Hope gasped.

The dome retracted rapidly. The vortex faded into a gentle wind. The beam launched upward from Hope’s horn into the darkness. Hope’s horn dimmed. There were no further sparks and no more lightning. The pressure was gone. Her concentration was gone.

“Sombra?” Hope said weakly.

King Sombra stepped more fully into her view. “Hello, Hope.”

The night wind seemed to become even chillier. Starlight Glimmer could not remember being so cold, and that included the time she had been hiking through those snow-covered mountains not too long ago.

She forced herself forward. The streets of Las Pegasus were filled with locals out for a night on the town and tourists lost in revelry. It was crowded and it was loud. It was the perfect place for Starlight to blend in.

She cradled the scroll beside her chest and thought about her plan. Starlight just had to make it back to the hotel to collect some things and then she could leave Las Pegasus far behind. She would find a new city and a new hideout where she could rewrite the spell in peace. Then she would make her way to Ponyville, to that gaudy eyesore of a castle Twilight Sparkle lived in, and then she would make Twilight pay.

Starlight looked over her shoulder at the night sky in the direction she had come. She was surprised that it was all darkness. She had expected something by now. She was still too close for her comfort — not wanting to teleport away in case Twilight had already arrived with some magic sensors — and thus she figured she should have seen something of the explosion, or at least heard it.

But there had been nothing. Starlight had not given that other spell much notice, but from what she had seen, it should have acted much more quickly than it was. Was something wrong? Was Hope in trouble? Had she failed?

Starlight shook her head. It was none of her business. Not anymore. She had gotten what she wanted. Hope was not her concern.

Then she halted. Through her mind, the words, “We were never friends” echoed. Those had been some of the last words Hope would ever hear. They would be the last words she heard from her. The worst part was, they had been a lie.

Starlight looked around her at all the ponies, going about their normal lives. They were completely oblivious to the fact that anything was happening, that they were in danger in any way. But, just a few blocks distant, a pony they had probably never heard of and who they probably wouldn’t like very much if they had, a pony who was not of them and meant nothing to them, was trying to save all their lives.

It was brave and it was noble. Starlight had always said Hope and she were not so different. But as Starlight eyed the scroll, she reflected that Hope was different. Hope was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for these ponies. And Starlight wasn’t.

Starlight began to move and picked up her pace. So what? She had more important things to do. Twilight Sparkle was the big enemy here and had to be taken down. Nopony saw that but Starlight herself. She was saving all these ponies too, in her own way.

Aren’t I? It was a stray thought in Starlight’s mind, and she tried to shake it off.

Starlight was now almost at a gallop, precariously pushing her way around all the other pedestrians. She had to move quickly, she knew. It was pure luck that the princesses hadn’t arrived yet. Starlight knew things would only get more difficult when they did. The whole city might end up in lockdown. And Starlight Glimmer wanted to deal with as little of that as she could mortally manage.

Too bad that time-travel spell needs so much work, she thought, or else I could fix all this right now.

Starlight continued on her way, roughly pushing several other ponies from her path and then ignoring them completely as they called out several obscene insults. She could only afford to focus on one thing; getting out of this city.

But then, in her mind, she saw an image of Radiant Hope. Hope, standing there, so serene, so accepting of her fate, and trying to talk sense into Starlight. She had done it out of care, out of compassion, out of friendship. She had not wanted Starlight to waste the life she was going to die to give her.

And Starlight had gotten angry and shouted, “We’ve never been friends.” Starlight was used to lying. She had never been afraid to lie in service to a good cause. Or, at least, if she could tell herself it was for a good cause. But this was a lie she couldn’t’ tell lie to herself about.

And it burned like a fire in the deepest reaches of her heart.

Starlight halted once more and looked back in the direction of the Empress of Equestria. She could not let those be the last words she ever said to Radiant Hope.

Not if I can help it.

Starlight let out her frustration by giving the sidewalk a hard kick.

I’m know I’m going to kick myself for this later.

Starlight Glimmer turned around. The wind blew over her, making her whole body feel like ice.

She shook her head. She hesitated. Then, she steeled herself.

“It can’t be helped,” she said, fixing her eyes on the darkness ahead.

Starlight galloped back toward the Empress. Back toward the Umbrum. Back, though she did not know it, toward King Sombra. But most of all, back toward Radiant Hope.

Hope could only stare in disbelief.

There was Sombra, standing right in front of her. He did not look like how she remembered him when last they met. True, he was about the same size and roughly the same height. His face also looked mostly the same, except his eyes were colored red rather than green. He was still the King Sombra who had terrified and tyrannized the Crystal Empire, despite the lack of crown, cloak, and armor. But the further she looked from his face, the hazier his body looked. It did not look quite solid and had an undefined quality, as though it was ceaselessly moving and shifting in myriad ways. It looked, indeed, as if his whole body was composed entirely of smoke, making him seem half-pony, half-Umbrum.

“Sombra,” Hope said, “I thought I lost you. At the Siege—”

“You did, Hope,” Sombra said coolly.

“But you’re here. You’re alive!”

‘’If you call this living.”

Hope did not like the tone in Sombra’s voice. She had felt excitement and relief at seeing him again, but all happy feelings were being eroded by the chill she sensed in him.

As she looked at him, and he just stared at her, something strange occurred to Hope.

“How did they restore you? You didn’t need me to do it?”

“Does it bother you? I know how you need to be needed.”

“No, Sombra, I’m just confused. I thought only I could bring you back fully.” She looked to Invidia and Luxuria. “At least, that’s what they always told me.”

Sombra let out a cold, mirthless laugh. Hope did not like it. No, she hated it. That laugh chilled her to the bone.

“Do I look as I used to, Hope? Look carefully. Do you really think this body of mine is permanent? This cheap Umbric construction?” Sombra shook his forelegs, from which long wisps of smoke trailed and floated off. “It won’t last. It will fade quickly. Even more so given that only two of my three loyal Umbrum made it.”

“We did the best we could,” Luxuria pleaded.

“Yes,” Invidia said. “It was Misericordia who let you down. He was more interested in protecting her.”

“Silence!” Sombra commanded. “If saving Hope was Misericordia’s first priority, he is to be praised for it. At least one of you understood my wishes.”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” Invidia said. It was clear from his tone that he did not agree. But he held his tongue further.

Sombra approached Hope. Hope tensed up. She did not know why. He was her oldest friend. He was the only pony who ever really understood her. Wasn’t he?

“Hope, my dear,” he said. “I’ve missed you. Even though I was here the whole time, it still feels like my perspective from the inside of your little pouch was not the fullest.”

He brushed a hoof through her hair as he walked past. Hope shivered. His touch was like the frost.

“At least I got to lie beside your warm body,” he said.

Hope felt shivers running down her spine. She pulled her hair out of his grip.

“What’s the matter, my dear?” Sombra asked as he reached for her again. “Have you grown so cold to me in such a short time?”

Hope tilted her head just enough to avoid his touch. She looked him in the eyes, making sure to hold his gaze. She steadied herself to speak firm and clear.

“Sombra, what happened? I saw you die!”

“Death is a relative term, Hope.”

“But Princess Twilight–”

“I will give the little princess credit. She has grown much more powerful since our first encounter. I’ll have to better factor her abilities into my plans next time.”

Hope shook her head. It was too much to comprehend. “But Sombra, I had thought you were gone forever. I’ve been blaming myself the whole time. I thought I had failed to save you.”

Sombra began to walk away. Then, suddenly, he turned on her. Hope was taken aback by the look in his eye. He seemed upset, angry even.

Angry? With me?

“You did fail, Hope,” Sombra said. “You brought me back only to stand by and let me be destroyed again.”

The cold shivers along Hope’s spine were nothing compared to the shard of ice which had just exploded in her heart.

“Sombra, no!” Hope responded. “I didn’t! I tried to save you! I really did!”

With the speed of smoke, Sombra was in Hope’s face, their muzzles almost touching.

“How, Hope? How?” he snapped. “By giving me a lecture on destiny? By just expecting me to turn against my own people? Against my own nature?”

Hope felt tears forming in her eyes. “You had a choice, Sombra! I gave you a choice!”

“I had no choice!” he bellowed. “I am King Sombra, the lord of all monsters! The Emperor of the Umbrum!”

“But you could have been something else,” Hope pleaded, running the back of her hoof down Sombra’s cheek. “You could have been anything you wanted. You didn’t have to do what the Umbrum told you!”

Sombra looked down at her. There were no signs of softening in his features. “And what about the Crystal Heart? Do you remember the Heart, Hope? Do you remember how, the first time I looked into it, it showed me my destiny?”

“I keep telling you, Sombra, that was never your destiny.”

“It was, Hope. It was. The Heart showed me what I must become. The, when I looked into it the second time, it showed me that I had become what I was meant to be. I had finally fulfilled my destiny.”

“Destiny doesn’t exist, Sombra! How many times do I have to tell you that we make our own destiny?”

Sombra pulled back and put distance between them, leaving Hope with her hoof suspended in mid-air. “That was always your problem, Hope. You never could accept me for what I really am.”

Hope felt tears falling down her cheeks. She could not hold them back, not after that. But she did not feel herself crying; she had gone partially numb.

And then, the ice in her heart was melt by newfound fire. Sombra had hurt her with his words. But she was not going to be his punching-bag.

She stormed up to him. “How dare you say that! How dare you say I never accepted you! After everything I did for you? After everything I gave up? How can you say that to me?”

Sombra did not respond. He did not even seem to register her words. He kept his back to Hope.

Hope started to calm down. She collected herself. She remembered how much she cared for Sombra. She put her hoof on his shoulder. “Sombra, I accepted you from the beginning. I’m the only pony who ever did. Sombra, I love you.”

“Don’t touch me!”

Sombra turned quickly and smacked her hoof away with his own. The force of the blow was much greater than it needed to be. It forced Hope to tumble backwards and fall onto her side.

Sombra stood over her. “You didn’t accept me, Hope. You decided on the pony you wanted me to be, and you tried to force me to be something I wasn’t. Just like the Umbrum.”

“Just like us, just like us,” Invidia and Luxuria chattered from up above.

Hope looked up at Sombra. “No, not like the Umbrum. I just wanted you to be able to make the choice.”

“And I made my choice,” Sombra said. “I made the choice to be what I was always meant to be.”

“No, Sombra, you don’t have to be that. Even now—”

“Silence!” Sombra stamped his hoof for emphasis, causing the mesh beneath Hope to vibrate and sway.

Hope’s jaw dropped and her eyes grew wide. Even in the darkest days of the Siege, Sombra had never used that tone with her before.

Sombra sneered. “You just wanted me to be a good pony.” The word good dripped with disgust. “You say you wanted me to make a choice, but how did you react when I made the wrong one. Where you happy for me?”

“How could I be happy for you?” Hope asked. “You got yourself blown up again.”

“That is not what I meant. Would you have been happy had I defeated Twilight and her friends? If I had conquered Equestria? If I had ruled as Emperor of monsters?”

Hope was silent.

“I thought not,” Sombra said as he walked away.

Hope was lost in thought. She thought back to her days as the lonely orphan whose only friends were in her head. She remembered the mysterious young colt whom she had befriended because he was the only real pony who would talk to her, and she was the only pony who would talk to him. She remembered growing up together and all the fun they had.

She remembered the Crystal Faire. She remembered her excitement as the day approached. She remembered how that excitement had turned to agony when Sombra suffered his first attack. And then the year after, he had another. And the year after that. There was nothing more important in Hope’s life than getting Sombra to see the Crystal Faire. Was she disappointed that he never got to see it?

Of course. But was it for his sake... or mine?

Was that where the distance began to grow between them?

Hope had expected so many things from Sombra. She had expected him to someday see the Faire. She had expected him to tell her everything, including what he saw in the Crystal Heart that fateful day. She had expected him to be happy for her when she got into the Royal Academy. And, throughout it all, she had expected him to love her.

Was she wrong? Shouldn’t I be able to expect things from my friend? Doesn’t every friend deserve to get something back for all they give?

But then, it occurred to Hope, maybe it did not matter. Of course, she had expected things from him. Maybe she had been disappointed when those expectations weren’t fulfilled. But more than anything, she tried to love him.

Not tried. I did love him.

And Sombra needed her love now more than ever.

Somewhere in the distance, there was the sound of something breaking. A shaft of light appeared. For a relative definition of light. It was a testament to the utter blackness in which they were engulfed that the darkness from the floor above was lighter in comparison. Hope wondered where on the upper floor that hole was, and where the small amount of purplish light was coming from.

In the distance, Invidia said, "It looks like the pool finally gave way. We were taking bets on it. I guess you lose, Luxuria."

“I always do,” Luxuria said. “Makes me question the point of trying.”

“Enough of this,” Sombra said, looking somewhere between bored and annoyed. “Tell me, Invidia, did you get what I asked for?”

“We got as much as we could,” Invidia responded. “It was very hard to find. After all, you really did a number on her.”

“A consequence of my younger days, when I was much too impulsive.”

For once, the focus of Sombra and the Umbrum was off of Hope. But her focus had not left Sombra.

“You were more than that,” Hope called out. “You were... you are my best friend. And maybe you’re right. Maybe I didn’t do enough to accept you or give the kind of love you needed. I made a lot of mistakes back then. But I’m here now. And I’m ready to accept you, whatever you are.”

Sombra looked over his shoulder. He smiled. “Well, it’s a start.”

“Just tell me what you need from me, and I’ll give it to you.”

Suddenly, Sombra was directly in front of her again. Hope took a few steps back. His smoky form allowed him to move faster than any normal pony ever should. It took some getting used to.

“So, you say you accept me but you still cower in fear?” Sombra said contemptuously.

“It’s not that,” Hope said gently. “You just startled me. I’m not afraid. I’m not afraid of what you are.”

“Here we are,” Invidia said behind them.

Sombra turned his head. Hope looked past him to see Invidia and Luxuria dropping something onto the platform. Something large and heavy which vibrated loudly from the impact.

“What’s that?” Hope asked.

Sombra approached the Umbrum. “Careful, you oafs!” he scolded.

“What’s it matter?” Luxuria asked. “You already broke her heart once, didn’t you? Her heart, and everything else. You did a real number on her.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing,” Luxuria said, quickly putting some distance between herself and Sombra.

Sombra walked over picked up something from the pile. “We need her dark energy for the ceremony. Any more damage and we might scatter the energy further. I don’t want to take chances.”

Hope approached and looked over Sombra’s shoulder at what he was holding. It was a face, a long and beautiful face, twisted in a look of perpetual terror and frozen in stone.

Hope felt the numbness again. Except now, it was spreading throughout her body. “Is that....”

“Princess Amore,” Sombra responded. “Yes, Hope. It’s her. Or at least pieces of her.”

Hope gasped. “But where... where did you....”

“We found her, on the Emperor’s orders,” Invidia said.

“On your orders?” Hope asked Sombra. “But how? You were just a horn after the Siege!”

Sombra did his best not to meet her gaze. “They were looking for Amore before that... unpleasantness, Hope. They’ve been looking almost from the moment I released them from the Prison of Shadows.”

“But why?”

“I was young and inexperienced when I turned Princess Amore to stone all those years ago. I used too much dark magic, more than I needed. Not only did it transform her, it turned her into a bastion of dark energy. Mere pieces of her body radiate incredible amounts of that energy. It is that energy which can be used to revive me. after you brought me back, I knew I needed a backup plan in case my body was destroyed again. So I selected three from amongst the Umbrum whom Rabia had recommended as competent. I sent them to seek out Amore’s remains and find a good locale to store them. If the time came, they would know what to do.”

Hope shook her head. “But I never knew about any of this. I was there. I was your Empress. Why did you never tell me?”

Sombra’s eyes met hers. His glare was ice-cold. “It’s simple, dear Hope. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t trust you.”

“How could you not trust me?”

“You did abandon me all those years ago. You led the two Princesses to destroy me.”

“And I brought you back! I gave up so much for you! I gave up the pony I was for you.”

Sombra turned to face her. “And so it’s all about you, Hope? Am I supposed to feel sorry because you didn’t get to be the pony you were meant to be?”

Hope grit her teeth. Her brow furled. Sombra could be so thick sometimes. This was especially true now. “No! I changed myself for you. I became a pony who did things I never thought I could do. And not in a good way. How is it that you still don’t trust me?”

“I want to trust you,” Sombra said, approaching her. “I want to believe that you’re worthy of my trust. That is why I wanted you here, as I use Princess Amore’s fragments to restore my body. Who knows, they may even make me more powerful than before. I want you to witness it, because I want to see if you can accept the pony I’ve become.”

Hope heard what he was saying. She understood. But there was one thing that stood out to her.

“You didn’t want me here so that I could bring back your body like I did before?”

Sombra seemed nonplused. “Twilight did her worst on me, Hope. The power of hate let her burn me worse than she had the first time. I don’t know if your power is even enough.”

Hope was firm. “I can do it.”

“But, Hope—”

“I can do it now. My power has been growing.”

“You could hurt yourself.”

“You know that has never been my concern.”

A small smile formed on Sombra’s lips.

“But maybe I don’t trust you to do it,” he said. “After all, you do seem to have picked up a nasty habit of betraying people. The Crystal Empire, the Umbrum, your newfound friends. You betray everypony eventually.”

The words cut Hope like a dagger. She could not believe she was hearing them. Not from her best friend. “Not you, Sombra. Never you. I did it all for you.”

Sombra’s voice rose to a fever-pitch. “You did betray me! You abandoned me for the Royal Academy! You brought the Royal Sisters to destroy me! You betray everyone! You destroy everyone! You are a monster, Hope!”

“No, no, I’m not!” Hope practically screamed. “Please, Sombra, don’t say that! Not to me! Sombra, please!”

After that outburst, Hope calmed down. She was silent for a moment.

Finally, she said, “What do I have to do to prove it to you?”

Sombra’s smile grew larger. He approached Hope and put a hoof on her shoulder. Hope supposed it was meant to be kind and reassuring, but there was force and pressure to it. Hope could feel his hoof digging into her skin. And even skin of crystal could not hold it back.

Sombra leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Would you die for me?”

Hope took a few steps back. “Sombra, what are you asking me to do?”

“Answer the question, Hope,” Sombra said. “Would you die for me?”

“I’ve lived for you,” Hope answered. “Wasn’t that enough?”

Sombra nodded ruefully. “I suppose I was right all along. You don’t love me enough to die for me.”

He began to walk back toward the Umbrum. “Prepare the ritual,” he said. “It’s a shame that this much dark energy will make me a being of darkness forever. But Radiant Hope wasn’t willing to save me.”

Hope ran after him. “Sombra, what are you talking about? I don’t understand. How can I save you?”

“I am a being of dark energy, Hope,” Sombra said without looking at her. “But not completely, because of what the Umbrum did when they locked away my powers. Even the unlocking of my powers did not fundamentally destroy the part of me which had become a pony. But that part is dying. Once I take in Princess Amore’s dark energy, it will be gone.”

Hope frowned. “And where do I come in?”

“You have the healing power. And as you say, it’s becoming stronger.”

“It is. I could–”

“You still won’t be strong enough, Hope. Even just a modified version of what you used to do for me will not work this time. You’d have to give it your all.”

Hope was confused. “But I did give my all. Every time.”

Sombra’s brows raised. “Did you, though?”

The emotional whiplash was getting to be too much for Hope. “Why are you saying this, Sombra? You know I did.”

Sombra brought his face close into Hope’s, so that they were nose to nose. “But didn’t some part of you hold back? Some small part of you?”

“What? No! Never!”

“The part of you that wanted to live, perhaps?”

Hope’s eyes grew wide. “You mean, you’re saying–”

“You could have cured me a long time ago, Hope,” Sombra said, “but you never really wanted to. Maybe you enjoyed having me stay dependent on you.”

“You know that’s not true.”

“Then maybe you never wanted to sacrifice the one thing more important to you than me. Your life.”

Hope thought it over. “You mean... you want me to die?”

“I’m just making a point. You say you’d do anything for me, but you wouldn’t do whatever you could to save me.”

Hope tried her best to stand up tall and hold Sombra’s gaze. “I’d give everything for you. I already have. If I had to trade my life for yours, I’d do it.”

Sombra smirked. “Well, do it then. Do whatever it takes to heal me.”

Hope took a step back. She braced herself, preparing herself for whatever it would take. Her horn began to glow. She would show Sombra. She would show him how much she cared.

Then, Hope looked up. She saw Misericordia floating around in the distance, too far for Sombra or the Umbrum to notice him, but enough for him to shake his head ‘no’ and for her to see it.

This brought Hope back to herself. She bit her lip. Suddenly, her mind was filled with doubt. Not for how she felt about Sombra. Not for what she wanted to do for him. But there was something else holding her back.

Hope closed her eyes. At first she saw nothing. Nothing but darkness. Then she saw them. She forced herself to see them.

One thousand, three hundred, and six.

Her eyes opened. The light from her horn disappeared.

“What are you waiting for?” Sombra asked.

“Promise me something,” Hope said.

Sombra grew annoyed. “That’s not how it works, Hope. This isn’t a deal. You have to prove yourself to me. I have nothing to prove to you.”

“No, you don’t, Sombra,” Hope said. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to be something you’re not. But I do need you to promise me that you won’t release the Umbrum. If I’m risking my life for you, I have to know you won’t do what you did before. Please tell me you won’t release them!”

Sombra shook his head. “Poor Hope, you still haven’t accepted me. I have to fulfill my purpose.”

“Sombra, I do accept you. I do. But we hurt so many ponies last time. I can’t let you hurt any more. Not one more. I’ll do anything to heal you, but I won’t let other ponies get hurt.”

Sombra let out a cold little chuckle. He walked up to Hope and locked his horn with hers. “And what will you do if I refuse?”

Hope’s horn began to spark and release lightning. Her eyes filled with tears.

Sombra let out his harshest, cruelest, loudest laugh yet. “What, Hope? Are you going to use that spell to kill us all? Are you going to kill me?”

“Maybe this should end with you and me,” Hope said, her body shaking. “Just like it began.”

Sombra pushed at Hope’s horn with his. He flinched a little, but met no resistance. Hope broke the lock and took a few steps back. The sparks ceased.

She held her head in shame. “No. I can’t. Not to you.”

“Disappointing,” Sombra said, turning his back on her. He stomped his foot.

Before Hope knew it, she was up in the air. Luxuria and Invidia had each grabbed a foreleg and lifted her up. They held her tight. Hope could feel the pain as their gnarled hooves caused drops of blood to roll down toward her shoulders. She did not have the strength to resist, neither physical nor emotional.

“Put her down!” Misericordia screamed. “Leave the Empress alone!”

He swooped down at his two compatriots.

“No, Misericordia, don’t!” Hope shouted. “You’ll get hurt!”

Did she still care? About an Umbrum?

A dark beam sent Misericordia spiraling once more into the darkness.

“I am your Emperor, fool!” Sombra shouted. Then, looking to the other two, he asked, “Why did Rabia ever recommend him?”

“Even the prettiest of Umbrum make mistakes,” Luxuria said.

Invidia added, “Rabia was never a great leader. No offense to your mother, sir.”

“I have no love for her,” Sombra said. “I am her lord, not her son.”

He signaled for the Umbrum to come down. They lowered, with Hope in their grasp, until they were close enough for Sombra to comfortably look up at and address her.

The Umbrum gripped Hope tighter than they had before. The bleeding increased. She thought they might have just avoided puncturing a major artery. She could not escape if she wanted to. But she did not even know if she wanted to. She did not know what she was supposed to do, for Sombra and for herself. Why was it always so hard?

She mentally kicked herself for not being able to go through with the spell.

I messed up. I failed again.

She wished she had one more chance to fix things, one more chance to use the spell. But she knew the result would be the same. She could never hurt Sombra. She had given up too much for him.

“Oh, my dear Hope,” Sombra said, “why can’t you stop failing me? Is it just who you are? Are you going to keep hurting me as long as you live?

“Sombra, please,” Hope said, her voice nearly a whisper, “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“And yet you keep doing it. You keep putting other ponies above me, above us. And they’re the ones who do nothing but betray you. Then again, I suppose you deserve it. You don’t know how to do anything for others.”

These barbs were designed to hurt her. Hope knew that. She knew she should be immune to them by now. But she could not help it. Each verbal strike stung her heart harder than the last.

“I don’t know what more I can do or say,” she said through tear-filled eyes. “I don’t know what more I can give. I can’t let you hurt ponies. Not anymore. But I’ll give you anything I have to give you. Anything. Everything.”

Sombra sneered and took a few steps back. “I’m sorry, Hope, but it’s too late for that.”

Hope thought. She tried to picture Sombra not as he was now, not as he was during the Siege, but as she first knew him. The goofy young colt she had been best friends with. The pony she had loved. She thought of the pain he had gone through, and of all she had done to try and save him.

And she thought of how she had failed. She had always failed. I couldn’t save you, she thought. I couldn’t save anyone.

Lailoken’s words sounded through her mind, “You can try to be better. But it’s not going to change who you are. Everypony who gets close to you ends up badly.”

And then, “You’re a monster.”

Maybe he was right. Maybe I am.

An idea came to Hope, an idea born of despair. She looked up at Sombra, long strands of mane-hair falling into her eyes.

“Okay, Sombra,” she said quietly and calmly. “You asked me if I’d give up all I had for you. If I’d give my life.”

She steadied and braced herself as much as she could within the Umbrum’s grip. “If I need to die, so be it. Maybe Equestria is better off without me. But if it will help you heal, I can live with dying. If you need to do it, go ahead, Sombra.”

Hope puffed out her chest as best she could. “Do what you have to do. Kill me.”

Sombra took a moment to look around at the darkness. He seemed almost amused.

“Oh, Hope, you always draw the wrong conclusions. I can’t kill you. I love you too much.”

Hope felt nearly crushed under the weight of this whiplash. “I don’t understand. If you love me—”

Sombra approached her again. “I just wanted some proof that you loved me. That you loved me for me, not for what you wanted me to be. That I could trust you.”

“Yes, you can, Sombra!” Hope exclaimed with every last bit of feeling. “A thousand times yes!”

“That you’d put me above all other ponies.”

“I already do. Just because I don’t want to hurt ponies anymore, that doesn’t mean that’s changed!”

Sombra rolled his eyes. “I’ve had enough of this. I wish I could trust you. I wish I had your love and your loyalty. But I can never be sure now. Which means I have no choice.”

Turning his gaze from her, he asked, “Invidia, are Princess Amore’s fragments ready, do you think?”

“They’ve been simmering in this ship’s dark energy for a while now,” Invidia said. “They should be.”

“Excellent.” Sombra’s horn began to glow.

Hope looked on either side of her to see the Umbrum’s white eyes begin to glow as well. She was becoming increasingly anxious. “Sombra, what are you doing?”

Princess Amore’s fragments began to levitate and rotate around them. Each fragment emitted a unearthly purple glow.

Sombra gave her a long, sad look. “Oh, my dearest Hope, we’re both monsters. I’ve accepted what I am. I just need you to finally accept what you are....”

“What? What do you–”

Sombra launched a dark, oozy beam from his horn. At the same moment, the Umbrum also fired beams from their eyes. Hope had no time to brace herself. The first two hit her head on either side. Hope screamed. Then came the third beam, Sombra’s beam. The screaming grew worse.

“Don’t fight it, Hope,” Sombra said, his voice deceptively loving. “Just give in. Just give in and we can finally be together.”

All was fire. Hope’s brain, her whole body, her bones and her blood, all felt like they were erupting into flame. She felt herself screaming. And then she felt nothing at all. Nothing but the fire and the pain and the sensation of falling. Falling into darkness. A stinging, biting darkness that held her and would never let her go free. In a proper state of mind, she might have expected to land at last upon the platform. But she was not in a proper state of mind and there was no platform.

She seemed to fall forever. And then there was nothing. No feeling, no pain, no thought. Nothing.

Radiant Hope was gone.

“Let her down, gently,” Sombra said.

His voice was softer and lighter. Excited even. He could not disguise his joy. But then, he did not even need to any more.

The Umbrum obeyed, dutifully lowering Hope to the grating. She did not move. She did not speak. She was limp in their hooves, with her head down and messy strands of hair covering her face.

They let go of her and she fell onto her stomach. She just lied there, her head completely covered by her long hair, which spread out all over the platform. She looked different. The distinct texture and sheen of the crystal ponies was gone. Her coat and hair had become duller, most of their color having faded. She looked, indeed, a little more like Sombra himself.

The shards of Princess Amore lost their glow and fell to the ground. The light was gone. There was only darkness.

“Hope?” Sombra asked .

Hope did not respond. She did not even move.

Sombra grew concerned. He walked over to the pony prone on the platform. He gently laid his hoof on her shoulder.

“Hope?” he asked again, his voice wavering a little.

“Don’t call me Hope,” she said. Except, it was not quite her voice. It sounded like her voice, but it was different in an almost imperceptible way. It was harsher and rougher, with a scratching quality which grated upon the ears.

Or, at least, on the ears of anypony not an Umbrum. To Sombra’s ears, her voice was perfect.

“Don’t call me Hope,” she said again as she slowly rose into a sitting position. “There is no hope anymore.”

“Whatever you command, my dark Empress,” Sombra said.

He put his hoof to her head and gently brushed back her hair. Red eyes met his own. They were eyes red enough to perfectly match the red, red blood streaming down her forelegs. Hope’s face had been marked by the ritual. The area around those red eyes was white, making her face seem almost skull-like. Long black marks stretched downward from her eyes. They were the charred remains of Hope’s tears.

“How do I look?” she asked with a weak but sinister smile.

Sombra beamed. “Perfect, my love. Just perfect.”

What had become of Radiant Hope?

Read on.

Hope Springs Eternal

The impact hurt. One would not expect a creature of smoke and shadow to be able to hurt that much from being thrown against something solid. But Misericordia, in his current state, was proof that it was possible. As he waited for his head to clear, the shadow eyed his surroundings. Nothing much caught his attention until his white eyes locked onto the platform, some distance away. There, he saw her. His Empress, Radiant Hope. Or rather, whatever Radiant Hope had become.

The creature slowly took a few steps, getting used to Hope's body. Invidia could see the purple smoke rising out of red eyes that had once been blue and had once been Hope's. He could not bring him to watch any more.

Misericordia knew he should be happy. After all this time, his Emperor and his Empress were together again. This is what he had been working for. This is what he had wanted.

Except, that thing was not his Empress. The Emperor may call it, “Empress,” but it was not. It was not the Radiant Hope he had known.

Misericordia shook his head. He felt something which was quite unusual for an Umbrum to feel. Unprecedented, even. Misericordia felt despair.

Misericordia looked around again. He had appeared to have landed in one of the small nooks which dotted the long walls of the boiler room. It was quite a snug fit, but that was no problem for a creature easily capable of changing its size and shape. It had been fortunate that it was here. The Emperor’s command of dark magic, though always a little uncontrolled, was powerful, and had Misericordia not landed here, he would not have regained himself before flying or falling deep into the depths. But from here, he had a rather good sight of the platform below. Yes, he had been fortunate.

That doesn’t make it any less painful, though.

Misericordia could not bear to look down at the proceedings on the platform. He knew that there was nothing he could do. He could only avert his eyes. So, he looked upward. He saw a catwalk. There was a purple light coming from it.

Strange, Misericordia thought.

Even stranger still, there seemed to be something in the purple light. A form. A form that looked very much like that of a pony.

Misericordia floated up to investigate. He quickly found that he had been correct in his surmise; there was a pony up here, beige in color with a grey mane and tail. Misericordia guessed that he was rather old, though the Umbrum had to admit that telling the ages of ponies was not his strong suit; they were very strange-looking creatures, after all. The pony was huddled down, with his forelegs hugging his own shoulders tightly. He was shaking and, with his horn providing just enough purple light to illuminate a few feet around him, his eyes rapidly scanned the darkness for what he couldn’t see.

"Oh, dear me, dear me. I am beset by dangers on all sides. There is nothing but darkness wherever I look. Those nasty Umbrum could be anywhere. They could strike at any moment! And to have landed on this rickety old catwalk, which feels as though it might give out from the slightest touch! Oh, cruel fate! And it’s so cold! Oh, where are you, sweet Hope? However shall I find you? My back is a disaster area! Why did I have to land directly on it when I fell? Those slipshod architects need to be fired for not understanding the necessity of offering a gentle landing to anypony who might break through the bottom of their pool! Oh, the indignity of it all!”

Misericordia tried to get a better look. He twisted his head at an angle that was only natural for the Umbrum. Yes, now he saw him clearly. He recognized this pony and this voice. More than that, though, he recognized the whining.

"You're that friend of the Empress," he said. "Dr. Fie."

The good doctor let out a bone-tingling scream.

Misericordia floated toward him. The shadow put his hoof to his mouth, trying to signal for the pony to be quiet.

At least, I hope that’s what this gesture means.

Maybe it did not, because the doctor did not seem to heed it. He began to back away, trying to hold a foreleg between him and Misericordia. And he screamed louder.

“Oh, please, good sir, don’t harm me!” Dr. Fie squealed. “I mean you no ill-will, I assure you! I am a friend.”

Misericordia continued to approach. He tried to signal with his hoof for the doctor to keep it down.

“No, don’t raise your hooves to strike me!” Dr. Fie pleaded. “Oh, no! No! I don’t threaten you! Have mercy, sir! Have mercy!”

Dr. Fie’s back hoof got caught in a hole in the grating. He tumbled backward. He landed hard on his back.

“Oh, my poor, delicate back!” he squealed. “This monster obviously set a trap for me! He knew he couldn’t take me in a frontal assault, so he used this deception to target my back! Oh, is there no honor among fiends anymore?”

Misericordia facehoofed.

Dr. Fie held up both hooves in front of his face.

“Now, this is the end! He raises his pernicious pincer to strike me down!” he cried. “Oh, that good, kindly Fiddly Fie should meet his death in such a frightful manner, torn apart by a demon’s claws! And on an empty stomach, too!”

Misericordia looked over his shoulder, full of nervous anticipation. He was certain that someone on the platform below must have heard this racket by now. He was not wrong.

“What is that awful noise?” the Emperor yelled.

“We’ll go check,” Invidia said. “Go check, Luxuria.”

“Why do I always have to do the heavy exertion?” Luxuria said.

“It’ll help you keep that girlish figure of yours,” Invidia responded.

“Can’t argue with that, I guess. I still think I do too much as it is.”

Misericordia watched Luxuria’s blue form leave the platform and zoom over toward his position. He looked over to Dr. Fie, who was still lying on the catwalk, caterwauling. Misericordia let out a sigh and lifted himself into the darkness above.

From his new vantage, he watched Dr. Fie look out cautiously from behind his hooves. He saw Luxuria hover up to the platform. She saw the doctor.

“Well, what do we have here?” she said. “A new pony to play with?”

Dr. Fie let out another piercing scream. Luxuria grew fiendishly excited upon hearing this. Barely able to contain herself, she lunged at him. Dr. Fie curled into as much of a ball as he could managed while the smoked-filled figure nearly jumped on top of him.

“Oh, he’s not so cute,” she said. “But I guess they all feel the same on the inside.”

“Oh, no, no, madam!” Dr. Fie shrieked. “Please, don’t harm me! No, don’t touch me! Keep those ugly hooves to yourself! Stay away! Stay!”

“Ugly? I’ll have you know, I’m considered one of the great beauties of the Umbrum. For even suggesting otherwise, I’m going to make this especially slow and painful.”

Luxuria giggled as she slowly lowered her hooves, ready to tear Dr. Fie apart. He screamed more and more. She avoided making direct contact, instead savoring the look on his face as her hooves got closer and closer. She clearly enjoyed making him squirm and suffer.

Misericordia was glad she did because it gave him the opportunity he was waiting for. Just as Luxuria was finally ready to initiate contact, he swooped down. He slammed into her as hard as he could. Luxuria went flying off of Dr. Fie and tumbled over the railing. Soon, she had vanished into the darkness below.

“We won’t have much time,” Misericordia said. “We need to get you out of here.”

Dr. Fie slowly lowered his hooves from his face. Still on his back, he looked up at Misericordia fearfully, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open.

“You’re not... you’re not going to hurt me?” he asked, his voice suggesting both anxiety and disbelief.

“I would never hurt those on whom my Empress’ favor falls.”

Dr. Fie leapt to his hooves with surprising vigor for one who was just complaining about his back. He stood taller, prouder, and with more confidence than Misericordia had expected from a pony who had a moment before been rolled into a little ball, shivering. But nopony seeing Dr. Fie now would have thought him even capable of cowardice.

“I suppose it’s to be expected,” Dr. Fie said. “No monster worth his salt would try to pick a fight with Fiddly Fie, the terror of evildoers everywhere! Had that corpulent cro-magnon persisted in her hostility, why, you would have seen me imitate the tiger. You would have seen-”

“From what I saw, you seemed to be imitating the possum. Or is it the chicken. These animal names confuse me.”

"With those small eyes, I am not surprised you have trouble seeing what is clearly in front of your face" the doctor said. "You should consider glasses. I’ll write you a prescription later, you near-sighted ninny. But never mind that now. I am here on a mission, dear boy."

“Why are you calling me ‘dear boy?’” Misericordia responded. “I’m thousands of years old. I was before Celestia and Luna were even born!"

"Oh, spare me the technicalities, you translucent troublemaker. I do not care about your ridiculous reminiscences. My only concern is saving dear Hope. Since you claim to be so loyal, perhaps you have some inkling as to her whereabouts. Can you take me to her?"

"I fear that we cannot save her," Misericordia said sadly.

"Oh, pish-posh!" Dr. Fie responded. "Such defeatist thinking explains why how your kind got locked up in that dreary Prison of Shadows in the first place. Come now, where is she?”

“See for yourself.” Misericordia pointed toward the edge of the catwalk.

Dr. Fie carefully crept over. He got onto his stomach and lowered his head so as to hide as much of himself as he could.

“I can’t see very well from here,” he said. “But there’s dear Hope. And who is that with her?”

“You know him as King Sombra,” Misericordia said matter-of-factly.

“King Sombra!” Dr. Fie let out a squeak. “You mean, the King Sombra? Hope’s Sombra? The infamous tyrant who banished the Crystal Empire for a thousand years?”

“Tyrant? I suppose from a certain perspective,” Misericordia said.

“Sombra... Sombra... King Sombra....” Dr. Fie got to his hooves, his voice becoming faint. “I apologize, dear boy, but there is something I really must do.”

The doctor began to wobble back and forth. His eyes rolled back in his head. Once more, he fell backward onto the grating.

“Ponies....” Misericordia remarked.

Sombra was elated. He paraded himself around the platform, looking every once the monarch he had long imagined himself to be. Or so he supposed this to be how he looked. It was just a shame that there was nopony there to see it.

Except for Invidia. And for his Empress. But then again, his Empress was all that mattered.

“What do you think of this for a palace, my love?” he asked.

The Dark Empress looked around. “It’s hardly a palace. Just a floating ruin. I had better accommodations in the Prison of Shadows.

Sombra took her hooves in his. “It’s merely temporary. Soon, once we release our subjects, you shall have your pick between Canterlot Castle and the Crystal Palace.”

“Why not both?” she asked. “We could have a summer and winter home.”

“Excellent,” Sombra said. “I am so glad to finally have someone who sees eye to eye with me so completely. I’m sorry about the pain I had to cause you, Hope—”

“Hope is gone. Did you forget?”

Sombra shook his head. “Don’t say things like that. You are still my hope, after all. The mare I have waited for and wanted for a thousand years. The mare who will give herself completely to me.”

“Of course,” said the Empress. “I will be whatever you want me to be, Sombra.”

“We should move quickly to release our brethren,” Invidia said. “Then we can take this land before anypony is the wiser.”

“There will be time for that,” Sombra said, not breaking his gaze from his mate’s eyes. “Let me just enjoy this moment, Invidia.”

“But we must act before—”

“I am your Emperor. What I say, goes.”

“Yes, milord,” Invidia said. Sombra could tell he was unhappy about it. But he would listen. He had to listen. His Emperor’s word was law, after all. What could a mere shadow pony do to gain say it?

All Sombra cared about was his Empress. He wanted to focus only on her, to get lost in her beautiful red eyes. She smiled at him and he felt his heart flutter. It was like when they were children. But it was better now. So much better.

But like so many of his fleeting moments of happiness, it was not meant to last. Suddenly, he felt his grip on her hooves loosening. They soon fell to the grating. She was a little surprised by this, but Sombra was more so. He looked down at his own hooves. He could see through them to the platform below. They were fading.

“Curse this temporary form,” he said. “I feared it would only last a short while.”

“Sombra, my love and my king, you can’t fade away now,” the Empress said. “Not after we have just found each other.”

Sombra smiled. “No need to be concerned, my dear. With the two of us together at last, my body is as good as healed. We can easily rebuild it.”

“You mean....”

“Yes, Hope, you can do it. Now, you can give yourself to me fully. You have the power. The power to save me.”

“But I’ll die,” the Empress pleaded. “You don’t want me to die, do you?”

Sombra ran his hoof down her cheek. Unfortunately, his hoof just dissipated like smoke upon contact. Sombra sneered.

“You really could not have given me a better body?” he snapped at Invidia.

“We did the best we could. The Empress must do the rest,” Invidia responded with an obsequious bow.

Sombra turned back to the Empress, offering her a reassuring smile. “No, you won’t die. That was merely a test. I wanted to know what you were willing to do for me. I wanted to know that you would be willing to die if I asked. You weren’t before. Now you are.”

“I would... I would die for you,” the Empress said quietly. “I will do anything to please you.”

“But you don’t need to,” Sombra said. “All you need to do is use your healing power to rebuild my body.”

Sombra put some distance between himself and the Empress. Then he waited. “Whenever you’re ready, my love.”

The Empress nodded. She prepared herself. Her horn began to glow. It glowed a dark red. And then, purple-black, mud-like bubbles began to form.

“No, my dear,” Sombra said. “Don’t use dark magic. Use your own magic. Only your magic has the power to restore me.”

The glow and the sludge disappeared.

“I don’t know if I can do it,” the Empress said. “That is the magic of Hope.”

“You are Hope,” Sombra said. “You will still have the power. I know you. I believe in you.”

The Empress seemed unsure. She looked around and fretted. But finally, she steadied herself.

Sombra nodded happily. She would try again. And this time, he knew she would succeed.

She stood there, her horn pointed toward him. Nothing happened.

She dug her hooves into the grating. Nothing happened.

She grit her teeth. Sweat appeared on her brow. Every single muscle in her body tensed up. She struggled and strained.

But nothing happened.

“I can’t do it,” she said. “I don’t have the power.”

“You can do it!” Sombra said, “You still have the power inside of you.”

The Empress shook her head. “I do not have that power. It isn’t my power. It is the power of Hope.”

Sombra was growing frustrated. “You have the power! You are Hope!”

“No,” the Empress said, “I am not Hope. There is no hope left inside of me.”

Hope felt a hard surface beneath her. The texture was bumpy, cracked, and uneven. She felt herself lying down, which was good, in so far as it indicated that she could still feel. But whatever she was lying on was not very comfortable.

Hope wondered where she was. Even with her eyes closed, she could see light.

Hope opened her eyes. The blue sky was above her. She looked around. There were buildings on all sides. They looked familiar. She got to her hooves. This whole place looked familiar. Eerily familiar.

There was a noise. The sound of wheels on asphalt. Wheels moving far too fast.

“Get out of the road!” came a voice.

Hope did not have time. The carriage appeared too quickly. The pony pulling it did not even attempt to stop.

Hope felt hooves on her shoulders. She was pulled to the side. The carriage sped past with enough force to blow her mane and tail all around her..

She watched the carriage disappear around the bend, and then it hit her. The street, the sidewalks, the buildings beyond; they were all familiar because she recognized them. She had been here before. This was not just any intersection. This was the intersection. The intersection where the carriage-wreck had occurred. This was where she had healed seven ponies.

“You need to start being more careful. Don’t need you becoming a crystal pancake out there. ‘Crystal pancakes.’ Sounds terrible. So I’m sure somepony or other will be serving them soon.”

That voice! I know that voice!

Hope spun around. There she saw a familiar old pony with horn-rimmed glassed.

“Ponies these days, they’ve always got somewhere they have to be,” he said. “They never ask themselves if maybe they’re supposed to be where they are.”

Hope’s brows raised. “You,” she said.

“Me,” he responded.

Hope looked around her once more. She looked at the white clouds above and the orb of the Sun, suspended near the mid-point of the sky.

“Am I dead?” she asked. “Is this Heaven?”

The old pony chuckled. “Heaven? At the corner of Bruins and Andalusian? Who’d come up with a bright idea like that?”

Hope shook her head. “I never believed in Heaven. Or anything really. But this place... where is it?”

“I’ve never been one to give directions,” the pony said. “You try to tell people exactly where to go, and yet somehow they still get lost. It turns out there’s no harder path to follow than a straight line.”

“That’s true,” Hope said. “I learned that with Sombra. With a lot of ponies, actually.”

The pony tilted his head. “So, I’m thinking, let them start out lost and find their own way. It’s good for them. It builds character.”

“And what if they never find their way?” Hope asked.

The pony shrugged. “They’ll still end up going to some interesting places.”

“Interesting is a word for it,” Hope said.

“If you’ve got a better one, I could use the suggestions. A bigger vocabulary makes you seem educated, they say. And I’ve been around so long, I figure I should know something by now.”

“I don’t know if any of us really ever knows anything,” Hope said. “I still feel like I don’t, even after all this time.”

“You’re on the right track. The more things people know, the less they seem to understand. It’s a little glitch in the programming.”

Hope stared blankly at the pony. “Oh, right,” he said. “Electronics metaphor. You won’t have gotten caught up on those yet. You might be better off, truth be told. I have a bad feeling about all this newfangled technology. I think it’s going to be—“

“A mistake,” they said together.

“Bingo,” the pony said.

Hope began to trot down the street. The old pony, despite his age, kept up with her. This did not surprise her at all.

“Okay, where am I supposed to go now?” Hope asked.

“Nowhere, if you don’t want to. The choice is yours. If you want to go somewhere, then go.”

Hope looked around. “But where am I destined to go?”

“I thought you didn’t believe in destiny.”

“I believe in it if it’ll help me get back to Sombra. If it’ll help me fix everything.”

“That’s the thing with destiny. It’s a straight line. And we know how good ponies are at following those.”

Hope looked down at her flank. There was her cutie mark. The caduceus.

“But what about cutie marks? Aren’t they supposed to be destiny? That’s what we’re all told as foals.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was addressing a foal.”

“Well, I’m not. It’s just—”

“We tell children such stories. We give them easy answers to explain things, all just to hide that we don’t have any ourselves.”

“But cutie marks are what makes ponies who they are.”

“You know, I’m beginning to think your friend Starlight is right. Cutie marks were a mistake.”

Hope’s jaw dropped. “You know Starlight?”

The pony gave an almost imperceptible shrug. “I know a lot of people.”

Hope nodded. “Starlight will be glad to know that her cause has one supporter. She’s not been having much luck attracting them lately.”

“She’s a good kid. Just a little turned around."

"Didn't you say some ponies needed to be?"

"You were listening. It's nice to be heard for a change. But the thing about cutie marks is, ponies just assume they’re a straight line.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying there’s a reason most ponies don’t go to very many interesting places.”

Hope fell into thought. “Starlight once told me that my cutie mark could mean many things. Healing, secrecy, deception.”

“And wisdom,” said the pony. “That Starlight’s a smart girl. You should listen to her more.”

“But which is it?” Hope asked. “Which meaning applies to me?”

The old pony shrugged. “Why can’t it be all of them? You contain multitudes, Hope.”

Hope looked down at her sides. “Well, I’ve been trying to watch what I eat....”

“Again, it’s not a weight thing. You’re fine, you’re fine. Stop looking at yourself like that. If you’re fat, I’m Princess Celestia. And trust me, I look terrible in a tiara.”

Hope looked to her hooves, “You’re right, I guess. I feel like I’m so many things. And not all of them fit together. It’s like, I know I’ve done some bad things. So I keep trying to be better. I keep trying to go on a better path. But it’s just.... I feel like I can’t do it. Somepony recently told me that I’m a pony of light—”

“Dr. Fie.”

“You know him to.”

The pony nodded. “I do. He’s an idiot.”

To Hope’s stern look, he responded. “Don’t take it personally. Some of my favorite ponies are idiots.”

“Well, as I was saying, he keeps saying I’m a pony of light, that I have so much light inside of me. And maybe he’s right. But I just feel like there’s so much darkness too. Whenever I try to find the light, I just seem to end up with the darkness.”

“Light, darkness. They aren’t so different. Sometimes you need them both. It’s the ponies who think they’re all one or the other than you need to worry about.”

Hope looked up into the sky. The clouds have covered up the sun. “I don’t know. I do want to be a pony of light. I want to be a good pony. I don’t want to be a monster. I just feel like I’ve done too much. I’ve seen too much. I’ve known too much. I’ve been too much in the darkness. I can’t get to the light.”

The pony smiled his wry smile. “Well, every great saint was a great sinner once. That’s what they say, at any rate. I don’t know much about that. But I do know is that sometimes the only way to find the light is by going through the darkness.”

Hope watched the clouds. They slowly began to move along their regular path and soon enough, they had passed by, once more revealing the glory of the Sun.

“I just wish I knew how to do it,” Hope said. “I just wish I could figure out how to find light in the darkness. To find hope again.”

The old pony stopped. “This walking is tiring me out. You might not know it from my good looks, but I’m rather old. I can’t keep up with you youngsters.”

“I’m a thousand and sixteen years old.”

“Eh, it’s all perspective. You think a thousand is old. That’s just yesterday to a windigo. And I’m sure Mount Everhoof would have some things to say about it as well.”

Hope sighed. “But it already feels like most of my life has passed, no matter what.”

“You never know. Besides, what’s you’ve really got when you get down to it, you don’t have ten years or a thousand. You’ve just got now. And now, I need a rest.”

“But where,” Hope said, looking around.

The pony pointed his hoof. “That bench over there looks nice.”

Hope’s eyes widened. She gasped.

The bench.

It was the same bench, the bench she and the old pony had sat at before. Hope had not seen it until just now.

And there was a pony already sitting on the bench, a young filly by the looks of her. She had a lavender coat and hair of a clear, watery blue flowing down over her eyes. As Hope got closer to her, she noticed that the filly’s coat was sparkling in the sun, almost as though it was made of....

Crystal.

Hope’s jaw dropped. “Is that... Is that me?”

“Dr. Fie. Dr. Fie.”

The good doctor slowly became aware of something touching his cheeks. More like slapping, actually. It was meant to be gentle, apparently, but this pony’s hooves were so sharp it felt altogether too much like being poked repeatedly with needles.

Dr. Fie opened his eyes. They met a pair of small orbs in the darkness, glowing with an ethereal pale white.

And suddenly, everything came flooding back. Dr. Fie felt his whole body shake as he remembered where he was and what he was there for.

He jumped to his hooves. “Keep your claws off me, you unhinged urchin!”

“I was merely trying to revive you,” the shadow said.

“Revive me? Poppycock! I’ll have you know Dr. Fiddly Fie has nerves of steel! I was merely taking a power nap. One must be at full strength and alertness when conducting dangerous rescue missions, you know.”

“I don’t think we can do any rescuing,” the shadow (Dr. Fie seemed to remember his name being ‘Misericordia’) said. “Sombra has gotten what he wanted. My Empress is no more.”

"Oh, stop with that 'Empress' nonsense, you sycophantic psychopath! Just call her by her name. 'Radiant Hope' is a noble enough title without you adding anything to it. And besides, I can see her right down there.”

“That is not her.”

“Not her? Not her? Does darkness cloud your eyes as well as every other part of you? She’s there. See, purple and blue.”

Dr. Fie made an exaggerated pointing gesture with his hoof.

“You are the one who is blind,” Misericordia said. “Do you not see how she and the Emperor are interacting?”

Dr. Fie stiffened. He never liked being insulted by ponies. He certainly was not about to take it from this... this thing.

“I’ll have you know that my eyesight is perfect. Better even. During the Zebra Wars I was known as ‘Eagle-Eye Fie’. And I clearly know Hope better than you do, ninny. She always goes on about Sombra. She’s very emotional like that. Mares, you know.”

“I have little experience with mares—“

“Oh, ho-hum! I could not care less about your romantic misadventures, you ridiculous Romeo!”

“—but you are more emotional than any mare I have ever met.”

“Of course, I am. Just as I think more deeply than other ponies, I feel more deeply as well. It’s one of the many burdens of greatness, I’m afraid.”

The shadow shook his head. When he spoke, he spoke more slowly. “Listen. I am trying to tell you something important.”

“You could have fooled me, you blubbering baboon.”

“That is not your Radiant Hope. It may look like her, but it is not. She has been corrupted by dark energy.”

Dr. Fie smiled a superior smile. “Corrupted by dark energy? Stuff and nonsense if I ever heard it!”

“It is true. The Emperor wanted an Empress that was worthy of him. And he feared that the Radiant Hope you knew was not.”

“Harumph! Not worthy, indeed! I’ll have you know that my dear Hope is worth more than all you sinister shadows put together.”

Misericordia signaled for him to be quiet. Then the shadow looked over his shoulder. When he spoke again, his voice was lower — an impressive achievement for an Umbrum.

“I agree, Dr. Fie. But you must understand. The Emperor has never fully forgiven the Empress for leaving him all those years ago. He has always feared she would betray him again. So if the Siege failed, he came up with a new plan that would allow him both to rise again and finally have the Empress he wanted; one unconditionally loyal to him.”

The weight of everything landed squarely on Dr. Fie’s shoulders. This new information was more than enough to break many a lesser pony. He felt faint again. But Dr. Fie had always said that he had greater inner strength than those other ponies. It was time to start proving it.

He put his hooves to his chest. “Oh, dear me. So, you are saying that that is a different being in Hope’s body. That our Hope is gone?”

“Not exactly. That is not a different being from Hope. Rather, what Sombra sought to do was bring out the dark part of her, the part of her which was angry, the part that resented everything that life had done to her.”

Dr. Fie shook his head. “But Hope doesn’t have that sort of thing in her!”

“Of course, she does. Every pony does.”

“Not me, I assure you!”

“So, you never feel anger?”

“Only righteous indignation, dear boy. There’s a difference, but I wouldn’t expect a shadow-demon to grasp it.”

“‘Righteous’ indignation by definition requires righteousness, Dr. Fie.”

“Precisely. Ponies like Hope and I, we suffer the ‘slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,’ but do either of us complain? No. Well, Hope does a little. Quite a bit, actually. Sometimes, it can great on the nerves, though one tries to be patient with her. But as for Fiddly Fie, not he, oh no!”

Misericordia seemed to be tiring of this.

“Whatever you say, for you are ‘good, kindly Dr. Fie.’ But Hope has suffered. She simply never let it turn her to hatred as Sombra did. But he wanted to make her more like him, he wanted to bring out the part of her that could have turned her into what he is.”

“Hope would have resisted it.”

“That is why he needed all the dark energy he could find. He brought shards of Princess Amore here for the purpose. And now she is like him.”

Dr. Fie felt his legs grow weak again. He leaned against the railing to sustain himself. “Oh, dear Hope! What has happened to you! Lost! Lost and gone! Oh, dear Hope. Hope is lost. This is why I knew she never should have come down here!”

“I agree.”

“Of course, you do. I’m always right.”

“I no longer agree.”

“Oh, shut up, you ninny.”

Dr. Fie felt ready to cry. If what this shadow was saying was true, his beloved Radiant Hope was lost to him forever. Dr. Fie clutched at his heart. The pain of losing her would be too much. He did not know how he could live in an Equestria without her in it. For once in his life, life itself did not seem worth keeping.

Then, an image of Radiant Hope flashed in his mind. Hope. What a fitting name, he reflected. She had never thought so, but it was. For she had given him a knowledge of something he had never known. She had taught him how to care for another pony, to want to be better for another pony. She would never believe it, but she had taught him to believe he could be better. She had given him hope.

’And where there’s life, there’s hope.’

Dr. Fie shook his head. He would not give up. He had always given up. All his life, he had given up on everything and everyone as soon as it no longer directly benefit him. And he had never regretted it. Not until he met Radiant Hope. And now he would not give up on her.

“I can’t believe it,” he said. “I simply cannot believe it. That thing is not who Hope is, but if it is a part of her, then Hope must still be in there somewhere. It looks like we’re the ones who have to save her.”

“We?” Misericordia asked. “I did not think you were the type of pony to get directly involved.”

“How little you know me, sir! I am a pony of action!”

“‘Ponies of action’, I have heard, rarely take action themselves.”

Dr. Fie thought for a moment. “It is true, I used to have a saying, ‘No action at a distance.’ But I’m not putting distance between myself and life anymore.” Standing up a little straighter, he added, “After all, what is the purpose of a great pony such as myself if not to sort out crisis after crisis as destiny presents them before me?"

"I do not see what we can do now,” Misericordia said. “I do not know how to save Hope.”

“Oh, ye of little faith! I believe in Radiant Hope. You just need to as well.”

“Belief without action doesn’t change the world, Dr. Fie.”

“Oh, pish-posh! I grow tired of your negativity, you smoke-filled spoilsport! But that is why we need strategy. Luckily for you, Dr. Fiddly Fie is a master tactician.”

"Oh, thank darkness,” Misericordia remarked. Despite the scratchiness of his voice, Dr. Fie thought he could hear a hint of sarcasm in it.

“Mind your manners or it’ll cost you your friends,” Dr. Fie snapped.

“I’m an Umbrum. I have no friends. Except for Radiant Hope.”

“And I am not surprised, with your lack of social graces.”

Then, a noise rang out from somewhere down below. Dr. Fie jumped and squealed.

“I expect Luxuria will be back soon,” Misericordia said.

“Yes,” Dr. Fie said, trying to regain his composure. “Clearly, our first step is to take care of those horrid-looking shadow monsters...”

“No offense taken, Dr. Fie,”

“There’s a shame, because offense was certainly intended.”

Misericordia let out a sigh. “Very well. How do you intend to deal with Luxuria and Invidia?”

Dr. Fie's eyes narrowed. He raised a hoof. "Never fear, Fie is here."

“Try again, try again,” Sombra said, growing increasingly anxious.

He was barely capable of keeping a coherent form now. He was pacing around the platform — or whatever could be called pacing given that he barely had anything resembling legs anymore.

“Invidia!” he shouted. Invidia shot a quick beam of dark magic at him.

For a moment, Sombra’s smoky body stabilized. “Try again,” he snapped at the lavender crystal pony.

“I... I can’t,” the Empress said. “I told you! I can’t do it!”

“You can do it. Hope could do it.”

“How many times do I have to say that I’m not Radiant Hope anymore?”

Sombra let out a loud growl. “You are Radiant Hope! And you must heal me!”

The Empress grew panicked. She shook her head frantically. “Maybe you can use Princess Amore’s fragments. We still have those! You said you could use them to restore your body!”

“No, I can’t!” Sombra snapped. “I only needed them for the ritual, to make you what you are. I just told you the other thing because I had to keep you from getting suspicious. I wanted to test you, after all.”

“You... you lied to me?” the Empress asked, her voice small and quiet.

“It was necessary at the time,” Sombra said dismissively. “It brought out the best in you. Or should I say, the worst.”

“My liege,” Invidia said, “I hate to say it, but I alone cannot keep you together for much longer. If the Empress cannot rebuild your body, I fear—”

“Silence, Invidia!” Sombra barked. “I would remind you that, if you have doubts, not to voice them openly. Such things are what treason is made of.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Invidia said, quietly.

“Besides, Hope will fix things. Eventually.”

“Yes, Invidia,” the Empress said to the Umbrum, with a tone surprisingly sweet and kind. “I will find a way to fix things. But can you come down here? I’d like to speak with you for a moment.”

“Hmph, what could you need to talk to him for?” Sombra remarked.

“I’m still feeling weak and not fully in control of my magic,” the Empress said. “You trusted Invidia to gather the dark energy of Amore’s fragments. Maybe he can help me stabilize my dark energy.”

Sombra was skeptical. He doubted it would work. There was nothing Invidia could know about Princess Amore or dark energy that he did not. But, best to humor his love, he thought, especially when she was so newly reborn.

“Very well,” he said, “but make it quick.”

Sombra turned away as they spoke. Though they seemed to get quite involved in discussion, he did not much care what they said. All he was certain of was that this was wasting time. Sombra looked out into the blackness all around him. For a shadow pony, darkness held no mysteries. He could see everything in this place. It was not so frightening. It was just the inside of a boat, with pipes and steel. There were no surprises here.

Briefly, the pipes and steels were visible to more than just somepony with Umbric vision, colored turquoise by a bright light.

Well, that was a surprise.

Sombra turned around. There, in between him and his Dark Empress, stood a lavender pony. At first, Sombra thought he was seeing double-vision. But this pony was different. She had purple hair with violet and turquoise streaks, done up in a mane-do that was old-fashioned even in Sombra’s youth. She was holding something in her foreleg, a scroll by the looks of it. She took a few uncertain steps. She wobbled back and forth and seemed woozy.

"Hope was right," Starlight said. "Teleporting this far down really did take it out of me."

“Oh, hello, Starlight,” the Empress said, her voice dripping with contempt.

Starlight’s eyes lit up when she saw her. “Hope, I was so worried I’d be too late. I was afraid I’d get here and you’d already be....”

“Dead?”

Starlight threw her forelegs around the Empress. “But I’m so glad you’re okay, Hope! I’m so glad you’re a live!”

The Empress was emotionless. “Hope is gone.”

Starlight released her. “What do you mean?”

“Why does it matter?” the Empress responded. “Didn’t you say you hoped I’d die? Aren’t you disappointed?”

Starlight took a few steps back. “I’m so sorry, Hope! I was upset and it was an emotional moment and I regretted it immediately! Hope, I never should have said it. I—”

Starlight fell to ground, a victim of a blast of dark magic. “Shut up,” the Empress said, her horn smoking.

“Okay, I’ll admit, I might have deserved that,” Starlight said, cradling her jaw. “I get that you were really upset with what I said. I’d be too, but.... What’s with that stuff on your face? And since when are your eyes red?”

“Ever since I embraced my true nature,” the Empress said menacingly. Her horn began to glow the same color as her eyes.

Sombra smiled in pride.

“Hope, what are you—” Starlight did not get time to finish her question. The beam came flying at her. Only by rolling to her hooves at the last moment did she avoid another direct hit.

“Pity,” the Empress said, readying up for another shot. “You’d have looked so pretty as a statue.”

Starlight was prepared. She cast a spell to create a dome-like shield around herself. The Empress’ magic ricocheted off the dome and into the darkness. Invidia had to quickly dodge to avoid it.

“Hope, I don’t know what’s going on, but this isn’t you!” Starlight said. “You’re not the type of pony who would do this!”

“How many times do I have to keep saying it?” the Empress said with a snarl. “Hope is gone.”

Meanwhile, Sombra had picked up the spell and was reading through it. “What is this? Time-travel?”

Starlight wheeled around. She caught sight of Sombra for the first time. Her jaw dropped.

“Is that.... Is that....”

“Kneel to your Emperor, worm,” the Empress said. “Kneel to Emperor Sombra.”

“Sombra?” Starlight asked. “But I thought he was dead.”

“I’m obviously very much alive,” Sombra remarked, not looking up from the spell. “Which is more than I can say for how you’ll soon be.”

“Hope?” Starlight said, the tone of her voice demanding an explanation.

“We’re back together now” the Empress said. “The bonds of true love, sometimes, can’t be broken.”

The lavender mare looked quite upset. Sombra found it cute.

“Oh Celestia, Hope,” she said. “He did something to you, didn’t he? He hurt you in some way, made you like this!” Turning to Sombra, she yelled. “You’re going to pay for this! I won’t let you hurt Hope and get away with it.”

“I only showed her what she truly is,” Sombra said as he finished reading the spell. “But this time-travel spell will be useful. Just think of all I can do to Equestria with it. I suppose I should thank you. Maybe I’ll let your death be quick.”

Starlight charged toward him. “Put that down! Give it back to me! That’s mine! I stole it fair and square!”

Sombra let out a sigh. This was no longer cute. He let forth a blast of Umbric magic from his horn. Starlight’s shield was strong enough to withstand the blow, but it caused her to falter in her tracks. Which was fine. Sombra had intended it more as a warning shot anyway.

“My love, who is this creature?” he asked.

“Trust me, she’s not worth knowing,” the Empress remarked with a sneer.

Starlight approached Sombra. At first, he began to prepare another blast, more lethal this time. But then, he stopped. This pony was not trotting up in a threatening manner. No, it was more arrogant, haughty even. Sombra knew that feeling well.

“Let me get closer,” Starlight said. “Surely, you recognize me. We were in the same line for a while.”

Sombra looked at her, his eyes narrow. “You’re not an Umbrum. You are not a king. You are nothing but an annoyance. I don’t know how we are in the ‘same line.’”

Starlight looked quite disgusted. She grit her teeth. “I’m Starlight Glimmer.”

She spread her forelegs beside her. Sombra gave her no response.

Starlight surveyed the darkness above, her disgust now quite pronounced. “I’m Princess Twilight’s greatest enemy. I stripped her of her cutie mark, of her power. I nearly defeated her!”

Sombra shrugged. “I’ve defeated her twice or so now. But congratulations.”

Starlight let out a frustrated growl.

“Ignore her, Sombra,” the Empress said, “she’s nopony. She wanted to start a movement, she wanted to convince ponies to get rid of their cutie marks. But she couldn’t do it. So, she tried to rope me in. And still, she failed. It’s quite pathetic, actually.”

Sombra folded the spell and placed it underneath his foreleg. He began to approach Starlight.

“I always did think cutie marks were quite stupid,” Sombra said. “I’ve gotten through life fine without one. It’s a pity, in another life, we could have been friends.”

Dark ooze flowed up and down his horn. “If you weren’t such an insignificant creature, that is.”

Starlight braced herself and did her best to reinforce the barrier. “Take your best shot. I am Starlight Glimmer, the greatest unicorn mage of my generation. I can handle anything you’ve got, smoky.”

Sombra let the insult roll off him. It was below a king to banter with a thing so below his notice. Instead, he said, “You may be right, at least in my current state. But you won’t just be facing me.”

He looked up at Invidia. “Go find Luxuria,” he said. “We’ll need her.” Then he turned toward the Empress. “Come, my love. I gather this pony has hurt you. It is time to have your vengeance.”

The Empress began to stalk Starlight, her lips curled into a fiendish smile.

Starlight’s eyes flashed from Sombra to the Dark Empress as both came closer and closer. Even within her dome, Sombra could see that the mare was growing afraid. He smiled. This was how he wanted it.

Starlight tried to back out from between them, but it would not matter. She looked at the Empress, imploringly.

“Hope, you don’t have to do this!” Starlight pleaded. “Hope, I’m your friend!”

“I have no friends,” the Empress said, “and besides....”

Starlight’s eyes grew wide as they reflected the red glow emitting from the Empress’ horn. The Empress’s grim chuckle was enough to even make Sombra shiver.

“Hope is gone.”

“Do we have to stop and sit here?” Hope said as she reached the bench.

“Who are you talking to?” asked the young filly.

As weird as this was, Hope’s natural instinct to be friendly to children kicked in. She smiled a friendly smile. “I was just talking to my friend and... he’s gone, isn’t he?”

“I don’t see anypony,” the filly said. “Ooh, ooh, I know. Is he invisible?”

Hope looked behind her. “No, he’s... he’s just gone. Because of course he is.”

“I had a friend who was invisible once,” the younger Hope said. “I have a lot of friends. Fairies, pixies, sprites, gnomes, kelpies....”

“Do you mind if I sit down?” Hope asked her younger self.

“Sure,” the younger Hope said. “It’s a free country.”

Hope made to sit down.

“No, not there!” the younger Hope yelled.

Hope immediately jumped back up.

“That’s where my puca friend, Jock, is sitting.”

“Oh, of course,” Hope said, moving over. “Pucas always have to sit on the right side of a bench.”

“Or else they break out in warts,” both Hopes said together.

Hope sat down on the other side of her younger self. “Obviously. I don’t know where my mind was. I’ve had a lot to think about lately. I’m sorry, Jock!”

“He says he forgives you,” young Hope said. “I don’t know why. Nearly sitting on a puca is not a very nice thing to do.”

“I’ve done some very not-nice things before,” Hope said.

“Well, that’s silly,” said her younger self. “Why would you ever do those things?”

“I just sort of fell into them.” Hope thought for a moment. “No, that’s not true. I was trying to help a friend and it meant not being so nice.”

“Why would your friend want you to not be nice? That sounds like a bad friend. I wouldn’t want friends like that.”

“It’s complicated. You’re too young to understand. You really shouldn’t be so judgmental. It’s mean.”

Young Hope seemed a little upset. “You can’t tell me what to do. You’re not my mom or dad!”

“No, but I am your older self, and that should count for something,” Hope said. “Now, say you’re sorry.”

Young Hope looked down and kicked her hooves. By the looks of her, she genuinely felt bad. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have said it. I just don’t understand why adults always say I’m too young to understand things. I understand lots of things. I know all about fairies and knights and dragons.”

Hope smiled a tender, yet sad smile. She spoke softly. “It’s not your fault. It’s just how life is. There aren’t many knights in shining armor out there. You have to be your own. Sometimes that means making hard decisions or trying to find the right answer when there isn’t one. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you do the wrong thing.”

“Then life is silly.”

Hope laughed a little. “You don’t know the half of it.” As she looked at her younger self, her own mind became lost in thought.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” young Hope asked. “Did I grow wings or something?”

“No, you’re not an alicorn,” Hope said with a smile. “I know you want to be.”

“I don’t want to be an alicorn,” responded young Hope. “I want to be a princess. They’re not the same thing.”

“Well, not yet. You wait, though.” Then a Hope shook her head. “Or you know what? Don’t wait. The whole princess thing, it’s not worth it. Most dreams aren’t.”

“You don’t believe in dreams?” young Hope responded, looking at her older self as though she had just squashed a puca.

Hope tilted her head. “I don’t believe in destiny. It’s sort of the same thing. Life doesn’t really work that way.”

“See, I understand things,” young Hope said. “I told you life was silly and it is.”

Hope nodded. “I guess you’re right.”

“But if I become a princess, I’ll be able to help lots of ponies. It would be awesome! No pony would ever be sad again!”

“I used to think so too.” Hope stopped herself. Of course, she used to think so. This was her she was talking to, after all.

She gazed at her younger self once more. As she looked at her, Hope felt herself taken back to the days when life held so much promise and her native optimism came easily.

Hope smiled wistfully. “You’re special, little me. You don’t know it, but you are. That light you have, that joy, that love for living. I miss that. I wish I still had it. But I’m not like that anymore. I’m not you anymore.”

Hope’s younger self did not seem to comprehend what her older self was saying. “I don’t get it. You’re me. How can you say you’re not?”

“That’s a long story. I don’t think I’ll ever fully be able to understand it myself.” Hope took a moment and stared at her younger self. “What are you doing here?”

Young Hope looked up to the sky. “I’m gonna turn this bench into a fort. It’s gonna be the biggest, best fort ever. Or maybe a castle. A big castle with a moat and a dungeon and towers and everything! I’m just waiting for my best friend, Sombra. Then we’ll build it together!”

“Nothing ever changes, does it.” This was in Hope’s voice, her slightly deeper adult voice. But Hope herself did not say it.

She looked to her left. There was a figure sitting in a long, brown cloak with its hood up. Hope was surprised. But she was not afraid. She felt close to this figure, just as she felt close to younger Hope. She felt a sense of being one.

Hope reached out and pulled down the hood. There was her own face looking back at her.

“So, what are you waiting for?” Hope asked.

“I’m waiting for it all to begin,” this other Hope said. “I’ve got everyone together. The minotaur, the disgraced wanna-be Wonderbolt, the con-artists, Queen Chrysalis. The plan’s all set. I’m just waiting for it all to come together. It’ll be any moment now.”

Hope nodded. “Ah, me during the Siege, right? Or as the Siege is just getting started, I guess? Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” the other Hope said. “As long as it doesn’t take too long to answer. I’m going to need to act fast once they get the Crystal Heart.”

“What do you think’s going to happen?” Hope asked.

“I figure the best-case scenario is,” the other Hope said, “I get the heart, I find Sombra and bring back his body, then we release the Umbrum. And then, everypony realizes what a mistake they made in imprisoning these adorable little creatures. Everything goes back to how it was, except better.”

“You know that’s never going to work. Queen Chrysalis, for one, won’t just accept peace and friendship. She wants things and, even if you win, she’ll fight to get them. And then, if you really believe that your pixie friends made Sombra to fight for them, there’s going to be a lot of fighting to do.”

“I know,” the other Hope said. Suddenly, she looked deeply sad.

“You know ponies could get hurt, right?” Hope asked. “They might die.”

The other Hope’s look became much sadder, even forlorn. “I know.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

The forlorn Hope looked at her quizzically. “I have to be. If it’s the right thing, I have to do it. If it’ll fix things. I have to fix things.”

“And how will you feel afterward, if a lot of ponies die? Are you going to be able to live with that? Are you going to be able to live with yourself?”

Forlorn Hope did not meet her eyes. “I have to do what I have to do. It doesn’t matter how I feel.”

“Even if you’re wrong?” Hope asked. “About the Umbrum? About Sombra? About everything?”

Forlorn Hope did not answer immediately. She looked almost ready to cry. She buried her head into her hooves.

“I just want to save Sombra,” she said from behind her long, disheveled mane. “I just want to save my best friend.”

She was silent for a long time. No sound was shared between them, except for the younger Hope’s humming.

And then, Hope heard sobbing. Sobbing from the pony in the cloak. Hope felt herself, surprisingly, feeling sorry for this pony. Of course, this pony was her.

If I feel bad for her, what does that mean for me?

Forlorn Hope looked up. “I can’t be wrong. If I’m wrong about the Umbrum, I’m wrong about Sombra. And if I’m wrong about Sombra.... I’ve never cared for any pony like I care for him. When I think of him, how all he wanted was to be a normal pony and live a normal, happy life... I can’t live with the thought that that pony is doomed to... to a life of pain and suffering. To a life of evil.”

Forlorn Hope looked up toward the sun. “I know he’s good. I have to believe it.”

“Of course, Sombra’s good,” young Hope said. “He’s the best pony I know.”

“He is,” forlorn Hope said. “He has to be.”

“I wish I could still believe in him, too,” Hope said. “But now I wonder. He was the only thing I ever really believed in. Maybe I was wrong the whole time.”

“You don’t have believe in Sombra anymore?” young Hope asked, again with the ‘you smashed a puca’ look.

“Even after everything we went through?” forlorn Hope said. “What is wrong with you?”

“She’s older than us, so she thinks knows stuff we don’t,” said young Hope. “She was giving me, like, this whole thing before you got here. It was kinda embarrassing.”

“For her, more than for you, I bet,” forlorn Hope said.

“You know it!”

“Wait, are you two actually joining together against me?” Hope asked, perplexed. Perplexed and a little insulted.

“Why wouldn’t we?” forlorn Hope said. “We’re more alike to each other than either of us is to you.”

“Yeah!” young Hope said. “We don’t give up on ponies we care about. I guess we just understand life more than you do.”

Young Hope and Forlorn Hope hoof-bumped.

“Now, hold on,” Hope said, pointing her hoof to young Hope. “You, you’re a filly. You don’t know anything.” Then she turned to forlorn Hope. “And you, you made me what I am, so you don’t have the right to complain about me.”

“She’s so testy,” forlorn Hope said to young Hope. “When did we become testy?”

“Don’t ask me,” young Hope responded. “I wouldn’t know. I’m just a filly, after all.”

Hope shook her head. “You just don’t understand. Neither of you do. I’ve seen what happens. You haven’t. I’ve seen what Sombra does and what he becomes. You haven’t. And I can’t deny how many ponies suffered because of what neither of you know. Or what neither of you want to see.”

She looked from side to side, waiting for one of them to say something. Neither did.

“What, neither of you have anything to add? No, of course you don’t. You two haven’t been there yet. I have. Everything I’ve seen, everything I’ve been through, it all just makes me wonder. Why did I believe in Sombra so much? Why was it so important? Was it just that I didn’t want to admit that, if he was evil, my whole life was meaningless? Or was it just, if he’s always been something other than what I thought he was....”

Hope took a moment to steady herself before continuing. Her voice became small and she stared blankly ahead.

“I don’t know what that makes me....”

Now was Hope’s turn to hold her head in her hooves. She shook it a little. It all felt like too much. Even though she had been carrying this burden since the Siege, it felt heavier now than it ever did.

She felt a hoof on her shoulder. She looked up to see forlorn Hope. Forlorn Hope offered no smile nor made any attempt at good cheer. But she understood. The look in her eyes said so.

“Maybe it was just that you loved him,” she said.

Hope nodded her head again. “Maybe I did. I’ve been learned to love other ponies recently, too.”

She felt a small hoof touching her foreleg from the other side. She turned to young Hope. The filly was smiling a little. Not beaming, but smiling a sad little smile which marked her out as wiser than her years.

“Maybe what you need now is to love yourself,” young Hope said.

“I don’t know how,” Hope said. “I don’t hate either of you. Seeing the two of you like this, I understand why you both are what you are and why you did what you did. I think maybe I can even love both of you. But you’re gone now. I’m here. And I can’t love myself.”

“But we’re both here,” forlorn Hope said. “We’re always here.”

“We’re a part of you,” young Hope said. “We are you.”

They both offered their hooves to Hope. She took hold of them and held on tightly.

“Maybe you’re right,” she said. “Both of you have made me who I am. I’m glad you’re both here. But I still don’t know if I can make it there.”

Forlorn Hope spoke. “Then maybe all you need is—”

Young Hope finished her line.

“Hope.”

Suddenly, Hope felt herself blinded by a burst of white light. She felt herself being dissolved by the light. She lost the feeling of the other Hopes’ hooves in hers. Then she lost the feeling of those hooves entirely. With them went her whole body. She could not feel anything. But she knew two things.

She was alone. And all was darkness.

But then, in the darkness, Hope felt her hooves coming back. She felt her mane and her tail. She felt her whole body, maybe more than she had ever felt it before. She felt every sensation upon her body, every itch upon her skin, every expansion and contraction of muscle, every beat of her heart.

And then, she saw clearly what was before her. There was a pony, standing alone in the darkness. A pony with a purple coat and blue hair. Her coat seemed as though it was made to shine and sheen, but now it just seemed dark and drab and dull. Then the pony turned around. As Hope got a good look at her, she saw the white skull-like mask upon her face and the black lines. She looked into her red eyes.

“Who are you?” the pony asked.

“I’m Radiant Hope,” Hope said.

“Impossible. Hope is gone.”

Hope smiled as she answered.

“Hope isn’t gone. Hope never really is.”

Would Radiant Hope finally escape the darkness?

Read on.

Never Fear

Dr. Fie felt himself begin to fidget. He heard a noise. He jumped and looked all around him. The whistling was surely just a gust of air from the pool room above. Or at least that is what Dr. Fie preferred to tell himself.

But can I ever really be sure?

Dr. Fie hated this plan. Which was hard to admit because it was his plan. It had all seemed to make so much sense when he had come up with it. Right up until the moment when he found himself standing alone on the catwalk, waiting for a hideous creature — one which had only recently tried to disembowel him, thank you very much — to put in another appearance.

He waited. And he waited. Nothing happened.

Maybe she won’t show up, he thought. Maybe she went home, like a good little shadow-demon.

Dr. Fie knew it was a vain hope — the closest thing the Umbrum had to a home was the Prison of Shadows — but nopony would blame him for entertaining thoughts such as these while he so gallantly put his life on the line. Or at least that is what Dr. Fie preferred to tell himself.

Then, the silence was broken. It took all of Dr. Fie’s willpower to keep from shrieking as he heard noises from down below, slowly getting closer.

The fiendish yaps and snarls of that salacious she-wolf, no doubt.

Dr. Fie put his hooves to his ears.

But as the noises entered the general vicinity, Dr. Fie put his hooves down. Those did not sound like yaps and snarls. No, they sounded like....

Wheezing?

Curious, but Dr. Fie quickly forgot all about it. Fear sank even further into his being as he saw a dark blue mass rising to the level of the catwalk, carried along on long, thin wings which beat the air like paddles. Two small, white eyes locked with his; he felt practically numb. He turned as quickly as he could, ready to run.

But then, instead of beginning pursuit, the creature leaned against the railing. It just hovered there, holding onto the topmost bar, almost like it was trying to catch its breath.

Do smoke-creatures really need to circulate oxygen? What a ludicrous thought!

“Hold on... give me... give me a moment,” Luxuria said in between gasps. “Misericordia... wherever you are... I’m gonna make you pay... for knocking me... all the way... to the bottom... of this accursed ship....”

“Apologies, dear girl, but Misericordia isn’t here,” Dr. Fie said, trying to sound as confident as he could (which was not very much, under the circumstances). “He left. Went to take in the sights, you see. They say it’s the city that never sleeps. Or is that Manehattan? I can never remember myself, given that I am a firm believer in getting a healthy fourteen hours of sleep a night. It’s necessary for proper functioning, you know. I’m a doctor, so I know about these things.”

Dr. Fie was babbling now. So much for appearing confident.

Luxuria let go of the railing. “Oh... shut up... you! If I... can’t find... Misericordia.... I’ll have.... to make do... with cutting your corpse... into a million pieces!”

Dr. Fie did not need to hear more. With a loud yelp, he was off, galloping faster than he had ever galloped before. An impartial observer would have thought him a champion racehorse and not a pony of since from how fast he ran.

He did not once look back. He did not need to. Dr. Fie was certain that the creature was behind him. He thought he heard it come closer with each step. He assumed that every noise on the air whizzing past his head was the shadow’s fearsome howl. His heart pounded. He thought he would be dead at any moment.

Then, up ahead, he saw another shadow-creature, this time a blue-green one. Dr. Fie felt a sense of relief. There was Misericordia, laying (or hovering, rather) in ambush. He had a large segment of pipe in his hooves.

Just a few steps more and he would be safe. He just had to get past the narrow line separating this section of catwalk from the rest.

Dr. Fie took to the air. He made a wild leap — just in time to avoid the creature’s razor-sharp talons, no doubt — and crossed the line. Landing upon the other side, he did not even try to stand up. He huddled upon his haunches and put his hooves over his head.

“Now, you noxious ninny! Now!”

“Dr. Fie....” Misericordia said.

“Don’t argue with me, you cumulitic clod! Just do it!”

“But Dr. Fie....”

“Oh, for Celestia’s sake, what is it?”

Dr. Fie lifted his head out of his hooves and looked down the catwalk. There was Luxuria, pulling herself along by the railing, huffing and puffing all the while.

“What is taking so long, you shuffling stooge?” he called out, too annoyed to remember how frightened he was. “Don’t you realize that this is a sprint, not a marathon?”

“Give me... some credit....” Luxuria said as she tried to pull herself forward a little faster. “It was... a long way... back up here....”

“So, what should I do?” Misericordia asked. “Should I just tie her up with the pipe now?”

Dr. Fie looked to Misericordia and then to Luxuria, still struggling to catch up.

“Don’t bother,” he said. “It would be a waste of perfectly serviceable steel. I’ll handle this. Never fear, Fie is here.”

“You like that phrase,” Misericordia said.

Dr. Fie’s eyebrows rose along his high forehead. “It does have a nice ring, don’t you think?”

“As... soon... as I... get there...” Luxuria said, “you’re dead.”

Dr. Fie’s horn began to glow purple. Slowly, from either side of the catwalk, rivets began to shine the same color and unscrew themselves. The catwalk began to wobble and creak underneath Luxuria’s weight.

Dr. Fie smiled. “I may be a betting stallion, but even I wouldn’t put money on it.”

Luxuria looked to either side of the catwalk and then to Dr. Fie. “No fair!” she squealed.

“An Umbrum of all ponies should know,” Dr. Fie said, “life isn’t—”

The catwalk gave way. Luxuria let out a piercing scream as both she and it tumbled into the vast darkness below.

“—fair. Blast, she didn’t get to hear the whole of my witty and original quip.”

“It was not so original, Dr. Fie,” Misericordia said. “And as for witty, I do not think you understand the definition of wit.”

“But I can tell a half-wit, you punctilious pomposity! And what gives you the right to speak, after I did all the work?”

“I found the piping and pulled it loose.”

“A feat I could have easily done, if my back hadn’t been so badly injured in my recent fall from the great heights of the pool room.”

“Falling from great heights seems to be your specialty, Dr. Fie.”

“Oh, very clever. See to it that I don’t lodge you in one of these pipes and send you coursing through the ship, you venomous vapor. Besides, I was the one who found a wobbly catwalk and I was the one who half-loosened the nails in the rivets in time to lay the trap. I did everything.”

Misericordia nodded. “It is true. You did those things.”

“Finally, some recognition.”

“Clearly, where deception and chicanery are called for, you are the pony for the job. You’d make an excellent Umbrum, Dr. Fie.”

Dr. Fie beamed with pride. “Of course, I would. I am Dr. Fiddly Fie. Whatever I ended up as, I would excel at it.”

“But how did you know to do all those things?”

“Simple, dear ninny. I figured a boat as old and ill-maintained as this pathetic excuse for a barge must have a walkway or two just about ready to drop. And I used my vast knowledge of metallurgy to determine how to undo the rivets, which I did with my phenomenal magical prowess.”

Misericordia scratched his head, which was strange to see for an Umbrum. “You know a lot about metal-working?”

Dr. Fie rolled his eyes. “Oh, don’t give me that look. Of course, I do. It’s my special talent after all. You can tell by my cutie mark.”

Misericordia looked at Dr. Fie’s cutie mark. It only made him more confused. “But you are a doctor, not a blacksmith.”

“Just because it is my special talent doesn’t mean I have to like it. To go through life as a smith! Oh, the indignity!”

Dr. Fie surveyed his surroundings. For a brief, glorious moment, he felt an incredible sense of well-being. Not only had he stared down danger, but he had come through unscathed. Maybe this bravery thing was more his scene than he had thought.

The moment soon ended when a scratchy voice called out, “Luxuria? Luxuria, where are you?”

“What was that?” Dr. Fie yelped.

“Invidia,” Misericordia said. “We have taken care of Luxuria for a while. We should deal with him, too.”

“Of course, we should,” Dr. Fie said, discreetly putting himself behind Misericordia. “Hop to it, dear boy.”

“It will be my pleasure,” Misericordia said.

“Luxuria? Luxuria!” Invidia’s cries were getting closer.

Soon, he appeared out of the blackness, his purple form gliding effortlessly through the air. Dr. Fie tensed up as he saw him; Invidia was certainly the most physically imposing of the three Umbrum. And that was saying something.

“Luxuria!” Invidia called out on final time. Then he came to a halt. It was impossible to know what his dead eyes were looking at, but they were looking straight ahead.

Dr. Fie held his hooves to his chest, trying to quiet the incessant drumbeat of his heart. He was certain that Invidia was staring at him.

Then, Invidia turned his head upward slightly. “Misericordia....” he said.

“Now you’ve done it, ninny,” Dr. Fie said as quietly as he could. “He’s seen you! You were supposed to stay out of sight!”

“I forgot, Dr. Fie.”

“You’d forget your own head if it wasn’t attached to your neck! Is it attached to your neck, dear boy? With you smoke-creatures, it’s so hard to tell.”

Invidia made a small move forward. Dr. Fie began taking steps back.

“I can handle him, Dr. Fie,” said Misericordia. He went out to meet him, hovering over the large hole between catwalks where Luxuria had just been.

“Invidia, you must stop this,” Misericordia said. “What you and the others are doing is wrong. It is not fair to Empress Hope.”

“You were always a weird one,” Invidia said. “Caring about things like ‘right’ and ‘wrong.’ As though they’re anything but words to an Umbrum.”

“They are, where Radiant Hope is concerned,” Misericordia said proudly.

But Invidia did not seem to be listening. Rather, his eyes turned to the black expanse beneath Misericordia. He stroked his chin with his gnarled hoof, causing small wisps of smoke to break off here and there. “So that’s how it is,” he chattered, more to himself than anyone. “No wonder I couldn’t find Luxuria.”

“Oh, she’ll be fine,” Dr. Fie said. “She just needs to walk it off. Or fly it off, as the case may be.”

He immediately threw his hooves over his mouth. He could not believe he had said it.

I always knew bravery would be hazardous to my health! That’s why, as a doctor, I’ve never prescribed it to me. Life-threatening, you know.

But, fortunately, Invidia just ignored him. All his focus was on Misericordia.

“So, Misericordia, you have become a traitor, have you?” he said with fiendish glee. “Your dear Empress will be so disappointed.”

“The only real traitor is the traitor to the heart,” Misericordia responded as he approached Invidia, flexing the piping. “You are the real traitor, Invidia. And that thing is not my Empress!”

Invidia smirked. “If you say so.”

And then, he did something which Dr. Fie never expected him to do. He turned tail and shot like a bullet in the opposite direction. Before even reaching the end of the catwalk, he had become a purple blur, speeding down to the platform below. All the while, he shouted, “My Empress! My Empress!”

Misericordia just floated there, dumbfounded.

“Well,” Dr. Fie said, “don’t you think we should stop him?”

Misericordia seemed like he had been snapped out a daze. He looked back at Dr. Fie. “Yes, yes, of course. I just expected Invidia to have more backbone than that. He truly is a craven bootlicker, deep down.”

“Most ponies are, dear boy, most ponies are,” Dr. Fie said. “But enough philosophy for one day. We need to stop him.”

Misericordia nodded. Without another word, his wings began to beat rapidly.

“Not without me, you clod!” Dr. Fie said as Misericordia was just about to take off.

Misericordia looked back at him sheepishly — or at least as sheepishly as an Umbrum could look. “Sorry.”

Dr. Fie rolled his eyes. “The things I must put up with. Will the indignities never cease?”

Sweat poured down Starlight Glimmer’s brow. The shield sustained another blast. Well, ‘sustained’ is not quite the right word. Because it was weakening. This time, it briefly scattered before reassembling.

“I’m impressed, little pony,” Sombra said. “I had thought your strength would have failed a long time ago.”

“And me, such an insignificant creature too,” Starlight replied. “It’s okay if you want to give up.”

Despite the bravado of her quips, Starlight knew she was in trouble. If Sombra and Hope — Sombra and that thing — kept firing those blasts of dark magic, the shield would collapse. Starlight did not know how much longer she could keep it up for.

The Empress delivered a mighty blast with her horn. Starlight flew backward. The shield had done its job of keeping her safe from harm — well, safe from everything but a bruised ego — but it was gone now. And what was worse, the magical backfire and discharge meant she wouldn’t be able to summon a new one for quite a while.

The Empress grinned almost from ear to ear.

“Pleased with your handiwork?” Starlight asked as she looked up from the ground. If she was going down, she was going down cocky.

“Very,” said the Empress, her horn radiating red and emitting ooze. “Goodbye and goodnight, Starlight.”

“Hope, please!”

“Tisk-tisk. Pleading, Starlight? It doesn’t become you.”

“And whatever this is doesn’t become you,” Starlight responded. “Can’t you see? Hope, you’ve become a monster!”

The Empress reared her head back, almost like a venomous serpent about to strike at its prey. “You always knew what I was. I’m glad to hear you say it out loud before you die.”

Starlight braced herself for the impact. She knew it was the end. As her father’s daughter, she had always been able to get out of the worst scraps before. But Starlight, for the life of her, could not see how to get out of this one.

For the life of me. Bad choice of words.

“Stop!”

Starlight looked up to see Sombra, hoof raised, standing between her and the Empress.

“Leave her,” Sombra said. “She has fought well, for a pony. I think she deserves to die with a small measure of honor.”

The Empress was upset. “But... but... after all she did to me, after what she said? I should get to be the one to kill her!”

“Enough,” Sombra responded, not even bothering to look in his mate’s direction. “I have deemed this creature worthy of death at the hooves of her Emperor.”

“You’re so magnanimous,” Starlight deadpanned. “My life is complete.”

“You can’t do this!” the Empress protested. “Starlight is mine. I want her.”

“Do not question me,” Sombra said sharply. “I have spoken and what I say is final. Understood?”

The Empress did not answer.

“Understood?”

“What you say is what you get,” the Empress responded, obviously not too happy.

But it was enough for Sombra. He nodded and turned his whole focus back to Starlight. He began to approach her. Starlight tried to crawl back, but a beam from Sombra’s horn encircled her and ensured she would stay in one place. He smiled wickedly as he stood over her. He raised a hoof.

“I hope you’re grateful for the honor you receive today, little pony,” he said.

Starlight just glared up at him.

She closed her eyes and tensed up.

This is the end of my personal revolution, I guess, she thought.

She knew it was unavoidable. Her luck had run out. With another vicious laugh, the hoof came down.

Starlight opened her eyes. Sombra’s hoof was atop her head. Or in her head. Or through it. She could not figure out which. Because she could see his foreleg between her eyes. He must certainly has stomped on her.

“Blast it!” Sombra hollered. “Blast everything! This body is fading again! Invidia! Invidia!”

“You sent him away,” said the Empress.

“That’s right, I did,” Sombra said, picking up his hoof. “No matter. You’ll have to fix me. I know you can’t restore my body yet, my love. But your dark magic should at least be able to stabilize me for a while.”

Sombra did not get a response.

“Did you hear me?” he asked.

Still no response.

“I said, did you hear me? Answer! Why don’t you answer? Blast it, Hope!”

“Okay.”

Before Starlight could even process it, Sombra was knocked off of her. He went flying and took a hard landing on the platform. Starlight was certain that, if he was still corporeal, Sombra would have been in for quite a lot of pain from such a tumble. As it was, the dark magic itself had seemed to provide him more than enough.

Starlight saw another thing. The time-travel spell. Sombra had still been holding it when he was hit. Now, freed from his grasp, it fluttered down onto the grating nearby. Starlight began to crawl toward it.

A beam of darkness hit the grating between her and the spell. Starlight looked over her shoulder to see the Dark Empress, horn smoking and red.

“Don’t even think about it, Starlight,” she said.

Sombra lifted his head up. “Hope, why?”

He was rewarded with another blast of dark magic.

“I feel like I’m stuck on repeat and yet nopony gets the message. I am not Hope,” said the Empress. “I am more than she ever was. More than she ever could be.”

“No, you’re not!” Starlight said. “Radiant Hope was more than this, whatever this is. You’re not like her. You’re just anger and rage.”

She just managed to pull herself out of the blast radius of another beam.

“Shut up,” the Empress said.

“I don’t understand,” Sombra said. “The ritual, it was supposed to make you like me. It was supposed to make you a worthy mate. It was supposed to make you what you used to be, my best friend.”

The Empress stalked toward Sombra, a truly demented smile on her face.

“Oh, Sombra, when will you learn? Friendship is for foals.”

“You’re an idiot,” Starlight called to Sombra.

“You shouldn’t have lied to me, Sombra,” the Empress said. “You shouldn’t have bossed me around. It showed me that you’re just like all the rest of them. That you’re no better. You don’t really love me and you never did. So now you get to die.”

Sombra struggled to move, only to be hit with blast after blast. Each time, part of the smoke which made up his body was blown away. He was being torn to shreds alive. From the look on his face, it was incredibly painful.

Starlight even found herself feeling sorry for the big jerk. He may have caused this mess, but she did not like seeing what the Empress was doing to him. She would not wish this level of suffering on anypony.

Not even on Twilight Sparkle....

“Hope, please stop!” Starlight said. “You love Sombra! You love him as much as I loved Sunburst! You can’t want to hurt him like this. Even after Sunburst abandoned me, I never wanted to hurt him. At least, I never would have done what you’re doing.”

“I guess we’re not the same after all, are we?”

The Empress launched several more blasts at Sombra, causing him to scream in pain. Starlight knew she should have felt relieved to no longer be the recipient of the Empress’ wrath. She knew she should take the opportunity to grab the time-travel spell and get out of there. But she could not. She could not turn her gaze from Sombra, now not the mighty Emperor of monsters, but just a pony in tremendous pain.

“Hope, please stop!”

The Empress stopped. She turned her red eyes to Starlight.

Oops, big mistake, Starlight thought.

“For the last time,” the Empress yelled as she readied a beam. “I am not—”

“My Empress! My Empress!”

“Invidia?” Sombra asked.

Invidia swept down from on high. He had apparently gotten here as fast as he could.

“My Empress! My Empress! There is something you must know!”

“It can wait, Invidia,” the Empress said. “Our former liege lord and I were just having a conference on usurpation.”

“Invidia, she’s trying to kill me!” Sombra said. “You have to help me! You have to stabilize me! Hurry, before it’s too late!”

Invidia did nothing. He looked at Sombra, long and hard. Then he looked to his Dark Empress. She nodded.

“I’m sorry, former King Sombra,” he said. “But a shadow cannot serve two masters. And I have chosen mine.” He moved closer to the Empress until he was hovering directly over her head.

“You see, Sombra,” the Empress said, “my new prime minister of shadows was able to, shall we say, see the light. I managed to convince him that, once you were gone, I would need someone by my side to help rule Equestria. Someone with the skills and aptitude to both lead Umbrum and command ponies.”

“Naturally, I nominated myself,” Invidia said.

“I guess the Umbrum aren’t renowned for their humility,” Starlight remarked.

“Invidia, you can’t let her do this,” Sombra pleaded. “If you don’t help, she’ll kill me!”

The Empress took a few more steps toward him. “Oh, no, Sombra. I won’t kill you. The further deterioration of this temporary form of yours will do that for me. I’m just want to make you scream until it happens.”

Indeed, Sombra screamed. He screamed very loudly as both the Empress and Invidia’s dark magic beams tore into him. His whole form — what little of it remained — convulsed. Even as tough and hardened a pony as Starlight had to avert her eyes.

“And then, once you’re nothing but a dry piece of bone,” the Empress taunted, “I’ll take it to the very top deck of this accursed vessel and kick it into the ocean. I mean, if you fade away this time, I think you’re gone for good. But we can never be too careful. That was a lesson you always failed to learn.”

Sombra forced himself to speak through the pain. “Invidia, you’re... you’re going to let... to let her do this? You’d betray... betray... betray your Emperor? Your champion? You’re one... one of my people.... How can you betray me?”

“You never did understand your own people very well, now did you?” Invidia asked. “We’re cruel and selfish creatures. Evil is our good. It’s the same for all of us Umbrum.”

“Not all of us.”

Starlight looked up just in time to see another dark form, this one blue-green, come swooping in. It crashed into Invidia and knocked him to the grating. Then there appeared to be a scuffle. All that Starlight could make out was one massive cloud of murky black. But the sounds of fighting were intense. It was enough for the Empress to break off tormenting Sombra and turn her attention to it.

“What is this?” she demanded. “What is going on?”

It was a good question, even from a bad pony. Starlight had to admit (if only to herself) that she did not have the answer.

Finally, however, the darkness lifted. At least as far as the two Umbrum were concerned. The fight stopped and there was Invidia, wrapped up tightly in a long, twisted piece of what Starlight assumed to be one of the spindly pipes which were common on the ship.

Starlight did not have long to consider it, however. She felt hooves on her shoulder. She looked up with a start. There was a familiar pony kneeling beside her.

“Dr. Fie? I never expected to see you here!”

Dr. Fie held his hoof to his mouth and spoke more quietly than Starlight had. “Believe me, I never wanted to be here, dear lady. But when duty calls, what can we do but answer?”

A crack about Dr. Fie’s sense of duty flashed through Starlight’s mind, but she thought better of making it, given the current circumstances. Instead, she said, “Dr. Fie, I never thought I’d actually be glad to see you.”

“And yet, I’m always glad to be seen.”

“I noticed.”

Dr. Fie helped her up. “Come along, dear lady. You’re a sitting target out here.”

As Dr. Fie tried to lead her to a safer position, Starlight pulled herself from his grasp.

“Have you gone mad, madam? Do you want yourself blown to kingdom come?”

Starlight dived down and seized the scroll between her hooves. She could probably have used her magic, but Starlight feared that any use of magic might draw too much attention. Just as she had long preached, being utterly unworthy of notice was a proven advantage here.

There was also another reason for holding back. Starlight looked at the text of the spell. She might need all her magic energy for later.

“I’m not crazy, doctor,” Starlight said as she ran with Dr. Fie. “I just needed to get this.”

“What in Equestria could be so important as to require risking your life?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just a scrap of paper. You could say it has sentimental value.”

“‘Sentimental value,’ madam? Harumph! You are crazy. And I’m a doctor, so—”

“So you know about these things. I know. Now, let’s get out of here, doctor.”

Invidia looked at the pipes around him, trying to figure out what had happened. As the realization seemed to dawn on him, he began to laugh.

“Misericordia, you fool. Do you think his can hold me? We are Umbrum! We can take any form we please. I shall be out of this in no time!”

“That wasn’t supposed to hold you,” Misericordia responded. “Your own hubris was enough to do that. No, this was only meant to distract you.

“Distract me from what, exactly?””

“From me preparing to do this.” Misericordia grabbed hold of Invidia and punted him down into the darkness below the platform. The blue-green Umbrum then floated gently over to Dr. Fie and Starlight.

Starlight jumped back. “Umbrum!” she shouted. Her horn began to glow turquoise.

“No!” Dr. Fie jumped between them, waving his forelegs. “He’s on our side now! He brought me here.”

“The pipes should tie Invidia’s wings down and keep him from righting himself, Dr. Fie,” Misericordia said. “We won’t see him for a while.”

Starlight shook her head. “How did I miss so much? Ponies teaming up with an Umbrum. I can’t believe it.”

“Tell me about it,” Misericordia said. “I can’t believe a handsome Umbrum like me must join forces with such a hideous-looking creature as you.”

Starlight put her forelegs over her head to cover her hair. “That’s the third appearance-based insult I’ve gotten this week. Maybe I should really think about changing my mane-do.”

“Quit your gibbering, both of you,” Dr. Fie said. Starlight realized he was looking straight ahead, his eyes wide with fear.

The Empress was glaring at them. She had begun to approach.

“My, my, dear Hope,” Dr. Fie said nervously. “What red eyes you have. You know, they have drops for that now. I can write you a prescription. I am a doctor, after all.”

“Silence, you idiot!” bellowed the Empress.

“That is not Radiant Hope, Dr. Fie,” said Misericordia. “It is only a dark reflection of her, her anger and her rage.”

“Yes, yes, I got the primer, you preening popinjay,” Dr. Fie responded.

“I didn’t!” Starlight said. “Tell me about it. What are you saying?”

“Sombra used dark energy to corrupt Radiant Hope. He found the part of her formed by the pain of rejection and disappointment over her whole life. The part of her that could have made her like him if she let it. He brought it out and gave it control over her.”

“Aren’t we a chatterbox?” the Empress said. “And here I thought you were loyal to me, Misericordia.”

“I am loyal to Radiant Hope,” said Misericordia. “I am not loyal to you.”

The Empress shrugged. “Well, it just makes you someone else who let me down. I’ve learned to accept betrayal by now.” Her horn began to glow a dark, blood red. “But just because I accept it, it doesn’t mean I forgive. I am a wrathful Empress.”

Before, she could unleash a blast, Starlight stepped out in front of Dr. Fie and Misericordia.

“Hope, stop!” she ordered. Her voice was loud enough and confident enough that even the Empress was taken aback. The Empress’ horn ceased glowing.

“You dare order me around?” the Empress asked, indignant. “I am your Empress.”

“No, you’re not,” Starlight answered. “Hope was just a pony who was hurting. I think you are, too. I understand. I was like you. I am like you.”

For a moment, the Empress’ features seemed to soften. “Starlight...?” she asked, her voice suggesting a scared child rather than a fearsome terror.

“I’m here for you,” Starlight responded. “I’m here for whatever you need, Hope.”

Saying this was a mistake, as Starlight realized while watching all the burning anger flood the Empress’ face once more.

“I am not Hope and we’re nothing alike.”

“But we are,” Starlight said, trying to figure out how to talk herself out of the mess that she made. “We’re more alike than I’d like to admit. I’ve been angry too. I’ve known what it’s like to have ponies turn their back on me. I’ve been stabbed in the back. And I’ve wanted revenge. But I’d never do what you’re doing. I’d never threaten other ponies, or all of Equestria.”

The Empress chuckled a mirthless chuckle. “Oh, no? Then what’s the scroll for, Starlight?”

Starlight looked down. She was holding the time-travel spell against her chest.

Dang.

“Something that will finally let you get even with Twilight?” the Empress asked. “Why do I have the feeling that it’s capable of doing far more damage than I ever could?”

She’s right. This spell, it’s unfinished. But I can already tell, it has the potential to rewrite history. One mistake, and all of Equestria could be reduced to dust. The only type of pony who would use that for personal gain is a pony like....

Starlight felt a blast of magic. She fell backward into Dr. Fie, who himself toppled into Misericordia, who himself only barely managed to avoid falling over and taking the other two with him.

The scroll went flying.

Starlight at first thought the Empress had blasted her. But it was not possible. She had been looking at her, and she had not fired. Nor was it another Umbrum. Well, not Invidia or Luxuria, at least. They were not around. As Starlight recovered, she realized that it could only be one pony.

“Sombra!”

Sombra, now barely more than a head and a trail of dark vapor, leapt — or perhaps flew is more accurate — and grabbed the spell in his teeth. He used his magic to float it up and unfurl it before him.

“What are you doing?” Starlight yelled.

“I must escape,” Sombra said. “I must get out here before I fade completely. Surely, this spell can take me back to the times when the Umbrum reigned. They can save me.”

Starlight charged toward him. “You’re a fool, Sombra! The spell still needs work. Long, painstaking work. Use it now and you won’t be able to control where it takes you.”

“Nonsense,” Sombra said. “A pony of my dark power shall be able to direct it however I like.”

Starlight leapt for the scroll. “You’re blinded by your arrogance, Sombra!”

“I’m not the only one,” Sombra responded, ready to blast her.

He never got the chance. Both of them were subject to another blast of dark magic. Starlight fell on to the grating and, a moment later, Sombra did so nearby. The spell fell in-between them.

“I grow tired of this,” the Empress said, approaching. “It was fun but now it’s not. I think I’ll just go ahead and destroy both of you.”

Dr. Fie blocked her path. “You can’t, dear girl! I know you and this isn’t you! This isn’t my Radiant Hope!”

The Empress snarled. “I. Am. Not. Hope!”

She could have hit Dr. Fie with dark magic. But she did not. Instead, she turned around and bucked him up into the air. Misericordia quickly dashed upward to grab Dr. Fie, saving him from either a hard landing or bouncing into the void. Or perhaps both. Under normal circumstances, the good doctor would have screamed. But not now. He was too dazed to make any noises whatsoever,

At least one good thing came out of this, Starlight thought.

“That felt surprisingly good,” the Empress said as he resumed her approach.

Starlight looked from the Empress to the spell. It was just close enough. With a little bit of effort, she was able to crawl toward it.

A dark blast landed just where Starlight had been.

Picking up her pace. Starlight made for the spell. She noticed Sombra, writhing in pain. The Empress’ dark magic was really affecting him. Starlight again felt a strange pity for Sombra. But she could not ignore the opportunity it gave her to reach the spell.

As she did so, her eyes locked with Sombra’s.

“Use the spell,” Sombra said, his voice very weak.

“I can’t,” Starlight said. “It’s not ready.”

“Please....”

Before Starlight could answer, she felt herself rocked by pain. She and Sombra both flew up into the air and landed a few feet away, nearer to each other than before. Starlight had been smart this time. She had held the scroll close to her chest with both hooves. She had it still.

“That was just for fun,” the Empress said. “The next one will be lethal.”

Starlight looked behind her. The Empress was preparing a knock-out blow. Or much more than a knock-out, by the looks of it. A large dark ball of what almost resembled purple-black mud was coming to be around her horn. Lightning sparked all around it.

“Please, use the spell,” Sombra said, his voice now a whisper.

Starlight knew she had no choice. She read the spell one last time. Her horn began to glow. The scroll levitated beside her.

Well, here goes nothing.

Above her, a hole began to tear itself open in the fabric of the darkness. The hole then reshaped itself into a bubble. The bubble grew wider and wider. It began to exert a pull, a light pull at first but one which gradually grew stronger. Nothing could resist it.

Pieces of the ship, pieces of pipe and grating and railing, flew into the bubble and disappeared. Everything which could be pulled loose was. Even the shards of Princess Amore were not immune. They were lifted up and once more suspended in the air. For a brief moment, they glowed with dark energy. Then the force exerted from above became too great. The fragments disappeared into the bubble.

The Dark Empress was pulled upward. Her mane hair flew in every direction around her and obscured her vision. Beginning to panic, she quickly cast a dark spell. A black ooze formed around her body, holding her in place.

Misericordia held tight to Dr. Fie and tried to fly in the opposite direction. He beat his wings as quickly as possible, but he could only slow down, not stop the pull.

Starlight rose into the air.

This is happening! This is actually happening!

She looked over. Sombra was floating beside her. He smiled.

“Thank you,” he whispered. Despite everything that he had just tried to do to Starlight, despite his general personality and behavior, Starlight felt that his gratitude was genuine.

“Go, Starlight, go to your revenge!” the Empress called out. “You’ll just fail again!”

Starlight shook her head sadly. “Oh, Hope. I’m not looking for revenge. Not right now.”

She then looked to Misericordia and to the doctor, held precariously in his grip.

“I’m going to try to get back,” she said. “Doctor, try to keep Hope here while I’m gone. Friendly Umbrum... thing.... try to keep Dr. Fie safe.”

Misericordia was too busy fighting the current of the air to answer, but Dr. Fie offered a groggy, “Never fear, Fie is here....”

And then the pull became too great. Starlight felt herself drawn upward into the portal. The scroll was beside her, and so was Sombra, but where they would end up, she had no idea.

Misericordia could not hold back any longer. With Dr. Fie in his forelegs, he was pulled toward the bubble at top speed. But, with the spell having gone through, the bubble was beginning to contract. As it got smaller and smaller, Misericordia made one last-ditch attempt to save himself and the good doctor.

He beat his wings once more, with all his might. For a brief moment, he succeeded in gaining some inches in the opposite direction. But then, the ever-shrinking bubble won out and pulled him in.

“We’re doomed! We’re all doomed!” Dr. Fie, having fully recovered, shrieked.

Before Misericordia could say anything, he was sucked into the bubble. Or at least his head was. By now, the bubble was too small for any more of him.

Dr. Fie looked up as Misericordia struggled and thrashed. The transparent bubble pulled itself more tightly around his head, making it seem almost as though the fearsome creature was wearing a fishbowl. The slight distortion of light caused by the bubble exaggerated his features but, instead of making his face more terrifying, it just made him seem ridiculous.

“Oh, quit playing around, you bubble-headed booby!” Dr. Fie exclaimed.

Finally, Misericordia wrestled himself free. The now-tiny bubble popped out of existence behind him.

Misericordia lowered himself to the platform and put Dr. Fie down. The doctor began to brush himself off. He then felt his jaw.

“I must say,” Dr. Fie said. “Dear Hope could have been a champion apple-bucker. She has the power for it.”

“That’s not the only power I have, doctor,” said the Empress.

Dr. Fie and Misericordia both jumped. In the chaos and confusion, it had been easy to forget about even such a danger as the Dark Empress. But now, here she was. And she looked ready to kill.

Dr. Fie put out his hooves in front of him. “Come now, dear girl. I can understand your anger at that disreputable Starlight Glimmer and at Sombra, but you can’t be angry at your dear old friend, your old bosom pal, Dr. Fiddly Fie.”

“You’ve betrayed me,” the Empress said, “you’ve lied to me. And I’m really mad about losing Starlight and my so-called ‘best friend.’ As such, I’m in the mood to blow somepony up. And you’re here, doctor.”

The Empress took several large steps, closing the distance between herself and Dr. Fie. He tried backing away, but she was too quick for him. He was hers.

But just as she reached him, she came to a dead stop.

Dr. Fie fell to his haunches. “No, please! No, don’t do this, dear girl! You can’t do this!”

“It is no use talking to her, Dr. Fie,” said Misericordia as he moved to shield the doctor. “As I keep saying, she is not Radiant Hope.”

The Empress shook her head and recovered herself. She smiled. Her horn began to glow. “Finally, somepony who gets it. Hope is gone.”

Dr. Fie threw his head to the ground and covered it with his hooves. Misericordia expanded himself as far as he could, in order to try and absorb the blast.

But the Empress did nothing. She just stood there, her horn glowing. Dr. Fie looked out from under his hooves. The Empress’ eyes did not meet his. Her eyes did not meet anyone’s. They just stared out blankly, with a glazed look upon them.

Dr. Fie slowly recovered his courage. He began to crawl over. Slowly, cautiously, carefully, he got into a sitting position. He tapped the Empress on the shoulder. Nothing.

He tried again. Nothing.

Nothing, that is, until the Empress spoke. Dr. Fie jumped nearly a mile. His scream pierced the darkness.

She said, “What do you mean, ‘Hope is never really gone?’”

“What do you mean, ‘Hope is never really gone?’” asked the other Hope.

“Exactly what I said,” Radiant Hope responded. “Something remains, no matter what.”

Hope walked in a circle around this pony, surveying her.

“So, which one are you?” she asked.

“Which what?”

“Which one of me are you?”

The other Hope let out a cold and cruel laugh. A sickening, screeching laugh. The type of laugh Hope associated with the Umbrum.

“I am not you,” she said.

“But you look like me, so you must be me.” Hope stopped. She waved her hoof in the direction of the other Hope’s face. “Except for the whole black-and-white facepaint look. A little too intense, don’t you think?”

“Intensity is one of my virtues,” responded the other. “So is strength. So is courage.”

“I don’t think you’re my courage,” Hope said. “I’m not sure those bright red eyes are really saying courage. More like ‘I should really have this looked at.’ You know, they have drops for stuff like this now. Or I could just heal you....”

Hope did not know if magic could even work wherever this was. She did not even know why she was trying to heal another version of herself. But it came instinctively. She was a healer, after all.

“What do you think you’re doing?” the other Hope said. “Your pathetic attempts at magic won’t work here. You are nothing but a memory. An echo.”

A small blue light appeared in the darkness.

“I’m apparently a very powerful echo,” Hope said.

The other Hope seemed at first confused. Then panic set in. “How? How can you access the healing magic? It belongs to me now! It is mine!”

“Aha,” Hope said. “So you are me!”

“I am not you.”

“You are, though. You have to be. You look like me. You... well, you don’t sound like me. But you’ve got the look down! Again, except for the facepaint thing. Seriously, it looks like you’re going through a phase. I never went through a phase like that, did I?”

“Silence!” As the other Hope yelled, her horn began to grow an ominous, burning red. It put the blue of Hope’s own horn to shame.

“I am not you, Radiant Hope. Hope is gone.”

“I’m not gone. I’m kinda getting offended that you keep saying it.”

The other Hope looked at her in disdain. As though she despised Hope and everything she was. Hope had seen that level of hatred in a pony’s eyes only once. It was the same look that was in Sombra’s eyes when he turned Princess Amore to stone.

The other Hope sneered. “I am not you. I am everything you could have been. I am everything you should have been, had you just listened to me. And now, I am your destiny. I am the Dark Empress of the Umbrum, and you will kneel before me!”

The red of the Empress’ horn began to glow with an even more feverish intensity. It seemed to Hope as though she was trying to cast a spell.

Nothing happened.

“Yeah,” Hope said. “I didn’t think that was going to work. My healing magic didn’t work on you, so why would your dark magic work on me? I don’t think our magic works in this place at all,”

“Your so-called ‘magic’ didn’t work on me because there is nothing to heal. I am not sick. Look at me. I am better than you and you know it.”

"I am looking and I have to say, with all the black and white and red, I'm not getting a better than you vibe. I'm getting angsty teenager." Hope paused and thought. "Wait, is that where you are from? No, wait, I never was an angsty teen. Sombra, on the other hand....”

Hope fell silent. The answer began to occur to her. Not all at once, but in bits and pieces. She spoke out loud, more to herself than to the Empress — though, was there really a difference? — as she tried to work it out. “Sombra. That red, that’s the color his horn became.... And you call yourself the Dark Empress.... It looks like you’re trying to use dark magic, which means.... Anger. You’re angry.... But I wasn’t angry when I was the Empress of the Umbrum. Not like this, at least.... I was angry a little at Sombra, and also myself, but I never became this.... So, if you’re not my past, you must be....”

“I am your destiny.”

Hope held up a hoof. “Yeah, destiny. I still don’t believe in it. And besides, how dare you try to tell my what my destiny is! That’s personal.”

The Empress raised her brows. “Really? And here I thought you wanted us to be the same person.”

Hope shrugged. “Well, you’re the one who said you weren’t me. But you are me, somehow. I know it. But if you’re not my past... and you can’t be my future because I choose it... then you must be.... an alternate timeline!”

“What?” the Empress practically spat. “How does that even follow? I am not your alternate. I am your superior!”

“Okay, okay,” Hope said. “It was a silly idea. Alternate timelines are so played-out these days, don’t you think?”

“Only a tremendous idiot could come up with such a thing.”

Hope tapped her chin. “Okay, so first guess wrong. But my second guess will be right. You’re my present, aren’t you?”

Hope had an idea. She rushed her doppelgänger, practically throwing her own face into the black-and-white one of the Empress. suddenly got really close into the Empress’ face. The dark pony jumped a little. It was good to know that even someone who took herself so seriously could still be caught off-guard.

“Sombra did something to me, didn’t he?” Hope asked. “When he did the ceremony? He filled me with his darkness. You’re the result, am I right? You’re the one who’s in control of my body right now, aren’t you?”

“And putting it to better use than you ever have.” The pride in the Empress’ voice and bearing was unmistakable.

Hope smirked. “Really? You should have seen some of the things I’ve done. You would have liked them.”

“I have seen them.” The Empress’ voice was now very quiet. Hope could only barely catch what she had said.

“So, what are you, some kind of hybrid?” Hope asked. “A little of me? A little of him?”

“Oh please,” the Empress responded. “If there’s one thing worse than being you, it would be being your child.”

Hope nodded. “Okay, so not a hybrid, then. Maybe a parasite? Something put in my mind to take me over?”

The Empress rolled her eyes. “What kind of a stupid idea is that? Do you think up these things yourself or is there some other nitwit somewhere who actually comes up with them for you?”

Hope was too deep in her own thoughts for the insult to affect her much. “So, you’re not a hybrid. And you’re not a parasite. But you’re me, somehow.”

“Enough!” the Dark Empress snapped. Her horn grew bright enough to fill the whole surrounding area with its blood-red glow. Not that it revealed anything worth seeing. “I keep telling you, but you won’t listen. I am not you.”

“Oh, but I am listening,” Hope said. “I’m listening to all of me, maybe for the first time. But what am I missing? Feels like there’s something....”

“You’ve missed a whole lot over the last thousand years. I should know.”

Hope pointed her hoof in the Empress’ face. Once again, it was fast enough that the Empress was caught off-guard. She flinched.

But Hope was excited now. “Exactly! How should you know? You said something before. When I mentioned all I’ve done. You said, ‘I have seen them.’ There’s an exact quote. At least, I think it’s an exact quote. You kind of mumbled your words there. If you’re going to be the Empress of Umbrum, you should really enunciate better.”

“My enunciation is fine. Your chittering, on the other hoof, grows annoying.”

“That’s what all the ponies at the orphanage used to say.”

And then, the red light went out. The Empress tried turning her back on Hope. She clearly did not want to be seen. Hope sensed that there was something important here, so she trotted around to face the Empress again. The Empress either did not have the energy or the interest to keep this up, and so just sat there while Hope studied her face in her own horn’s blue light. Gone was the anger. There was a new emotion, not just in the Empress’ expression, but in how she carried herself. No more did see seem like the proud and wrathful ruler of monsters. The Empress wrapped her forelegs around herself and tried to appear small.

“Oh,” Hope said, “you’re in pain.”

“Shut up.”

Hope reached out a hoof and touched the Empress’ shoulder. When she did, she felt a static shock. “Yes, you are. I should know what it looks like by now. But why? Why, when all I did was mention the orphanage?”

The Empress looked up, with burning red eyes. She swatted Hope’s hoof away. Everything was cast in red once more, except now with an even greater, more primal, intensity.

“Why did you have to mention that place? Why?”

Hope was taken aback. But she was not upset. She could not be upset with this other pony, this other her. Not once she saw how much this Hope was hurting.

The red light dimmed a little. The Empress turned her back on Hope again. Hope once more put her hoof to the Empress’ shoulder, only for it to once again be swatted away, this time with enough force to nearly send Hope tumbling backward.

After she recovered herself, Hope thought to press the Empress on what she had just said. However, the Empress seemed to have no inclination to say more, at least not initially. But, knowing ponies like she hoped she did — knowing herself like she hoped she did — Hope felt it better to just wait. The other pony would open up in her own good time. It is what Hope would do, after all.

And Hope was right. At last, the red light faded. The Empress turned back around. Hope could make out a watery sheen to the black lines below her eyes. She must have been crying.

“Why did you have to mention the orphanage? The place where it all began?”

“Where what began?” Hope asked, as gently as she could.

“All of it!” the Empress snapped. “The pain. The rejection. The sense beaten into us that we were different from other ponies. Those other foals and fillies and colts were so, so cruel.”

Hope nodded in understanding. “Yes. Yes, they were. But then we met Sombra.”

“Like that made anything better!”

“It did. For a while.”

“For a while!” the Empress scoffed. “And then he left us! He rejected us! Then he rejected us during the Siege and then just now! He rejected us three times! Just like the two Royal Sisters, when we asked them to save him! They ignored us and banished him! Just like the Umbrum, who manipulated us and all the while were mocking us behind our backs! A thousand years, a thousand years of nothing but rejection!”

Hope thought for a moment. She had to admit, the Empress’ words were bringing back old memories she would rather not revisit. She could understand why the Empress was so hung up on them. They were painful.

She smiled gently and spoke softly. “Life hasn’t been fair to you — to us — has it?”

“No, no, of course it hasn’t!” The Empress clearly was not enjoying this attempt at empathy. “Any more obvious understatements you want to make?”

“But we have friends now,” Hope said, hopefully. “We finally have ponies who care about us.”

The Empress just waved her hoof at this. “They’ll reject us too, eventually. You know they will.”

“I don’t know what the future holds. Life’s gonna hurt some more, probably. Maybe the ponies we care about leave us or let us down. But even if they do, we can still go on. We have to go on. But not in anger and pain and despair. We need to keep going in hope.”

“Hope? Hope!” The red light became blinding. It was now the Empress’ turn to throw herself in Hope’s face. “And if they all leave us, if they all reject us, what is the point of hope? You tell me, Radiant Hope, what is the point?”

Hope was taken aback. Her blue light began to glow dimmer. But just as it seemed about to fade completely, it started to increase in intensity again. The blue glow grew greater and greater until it matched the force and intensity of the red one, creating a mixed, purple glow in the space between the two Hopes.

Hope spoke. Her voice was quiet, but calm and firm. “It’s not all about us.”

The Empress let out a loud growl. Then she began stomping around, putting a few paces between herself and Radiant Hope.

“You don’t understand!” said the Empress. “After all this time, you still don’t understand!”

“Of course, I understand!” Hope responded. “I know things what we’ve gone through. I know how much it hurt!”

And then, the red light burst forth again. Hope could now see nothing else. But she could hear the Empress’ voice.

“But you never did anything about it! Oh sure, you caused the Siege and all. But that wasn’t for revenge. That wasn’t to pay them back for all the pain. That wasn’t to express all the anger you felt somewhere deep inside. No, you’re too noble, your motives are too pure, you are a good pony.”

“I’m not trying to be a good pony,” Hope said. “I’m just trying to be me.”

“Oh, but you are a good pony,” said the Empress. “And a good pony never acts on all the agony, all the pain, all the anger she’s ever felt. She bottles all that up deep inside. Instead of letting it loose, instead of letting it take her to her revenge, she ignores it. She rejects it.”

Hope tried to get closer. “Of course, I never gave in to feelings of anger and rage. I barely even felt them.”

“But they were there.”

Hope nodded slowly. “I know. But why would I give into them? Sure, things hurt, but I never felt the need for revenge. Even when I felt angry, I never saw the need for turning against other ponies. I’ve gone down a lot of paths, but that’s one path I completely rejected.”

“I know,” said the Empress coldly.

Hope had now gotten quite close. But seeing it, the Empress shouted, “Stay away from me! I don’t want you near me!”

Hope halted. The Empress took several steps backward. Now they just stood there, staring at each other, with their horns aglow. Half of this void was stained blue, the other half red.

“Why? Why don’t you want to be near me?” Hope asked. “Why don’t you want to be a part of me?”

“Because, the path you rejected, the path of anger and wrath? Don’t you see, Radiant Hope? Don’t you see what you did when you rejected that path?”

Even in the red light, Hope could see a tear find its way down the Empress’ cheek.

“You rejected me.”

Where would Starlight and Sombra end up? And would Hope overcome the Empress?

Read on.

A Thousand Years

Sombra felt himself falling. Falling for what seemed like an eternity. He watched time go backward. Years flew by in reverse, events long past returned. A thousand years were reset in the span of a few breaths.

And then the falling stopped. The ground is what stopped it. And the ground was hard. As Sombra came flying headfirst out of the bubble, he was certain that is current smoke-based state would save him the worst of the pain. He was wrong.

He hurt. He hurt all over. Sombra quickly tried to rub everything that hurt with his hooves. It helped somewhat, but not enough. He would still be sore for quite a while, he knew.

Wait, he thought. I have hooves?

And, just like that, the pain was forgotten. Sombra looked down at himself. Not only did he have hooves. He had a body. A long, sleek, grey body.

Sombra jumped up. He couldn’t help but let out a laugh of joy and relief.

It looks like the King of Monsters has found a way to triumph again!

“What are you laughing about?”

Sombra looked up. Oh, great. That pony creature is here.

Indeed, there she was. The lavender pony from the ship, the one with the outdated mane-do and the overly self-righteous attitude. Starlight Glimmer was her name, if Sombra remembered correctly.

Not that her name mattered much. She had served her purpose, and that was all that counted. Now she was no longer useful to him.

“I suppose I should thank you,” Sombra said. “Your activation of that time travel spell has restored my body. As gratitude, I shall let you walk away with your life.”

“You couldn’t kill me if you wanted to,” Starlight said. “You barely managed to beat me the last time. And only then because you had help.”

The insolence! Sombra had been willing to reward this pony for her service. He had been willing to let her live. And how did she repay him? With mockery. Sombra would not let such an insult stand.

He summoned up all the dark magic he had within him. Becoming a statue would be too good for Starlight Glimmer. He would make sure there was no trace left of her at all.

She just watched him, her eyes narrow. Clearly, she was not impressed. But she would see.

Oh, yes, she will see.

Sombra fired the greatest bolt of dark energy he could muster. The dark black beam, rippling with lightning, tore through the air toward Starlight. She did not try to move. She could not have escaped it if she wanted to. The beam was destined for her.

And it passed straight through her, harmlessly, before vanishing completely when it hit the ground. Sombra, had he not known the force he had just mustered, would have thought that he had not unleashed magic at all.

“What? How are you doing this?” Sombra bellowed. “How are you countering my magic?”

Starlight raised one eyebrow. “I told you the spell needed some work.”

“What do you mean?”

“The spell was supposed to allow a pony to travel through time. It did. It was also supposed to allow a pony to change time, to interact with it and impact events. That—”

Starlight kicked at a small rock with her hoof. The rock did not move. Starlight’s hoof went straight through it.

“—did not happen.”

This was a setback. Sombra saw it immediately. The past would not be useful to him if he could not interact with it and extract from it what he wanted. But he was alive and his body seemed stable, so his disappointment was tempered.

“It is no matter,” Sombra said. “I am certain it is only a temporary setback. I have always to find a way back before. Especially now that we are in the glory days of my people, the reign of the Umbrum, I am sure I shall find some remedy.”

Starlight looked around. “Does this look like the glory days of the Umbrum to you?”

Sombra glanced at his surroundings. He hated to admit it, but the pony had a point. This did not look like a world the Umbrum ruled. It was too sunny, too bright, too clear. Too happy.

In fact, this place looked familiar. All too familiar. Sombra could not place it, but for some reason, this yard — he could see that it was a yard — filled him with a vague sense of something. A sense of... what was it?

Welcoming? No.

Warmth? No.

A sense of coming home. No, of course not. That would be stupid. So, what was it?

Dread. Something about this place filled Sombra with dread. He didn’t know why, but the emotion was inescapable.

He was turning it over in his mind when he heard Starlight exclaim, “Wait. Isn’t that you?”

Sombra shook himself out of his somber reverie. His eyes followed the direction of Starlight’s outstretched hoof. Sure enough, he caught sight of a small colt, grey in color, with green eyes and a jet-black mane.

“The orphanage! It’s the accursed orphanage again!” Sombra yelled.

“The orphanage where you guys grew up?” Starlight asked.

“Not that it matters to you, pony, but yes. The orphanage where I first knew suffering. The orphanage where I was taught to hate.”

Young Sombra walked over to a group of other youngsters, all already engaged in games and gossip.

“Ah, yes, I remember this well,” Sombra said. “This moment is burned into my soul forever. You watch, pony. You will see how these creatures with their unwarranted loathing cast out all hopes of a good and happy life and sent me down the path to becoming what I am today.”

“Greetings, friends,” young Sombra said. “Can Sombra play too?”

“Go away, Sombrero,” came the response.

Sombra could feel Starlight’s cold glare.

“‘Sombrero.’ I’ve truly seen the depths of pony depravity now,” she said caustically.

“Shut up,” Sombra barked. “It hurt a lot at the time. Things like that stay with you. And who are you to judge my pain?”

“Okay, whatever, Sombrero. Some kids were mean to you, so you decided to take over the world. Not an overreaction at all.”

“Oh, like you’ve never been haunted by an incident from childhood? Nothing’s ever happened to you that’s kept you hurt and angry throughout your whole life?”

Starlight was silent.

The young Sombra was sitting in the grass now, his head down, looking sad and forlorn.

“This is the part where Hope comes in,” Sombra said. “She tells me that ponies call her weird too and, if I want, we can be weird together.”

“There she is,” Starlight said, pointing a hoof.

There was Radiant Hope. She was much younger, a small filly whose mane covered half her face and who kept tripping over her extra-long tail. But it was her. Sombra had to admit, even after all of these years, he still felt some of the same surprise and joy he had felt upon first seeing her that day. It was enough to make many memories come back to him. Many happy memories.

Sombra shook his head. No, he would not think of them. All those things were in vain.

Hope began to approach the young Sombra.

“Now, watch, pony,” he said. “Here is the tragic moment when my destiny was forever intertwined with Hope’s, ultimately fating the both of us for lifetimes of pain, suffering, and destruction.”

“I have to say, you are just a joy to talk to,” Starlight deadpanned. “Were you always like this with Hope? How did she ever stand you for all those years?”

Sombra was not really listening. He was too interested in his own observations. “I have often wondered whether Hope’s act of kindness this day was truly selfless and because of my own pain, or if she was just looking for somepony to make herself less lonely.”

He did not look at Starlight, but he was somehow certain she was rolling her eyes.

“What does it matter?” she said. “She was lonely and she saw you were lonely. She thought both of you could be less lonely if you were friends. No big mystery there. Why do you have to over-complicate it?”

“Hmph, you will see,” Sombra said. “Watch now, and see how Hope used me for her advantage, just like every other pony.”

As Hope passed the crowd of children, one of them, a white colt, called out, “Oh, look. There goes fairy-girl. Guess she’s gonna try and make friends with the other weirdo.”

“I wish we were corporeal,” Sombra remarked. “I’d love to turn each of these creatures to stone. And then I would set them on the walls of my palace as a warning to all who pass by.”

“Yep, another ray of sunshine from Mr. Peppy Pony,” Starlight said.

Hope seemed undaunted by the taunt from the white colt. She answered, in a voice which suggested that the insult did not even register, “He looks so lonely and sad.”

“Of course, he’s lonely and sad,” said a pink filly. “He’s not like us. He’s weird. You hear how he talks about himself in the third-person?”

“It wasn’t my fault!” Sombra said. “Pony language never came easy to me. Why do you need both a name and a personal pronoun? Why? And has anypony ever noticed that when you say ‘I’ and I say ‘I,’ we’re referring to completely different ponies? It is incredibly inefficient.”

“I can see this is still an open wound,” Starlight said.

“You said I was weird too,” Hope said to the other children.

“Yeah, you are weird, but not like him,” the white colt said. “You should stay away from him or you’ll be even more of a weirdo.”

“They do like insults that end in o, don’t they?” Starlight remarked.

The pink filly joined in. “Yeah, and if you want to be friends with him, we’re never talking to you again.”

The children gave a collective, “Yeah!”

Hope simply nodded. “Okay.”

She then turned and walked toward the young Sombra, the swishing of her tail underneath her hooves not slowing her down a bit.

As Sombra watched them, his harsh glare became softer. “I didn’t know the others threatened to ostracize her entirely. It doesn’t surprise me, but I didn’t know it had happened.”

“Still think she was being selfish?” Starlight asked.

Now it was Sombra’s turn not to answer. Everything he had to say, he did not want to say to her. He did not want to even say them to himself.

Which, as it turned out, was fine, because Starlight had something to say.

“Look, I’m sorry, Sombra.”

Sombra was surprised. Not that he didn’t deserve the apology. But Starlight Glimmer seemed like the type of mare who never apologized. Especially not to her enemies.

“I shouldn’t have made fun of you,” Starlight said. “I know what it’s like to be rejected when you’re that young. I know how it eats at you.”

“Yes, it does,” Sombra said. He watched his younger self, who had now apparently forgotten all about the childish taunts as he talked and played with his new friend, Radiant Hope.

“I was rejected by everyone when is as a filly, too,” Starlight said. “I had a friend, but then he left me. I wish I had known somepony like Hope back then. Somepony who would have cared like she did.”

“Yes, it does seem she cared quite a lot about me. But this was before it all changed. Before she changed. Later, when the ambition of being a princess clouded her eyes, she became different. She left me. She was no longer by my side.”

Suddenly, everything before them grew fuzzy. It seemed to stretch and fade and contort. And the sunny outdoor scene was gone completely, to be replaced by an indoor one.

Sombra recognized it immediately.

“This is the orphanage’s sick ward,” he said. “I spent the Crystal Faire here, every year.”

“Hope told me,” Starlight said.

Sombra looked out the window at the Crystal Palace beyond and all the ponies gathered there. “And it looks like the Crystal Faire has come again.”

“And here you are again.”

Sombra followed Starlight’s eyes, though he did not need to. He knew to what she was referring. But despite this, he looked. He did not want to look, but he did. He had to.

And there he was, in one of the beds. The younger him seemed unconscious or, if he was conscious, only barely. Though not yet in his Umbric form, his whole body looked ghastly. His limbs were contorted and lay at strange angles. Every so often, one of them would let out a little spasm.

“Not a pleasant sight,” Starlight said.

“It was worse going through it,” Sombra said, in a deliberate understatement.

There were two other ponies there. One, easily distinguished by her tawny coat and dignified bearing, was Ms. Chestnut Falls, the orphanage’s caretaker. And the other was Radiant Hope.

Though Hope was positioned directly next to the window, she did not look out at the celebration beyond. Not once. All her focus was on Sombra. She winced as he twitched, sighed as he shivered, and whenever a major compulsion shook him, she quickly threw herself on top of him. To steady him. To let him know he was not alone.

Ms. Chestnut, meanwhile, also seemed upset and worried. But her focus was almost entirely upon Hope.

“So, did we get to selfish Hope yet?” Starlight asked. “Because it still doesn’t seem like it.”

“This is the first year of my suffering,” Sombra said. “We’re still young.”

“Can’t be,” Starlight said. “You guys are much older than children. It’s been some time.”

“Sombra, please be okay,” Hope whispered. “Please, please, please.”

Ms. Chestnut put a hoof on her shoulder. “Hope, you really should get some rest.”

Hope shook her head. “I can’t leave. Not as long as Sombra needs me. I have to stay by his side.”

“But you can’t do anything for him here. All you’re doing is wearing yourself out.”

Hope let out a long sigh. “He needs me. He needs to know I’m here. Nothing else matters.”

Ms. Chestnut looked out at the Crystal Faire. “The Faire’s still going on for another few hours. I could stay with Sombra. You could go and have fun.”

Hope looked up at Ms. Chestnut, horrified. “Have fun? How can I have fun when Sombra is like this?”

Ms. Chestnut sighed. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just know how special the Crystal Faire is to you. I don’t think it’s fair to you to have to miss it.”

“It isn’t fair to Sombra that he has to hurt like this,” Hope said.

“I know, but—”

Hope tried to put on a glum little smile. “Thank you, Ms. Chestnut, but the Faire doesn’t matter if Sombra can’t see it. Nothing else matters.”

“Okay....” Ms. Chestnut turned to leave. “I just hate to see how the two of you haven’t been able to enjoy growing up like you should have.”

“Miss Chestnut?” Hope asked.

“Hmm?”

“You know I want to be a princess, right?”

“I know, dear. It’s been your dream since you were a foal.”

“Do you know why I want to be a princess? It’s because I want to be able to help ponies like the princesses do. But I can’t help other ponies if I can’t even help my best friend.”

“Hmm, I understand, dear,” Ms. Chestnut said, in a tone which suggested that she did not fully understand. She once more turned to leave, but cast one last, long, worried look over her shoulder at Hope and Sombra.

Hope did not notice. She had turned her attention back fully to her friend.

Ms. Chestnut now left the room, stepping through both Sombra and Starlight. It was a disorienting feeling. But not as disorienting as watching one of the defining moments of his own life from a distance.

“I was too focused on my own pain every time this happened,” Sombra said. “I never could really pay attention to what was happening around me. This is the first I’m seeing this.”

“It makes quite an impression,” Starlight said.

Hope took Sombra’s hoof in her own. “It doesn’t matter, Sombra. The Crystal Faire doesn’t matter. The Crystal Heart doesn’t matter. What matters is that we’re together.”

Sombra could not bear to watch anymore. He turned his gaze to Starlight, just to avoiding seeing Hope and himself. But then he saw Starlight’s eyes grow wide.

Sombra quickly turned his head back to the scene before them. There he was, in bed, his eyes emitting a black mist. Sombra realized what night this was.

“It’s tonight!” he said. “Tonight is the night I nearly died! Tonight is the night when Hope gets her cutie mark! It’s the night she saves me... for a time....”

Sombra watched it all unfold as though in a daze. He saw everything. He saw the darkness begin to take him over. He saw himself lifted upward into the air. He saw his body dissolve, becoming nothing more than a formless mass of smoke and vapor.

He heard Hope scream, “Sombra, don’t leave me!”

And then his younger self pleaded, “Hope, save me!”

And she said, “I don’t know what to do!”

Sombra did not need to hear all this a second time. It burned into his memory forever. So he did not really listen. He watched. He watched Hope break into tears as she saw her friend slowly fading into nothingness. He saw her panic. He saw her look for something, anything to do. He saw her find no options and nearly break down as she realized she was losing him forever.

And then he saw her do it. He saw her cast the healing magic which would save him. He saw her.

It was evident that she had no clue what she was doing. She was going on instinct; she was fighting for him. She was straining and she was struggling and she was striving. Sombra was surprised by how brutal it all seemed. It seemed like Hope, if it were possible, could tear herself apart at any moment. It looked like she was willing to let it happen, if necessary. It looked like she would give up anything for him.

Even her life.

It was over. The younger Sombra was still there. Hope had a nice new cutie mark. They were hugging on the floor.

“Wow,” Starlight said. “Just wow. You hear the story, but nothing beats the effect of actually seeing it live.”

“Try living it,” Sombra said.

“I can’t imagine what it was like to have to go through that,” Starlight said. “But you should thank Celestia Hope was there. She would have given up everything for you.”

“I know,” Sombra said, his voice quiet and low.

After a moment, he added, “But what a fortuitous choice of works. Thank Celestia. You forget, Starlight, Hope was the one who brought the princesses to banish me. Whatever you see here, she still betrayed me in the end.”

And then the scene shifted. Now, they were outside again. It was night. From out of the darkness, trees arose. Trees and shrubs and vines were everywhere. Amongst the trees, there was a clearing. In the clearing, a proud and imposing structure stood tall, with towering spires, high ramparts, and mighty flying buttresses rising against the backdrop of the night. It was a castle. The Castle of the Royal Sisters.

The castle doors were open wide. Out of them strode the two Princesses, Celestia and Luna. They too walked right through Starlight and Sombra.

“I find this constantly being stepped through... annoying....” Sombra said.

“It wouldn’t happen if somebody would have just listened to me when I said the spell needed work,” Starlight said.

“What do you want, pony?” Sombra asked. “Would an admission that you were right soothe you?”

“It would be a start.”

“Unfortunately for you, Sombra does not apologize. It is not in my nature to admit when I am wrong.”

“I noticed.”

“Don’t be so judgmental. You too are like this, are you not?”

“More than I care to admit.”

Celestia and Luna looked up at the moon together.

“You know it is hopeless, do you not, sister?” Luna asked.

“I know it is,” Celestia responded. “I fear Sombra is already too far gone. We won’t be able to talk any sense into him.”

“There’s princesses for you,” Sombra said. “They never give you much of a chance.”

“They could be worse,” Starlight remarked. “At least they’re not Twilight.”

“Agreed,” said Sombra.

Luna flapped her wings to take off. She noticed her sister was not doing the same.

“What is the matter?” she asked.

“I was just thinking about Hope,” Celestia said. “What we’re about to do will devastate her.”

“I know,” Luna said, “but we have no choice. The fate of Equestria is at stake.”

At this moment, a small voice came from the castle behind them, “Your Highnesses?”

Celestia and Luna looked back. Sombra and Starlight looked. Standing in the doorway of the castle was Radiant Hope.

“Yes, Hope?” Celestia said, trying her best to sound as though nothing was the matter.

“You aren’t going to hurt Sombra, are you?” Hope asked. “You’re going to save him, right?”

Celestia and Luna looked to one another, each clearly unsure of what to say. Finally, Celestia turned, walked up to Hope, and smiled.

“We’ll do what we can,” she said in a kind, gentle voice.

“I don’t mean to sound rude or ungrateful, Princess,” Hope said, “but doing what you can isn’t good enough. Sombra isn’t evil. I know he’s not. He’s just hurting. He’s hurting a lot and has been for years. Please, help him. Please save him. He doesn’t deserve to be destroyed.”

Princess Celestia looked back to Luna, who seemed as uncertain of how to respond as she was.

Finally, Celestia lowered her head so that she could meet Hope at eye-level. “We won’t destroy him, Hope.”

“Do you promise?”

“I....”

Celestia looked over her shoulder at Luna. Luna nodded.

“We promise,” Celestia said. “We promise not to destroy Sombra.”

Hope smiled a wan, half-hearted smile which still conveyed how genuinely grateful she was. “Thank you, princesses.”

As the Princesses took flight and Hope followed on foot behind, Sombra felt Starlight’s glare upon him again.

“Do you have something to say?” he asked.

“She didn’t betray you,” Starlight said.

“She still brought the princesses.”

“But she didn’t betray you. She thought they could save you. She wanted them to help you get better.”

Sombra let out a snort. “I know.” It was hard to accept, but he could not deny the evidence of his eyes. “Perhaps I have been too inconsiderate in my judgment of her.”

“You think?”

And then the scene changed again. Now they were on a snowy hill just beyond the Crystal Empire. From here, they had an excellent vantage of the Crystal Palace and the entire realm. Which, at this particular moment, was not a stroke of fortune, given the sight that greeted them.

The Empire looked half in ruins. Smoke was everywhere. Shouts rang out from the streets below. Shouts and cries. Cries of panic, cries of pain. Ponies, little bigger than specks, ran through the streets with stretchers and ambulances. Sometimes, in the confusion, they would nearly collide with other ponies also bearing stretchers and ambulances. Sometimes, there was no ‘nearly.’ Sometimes, the collisions happened. The smell of fire filled the air.

Sombra saw all this. But he was not interested. More pressing questions filled his mind.

“Why do we keep jumping like this? Is it a part of the spell?”

“Like I keep trying to get through your thick skull,” Starlight answered. “The spell is not finished, at least not in the way it should be. It needs work. So maybe it’s a side effect. But no, it’s not supposed to be how the spell works.”

Sombra was deep in thought. “Something must be causing this. Why else would it be taking me to such key moments in my own life? What could account for this?”

“I see your narcissism is showing again.”

“Takes a narcissist to know one, doesn’t it?”

“Smooth, Sombra,” Starlight remarked in a sarcastic tone.

Sombra shook his head. Banter was annoying. It had been one of many things he had never been good at. He did not wish to prolong it. But as he turned his thoughts back to his conundrum, an idea came to him.

“Princess Amore’s fragments were also sucked into the portal. Could their dark energy be directing us here? Or could it be... Princess Amore herself?”

“Or, you know, a pony who you destroyed a thousand years ago would maybe not suddenly haunt you from beyond the grave.”

“Princess Amore isn’t dead,” Sombra said. Much too casually, judging by the way in which Starlight’s jaw dropped.

“Sombra, what do you mean? Hope said.... Sombra, Hope doesn’t know! She thinks you murdered Amore!”

Sombra did not much hear her. He stomped his hooves into the snow which was, predictably, unaffected. “Princess Amore.... Still finding ways to manipulate my life after all these years.”

“Hey, numbskull,” Starlight said. “We're not on This Is Your Life, King Sombra. We haven't seen you for the last few scenes. We're just the audience; it's somepony else's show. These are the key moments in her life.”

Starlight pointed a hoof. Sombra looked in the direction she was indicating. There, right up against the little cliff at the other side of the hill, was a small form wrapped in a brown cloak. Sombra recognized her immediately.

It was Radiant Hope. She was crying.

He walked up to the edge of the cliff and stood beside her, in order to see her face. Hope was lying there, tears streamed downing her face, with her forelegs wrapped around the remains of Sombra’s own horn.

“Oh, Sombra,” she said through her tears. “Sombra, I did this all for you. Look at what happened. Look at the destruction I caused. All for you. I don’t even know how many ponies were lost. All for you. I did it all for you. I might have done it again too, if it would have worked. But it didn’t work. And now I’ve lost you forever.”

“Hope....” Sombra said sadly. He reached out a hoof to comfort her, to brush her hair, to wipe the tears from her eyes. Of course, he could not. His hoof just went through her face.

He knew that Starlight was staring daggers at him.

“You don’t like me much, do you?” he said, meeting her gaze.

“You’re a real piece of work, you know that?” Starlight said. “Look at what you’ve done to Hope. I would have killed for a friend like her when I was younger. And how did you repay her? By turning her into... into this. And why? All because you were so consumed by anger and rage that you couldn’t see what was right in front of your face.”

“Starlight....”

“Oh, so you were in pain. We’re all in pain. But not all of us go about trying to hurt everyone. Not all of us end up taking it out on the only pony who ever really cared for us.”

“Starlight!”

“Not all of us feel so afraid of being betrayed that we try to hurt and break and control the ponies who do care about us so that they never leave us again. Nopony does that, Sombra!”

“You’re right, Starlight. Nopony but me and you.”

Starlight took a step back. “I’m not like you.”

“Aren’t you, though?” asked Sombra. “That anti-cutie mark crusade of yours that Hope mentioned. Are you saying that it wasn’t just to control ponies and make them care about you? I would be surprised if you brainwashed a few ponies and ruled like a tyrant in your time, too.”

Starlight was speechless. Several times, she tried to respond. Each time, she stopped herself and bit her tongue. There seemed to be a struggle going on inside of her. Something in her was dying, Sombra surmised. And something new was being born.

Sombra only hoped it was the same thing that was being born in him.

“You’re right,” Starlight said at last. “I am like you. But I don’t want to be like you anymore. Now I want to be like Hope.”

“So do I,” Sombra said. “You were right about me. Everything. I’ve done so much to hurt Hope. I can’t ever fix it or make it up to her. But maybe I can try to be better. For her.”

“Fat chance of that,” Starlight said. “You made her into that thing, remember? You can’t make things right. But I, at least, can make up for some of the bad things I’ve done.”

Starlight levitated the spell scroll in front of her. Slowly, a turquoise flame began to burn the edges.

Sombra was alarmed. “Wait, Starlight! What are you doing?”

“I once enslaved ponies just like you did,” Starlight said. “And when Twilight Sparkle freed them, I went and stole this spell for revenge. But I’m letting it all go now. Whatever happens to us now, I can at least make sure nopony uses this spell to do what I planned to do.”

“No!”

Sombra leapt for the scroll. Starlight moved it just beyond his grasp. Sombra tried again. Again, Starlight lifted it just out of reach. Again and again this happened, until it resembled a pony playing with a dog rather than the king of shadows. Finally, Sombra grew wiser and just started to pull at the spell with his dark magic.

This resulted in a tug of war between the two which neither one was willing to lose.

“At least we’re able to settle this like mature, rational adults,” Starlight said. “Why is it so important to you that I save this spell, anyway? You’ll die if you go back to your own time.”

“I know,” Sombra responded. “But I have to get back. I have to try and get through to Hope. I can’t let her stay like that. I have to try and fix it. Otherwise, she’ll be the monster I made her forever.”

Sombra suddenly felt himself falling backward. He took a tumble down the hill and landed in the snow, which his body went through without disturbing. As he lay there, looking up into the sky, the scroll of the spell fell on his chest, unharmed. Starlight had obviously stopped pulling on her end.

She trotted up and stood over him. “That’s a good point, actually. I can’t just let Hope stay as... as that thing forever, either. I don’t know what we can do, but we have to try and get through to her.”

Starlight floated the spell up in front of her. Despite being both set on fire and fought over as the object of a tug-of-war between two powerful magic-users, the spell was completely unharmed.

“Hmm,” Starlight said. “I guess inanimate objects we bring with us are also immune to the effects of our magic here. Fascinating.”

Now she tells me, Sombra thought.

“Okay, get up, we need to do this,” Starlight said.

As Sombra got to his hooves, Starlight began casting. Above their heads, a bubble appeared. It began to grow. Soon, they began to feel the force of Its pull.

“You know this could just throw us into another time entirely, right?” Starlight asked as she rose into the air.

Sombra smirked. “It could. But somehow, I just know it will take us back to Radiant Hope.”

Would Sombra and Starlight ever return to Hope?

Read on.

Post Tenebras Spero Lucem

The Empress just stood there.

Dr. Fie waved his hoof in front of her face. Nothing.

He tapped her shoulder lightly with his hoof a few more times. Nothing.

“Maybe you should try shrieking really loudly. That always works in the Prison of Shadows,” Misericordia said.

“I was going to snap my fingers and see if it did anything,” Dr. Fie said. “Then I remembered that I don’t have any fingers. Hooves are a curse, dear boy.”

“I mean, like, shrieking really, really loud. Trust me, it always works.”

“Are you really still going on about that?”

“I think it could work.”

“Of course you do, you vaporous vanity. But for my part, I won’t take any advice coming out of a locale where stairs are considered the height of architectural technique.”

Misericordia looked confused. “Are you saying stairs are not the furthest advancement in architecture!”

Dr. Fie reclined on his haunches. “Oh, to be stuck amongst barbarians! Listen, you phosphorescent philistine, when you compare the ‘achievements’ of your people to the aqueducts of the Roanans, the pyramids of the Neighgyptians, the domes and spires of Saddle Arabia, there is simply no—”

“Enough!” The Empress shouted.

Dr. Fie let out a piercing scream as he jumped back. He looked in horror at the red glow of the Empress’ horn. He tried to back away.

“Oh, please, Hope, you don’t want to hurt me,” Dr. Fie said. “It’s me, dear, kindly, Dr. Fie. Your dearest friend. The pony with whom you have shared the bitter and the sweet. The only—”

“Shut up,” barked the Empress.

“Of course, of course,” Dr. Fie said, falling to his haunches once more and holding his hooves out before him. “Of course. I wouldn’t dare do anything to displease you, Hope. You know me, always thinking of others first. Dr. Fie is nothing if not compassionate and selfless in all he does”

Misericordia let out a strange and ugly sound, somewhere between the squawking of a particularly large bird and the noise a teapot makes as it lets out steam.

“Oh, dear Celestia, what is that horrid racket?” Dr. Fie asked, growing hysterical. “Another threat, perhaps? Oh, my awful luck! Oh, for such a noble and goodhearted pony as myself to be trapped amongst these fiends and jackals! Oh, the indignity! Oh, the... the.... Is that laughter?”

He turned to Misericordia, suddenly indignant. “Are you laughing at me?”

“I was clearing my throat,” Misericordia said.

Dr. Fie stood up tall and proud and strode toward Misericordia, pointing his hoof. “You were laughing at me, you misshapen miscreant! You were!”

“I’m sorry,” Misericordia said. “I think it was just the noble and goodhearted part.”

Dr. Fie poked his hoof into Misericordia’s face. “Listen, you intangible imbecile, I’ll attend to you after we finish with—”

“Why did you have to mention the orphanage?” the Empress said.

Dr. Fie let out another scream. It was a reflex. He quickly realized that nothing was actually happening. The Empress was still just standing there, staring blankly.

As the doctor calmed down, something occurred to him.

“Wait, the orphanage?” he asked. “The one where Hope grew up? Why is she bringing that up?”

“I do not think she is actually with us, Dr. Fie,” Misericordia said.

“What do you mean, she is not with us?” Dr. Fie asked, gesturing toward the Empress. “She’s right there.”

“That is not what I meant.”

“Oh, I’ll tell you what you meant, you ludicrous lump! You are the most—”

Suddenly, a bubble burst into the air above them. Dr. Fie jumped and hid behind Misericordia, all the while letting out a piercing scream. It had initially been the shock of it that got to him. But as he gazed anxiously at the bubble above, he began to feel genuine fear. He recognized it. But he did not know what would come out.

What came out was Starlight and Sombra. They landed hard upon the ground and bounced toward Dr. Fie and Misericordia. A small scroll bounced down after them. The bubble disappeared.

Dr. Fie stepped out from behind Misericordia. “Well, that was anticlimactic,” he said.

Starlight got up and dusted herself off. She trotted over to Dr. Fie.

“What’s happening?” she asked. “Did you get through to Hope?”

“Not in so many words,” Dr. Fie said.

Starlight looked to the Empress. In all the excitement, she had only barely noticed her standing there. Now, Starlight caught sight of the red, glowing horn. She tensed up, bracing herself for an attack. An attack which, for all Starlight knew, could destroy her.

“They’ll reject us too, eventually,” the Empress said. “You know they will.”

Starlight relaxed. “What’s wrong with her.”

“She’s been like that since you left,” Dr. Fie said. He fixed his gaze past Starlight. “But what’s wrong with him?”

Sombra had still not gotten off the ground. His body, the full body he had during his travels through time, was now completely gone. All that remains was the ill-defined shape of his head and a few trails of vapor. But even so, he forced himself to rise.

“I told you the portal would take us back,” he said.

“Yeah, it got us back,” Starlight remarked. “We had to spend a year watching ‘Great Moments in Princess Celestia’s Thousand-Year Reign,’ first but we got back. I never thought one pony could possibly eat so much cake without dying.”

Sombra shook what remained of his head. “There are some things nopony is ever meant to see.”

“Starlight Glimmer,” Misericordia said, “it appears as though the Empress is undergoing some sort of internal struggle. She has been arguing with herself.”

“Your talent for stating the obvious is incredible, you exasperating encyclopedia,” Dr. Fie said.

Starlight glanced around the darkness, thinking things through. Her eyes fixated on the Empress. “If she is struggling with herself, it can only mean one thing. Our Hope is still in there.”

“After all time, you still don’t understand!” the Empress said.

“And it sounds like she’s... like she’s losing,” Sombra said as he floated over.

“Are you alright?” Starlight asked. Sombra seemed increasingly hazy, almost transparent. He clearly did not have long left.

“It doesn’t matter,” Sombra said. “What matters is that we save Hope. I only care about her life now.”

“Right,” Starlight said. “But if Hope is in there, there has to be a way to get her back out.”

“The ritual I performed was only supposed to bring out Hope’s own darkness.” Sombra said.

“Oh, so it was ‘only’ supposed to turn her into a creature of night?” Dr. Fie said. “How very fortunate for us, dear boy.”

“Why did you call me ‘dear boy’?” Sombra asked. “I’m over a thousand years old.”

“You get used to it,” Misericordia said.

Sombra shook his head, or what was left of it. “Fine. But what I was saying is that, my magic didn’t destroy all of Hope’s personality. It just suppressed the parts I didn’t like.”

“Angling for a ‘boyfriend of the year’ award, are we?” Dr. Fie said.

“It was wrong, I know,” Sombra said.

“But suppressing a pony’s true personality never works for long. I should know,” Starlight said. “Hope is reasserting herself. If only we could help her true self come out, somehow.”

“But how are we supposed to do that, hmm, madam?” Dr. Fie said. “We can hardly shrink ourselves and go inside of dear Hope’s head.” He suddenly looked at Starlight with fear in his eyes. “You don’t have a shrinking spell, do you?”

“If I did, I’d have used it on you a long time ago, doctor,” Starlight said.

“Perhaps you already used it on your brain, dear lady,” Dr. Fie responded.

“At least I had a brain to use it on.”

“You could have fooled even my highly-attuned observational skills.”

“Dr. Fie is right,” Misericordia said, trying to quell the bickering.

Dr. Fie was unimpressed. “Finally seeing the light of reason, you unctuous umbra?”

“I do not like to admit it, Dr. Fie,” Misericordia said, “but this is a battle Radiant Hope needs to win alone.”

Starlight began approached Hope, “Yes, but that doesn’t mean she has to fight alone. Maybe we can get through to her somehow.”

“So, what do you propose, dear lady,” Dr. Fie said. “You want us to just talk to her?”

“Well, you are so good at talking, doctor,” Starlight said as she moved toward the Empress.

Dr. Fie thought for a moment. He ambled forward. Stretching out his foreleg, he blocked Starlight’s path and pushed her backward. “Quite right. I’ll handle this. Never fear, Fie is here.”

Starlight wanted to take offense. But she knew this was not the time. A battle of egos would just cause them to miss their window of opportunity. It almost already had.

So, as hard as it was for her, she just bit her lip, stepped back, and let Dr. Fie do his thing.

“Dear girl,” Dr. Fie said to the Empress gently.

“You rejected me,” the Empress said.

Dr. Fie let out a little yelp, having been startled. But he quickly regained himself. He smiled a large, kindly smile.

“We didn’t reject you, dear girl. At least I wouldn’t.” He looked over his shoulder. “I can’t speak for those ne’er-do-wells. Especially Starlight. And Sombra. And that petulant penumbra.”

“Dr. Fie!” Starlight snapped.

“Yes, yes, I’m getting there,” Dr. Fie said, getting back on track. “But I would never reject you. Not Fiddly Fie, no! What I told you before was true. I love you. I love you like the daughter I never had. You are my daughter, and I’m so proud of you, every single day. As I have told you, you are a pony of light. And darkness is only the absence of light. It is only the absence of you. Come back to us, dear girl. None of us is worth anything without you. Not even me. Please, Hope. Please don’t leave me.”

Dr. Fie, his eyes narrowing and his smile becoming smug, stepped backward and looked toward the others. “If anypony thinks they can top that, be my guest.”

“It’s not a competition, doctor,” Starlight said as she began to walk up.

Before she got to the Empress, however, Misericordia was there.

“I am a shadow of few words,” he said, “but you were always a friend to me, Radiant Hope. My life has spanned millennia, but over all that time, you were probably the only real friend I ever had. I will always be loyal to you, my Empress.”

“Yes, yes, very nice, you windswept windbag,” Dr. Fie said, pretending to clap. “Nowhere near my masterpiece of eloquence, but sometimes perfection simply cannot be outdone.”

“Oh, brother,” Starlight said.

She once more resumed her trot toward Hope. Then, however, she felt Sombra come up beside her. He felt like a light gust of wind.

“Let me talk to her,” Sombra said, his voice barely audible. “I don’t have much time left.”

“Is everypony going to keep stealing my spotlight?” Starlight asked.

However, when she looked to Sombra, she was shocked by what she saw. Or what she didn’t see, rather. She could just make out Sombra’s eyes and horn, but the rest of him was almost entirely transparent. In the darkness, he might as well have been invisible.

“Very well, go ahead,” Starlight said with a sigh.

Sombra floated over to the Empress. He got in as close as he could. His horn and the Empress’, both glowing red, crossed, unleashed a small spark of dark lightning and sludge. Sombra hoped it was the last dark energy transfer he would ever engage in.

But it worked. Sombra had not even expected it to work. But it did. It stabilized him a little and allowed him to speak above a whisper. Now, he could speak to his best friend. He could try to talk one last time to the pony he loved.

“Hope,” he said. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything I did. I’m sorry for this. I’m sorry for the Siege. I’m sorry for the curse I put on your home... our home.... I’m sorry for all of it. I was just so angry at you for so long... for too long... and it blinded me to how much you cared. It made me the type of pony who could gladly hurt the only pony who ever really care. I know you can’t forgive me for any of this. I wouldn’t want you to. But I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not being worthy of the loyalty you showed me... of the love you should me. And I did this to you too. But you can’t let the thing I did ruin you. Not again. Not anymore. Hope, you have to live the life you always deserved the live, the life I’ve stolen from you. It’s all I want now.”

Sombra wafted back from the Empress and took his place next to Dr. Fie and Misericordia. Dr. Fie shuttered and subtly shuffled away from Sombra and toward Misericordia.

Starlight took a deep breath. Her turn had come around at last. She walked up to the Empress.

“Hope,” she said. She tried to smile, but it was hard. Not so much for the situation she was in, but for what she had to say. “I once told you we were so much alike. The truth is, we’re not. Sure, we’ve both done some things we’re not proud of, and were convinced we were doing right. But what I did made me something terrible. I became a pony of anger and rage, a pony who only cared about power and how to keep it, a pony who would gladly break time itself just for revenge. You never became any of those things. You never became like me. Everything you did, even the worst things you did, you did out of the kindness of your heart. That’s how I know that you’re not this thing, you’re not a creature of anger. No, Hope, you’re the best pony I know and exactly the type of pony I want to be. You are a good pony. I only wish I could be.”

Starlight collected herself. She forced back a tear. She stepped back and joined the others. They shared no words between them. They all watched in silence, waiting for something to happen.

“How will we know if our words got through?” Dr. Fie asked.

Suddenly, the red light went out.

Hope and the Empress stood across from each other, their respective lights shining in the darkness.

“Reject you?” Hope said. “When did I reject you?”

“Every day for your whole life,” the Empress said. “Every time others treated you badly, and you never returned the favor.”

“I wasn’t going to hurt ponies because of how I was feeling,” Hope said.

“No, you were just willing to hurt ponies for Sombra!” the Empress snapped.

Hope recognized the truth of these words. But they did not cut her perhaps as much as the Empress had expected.

“You’re right,” she said. “I was willing to do things for Sombra. I’m not going to try and justify them.”

“I don’t care about justifications. I care that you were willing to do that for Sombra, but you wouldn’t do it for me.”

“Do it for you?” Hope shook her head a little. She was confused. “I didn’t even know you existed.”

“Liar!” the Empress yelled. “You’ve knew. You’ve always known. You were more than happy to use me when I could do something for you. But when I needed something, did you ever listen to me?”

“What? When did I use you?”

“How about when you did Umbric magic? Like when you used it to reveal Sombra’s study in the Crystal Palace? There’s only one way to channel dark magic, and you know what it is.”

Hope’s eyes grew wide. “Anger. Is that who you are? My anger?”

“Oh, I’m more than just anger,” the Empress said. “Anger. Sadness. Disappointment. Rage. They’re all here.”

Hope began to pace around the Empress. Her mind raced as she put everything together. “That’s what Sombra did. He took every negative emotion I’ve ever had. He took my sadness, my pain, everything bad and turned it into you.”

“He brought me out, but like I said, I was always here.”

Hope’s eyes locked with the other Hope’s. “But I’ve always been sad and disappointed and in pain. It took me to some dark places. But never to you.”

“Because you never listened to me!” the Empress yelled, loud enough to disturb the strange, eerie calm of the darkness.

“I can see this is really upsetting to you,” Hope said. “But I’m not sure what more I could have done.”

The Empress seethed with resentment. “You still don’t get it, do you? And I’ve been spelling it out for you.”

“Yes, yes, I know,” Hope said. “Anger. Rage. You’re like a broken record. But I don’t have those things in me. I never have.”

The Empress did not respond. She merely offered an oh, really? look.

That look was cutting. None of the Empress’ words had done much to her. But, Hope had to admit, this did. She felt it like a body blow.

The Empress smiled wickedly. She knew what Hope was feeling.

Of course, she does. She’s me.

Hope lowered her head and looked down to her hooves. “I do feel it,” she said at last. “I always have.”

“Finally,” the Empress responded. “I thought you were going to play the high-and-mighty card forever.”

Hope lifted her head up and locked eyes with the Empress once more. She had been phased, but not broken.

“I never gave into it,” she said firmly. “I never gave into anger.”

The Empress raised her brows. “Precisely.”

Hope lowered her head again. Of course, she knew anger. Of course, she had felt rejected, she had felt cheated by life, and she had felt angry about that. But she had never let it rule her. She had never let it change her. She had never let it destroy her like it had destroyed so many others, like it had destroyed Sombra. Hope was not a proud pony, but if she felt pride for anything, it was this. Anger did not rule her. It never would.

But she did not feel proud now. Rather, for some strange reason, Hope felt a very different emotion.

Guilt.

“You were right,” she said. “You were right about everything.”

The blue light of her horn dimmed nearly to imperceptibility. The Empress let out a fiendish laugh.

“So, you admit it? Good.” the Empress said. “You are a liar, a hypocrite, and a failure. You were rejected by all. Even by yourself. Go off and die, Radiant Hope. Hope is no more.”

Suddenly, the glow returned to Hope’s horn. It grew brighter and brighter. She raised her head.

“Well, actually, you didn’t get everything right,” she said. “You were right that I rejected myself, because I rejected you. But that doesn’t make me a hypocrite and a liar. Not that, at least. Because it would have been wrong to have done what you wanted. It would have been wrong to give in to rage. I hurt a lot of ponies. But imagine how many more I would have hurt if I had listened to you.”

The fire-red light of the Empress’ horn flared. “If you had to listened to me, you would have hurt the ones who deserve it!”

“And who gets to decide who deserves it?”

The Empress threw her face into Hope’s. “We do! We get to decide who to hurt and who to save. And I could have saved you. If you had listened to me, you would not have ended up friendless and alone!”

Hope knew this was wrong. She had once believed it herself, so she was not surprised to hear it. But she knew it was wrong. She knew it deeply, to the very fibers of her being.

“I am not friendless and alone,” she said. “I have ponies now.”

The sound of the Empress’ laugh was deafening. “Look around you! Where are your friends, Hope? Do you see them? Do you hear them? Where are they? You’re completely alone. Alone in the darkness!”

Hope looked around her. There was nothing, outside of her and the Empress’ light radius, but darkness. If ever a pony should have felt alone, Hope knew it was here. And truth be told, she felt like it could be very easy to have doubts.

But she would not doubt. No matter what, she would not doubt again. She would not despair again. She would instead, choose to hope.

Hope chose to hope. She stood in the darkness, hoping. The Empress just looked on, unimpressed.

“What are you waiting for?” the Empress asked. “Nopony’s going to come for you. You are now entirely alone.”

Hope just smiled. “No. I don’t believe you. I’m not alone. Never.”

As she spoke, Hope heard a noise. She looked around, trying to find the source. She could see nothing, but she knew from the look on the other Hope’s face that the Empress had heard it too. The noise came again. Except it sounded louder and clearer. It sounded like a voice. A voice, too small to hear.

But then it came again. And this time, Hope heard it clearly. And so too did the Dark Empress.

“I would never reject you,” it said.

Hope immediately recognized the voice. “Dr. Fie?” she asked.

The voice came again, “I love you. Come back to us, dear girl.”

Hope smiled. “Dr. Fie.”

She glanced at the Empress, wanting to see her reaction. The other Hope at first sneered. But then, her sneer started to falter. Hope’s horn, already bright, began to glow even brighter. For the first time, it was overpowering the red light of the Dark Empress’ horn.

Then came another voice, a shadowy, Umbric voice. “You were probably the only real friend I ever had. I will always be loyal to you, my Empress.”

“Misericordia,” Hope said.

Her light grew stronger and stronger still. Now, the whole of the vicinity was bathed in shades of blue and purple. Only the Empress herself still shone red. But the harsh expression on her face was breaking. She looked now more sad than angry.

“Hope....” came another voice.

“Sombra!” both Hopes exclaimed together. In the case of Radiant Hope, she spoke in relief and happiness. But for her doppelgänger, the name was coated in anger and pain.

“I’m sorry,” Sombra’s voice said. “I’m sorry for everything.”

“You should be sorry!” the Empress yelled, tears streaming down her cheeks again.

“I know you can’t forgive me,” Sombra’s voice said. “I’m sorry for not being worthy of the loyalty you showed me... the love you showed me.... Hope, you have to live the life you always deserved the live, the life I’ve stolen from you. It’s all I want now.”

Hope smiled. “I knew it! I knew you could still be saved, Sombra!”

The Empress looked confused. She looked like many emotions were battling for control of her. And all the while, tears flowed freely.

“Sombra....” she whispered.

At last came a fourth, final voice. It was the strongest and most clear of all. It was Starlight’s voice.

“You never became like me.... Everything you did, you did out of the kindness of your heart.... You’re the best pony I know and exactly the type of pony I want to be. You are a good pony. I only wish I could be.”

“You already are a good pony, Starlight,” Hope said. “This proves it.”

The red light disappeared completely, swallowed up by the blue light of Hope’s horn. The blue light was shining with such power and intensity that it came to look not blue, but a pure and blinding white. Underneath it, the Empress collapsed.

She began to sob.

Radiant Hope approached her. “Now do you see?” she asked. “We aren’t rejected.”

The Empress did not look up. “You might not be, but I am. They love you because you are not me. You never accepted me and they never accepted me. And all I wanted was to be accepted.”

“I couldn’t let you hurt other ponies. You have to know that. We can’t go down that road again.”

But as Hope looked at her other self, she could not feel as though it was so simple. This pony claimed to be her anger, but she was not so angry now. No, now she just looked small and weak. She looked sad. She looked vulnerable.

“You’re not my anger, are you?” Hope asked. “I think I finally understand what you were trying to tell me. Anger’s a part of you, but you’re more than that. You’re the part of me that’s taken in all the pain, all the suffering I’ve had to go through over all those years. You’re the pony who dealt with the rejection and went through all the disappointment. You’re not my anger. You’re my wounds.”

The Empress looked up at her. Except, she did not seem to be the dark Empress anymore. The black and white markings crumbled and fell away, as though in a single wind. All that remained was Hope’s own face, looking back up at her.

“And you always rejected me,” the other Hope said.

Hope nodded. “I know. I tried to push you down and push you away. With all my optimism, all my hope, I never let you in. Not really.”

“Until after the Siege. Then, you started to let me in. You started to feel me, to let me be a part of you. We were one pony at last. But still, you never really listened. You were too enthralled with the pain to hear what it was trying to tell you.”

Hope’s eyes glanced downward. “No, I heard. And I learned. You taught me so much.” Her eyes met the Empress’ again. “Like I told you, I can’t let myself hurt ponies, not anymore. I learned that from you.”

The other Hope buried her head in her hooves. “I don’t understand. You’re... you’re still not doing what I wanted. You’re not turning against the ponies who hurt you. You’re not interested in making them pay or in getting revenge. So, what have you learned from me? You’re still not listening.”

“I am listening,” Hope said. “I know you’re hurting. And I know you think making others hurt will make you hurt less. But it won’t.”

The other Hope’s head shot up. Her eyes were filled with anger. Anger and tears. “But it’s all we have! There’s no other way to fix everything! There’s no other way to stop the hurting! There’s no other way to heal!”

“But there is another way,” Hope said. ”We don’t have to hurt any other pony to heal ourselves. We just need each other. We just need to accept each other.”

”That won’t fix anything.”

Hope spoke as kindly as she could. “No, but it’s a start. Once we accept each other — once we accept ourselves — we’ll see where it takes us. But is has to be better than this, don’t you think?”

The other Hope looked around her at the vast lightness. “I don’t know. How can I be sure I can trust you now?”

“Oh, you can trust me,” Hope said with a smirk. “I’m a healer, so I know about these things.”

As she heard herself speak it, Hope could not hold back a little giggle. Oh, Dr. Fie. You’re finally rubbing off on me....

”I don’t know if I can,” the other Hope said. “I’ve felt separate from you for so long.”

“It’s okay,” Hope said gently. “You’re already a part of me. You help to make me who I am.”

The light of Hope’s horn glowed more brightly than it ever had. The blue light was no longer blue. It had become entirely white. And there was no darkness anymore. There was only light.

Hope looked beside her. There, she saw two familiar figures. On one side was a small filly with a long tale and a mane which covered nearly half her face. On the other was a figure in a long brown cloak who was slowly pulling down her hood.

She looked young Hope in the eyes. The filly lit up in joy. She smiled a bit, toothy smile from ear to ear. They nodded to one another.

Then she looked to forlorn Hope. The mare in the cloak smiled a little, a sadder, but a wiser smile. Both Hopes nodded one to another.

Hope kneeled down and put her hoof on the Empress’ shoulder. “I know you think there is too much distance between us. But I can still let you in. I can still accept you. I can still listen. I am listening. I’ve never stopped listening to you. And I never will.”

Then she lowered her head to the other Hope’s ear. She whispered, “I accept you, Radiant Hope. I accept everything about you.”

She thought she saw the Empress begin to smile a little. But the other Hope did not look up. Instead, she clenched her eyes closed harder, so as to try and keep the tears in.

“But I’ve been rejected for so long. What if ponies still reject me?”

“Well, if it happens, it’s okay,” Hope said, standing up, “because you still have us. And we will never reject you.”

The Empress raised her head. She opened her eyes. Through the tears, she saw. She saw the three other Hopes standing there, all there for her. Each of them was smiling.

The Empress smiled back. It was a wounded smile. But it was genuine.

“So, what do you say?” Hope asked.

The Empress leapt up into the air. Before Hope knew it, she was on top of her. The Empress wrapped her forelegs around Hope’s shoulders and back, holding her in the biggest, tightest hug Hope thought she had ever felt. Hope was quickly to returned it. The Empress buried her head in Hope’s shoulder. Hope heard sobs.

“It’s okay, Hope,” she said.

“I know,” the other Hope responded.

Forlorn Hope put her hoof gently on the Empress’ shoulder and young Hope brushed herself lovingly against the Empress’ flank. The Empress’ sobs became sobs of joy.

“Thank you,” she said.

And then, all was light. The Empress was gone. Forlorn Hope and young Hope were gone. Or rather, not gone. Hope could feel them. She could feel all of them. They were all inside of her.

Hope stood in the light. For a brief moment, she thought she saw a familiar pony there. An old pony with horn-rimmed glasses. He was smiling his wry smile. As Hope caught sight of him, he seemed to nod in approval.

And then she only saw light.

“So, we’re just going to stand hear?” Misericordia asked.

“Yes, as long as it takes,” Starlight responded.

“Look,” Dr. Fie said, pointing toward the Empress. “What is going on with the dear girl?”

Sombra, now barely held together, flew in close to get a good look.

The Empress was sobbing. Water flowed freely down her face, rolling through the black tracks which extended downward from her eyes. It was like those tracks were there for this exact purpose.

“She’s crying?” Sombra asked.

And then, all was light. The red glow of the Empress’ horn became blue, which in its turn became white. It increased more and more in luminosity. Soon, it was blinding. All the darkness was gone. For a brief moment, the entire vastness of the boiler room, all the steel and the pipes and the riveting, stood revealed. And then they were all washed out in white. Only light was visible now.

Then there was a flash and a crack. In the light, the figure of the Dark Empress appeared. A thick glob of what looked like ooze and sludge appeared at the top of her horn. It gathered together into a massive ball, which shot upward as a great column of darkness surrounded by purple mist and crackling with lighting. The darkness blew air in all directions, enough to nearly push all the ponies and Misericordia toward the ends of the platform. Misericordia grabbed Dr. Fie and took to the air. Starlight kept casting minor teleportation spells to keep herself in one spot. Sombra did nothing. He was frozen, transfixed by the darkness.

The scroll with the time spell flew up into the air. Catching sight of it, Starlight teleported up to catch it. She grabbed the piece of paper and held it close to her chest. Even after everything which had just happened, she still was not able to let it go. This, however, caused her to lose her own bearing, and she spun out of control toward the platform-ledge and the steep drop below. It was only Misericordia grabbing hold of her which kept her from going over the edge.

The pillar of darkness seemed ready to expand, ready to fill the whole ship and swallow everything. But then came the light. The white light around Hope’s horn also shot upward, surrounding the darkness. The darkness fought hard, but it was no match for the light. The light pushed onward through the darkness and the darkness grew ever less dark. Soon, the darkness was gone, and there was only a pillar of light above.

There was another flash and, with it, a blast. A blast of white light which blinded everyone.

It took a few moments for each of them to regain their sight. And when they did, each one gasped at what they saw.

There was Radiant Hope.

The darkness returned, but she was all light. Her coat glistened and gleamed as though it was in direct sunlight, perhaps brighter than if it was in direct sunlight. Free of blood and wounds, its texture was like a diamond. No longer a dull purple, she was a vibrant and luminescent lavender. Her mane-hair rippled down around her shoulders like winding rivers coming inland from a vast sea and her tail resembled a rushing waterfall; all shimmered as bodies of water do in the sun. Her face, no longer clouded by markings, shone in splendor and her eyes were like shining gems of lapis lazuli. As she moved, she illuminated all which lay around her, shining like a small sun in the vastness of space.

Dr. Fie looked on in amazement. Almost to himself, he spoke.

"Radiant with ardor divine,

Beacon of Hope, you appear!

Languor is not in your heart,

Weakness is not in your word,

Weariness is not on your brow."

Sombra had been caught in the war between light and darkness. He had been pulled in by the darkness and then knocked back by the blast of light. He had been sent flying across the platform, landing near the edge, where darkness still held sway over light. But most of his remaining darkness had been expelled by the light. And so he lay there, a half-formed creature, only vaguely recognizable as a pony. Only Sombra’s eyes remained clear and visible within the inky mass.

Then, the darkness around him began to retreat, giving way to light. Hope was approaching him.

She stood over him and rays of light danced upon his darkness. For a moment, they almost seemed to fill Sombra’s body and almost give him shape again. His eyes turned to her and, with her light in his eyes, seemed to truly see her for the first time.

“Hope....” he said as she stood above him.

“Hey, Sombra,” she said.

“Hope, you’re... you’re alive....”

“Yes, I am.”

“You beat the thing I brought out. You beat the darkness.”

“No.”

Sombra, though weak, picked his head — or what passed for it — up. “No?” he asked in confusion.

“I didn’t beat her. She is still here,” Hope said. “I just brought her into the light.”

“I don’t understand.”

Hope turned her eyes from Sombra. She looked up to where Misericordia was still holding Starlight and Dr. Fie.

“You were wrong about me,” she said. “You were all wrong. And also right. I am a pony of light. I am also a pony of darkness. They are both here. They have made me what I am.”

“But Hope, look at you,” Sombra said. “You’re shining! You are light! The light must have driven out the darkness.”

“Light doesn’t drive out darkness, Sombra. Light takes darkness and absorbs it. Light transforms the darkness.”

Sombra put his head down. He was too weak to do anything else.

“I’ve been a fool,” he said.

“Yes,” Hope responded. “You’ve been a fool. And you’ve been my best friend.”

Sombra tried to force himself up again. But he could not. He could barely even speak.

But he forced himself to speak. “Oh, Hope. I’m so sorry.”

“I know.”

“I was so blinded by the darkness that I didn’t see the light I had in my life. I didn’t see you for what you were. I lost you because of it. I had you and we could have been together again. But then I hurt you and I lost you. It was I who did it. Not you. You never rejected me. You never betrayed me. You accepted me. You loved me.”

“Do you accept me, Sombra? All of me, the light and the darkness?”

“I didn’t before.”

“I didn’t ask you about before. I’m asking you about now.”

“Yes. Finally, I think I can say yes. I accept you, Hope. All of you.”

Hope looked upward toward the others. “And you, do you all accept me? Do you accept all of me?”

Starlight and Dr. Fie were stunned. They looked to one another and exchanged expressions of surprise and confusion. They turned their heads back and could only nod in agreement. Misericordia did as well.

Hope smiled, a warm sweet smile. “Thank you.”

She turned back to Sombra. “Do you love me?”

“Of course,” Sombra said. “With all my heart. Or whatever is left of it inside me.”

Hope’s smile widened. “Thank you, Sombra.”

Sombra let out a moan. What remained of him was fading in and out. When he faded out, only his eyes were visible. And when he faded in, there was a little less of him than there had been before.

“I’m going, Hope,” he said. “I can feel it. But before I go, I have to tell you again how sorry I am. I was not worthy of you. I proved it today, if I proved everything. I was not worthy of you.”

“I know.”

“I thought you were trying to make me into something I wasn’t. I thought you didn’t want me to be what I was, but only what you wanted me to be.”

“I’d never want you to be anything other than what you are, Sombra. I just knew you were free to decide that for yourself.”

“Even today, I didn’t see it, when you refused to heal me if I intended to free the Umbrum. I didn’t understand why you would choose everypony else over me.”

“I didn’t. Choosing you doesn’t mean hurting others. It means that I don’t believe you have to be what everypony says you are. It means I accept you, but I know you can be better. I just wanted you to know you were free to be better.”

“Yes, I understand everything now. I’ve hurt you so much, Hope. I know you can never forgive me. I know nothing I can do can warrant forgiveness. But I just want you to know how much I realize I ruined everything, for myself and for you. I denied you your destiny, I led you to my people and into the Siege, I tried to make you a monster and I—”

“I forgive you.”

“-I should have loved you better. I should have done better. I should have believed in you, in.... You forgive me?”

Hope nodded her head enthusiastically. “Of course, I do. Always. I love you, Sombra.”

Pain was wracking what remained of Sombra’s body but hearing this gave him newfound strength. He lifted up his head again.

“How, Hope? How can you love me? How can you forgive me? I don’t deserve it.”

“Forgiveness doesn’t come from deserving it. And love doesn’t come from being worthy. They’re given freely. And I’ll always give them to you.”

Sombra let out a sigh of relief. He laid his head down.

“Thank you, Hope,” he said. “At least we can part on good terms.”

“We don’t have to, Sombra. You don’t have to go anywhere.”

“Hope, I’m dying. I don’t think even you could save me now.”

Hope chuckled. “Oh, ye of little faith.”

“What? Hope, what are you trying to say?”

“Do you believe in me?” Hope asked.

“I do, now,” Sombra answered.

“Then you have to believe I can heal you. Do you believe I can save you, Sombra?”

“You are the most extraordinary pony I have ever known,” Sombra said, his weak voice gaining strength. “I believe you can do anything.”

Hope looked down upon him, the serene smile on her face. Her horn began to glow.

“Then I can save you.”

Hope’s horn began to glow blue. A ray of light extended from her horn toward Sombra. It enveloped him and lifted him up. He let out a gasp as it surrounded him and then as it filled him with light. Slowly, his body began to reform.

Starlight and Dr. Fie watched this from the confines of Misericordia’s forelegs. They could not speak. They could only exchange glances and look on. Their safe vantage was soon disturbed, however. Something hit Misericordia with full force from behind. He tumbled down onto the platform. Dr. Fie screamed as he flew from Misericordia’s grip. Starlight quickly teleported down onto solid grating, avoiding the worst of the impact.

Invidia’s ear-splitting laugh filled the boiler room.

“I guess we missed something,” Invidia said as the purple shadow flew in a circle around the platform, surveying the scene.

“Don’t... blame... me,” Luxuria said, huffing and puffing as she forced her wings to carry her up out of the darkness. “It isn’t... my fault... that there is... there is... so far to go... to get back here....”

“What’s going on here, Empress Hope?” Invidia said. “Oh dear, I see our Empress is gone. And Radiant Hope and Sombra seem to have kissed and made up. Shame. It looks like most of our plan has gone awry.”

“Pity....” Luxuria said, barely able to even hover in one spot without her wings giving out. “We put... we put... we put so much work into it....”

“Yes,” Invidia said. “We shall have to find another method of freeing our brethren. But, on the plus side, we can now kill all of them.”

“Killing... is... good....” Luxuria muttered. “Let’s start with Sombra.”

“I’ll take Hope,” Invidia said.

The two Umbrum swooped down toward Hope and Sombra. Hope did not even bother to watch them or to pay then any attention whatsoever. She merely continued concentrating on Sombra. Suddenly, her beam of light turned green.

Luxuria tore at the sphere with Sombra in it. But as soon as she touched it, she let out a loud shriek. It was like a fly hitting a zapper. Luxuria, her dark blue coloring seared black, collapsed down onto the platform.

“Why... does this... keep happening... to me?” she rasped as she fell.

Invidia, for his part, sped for Hope. But just as he was about to make contact, a green protective dome appeared around Hope. Invidia flew headfirst into it and was sent bouncing back into the darkness.

“Shoo, fly,” Hope said.

Both the beam and the dome turned purple.

Starlight watched this unfold. Then she looked around her. She could see Misericordia, still knocked down. He did not look unconscious — Starlight did not even know if Umbrum could be unconscious — but he did look dazed. Lying near him was Dr. Fie. Starlight could not tell if he was genuinely unconscious or just playing dead. It could have been either, honestly.

And then Starlight realized something. She did not have the spell. It must have been knocked from her grasp when Invidia had hit Misericordia. Starlight cast her eyes frantically all around the platform. Once again, she could not let it go.

Then she saw the spell, which had flown almost to the exact opposite side. Keeping it in her sights, Starlight broke into a gallop.

Invidia appeared again above the platform. “Nice trick, Hope. But what do you think you’re trying to accomplish? You can’t save Sombra. He’s an Umbrum. You can never change what he is.”

Hope did not respond. She did not even acknowledge Invidia’s words.

Invidia sneered. “Do you think you get a happy ending, Hope? After everything you’ve done? After everything Sombra has done? You think ponies will accept you now?”

Hope did not respond.

Invidia was growing frustrated. He seemed to be a smart enough Umbrum to realize there was no getting through to Hope, through words at least. But as he turned his eyes from her, another opportunity offered itself.

Nearby, Starlight Glimmer had nearly reached the time spell. A few steps more, and it was right in front of her. Starlight’s magic surrounded the scroll and lifted it up to her eye-level.

“Gotcha,” she said.

Then, a terrible pain surged through Starlight. It felt as though her heard had been torn asunder. She looked down, to see a gnarled Umbric hoof tearing through her chest. The turquoise glow disappeared. The scroll fell from her grasp and disappeared into the darkness.

“I could say the same for you,” Invidia said with a cackle.

He withdrew his hoof. Starlight Glimmer fell onto the grating.

“What?” Hope said. Invidia had finally got her attention.

She turned to look. She saw Starlight. Her eyes filled with horror.

“Starlight! No!”

The shield disappeared. The beam disappeared. The sphere around Sombra disappeared. He fell to the ground, landing with a large thud. He had been restored somewhat, but his body was not yet solid. It was once more composed of smoke and haze.

“Why does this keep happening to me?” Sombra remarked as he rolled around from the pain of the impact.

“Tell me about it,” Luxuria said from her prone position.

Hope ran toward Starlight. But then, as she reached a point equidistant between Starlight and Sombra, Hope came to a stop. She looked at Starlight, bleeding out onto the grating. Then she looked to Sombra, already fading away again.

From high above her, she heard Invidia’s mocking voice. “You can’t save both of them, Radiant Hope. Sombra’s body won’t last much longer. Either you can let him die, and save the mare, or save him and let her die. Not both.”

Hope sat down and lowered her head. She had committed to her namesake emotion, but now it’s eternal enemy, despair, threatened to overcome her. Because she knew Invidia was right; she could not save both.

Dr. Fie finally picked himself up from the platform-mesh and began to brush himself off. “Oh, that poor Fiddly Fie must endure indignity after indignity, without end insight, especially when his back is a disaster area! Why, no pony has ever suffered so much in one day than.... What is going on?”

Dr. Fie’s eyes widened as she saw Starlight lying on her side on the mesh, an open wound in her back. He looked and saw Sombra, near the edge of the platform, lying on his back and slowly evaporating. Invidia was circling overhead like a vulture and Luxuria was shoving her hooves into the small open squares in the grating, slowly trying to pull herself toward her enemies.

And there was Hope, in the middle of all of this, looking small and broken.

No, not broken. After all, Dr. Fie would not allow it.

He turned toward Misericordia, who was still slowly coming around.

“Look what’s happened!” he snapped. “I blame you for this, you deficient defender.”

Misericordia’s eyes slowly wandered back and forth. Clearly, he was not fully there yet, though of course Dr. Fie would have insisted he never truly was. But as he saw what had happened, he came to himself. “Yes, Dr. Fie. It is terrible.”

“Terrible? Terrible? Is that all you can say? Yes, our friends are dying. It is quite unfortunate. But what I want to know is what you intend to do about it.”

“There is nothing we can do,” Misericordia said sadly.

“Tut! I did not realize it was the Umbrum way to give up so easily. But it is not the Fie way. It never has been. Today you will see Fiddly Fie do the impossible, you will see Fiddly Fie transform this defeat into a victory, you will see Fiddly Fie save all our friends! I will just need some minor assistance from you, dear boy. Will you help me with whatever may be required?”

Misericordia sat up. “What do you want me to do, Dr. Fie?”

Dr. Fie glanced nervously upward. “I’ll leave it to you to distract that boisterous blimp up there.”

Misericordia’s wings began to beat. “Not a problem. And what will you do, Dr. Fie?”

Dr. Fie looked to the crystal pony sitting alone in the center of the platform. “I will bring back our Hope.”

Misericordia shot upward into the darkness above. Dr. Fie, meanwhile, ambled over to where Hope was and put a hoof on her shoulder.

“What are you doing, dear girl?” he asked. “Starlight appears to be in bad shape. So does Sombra. I don’t think either will last much longer. They need help and they need it urgently. I’m a doctor, so I know about these things. You must act, Hope.”

Hope looked up at him with sad eyes. She spoke with a somber voice. “I can’t save them, doctor. Not both of them.”

“Oh, pish-posh,” Dr. Fie responded. “You have the power to heal them.”

“But if I choose one, I’ll lost the other.” Hope shook her head. “I can’t choose.”

Hope lowered her head again. Long cool rivulets of hair fell in her eyes. It did not matter. She was not looking at anything in particular. She felt frozen, like she could not see or here anything other than the sights and sounds of her own thoughts.

But she did hear Dr. Fie say, “Why must you choose, dear girl?”

Hope looked up at him, even if she barely able to see him through her hair. “What do you mean, doctor?”

“Why must you choose?” Dr. Fie asked again. “Why can’t you save them both?”

“I don’t have the power,” Hope said. “I’m not strong enough.”

“I think, if this day has proven anything, it’s that you have more strength and power than any of us. If anypony can heal two ponies at once, surely you can.”

“I don’t know. I can heal multiple ponies. At least, I have before. But to save Sombra from his darkness while also healing Starlight? I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I’m enough.”

Dr. Fie gently pushed the hair out of Hope’s eyes. “Hope, I kept telling you that you were a pony of light. And I was right. But I didn’t realize how right I was. I thought your light could expel darkness. But I never thought anypony had enough light in them to absorb the darkness, to make it into more and greater light. But you do. You can make the light and the darkness one. You are enough, dear girl.”

The light of hope reappeared in Hope’s eyes. A small smile spread across her face.

“Thank you, doctor,” she said. “Can you go check Starlight for me?”

For once, Dr. Fie did not resort to his trademark loquaciousness. He knew the gravity of the situation and hurried to Starlight’s side without another word. He felt her neck for a pulse.

"She's fading quite fast,” he said. “Hurry, Hope!"

Hope nodded. She closed her eyes. She did not know where to begin. But then, a scene appeared before her eyes. It was a memory, the memory of a certain night many, many years ago. The night she had first saved Sombra from his darkness. The night she had received her cutie mark.

And she knew what to do. Her horn began to glow.

Rays of blue light shot forth from horn in two directions. One lifted up Sombra into another sphere. The other engulfed Starlight.

Somewhere, high above, Invidia tried to swoop down and stop her. But Misericordia slammed into him and drove him higher and higher, too high to get back quickly or soon.

Hope furled her brow and grit her teeth. She was using all the power she had. All the strength she had. But it did not feel like enough.

“Hey, stop that! Stop!” Luxuria called as she continued to drag herself along at a snail’s pace.

“Oh, shut up, you indolent over-indulger,” Dr. Fie shouted.

Then Hope saw her parents, and she felt her strength returning. The beams of light turned green.

She kept her eyes closed, clenching them down harder. She focused herself. She doubled her concentration. She tried to block out everything outside of her own head.

Then, in the darkness of her closed eyelids, she saw the faces. The faces she had long seen. But now, they were not mangled or broken. They were not anguished. They did not scream out. They said nothing. But they were happy. They were joyful, even. They smiled.

Without realizing it, Hope smiled a little. The light turned purple.

Then the faces were gone. The darkness was gone. Behind her eyelids, Hope only saw light. A bright, white light.

The light from her horn turned red.

Then she saw Sombra. Not Sombra as the King of Monsters. Not Sombra as a colt. Not Sombra as she had ever known him, but Sombra as she knew he could be; a proud stallion and a better pony.

The light turned yellowish-orange. And then the color deepened to gold.

Hope next saw Starlight Glimmer. She pictured Starlight in her mind just as she had pictured Sombra. She pictured her healthy and whole, free of the wound through her chest. She imagined the wound healed and Starlight’s heart repaired, rebuilt part by part until it had become good, strong, and full.

The light from Hope’s horn turned white. She opened her eyes. When she did, white light streamed forth. Light so bright that Dr. Fie had to cover his own eyes with his hoof. But he could not look down, for if he did, he found the same light shining off of Starlight. Sombra was surrounded by it, too.

All of Hope’s body reflected the light, amplifying it by many orders of magnitude. There was no darkness anymore. Everything hidden had been revealed.

Invidia, battling with Misericordia above, stopped just long enough to look down at what was happening.

“What do you think you’re going to do?” he taunted. “Even if you save them, they’ll be tainted by you. Everything you do is tainted. Because, Radiant Hope, you will always be the monster we Umbrum have made.”

“Okay,” Hope answered.

There was a flash and a blast. For a moment, everything was light again.

And then it was gone. Everything was as before. Except now it was all made beautiful and new.

Sombra picked himself up off the ground. He must have felt a cramp because he instinctively stretched out one of his back legs. Then he realized he had back legs. He also had forelegs, a body, and a tail. All of them were hard and solid, even more solid than when Hope had restored him during the Siege. His eyes, now clear, had green irises again and his horn was no longer curved and red. It was a unicorn’s horn and he was a unicorn, not a shadow of one. The darkness was all gone.

He looked to Hope. She looked to him. Tears began to fall from his eyes.

“Hope, you did it,” he said. Though he spoke quietly, the words carried across the platform. Radiant Hope heard them.

She nodded. She wanted to do more. She wanted to run to him and throw her forelegs around him. She wanted to tell him how happy she was now that she knew he was free.

But then she heard Starlight begin to stir. Hope turned all her attention to her. She walked over, wobbling a little as she went.

Starlight pushed herself onto her elbows. The first thing she saw was the good doctor.

“Dr. Fie, what happened?” she asked.

Before he could answer, Hope stumbled into her sight.

“Hope,” Starlight asked. “Did you....”

"I saved you," Hope said. Then, she collapsed on top of Starlight.

"Hope, Hope, wake up, dear girl!"

Hope slowly opened her eyes. She saw Dr. Fie, Misericordia, and Starlight Glimmer all looking back down at her.

"You're okay," she said. "You're all okay!"

She was relieved. But then relief quickly turned to concern. "Where's Sombra?"

“I’m right here,” came Sombra’s voice.

Hope hurt all over. It did not stop her from trying to push herself up.

Dr. Fie held his hooves to her shoulder. “You need to rest, dear girl. You must have expended a tremendous amount of energy.”

“No, I... I have to see Sombra....”

Starlight grabbed Dr. Fie’s hoof. “Let her go.”

Hope was on her hooves before Starlight could even finish speaking. She turned around. And then she gasped.

There was Sombra. She had caught sight of him briefly before, but she had not got a good look at him. Now she did, and she saw the very stallion she had pictured, the strong, large stallion with jet-black mane and tail hair and a solid grey coat, but not a single hint of shadowy darkness. He smiled. It was the first true and genuine smile Hope had seen from him in a thousand years.

She threw her forelegs around him. He quickly returned the hug. Hope felt tears running down her eyes. But these tears she did not mind; they were tears of joy.

“You’re here,” she said. “You’re with me again.”

“Yes, Hope,” he said. “You did it. You saved me.”

Hope pulled back and stared up into Sombra’s eyes. He stared down into hers. She saw nothing but love there. He lowered his mouth toward her. She raised hers toward him.

They kissed.

“Oh, is this really the time and place?” Dr. Fie complained. “Please, dear children, get a room.”

“I think they will, Dr. Fie,” Misericordia said.

“No pony asked you your opinion, you cloud-headed cupid.”

Then, a noise came on the air. It was the noise of the air itself parting at a high velocity. And it was getting closer to Hope and Sombra.

“Watch out!” Starlight yelled.

Sombra, thinking quickly, pushed Hope out of the way just as Invidia swept between them. Sombra fell off-balance and landed on the grating. Starlight jumped up and Hope fell into her forelegs.

“Oh, lovely, this ninny is back,” Dr. Fie said. Turning to Misericordia, he added, “I thought you were supposed to dispose of him, you careless caretaker.”

“There is no defeating Invidia permanently,” Misericordia said. “He is one of the most powerful of the Umbrum.”

“Luxuria, come here!” Invidia ordered. “They’re all weak now. We can destroy them.”

Luxuria appeared, having reclaimed enough energy to get airborne. “I’m coming. I’m coming. After the day I’ve had, I look forward to tearing someone limb from limb. And putting my hooves up. But mostly the bloody murder.”

“I don’t like this,” Starlight said, watching them join together in the air. “Misericordia can’t keep holding them off forever. And we may all be powerful unicorns, but none of us are up to it, after what we just went through.”

“Harumph! Speak for yourself, madam,” Dr. Fie said. “Fiddly Fie remains at the height of his powers.”

“Of course, I was excepting you, doctor,” Starlight said. It was hard to tell whether she was deadpanning or being sincere.

But Dr. Fie seemed to take it seriously. He put his hoof to his chin and became lost in thought. Occasionally, he would pull back his jacket and look down at the lining.

Hope looked up at the Umbrum. "I can still use the spell," she said weakly. "I can use... I can use Starswirl's spell to destroy them."

“Dear girl,” Dr. Fie said. “You can’t still be seriously considering it!”

Hope turned to Starlight. "Starlight, are you strong enough to teleport?"

Starlight shrugged. "I don't know, Hope. I could try. But you still can't want to use that spell, can you?"

"Why?" Sombra said, picking up on the concern in Starlight's voice. "Why wouldn't she want to?"

"Hope, you can't kill yourself now that you've finally got something to live for!" Starlight said.

"Kill herself!" Sombra said. "Hope, you can't do that! I won't let you do that!"

"It's because I've finally found things to live for that I have to keep the Umbrum from causing any more harm," Hope responded. "I have to protect those things."

Dr. Fie motioned to Misericordia. The Umbrum leaned in close to the doctor.

"Will you follow me over here, dear boy," Dr. Fie said. "There is something which I need to discuss with you."

"I know you want redemption, Hope," Starlight said, "but you’ve already got it. You don’t need to do more!"

Hope gave Starlight a look Starlight had once given her. Now Starlight was being treated like the poor, deluded one.

"Starlight, you never understood, did you?" Hope said. "This has never been about redemption. Not for me, at least. No, for me, it's always been about love. Because I love you all, I'll do whatever it takes to stop the Umbrum."

"No, Hope, you will not!" Starlight said. "Sombra and I, maybe even Dr. Fie and that shadow, won't let you. We all came here to keep you from throwing your life away in the first place, remember?"

Hope nodded. "I know, but if it's what I have to do...."

Sombra shook his head. "No, Hope, you do not have to do this!"

"Besides, Hope," Starlight said. "Can you really go through with it? Are you really going to kill me? You said you wouldn’t hurt anyone anymore. Can you really break your vow like this? Even to stop the Umbrum?"

Hope looked to Starlight and to Sombra. She considered it. It was true. She said she could never hurt anyone else again. She did not want to hurt anyone anymore. Did that include the Umbrum?

If it doesn’t, what was the point of all I’ve been through?

She shook her head. "No, I can't. No more hurting. I said I wouldn’t hurt anyone anymore."

The three ponies stood together, each looking from one to the other. Though none of them needed to say it, they were all trying to think of an alternative plan.

Sombra spoke for all of them when he said, “So, what do we do now?”

"Never fear, Fie is here!"

Suddenly, the four ponies found themselves surrounded by purple light. They all looked to the light’s source. There was Dr. Fie, his horn glowing. His eyes had narrowed and he was beaming. Hope had seen this expression many times. But there was something different this time. Was it....

Sadness?

Invidia and Luxuria tried to swoop down at Dr. Fie, but Misericordia charged at them, causing them to scatter.

“What are you doing?” Hope asked in alarm.

“Trying to teleport,” Dr. Fie responded matter-of-factly.

“But, you can’t, Dr. Fie! Whenever you do that, something else always goes instead!”

Dr. Fie’s smile became wider. “I know.”

Hope’s eyes widened. “No, doctor! What are you doing? If we go, the Umbrum will still be here! You won’t be able to stop them on your own! You don’t even know the spell!”

Dr. Fie pulled back his jacket to reveal the spell inside. “You know me,” he said, “I do have a bad habit of stealing things when I’m nervous.”

He then removed the scroll from his coat pocket and unfurled it on the ground.

“I am capable of great feats of magic too, you know,” Dr. Fie said. “Just because I struggle with teleportation, you all think I'm not. But even the greatest of ponies must have some minor sort of limitation. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be fair to the lesser beings who have to live in this world alongside them.”

Hope looked down. Her body was beginning to fade. "No, doctor, you can't do this!” She looked to the other purple-glowing ponies beside her. “Starlight, Sombra, stop him!"

"I can't," Starlight said. "My magic is still too weak to break free."

Hope turned to Sombra. "Please!" she said. "Please save him!"

"I don’t have dark magic anymore," Sombra said. "And I‘ll have to relearn how to use pony magic. I’m sorry, Hope. I don’t think I can."

Hope herself could not break Dr. Fie’s spell. After everything she had gone through, she was worn out. She didn’t have the energy. She only had her words.

And she intended to use them.

"Please, Dr. Fie, no!" Hope said, tears forming in her eyes. "You said you'd never leave me!"

"I'm not," Dr. Fie said. "I'm with you to the end. That just happens, for me, to be right now. But fret not, child. 'It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done; it is a far far better rest I go to that I have ever known.' Or I think that's how it goes. I was never very fond of that book, to be honest."

Misericordia came back over, as the other Umbrum had been temporarily driven off.

"Misericordia, stop him!" Hope cried.

"No," Misericordia said. "The doctor and I have spoken. We have decided that this is for the best."

"Hope," Dr. Fie said, "I know that I'm not the bravest pony in Equestria. I'm certainly not the best. My whole life, I've been a liar, a cheat, and a coward. But not now. Not now. Not if the choice is between my life and yours. When you're in harm, suddenly I'm no longer a liar, I'm no longer a cheat, and I'm no longer a coward. When I factor you into the equation, everything changes. It always has."

The tears were flowing freely down Hope’s face. "No, doctor, please! Please, don't do this! I'm not worth you sacrificing your life!"

Dr. Fie smiled a warm smile. "There is nothing worth more. After all, what father would ever have to think twice about giving his life that his daughter might live? Besides, you have all faced your own darkness. Not it's high time I did the same. If Fie is to die, at least you may say that he died as he always should have lived. It’s better than just meandering along the same old life, isn’t it?"

Hope could barely control herself. "But doctor... I need you!"

Dr. Fie looked from Hope to Sombra and Starlight. "No, dear child. You finally have the ponies you need, ponies you can rely on.”

“But I rely on you!”

“It does my heart good to hear you say so, dear girl. If there is such a thing as fate or destiny, I give it thanks that it let me be one of the ponies you could rely upon, if only for such a short time."

Hope looked to Misericordia. "And you're willing to just give up your life too?"

"They were good days, Radiant Hope," Misericordia responded.

Hope was confused. "What?"

"Those days we went on picnics to the lake of yellow sludge," Misericordia said. "They were good days. I only wish that I could have appreciated them while they lasted. Maybe then I would not have become a monster like my brethren."

Hope shook her head. "You're not a monster, Misericordia! Not anymore!"

"As Dr. Fie says, it does my heart — if we Umbrum have hearts — good to hear you say so. Farewell. You will always be my Empress. No, you will always be my friend."

"Goodbye dear friends. Farewell, Radiant Hope," Dr. Fie said. "Be happy with your life. You've earned the right to be."

“But… but why?” Hope said. "Why do all this... for me?"

Dr. Fie gave Hope one last smile, a long, sad one. “If I told you, dear girl, you would never believe me.”

In a flash of purple, Hope, Starlight, and Sombra were gone.

They reappeared outside the ship. Dr. Fie had done a good job. The three had not only appeared outside, but above the water level.

Except, the ponies realized suddenly, they had not actually reappeared on top of anything. Hope, Sombra, and Starlight looked to one another. Then they looked down. There was the water below them and nothing else. They made a mighty splash in the cold ocean when they landed.

The light was just beginning to dissipate when Dr. Fie lit up his horn once more and sent another pillar upward. This formed another dome, purple now. It extended again, more rapidly due to the extra magical energy that was in the air from Hope's previous attempt.

Invidia and Luxuria reappeared.

“Wait? Where did all of those nasty ponies go?” Luxuria asked.

Invidia scanned the area. “One’s still here with Misericordia and.... What is he doing?”

He flew closer. “What are you trying to do, little pony?” he snapped.

“Oh, don’t be simple, dear boy,” Dr. Fie responded. “I’m doing the same thing dear Hope was. Ending this once and for all.”

Invidia signaled Luxuria to dive for Dr. Fie. The portly shadow, so slow to act before, sensed instinctively that things were different now. The threat of destruction gave Luxuria some much needed energy. She followed Invidia’s command and soon both Umbrum were speeding toward the one remaining pony.

They were met by a large shield of mist. Though apparently made of smoke and fog, it was strong enough to keep both shadows out. They slammed into it and were immediately repulsed.

Misericordia had expanded into a ring around the good doctor, shielding him from the other shadows’ attacks and leaving just enough room for Dr. Fie to maintain the pillar of light and the dome expanding rapidly from it. Soon the dome had completely surrounded the area, cutting through the catwalks and forming a bubble all around them.

"Now, who is the bubble-headed booby?" Misericordia said to the doctor.

“Oh, spare me the jibes, you jocular jackanapes!” Dr. Fie responded with a wave of his hoof.

“But why would you do this?” an increasingly panicked Luxuria shouted. “Why would you give up your own life?”

“Must everything be explained to you?” Dr. Fie said. “What matter is losing your life when you just might be saving your soul?”

Hope struggled against the waves. She did not realize until the cold water swallowed her how much the day’s events had taken their toll. She was exhausted. She did not ever have the energy to make it to the pier or to the nearby beach. All she could manage was to keep herself above water. And her strength was failing. She would not even be able to hold herself up for much longer.

Then she felt a strong, powerful foreleg squeeze around her. She recognized it immediately. It was Sombra. He held her above the water. Hope looked to see that he was doing the same for Starlight, which meant it made it was becoming very difficult for him to keep himself afloat.

Hope was so tired. With the waves lapping against her face and her wave-like hair, she could not even speak.

Sombra was faltering. The choppy water was beginning to pull them all under.

“I don’t think I can keep us up much longer,” he said. “Starlight, do you think you can teleport out of here?"

"I can try," Starlight said, fighting back water from her mouth. "Hopefully, it'll only be a small jump."

There was a turquoise flash in the waves. All three ponies reappeared, soaking wet, on the pier.

"It was a small jump," Starlight said as she collapsed onto her stomach, worn out. "Thank goodness! I don't think I could do any more."

“Dr. Fie!” Hope screamed as soon as they landed. "He and Misericordia still in there with the Umbrum! We have to save them!"

Dr. Fie glanced upward to the pillar of light coming from his horn and then around at the bubble as it began to pulsate. "Looks like it won't be long now."

By now, the Umbrum had been knocked back to the bubble's edges by Misericordia.

“Is Radiant Hope so really worth losing your life over?” Invidia called out.

“You had her for a thousand years, and you still don’t know the answer to that?” Dr. Fie said. “You really are all ninnies, aren’t you?”

There was no answer. There was only a kind of screeching from the shadows. Dr. Fie did not speak Umbrum, but he thought he recognized the noise. It was a noise he had often made. It was the sound of fear.

Dr. Fie could sympathize. He had long felt afraid. But all fear had now passed away.

And now, the good doctor reflected as light filled his eyes, I have finally become the pony I had forever tried to seem.

Dr. Fie let out a deep sigh and looked around him. “It’s ready. Any moment now. Oh, dear Hope, the things I do for you. Maybe now you’ll finally believe me. Maybe now you’ll understand.”

Reclining on his haunches, Dr. Fie put his hooves to his chest. He rolled his eyes heavenward.

“Oh, the pain, the pain….”

The explosion rocked the Empress of Equestria. It disintegrated a large portion of the lower decks by the bow, sending water pouring in. The Empress had been designed with large watertight hatches for just this sort of emergency. But it did not matter. The damage was too widespread. The ship was going down.

“No!” Hope screamed. She rushed toward the ship as it rapidly sank.

Sombra grabbed onto her and pulled her back. “No, no!”

“Dr. Fie! We have to save him!” Hope screamed hysterically.

“It’s too late, Hope,” Starlight said. “That explosion was too powerful. He never could have survived it.”

Hope stopped fighting. Instead, she laid her head on Sombra's shoulder. He held her gently in his forelegs, with his hoof buried in her watery hair, carefully keeping her from turning back to the ship as it sank into the watery deep.

As the Empress of Equestria disappeared one final time, finally toppled by the very waves it had so long ruled, Hope cried.

"I wish I knew what to say to make you feel better, Hope," Sombra said. “But, given how much of this was my fault, I don’t know what I can say.”

"Let me try," Starlight said.

She tenderly ran her hoof through Hope's mane. Starlight did not want Hope to see, but a stray tear was making its way down her face, too.

“It’s okay, Hope,” she whispered in her motherly tone. “It’s okay. The Umbrum are gone. He stopped them. He stopped the Umbrum once and for all.”

Hope’s crying subsided. Her head arose from Sombra’s shoulder and she nodded. “I know. He did it for me.”

She broke out of Sombra's embrace and turned to face the waters. “You know, I didn’t believe him. Even after he told me how much I meant to him, I didn’t believe. I thought I knew him better than that. I didn’t believe him, not till the end.”

“I know,” Starlight said. “I wouldn’t have believed he had it in him, either.”

“I know he seemed so contemptible all the time,” Hope said with a sob. “But I think he was the most noble of all of us.”

“True nobility often comes from the most unlikely of places,” Starlight said. “At least, my father used to say so.”

“I can’t bear to think of him down there, in that horrible, evil place, surrounded by darkness for all eternity,” Hope said. “He shouldn’t be the one trapped down there. It should have been me. Not him, me. I should have been blown up or drowned and buried in Davy Jones’ Locker.”

Starlight put a hoof on Hope's shoulder. “My father also used to tell me a legend some of the navy colts told him, about a paradise for ponies that died at sea. It’s a place where there’s no work, not hardship, just leisure and food and music. Dr. Fie would like that. Because he’s not in Davy Jones’ Locker, Hope. A pony like him, he wouldn’t end up down there. No, he’s in Fiddler’s Green.”

Hope wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to smile. Somewhere in the distance, the sun was beginning to rise over the mountains, painting a vivid mixture of soothing blues, cool lavenders, brilliant reds, and stunning oranges across the western sky.

“Thank you, Starlight,” Hope said.

Starlight let out a small chuckle. “Ha, Fiddler’s Green. Quite appropriate, what with his name being Fiddly Fie and all. Strange name. I wonder why his parents gave it to him.”

“Is it any better than Radiant Hope or Starlight Glimmer?” Hope asked. “I mean, think about it.”

"Well, it’s not like the Umbrum had any better ideas,” Sombra said.

Starlight shrugged. “Well, Starlight Glimmer does have a certain eloquence to it. Radiant Hope, though, I don’t know. Didn’t you used to say you always hated your name?”

“I did,” Hope answered. “I don’t anymore.”

A light, warm wind blew across Hope’s face. She looked out to the waters beyond, which were only beginning to sparkle with the light of the approaching sun. Despite all she had just gone through, the scene was rather peaceful. It seemed to promise better things ahead.

And then the peace was destroyed by a booming voice behind them, “Radiant Hope, Starlight Glimmer, turn around and put your horns where I can see them. None of you are escaping this time!”

Who said this?

Read on.

Author's Note

The lines of poetry come from the last stanza of Matthew Arnold's "Rugby Chapel." In addition to capitalizing "Hope," I have changed the second line from the original plural to the more appropriate singular. The first two lines appear in their original form in Chapter Three.

Redemption

The three turned to see Swift Strike standing there, his horn pointed toward them, his stance making him seem even lower to the ground than usual. A number of EIS ponies were on either side of him.

"I knew it!" Swift Strike said. "I knew the two of you were up to no good! And here I find the two of you, getting all buddy-buddy with King Sombra himself! That's enough to get you all sent to Tartarus a thousand times over!"

“Okay, let’s get a few things straight,” Starlight said. “One: We only just ran into Sombra. And he isn’t... bad anymore, I guess? And two: We just saved all those ponies from that explosion and a watery grave! You’d really arrest us after what we did?”

“A likely story,” Swift Strike said. “You’ll excuse me if I have trouble believing it, coming as it does from one of the foremost liars in Equestria.”

“One of?” Starlight said in a huff. “Only one of? Not, ‘the foremost liar in Equestria?’”

“I don’t think you’re helping our case,” Sombra said.

“And I suppose you’re an expert on staying on the right side of the law?” Starlight responded.

“It sounds like Dr. Fie rubbed off on you a little,” Hope said.

“Hm, now there’s a terrifying thought,” Starlight said.

“Yes, where is the good doctor?” Swift Strike asked. “Last I knew, he was your accomplice. Where is he? Did you dispose of him once he was no longer useful?”

“Don’t talk about Dr. Fie like that!” Hope said. “He gave his life to save everypony. He’s a hero!”

“Please,” Swift Strike answered. “So he died. That’s no hero. The real heroes are the ponies who work from the shadows to counter the threats most of Equestria will never know existed. Ponies like me.”

Hope stepped forward. “You’re no hero! You did nothing! Equestria was in danger and you didn’t help at all! Without Dr. Fie, the Umbrum would have conquered the world!”

Starlight grabbed Hope and pulled her back. “No, Hope, no. I know, I know. But he’s just trying to provoke you. Don’t give in. Don’t let him do it.”

“Come on, little traitor,” Swift Strike said. “I’d be glad to add resisting arrest to your charges.”

“I wasn’t going to hurt him,” Hope said to Starlight.

“I know,” Starlight responded. “Not that I’d blame you if you wanted to buck him into the ocean. It just wouldn’t look good. We don’t want to give them any more reasons to charge us.”

“You’re right,” Hope said, drawing back. She glared at Swift Strike.

“So, the Umbrum were here,” Swift Strike said. “Very interesting. And I suppose you want me to believe that you were just here by chance? Taking in the sights, were we? And you three just happened to run into the Umbrum, because everypony comes to Las Pegasus sooner or later.”

“I don’t think I like this pony,” Sombra said. “He’s annoying.”

“Understatement of the century,” Starlight responded.

“Ah, yes, King Sombra,” Swift Strike said. “And I suppose it’s also a coincidence that you happened to be here when your people all of a sudden showed up?”

An EIS pony whispered something to Swift Strike. “No, let him go on,” Swift Strike said. “I find their increasingly convoluted story amusing. Let’s see how it turns out. I expect we’ll get time-travel too before it’s all over.”

As Hope watched all of this unfold, she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She recognized the touch. It was Sombra.

“I’m sorry, Hope,” he whispered.

“Sorry for what?” she asked.

“For the Umbrum. For Dr. Fie. For everything.”

Sombra pushed Starlight out of the way.

“Hey!” she snapped.

Sombra ignored her. He just took several large but slow steps toward Swift Strike. All the EIS unicorns braced themselves and their horns began to glow.

“Sombra, what are you doing?” Hope asked in alarm.

Sombra smiled over his shoulder. “You’ve done so much to fix things, Hope. Now it’s my turn to try.”

He stopped walking after having gotten halfway to Swift Strike. He raised his hooves to signify that he was not a danger and would not come any closer.

“I confess,” Sombra said. “I was the one who brought the Umbrum here. I am the one who is ultimately responsible for the sinking of this ship. I confess to all of it.”

“Sombra, no!” Hope shouted. She tried to get to him. Starlight pulled her back. She used all of her strength to try and break free, but given how much energy she had already expended, her strength was not enough to break free from Starlight’s grip.

“Calm down, calm down,” Starlight whispered.

“I can’t let Sombra do this,” Hope said. “I wanted to save everypony I care about. I already lost Dr. Fie. I can’t lose anypony else.”

“Well, you’re not losing me,” Starlight said. “Whatever happens, you won’t lose me.”

“So, you admit to everything, Sombra?” Swift Strike said, his usually subdued voice filled with glee. “You admit that the three of you worked together to bring back the Umbrum and turn them loose on Equestria?”

“No,” Sombra said. “Only I did that. It was all me. Hope and Starlight had no role in it. In fact, they came here to stop me. I am ready to accept any punishment, for I most definitely deserve it. But they’re innocent. They should go free. I am willing to confess to everything if you promise that they will go free.”

Swift put his hoof to his chin in an exaggerated ‘thinking’ gesture. Hope could tell that he was mocking Sombra. She grit her teeth. She knew that Starlight was right; Swift Strike wanted a rise out of them. She knew also that she should not give it to him. But he was making it extremely difficult.

“I’m sorry, but I would hardly describe Radiant Hope and Starlight Glimmer as ‘innocent,’” Swift Strike said. “No, I think all of you will go down together.”

Sombra was flabbergasted. “But if I say that only I did it—”

“I’ll find a way to make it stick on all of you. Don’t worry. Living in the darkness has its advantages.”

Hope could hold back no longer. She felt as though she had just enough magic for a single spell. But it was the only spell she needed.

There was a pop of blue light directly in front of Swift Strike. Hope appeared there, staring daggers at him. Swift did not seem troubled though. If anything, he only became more amused.

“Hope, what are you doing?” Sombra asked upset.

“Listening to my anger,” Hope responded.

Swift Strike signaled his unicorns to be ready to strike. Hope saw it, but she did not care.

“Why do you hate us so much?” Hope asked Swift. “Why is this so personal to you! None of us ever tried to pick a fight with you. We’re just trying to live our lives and do the best we can for other ponies. How is arresting us going to help?”

“My, my, you’ve got quite the temper, Miss Hope,” Swift Strike said in an almost infantile tone of voice. “Do you want to do something about it?”

Swift took a few steps back and sat on his haunches. He spread out his forelegs beside him.

“Come on, then,” he said. “I’ll make it easy for you. Please, give my ponies a reason to hit you with twenty taser spells. I’d love to see you flopping on the ground like a big scaly fish. I need more humor in my life.”

“Hope, don’t do it,” Starlight said.

Hope looked over her shoulder at Starlight and Sombra, who were both watching her with concern. Then she looked at Swift Strike. He raised his brows and his smile grew wider.

Hope shook her head. “Swift Strike, I know you pride yourself on working in the shadows. But I’ve worked from the shadows too, and I know you can’t live there forever. I hope someday you can find your way back to the light.”

“Come on, you guys,” she said to Starlight and Sombra. “You know me. I just wanted to get some things off of my chest. What did you really think I was going to do?”

Starlight and Sombra exchanged looks of relief.

“You did just what we hoped you would, Hope,” Starlight said.

“I knew you couldn’t do it,” Swift said. “I knew you didn’t have any real courage.”

Hope smirked. “Besides, being like he is will be punishment enough. Dr. Fie once told me about something called small stallion syndrome. Unfortunately, I think he’s got a terminal case.”

Sombra and Starlight snickered a little. Hope heard, over her shoulder, a quite different reaction from Swift Strike. He beat his hooves against the pier and snarled.

“Stop right there, Radiant Hope!” he barked.

“Now it’s your turn to make me,” Hope said. She continued walking without looking back.

Swift let out a growl. “That’s it! Agents, move in on my count! These three think they can just walk all over the law. They forget that it is the princesses who decide whether they are good ponies or not.”

“No,” Hope said quietly.

“The princesses have decided!”

The EIS agents, formerly so focused on their targets, forgot them entirely. Instead, several of them pointed upward and they all began to talk excitedly. In the midst of them, Princesses Luna and Twilight Sparkle made touchdown, having descended from the sky.

“Twilight!” Starlight practically spat. She began to storm over toward the Princess of Friendship. It was Hope’s turn to stop her from making a mistake. Hope latched onto Starlight and held her back.

“Let me go! Let me go!” Starlight snapped. “She’s there! She’s right there! How’s my chance to—”

“Your chance to what, Starlight?” Hope asked. “You said you wanted to be a better pony. What would a better pony do?”

Hope felt Starlight’s muscles relax as she stopped struggling against her. Hope knew her words had gotten through.

“Princesses!” Swift ran to them and offered a very low, very obsequious bow. “I was just apprehending these dangerous fugitives on your behalf!”

“On our behalf?” Luna said, casting a cold glance on everything around her. “Did we not instruct you to no longer involve yourself in this case?”

“I know,” Swift said, “but I was making a citizen’s arrest! I just happened to be walking along... I was just... erm... enjoying the sights, when I saw them carrying out their nefarious plot over here. I was in just the right place at the right time to apprehend them. It was... coincidence.”

“Then why have you co-opted the agents we sent?” Twilight said. “Swift, you weren’t supposed to get yourself involved again.”

“I ask for your forgiveness, Majesties, but I had to do it,” Swift said. “These are dangerous fugitives and someone had to stop them! Look at what they’ve gone and done. They blew up that boat and tried to kill all these ponies!”

“It’s a ship, actually,” Twilight said. “Boats are much smaller.”

“We know the circumstances of what happened,” Luna said. “A certain Dr. Fiddly Fie sent us a message explaining everything. He said that they were evacuating everyone and that destroying the ship was a necessity in order to stop the Umbrum from attacking the city.”

Luna then looked over to the water where the Empress had once been. “And, if I may say so, good riddance. That ship always made me uneasy.”

“But it was a historical monument,” Twilight said sadly.

“Yes, but it was haunted,” Luna said. “And I’ve always been afraid of ghosts.”

“And all the spells and memorabilia we lost from the exhibition….” Twilight said. “It’ll set Starswirl scholarship back a thousand years!”

“After seeing what one of those spells can do, I think it might be for the best,” Luna replied. “Starswirl was always too clever a pony for his own good.” She raised her brow as she turned to Swift Strike, “And, might I add, he was not the only one.”

“But, Majesties—” Swift began to protest.

“I grow weary of this,” Luna said. “Swift Strike, stand down.”

“But—”

“I said, stand down!” Luna’s booming voice shook the pier itself. Even the redoubtable Swift Strike seemed unnerved. Finally, he was silent.

Twilight approached Swift Strike. “Dr. Fie explained in his message that he and Radiant Hope were coerced into joining Starlight Glimmer and that Hope’s only concern was stopping the Umbrum before they destroyed Equestria.”

“Figures he’d make me the villain of the story,” Starlight said under her breath.

“That’s our Dr. Fie,” Hope responded. “I miss him already.”

“I do too,” Starlight said.

“Nor is that all,” Luna added. “A pony named Stirring Words also sent us a letter last night and offered his own account of this affair. In the main, it concurs with Dr. Fie’s testimony. In light of this new information, we have decided that Radiant Hope and Dr. Fiddly Fie are no longer fugitives.”

“No, you can’t do that!” Swift protested. “You can’t just let them go! Not after I worked so hard to catch them!”

“Do you not understand what princesses are?” Luna asked. “Do you think it is your place to order us around?”

"No, of course not, Your Majesty," Swift Strike said. "But I do feel that I must speak up when my princesses are making a mistake. Because, if you really think Radiant Hope is so innocent, how do you explain King Sombra?"

Swift pointed toward the other end of the pier. Sombra had separated himself from everyone in the commotion and was standing alone, looking down at the dark waters.

The eyes of both princesses grew round. "King Sombra!" they shouted together.

Whatever Sombra had been thinking over, this was enough to shake him out of it. He looked up and saw everypony looking at him. He began to walk toward the others. The EIS ponies tensed up again and prepared to fire. Luna waved them down.

“I mean you no harm, princesses,” Sombra said. “I no longer blame any of you for what happened to me. I accept that I made my own choices. One of them led to the terrible events of this past night. For that, I am ready to face whatever consequences you deem suitable.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked. “How did you cause all this?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Hope said. “The important thing is that Sombra has overcome his darkness tonight. He won’t threaten Equestria ever again.”

“Hope, please,” Sombra said, putting his foreleg around her. “I need to do this. You were the one who overcame my darkness. But I need to do something on my own to try to fix my mistakes.” Looking to Luna and Twilight, he said, “You see, princesses, it was I who—”

Starlight jumped in front of him. “What matters is that the Umbrum are gone. We got rid of them. They won’t harm anypony any time soon. And Sombra was there. He helped.”

“But I didn’t really do anything,” Sombra whispered.

“Shh,” Starlight whispered back. “They don’t have to know that.”

Luna leaned her head toward Twilight. “Do you think he really is redeemed?” she asked quietly.

“He looks different,” Twilight answered, also quietly. “I’m willing to give him a second chance.”

Princess Luna nodded and spoke normally again. "Very well. You have caused us much harm in the past, Sombra. Nopony knows this better than I. But I was recently reminded that all of us have made mistakes and done things we later came to regret. Perhaps, as my sister so often says, there is a time to be merciful. And now, after you have played your part in saving Equestria from the Umbrum, we wouldn't think of preventing you and Radiant Hope from starting a new life together."

“But I was the one who gladly put Equestria in danger.” Sombra whispered to Hope. “Shouldn’t we confess it all to them?”

Hope elbowed him. “Not on your life.”

Sombra stiffened up so that the princesses would not notice. He smiled. "Thank you, Your Majesty”

“So, they're all no longer fugitives,” Starlight said, taking a few steps forward. “But what about me?”

“Under the circumstances, given your role in saving Equestria, we may be tempted to offer you a full pardon as well,” Luna said.

Twilight bit her lip.

“A full pardon?” Starlight asked.

“Yes,” Luna responded. “You merely have to promise to renounce any ill-will toward any princess of this realm and you shall receive a pardon.”

She stole a glance at Twilight. “And does our Princess of Friendship also agree to this pardon?”

“If Princess Luna thinks it’s for the best, so do I,” Twilight said, in a tone of voice which suggested otherwise.

The princess and the unicorn just stared at each other. Tension filled the air. Everypony waited breathlessly. Nopony needed to say it, but all of them were waiting for one of the two rivals to make the first violent move.

Hope did not like where this was going. She felt as though Starlight was slipping away from her again. She knew she had to do something. She came up beside Starlight.

“You seem like you’re having trouble deciding,” Hope said quietly.

“I am,” Starlight responded, lowering her voice to keep the princesses from hearing.

“You wanted to be a better pony. You won’t get there by holding onto your grudge.”

Starlight let out a little huff. “I know you’re right, Hope. But I’m just having so much trouble.”

“Then I’ll help you.” Hope offered Starlight her hoof.

Starlight glanced at Hope’s hoof. She lifted her own to take it. But then she saw Twilight again out of the corner of her eye. Starlight pulled her hoof back.

“Starlight, please,” Hope said. “You said you wouldn’t leave me. Now you don’t have to. But you have to make the choice. Please choose to stay with me.”

Starlight again moved to take Hope’s hoof. But again, she saw Twilight, who seemed to grow more suspicious with each moment of hesitation.

Starlight shook her head and lowered her hoof. “I’m sorry, Hope. But I can’t forgive her.”

Starlight’s horn began to glow. She was either going to attack Twilight or teleport out of there. Either way, Hope knew it would be bad. She knew she could not allow it.

Hope grabbed Starlight’s shoulders and turned her around. Now they were standing face to face.

"Starlight, you said you didn’t want rage and anger to define you anymore," Hope said.

“I know, Hope, but we were in the middle of a battle for our lives,” Starlight said. “It was easy to say I wasn’t going to be the pony I used to be when I thought I probably wasn’t going to survive. But now, out here... with Twilight... it’s much harder to actually do.”

“Starlight, I don’t want you to be a different pony,” Hope said. “I want you to be you. But you said you wanted to be more like me.”

"You... you heard that?"

Hope nodded. "I heard everything. But think about it. Would I do this? Would I keep bearing a grudge, after everything?”

“You don’t bear grudges,” Starlight said quietly, refusing to meet Hope’s gaze. “But you don’t understand. I can’t just be like you. I can’t be nearly as good.”

Hope’s grip on Starlight tightened. She brought her face in closer to Starlight’s. Their horns were nearly crossing. This practically forced Starlight to look Hope in the eye.

“Listen to me, Starlight,” Hope said. “You can be good. You can be as good as me. It's a choice, that's all. You just have to make the choice.”

Starlight once more cast her eyes downward. Her apparently limitless store of confidence had reached its limit. As it all evaporated, Hope saw a very different kind of pony. Maybe, she thought, I’m finally seeing the real Starlight Glimmer.

“I don’t know if I can,” Starlight said.

Hope’s answer was kind but firm. “You can, Starlight. I believe in you.”

Hope once more offered her hoof. Starlight looked long and hard at it. Then she looked long and hard at Twilight Sparkle. Then she looked back to Hope. Starlight smiled.

“So,” Hope asked, “what’s your answer?”

Starlight opened her mouth to say something. But just then, a breeze picked up. The warm morning wind reached down toward the waters below. From somewhere amongst them, it snatched something up and brought it up to the pier. This single remnant of last night’s destruction fluttered and glided upon the wind over all of the ponies' heads. It was a scroll.

“Is that....” Sombra began, his jaw dropping.

“The time spell!” Hope finished, her eyes growing wide.

“How does it keep managing to survive?” Sombra asked. “Is it indestructible?”

She looked to Starlight, terrified of what her friend might do now that her long-sought prize was once more within reach.

Starlight’s eyes lit up. She would not turn them from the scroll. It was directly overhead now. Her smile grew wider.

A turquoise flame appeared along the edges of the scroll. No longer protected by temporal displacement, the paper ignited easily. The flame spread, reducing the whole scroll to ash in a manner of seconds.

“Not indestructible, then,” Sombra remarked.

Everypony looked to Starlight. She had a smug grin on her face and a horn still releasing smoke.

“Finally managed to destroy that blasted thing,” she said. “Honestly. time travel is more trouble than it’s worth.”

The ashes from the scroll rose high into the air. They grew more and more distant until they were impossible to make out against the lightening vault of the sky. From somewhere beyond the clouds, a bubble appeared and burst in a silent, harmless supernova. Grey shards of stone rained down from the nova, looking like little comets, and disappeared somewhere beyond the horizon.

“Thank you, Princess Amore,” Sombra whispered as he watched it.

Hope heard him. “Princess Amore?” she asked.

Sombra did not answer her. He just looked up at the nova and smiled.

Starlight approached Twilight. “A full pardon sounds awfully good. Fine, I accept your conditions. And I'm sorry for the bad things I’ve done. You know, with my town.”

“I remember, Starlight.”

“And I’m sorry for wanting to go back in time and keep you from ever meeting any of your friends.”

“It’s no prob—” Twilight’s eyes grew wide. “Wait, what?”

“It’s not important,” Starlight said sheepishly. “I just want to ask, can you ever forgive me?"

Twilight’s look of confusion disappeared. It was immediately replaced by a warm smile. "Of course, I can, Starlight! As long as you're ready to embrace true friendship, why wouldn’t I?"

Sombra walked up beside Hope. “She really does live by her ‘Princess of Friendship’ title, doesn’t she? It’s actually rather impressive.”

Hope shrugged. “I guess, if princesses are your thing. They’re not mine.”

Sombra gave Hope a surprised look. “Since when?”

Hope offered a calm, confident glance of her own. “Since I realized I’m not the type of pony who follows straight lines.”

Starlight looked over her shoulder to Hope and Sombra. “I think I’m finally beginning to understand what true friendship means.” She then turned back to Twilight. “But we’ll have to agree to disagree — peacefully — about whether cutie marks are bad or not.”

“I think I can live with that,” Twilight said.

Starlight and Twilight shook hooves. But then Starlight pushed Twilight to the ground and fell on top of her.

“What are you doing?" Twilight said. "I thought we were friends now!"

"We are," Starlight answered. "That's why I'm saving your life!"

A beam of yellow light shot over their heads.

"You can't be friends with her, Your Majesty!" Swift Strike protested, smoke rising from his horn. "She is your sworn enemy! You've said so yourself, multiple times! You can't just forgive her! It may be a trick!"

Twilight wriggled out from under Starlight and stood before Swift. "It may be, but I wouldn't be the Princess of Friendship if I didn't give it a try."

"Oh, come on!" Swift said. "That title is just nonsense! You can't be princess of a concept! Don't tell me you take it seriously!"

Twilight nodded, not bothering to conceal her annoyance. "Uh-huh. There’s nothing I take more seriously than friendship. Except maybe studying. Studying and being fired upon by a pony of the EIS.”

“As I see it,” Princess Luna said, gaining altogether too much satisfaction from this. “Such actions would be considered grounds for treason."

Swift Strike took a few steps back. He looked confused, as though he could barely even comprehend the words being said, to say nothing of their import.

"Treason? Me?” he sputtered. “How could I... How could I commit treason? I have always been your most loyal subject!"

"Recent events have done much to suggest otherwise," Luna observed.

Swift Strike looked nervously from Twilight to Luna and back again. "But... everything I've done... I did it all for you! For you and the greater glory of Equestria!"

Twilight approached. "Was it all for us? Or was it merely to satisfy your own need for power? How much haven't you told us, Swift? Not just about this case, but about everything? Please, Swift, don’t make this difficult. Whatever you’ve done, whatever you’re hiding, we can try to work through it."

Swift’s anxiety suddenly disappeared. It was replaced by anger.

“You want to know everything?” he asked. “You? Celestia’s sheltered little pet? Do you really think that living in that little backwater of Ponyville has prepared you to walk in the darkness like I do? Because the darkness is where the real struggle to save this realm is fought, and nothing in your books is going to prepare you for it.”

Twilight could only shake her head. “What happened to you, Swift?”

“Let me try,” Hope said, stepping forward. “Swift, I can understand what you’re going through. And I know something about walking in the darkness. But trust me, no matter how dark it seems, you can still find the light inside yourself.”

“The light... inside myself?” Swift Strike muttered. “Thank you, Hope. That gives me a wonderful idea.”

His horn lit up. Before anypony had a chance to react, he launched a large bolt of magic at the princesses. They both dodged out of the way. EIS agents gathered around them, some to protect them from further attacks, others simply to make sure they were unharmed.

While they were all thus preoccupied, Swift Strike made a break for it.

As the princesses were helped to their hooves, Twilight gave Hope a stern look.

“What?” Hope asked. “That was totally not what I meant when I said, ‘find the light inside you.’”

Luna dusted herself off. Locking eyes on the rogue agent, she proclaimed in her loudest voice. "Subjects, after him!"

The agents pursued Swift Strike. But he was already too far ahead and even the shaking of the pier caused by Luna’s voice did not hinder him. He lived up to his name and was a very swift pony. The others, even the pegasi, did not seem to have a chance of catching up.

That is, until Twilight Sparkle lit up her horn.

In a flash, she appeared before Swift, causing him to halt in his tracks so abruptly that he nearly collided with her.

"It's over, Swift," she said. "Please just accept it and things will go much easier for all of us. I'll try to be as lenient to you as I can. I admit, Princess Luna probably won’t forget this, but I’m confident that if you cooperate, we can save your job. It might mean a reassignment to Fillydelphia, but....”

“Fillydelphia!” Swift Strike screamed in terror. “No, not Fillydelphia! Princess, I don’t want to hurt you. But I will, if it means I don’t have to go back to Fillydelphia.”

Swift Strike’s horn began to glow.

"It’s just a possibility, Swift," Twilight said, trying to calm him down.

The yellow aura around Swift’s horn began to grow stronger. “No. If there’s even a chance of... of Fillydelphia... I’d rather be a traitor.”

Twilight sighed as her own horn lit up. “If this is how it has to be. I’m sorry, Swift.”

It seemed inevitable that a battle would break out. They were both skilled wielders of magic and a duel between them would necessarily be hard-fought. And despite Twilight’s prodigious aptitude for magic, her triumph was by no means guaranteed. Swift Strike was crafty and devious. He would no doubt use any opportunity he could to even the odds. This was bound to be dangerous, for Twilight and for everypony else on the pier.

Swift pulled his head back, ready to strike. Twilight began to ready a deflecting spell. The battle was about to commence.

And then, a giant clump of snow fell from the skies. Both ponies disappeared underneath it as it hit the pier. Twilight and Swift Strike were completely buried within several feet of crisp, white snow. It each of them quite a while to dig their way out. Finally, with a mighty gasp, Twilight burst through the top of the heap. By then, EIS agents had the snow-pile surrounded. Swift Strike was swiftly apprehended.

Princess Luna fluttered over.

“Thanks, guys!” Twilight yelled angrily into the night sky, where a couple of weather-pegasi were speeding away as quickly as possible. “Nice job on the new snow-schedules!”

“’Tis your own fault,” Luna said. “'Downsizing the Cloudsdale weather department will make things so much more efficient,' you said. 'Bringing in new management will revitalize the weather industry,' you said.”

“Yeah, I don’t need the I told you so’s tonight, Luna,” Twilight said.

Luna shrugged and flew away.

Radiant Hope sat at the edge of the pier, looking out toward the water in the glow of morning. The smokestacks of the doomed liner still had not completely sunk beneath the waves, and their silhouettes were still visible against the dark water. Hope tried to ignore them.

Sombra stood behind her, looking on sadly.

Luna flew over.

"What are you two still doing out here?" Luna asked. “I could understand if my glorious night had not yet passed — since I did rather excel myself again last night, if I do say so — but it has. And besides, you’re both soaking wet and should not be out in this cold.”

"I know," Sombra said, "but I can't get her to go in. She doesn’t seem to hear anything I have to say. I don't even know what to say. I feel like I’m so much to blame for this, and I just can’t find the words to make her feel better."

"Leave it to me," Luna responded. "I will speak with her. There are some things I need to say."

Sombra nodded and backed off. Luna walked to the edge of the pier and sat down beside Hope.

“Where’s Starlight and Twilight?” Hope asked.

“They've gone to talk things out," Luna said. "Twilight wants to help Starlight make peace with all the ponies she's hurt over the years."

“Good,” Hope said. “Starlight is a good pony and I know she wants to make right by the ponies she's wronged. She was just confused before."

“We often are,” Luna said. “It is so easy to let our worse instincts take over and forget about the light that is inside of us.”

Hope nodded. “I’ve learned first-hoof how hard it can be to believe there’s still light inside of you.

Luna put her wing around Hope. She bent her head down. Her voice grew gentler. “And it is especially easy to judge others and forget that they too have light inside of them.”

“He gave up his life for me,” Hope said quietly, looking out toward the water.

“What was that?”

“Dr. Fie. He was my friend. He gave up his life so that I could survive.”

Luna thought for a moment. Finally, she nodded. “Oh, yes, him. My sister and I met him once, during a royal visit to Seaddle. Nasty little pony, as I remember.”

Hope grimaced.

Luna quickly added. “But I suppose that every pony has his good qualities.”

“I know. I just learned it too late,” Hope responded. “All my life, I’ve been taken advantage of. I came to believe that nopony would ever really care about me. And he cared enough to sacrifice himself.”

“It’s hard to find ponies who are willing to care about you, Hope,” Luna said. “Especially after what you’ve done. I know from experience how hard it is. But they are out there. Not just Sombra, but there are others. You cannot let yourself think that you are unlovable, that you do not deserve love. There’s always somepony who cares for you.”

Hope shook her head. “They kept telling me that I’m a monster, that anypony who gets close to me gets hurt. That I bring darkness with me and hurt the ponies I care about. I cared about Dr. Fie and then I lost him. I keep thinking, if only I had never released the Umbrum.... If only I had been the one to die—”

“Dr. Fie made his own choice, Hope,” Luna said. “You didn’t bring about his death. He made the choice to die so that you could live. For him to do that, you must have been very special to him. You didn’t hurt him, Hope. If anything, I would venture to say that you saved him.” Luna looked over her shoulder at Sombra. “And it seems you make a habit of saving ponies.”

“It seems I do,” Hope said, looking out at the ocean, gleaming in the sunlight. “I know it’s just life. We can’t save everypony. We just have to save the ones we can.”

“But it doesn’t make it easier,” Luna said.

Hope shook her head. “No, it doesn’t.”

They sat in silence, watching the play of the waves below.

Finally, Hope spoke. “Princess, may I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Do you ever… do you ever wonder if you’re still a monster?”

“Every day. Most of the time, I try not to think about it. But the question is always there. And I don’t know if I’ll ever have the answer.”

“I know how that feels,” Hope responded. “How do you live with it?”

“I have ponies who depend upon me. My sister and my subjects both need me. I have responsibilities to fulfill. And, whatever I am, I must fulfill them. As I see it, the only way to let go, to be free, is to live now with as much wisdom and understanding as you can, to focus and be aware of what you can do today. You need to strive, often mightily, to do and say what is right, and to always want to do it, and live your life as to only bring healing and not harm.”

“That sounds hard.”

“It is. And, to be honest, it is not always possible. But it is trying which counts, I think.”

“I see,” Hope said quietly.

“And what about you?” Luna asked. “How do you handle it?”

“It’s never been something I’ve been good at,” Hope responded. “At least, not until today. I tried to make up for that by vowing to never let another pony lose their life because of me. But today, a pony made the choice to give his life so that I might live. I don’t know what I am, but I can’t let his sacrifice be in vain. I cannot heal him now, but I can do what he wanted me to do. I have to live. I have to build a life for myself. It’s the only thing I can do for him now.”

Luna nodded. “Good. Now you are beginning to understand.”

What would Hope, Sombra, and Starlight do with their new lives?

Read on.

Closer to the Heart

Seaddle.

The bar was a small place — to call it a dive might be too generous — and even for its size, it boasted few customers. No wonder; the whole place was covered in grime and the tables wobbled on rickety legs even when there was nothing atop them. When the few fans overhead had last worked was anypony’s guess. Behind the bar was a mirror, perhaps, but it could easily have just been another wall given how opaque several layers of dust had rendered it.

Into this bar stepped Radiant Hope and Sombra.

“Are you sure this is the place?” Sombra asked.

“I’ve been looking for him for a while now,” Hope responded. “And every lead I found points to this place.”

Hope’s sky-blue eyes scanned the bar. She could not make him out from the three or four ponies lined up there. She was looking for the wild mane and the massive beard, neither of which she saw.

“Hope, are you really sure I need to do this?” Sombra said.

“You said you wanted to start making peace with yourself,” Hope said. “Who better to start with?”

“But what if he’s still angry at me? A thousand years is a long time.”

“It’s the chance you’ll have to take if you want to make things up with him. And once we’re done, we can go wherever you want.”

Sombra nodded. “There is one thing I’d like to do. I think I’d like to go home.”

“Home? Sombra, do you mean....”

“Yes, Hope, I’d like to return to the Crystal Empire. I’d like to finally see the Crystal Heart how it was supposed to be seen.”

Hope’s face lit up. “Well, it is almost time for the Crystal Faire! We could finally go! Oh, Sombra! We could finally make it, after all these years!”

“I can think of nothing better,” Sombra said with a smile.

Hope was so happy, she could barely remember why they were there. But as she glanced over at the bar, she noticed a particular cutie mark on one of the ponies at the bar. An oaken staff.

Come to think of it, there was something peculiar about that pony’s blue coat. It seemed almost like... crystal?

“There he is!” Hope said. “Follow me!”

“Lailoken!” she said as she approached.

Lailoken turned to look at the two new arrivals. Hope was surprised at his appearance, though she really should not have been. The beard was all gone, shaved off. Underneath, despite several wrinkles, Lailoken still had some of his youthful handsomeness. His mane was also cut short and slicked back now. His purple eyes were bright and clear. He looked well, or at least as well as a pony who had aged a thousand years could look.

“Hope,” he said, largely without emotion. Then he looked to the figure beside Hope. If Sombra gave him any concern, he did not show it.

“What have you been doing with yourself since I last saw you?” Hope asked. “Have you just been hanging out in this dive bar?”

Lailoken shrugged. “Nothing much else to do. When you come back after a thousand years, Equestria looks like a very different place. I don’t need to tell you that.”

“You, at least, weren’t gone for a thousand years,” Hope said. “You were still wandering Equestria.”

Lailoken tapped his head. “I was gone. Up here.”

“Right,” Hope said with a nod. “But you can’t just sit around here and waste the life you’ve been given. You still need to do something with it.”

“I don’t know if I can,” Lailoken said. “I just don’t feel like there’s any place I belong in the new Equestria.”

“I know the feeling,” Hope said. “But your special talent has gone unused for over a millennium. You can’t let it go unused now.”

“What am I supposed to do? Find more druids? They haven’t existed for centuries.”

“No, but the skills they practiced are still needed. We always need more healers. I can’t do it all alone.”

“But where do I even start?”

“I’ll tell you what,” Hope said. “There’s a place in town, Seaddle Specialist Hospital. They’ve got quite a reputation and I’m sure they’d love to have a healer with your skills working for them. They haven’t had a decent pharmacist in a while. With your skills, you could probably even whip up a whole new bunch of medications for them in no time!”

“That sounds like chemistry,” Lailoken said. “I made potions. I didn’t do chemistry.”

Hope grinned. “It’s just the modern version of potion-making! Besides, they just lost their head doctor, so....”

Hope's face went blank. Thoughts of Dr. Fie filled her mind.

Lailoken tilted his head. He seemed to be considering it. Finally, he nodded. “Okay, I’ll check it out later.”

This was enough to bring Hope back to herself. Though thinking of Dr. Fie still hurt, she felt it was becoming easier with time. And besides, she was sure he would be proud of her for what she just did.

“I guess you’re still trying to save me,” Lailoken said.

“No,” Hope responded, “I’m just giving you a chance to save yourself.”

Pleased with her work, Hope spun around, ready to leave. Except there was Sombra, just standing there, looking rather uncertain as to what was going on.

“Oh, right….” Hope said as she turned back to Lailoken.

She tapped him on the foreleg. He faced her and Sombra again.

“I don’t think you two have ever been introduced,” Hope said. “Er, I mean, not properly. Lailoken, this is Sombra. Sombra, Lailoken.”

Sombra managed a small, “Nice to finally meet you.” Lailoken did not respond at all.

Hope gently nudged Sombra. He shifted his weight back and forth a little, unable to get comfortable. "I know, I know," he said to her.

“I’m sorry about what I did to you a thousand years ago,” he said to Lailoken. “I’m sorry that I tore apart your mind, drove you completely insane, and cursed you with a millennium of unending life without the youth to go with it. I am sorry for the unimaginable suffering I must have caused you. I know that you can probably never forgive me after what you’ve been through. But I want you to know that I will always be truly and deeply sorry for what I have done and how I have hurt you.”

Lailoken looked at Sombra for a moment, as though studying him. His expression did not change. He spoke.

“Pick up my tab and we’ll call it even.”

Then Lailoken turned and flagged down the barkeep. “Another round of drinks for everypony!”

As the other three ponies cheered, Sombra gave Hope an annoyed look. Hope just smiled innocently back. Sombra sighed and began to dig bits out from a saddlebag around his waist.

“I knew redemption had a cost,” he muttered. “I didn’t think it would cost so much.”

Hope tapped Lailoken’s foreleg again. “I just wanted to tell you one more thing,” she said.

Lailoken tore his attention from his newest beverage and once more gave Hope his focus.

“I want you to know that you were right,” Hope said. “All those years ago and again at the Empress of Equestria, when you said destiny isn’t fixed. You were right.”

Lailoken shrugged. “Maybe.”

The Crystal Empire.

“Yep, it’s all right here,” said the old crystal mare at the stall. “First edition. Hot off the presses.”

A green aura surrounded one of the books. It rose up into the air and opened directly before the face of a large grey stallion under a dark cloak. The hood of his cloak hid his face well enough already, but he could never be too sure.

“This here’s the whole story,” the mare said. “The whole, unvarnished truth. Not the type of nonsense you read about in the southern papers, oh, no.”

“You’re not too kind to Sombra in here,” the grey stallion said.

“Not too kind?” the old mare asked. “I was kinder than he deserved, I’d say. It’s not like the Daily North Equestria’s making it out to be. I mean, some romantic claptrap about a lost crystal princess and the friend she lost forever. The things you non-crystal ponies will believe, I swear!”

The stallion grit his teeth a little. “Ponies can be such fools.”

“But none of that garbage, here,” the mare said. “No siree. This is the true story of the irredeemable tyrant King Sombra and how he nearly destroyed everything we crystal ponies care about. Three times.”

“I see....” the stallion said, flipping through the pages. “I don’t see much on Radiant Hope in here. She was such a big part of my... of King Sombra’s story... or so I’ve heard.”

“Oh, she’s in there,” the mare said darkly. “Flip to page 26.”

The stallion did so. He grimaced. “I didn’t know you could put language like that in a book and still get it published.”

“You believe me, if the publisher had allowed it, I would have said worse.”

“You know, I think there’s a few inaccuracies in here,” the stallion said.

The mare raised her brows. “And how would you know?”

“Well, for one thing, Sombra didn’t just ‘flip out’ and turn evil. It was a long process,” the stallion began. “And I think you can lay some of the blame at Princess Amore’s hooves. She never told him about the Crystal Heart. As for Radiant Hope....”

He felt a tug on his cloak. He looked down to see another cloaked pony, this one much smaller, clearly a mare. A hood also covered her face. But underneath, he could still the crystalline sheen of her lavender coat, as well as all the watery blue rivulets of mane hair bursting through from underneath the hood.

The stallion nodded. He closed the book and once more read the title, Siege of the Crystal Empire: The Untold Truth

The stallion laid the book back down upon the stall. “Thank you for letting me take a look.”

Then, he moved as far from the stall as he could as fast as he could.

“Hey, aren’t you at least going to buy a copy?” the old biddy called after him. “Autographed copy’s only forty-five bits.”

Once they were out of the biddy’s earshot, Sombra shook his head. “I think this was a bad idea, Hope.”

“Oh, don’t be such a grumpy griffon,” Hope said. “We’ve waited a thousand years to attend the Crystal Faire. We couldn’t miss it again!”

Several ponies, griffons, yaks, and creatures of all kinds jostled against Sombra and Hope as they walked through the wide thoroughfare.

“I didn’t think the Faire was this... crowded....” Sombra said. “Did you at least get your flugelhorn?”

Hope looked back at the flugelhorn stand, which was the biggest at the Faire. It was a giant edifice, covered in bright colors and flashing lights. A speaker-system blared, “Buy authentic Crystal Empire flugelhorns here!”

“I... didn’t get one,” Hope said. “They either had the one which lights up in rainbow colors or the one which plays Sapphire Shores melodies. I didn’t want either. Besides, all the ‘authentic’ flugelhorns are made in Saddle Arabia these days?”

“I don’t think we belong here,” Sombra said. “I was reading that book. You should have seen the things it said.”

“Don’t worry about it, Sombra. They just want to sell more copies.”

Sombra walked by a stall with some hats with lights on them and a sign marked, ‘15 bits.’ “I’ve never actually been to the Faire before. Is this it? Is it just an opportunity to sell stuff?”

“No, of course not! The Crystal Faire is the one time of year when all crystal ponies come together to express our love for one another and reaffirm our fundamental unity. It is something special which only ponies from the Crystal Empire can fully understand.”

While contemplating this noble idea, Hope stopped in her tracks. She caught sight of a giant stall blocking their path. A large sign on top of it proclaimed, 'Experience the Faire like it was meant to be! Become a crystal pony! Full metallic body-painting, 125 bits!'

“Though the Faire has gotten a lot more commercialized since I was a foal,” Hope remarked. “Maybe we don’t really belong here anymore.”

“But, that book.” Sombra said. “The things it says about me.... I suppose I deserve them after what I’ve done... but, Hope, it says some truly terrible things about you.”

Hope looked past Sombra. On the side of one of the crystal buildings was an old wanted poster. It had her face on it.

“Ponies are always just going to see what they want to see,” Hope said. “Come on. It’s about time.”

Hope grabbed Sombra’s hoof and led him through the massive throng of ponies, creatures, and merchandise. It required quite a bit of dodging and weaving, which was easier for Hope than for Sombra. One yak even bumped into Sombra hard enough to knock the hood from his head. He looked around nervously and quickly pulled the hood back up.

Lucky for him, nopony noticed. Why would they, when there was a stall offering, ‘authentic crystal sunglasses and visors, machine-made by hoof, 35 bits,' in the immediate vicinity.

Finally, however, Hope broke through the crowd. She led Sombra to the Crystal Dais. They found a relatively unobstructed spot off to the side and took their place among the ponies already assembled there. The ceremony was just beginning. There was Princess Cadance at the other end of the Dais, dressed in all her royal finery. She approached the Crystal Heart. Shining Armor, dressed the formal wear befitting a prince, was by her side.

“Does she look like she’s put on weight to you?” Sombra whispered to Hope.

“Of course you’d notice the pretty pink pony’s figure,” Hope answered.

Sombra blushed underneath his grey coat. “What? No! I didn’t even notice her like that. It’s just, she was one of my mortal enemies. I had to have a good idea what she looked like!”

“Sure,” Hope said skeptically. “I’m sure your interest was entirely tactical.”

As Princess Cadance approached the Heart, it began to shine much more brightly than usual. As she touched her horn to it, it let out a flash of light. Cadance was transformed. Her usually solid coat had become entirely crystalline, and the light reflected through it cast shades of pink on everything around her. She looked beautiful.

The Heart began to beat with light and energy. With each pulsation, it set out another flash of light. In the first, Shining Armor was transformed. He now matched his wife in both texture and luminosity, making them look even more perfect of a couple than they already did.

With the next flash, the ponies of the first row were transformed. Hope and Sombra were among them. Hope quickly pulled her cloak more tightly around her; she needed to hide how brightly her body was shining. She feared that, even with the cloak, she could be easily identified. Sombra, however, let his hood down and his cloak blow behind him. He felt no more need for it. Now glistening with crystal light, he was now utterly unrecognizable as the former king of monsters and had nothing to fear.

The Heart pulsated with a greater and greater light. As the luminosity increased in magnitude, rays of light shot throughout the whole of the Crystal Empire. The gleaming spires gleamed even more brightly. Every surface on every building shined. The streets and alleys, and everything upon them, became light.

Every single creature in the realm had also been transformed. Now, they were all beings of crystal, filled throughout with the light of the Crystal Heart.

“So this is the Crystal Faire,” Sombra said. “It only took a thousand years to see it.”

“So, what do you think?” Hope said, a tear in her eye.

“It’s beautiful,” Sombra answered.

From somewhere in the vast, crystalline crowd, a pony called out, “You’ve got to be kidding me! After I spent 135 bits on this paintjob? Rip-off!”

“Well, it was beautiful,” Sombra said.

“Yeah....” Hope said. “I think the Faire was better a thousand years ago. I’m sorry, Sombra.”

Sombra smiled at her. “It doesn’t matter. The Crystal Heart may be beautiful, but it’s nothing compared to the beautiful heart in the crystal pony next to me.”

Hope smiled. “Oh, you charmer! That line almost makes up for you checking out Princess Cadance.”

Sombra pulled Hope to him. “It’s good to know I’m back in your good books.”

“I said almost,” Hope answered with a wink.

They kissed. Hope’s hood fell from her head, revealing her flowing mane, shimmering with light. The brilliant glow of the Crystal Heart enfolded them in its gentle embrace.

Suddenly, Hope realized that all the ponies around them were staring. She quickly pulled out of the kiss and threw her hood over her head, trying to hide her face as much as possible.

“I guess somepony had too much crystal wine,” said a unicorn, to general laughter.

Tourists, thank Celestia! Hope thought.

But Sombra barely noticed. Hope looked up at him. Something else was clearly bothering him.

“Sombra, what’s wrong?” she asked.

“I’m just thinking,” Sombra responded as her stared at the Heart. “I’ve been given a second chance. I’ve gotten everything I ever wanted. But I don’t deserve it, not after everything I’ve done.”

“Oh, Sombra, you know you have to forgive yourself. Everyone else has forgiven you.”

“Not everyone. That bookseller, for instance.”

“Forget her. They just don’t understand.”

Sombra looked at Hope. “How can you be fine with me, though? After what I did. I’m the one who got your Dr. Fie killed.”

Hope did not face Sombra. “We all make mistakes. It just happened. I don’t blame you.”

“Well, maybe you should,” Sombra said, his voice rising. “I feel like somebody should. I keep waiting for something to happen, for someone to realize who I am, for me to receive the punishment I deserve. Do you know how hard that is?”

“Definitely too much of the crystal wine,” the unicorn in the crowd said.

“Shut up!” Sombra yelled at him.

“Sombra, calm down,” Hope said, tried to keep her voice down. “This isn’t helping anyone.”

Sombra began to calm down. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lost my temper. I know I’m supposed to forgive myself. But do you know how hard that is, after all I’ve done?”

“I do,” Hope said quietly.

“I just wish there was something I could do,” Sombra said. “Something which could fix everything. Something which could fix everything I’ve ever done.”

“Where have I heard that before?” Hope asked, more to herself than to Sombra.

“What?”

Hope looked Sombra in the eyes. “You can’t fix everything. I should know. You can try and try, but some things just cannot go back to how they were. You can only move forward.”

“But how am I supposed to do that?” Sombra asked. “Where do I even begin?”

“Well,” Hope said, “you can’t fix everything. But maybe there’s something you can try to fix. Something, at least, which you can make up for.”

Sombra glanced at the Crystal Heart and at Cadance. He nodded.

Turning back to Hope, he said, “Well, there is one thing. I’ve been thinking, this all started when I had turned Princess Amore to stone. When I shattered her, I felt lost to everything but darkness. If I could make up for that, somehow, maybe it would be a start.”

“Maybe,” Hope said, looking back to the Heart, “but it would be a tall order trying to figure out how. You can’t bring Princess Amore back to life, after all.”

Sombra smiled bashfully. “Actually... she’s not dead.”

Hope’s head whipped around. “Not dead? But I saw you shatter her.”

“I believe Princess Amore’s essence to still be in her those fragments of her body. If we could find them and reassemble them, I think....”

Hope gasped. “You think we could bring her back.”

“With how powerful your magic has grown, I don’t doubt it,” Sombra said.

“But weren’t some lost on the ship?”

Sombra smiled knowingly, remembering what he had seen in the sky that day. “I have a feeling they’ll turn up, somewhere.”

Hope pulled him into a hug. “Sombra, this is great news! And, of course, I’ll help bring her back.”

“Thank you, Hope,” Sombra said, returning the embrace. “I’m thinking, maybe we should head out early, before the Faire ends. We can get a head start on finding Amore’s lost shards. This isn’t our home anymore. There’s no reason for us to stay. I’ll even race you to the exit.”

Hope’s face took on a look of concern. She let go of Sombra and looked to the saddlebag around her waist. Her horn lit up, and a letter floated out.

Hope remembered the last time she had brought a letter like this to Sombra’s attention. It did not end well. She could only imagine how it would go this time.

“Hope, what is that?” Sombra asked, concerned.

“It’s a telegram from Seaddle Specialist,” Hope said. “They need me to come back.”

“Come back? Why? We just left Seaddle! I thought we were done with that city! We left to come....”

Sombra stopped himself.

“Home,” Hope finished for him. “But like you said, it’s not our home anymore.”

“So, what does the hospital want with you?” Sombra asked. “Why can’t they just let you be?”

“It has to do with Dr. Fie,” Hope answered, looking through the letter. “They want me to come down and sort out his estate. Something about his will naming me his executor. It also says they need to talk to me about something important regarding the hospital. I don’t know. But I have to go back. If it has to do with Dr. Fie, I have to go.”

“I suppose this is what I deserve for killing him. He got back at me in the end.”

“Sombra!” Hope scolded.

“Sorry,” Sombra said. “I understand why you need to go back. We’ll make a quick stop in Seaddle, you’ll drop by the hospital, and then we’ll head out again. No problem.”

“I don’t know how long it's going to take, Sombra.”

“But I can’t wait, Hope!” Sombra said. “This guilt is already too much. I need to try and deal with it somehow. And being there, while you go through the effects of this pony whose death I am responsible for, is going to kill me!”

“I know.”

Sombra stamped his hoof. “Then you see why I can’t go.”

“I do,” Hope said. “But I need to.”

“So, what do we do?”

Hope looked once more to the Crystal Heart. It seemed now to shine even brighter than it had before.

“I think you should go,” Hope said. “Go without me.”

“What? I can’t leave you. You know that.”

“I know it's hard, but I think you need to do this,” Hope continued. “I can see how the guilt is tearing you up. I was like that once, too. And it will destroy you if you don’t handle it. But I can’t be with you. At least not yet. I need to do this for Dr. Fie first.”

“I knew it!” Sombra snapped. “You haven’t forgiven me for his death! You blame me and now you’re punishing me!”

Hope frowned. “We’re falling back into the old patterns, aren’t we? This is why we need to do this. We both need it, I think.”

“How can either of us need this?”

Hope put her hoof on Sombra’s shoulder. “You and me, for our whole lives, we’ve defined each other. It was just the two of us who made each other what we were. But then, after the Siege, I thought I lost you forever, and I had to start defining myself apart from you. And it was good for me. It reminded me that there are other ponies in this world besides the two of us. I think we forgot about that somewhere.”

“But Hope, we just finally found each other again! You can’t leave me now! I can’t find Princess Amore on my own! I need you. I need you to heal her. I need you to heal me!”

Hope raised her hoof from Sombra’s shoulder to his cheek. “I can’t heal you. At least, not in the way you’re hurting. Only you can heal yourself now.” She tried to smile. “Besides, it’s not forever. Just for a little while. I’m not leaving you, Sombra. We’ll just be on different paths for a little while.”

“You are leaving me!” Sombra said, tears in his eyes. “After everything, you are leaving me!”

“It’s not about you and me,” Hope said. “You said you still could not forgive yourself. I’ve managed it. But you never had the chance I did. You never got to define yourself apart from me. I’m giving you the chance now.”

Sombra sneered. He turned away. “So, I guess you’re trying to tell me that you want us to go our separate ways.”

Hope guided his face back to hers. “Only so that, when we come back together, it will be better than it ever was.”

Sombra pursed his lips. He nodded. “I suppose... I do need some time to think things over. But I don’t want you out of my life.”

“You know where I’ll be,” Hope said. “You can find me again when you’re ready.”

“But how will I know when I’m ready?” Sombra asked.

Hope smiled at him. “Trust me, you’ll know.”

“I’ll know,” he said. “Well, if you really think we should do this, fine. I’ll give it a try.”

“I don’t want to do it. It breaks my heart. But I know we’ll be better for it if we do. And you did say you wanted to be a better pony.”

Sombra smiled glumly. “I did.”

There was an awkward silence between them. Each wanted to speak, but both knew that anything they said would only make the hurt sting more. Finally, Sombra took the initiative. He wiped a tear from his eye. “Well, I suppose I’ll try to get going before the crowd. Long goodbyes have never been my thing.”

“But you will say goodbye this time?” Hope asked.

Sombra nodded. He leaned in and kissed Hope on the cheek. “Goodbye, Radiant Hope.”

She turned her eyes from Sombra and once more to the Crystal Heart. It was still casting light upon them. A single tear ran down her cheek.

“It’s not goodbye,” she said.

But when she turned around, Sombra was already gone. An unseasonably warm wind picked up and blew past Hope, knocking her hood down to her shoulders. She no longer cared.

“Not forever.”

She once more looked to the Crystal Dais. There was the Crystal Heart, gleaming brightly. And standing beside it were Cadance and Shining Armor. He had his head on her shoulder and was nuzzling her neck. His hoof patted her belly.

Cadance smiled. But then, she seemed to catch something out of the corner of her eye. Hope was sure the princess looked in her direction.

Hope didn’t care. She turned around and pulled her hood back up. Slowly, but with certain steps, she walked away.

There was nothing left for her here.

“I never thought it would be so hard to come back to this place,” Hope said to herself as she walked through the halls of Seaddle Specialist Hospital, slowly making her way toward the third-floor front desk.

As the desk came into view, she thought, I can’t do this! I can’t do this!

But then Hope shook her head. “No, I need to do this.”

Raspberry Ripple was at the front desk. When she saw Radiant Hope coming, her lips curved into a smile. This time, though, Hope could not tell the meaning behind it. Was it supposed to be mean or kind?

“Haven’t seen you around in a while,” Raspberry Ripple remarked. “I didn’t think you’d ever come back, not after what happened.”

Raspberry pointed toward the wall with her wing. There, with the words “In Memoriam” above it, was a photograph of Dr. Fiddly Fie, his hooves on his chest, with his characteristically large grin and narrowed eyes.

“I had to,” Hope said. “For him, I had to.”

“You know, I always liked him,” Raspberry responded.

Hope smiled a little. “Did you? I never thought you were a fan.”

“What?” Raspberry said. “Just because I thought he was an insufferable, pompous windbag? It doesn’t mean I didn’t like him.”

“Of course, it didn’t,” Hope said. “I can tell the love is real.”

“Yeah, it’s just like how, even though I think you’re a no-talent little floozy, it doesn’t mean I don’t like you.”

“Thanks, I think,” Hope said. “Wait, floozy?”

“I saw you around a few weeks ago, parading Mister Tall, Dark, and Handsome all around the city’s bars. Nice to see you’re already on the rebound.” Raspberry chuckled or herself. “You do like the fancy boys, don’t you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hope asked.

“Nothing,” Raspberry said, her tone indicating that it meant everything. “One of these days, honey, we need to have a long talk about your taste in stallions.”

“Raspberry, it’s not like that. We were just going to those bars looking for a guy.”

Raspberry slapped her head with her wing. “Ooh-la-la, getting adventurous, are we? I envy you.”

Walked into that one, Hope thought.

“Raspberry, I should probably explain about Sombra,” Hope said. “You’ve probably got questions.”

“What you do in your own time is none of my business, honey,” Raspberry said.

Hope had to work hard to keep her jaw from dropping. “Do you not know who King Sombra is?”

Raspberry shrugged. “I don’t follow politics.”

“So, you don’t know who I am?”

Raspberry looked up at Hope from the corner of her eyes. “Look, I know you’re coming up in the world, but don’t get on much like Dr. Fie now. You don’t have the eyebrows for arrogance.”

Hope looked all around her. She caught a glimpse at a newspaper lying in the seating area nearby. It was the Seaddle Daily Stablegraph.

A blue aura surrounded it and it came flying toward Hope. She trotted up to the desk and held the paper up beside her.

“Haven’t you seen this?” she asked.

Raspberry looked up at the paper. The front page consisted of a picture of Hope and the headline, “False Princess and Traitor!”

She just raised her brows. “I don’t read the Stablegraph anymore. They fired my husband, you know. Deputy editor, fifteen years, and they just up and fire him. Now I have to work extra shifts, and he’s home all the time! If ever I see that Fast Facts, I’m gonna kill him!”

Hope threw the paper down. “But what about the other papers. The Daily North Equestria?”

Raspberry somehow managed to display even less interest. “Like I said, my husband’s been a deputy editor of a newspaper for fifteen years. I know better now than to believe anything in the news. Besides, if I followed it, I’d have something to talk to him about.”

“It would be a tragedy,” Hope remarked.

“I know, right? Can you even imagine?”

Hope nodded.

“Can I just have the key to Dr. Fie’s study, please?” Hope asked. “I’ve just come to clear it out.”

Raspberry’s eyes narrowed. “Is that really all you came to do?”

“What else?”

Raspberry pretended to go innocently back to her filing. “I just thought Seaddle Specialist’s new head doctor would have too much responsibility to up and leave just like that.”

Hope took a few steps back. “New head… doctor?”

“That’s the rumor that’s been going around,” Raspberry said. “I don’t know if it’s true. You’d have to ask the board of trustees. They keep sending ponies around here looking for you. They said something about sending you a letter?”

“I got the letter,” Hope said. “It said they wanted to talk to me about something. I didn’t know it was this.”

Raspberry went back to her work. “I guess you can get to the top by playing the field….”

“Well, you don’t have to worry, Raspberry, because I’m not taking it,” Hope said. “I can’t stay here.”

She levitated up the key Raspberry had placed on the desk. Then she hurried toward the elevator.

“Wait!” Raspberry called after her. “We just got a request from Zebraland! It’s urgent! How do I respond?”

There was no answer. The elevator doors closed behind Hope.

Raspberry sighed. “Nothing’s going to change around here, is it?”

The view was spectacular from the windows of Dr. Fie’s office. Hope had to admit that. She had never really taken the time to look out from them before. But now she had nothing but time.

She was sitting at Dr. Fie’s desk, slumped down in the chair. The warm rays of the noontime sun fell upon her. They made the whole room feel warm and cozy. Of course, this was intentional. Dr. Fie had designed this whole space to be somewhere a pony would not want to leave for hours.

And hours seemed to pass. They went by and by while Hope tried to come to terms with the news she had been hit with. She had not been able to do any of the cleaning and sorting she had come here for. She had not looked through Dr. Fie’s papers or any of his personal effects. She just stared blankly.

Head doctor? Me?

It was absurd. Not that she couldn’t do it. But she couldn’t stay here. There were too many memories in this place. It was time to move on.

And yet, something held her back. She knew she could do good here. What was she supposed to do?

Wrong question. I should be asking, what do I want to do?

Hope got up and began to absently pace around the room. It might have been the right question, but it was not an easy one. She did not have the answer. She did not know what she wanted to do.

“I really wish I had someone to talk to,” Hope said.

Suddenly, the double-doors burst open. She heard a familiar voice.

“Well, well, new head doctor of Seaddle Specialist! Somepony’s really moving up in the world!”

Hope could not believe her eyes. “Starlight?”

There, indeed, was Starlight. She looked different. It took Hope a moment to realize how.

“You’ve changed your hair!”

Starlight bounced her new coif with her hoof. “Yeah, nopony much seemed to like the old one. So, I thought it was time for a change.”

“It looks good,” Hope said enthusiastically. “But what are you doing in Seaddle?”

“Long story,” Starlight said. “But the short version is, a friend of mine saw you and Sombra in the Crystal Empire during the Crystal Faire. He was too terrified to say hello. But he sent me a letter all about it, so I figured I had better check in on you guys. When I got here, that pegasus on the third floor told me I’d find you up here. Is it just me or is she a little....”

“Much?”

“That’s a nice way of saying it. I guess we have to be nice now.”

Starlight took a look around as she stepped further inside. “So this is Dr. Fie’s study? It is as... ostentatious... as I’d expect from him. Are you going to keep it, now that you’re in charge? And are you going to clear out the incurables’ ward? Or, I don’t know, use it for ponies who actually need help?”

“I would,” Hope said, "but I'm not taking the job."

“What?” Starlight asked, caught by surprise. “Why not?”

Hope shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. But you have a friend in the Crystal Empire? I’m surprised.”

“Thanks.”

“No, I mean, you said you didn’t really have friends other than me and Stirring and....”

“And Sunburst.”

Hope’s face lit up. “You found Sunburst?”

“Yep,” Starlight said. “Twilight helped me. Turns out he’s been living in the Crystal Empire for years.”

Hope ran up and wrapped her forelegs around Starlight. “That’s great. I’m so happy for you!”

Hope suddenly pulled back. “Wait, if he’s been living in the Crystal Empire, then he was there when... everything happened....”

Starlight nodded a little. “Mm-hmm. He’s not exactly your biggest fan at the moment. It’s why he didn’t want to come with me.”

“Oh, Starlight, I’m so sorry he had to go through it all, too!” Hope said. “Did you explain everything to him?”

“I tried. It didn’t take. But it’s okay, Hope. He’ll get over it. But what’s this about you not taking the job? How can you even think about letting it go?”

“I’m just not sure if I want it.”

“What?” Starlight said “Hope, this is your special talent. You were born for this! It’s your destiny!”

“I make my own destiny. And I don’t know if I want this to be it. I never saw Seaddle Specialist as a home. Especially with Dr. Fie gone.”

“But you can make it your home. I mean, you and Sombra have to live somewhere. And with a good, high-paying job, you could live comfortably, get married, start a family....” Starlight looked around. “Where is Sombra, anyway? I haven’t seen him around. Is he still lying low?”

“We’re not together right now,” Hope said quietly.

Starlight’s jaw dropped. “Not together? Not together? After everything you went through. No, scratch that, after everything we went through.”

“We decided we need some space.”

Starlight rolled her eyes. “It’s just like a stallion. You give up the best thousand years of your life for him, and he just drops you as soon as he’s gotten what he wants.”

“It’s not like that,” Hope said. “He’s gone looking for Princess Amore’s fragments. He thinks I can bring her back to life if he finds them. So he went to look for them, but I had to come here.”

“Hmm,” Starlight said. “It doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. A thousand years in a thousand pieces? Amore’s going to be mad when she gets back.”

“I hope not,” Hope said, “for Sombra’s sake. He needs this to work. It’s why I encouraged him to go.”

Starlight’s eyes grew large. “You encouraged him?” She clapped her hooves. “Miss I-Miss-Sombra, and you told him to go on without you? You really have changed!”

Hope considered it. “Maybe I have. What do you think.”

“Hey, I like it. I’m happy for you!”

“Good.”

Starlight walked over to the armchair. She began to sit down. “Mind if I sit down? It was a long walk from the train station and I didn’t want to teleport. Even though I totally could now, of course—”

“Starlight, wait!”

Starlight jumped up, looking like something had just bitten her. “What is it, Hope? What’s the matter?”

“That’s Dr. Fie’s armchair,” Hope said. “He never let any other pony sit in it or even touch it.”

Starlight shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Sure, but it’s all yours now.”

Hope looked at all the things which were now ‘hers.’ Her eyes landed on plethora of degrees on Dr. Fie’s wall. “I can’t do this. I don’t even have a medical degree.”

Starlight’s eyes followed hers. “How did he, of all ponies, even earn all these?”

“I think at least half of them come from those universities that mail you a degree if you pay five bits,” Hope said.

"I wouldn't have expected he'd actually do that," Starlight responded. "Not the part about degrees by mail. He would definitely do that. But paying so much money for them? He's still surprising me!"

“He keeps surprising both of us.”

“I don’t think you need a degree,” Starlight said. “A thousand-plus years of experience with healing every ailment known to pony-kind means more than any degree ever could. Unless it’s from the Rational University, of course.”

“Of course.”

Hope looked over to a large case that was on the desk. She picked it up and gazed at it. Inside, there was a large, golden medal. Engraved on the medal where images of the sun and moon and the words, Hero of Equestria.

“What’s that?” Starlight asked.

“Princess Celestia awarded this to Dr. Fie posthumously,” Hope said. “I accepted it in his place.”

“So, he did win it in the end, just like he always used to dream of!” Starlight said. “I can practically hear him gloating it up to that heavenly choir of his.”

Then, she took on that motherly expression which Hope had come to know so well. “He wanted you to have it, you know. This position. He knew you’d be perfect for it. He wanted you to be happy.”

“I know,” Hope said, not taking her eyes off the medal. “But if he isn’t here, I don’t want to stay.”

“But he is here,” Starlight said. “He’ll always be here as long as you are.“

“That’s nice,” Hope said. “But it’s not true.”

“It’s a lot truer if you take over than some random doctor who never met him. At least you’ll be honoring his memory.”

Hope walked behind the desk and sat down. She leaned back and held the medal in her hooves. She was silent.

“Did you get a chance to talk to Sombra about this?” Starlight asked.

“No,” Hope said. “What do you think he’d say?”

“I’d think he’d say, from what little I know of him, that you have so much to offer other ponies and you can’t keep hiding your gift. He’d say there’s so much good you could do for the world.”

“And what do you say?” Hope asked.

“I say the same, obviously,” Starlight said with a smirk.

“Obviously....” Hope’s voice was distant.

More silence. Starlight fidgeted a bit, clearly getting uncomfortable. Hope figured she should say something, if only to put Starlight more at ease.

“But what if I still don’t want it?”

“Hope, why ever not?” Starlight asked.

Hope looked up. There was a little bit of playfulness on her face. “You should know, Starlight. After all, who first taught me we shouldn’t let things like cutie marks define us? Or have you given up on your whole ideology?”

Starlight smirked. “No. Just utilizing more peaceful methods these days. And, after everything I saw you do, I’m not so much against special talents as against letting them tell you who to be.”

“Exactly,” Hope said. “The thing is, though, I don’t have a problem with my cutie mark or my special talent. But others have been defining me my whole life. First, I was supposed to be a Princess. Then an Empress. A good pony. A bad pony. And now, I’m supposed to be the head doctor of a world-renowned hospital. It’s just someone else defining me again. When I was with you and Dr. Fie, when we were chasing the Umbrum, it was the first time in my life where I was undefined. Where I could define myself. I kind of liked it.”

Starlight nodded. She went to sit down in the armchair. However, as she did so, she caught Hope’s sharp look again.

“Okay, okay.” Starlight got up and backed away from the chair. When she hit the wall, Starlight leaned against it and looked out the window.

Hope watched her. She seemed deep in thought.

“I get it, Hope.” Starlight said. “I think I started this whole ‘Equality’ thing because I didn’t like how something we have no control over could just decide who we were and change our whole lives. So, I get what you’re saying. I can see why you wouldn’t want to stay.”

“So, what do you think I should do?”

Starlight shrugged. “I can’t tell you that. Both staying and going make sense. I don’t know which is better. I don’t even know what I’m going to do myself. Twilight Sparkle wants to make me her special friendship student. I’m thinking about it, but I’m not sure I’d fit in with her and her friends. I could also move to the Crystal Empire with Sunburst.”

“Don’t,” Hope said. “It’s gotten too gentrified.”

“Or I could try to talk to Stirring Words and work things out. You know, he’s working for the Daily North Equestria again. He moved to San Franciscolt after getting his pardon and got a Job with them. Apparently, being an accomplice in a vast conspiracy to change time wasn’t considered a deal-breaker.”

“You destroyed the time-travel spell,” Hope said, “so I guess they figure it doesn’t matter. Nopony’s going to be messing with time anytime soon.”

Starlight chuckled. “Unless there’s another copy out there.”

Underneath Canterlot Castle extends a series of labyrinthine tunnels. They lead far below the city of Canterlot, deep into the mountain on which it is so precariously placed. In fact, how far they go down has never been precisely determined. Nor will you find them on any floorplan because, truth be told, they were here long before the castle itself was. Their existence is known only to a select few. Actually, to only two.

In one of the deepest of these tunnels, deep inside the mountain, Princess Luna waited impatiently.

“Come, sister, what is taking you so long?” she asked the darkness.

Of course, she expected no response. But she got one.

“Finding it wasn't as easy as I hoped. I had to dig through the entirety of the Starswirl the Bearded wing to find it."

Suddenly, a sun-like glow illuminated the entirety of this particular passage. A glow that emanated from Princess Celestia’s horn.

“We really need to order a full reorganization of the Royal Library,” Celestia said. “We never seem to be able to find what we need when we need it. Thankfully, we weren’t actually racing against the imminent destruction of the universe this time.”

“Sister, I too remember the Fillydelphia Incident,” Luna said. “You do not need to remind me of it.”

"I wish I could forget it, myself," Celestia responded. "But there isn't a memory-erasing spell in all Equestria powerful enough."

Celestia shined her horn to reveal an immense vault. The door to the vault was ancient and appeared to be carved out of an even more ancient oak. Scratched into the blackened bark of the oak was a variety of arcane symbols, their meanings long since lost in the mists of time. Around the symbols were positioned three wheels, each one of a different size. On each were intricately-detailed images of leaves, leaves that together formed mocking, laughing faces. Once, they had all been painted different colors, but those had worn off centuries ago, leaving only the faintest traces of blue, silver, and green.

"So this is the infamous vault once used by the druids?" Luna asked. "It was regarded as a myth before my banishment. Ponies of this era do not even remember it."

"This is it," Celestia responded, her tone suggesting a sense of awe. And there were few things which could hold the Princess of the Sun in awe.

"So the legends are true, then?" Luna asked. "All the dark legends about what the druids used to do...."

Celestia nodded, not taking her eyes off the oaken door. "I'm afraid so. This is indeed where the druids kept their storied supply of bootleg cider. The parties they threw were incredible. Of course, the cider's all gone now. This vault hasn't been used in ages."

"Let's just get this over with," Luna said. "This place is starting to make me uncomfortable. I fear it may be haunted."

Luna’s horn began to glow. Her magic joined with Celestia's and both made their way toward the door. The symbols lit up and the wheels began to turn. The door to the vault flew open. Beyond it was a large room. Perhaps it was decorated, perhaps not. There was not enough light to tell. But the princesses could just barely make out the broken remains of a number of bottles of cider.

A scroll, surrounded by sun-yellow light, floated up from behind Celestia and found its way into the vault. Swiftly, the door slammed behind it. The wheels spun back in the opposite direction, the symbols lost their glow, and the light disappeared from Celestia and Luna’s horns.

As they stared at what they could still make out of the vault in the darkness, Luna said, “Are you sure that is the last surviving copy of Starswirl’s time-spell, sister?”

“Yes, Luna, I am sure,” Celestia said. “I had copies made of all of Starswirl’s spells. In light of what happened, I’ve had the other copies destroyed. But I feel it is important to save one for posterity’s sake.”

“No wonder you are so fond of Twilight Sparkle,” Luna observed. “You sound just like her, sometimes.”

“Best not to let Twilight know about this. She's been asking so many questions about time-travel lately and I don't think she's ready for the answers,” Celestia said. “Nopony but the two of us can know. Time-travel is clearly too dangerous for even the most capable of hooves.”

“And you’re certain there’s no way that anypony but the two of us can find this place?” Luna asked.

“Not unless an army of dark abominations manages to get past our defenses, completely wipe out our forces, defeat the two of us, and raze Canterlot to the ground,” Celestia said.

The two princesses exchanged glances. Then, together, they laughed.

“But what are the odds of that happening again?” Celestia asked with a smile.

“Yeah, I’m sure it’s all gone,” Starlight said. “Nopony should have that kind of power."

“Agreed,” Hope said. “If we could all just change time all the time, we’d never learn anything.”

Starlight turned back from the window. “So, I guess you’ve made your decision?”

“I don’t know,” Hope said. “I just don’t know. I know I could do a lot of good here. And you’re right. It would be honoring Dr. Fie by staying here.”

“So, you’ll stay?”

“But I just don’t want to be stuck in a role that’s been set for me by somepony else. Especially not after I sent Sombra off to figure himself out, saying he needed to have the chance I did.”

“You’re not going to stay, then?”

“I want to help ponies. I am a healer. But I’m not really a pony who travels straight lines.”

Starlight shook her head in confusion. “You’ve lost me. So, what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. I just wish there was a middle way. A way I could help ponies and honor Dr. Fie’s memory without being trapped here.”

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Hope was going to call out that she was busy, but Raspberry Ripple barged in without waiting for a reply. She was holding a file in one of her hooves.

“I don’t mean to intrude,” she said, “but I really need an answer on this Zebraland thing. And since you’re the mare in charge now....”

“What Zebraland thing?” Hope asked.

Raspberry sighed. “Of course, you don’t listen to me. Just like he never did.”

“Raspberry, please just tell me what’s going on.”

“Well, since you asked nicely.... There’s been an epidemic in Zebraland. Some sort of disease they’ve never seen before? Well, they can’t deal with it alone, so they’ve sent a request to, and I quote, ‘Equestria’s foremost medical hospital,’ to send a handful best doctors to help fight it.”

A grin came over Hope’s face. “A delegation to Zebraland. I guess we’d need one of the best doctors here to lead it.”

“I guess,” Raspberry said. “I can bring you a dossier of some candidates, if you like.”

Hope’s grin grew wider. “I don’t know, it seems awfully important,” she said coyly. “Maybe it's more of a job for, I don’t know, the head doctor?”

Raspberry finally looked up from the file. For the first time in their acquaintance, Hope saw a look of shock on the pegasus’ face.

“You mean... you want to go... to Zebraland?” Raspberry asked, clearly struggling to wrap her brain around it.

“Don’t worry,” Hope said. “I’ll teach the doctors a few spells before I leave. Enough that they should be able to keep up our high success rate. And I’ll still be in touch in case you need anything.”

Raspberry shook her head. “It’s not that.... It’s just... so far out of Equestria. You’ll be so far from everything we ponies know. It’s so far from everything which makes ponies... well... ponies. From everything which defines us.”

“Sounds like an interesting place,” Hope said.

“Hope, are you going to do this?” Starlight said, coming up beside her. “Won’t you need to stay here? To run the administrative side of things?”

“You know what I think about those types of jobs. Princesses, Empresses, administrators. It’s not me.” Hope said. Then the grin on her face grew wider. “But there is one pony I can think of who has quite the talent for organizing and managing others.”

Starlight took a step back. She pointed to herself. “Me?”

“I think I should be able to appoint a pony to take charge in my absence,” Hope said. “And it’s just for a little while, until I get back. It wouldn’t be too much trouble for you. You’d just have to make sure things stay in order and let Sombra know what’s become of me if he asks. You can do all that, right?”

“I mean, sure. I mean, I’ve run a town and a conspiracy, so I’m sure a hospital will be no problem,” Starlight said, “but won’t the board of trustees be upset if you appoint me, an outsider with such a... mixed track record?”

“They appointed Dr. Fie, didn’t they?” Raspberry Ripple said. “You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“Except that I don’t have much experience with less coercive forms of authority.”

“I guess we’re both growing past the roles ponies have defined for us,” Hope said. “I think this will be good for you, Starlight. So, what do you say?”

Starlight smiled. “I guess it would give me time to figure things out. Sure, why not. At least for a little while.”

“Great!” Hope said, full of light and life. “Then let’s start making arrangements!”

“Oh, there’s one more thing,” Raspberry said casually while looking through the file in her hoof. “There’s just been a massive snowstorm on the east side of Seaddle.”

“You’re just bringing this up now?” Hope asked. “It seems kinda important and.... Wait, only the east side?”

Raspberry nodded. “Yep. Word is that Princess Twilight finally sacked that hot-shot new weather controller she brought in at Cloudsdale and now she’s retaliating against the princess with one last blizzard.”

“But why not send it to, I don’t know, Canterlot or Ponyville?” Starlight asked. “Why Seaddle?”

“Honey, have you seen how that pegasus manages the weather?” Raspberry responded. “She hasn’t exactly earned a reputation for accuracy!”

Hope approached Raspberry and had a look at the file. “How bad is it?”

“Word is, they’re sending upwards of a hundred-fifty ponies our way, and that’s just to begin with,” Raspberry said. “Mostly frostbite, but it’s going to be a lot to handle. It also seems like a job for our head doctor. Oh, wait, do we even have a head doctor? I mean, outside of occasional jaunts to Zebraland, that is.”

Hope smiled. “Oh, I’m don’t abandon ponies who need me. I am your head doctor, after all. I’ll take on whatever comes my way. Besides, it’ll be good practice for when I get out there.”

Starlight laughed. “You don’t need practice. If there really is anything you were born to do, it has to be this.”

Radiant Hope beamed. Her whole being shined with light. “Let’s get started.”

Hope walked past Raspberry, out of the study, and back into the hospital proper. Raspberry and Starlight watched her as she set out to be a healer once again.

“You know, there’s something different about her,” Raspberry said.

“Tell me about it,” Starlight answered.

Raspberry looked to Starlight. “So I guess you’re someone else who’s jumped the employment line. So what, are you another one of her new flings or something?”

Starlight’s brows raised. “What? What would ever give you an idea like that?”

“Oh, nothing,” Raspberry chuckled. “It would just fit. Things tend to be weird around here.”

It was dark now. Radiant Hope had finally finished up with the last of the frostbite victims. There had been a 100% recovery rate. No pony in Seaddle would be losing a limb to the cold today. And, if Hope had anything to say about it, the other doctors would soon know enough to keep the 100% rate up in the days and months to come.

But, knowing her friend would be late, Starlight Glimmer had found a place for herself among the cots that were designed for quick naps during 24+ hour shifts, the type of place where Hope had until so recently spent most of her nights. Starlight was fast asleep by the time Hope was done and Hope did not have the heart to wake her.

So Radiant Hope had made her way up to the top of the hospital, to a little balcony that overlooked the city. She was glad for the chance to clear her mind. There, she leaned against the balustrade and began turning over the day’s events in her head. It was calm and peaceful, and there was nopony else around.

She was alone. If she was certain of one thing, it was that she was alone.

“Nice night tonight, isn’t it?”

Hope spun around. There, in the moonlight, she saw an old pony wearing horn-rimmed glasses. His plaid shirt was covered over by a dark windbreaker and he had donned an old baseball cap over his grey hair. He was smiling at her.

“It’s a little chilly, maybe,” he said. “But what can you do?”

“You,” Hope said.

“Me,” he responded.

“What are you doing here?”

The pony walked up to Hope. “Well, I couldn’t stay on as a janitor in Las Pegasus, now could I?”

“So you came to be a janitor in Seaddle?”

The pony offered her a wry smile. “That depends. Do you have an opening?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “You’d have to check with Raspberry Ripple down on floor three.”

He joined her at the balustrade. “Forget about it. I’ve been thinking I should get out of the business. Too much cleaning up of other people’s messes for my taste.”

Together, they gazed out at the city skyline, with all of its twinkling lights.

“You did good, kid,” the old pony said.

“Did I?” Hope asked.

“You’re now in charge of the world’s premier medical institution. I say that’s not bad for a Thursday.”

“It all still feels like a blur. When I walked into here today, I had no position. And now I have maybe the most prestigious medical position in the world. I don’t know if I’m okay with it, honestly. I don’t know if I’m ready for everything that comes with it.”

“Things like wealth, fame, influence, respect. What a burden. I feel for you.”

“It’s just, I don’t know if this is right for me,” Hope said. “I know I am a healer. But all the rest of it, I don’t know. I mean, is this really me? What am I?”

“Who do you think you are?”

“Every pony seems to have their own opinion. To half of Equestria, I’m a hero. To the other half, I’m a villain. And I don’t want to be either of those things.”

“People see what they want. It makes it easier to ignore everything they don’t like. Don’t worry about it. But who do you think you are?”

“I thought I finally knew. But then Dr. Fie dropped this thing on me. And now I don’t know. Am I the head doctor of Seaddle Specialist or am I somepony else?”

“You’re the same pony you always were,” the pony said, “and also whatever pony you want to be.”

“The pony I want to be doesn’t want to be surrounded by a big building with loyal staff, the adoration of the city, and respect around the world. If I wanted this, I could have still tried to be a princess.”

“Doctor. Princess. Titles. Titles were a mistake. They’re just there so you can get bossed around by somebody and then thank them for the trouble.”

Hope looked at the old pony. “But is this what I was supposed to do? Is this my destiny?”

The old pony was unmoved. “Why are you asking me?”

“You always seemed to have the answers. Did you know I would get this job? Could you have told me?”

“Sure, I could have, as soon as the news came. But then it just seemed silly.”

“No, I mean, before.”

“What? Could I see the future? Who do I look like, Starswirl the Bearded? Imagine me with a big, white beard!”

Hope shook her head. “I know, it’s silly. But, I just keep thinking, I saw my destiny in the Crystal Heart. I saw myself as a princess. And it kinda came true today.”

“Did it? This doesn’t seem like a palace to me. It‘s too big and expensive.”

“Well, no, not technically—”

“I thought you were more.”

Hope tilted her head. “More? What do you mean?”

The old pony raised his brows. “I think you’re still getting too wrapped up in the princess thing. It won’t last forever, you know. There was a time before the princesses, there will be a time after. Equestria will need a different kind of pony, then. Might as well get started now.”

Hope laid her head on the balustrade. “So, you don’t think I should keep the job?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Then you think I should leave it?”

“I didn’t say that, either.”

“What do you think I should do?”

“Not my place to say. The way I see it, there’s a danger in giving advice. Sooner or later, somepony actually goes and follows it.”

Hope let out a sigh. “I could use some advice right now. I wish Dr. Fie were still here. He knew how to make things clear for me. I mean, no offense, but you just muddy things up.”

The old pony shrugged. “What did I tell you? Janitor was a terrible career choice.”

Hope looked out at the skyline. In the darkness, city and sky seemed indivisible, all part of one vast cloak of night. But this cloak was studded with gems, the shimmering lights of the buildings below and the stars above.

“The thing about mud, though, is it get washed away eventually,” the old pony said. “You can blot out light with darkness, but sooner or later light breaks through. You can ignore your heart and do what your told, but sooner or later, your heart wins out. If only we had more people who knew how to listen to it. We'll need them soon enough.”

“But where do we find ponies like that?” Hope asked.

"I'm standing next to one of them."

Hope glanced at him, surprised. "Me? Do you really think so?"

The old pony offered a single nod. “I can’t give you any advice, Hope, because you don’t need it. You already know what to do. If you want to go to Zebraland, go to Zebraland. The position, the title, none of it matters. What matters is you. Keep listening to what your heart is saying, because there you’ll find the answers. Otherwise, you’ll spend all your life cleaning up other people’s messes.”

“But my heart feels like the problem,” Hope said as she raised her head. “It tells me such strange things. It told me to seek out Sombra for a thousand years, but then when I had him, it told me to let him go. It told me to honor Dr. Fie and help ponies, but now it’s telling me I don’t want to do it here. It took me into the darkness, only then to take me back into the light. It isn’t making things clear. It’s just making them....”

“Muddy?”

“Exactly.”

The old pony looked out at the slumbering city. “If something’s clean and tidy, it usually means somebody's been there already. The trailblazers are the ones who have to go through the mud.”

Hope’s eyes widened. “Are you saying I’m going to blaze some trails?”

The pony offered his wry smile. “To know that, I’d have to know the future, wouldn’t I?”

“I guess so.”

“But, like I said, trust your heart. It may take you to some interesting places, but they’ll all be places you need to be.”

Hope nodded. “Okay. Then I think I made my decision. I’ll go to Zebraland. The title will get me there, but once there, I have a feeling it won’t mean much. And that’s for the best. It doesn’t matter to me. I just know I need to go. Then we’ll see what happens afterward.”

“We’ll see,” the old pony repeated. “But if there’s one piece of advice I am happy to give you, it’s this; don’t be too hard on yourself. When there's too much light around you, you can't learn how to follow the light within you. You need to go through the darkness to do that. Most ponies don't ever get there. You did."

“It took me long enough.”

“Eh, there are worse things than taking your time. Have you seen what they’re doing the Crystal Empire these days? I remember when a flugelhorn was four, five bits, tops. Turns out a thousand years of inflation isn’t something you can just write off. They sure adapted quickly, though.”

“They sure did,” Hope said with a laugh. “I’m glad I don’t live there anymore.”

“At least you didn’t turn out to be another disappointment.”

Hope smiled. “Thank you.”

He reached out a hoof and patted Hope’s cheek. “Like I said, kid, you did good. Even if it is nothing compared to what you’re going to do.”

He then turned from the balustrade and began to walk into the night.

“Wait, what?” Hope asked as she spun around. “Can you please just explain something for once?”

“Life wouldn’t be any fun that way,” the pony answered without turning back.

“Can you at least tell me who you are? I don’t think you’ve ever said.”

The old pony came to a halt and turned to face Hope in the moonlight. He smiled.

“Me? I’m just a comedian performing for an audience who’s too afraid to laugh.”

The pony turned to leave once more. Soon, Hope could no longer see him in the darkness.

Hope turned back to the skyline beyond. She tried to piece things together in her mind.

She thought she heard the wind pick up. Its rustling sounded almost like a voice. A dry, raspy voice.

“Look it up!”

The wind was growing stronger, but Hope did not mind. She may have been by herself now, but she did not feel alone. After the Siege, she had felt constantly alone in the world. But somewhere along the way, it had disappeared somehow. She was not alone. Hope had a feeling that, wherever she found herself, she would never be alone again.

"Thank you, Sombra," she said in a voice like a whisper. "Thank you, Starlight. Thank you, Misericordia. Thank you, Dr. FIe. Thank you, everyone. You all helped me to find myself again."

For a little while longer, Hope looked out over the city skyline, with its singular mixture of light and darkness. She looked so long that the light and the darkness seemed to swirl together, slowly merging and becoming one in her sight. She held her hooves to her heart.

There was a light in all this darkness, Hope realized. It was her. She was shining again, a singular light among all the lights in the city below and in the sky above. Though she could not be sure, for obvious reasons, it almost seemed to Hope as though she was the brightest of them all.

Hope looked up at the light of the moon above. She thought over what awaited her in the coming days. She did not know where she would end up or what she would encounter. But she knew it would be what she needed. She felt her heart beating in her chest — her good, strong heart.

I trust you, Hope thought. Now take me where I need to go.

The wind kicked up again, wrapping itself around Hope. She felt as though it was surrounding her with warmth on all sides. The moon and the stars seemed to shine brighter than ever before. Except, neither of these things were true. The light and the warmth were coming from Hope herself.

Radiant Hope smiled. She recognized this emotion.

Hope.

Completum est.

Seaddle

“Ponies often ask me why bad things happen to good ponies. I have found, however, that a far more interesting question is ‘Can a good pony do bad things and still be a good pony?’”

The unicorn gave a pause to let the question sink in. Purely for his own amusement, of course. He once more took the opportunity to sum them up, this class of freshpony medical students out on a field trip from one of those prestigious institutions in either Canterlot or Manehatten. (Did it matter which? No.)

Of course, they were all officially on a “research expedition,” and were supposed to be getting their hooves dirty in a real hospital.

Metaphorically dirty, of course. Dr. Fiddly Fie would never permit a speck of dust to stain the halls of his immaculately polished establishment. Except perhaps for the janitors' closets, but those, like the janitors themselves, hardly mattered. No need to trouble the students with them. Their little brains already had so much to process as it was.

He looked at their faces. Some of them seemed to register the question. A hoof-ful, bless them, were even trying to puzzle out an answer, if the scrunched brows and anguished sighs were any indication. But the majority of this group of twenty or so were either looking out of the windows at the nice day beyond or looking at him without actually looking at him. Clearly, they had other places they wanted to be. There was no way this group was going to be doing any work in his hospital. Aside from the fact that most of them wouldn’t want to, Dr. Fie would never permit it.

So, basically, it was a glorified field trip.

The fifty-something doctor shook his head and gave an audible “tisk-tisk” which awoke some of the group from their daydreams.

A green earth pony spoke up, “Maybe?”

Dr. Fie shook his head again and gave her a look that highlighted the wrinkles on an otherwise still relatively youthful face. He wanted to ask her what she was even doing here. How did an earth pony expect to work in a hospital like his? Did she intend to use her mouth to bandage patients or handle equipment? How would she feed any that couldn’t feed themselves? And the thought of how she would clean patients was just too unbearable to contemplate.

But he kept his cool and said instead, in a distinctive sing-song baritone, “Maybe. Maybe? What is the younger generation coming to that they cannot even give a half-way competent answer to a simple question?”

Dr. Fie then nodded in approval at his own maturity and tact.

“I’m sorry,” said the earth pony, “but that sounded like a philosophy question. We’re all in medical school.”

“Oh, I suppose that disqualifies you from thinking, does it, dear girl? No, no, don’t answer that. I’m sure any answer you’d give would just waste my time. And my time, unlike yours, is very valuable.”

Now everypony was paying attention. They all looked somewhat frightened. Dr. Fie was even tempted to threaten them with failing whatever second-rate course they were here for. He did not actually have the power to carry out such a threat. But only he knew that. The students were ignorant of it. And ignorance, Dr. Fie reflected, is not always bliss.

But then, the group’s professor or chaperone or whatever she was came back from the cafeteria. No more fun to be had here, then.

“Well, dear children, shall we move on to the next part of this very important hospital?” His voice was quick and upbeat. There was no way the nanny over there would know what he had just been saying. And the students wouldn’t tell. It would just be their word against that of one of the premier – no, the premier – doctors in all Equestria.

The beige unicorn smiled. As he did so, his eyes narrowed and his eyebrows rose high on his head, making it look even larger than the receding maneline of wispy grey hair did. It would be hard for anypony to determine whether he was trying to be friendly or sinister.

His tone, however, remained chipper, “Come along, come along, we don’t have all day. We must hurry. Chop, chop!”

But as Dr. Fie had just begun to move, in that funny little bow-legged amble of his, an orderly galloped up beside him.

“Doctor,” the orderly said, “they’ve just flown in a pegasus from Cloudsdale. Terrible accident. He already had broken wings when he accidentally fell from one of the clouds and….”

“I can imagine the details, dear boy,” Dr. Fie said.

“They say that there’s not much hope, but you are known to work miracles….”

“Of course, of course.” Now Dr. Fie turned toward the young stallions and mares following behind him. What he was going to say was chiefly intended for their benefit. “Any small thing I can do to ease this poor soul’s sufferings and brighten his few remaining hours before he slips off this mortal coil and joins the choir celestial, I shall do, tirelessly and without fail. And if there is any chance, however small, of saving his life, I shall not cease to pursue it. No, not even should my own health be placed into jeopardy by the attempt. I would run the risk of a thousand deaths just to save a single soul.”

Another pause, for effect. They were eating it up!

“But, of course, it means that I cannot possibly continue supervising our little foray into the world of medicine.”

The chaperone nodded solemnly. “We understand, doctor. Go to your patient.”

“But I’m sure my friend here will be happy to conduct matters in my probably-long-absence.” Dr. Fie gestured to the hapless orderly.

From the sudden expression of terror which crossed the orderly's features, one would have thought Dr. Fie had just sentenced him to be shot at dawn.

Dr. Fie nodded, satisfied. “Rest assured, I am leaving you in good hooves. But as for my assistant and I, we really must be going. Time waits for no pony, and all that.”

Dr. Fie began to make a sweeping motion with his hoof but stopped when he realized nopony was watching him any longer. Rather, they were turning their heads this way and that, as though looking for someone. The blank looks on their faces when Dr. Fie had asked his little ‘philosophical’ question were nothing compared to how confused they looked now.

Dr. Fie cast his eyes around the general vicinity. Realization began to dawn on him. And it was decidedly unpleasant.

He sighed. “She’s gone, isn’t she?”

“Um… who, sir?” the earth pony student piped up again. Quite precocious, that one. For a generous definition of precocious, of course.

“A mare, about this high,” Dr. Fie said, raising his hoof to about two-thirds of his own height. “Her coat is a sort of light-to-medium purple. She has blue eyes and a mane of the same color, runs down to about here, give or take.”

Dr. Fie's hoof began playing with and twirling imaginary tresses and curls along the length of his shoulders. The whole group just stared at him, dumbfounded.

Dr. Fie sneered. He knew he must look like a fool. And if there was one thing Dr. Fie hated, it was looking like a fool.

“Nopony saw her? No? None of you? Nopony at all?” He did not try to disguise his disgust as he said these words. In fact, he delivered every syllable with a sharp tone, intending to convey the full depth of his displeasure.

Unobservant bumpkins, he thought. How anypony shall ever be find adequate treatment once their generation takes over, I shutter to think.

Slowly, the earth pony raised her hoof. “Um, sir….”

“Yes, what is it?”

“I think I did see the mare you’re talking about. She was kinda hanging in the back earlier. I think she disappeared around the time you started talking about good ponies and so on. I think she went down that corridor back there.”

The earth pony pointed directly behind the group. As his eyes scanned the area thus-indicated, Dr. Fie could feel his mouth beginning to form into an even larger scowl. He fought it back by puckering his lips a little. He raised one of his eyebrows.

“Yes, of course she did,” he said. “Of course, she did.”

Blast that girl! he thought. Where in Tartarus could she have gotten to?

But then Dr. Fie remembered his audience. He collected himself and said, “It is good to see somepony at least can exercise the use of their eyes, even if only at a rudimentary level. None of you will ever become a doctor of my high standing unless you become a master of the art of observation, just as I am. Now, if you will be so good as to excuse me—”

“But sir,” the earth pony said, “shouldn’t you have noticed she was missing? She’s your assistant, isn’t she?”

Dr. Fie’s reply was said in a voice at once low, harsh, and cold. “There’s an old saying, dear girl. Mind your manners or you’ll lose all your friends.”

He quickly turned his back on the group. With a extra-firm, “Good day,” he left them behind. Summoning all of his dignity, certain that their eyes were still upon them, he trotted proudly down to the nearest adjoining hallway. Just as he was about to enter said hallway, however, he remembered that the earth pony had pointed in the opposite direction.

With a huff, Dr. Fie turned himself around. He kept his head as high as he could, doing his best to avoid meeting the collective gaze of the students and their chaperone.

“I think the tour should really be getting along, don’t you?” he snapped at his hapless orderly as he passed the group by.

Dr. Fie heard the orderly stutter out a new destination and he heard the shuffling of hooves as they hesitantly began the next leg of their journey. He no longer cared.

He was not happy with how things were turning out. Where was his most important assistant? How could she just vanish on him like this? It was bad enough that a pony's life depended upon him finding her. But what was worse, what was so much worse, was that she had embarrassed him in front of all those students. That was what really cut to the quick.

Dr. Fie began to prod open door after door, sticking his head inside and coming up empty, unless one were to count the cobwebs which occasionally attached themselves to his horn from some of the “less-used” rooms.

As Dr. Fie desperately tried to wipe off a particularly dense web of dust, he let out a frustrated sigh. He had thought the girl would be the hospital's — and his — salvation, but there were moments when he doubted. This was one of the moments.

“Radiant Hope,” he muttered, “you’re going to be the death of me one of these days.”

Darkness. Faces in the darkness. Terrifying, twisted faces. All groaning. Groaning and reaching out from the darkness. Reaching for her. The groaning stopped, replaced by voices. Voices of sorrow. Then voices of anger.

“Help us, Hope!”

“Help us! You have to save us!”

“You did this to us!”

“Why did it have to be us, Hope? Why?”

Radiant Hope opened her eyes. She let out a deep breath. The first thing her blue crystalline eyes fell upon was an old mirror across from her. Probably taken out when they were remodeling the bathrooms and then just left here, in this closet.

Whatever condition Dr. Fie kept the public areas of his hospital in, he put no effort at all into the places that no pony other than the janitors should ever see.

Hope reflected for a moment that, had she really wanted to hide the Crystal Heart, she should have thrown it in one of Seaddle Specialist Hospital’s many janitorial closets. No pony could ever have found it in one of these.

It was a funny thought. Not funny enough to make Hope laugh. She didn't laugh much these days. But it was enough to make her smirk, just a little bit, and just for a moment. But if felt good.

Hope caught sight of herself in the mirror. At that very moment, she looked like her old self. Even with all the dust covering the mirror, she could see the crystal that made up her body light up. The lavender on her face and the sky-blue in her mane grew more vibrant. Her crystal-blue eyes began to sparkle.

And then, Hope remembered the faces. The smirk fell away from her lips. She shuttered. The luster she had seen in her reflection vanished. Had it she actually seen it at all, or was it merely a trick of her mind? It would not be the first time Hope's imagination had gotten the better of her.

Either way, it didn't matter. Whatever she had seen, it was gone now.

She took another deep breath. Hope didn't know what had gotten into her. She had thought she was used to the faces that appeared whenever she closed her eyes. Some days, she barely even noticed them. But today, they terrified her all over again. They reminded her of another day, not too long ago. The day she had lost Sombra. The day she had lost everything.

And yet, why did she lose him? Hadn’t she set up everything for him to do the right thing? She thought she had saved him. Why couldn’t he just return the Crystal Heart to its pedestal like she had expected he would? Like she had hoped he would? Had she been wrong about him, all this time?

Did I ever really know Sombra at all?

Hope shook her head. She could not let herself think that. Not today. She had often had that thought in the days and months since the end of the Siege, and she would probably have it many times over in the days and months to come. But not today. Today was trying enough.

But then, how could things not get to her today? She had a lot of stress to deal with. Dr. Fie had asked her to help conduct the tour of students from a far-away university. She had been so afraid that one or two of them would be a crystal pony. None of them were, but Hope had done her best to keep out of their direct line of sight anyway. Luckily, Dr. Fie had been in one his more theatrical moods (and that was saying something), so there was no room for a co-presenter. Hope could just stand at the back of the group and pretend to be invisible.

But then, after remarking on a particular case where a barn had collapsed on a charity hoe-down and sent several prominent philanthropists to him, Dr. Fie had posed the old question about why bad things happen to good ponies. It was a question Hope had pondered many times.

But it was what he said next that really unnerved her.

“Can a good pony do bad things and still be a good pony?”

Immediately upon hearing the question, she had begun to feel incredibly queasy. She bolted, running down the nearest corridor to the nearest unoccupied room.

Not to be sick, but just to be alone. Just to avoid being subjected to speculations from Dr. Fie or from the group. Just to avoid more pain.

Hope suddenly realized that her muzzle felt wet. Her tongue tasted little drops of salty water. She wiped her hoof against her eyes and saw that the fur had become moist. She had been crying without knowing it.

It was shaping up to be one Tartarus of a day….

And then the door flung open. Hope knew she should jump to her hooves, that she should avoid letting any of her co-workers see her like this. They said more than enough behind her back as it was.

But she didn’t move. She didn’t have the strength. Besides, it would only be one of the janitors, and they wouldn’t tell anypony. They never fraternized with the orderlies here.

But it wasn’t the janitor. Hope looked up through tear-filled eyes to see the good doctor himself standing there. There was his clean-shaven, somewhat wrinkled face, with grey-blue eyes narrowed and brows high on the head, and a disapproving little frown. He was immaculately dressed as usual, with a white dress-shirt and a sweater of deepest burgundy beneath a large grey tweed suit jacket that terminated just ahead of his cutie mark – a hammer striking an anvil. He was standing in that bow-legged fashion with his head drooping down and one hoof held against his chest as though he were a high-society mare who had just witnessed something that challenged her delicate sensibilities.

He never did look very much like how a doctor should, Hope thought. Maybe a lab-coat would help. But he always refused to wear one of those, even in areas where it was mandatory.

“Hope, dear girl, what are you doing in here?” he said, his rather deep voice dripping with disapproval. “I don’t employ you to lounge around in–”

Dr. Fie shivered a little as he looked at some of the cobwebs in the corners of the room.

“–such dubious surroundings.”

Hope rose to her hooves. “Yes, doctor,” she said mechanically.

“Have you been crying?” he asked, not without concern.

“It’s nothing,” Hope said. “I’ll be fine.”

“What caused you to dash off like that? I was in the middle of a very serious lecture and your disappearance caused no end of embarrassment for me.”

Hope stepped out of the closet and soon the two were walking side-by-side, though she had no idea where their destination was.

“I’m so sorry, doctor.”

“As well you should be.” Back to disapproval. “I take you in when you appear on my doorstep from who-knows-where, let you take a job here, no questions asked, and put incredible faith and trust in you to handle this hospital’s most important duties. This is no way to repay such kindness.”

“No, doctor, it’s not. It won’t happen again.”

“See that it doesn’t.”

Hope had hung her head while the doctor administered his tongue-lashing. Probably more out of habit than anything; she hung her head quite a bit these days. She was, after all, too used to his tongue-lashings to feel any genuine shame at them anymore. And they were always less-severe than those he gave to the other orderlies.

When he paused, Hope raised her head and looked at him from the corner of her eyes. She found his expression changed. Now it was kind, almost fatherly. A smile had soothed out many of the wrinkles and the doctor’s eyes had grown a bit wider. Even his brows had lowered considerable, bending downward somewhat as to suggest pity.

“But it’s not like you, dear girl,” he said, his tone now soft and gentle. “Something must have set you off. Something I said, perhaps?”

A little smile appeared on Hope’s face. “Well, you were the only one talking.”

Pride filled the doctor’s features. “Ah, yes, well, when you have my gift for perfect speech and unmatched eloquence, it really would be a crime not to use it at every opportunity. I only speak so much as a public service. I open my mouth, and the world is benefitted in untold ways. I say words, and ponies feel better. Their days are brighter for knowing that there exists a pony of such verbal acuity and power.”

There were times when Hope couldn’t be sure whether Dr. Fie actually believed the things he said or not.

But turning the conversation back to him was always a sure-fire way of keeping the doctor from inquiring too much about her. And that was how Hope wanted things.

But as much as Hope expected Dr. Fie to go on extolling his own virtues, he did not. Rather, he paused for a brief moment, looking as though he had just remembered something.

“Ah, but we don’t have time to socialize,” Dr. Fie announced. “There is a new arrival who is in mortal jeopardy, his very life hanging by a thread. It’s up to me, with some small assistance on your part, to save the life of a beleaguered pegasus. I have not been able to think of anything else but his tragic story since I was informed of it not too long ago.”

“Oh, dear,” Hope said. “This is the third one this week. Where’d he come from? What happened?”

They reached the elevators and Dr. Fie’s horn lit up purple as the buttons pressed themselves. “He’s from Ponyville or Cloudsdale or thereabouts. Hit his head or something.”

Catching Hope’s knowing look as they stepped into the elevator, the good doctor said, “The minor details don’t matter. What matters is that there is a life in the balance and only we two can save it.”

It was solemn inside the examination room. Though none of the pegasus paramedics knew the blue and purple pegasus laying in the bed — Cloudsdale was a big city, after all — they all could not help but feel a certain kinship to him. Everypony had had a broken wing at some time or another; it was just part of pegasus life. And it was an open secret that safety regulations in some areas of Cloudsdale were not what they should be. In short, every one of the paramedics could see herself in the patient. And, as he slipped deeper into unconsciousness, none of them could bear to leave.

And then the door flung open. The doctor came trotting in, a clipboard and a number of concoctions in small bottles floating behind him. Radiant Hope followed.

“You’ll forgive us for being late. My assistant here forgot to ask the room number when they brought you in. She’s a little dense, you see. But I believe it takes all types to make a hospital run ship-shape.”

Hope turned her head away so that nopony would see her rolling her eyes.

“So, what seems to be the trouble?” the doctor said cheerfully as he scanned his clipboard.

The assembled pegasi just looked at him in shock.

“Tisk-tisk. There’s one fatal accident and suddenly humor is to be banished from Equestria. Well, if you’re going to be that unfriendly, I might as well get down to the examination.”

“Please do,” one of the pegasi said. “I don’t think he has very long left.”

The doctor put down his clipboard and the various bottles and lifted up a small flashlight. “I’ll be the judge of that,” he said as he opened the patient's eyes one after the other. “After all, I’m a doctor so I know about these things.”

Dr. Fie returned the light and took up a small stick. After positioning himself a little farther away, he proceeded to prod the stick into the pegasus’ wings and skull. He then put the stick down and picked up a magnifying glass. Dr. Fie paced around the patient, occasionally leaning in and giving his head or wings a look-at through his glass.

Hope began to move toward the far corner of the room. She grimaced slightly. The pegasus’ condition did look bad, and Hope couldn’t help thinking that the paramedics were right to suggest he did not have long left.

“Come on, doctor, hurry,” Hope said under her breath. “Please don’t be too late….”

Finally, Dr. Fie set down his glass. “It is just as I feared,” he said. “Oh, this poor child clearly has suffered a terrible fall. I dare say he’s on death’s doorstep as we speak. He can probably already hear the trumpets sounding.”

“So… there’s nothing you can do?” one of the paramedics asked, caught between confusion and gloom.

“Ha, tut!” said the doctor with a magnificently theatrical wave of his hoof. “There is always something I can do. I just cannot promise that it will make any difference.”

“But if you can do it, doctor, then do it!” said another paramedic.

“Quite.” Dr. Fie turned once more to the bottles. They floated up into the air as their caps unscrewed themselves. A plastic cup floated up to meet them. Soon, the various strange-colored liquids were pouring into the cup at seemingly random intervals.

“This is an experimental treatment I’ve been developing,” said the doctor. “A new kind of medicine, if you will. It should heal broken bones if all goes well.”

“So, it’s a new type of potion!” said the confused paramedic, proud to have finally picked up on something.

“Please, dear girl, do not call it a ‘potion,’” said the doctor. “We are a highly scientific establishment. We do not use such outdated terminology here. Did we not leave all such superstition behind us after Princess Luna returned, when we brought to a happy conclusion that long twilight struggle with magic and found ourselves at long last in a universe of rational ponies and rational laws?”

Hope could tell by the looks on the paramedics’ faces that they had no idea what the doctor was talking about. Neither did she, truth be told.

Then, without glancing away from his potions, Dr. Fie said, “Hope, dear girl, can you get me my stirring stick?”

Hope nodded and turned toward the pile of instruments on the counter at her end of the room. She spotted a forceps already balanced precariously on the edge. She put her hoof on the counter and pushed it off.

It made an audible clang.

“Hope, what are you doing?” Dr. Fie said. “Don’t you know that a patient’s very life depends on not only the swiftness, but the carefulness, of our actions?”

“Sorry, doctor.”

Hope bent her head down as though to retrieve the forceps. But she didn’t.

“My apologies,” Dr. Fie said to the paramedics. “She is incredibly thick sometimes. I swear, if not for the goodness of my own heart, she wouldn’t keep a job here.”

Hope knew it was wrong, but she couldn’t keep herself from rolling her eyes again. Then, swiftly, as the doctor finished pouring Celestia-knows-what into that plastic cup, Hope turned her head stealthily toward the wounded pegasus. Her horn began to glow blue.

It proved not to be as difficult as she thought. Despite the pegasus’ highly injured condition, Hope felt barely any energy draining from her crystalline body. It was a surprisingly easy fix.

“The stirring stick, child, the stirring stick!” Dr. Fie snapped. “Don’t you realize the seriousness of the situation?”

Hope jerked her head up and levitated the stirring stick from the counter. With a meek little “Yes, doctor,” she rushed it over to Dr. Fie.

“Insufferable girl,” Fie said as he took the stick. He began stirring, whirling the stick in the bowl so rapidly that at least a quarter of the “medicine” went splashing out and splattered all over the ground.

Meanwhile, the pegasus on the bed began to stir. Dr. Fie quickly put himself in between the patient and the nearest paramedic.

“I’ll just slide this down his throat,” he announced to the paramedics. To the pegasus himself, he whispered. “Here, drink this. You’ve been in an accident and I’m a doctor. This will take care of it.”

The pegasus, still too groggy to protest, did as he was told. Dr. Fie tossed the cup into the trash and backed away from him. He blinked a little and then opened his eyes more fully.

“What… what happened?” he said. “I was trying to cross a street, but there was a pothole… or was it a cloud-hole? Then I was falling….”

“You’ve had an accident. We brought you to the hospital,” one of the paramedics said.

“I would thank you to remember that you are not the presiding physician here,” Dr. Fie said to him. Then to the newly-recovered pony, he said. “There was an accident, dear boy. You were badly injured. But, due chiefly to my heroic perseverance and quick command of the situation, you’ll leave here without so much as a scratch.”

The pegasus quickly found the words to thank his savior. “Why are you calling me ‘dear boy’? I’m thirty-seven.”

Dr. Fie let out a squeak of indignation. Hope could see that some wicked retort was already forming itself in his mind.

She rushed forward just as he opened his mouth. “Please, don’t strain yourself too much,” she said to the patient, “You may be healed, but you still need to rest.”

“Hey, who made you the expert?” snapped one of the paramedics, the continually-flustered one. “The way you acted, he could have been dead by now. And he would’ve been, if not for the doc here.”

Hope bit her lip. These sorts of reactions were the price she had to pay. She was almost starting to grow accustomed to them. And besides, Hope suspected that, her work today aside, she more than deserved them.

“Doc? Hmph!” said Dr. Fie. “I would kindly request you, dear girl, to refrain from speaking to my assistant in such a disrespectful tone.”

Hope reflected that the doctor’s response was neither a request nor particularly kind.

“Well, I think our work here is done,” said Dr. Fie, in the same tone. “I’ll have one of the nurses by later to look after him and continue with the treatment. You may all return to the regular duties you should have been performing this whole time. Good day, one and all. Come along, Hope.”

Hope quickly made for the door. But before the doctor himself could take more than a step, one of the pegasi offered him a hoof.

“Thank you, doctor, thank you,” she said. “It’s true what they say about you. You are a miracle worker.”

Dr. Fie smiled. “Well, one does what one can.”

Hope and Dr. Fie walked in silence down the hallway. That is, until Hope spoke.

“Incredibly thick?”

“Oh, you’re not upset about that now, are you?” said the doctor. “It’s just part of the act, you know.”

“I could take it when I was a bit dense,” said Hope. “But incredibly thick is too much.”

“Oh, don’t be that way, dear child. You’re a crystal pony. You have thicker skin than that.”

“Incredibly thick skin, apparently.”

“I have to say things like that so that nopony suspects anything. Since you’ve arrived, I’ve become the only doctor in Equestria with a near-100% recovery rate. Ponies are starting to talk.”

Hope nodded. “I know, doctor.”

“Our agreement has always been that I let you stay here and in return you use that magic of yours to heal my patients.”

“And you in turn get the credit for it. I know.”

“Oh, Hope, don’t make it sound so mercenary! I do my part, too. Those drinks I always give them are high in many essential vitamins and nutrients. Do you know how much suffering is caused in this country by a deficiency in vitamins C through E?”

“No.”

“Neither do I, but it must be astronomical, what with the sorts of things ponies stuff into their mouths and call ‘food’ these days.”

Hope smiled a little, though she was partially forcing it. “Okay, doctor.”

“By the way, about that near-100% recovery rate. Do you think that maybe we could get it up to 100%? If they call me a miracle doctor now, just imagine what they say if we can start saving the DOAs.”

Hope shook her head slightly. “Nope. Can’t raise the dead.”

“But, Hope–”

“Can’t raise the dead.”

Dr. Fie stiffened up, his lips curling into a pouty frown, like they always did when he was disappointed. “Oh, well, can you at least try to work on that? For me? There’s a good girl.”

“I’m not a piece of equipment that can be programmed to do whatever you need, doctor.”

“No, Hope, you are my friend. And never let it be said that Fiddly Fie does not come through for his friends. That is why, even if my words seem a little more cutting than usual, I can assure you that it is entirely with your best interests in heart. I will not spare anything to help you, Hope. You should not be afraid on that account.”

Hope sighed. This was one battle she was not going to win. Then again, you did not win wars of words against Dr. Fie. Everypony gave up from attrition eventually.

Dr. Fie used the moment of silence to stretch himself and look at the clock. “Oh, dear me, how being a miracle-worker does take it out of one. And this bad back of mine is acting up again. To think, I still have the new arrival in the incurables' ward to finish processing. Oh, how these perpetual labors would destroy a pony that lacked my Herculean resolve and determination.”

There was probably more, but Hope tuned him out at this point. That is, until he looked at her and said, “Oh, dear girl, would you be so kind as to do the processing for me?”

“Doctor, you know I’m not really comfortable down there–”

“Nonsense! I’ve already done most of the preliminary work. You just have to ask a few questions of her and record them. You’ll be out of there before you even know you’ve gone in.”

Hope let out another sigh. It had turned out to be one Tartarus of a day.

Dr. Fie took her non-responsiveness for acquiescence and passed over his clipboard to her. The purple glow around it turned to blue as it came to hover over Hope’s shoulder.

“Oh, thank you, dear girl!” Dr. Fie said. “You’ll find all you need to know on those pages there. The new patient’s name is Aurora Gleam and she just checked herself into the ward not too long ago.”

“She checked herself in?” Hope asked. That was unusual. The psychiatric ward was known to all the staff and doctors as the “incurables’ ward” for a reason.

“Yes, yes,” Dr. Fie said. “It does one’s heart good, doesn’t it, to see a mare left with enough sense in her addled little brain to seek help. Now, just fill out what’s left and come drop it off by my study when you’re done. Now, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll go off and get a head-start on some paperwork. A doctor’s work truly is never done.”

He ambled off without waiting for Hope to answer. Hope watched him go and, when she was sure he was too far to catch her, she let out a little blue flare from her horn, straight toward his back.

Nothing. Hope got absolutely no feeling at all. No matter how many times she tried it, it was always the same. The good doctor did not have a bad back, and apparently never had.

Hope shook her head. “You’re wrong, doctor,” she said. “I don’t have any friends. Not anymore.”

Who was Aurora Gleam? And what would her arrival mean for Radiant Hope?

Read on.

Radiant Starlight

“Hope!”

She shivered in the darkness.

“Hope!”

She bit down on her lower lip.

“Hope!”

She fell to the floor, with a crash. It hurt. But not as much as her lower lip did. Hope put her hoof to it and drawing it back, found crystalline blood. She levitated the covers off from around her body and back onto the makeshift bed before going over to the sink.

Most doctors and orderlies at Seaddle Specialist had someplace to go when their shifts were over. Homes, families, lives outside of their work. But since Radiant Hope had none of these things, she almost never left Seaddle Specialist. That meant that she slept in Seaddle Specialist. Her room was a tiny thing, one of those places where doctors or nurses working 24+ hour shifts could catch a little sleep on rare moments of downtime. But ever since her arrival and the sudden spike in miraculous recoveries, such shifts were a rarity. The patients all stayed a few days for observation, but that was the most serious thing the night nurses had to deal with. It had been Dr. Fie’s idea that Hope take up residence in one of these rooms. She wouldn’t be bothered most of the time, but in the rare incident of a patient being rushed in in the middle of the night, she could be found easily.

At least the night nurses knew where she spent her nights. Hope did not enjoy listening to the day nurses’ speculations on the matter.

But tonight, there were no emergencies. The corridor outside was dark, as was the little room inside. It was really just a cot for sleeping, and a sink and mirror for doing a little freshening up, and there was a little light.

Hope turned the light on and stared at herself in the mirror. Something definitely seemed to be happening to her coat. It looked less crystalline than she had ever seen it. Maybe it was just the poor lighting, but Hope could have sworn that she looked almost like a non-crystal pony tonight.

“Hope!”

The voice was in her own head. Hope knew it. No doubt, it had been triggered by her earlier encounters with Starlight Glimmer and Dr. Fie. All the guilt welling up in her again. It was Sombra’s voice.

Hope could not exactly place where in her memories it was coming from. Was it that cry of pain he uttered every year on the day of the Crystal Fair, begging her to save him from his intolerable pain? Was it one of those words of temptation he had used, immediately after his fall, to try and sway her to rule the Crystal Empire with him? Was it part of an accusation he lobbed against her during the Siege, when she could never seem to fully convince him that she was trying to make things right? Or was it when, at the Siege’s end, he had looked her in the eye, and told her he was the monster everypony thought he was all along?

Of all of them, that was the memory that hurt the most.

She had just got done telling Sombra that she had “never believed in destiny,” and had encouraged him to make his own. She thought he had heard her. She thought he had grasped what she was telling him. And then, as Sombra looked into the Crystal Heart, even as Rabia screeched at him to destroy ‘the weapon,’ Hope was certain that he understood, that he would do the right thing.

“Hope,” Sombra said.

“Yes,” Hope had responded. She had sounded expectant. She had not even been able to avoid a smile.

“I’m sorry.”

Just like that, the smile fell from Hope’s lips. She watched in stunned horror as Sombra lifted the Crystal Heart above his head, ready to break it. “I’m sorry,” he said again, “but what I am, I am.”

Hope screamed, “No!” at the top of her lungs. But it didn’t matter. Because it was over before Hope knew it. There came a burst of light that engulfed the whole of the dais. Hope had tried to shield her eyes, but even so, the light blinded her; it was several moments before she could see again. And what she saw made her wish she was still blind.

There was Princess Twilight. Somehow, she had gotten free in the confusion, and had freed her horn of Sombra’s dark magic. Her friends were beside her. Hope did not need help figuring out what had happened. Twilight and her friends were standing there, proud and tall while Sombra was nowhere to be seen.

That’s when Hope looked down. Once more, she screamed.

There was Sombra’s horn. Just like the last time, it was all that remained of her best friend. But unlike last time, it was no longer was large, fearsome, and red. Instead, it was grey and withered, almost like an old bone. It looked dead.

Hope could not remember much after that. She had fallen to the floor and grabbed the horn in her hooves. She remembered screaming something rude and unpleasant at Twilight. The Crystal Heart returned itself to its pedestal and all the Umbrum were banished back to their Prison. Everything Sombra had done was undone. Everything she had done was undone.

Eventually, and Hope could not say how long, she had gotten to her hooves. She had looked around, almost in a daze. She had seen the princesses and Twilight’s friends, all eyeing her with concern. Eventually, Princess Cadance approached her and said something, and by the tone of her voice it had been something kind.

But Hope never registered the words. She had turned her attention and her gaze to the outskirts of the dais. There had gathered all the crystal ponies. Her fellow citizens of the Crystal Empire. Her people. And from the looks in their eyes, they hated her.

From somewhere among them came a shout of “Traitor!” And then a shout of “Murderer!” And then more shouts, of much worse things.

Hope felt her blood run cold, spreading bitter frost to all her extremities. And then she felt numb.

In the crowd, she saw her old teacher and guardian, Miss Chestnut. She had not seen her in a thousand years but recognized her immediately. And clearly, Chestnut Falls recognized her, by the way she hid her face in shame.

The shouts were becoming deafening now. They hurt Hope’s ears as much as they hurt her heart. The Princesses tried to call for calm, but it was of no use. The collective rage of the crystal ponies was reaching a boiling point.

Hope could not take it anymore. Anywhere she looked, she could see her own people and the fury they directed toward her. So she looked down at her hooves. That’s when she saw Sombra’s horn again.

It was all too much. She had lost him. Again. She had lost everything. The pain, the sharpest pain she had ever known, welled up inside her and demanded immediate expression. It came in a horrible, anguished scream. And a beam of blue light accompanied the scream, shooting forth from Hope’s horn to the vault of the Crystal Palace above. Shards of crystal fell everywhere, causing ponies to dodge and run out of the way.

There were more screams now. Many more. Somewhere, one of the princesses was yelling for Hope to stop. She could not tell who it was. She did not care. She was not even fully aware of what she was doing.

And then she stopped. The beam of light disappeared. Radiant Hope picked up Sombra’s horn and clutched it to her chest. She wanted to hold it there, to hold her last piece of her friend against her chest forever. But then she heard the shouting.

The crystal ponies had had enough. They were yelling again. The shouts and shrieks were getting louder. Or actually, they were getting closer. Hope looked around to see crystal ponies charging toward her from every direction. Their intentions were clear. The Princesses, try as they might, could not hold them back.

And with how Hope felt, she was ready to greet them. She was ready for whatever they would do to her. It would hurt, but then at least it would be over. Everything would be over.

But the noise was causing a great vibration through the broken walls of the Crystal Palace. The whole structure was beginning to shake. And from directly above Hope, a large block of crystal broke loose. She looked up just as it was about to make contact.

She would have welcomed it, but instinct kicked in. At the last possible moment, Radiant Hope activated her teleportation spell. When the block crashed into the floor of the dais, bringing all the charging crystal ponies to a halt, Radiant Hope was already gone.

She reappeared on the outskirts of the Empire, Sombra’s horn still clutched tightly to her chest. It was from here that Radiant Hope could see, for the first time, the full extent of the devastation she had wrought. Smoke filled the air, rising from all directions. A good third of all buildings in the Crystal Empire seemed like they had been burned out or toppled. The once-proud streets and avenues had been chopped up and broken. Far away, even the gates to the Empire stood in ruin. This was not the Crystal Empire Hope knew. This was not her home.

Hope felt her legs go weak under her. Her whole body was becoming numb again. She wanted to look away but couldn’t. It was as though some force would not allow her to turn away. It was as though this was something she had to see.

A tear rolled down her cheek. She did not have the strength to speak nor the words, but she still managed to say something. Something small and weak and hopeless.

“Wh-what have I done?”

“Hope,” the voice came again, breaking her out of her reverie. Her own reflection in the mirror seemed to disappear, and Sombra stood in its place. He seemed to be calling to her.

Then he was gone, but Hope reached out her hoof and gently caressed the portion of the mirror where she had seen his cheek.

“I couldn’t save you,” she said. “I thought I could. But then I failed you again. I always fail.”

And then she saw a trail of blood on the mirror, following in the path of her hoof. Hope realized she had never washed it off. She quickly rinsed her hoof in the water.

She wondered whether she should perform a small healing spell to fix her lip. It seemed awfully self-indulgent. But she did not want anypony asking questions about how her lip got cut. So she did it.

Afterward, she used the cheap paper-towels Dr. Fie had so kindly provided her to wipe the blood from the mirror. The paper tore quite easily from even the gentlest use. Hope had to use three pieces before the blood came off completely.

When that was done, she laid back down on her cot. Hope knew she needed sleep, but wondered if she’d ever find any. She hadn’t even been asleep when she heard the voice. It hadn’t been a dream. It had come up suddenly within her. But that was hardly surprising, given everything that had just occurred.

Oh, it has been one Tartarus of a day.

Hope reached underneath her pillow. She pulled out a horn, grey and withered. With a sigh, she pulled it to her chest and then turned over to rest her head on the pillow. With the horn tightly in her grasp, Radiant Hope looked out at the moon through a very small window beside the bed and wondered whether Princess Luna had ever gone through these sorts of things on her return from her own personal Tartarus.

But a hustling, bustling city like Seaddle does not consist entirely of one hospital, even if it is as distinguished a hospital as Seaddle Specialist. No, there are streets and homes and restaurants and offices, all filled with ponies going about their daily lives. In one such office, some days later, a rather non-descript looking stallion, his coat, mane and tail all brown and neatly-trimmed and his cutie mark a quill and some sheets of paper, was sitting at a desk, typing.

Quills often worked better for unicorns, but for an earth pony, a typewriter made more sense. No need to try and twist your legs around the quill or awkwardly use your mouth to write, all you had to do was pound your hooves. As long as you made sure to be careful and not pound a dozen or so letters at the same time, you’d be fine.

Stirring Words was busy typing away when a rather overweight grey Pegasus, with balding hair and wearing an old-fashioned sort of vest, came up to his desk.

“How’s that story coming along?” the pony asked. “You’re doing the one about that boat, right? The one they’re turning into a hotel down in Las Pegasus.”

“Actually, it’s a ship, Joe,” said Stirring Words. “The RMS Empress of Equestria."

Stirring looked up at Joe. "You see, the difference is—"

“I don't have a head for that sort of stuff," Joe responded. "Just get it done quick, okay? You know how the boss gets when anypony takes too long to get a story in.”

“You don’t have to remind me,” Stirring said, “not after the boss hollered at me over the tardiness of that story about the gold dispute down in San Franciscolt.”

“Nice work on that one, by the way. I’ve even heard it’s got you noticed. The Daily North Equestria is looking for a new staff writer and I’ve been told that they’re putting out some feelers up here. They said you covered that story in Seaddle even better than they did when it was in their own backyard. Play your cards right, and you could be moving to San Franciscolt any day now.”

Without looking up from his typewriter, Stirring shook his head. “I can’t leave Seaddle. I’ve got family. A sister.”

“Yeah, but she can’t get in the way of your career. I’m sure she’ll understand.”

“She’s in the hospital.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Which one?”

“Seaddle Specialist.”

Joe seemed confused. “But, isn’t that the one that has the 100% recovery rate or something? I heard the boss talking about it. He thinks there’s something up and wants to send a reporter in undercover. But if there’s 100% recovery, shouldn’t she be… unless….”

Stirring sent a sad glance Joe’s way.

“Oh, I’m sorry, kid. Having a sister messed up in the head can’t be easy.”

“I manage. I write letters to her every week, and she writes back, but I don’t know how much good it does. She doesn’t make sense most of the time and the doctors think I should stop, but I insist on keeping it up.”

“Good for you! I’m sure whatever mental state she’s in, she must appreciate hearing from you if she writes back. But that’s why you keep getting all these letters, isn’t it? You got another in today. They asked me to drop it off.”

The grey pony put his mouth into one of the pockets on his vest and pulled out a letter. He placed it on the desk before continuing with the conversation. It took much more small talk before he finally left Stirring in peace.

As soon as he was alone, Stirring left off his work and opened the letter, scanning it intently.

“Okay, let’s see,” he muttered to himself. “‘Dearest brother’… hmm-hmm… ‘Your letter has not…’ Your? Oh, it’s actually you’re. Hmm-hmm. Why is that a ‘too’ there instead of ‘to’?”

But after he had read it through a few times, Stirring dropped his mouth down to a cabinet just under the bridge of his desk. It was so small and difficult to see that, of all the reporters who had used this particular desk, Stirring suspected that he was the only one to have ever found the cabinet. He brought out a pencil and a small notebook.

With the pencil in his mouth, Stirring began writing.

“You’re not going to believe who I’ve met; the crystal pony, Radiant Hope. Not my most successful convert so far, but I think I’ve got an opening. I have a feeling she’s going to be very useful to us. Nothing for you to do yet, but be ready to get to work. The plan is falling into place.”

“Stirring Words!” A large, rotund, gruff-looking, pale green pegasus, with wings far too small for his frame, stomped out of an office in the corner and toward the desk, shouting loud enough for the entire floor to hear. “You call yourself a reporter? Where’s that story? The deadline's tomorrow — that means I want it yesterday! Oh, and don’t believe those rumors about San Franciscolt! I ain’t recommending a namby-pamby like you if you don’t start getting your stories in on time!”

Stirring quickly threw the pencil and notebook into the cabinet and slammed it just as his boss came over.

“So, boy, where’s the story?”

“Just putting the finishing touches on it now, sir!” Stirring said with his best attempt at a fake smile.

It had been five days. Nearly a week. Things had been pretty routine. Hope got out of her cot early, worked, and got to bed late. Pretty normal.

So why don’t I feel any better? Hope thought as she carried some paperwork on the newest recipient of her healing magic to the third floor main desk.

The nurse on duty, a slender vermillion pegasus with violet hair and an ice-cream scoop for a cutie mark — Raspberry Ripple by name — did not file the folder when Hope dropped it off. Instead, she looked up knowingly at the crystal pony. A small, sly smile spread across her muzzle.

“Haven’t seen you hanging around our beloved leader that much anymore. You two have a fight or something?” she said. For all the conviviality Raspberry was trying to project, Hope could detect a notable hint of schadenfreude in her voice.

Hope didn’t answer. She was used to these sorts of barbs from the day nurses by now.

“It was bound to happen sometime, honey,” Raspberry continued. “You can only get ahead for so long by, er, ‘playing the field.’ Because you’re the one who’s getting played. You’re just a plaything to him. When he gets tired of you, he’ll throw you away. I’ve seen it time and again. Ponies like you, you never last. It’s the hard workers like me that survive.”

Hope began to walk away.

“Funny thing is,” Raspberry called after her, “with the way he is, we never thought a pretty mare could turn his head. Until you came along. Maybe it’s just that you don’t look all that feminine, if you know what I mean.”

Hope continued to walk away. She did not respond in any fashion. She was used to the insinuations by now. When she first came to the hospital, she had tried to be friendly with the nurses and the other orderlies. But, the fact that she had been given a job with no known credentials or experience made them all immediately suspicious. And then when Dr. Fie kept having her accompany him to work with the patients, the others’ tongues really started to wag. Nopony but her and Dr. Fie knew about her special talent, so they all latched on to other ideas.

Hope avoided socializing with the other orderlies as much as possible.

But then she heard a familiar voice. “Hope, dear girl, wait up!”

Hope wanted to keep walking, but knew that she couldn’t. Another emergency patient might have been brought in, and Hope still had to work with Dr. Fie to get them healed, no matter what.

He came up beside her. “There you are! ‘Radiant with ardor divine! Visions of hope, ye appear!’ I’ve always wondered, do you think your parents named you after that old poem?”

Hope felt uneasy. She did not need another reason to regret her parents’ choice of name.

“I never had the chance to ask them,” Hope said. “And that was probably long before that poem was written.”

Dr. Fie smiled. Hope did not. “What is it, doctor?” she asked in a cold monotone. “Is another patient in need of healing?”

“Oh, no, not at all!” said the doctor as two coffee cups suspended in purple floated between them. “I just thought you might like some coffee. You’ve been working so hard what with that taxi pile-up today.”

Hope grimaced. She could feel Raspberry’s eyes on them. Besides, she had never much liked coffee. She could not figure out, for the life of her, why ponies were so addicted to the stuff. It had not even existed when she was growing up, and she had never felt much of a loss on that account.

She felt a loss on many other accounts, yes, but not that one.

“Doctor, if I wanted a cup of that muddy water, I would have gotten it from the machine like every other pony.”

Dr. Fie lowered the two cups of coffee onto a nearby ledge and said, “Hope, what’s gotten into you? I’ve barely seen you these past few days.”

“You’ve seen me when you’ve needed me to help with the patients. That is what I’m supposed to do, isn’t it?”

“Of course, dear girl, but—”

“Why do you always call me that? You know I’m 1,016 years old. So why do you keep calling me ‘dear girl’?”

Dr. Fie quickly shushed Hope and then looked around to see if any of the other ponies had heard. They all did, of course, but none made a big deal about it. After all, the crystal ponies’ thousand year disappearance was common knowledge by now. As far as they knew, she was just another typical member of the species.

She wasn’t, but nopony here but her and Dr. Fie knew that.

“Please, speak a little quietly, dear child,” Dr. Fie said nervously.

“There you go again.”

“Yes, yes, I do that a bit, don’t I? But you see, Hope, it’s only because my incredible intellect and worldliness have given me so much maturity and wisdom that it is as though I have lived for countless millennia. To one of my superior mental faculties, the fall of Trot was but yesterday and the span of Luna’s exile but the blink of an eye.”

This last sentence was, of course, accompanied by a theatric flourish of the hoof.

Hope shook her head and began to walk away. Dr. Fie levitated the coffees and ambled after her.

“You’re not still upset about that night, are you?” he said.

Hope just kept walking, not even turning to look at him.

“Hope, please!” he said, almost pleading. “Please talk to me, dear girl! You’ve been so distant.”

“I’ve done everything you’ve needed me to do.”

“I know, but there’s something missing. You’re treating me just like the other employees do. Of course, they do what I tell them, but we both know what they think of me. Now I have nopony to talk to! Nopony to talk to me!”

Hope stopped in front of an elevator. She turned to Dr. Fie, looking so forlorn, and could not help but feel pity. Without meaning to, she smiled.

Dr. Fie grinned and nodded. “Glad we’re over that. Can’t have you getting like the other orderlies or, Celestia forbid, the other doctors. We both know that they’re just jealous. All those years of training and study, and degrees from the finest colleges, and they still will never reach my level of brilliance. It is only my infinite kindness that keeps me from throwing them all out on their flanks.”

Hope remembered herself. Her smile faded, replaced with a frown. She hit the elevator button with her hoof — instead of just using magic as she normally would — and stepped into the elevator.

Dr. Fie was alarmed. “Wait, Hope! Was it something I said? No, of course not. I never say anything wrong.”

Hope pushed the button to close the doors. As her face began to disappear behind them, Dr. Fie said frantically, “It’s not muddy water like what comes out of the machine! This coffee is from my private pantry! It’s from Saddle Arabia!”

Too late; the doors were closed.

Dr. Fie trudged back toward the main desk. Raspberry’s eyes were upon him.

“How much of that did you hear?” he asked.

“Everything. I have remarkable hearing,” she said. “But next time, lead with the thing about the coffee being from Saddle Arabia.”

“Oh, spare me the senseless advice and get back to your job.”

“Okay, okay,” Raspberry said, doing her best to sound apologetic. “But, you know, doctor, if you don’t have anypony to give that other coffee to… I have been very productive today. I’ve finished nearly three-hundred pages of paperwork.”

“At the salary I pay you, it should be at least five-hundred! I will share my coffee with the only pony in this building who actually deserves it; myself! Now, go away, and do some real work for a change.”

Dr. Fie made a shooing motion with his hooves.

Raspberry looked around her. “But this is my desk.”

Dr. Fie momentarily looked embarrassed. Quickly, however, his features evened out into their usual smugness. “So it is. I was merely testing you to see how attentive you are to your job. Well done. I shall not fire you today.”

With a ‘that’ll show you’ nod, Dr. Fie ambled away.

“What a jerk,” Raspberry said as she returned to filing.

Hope stood before the doors to the incurables’ ward. For how much she tried to avoid this place, this was now her second time in a week venturing down here. She took a deep breath has her magic activated the touch-pad on the lock.

Hope walked through the corridor without the hesitancy and dread of her previous visit. Now her steps were sure. She was so determined that she barely noticed the inmates or the rude things they were saying.

But one she did notice. He seemed to be waiting for her. Even with the door and window closed, Hope could hear the voice of the faux-Starswirl quite clearly.

“Princess Radiant Hope! Princess Radiant Hope! Whatever happened to our princess, Radiant Hope?”

Hope closed her eyes and grit her teeth until she was past his cell. Though she could still hear him for the rest of her walk, being beyond his general vicinity made the words hurt a little less.

Hope came at last to her destination. She unlocked the door and went inside, locking it behind her.

Starlight Glimmer looked up at Hope from her little table. She had just been pouring tea, apparently. If she was at all surprised by Hope’s visit, she showed no hint of it.

“I got the orderlies to bring me some tea,” Starlight said. “They take forever, though. This pot was practically cold by the time they got here. But you’re welcome to have some.”

Without a word, Radiant Hope sat down in the chair opposite Starlight.

“One lump of sugar or two?” Starlight asked as she levitated a bowl of sugar and a pair of tongs. “Or what passes for sugar in this place. Though from the taste of it, it might be sawdust.”

I wouldn’t put it past Dr. Fie, Hope thought. But she said nothing.

“I bet it’s two lumps. That’s the way I like it. And we are so much alike.”

Hope said nothing as Starlight dropped two lumps into a cup of tea and placed it before her. Outside, the faux Starswirl continued his rant.

“What is that lunatic raving about?” Starlight said. “He does it half the day and night. You’d think, with the price I paid for this place, the walls could at least keep out a little noise.”

Hope said nothing.

Starlight took a sip of tea, staring at Hope all the while. Looking for another opening, perhaps?

“My, that is an interesting cutie mark,” Starlight said as she lowered her cup. “I forgot to ask you what it means the last time you were here.”

“It’s a caduceus,” Hope said. “It’s a symbol of health and healing.”

“Hmm,” Starlight responded, “I always heard that it was a symbol of deception. Or of secret knowledge and hidden wisdom. Which is it for you?”

“My special talent is that I’m able to heal any wound or illness.”

“My, my, that is special! No wonder you chose to work in Equestria’s premier hospital.”

“It wasn’t Equestria’s premier hospital until I came.”

Starlight grinned knowingly.

Hope felt uncertain how to respond. “Why are you so interested? You hate cutie marks. Everypony who knows your story knows that.”

Starlight’s smile widened. She looked at Hope with the same sort of kind, yet condescending, look that a wise pony might give a half-wit.

“As with most things everypony knows, that’s wrong,” she said. “I don’t hate cutie marks. I’m sure that, at some point in our species’ evolutionary history, they were a necessary and vital way of ensuring our survival. Yet, like the appendix, they’ve lost any real function or purpose. But cutie marks, just like the appendix, can still make us sick, even kill us. What I don’t like is when ponies think their cutie marks are so important that they never reach their full potential. When they become enslaved to their cutie marks, ponies become dead inside. And like a good doctor, I was always just trying to cut out the vestigial organ before it ruptured. See, we aren’t so different, are we?”

Starlight put her hoof on top of Hope’s. “We both just want to heal ponies.”

Hope pulled her hoof away. “I’ve never heard of a cutie mark hurting a pony.”

Starlight shook her head, the smile on her lips practically saying, You poor, deluded fool.

“What about your own cutie mark?” Starlight said.

Hope’s eyes narrowed, “What about it.”

“You’re so convinced that it means your destiny is to heal ponies. But, as I said, that is only one possible meaning of your mark.”

“But how would the others apply to me?”

“Well, deception…. How much deception went into the Siege of the Crystal Empire, hmm? How much cunning, how much deceit, how many lies and how many false promises? You don’t take a whole city, especially not one ruled by a princess and her husband and where another princess is currently in the vicinity, by just walking in and asking for the keys. No, it took a lot of planning and precision, all without anypony knowing about it. It wasn’t just a coup, it was a conspiracy.”

Hope tried absently to bring the cup of tea to her mouth. It began to shake in her magical grasp as she listened.

“And how many of your co-conspirators realized your true goals? My guess, if I’m allowed to make one, is that none of them did. It was a conspiracy of one.”

The shaking cup tipped over. Hope jumped to her hooves as tea spilled down her chest. Luckily, lukewarm would be too generous a way to describe its temperature, so there was no scalding.

Starlight offered the box of tissues. Hope took several and frantically began wiping herself off.

“I’m not judging you, Hope,” Starlight said. “I don’t blame you for how you did it. As I said before, to do the right thing, we have to ignore little moral niceties sometimes. Look at me. I’m a good pony, no matter what others might have you believe. And I think you’re a good pony, too. Sometimes being a good pony means using a little deception here and there.”

Hope did not answer for quite a while. What she finally did say, in a voice small and shaking, was, “What… what about the other meaning?”

“Ah, yes,” Starlight said. “Hidden wisdom, secret knowledge. My guess is you know some things other ponies don’t. Important things. Maybe you’ve tried to share your knowledge with others. But they didn’t listen. They never listen, do they, Hope?”

Hope caught herself beginning to shake her head. She forced herself to stop. “I thought I knew things other ponies didn’t. Important things. But I was wrong. The Siege proved that.”

“Maybe it did, maybe it didn’t,” Starlight said. “But if I were a betting mare, I’d wager that you still have some secrets that are actually quite wise.”

Hope did not answer. If this disappointed Starlight, there was no sign of it. She merely sat back and the two just stared at each other for a while. The mad pony continued to rave.

“What is he saying?” Starlight asked at last. “Sounds like… ‘Princess Radiant Hope’?”

Hope clenched up. Starlight smiled in her self-satisfied way.

Starlight poured another cup of tea and sent it Hope’s way. “Hope, talk to me,” she said.

“This was a mistake,” Hope said as she stood up to go.

“Hope, please,” Starlight said. “You came to me. I didn’t ask you to come down here. It was your choice. There must have been a reason for it.”

Hope turned away from the door. Slowly, she sat down.

“That’s better,” Starlight said.

“I felt I needed to make you understand,” Hope said. “I felt I needed to make somepony understand.”

“Understand what?” Starlight asked with faux innocence.

“I’m not a monster,” Hope said.

“Of course you’re not, dear,” Starlight said.

Hope took a deep breath, and then began. “It’s funny. I always used to tell that to Sombra. Whenever he would talk about how ponies hated him for being a monster, I would say, ‘You’re not a monster.’ He never seemed to listen, until....”

“You talk about him like you know him well.”

Hope was surprised. Starlight had seemed to know so much about her. Too much. But she didn’t know this? Not about Sombra? Was Starlight playing her again or was she genuinely ignorant of Hope’s connection to Sombra?

At the moment, it didn’t matter.

“I did,” Hope said. “He’s the only friend I’ve ever had.”

Starlight downed her cup in one gulp. She said nothing.

“We were best friends our whole lives,” Hope continued. “Well, maybe not our whole lives, but it felt like it. When I was just a foal, I lost my parents. Then I was sent to an orphanage and none of the other ponies would play with me. So I played with fairies and pixies and other magical beings only I could see. I probably sound crazy now.”

Starlight shrugged. “The first day of foal’s school, I tried to launch an uprising of the students against the teacher, citing intent to assign homework on their part. Our glorious revolutionary state lasted until our parents were called in and grounded the whole lot of us.”

“And then Sombra came. The other ponies called him weird, too. So we decided to be weird together. He was the only pony, other than Ms. Chestnut, that made life worth living in there. We did everything together. And then came the Crystal Faire, and the beautiful ceremony where the Crystal Heart shines on all crystal ponies and reminds us of our fundamental unity.”

“'Opiate of the masses'….” Starlight muttered as she poured herself more tea.

“We were so excited… but then Sombra was in such pain…. It was like that every year, but the pain only got worse. Until, I first cast a healing spell and cured him. That’s how I got my mark. I thought I cured him, but then, he changed.”

“Deception,” Starlight noted, more to herself than Hope.

“It was the day I…. He seemed so upset. He just, he just left. Nopony could find him. He was gone a long time. Then when he came back, he was changed. He did… to the princess… he… he shattered her.”

“‘Shattered,’ how?” Starlight asked. “Did he break her heart?”

“He turned her to stone….” Hope choked out.

“Oh, so he actually did shatter her. Literally.”

Hope shook her head frantically. She seemed once more on the verge of tears. Starlight picked up the tissue box and offered it to Hope.

Hope took no tissue. Nor did she cry, however much she wanted to.

“I didn’t know what to do! I thought my friend was becoming a monster! So, I left. I escaped the Crystal Empire before he took over. I went to the Royal Sisters. They attacked. They banished him. But they ended up banishing the Crystal Empire with him. Because of me. He banished the Crystal Empire to get back at me for betraying him. To cause me the same pain I caused him.”

“Well, that beats my backstory,” Starlight said as she took a sip.

Hope went silent. Her eyes began moving quickly, back and forth, as though she was trying to figure out where next to pick up the story.

“I found his people,” she finally squeaked out. “The Umbrum, the shadow ponies. They were my friends, the fairies I had met when I was a foal. They told me they needed my help. I stayed with them for a thousand years. I learned all about them, got to know them. I thought they needed me to free them. I thought they needed Sombra to free them. Free them from the bounds my people had unfairly put them in.”

Starlight clapped her hooves together. “Ha! I knew it! I knew you had only done what you did for the best of reasons.”

“And 1,036 ponies died,” Hope responded.

“There are always some casualties in any great endeavor,” Starlight said. “That is the price of progress. But think of all the future lives those few casualties will save.”

“It didn’t save anyone!” Hope said. “The Umbrum, they were… they didn’t really want to be saved. They couldn't be saved,"

"And Sombra?"

Hope grew extremely quiet. “I couldn’t save him. I tried. I failed. He was a monster, like he always said. I didn’t want to believe it. He was, though. But I’m not a monster.”

Starlight patted Hope's hoof gently. "There, there. Of course you’re not a monster. You just always see the best in them."

"Now you're mocking me," Hope said coldly.

"Oh, no, no, dear. We all know what it’s like to put our trust in somepony and then have them leave us behind. It wasn’t your fault you believed in a false friend. It happens to the best of us."

The way Starlight said it, Hope could almost believe her. Starlight's look of kindness even seemed sincere.

“I don’t see why you’re so hard on yourself,” Starlight said. “The Umbrum deceived you. Had they been what they said they were, all of your efforts would have been justified, wouldn’t they?”

Hope shook her head. “I killed 1,036 ponies.”

“Well, you knew that would happen. You had to know, when you were planning the Siege, that there would be some collateral damage. After all, you don’t invite changelings to the party and then expect them not to break anything. What matters is why you did it.”

Hope put her head in her hooves. “I did it because I was an idiot who believed in friendship and in my friends. Nothing else matters.”

Starlight did not respond to this. She did not seem to want to keep up this line of discussion. Instead, she said, “You never said why Sombra left you the first time. What was it about that day that so upset him. The Crystal Faire was past, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Hope said, lifting her head up.

“Then what was it?”

Hope considered whether to answer or not.

“Come now, dear. You’ve told me so much already. You can’t just leave me hanging.”

In a voice barely above a whisper, Hope said, “I had gotten a letter. I had been accepted into the Royal Academy.”

“Ah, the Royal Academy, Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns,” Starlight said. “Only the finest unicorn mages go there. Supposedly.”

“Supposedly?” Hope asked, still quiet. She was not much interested in why Starlight had said it, but it got the topic off of her and her own story for a while.

“Well, I didn’t go to the Royal Academy,” Starlight said. “I’m not saying it was because my father didn’t make a donation for the new library wing, but… my father refused to make that donation and suddenly I was rejected.”

“I didn’t have any parents to make donations for me,” Hope said.

“I ended up at the Rational University of Canterlot. As fine a university as any other, but not one known for its magical program. Everything I learned about magic was practically self-taught. But I showed them, didn’t I? I stole the cutie mark of Celestia’s beloved protégé, the pride of the Royal Academy, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“I was supposed to become a princess,” Hope said, her voice now exactly a whisper.

The look on Starlight’s face upon hearing the word ‘princess’ can best be described as like that of a beggar upon being informed that he’s just won the lottery.

“Princess Radiant Hope. So, that lunatic isn’t such a lunatic after all,” she said, more to herself than to Hope.

And then, a cloud settled over Starlight’s features. “Wait, how do you know you were going to be a princess? Countless unicorns have gone to the Academy and only one has ended up a princess.”

“I saw it. I saw it in the Crystal Heart. The Crystal Heart always reveals to a pony his or her true destiny. It showed me that I would become a princess and it showed Sombra that he would become… what he became.”

“I see,” Starlight said. “I didn’t know that about the Crystal Heart. Crystal ponies don’t seem to like talking about it to outsiders much.”

“I had a choice between that destiny and Sombra," Hope said. "I never regretted choosing Sombra. That is, until I lost them both."

Starlight nodded. “Well, the thing about destiny is that, I think, it isn’t so easily avoided.”

“I never used to believe in destiny,” Hope said. “Now, after what happened to Sombra.... I feel like it must exist because it's punishing us. It's punishing me...."

The tissues now glowed blue. Hope took several and began wiping her eyes furiously. Starlight waited for her to finish. And the lunatic raved on.

“Do you have any clue who he is?” Starlight asked. “He seems to know you quite well.”

Hope just gave a little shake of her head so as to say ‘no.’ She finished wiping her eyes and tossed the tissues into the trash bin. Then she locked eyes with Starlight, her glare becoming intense.

“I want… I need you to understand…” Hope said. “I’m not a monster. I’m not like you.”

“Hope, I’m not a monster either,” Starlight said. “You should know that by now.”

“I don’t know anything anymore,” Hope said. “Except that I’m not a monster. I never meant for what happened to happen.”

“I believe you, dear.”

“I never meant to kill 1,036 ponies.”

Starlight looked at Hope gently, knowingly, almost motherly. “Are you trying to convince me, dear, or are you trying to convince yourself?”

Hope stood up. “Th-thank you for the tea,” she said, her voice still low. “But… but, I should g-get back to my d-duties.”

She was halfway out the door before Starlight could say anything. But Starlight did call out behind her, “Thank you for talking to me. Come again, anytime!”

When that failed to stop Hope, Starlight said, “Just one more thing before you go. You clearly were thinking about recruiting me when you were planning the Siege. Why didn’t you?”

“I knew I could never trust a pony like you,” Hope said as she slammed the door.

“Not like I could trust you either,” Starlight said quietly.

Starlight had just set about to cleaning up the tea-set when the door opened again. It was another orderly.

“Letter for you,” he said as he tossed the letter into the room. It landed on the floor.

Starlight sneered as she picked up the letter. There was no envelope — it had already been discarded — and from the rumpled look of the top of the letter, that part had already been read, scrutinized even. But the bottom half of the letter was in much better condition.

Starlight glanced at it.

“Dearest sister,

“I hope sincerely that you have taken to reform and received a new heart, at last intent on following the letter of the law….”

No wonder the orderly in charge of censoring letters had given up. She and Stirring had done an excellent job of concocting a fake brother for her fake identity. This letter, like all the rest, was on the face of it nothing but exhortations about the rewards of an upright life and suggestions of morally uplifting books to read. All of it praiseworthy, no doubt, but also incredibly boring. And every word was in the tone generally considered peculiar to a particularly priggish breed of country schoolmaster, which is what Aurora Gleam’s brother supposedly was. Apparently, he blamed her mental difficulties on some imagined sin or other and never failed to suggest that only repentance was needed for her to begin experiencing good health again. Of course, the censors couldn’t stand it; they would probably let the letters pass now without even a hint of scrutiny.

But Starlight was not interested in exhortations and morally uplifting books. Rather, she was looking for something else entirely.

She sat at her writing desk and scribbled on a piece of paper this:

“I have received last letter of yours. Everything is prepared to begin when you say. I am only awaiting your command.”

Starlight nodded as a satisfied smile crossed her face. As she began writing a reply, she said, “Oh, Stirring, have I got news for you!”

It was late. Few ponies remained in the office. Most of them had taken off for home hours ago. But Stirring Words and one other reporter remained hard at work at their typewriters. Or, at least, Stirring Words appeared to be working. In fact, he was just pounding on the keys, typing gibberish onto the blank page. What he was doing, however, was watching Joe, the grey pegasus, three desks away.

Watching and waiting. Waiting for the other to show any signs of fatigue.

Go home, already. Go home. Stirring thought.

At last, Joe stretched his forelegs and his wings. He stood up from the desk.

Finally!

“I think I’m off, Stirring,” the other reporter said. “Can’t avoid the missus all night, can I?”

“You two still having trouble?” Stirring asked, pretending to care.

“Buddy, we been having trouble since the day we got hitched. You about ready to go, too?”

“No, I think I’m going to be for a while,” Stirring said. “The editor’s got me on a new story that’s taking more work than I expected.”

“Oh, still on the Empress of Equestria story, right?”

“Yep,” Stirring said, showing no signs of the fact that he really hoped the other reporter didn’t want to talk about it.

But, of course, the other reporter did. “How hard is it to write a story about that boat?”

“Ship,” Stirring corrected him again.

“Now you’re getting like the boss. He’s always at me about the words I use.”

“But you’d be surprised,” Stirring said, “about how much there is to do. The group running it has been giving me the run-around when I tried to talk to them about it. They just wanted to babble on about 'ghosts and dark energy' and give me the standard tourist spiel that comes with old places like that. I finally got something concrete out of them but now I’ve got to work extra hard to get it all down on paper before the next deadline. The boss wants it before the Empress opens for business.”

Stirring was lying through his teeth. The new proprietors of the Empress of Equestria had been more than happy to talk to him at length about the ship and their plans for it. They had been, if anything, too helpful. Stirring had been able to not only finish, but turn in, the story earlier that day.

Joe approached. “Hey, if you’re really having that much trouble, maybe I can stay and help out. Beats another fight with the little lady.”

Go! Home! Stirring thought. But what he said was, “No, no, that’s fine. She already yells at you for being out at all hours.”

“That’s for sure! So, what’s one more shouting match?”

Stirring’s hooves dug into the typewriter. The other reporter was alarmed by the frantic clicking that resulted.

“Everything okay?”

“My hooves slipped,” Stirring said. “I’ll be fine. Go home. You’ve been working yourself too hard as it is.”

The grey pony shrugged. “I could say the same about you. But okay, I’ll go. Just be sure to lock up.”

“I will,” Stirring said.

When Joe had finally left, Stirring leaned back in his chair and gave a huge sigh of relief. Finally, he could get to what he considered his real work. Going into his secret drawer, he pulled out Starlight Glimmer’s latest letter. After once more reading it through, he almost laughed.

“Radiant Hope a princess? Didn’t see that one coming,” Stirring remarked. Looking up at the presses which would soon be once more in use, he added, “I think I have the perfect idea of how to spin this.”

What was Stirring Words' 'perfect idea'?

Read on.

The Chimes at Midnight

Starlight looked out from the balcony and surveyed the locale. Stirring had come through for her once again. They had a place to stay. While the digs were not the nicest — being in a part of town where the law would not come looking — they were reasonable comfortable. Which was optimal, given that three ponies would be sharing the room.

Starlight leaned against the railing and turned her sights to the moon above. Stirring stepped out and Joined her.

“I didn’t hear you come in,” Starlight said.

“You must have been deep in thought,” Stirring remarked. “You’ve been here for hours.”

“Have I? I must be losing my edge. I’m never one to just waste time like this.”

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry for earlier. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that, ma’am.”

“It’s alright, Stirring. You’ve been under a lot of stress. We all have.”

Starlight suddenly became aware of how intently Stirring was staring at her. He looked deeply concerned.

“You look like you’re still under a lot of stress, ma’am,” he opined. “Is it Hope?”

“She’s so obstinate, isn’t she?” Starlight said. “Came all this way with us, without ever actually coming to believe in our cause. With all she’s lost, I’d have thought she’d be the first to sign up. I certainly was, after I lost my father and my friend. She’s lost the same, yet she’s chosen a completely different path.”

“Not that different,” Stirring said. “You both want to help ponies.”

Starlight cast her eyes down toward her hooves.

“You do both want to help ponies, don’t you, ma’am?” Stirring asked.

“Things are more complicated than that,” Starlight responded. “Now she’s thinking about making a choice, a choice that will probably get her killed. Worse, it could be bad for all of us.”

“Why would she do that?” Stirring asked. “I know what she’s done in the past, but Hope doesn’t seem like that kind of pony anymore.”

“She wants something, and she wants it so badly, that she is willing to take a chance,” Starlight said. “And I understand that. I’d probably do the same thing if I were her.”

“But you’re not her,” Stirring responded. “You’re Starlight Glimmer, the Incorruptible. I know you, and I know you’d never do anything that would endanger all Equestria.”

“You don’t know me that well, Stirring,” Starlight said, speaking into her hooves so that Stirring couldn’t actually hear it. “Nopony has ever really known me except Sunburst… and Hope….”

“So, what are we going to do?” Stirring asked. “Should we go out and find her?”

“Of course, we should!” Dr. Fie proclaimed as he marched out onto the balcony. “It’s all very nice of the two of you to be standing there, looking up at the moon. All very romantic. Meanwhile, dear Hope is who knows where in that city, looking for those monsters. She might have already found them! She might even now be in mortal peril! Oh, the thought is just too terrible to contemplate!”

“There’s nothing we can do,” Starlight said. “Hope has to make her own choice.”

“How can you be so heartless, madam?” Dr. Fie said, rubbing his hooves together. “You never cared about dearest Hope. She was always just a tool to you!”

“It was always an arrangement, not a friendship!” Starlight hollered, turning on Dr. Fie. “But don’t think that doesn’t mean I’m not worried. I just know, if I was in her position, nopony coming and trying to talk me out of it would do any good.”

Dr. Fie sneered. “So, we just give up, do we? This is how Colonel Aster’s daughter gets things done, is it?”

“Don’t mention my father’s name!” Starlight snapped. “You didn’t even know him! That’s what you keep telling us, isn’t it? You never met him! So, what gives you the right to act like you did?”

“Oh, spare me the indignation,” Dr. Fie said, his voice dripping bile. “I could care less about your hurt feelings when dear Hope could be lying somewhere, heavily injured, calling out for help with no kind soul around to offer any. Or it could be even worse….”

He took a step back and raised his foreleg. “Oh, dear Hope! Dear lamented Hope! If only I was there to tend to your wounds!”

“As though you could tend to her wounds,” Starlight said darkly.

“What was that, dear lady?”

“From everything I’ve seen and heard since Seaddle, I don’t think you could bandage up a paper-cut!” Starlight snapped.

“Poppycock!” Dr. Fie said. “I’ll have you know that Hope isn’t the only one capable of healing spells. I’m considered quite an expert in that field. In fact, I have a paper to my name on the subject. One that’s been very well-received by the medical community.”

Dr. Fie suddenly became reserved, scratching his chin with his hoof. “No, wait, Hope wrote that paper for me.”

Starlight shook her head and turned away from the doctor. “What about that other thing, Stirring? Did you manage to check up on that?”

“The exhibition opens tonight,” Stirring said. “Though I really don’t know if we should be wasting our time on this when we have to do damage-control for earlier.”

“Earlier demonstrates perfectly why we need to do this,” Starlight said. “The slow and steady approach is not working. We need something with more punch if we’re going to take the fight to Twilight Sparkle and her friends.”

“Why do you make everything about Twilight Sparkle?” Stirring said quietly.

“What was that?” Starlight asked.

Stirring tried to act innocent. “Nothing!”

“I think the dear boy has a point,” Dr. Fie said. “We don’t have time to be gallivanting after frivolities! We should be seeking after poor Hope. I shudder to think of where she might be right now, in what dreadful circumstances she’s found herself.”

“If you care so much about finding her, why don’t you do it, doctor?” Starlight shot back.

“Maybe I will!” Dr. Fie said. “As usual, it falls to the pony of action to get things done! And they say the younger generation has all the promise and potential. Hmph!”

Dr. Fie made a show of ambling back into the room. Starlight and Stirring didn’t pay much attention to him. That is, until there was a popping sound, a blue flash of light, and Dr. Fie’s frightened scream.

“It’s alright, doctor. It’s just me,” came Hope’s voice from inside.

Starlight and Stirring hurried inside to find Hope standing in the middle of the room and Dr. Fie huddled under the small desk at the other end.

Dr. Fie crawled out and stood up. “Of course it is, dear girl. I always knew it. But any occasion is appropriate for testing one’s recollection of earthquake safety procedure. In such an earthquake-prone city as this, a constant reappraisal of one’s knowledge on the matter is practically a necessity.”

“Hope, where have you been?” Starlight asked.

“I had a lot of thinking to do. Then I got lost. It’s taken me a while just to find my way back to this part of town,” Hope said.

“You were gone a whole day,” Starlight said. “I didn’t think you’d even remember where Stirring said he’s reserved a room for us.”

“I didn’t,” Hope said. “So I found my way back to the restaurant and then just focused on teleporting to you. I figured Stirring would not take you to someplace too far away.”

“And did you come to a decision?” Starlight asked.

Hope nodded.

“Do you care to let us in on what you’ve decided?”

“Oh, stop badgering the poor girl, madam!” Dr. Fie said. “Can’t you see that she’s been through an ordeal?”

“It’s okay, doctor,” Hope said. “You’ll all have to find out about it eventually.”

The other three waited. After a moment, Hope spoke.

“I wish I could accept the Umbrum’s offer. I want to accept it, if it means that everypony I care about will be happy and safe. But… I can’t. I know what they’re like now. I’ve seen what they do. I can’t let them hurt any more ponies. I need to stop them.”

“How are we going to do that?” Starlight said.

“Not ‘we.’ I need to stop them. This isn’t your battle. Not for any of you.”

“Oh, don’t be foolish, child,” Dr. Fie said. “We aren’t going to let you go after those things alone!”

“Oh, really?” Hope asked. “Why should any of you want to help me? All of you have just been in this for your own reasons. The Umbrum were always mine to fight. They were never a concern for any of you.”

The three exchanged silent glances. Those words cut deep.

“What are you planning to do?” Starlight asked. “How can you stop them? You and I are two of the most powerful unicorns out there, and even we couldn’t stop them.”

“I once heard of a spell, back when I was looking for Sombra,” Hope said. “A spell that Starswirl the Bearded was working on, but which he never used for fear of the destruction it would cause. It’s supposed to create a magical explosion so powerful that no known creature could survive it. I’m hoping that includes the Umbrum.”

“I’ve heard about the spell too,” Starlight said. “But Hope, that takes a tremendous amount of energy to create and maintain.”

“I can do it,” Hope responded.

“Yes, I’m sure you can. But that’s not my point. The energy required will drain you. It will completely drain you. Even if you’re still alive after that, you won’t have any energy left to teleport out of there.” Starlight’s face became grim. “Hope, you’ll get yourself killed.”

Starlight knew Hope probably thought she was putting on another act, but her concern was genuine.

“I know,” Hope said. “And that’s for the best.”

“Hope, how can you say that?” Dr. Fie asked. His voice wasn’t the whiny high-pitched tone Starlight had come to expect whenever he was even mildly inconvenienced. No, he was genuinely upset.

Hope looked down, at the blue pouch which still hung around her neck. Starlight remembered the pouch and she remembered its contents. Hope put her hoof to the pouch and rubbed it gently. Even seeing another pony touch it sent a shiver down Starlight’s spine.

“I’ve tried to put my past behind me,” Hope said. “And today, earlier today, I thought I could. But then I met someone, an old friend. He reminded me that I can never escape what I did. I will always be the pony who orchestrated the Siege, the pony who helped release the Umbrum. I'll always be the mare who lost everything. And I’ll always be the one who took 1,036 lives.”

“Hope, no,” Dr. Fie said. “It doesn’t matter. The Siege doesn’t matter anymore.”

“He’s right,” Starlight said, nodding in agreement. “What matters is who you are now. You don’t need to keep trying to make up for your past.”

Starlight felt a tinge of something. What was it? Guilt? That was new. Since when did she feel guilty? And why were her own words cutting so deep?

“I’m not trying,” Hope said. “I’m just doing what needs to be done. Now, if only I could find a copy of this spell. Maybe if somepony could go to Canterlot, to the Starswirl wing of the Royal Library, and try to find it. You’d have to hurry.”

Starlight looked to Stirring nervously. She knew he might just tell Hope where else she could find Starlswirl’s spells. And Starlight did not want that, not if it meant Hope blowing herself up.

Funny. Starlight reflected. All this time looking for one of Starswirl’s most potent spells, and now I just wish I’d left them well enough alone.

To preempt Stirring, she said, “You know, Hope, none of us are going to get into the Royal Library of Canterlot. Believe me, I’ve tried. We’re all known fugitives, remember. If they caught us, they’d probably think we were going to assassinate the princesses or some nonsense like that.”

Note to self, Starlight thought, look into the feasibility of assassinating Twilight Sparkle once this is all over.

“Stirring’s not a fugitive,” Hope said. “He could go.”

“Actually,” Stirring said. “I might be one now. It seems my old boss got a hold of some letters between Starlight and I. By now, all of Equestria should know of my involvement with you. I’m sorry, but I think we’ll have to table this ‘blowing yourself up’ idea.”

Starlight flashed Stirring a chiding look. But, truth be told, she was glad he had brought up that instead of the other thing. Starlight hoped that he had fallen in line behind her example.

“However, there are a bunch of spells at the Empress of Equestria for the Starswirl Exhibit’s grand opening tonight,” Stirring said. “You could try looking there.”

Starlight facehoofed. “Not helping,” she snapped.

“I think she has a point, ma’am,” Stirring said. “She made this mess with the Umbrum. She should be the one to clean it up.”

“See, he understands,” Hope said.

“We owe her nothing,” Stirring said. You said it yourself, ma’am. This was always just an arrangement, not a friendship.”

“Like he said, it doesn’t matter to you, Starlight, what I do with my life,” Hope said. “You always were just trying to use me, after all.”

Starlight’s mouth opened, either to offer a protest or simply as a reaction. Even she couldn’t be sure which.

Hope raised her hoof. “No, no, it’s okay, I don’t blame you. I was using you too.”

“Yes, Hope, I was trying to use you,” Starlight said, trying to use her words carefully. “I have been this whole time. But that doesn’t mean I want you to blow yourself up!”

“But I know that I can,” Hope said. “Because I know I won’t be missed. You won’t miss me, Starlight. I was always just a vehicle for your Equalist message. I’m sure you’ll find some other way to spread it. Who knows, maybe the tragic death of Princess Hope at the hooves of the Royal Sisters’ assassins will do more for your cause than I ever could.”

“That’s a good one!” Stirring said. “I’m going to use that. I can already see the Liberation News’ next headline: Rightful Princess Dies In Explosion; But The Cause Lives On!”

“Quiet, Stirring!” Starlight practically shouted.

“You were right, Starlight,” Hope said. “Friends always do end up leaving you, one way or another. You are all my friends, the first friends I’ve had in a thousand year. And I know, once I’m no longer useful to me, you’ll go. You’ll leave me or betray me or let me down, like Sombra did. I can’t go through that again. I can’t lose all of you. Better for me to just end it like this.”

“What are you talking about, dear girl?” Dr. Fie said. “I’d never discard you. It’s you and me together, comrades-in-arms, through thick and thin!”

Hope let out a sad little laugh. “Same old Dr. Fie. I know you’d like to think that. But I know you. I know what you’re like, and the moment that’s it’s to your advantage, you’d happily get rid of me.”

“Hope, you can’t seriously think—”

Hope put her hoof on Dr. Fie’s cheek. “It’s okay, doctor. I’m not mad at you for it. I wasn’t mad after you did it up north and I’m not mad now. I accept that that is just who you are. I accept all of you. My mistake was not accepting who Sombra told me he was. I expected him to be better. I don’t expect anything from you.”

“Hope….” Dr. Fie said weakly. He could not even return her gaze.

Starlight, meanwhile, was deep in thought. She was feeling guilty again. It was an awful emotion. Starlight didn’t know how happy she was before she could feel it. But now she could, and she understood what it was telling her.

“She’s right,” Starlight said. “We all have been using her, just like she’s been using us. Who’s to say that any of us wouldn’t betray her if it came down to it?”

Hope nodded. “Thank you, Starlight. You understand.”

“I wish I didn’t,” Starlight said. “But I do. We’re a poor substitute for what you lost in the Crystal Empire. We can’t give you a reason to live. You say you accept us for what we are. I guess we have to accept you, which also means accepting your choice.”

The words were surprisingly hard to get out. Starlight nearly choked on them. And she had never choked on words before.

But Hope seemed relieved. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m not afraid. Really, I’m not. This is for the best. Maybe, this way, something good will finally come out of my life.”

Starlight wanted to argue still, but she knew the time for arguing was past.

“Besides the spell, what do you need?” she asked, her voice solemn.

“I need to find their lair,” Hope answered. “Invidia said they had gone somewhere full of dark energy.”

“Well, you and Dr. Fie can focus on working that out,” Starlight said. “Stirring and I will head over to the Empress of Equestria. We’ll get your spell. There’s a little something we need to pick up there anyway.”

Hope’s eyes widened with a mixture of understanding and dread. “Wait, Lailoken said that the Empress of Equestria was filled with dark energy! That must be where the Umbrum are! We need to get there now! Oh, I hope we’re not too late!”

“Who’s Lailoken?” Starlight asked. “Hope, who have you been talking to?”

Starlight did not get her answer. Before she knew it, she saw Hope’s horn began to glow. Starlight braced herself. This was happening now and she had to be ready for what she would face. But then, Colonel Aster’s daughter had been born ready.

Then why do I feel so afraid? Is this fear for me... or for Hope?”

In a flash, all four ponies were gone.

The next hour was a long series of flashes, first from Hope and then from Starlight, as the quartet tried to reach the Empress of Equestria on the waterfront at the other side of town. Had Hope and Starlight not both been skilled magic users, they never would have made it. But, fortunately, they were. And, fortunately, they did.

Or perhaps unfortunately, depending on your perspective.

The Empress was now towering above them. Her name was apt. The dark hull of the ship was an imposing and imperious presence, probably longer than most streets and taller than most buildings in this city. The lights coming from high above made it almost seem as though a golden halo crowning her as monarch of the ocean, and the red smokestacks that rose high upon her seemed like the spokes of her radiant crown. She was the very image of majesty and grandeur. Once, the Empress had ruled the waves. Now she lorded it over the city of Las Pegasus, holding court in the bay, receiving homage from her new subjects, the ponies who came to spend a few nights in this lap of luxury.

But, for Hope, the mighty ocean liner in the dead of night was less a high queen and more a grey ghost. Though there were those lights, they here high above and could hardly illuminate the entirety of the vessel’s bulk. It was a black silhouette upon a black sky and a black sea.

No wonder the Umbrum had chosen such a place for their lair.

“Okay, so we’ll teleport aboard,” Starlight said. “Stirring and I will go for the scrolls. What will you do, Hope?”

“I have to find Lailoken,” Hope said.

“Again, who’s Lailoken?”

“Remember the pony who was following us? The one who kept saying he was Starswirl?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s him. Turns out he’s an old friend of mine. I cured him today.”

Starlight gave Hope a ‘you have got to be kidding me’ sort of look. “He’s an old friend. And yet you never recognized him?”

“A pony can change a lot in a thousand years,” Hope said. “It ages you.”

Starlight looked Hope over. “So, what did you look like when you went into the Umbrum’s prison, a foal?”

“I was in the Prison of Shadows. It kept me young.”

“Too bad the Umbrum are still there,” Starlight said. “We could make it into a prime vacation spot. Lots of ponies would pay through the snout to stay as young as you have.”

“Some ponies don’t need money to look young, madam,” Dr. Fie said. “It comes naturally.”

“Those ponies aren’t you, doctor,” Starlight responded. “But Hope, if you could cure this pony you knew before, why didn't you ever try it. You knew he was mad.”

“My magic didn’t work on him before. I thought he must be faking it. Turns out, no, it was Umbric magic. I just wasn’t powerful enough to cure it then.”

“Then how do you think you’ll ever be able to stop the Umbrum now?”

“I said I wasn’t powerful enough then; I’ll have no problem now.”

As Hope saw it, she was just stating a fact. But the answer seemed to unnerve Starlight all the same.

“What’s that, up there?” Dr. Fie said, pointing to the bow of the ship.

There was a pony up there; that much was sure. But little else could be made out in the darkness. The pony seemed frantic, galloping here and there, almost as though he was in a panic. He seemed to be flailing his forelegs wildly. Was he upset? Or was he trying to fight something off?

“I can’t make out what’s going on!” Hope said.

“I think I can help with that,” Starlight said. Her horn glowed, projecting a square. The square worked like a looking glass, magnifying the scene happening far above.

“That’s Lailoken!” Hope said in dismay.

Indeed, it was. The old pony was at the bow now, waving and flailing his forelegs more rapidly and uncontrollably than before.

“I thought you said you cured him,” Starlight said.

“He’s not going mad,” Hope said. “Look!”

Just visible against the darkened sky were what looked like wisps of smoke. Wisps green, blue, and purple. Every now and then, a face became visible from among the smoke, and every so often a pair of hooves. The hooves clawed at Lailoken.

Dr. Fie squeaked. “They weren’t joking when they said this boat was haunted! No good ever comes from dealing with spirits! Oh, dear me, dear me!”

“Those aren’t ghosts, doctor,” Hope said. “Those are Umbrum.”

“Oh, like that makes it so very much better,” the doctor replied.

“We have to get up there and help him!” Hope said. “We can’t let them hurt him!”

Her horn began to glow.

Lailoken held up his forelegs in front of his face, vainly trying to ward off the Umbrum's blows. He knew it was in vain. He knew it would make no difference. He did not even know why he cared. He knew he would die today. He knew he should have been prepared for it. He should have been able to just accept it and die with dignity. It was his destiny, after all.

But the survival instinct never much seemed to care what destiny said.

The Umbrum, for their part, were not even really injuring him. They were poking at him, mostly. Just taunting him. Just having fun. Their fiendish squeals of amusement filled the still night air.

Misericordia was the only one not joining in. He just circled around above them. "Why are we doing this?" he said. "Leave the pony alone. He means nothing to us."

"But he has been following us since Seaddle," said Luxuria. She gave Lailoken a particularly sharp poke. "If he wants to play with us, we should play."

"Perhaps he has a point,” Invidia said. “This plaything will only be satisfying for so long. Maybe we should bring this game to a satisfying conclusion."

Invidia now clawed mightily at Lailoken, tearing into his forelegs and forcing him back further and further toward the bow.

"Empress Hope would not like what we are doing to him," Misericordia scolded.

"Empress Hope doesn't matter now, does she?" said Luxuria. "She's not our Empress now."

The Umbrum continued to prod Lailoken until his tail brushed the railing to one side of the bow.

"I still say we should stop," Misericordia said.

They did not stop.

"This pony isn't worth it," he said.

"Oh, you were always such a spoil-sport, Invidia!" Luxuria responded. “Being a shadow pony can be so boring. Why don’t you join in the fun?”

“We Umbrum always did have a strange idea of fun,” Misericordia reflected.

But something down below caught Invidia’s eye. He stopped with his attack for a moment. Lailoken, having been pushed against the railing, took a moment to grab hold of it and steady himself. He tried to catch his breath. Indeed, strange as it may seem, he felt a sense of relief, for when the purple shadow pony ceased, so too did his compatriot, and Lailoken began to hope, however irrationally, that he would escape this alive.

’Hope springs eternal’ and all that.

But the hope was gone as soon as Invidia led out a fiendish, howling cackle. His toothy smile, already a fright to behold, grew larger, toothier, and more frightful.

“Attention, loyal subjects,” he said in a mocking tone. “Our great and beloved Empress has arrived. And looks like she brought friends.”

“More fun for us, then,” Luxuria said. “I hope they’re cute. I love watching the cute ones die.”

“Well, I guess you have no more use for me,” Lailoken said. “You’re going to be awfully busy, so why don’t I show myself out?’

Invidia once more fixed his eyes on Lailoken, the small white eyes whose gaze alone filled him with dread. The smile widened to reveal even more teeth than Lailoken thought any creature should have. Invidia raised a hoof, the front of which seemed gnarled and misshapen enough to actually be sharp like a blade.

“Oh, no, you don’t know how useful you still are,” Invidia said. “We want to send a message to our dear Empress Hope. And you’re just the pony for the job.”

Lailoken felt his heart explode. The Umbrum had pierced his chest. In India’s sharped hoof had torn through Lailoken’s skin like it was tissue. And now, the darkness seemed to become even darker.

Invidia drew his hoof back. Lailoken tumbled backwards over the railing.

The four ponies struggled to see what was going on. Though the Umbrum high above did not engage them, they acted as though they were aware of their presence. The Umbrum kept flying up and down, circling and whirling this way and that, blocking the ponies' view of the upper decks of the ship.

Hope bobbed her head this way and that and squinted her eyes. But she could not see what was happening to Lailoken She was ready to teleport, but she could not even make out an area to shoot for, let alone what awaited her once she made the jump.

Guess I'm going in blind, she thought as her horn began to glow again.

And then she saw him. She saw Lailoken as he plummeted toward the icy waters below. It was too late.

“No!” Hope screamed.

"I can still save him," Starlight said. She gritted her teeth as turquoise light emerged from the horn on her head. It enveloped Lailoken and stopped his descent.

“Now, just to guide him gently over to—”

Starlight did not get to finish the sentence. Stirring pushed her to the ground. Dr. Fie, meanwhile, grabbed onto Hope and pulled her backward onto the pavement. In the nick of time, too, for one of the Umbrum, a purple one, had broken away from the others and had swooped down over them. A split second later, and they might have been sent flying across the parking lot.

Stirring’s action, noble as it was, caused Starlight to break concentration. Lailoken was released and fell headlong into the black ocean. Invidia chuckled at his handiwork.

Hope’s eyes were wide as she tried to run for the side of the pier. But Invidia landed in her path.

“It is an honor to welcome you to our home, Empress,” he said. “Kind of fitting, don’t you think? It was always our ambition that you would be Empress of Equestria, at Sombra’s side.”

“That wasn’t what you wanted,” Hope said. “That was what Sombra wanted. You would have gotten rid of me as soon as I released you if not for him.”

“We’d never do that to you, Hope, not after you sacrificed so much to set us free,” Invidia said. “What we wanted to do to you was worse by far. Mere death is no proper payback for having to listen to your mindless babbling for a thousand years almost nonstop!”

Hope teleported to the edge, but Invidia simply swooped down in front of her again.

“Now, Hope, that’s not very nice. An Empress should have better manners.”

Hope looked around for another way to get to Lailoken. Then she saw Starlight, sneaking behind Invidia. Starlight put a hoof to her mouth, a signal for silence. Hope understood. She looked straight at Invidia, giving no hint that another mare was behind him.

“You said if I agreed to your proposal, you wouldn’t hurt any of my friends,” Hope said.

“I didn’t think he was your friend,” Invidia responded with mock-innocence. “Not with the way he acted around you.”

“He was my friend,” Hope said. “You had no right to hurt him.”

Starlight’s horn glowed. From out of the ocean, Lailoken arose. But his body did not look like the body of a living pony. It looked broken, deformed, lifeless.

Starlight flashed Hope a sad look and then began to carefully carry Lailoken out of Invidia’s reach.

“He was annoying,” Invidia said. “And he jabbered about us too much. We would have let him live anyway, but he showed up here, and it was just too much of a temptation to resist. You must know what that’s like, Hope.”

“But our agreement—”

“We have no agreement,” Invidia said. “Not until you actually accept our terms. Which you haven’t yet.”

“Why do you think I’m here?” Hope asked.

“With these other ponies around, I thought you had some ridiculous notion that you could defeat us through the magic of friendship,” Invidia said with a sneer. It was probably a sneer. Hard to tell with the Umbrum.

Hope grit her teeth. “They’re just here to say goodbye. They’ll leave when I enter the ship.”

“How touching,” Invidia said. “Holding onto those personal relationships to the last. Even though you always pick ponies that are so unworthy of your trust.”

“It’s a bad habit, isn’t it?” Hope said. “Guess it was going to be the death of me eventually.”

“I’m glad you are able to face your impending doom with such good humor,” Invidia said. “It is a show of dignity befitting an Empress. When you are ready, come to the boiler room. There, your loyal subjects shall be awaiting your arrival."

Invidia paused to briefly look back at the decks of the ship, which were now clear.

"The others have already gone down," he observed. "They're just waiting on the two of us."

With a fiendish cackle, Invidia flew into the night air. In a moment, he had disappeared around the topmost deck of the ship. Hope did not wait to make sure he was gone. She ran over to where Lailoken was. Starlight, Stirring, and Dr. Fie were already crouching over him, looking for signs of life.

“How is he?” Hope asked.

“I’m sorry, dear girl, but I can’t resuscitate him,” Dr. Fie said.

“I could tell as soon as I fished him out of the water,” Starlight said.

“There’s something strange, though,” Dr. Fie said. “What the umbrum did to him was more than enough to spell his end. Just look at the size of the hole they tore in his chest!”

Hope's felt a pang of anguish as Dr. Fie waved his hoof over Lailoken's torn-up chest.

“Doctor, please,” Starlight said.

Dr. Fie nodded. “Yes, quite right. They didn’t need to push him over the side. But there is damage from the impact. Even with Starlight’s admittedly mediocre attempts to stop his fall, that should certainly have been enough to—”

“Doctor, we get the picture,” Starlight responded.

“But there’s also signs of drowning!” Dr. Fie said. “That’s the strange thing! In my professional opinion, he did not actually die until he was in the water.”

Realization came to Hope. Cold, comfortless realization. “He said he would die three times,” she said quietly. “This is what he meant.”

“Hope, I’m sorry,” Starlight said.

“I couldn’t save him,” Hope said. “I wanted to save him, but I couldn’t. He wouldn’t let me.”

“Can you bring him back to life, maybe?” Stirring said.

“No,” Hope responded. “You know that.”

“But are you sure?” Starlight said. “You’ve told me that, but how do you know? Maybe if you just—”

“Because I’ve tried!” Hope yelled. "I've tried with everyone! It never worked!"

It was the first time any of the three other ponies had heard Radiant Hope yell. They had heard her get angry, sure, and they had heard her raise her voice to an extent. But they had never heard her yell.

Starlight spoke first. “Who… was it?”

“My parents, when I first got my powers.”

“How did it go?”

“How do you think it went,” Hope snapped.

“Best not get into that one, dear lady,” Dr. Fie said to Starlight. “Wait, I feel something.”

Dr. Fie put his hoof to Lailoken’s wrist. “There’s a pulse! There’s still a pulse! It’s a weak one, but it’s there. Hope, he’s alive! He's fading fast, but he's alive! We can still save him!”

Hope felt her namesake emotion welling up inside her. “Doctor, you perform CPR. It’ll take some of the pressure off me and make it easier to heal him.”

“Try not to enjoy it too much,” Starlight said to Dr. Fie.

“Ho-hum, madam!” Dr. Fie answered. He then looked down at Lailoken’s chest, covered in blood, and then to his own hooves. “But do I really have to? Will it really do any good?”

“Just do it,” Starlight commanded.

Dr. Fie began applying pressure, carefully trying to avoid as much blood as he could. Simultaneously, Hope began to send blue light into Lailoken’s body. The light engulfed the pony and made the blue of his coat seem extra-vivid. If this worked, it would be the second time in one day she had healed him. And it had to work.

It seemed almost as difficult as when Hope had cured his madness. Maybe more so. He should be dead thrice by now. Hope had never had to work on a pony so drained of life. He felt so empty inside. But, as Dr. Fie continued to administer CPR, Hope felt things becoming easier. Less energy was needed. But she did not dare decrease the flow. There was too wide a margin of error and this was too important.

“It’s not working!” Hope heard Stirring Words shout, only to be shushed by Starlight.

But she knew it was true. She could feel Lailoken slipping away. He was dying, and she could not stop it. Time was almost up.

Hope closed her eyes. She saw the faces of all the ponies she had lost, all the ponies who had lost their lives because of her. She grit her teeth. She would not lose another one. Not one more.

Dr. Fie jumped back. Both Starlight and Stirring’s jaws dropped. The blue light enveloping Lailoken had become green. And then purple. Then red, and finally a shade of yellowish-orange.

Hope felt the magic rippling through her body. Even Sombra’s dark magic, which still coursed through her due to her proximity to his horn, was nothing like it. It was like every inch of her body was sparking with electricity and fire. She kept her eyes closed, but the faces disappeared, as did the darkness they arose from. Now, Radiant Hope saw nothing but light.

Finally, Hope heard Dr. Fie say, “I think you can stop now, child. He’s reviving.”

Hope opened her eyes. The magic vanished.

She fell, exhausted, to the ground. Hope didn’t know how long she remained there, slowly recovering herself. Finally, Dr. Fie helped her into a sitting position. Lailoken was also sitting up, staring directly at her.

Somewhere, in the distance, a clock chimed twelve times.

“‘We have heard the chimes at midnight,’” Dr. Fie remarked.

“The day is over, and you didn’t die,” Hope said.

“You… you saved me. Again,” Lailoken said. “Why would you do that? After everything I said about you?”

“We were friends once,” Hope said. “I don’t give up on my friends. In case you haven’t heard, that’s sort-of gotten me into a lot of trouble.”

Lailoken rubbed his chest and the other parts of his body which had sustained injury. “For once, I’m glad you don’t give up on friends. Maybe I was wrong about you, Hope. Maybe destiny isn’t fixed. Maybe ponies can change.”

Looking back at the ocean liner, at that majestic, yet melancholy ship, Hope said, “Mine is.”

“I spent so long thinking I was going to die today,” Lailoken said. “I don’t even know what to do with my life now. I don’t even know how long I have left.”

“What does it even matter, dear boy?” Dr. Fie said. “‘Ours not to reason why, ours but to do and’….” Dr. Fie grimaced at the faux pas he had nearly made. “Well, something like that.”

“Why do you call me ‘dear boy’?” Lailoken asked. “I’m a thousand years older than you and I look it!”

“But I’m a thousand years wiser,” Dr. Fie responded with a cheeky smile.

“But seriously, what do I do now?” Lailoken said.

“Live,” Hope said. Both her gaze and her voice had become distant. “Live, for however long you have left. I don’t know how much that is, but you should make the most of it. It’s all you can do.”

“Somepony should take her own advice,” Starlight observed.

“Do it for all of us who can’t,” Hope said.

Lailoken’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean, Hope?”

“Don’t you know? With that gift of prophecy?”

“It’s gone now, ever since you cured me. I can’t even remember most of the things I predicted.”

Hope looked down. “That’s a shame. Let’s just say that the Umbrum won’t be hurting anypony ever again.”

In a flash of blue light, she was gone.

“Hope!” Dr. Fie and Starlight called together.

"Wait, Hope!" Lailoken called out. "I have something to tell you!"

“We can’t let her go in there alone!” Dr. Fie said.

“She’s made her choice,” Starlight responded. “And I guess she doesn’t like goodbyes.”

Dr. Fie fidgeted and began stomping around. He was clearly very angry.

“No, no! I refuse to believe she’s gone!” he bellowed. “I will not leave her. Not like this! Not again!”

“Okay, doctor, okay,” Starlight said. “We still have to get on the ship. Stirring and I still have our spell to pick up.”

Dr. Fie looked surprisingly resolute. “Just take me there, madam. I will do the rest.”

Starlight nodded. She waved to Dr. Fie and Stirring, signaling them over. They each took a few steps forward to get as close to her as they need to be. Starlight’s horn glowed turquoise. In an instant, they too were gone.

Lailoken was left alone, just sitting there.

"Wait!" he called out in vain. “Should I stay here or should I leave? I don’t even know where to go!”

There was, predictably, no answer.

“Well, could somepony at least tell me how I’m supposed to begin a new life after a thousand years of madness? Like, is there an orientation meeting for modern Equestria or something?”

Lailoken got to his hooves. He took a worried look at his surroundings. “Then again, sitting in a dark and empty parking lot soaking wet is probably not the best place to start,” he said. He turned his gaze upward. Across from the dark, foreboding ship were the reassuring lights of the city of Las Pegasus.

Lailoken broke into a gallop. He knew where he was going first. After a thousand years of darkness, he wanted nothing more than to spend time among those lights.

What awaited our heroes inside the Empress of Equestria?

Read on.