Twilight, Spike, and their friends had just discovered some very important information about the Crystal Fair and were heading back to Shining Armor and Princess Cadance to tell them what they’d learned so that they could set it up right away.

Spike, the resident baby dragon and Twilight’s number 1 assistant, had been following them, just as excited as his pony friends about the fair along with his role in said fair.

Namely the Royal Jester.

However, before he could take another step, he’d felt a strange feeling come over him. It wasn’t quite like being watched but that was a close comparison. Really, the best way to describe it was a like a wave of unease that stole over him. He then felt the inexplicable need to return to the bookshelf where they had found the book about the Crystal Fair. He'd tried to ignore it by simply following after his friends but as he continued his trek, his unease began to grow.

I doubt Twilight will mind much if I tell her that I’m just checking to make sure we hadn’t left anything behind. Spike mused about his studious unicorn friend as he told her that he wanted to check something really quickly. Twilight had offered no resistance as he turned tail and moved back to the table to check for any missing or important items. Sure enough, the table was devoid of anything remotely useful to their quest. That said, Spike suddenly felt a very strong pull.

Turning around, Spike felt the pull tighten as though it might pull his lungs out of his chest. It had reached almost painful levels when he noticed a wall with a glowing glyph on it.

Curiosity piqued, Spike stepped toward it and touched it. To his surprise, the wall slid open to reveal a secret study. The first thing he’d noticed was the multitude of busts of King Sombra’s head that were kept in there. The second were the bookshelves loaded with ancient books. And lastly, there was a lone book resting atop a desk.

As Spike stepped closer to the book on the desk, he’d noticed more details about the book in question: namely it had no title, was leather bound, and looked to be really old.

What he hadn’t noticed was the currently unconscious unicorn mare that was apparently fast asleep on the desk in front of the book. Naturally, when he noticed her, it caught him off guard and had made him take several steps back.

However, his gasp was enough for her to stir in her sleep and soon awaken. The two had then stared at each other for several seconds, blinking in tandem.

“Who are you?” They both asked in unison as they continued to stare at each other.

“I’m Spike,” said the young dragon.

“Radiant Hope, a pleasure to meet you,” replied the crystal unicorn with a small smile.

The two simply stared for another few seconds. During that time, Spike managed to get a good look at her before Radiant Hope decided to break the tension and take the initiative.

She was a crystal pony much like every other pony he and his friends had met ever since coming to the Crystal Empire. Her coat was a dark blue with her mane and tail a lighter shade of blue. He had noticed that her cutie mark was that of caduceus.

Whatever that was.

“There must be something special about you to be able to open the door to this room,” she told him. “Only a chosen few are able to gain access to this room.” Spike had blinked at that. All he’d done was touch a glyph that then allowed him access. As far as he was concerned, there wasn't really anything special about him. However, when he told her that, she simply shook her head.

“A really powerful curse was placed on that glyph which prevents just anypony from being able to activate it. That alone tells me that there’s something special about you. Maybe… just maybe, you might be the one that will be able to do it,” Hope told him. Spike was more inclined to think that his immunity to darker magic was what allowed him to dispel the curse without getting hurt but let her think whatever she wanted to believe. That said, he did want to know one thing.

“Do what exactly?”

“Rescue Sombra,” she stated. When she noticed Spike’s incredulous stare, she continued, “Sombra wasn’t always the tyrannical king that he was known as when the empire disappeared 1000 years ago. In fact,” she paused, wondering whether telling this next bit would help things before ultimately throwing caution to the wind. “He and I were best friends before all of this happened.”

Upon hearing that, Spike’s first inclination was to run and get back to the others but then he remembered one of the friendship reports Twilight had dictated to him to send to Princess Celestia: I’ve learned that sometimes the solutions to your problems can come from where you least expect it. It’s a good idea to stop and listen to your friends’ perspectives even if they don’t always seem to make sense.

I can at least give her the benefit of the doubt. Spike thought. Besides, Princess Luna always said that if you know yourself and your foe then you hold the key to victory and it worked for Discord and Chrysalis too!

“You’re going to have to explain this to me,” Spike told her carefully. “The only things I know about Sombra was that he ruled the Crystal Empire a thousand years ago and that he enslaved the crystal ponies.”

“Very well,” Hope nodded, looking as though she was ready to go into battle. Her horn began to glow with a sky blue aura as the mysterious book on the desk began to flip open, quickly flipping through the pages before settling on a single page to begin.

“It all begins here…” she began as her horn lit up more brightly.

Spike felt himself feeling that same pull that had ultimately brought him into the study as both he and Hope were pulled into the book itself. If nothing else, Spike was certain that he wouldn’t be leaving the room empty handed as he felt himself lose consciousness.

* * *

When Spike came to, he found himself and Hope standing outside the Crystal Empire with an unconscious colt being led to an orphanage by a pair of crystal guards.

“This was Sombra as a young colt,” Hope explained. “Sombra was the only word that he uttered when he came to so that became his name. He had never bothered correcting it later.” The two watched as Sombra was placed in the care of a pony called Chestnut Falls and it had been decided that Sombra would live at the orphanage as well as attend the local school.

Spike watched in fascination as the scene changed to show Sombra at the local school. Hope had explained that he had picked up the language quite quickly even if his speaking mannerisms were a bit awkward. That said, he had since been alienated by his peers because of that as well as his lack of a cutie mark as Hope had explained.

Now why does that sound familiar? Spike thought as his mind briefly drifted to three fillies who’d also been alienated by bullies in their class. In the end, they had found solace with each other and had formed a group in an attempt to discover their special talents.

Shaking his head, Spike watched as he noticed the filly Hope approach Sombra and invite him to play with her and her pixie friends. She had explained that they had treated her much the same way because she was apparently too weird as well. Eager to accept her invitation, the two had started to play together despite becoming more alienated from their peers. Neither cared as long as they had each other.

“If you want, you can be weird with me and we’ll be weird together. Would that be okay?” That had been the initial basis for their friendship. Hope had just offered a couple words of advice but the mare next to Spike had explained that Sombra hadn’t cared as he appreciated her vast imagination.

Spike watched as Sombra and Hope grew closer as friends and continued play numerous games together ranging from playing knights and dragons, to other improvised games in which only they knew the rules. Spike had begun to laugh as they argued over some of the rules much like he’d seen fillies and colts back in Ponyville argue when they didn’t agree on what the rules ought to be.

The scenes changed as Spike watched them collect gems into their mini dragon bank.

He couldn't quite control his drooling as he watched the two young ponies depositing their gems into the small toy dragon bank.

“I wanted to take Sombra with me to the Crystal Fair: the greatest celebration in all of Equestria,” Hope explained to Spike as her filly self showed Sombra several books featuring the topic. “The whole point of the Crystal Fair was to restore to spirit of love and unity so that we can protect it from harm. I think that helped pique Sombra’s fascination with the fair.”

“It sounds like it would be a lot fun,” Spike agreed. The way that his friends had described their potential booths, it certain sounded that this upcoming would definitely be an event to remember.

“Hurry up Sombra!” Hope yelled as she took the lead as she led her friend to the empire’s sacred relic.

“I’m coming!” Sombra was panting and sweating as he came to a stop next to his energetic friend, catching his breath. By the time that he’d managed to catch it, Hope had already started gazing into the crystal heart’s depths with Sombra following her lead.

“They say that if you gaze into the depths of the Crystal Heart, you will have visions of a possible future for yourself,” Hope explained to a confused Spike as they watched the two young ponies stare into the relic's depths. “I saw myself as a princess so naturally I was excited. But Sombra…” Spike moved toward the image of Sombra and managed to catch a glimpse of the colt’s possible future. The heart had shown him as an evil being of darkness leading an army of dark creatures on a siege. Sombra was clearly shaken by the experience.

It was then that a tall unicorn, Princess Amore, had approached them. The two had immediately bowed until she had commanded that they rise. The tall mare looked between the young ponies and the crystal heart before returning her gaze to her subjects, a gentle smile on her face as she addressed them.

“You know,” she began, catching both ponies’ attention. “They say that the crystal heart possesses magical properties. It reflects what’s in your heart.” That much was obvious if the fact that it was the relic that restored the many protections that allowed for the Crystal Empire’s continued existence.

“So does that mean that what we saw will actually happen?” asked Hope eagerly. “Because I saw myself as princess!” The mare that stood next to Spike silently shook her head. She had been so naive at that time.

“It might,” replied Princess Amore with a gentle smile, “I’ve personally taken what the Crystal Heart has shown me with a grain of salt. I’ve been a firm believer that we have the power to control our own fates.” She then turned to Sombra, “So Sombra, Hope tells me that she saw herself as a princess. What did you see when you looked into the heart?”

“Nothing.” Sombra replied quietly. Princess Amore arched an eyebrow as she held Sombra’s gaze.

“Nothing?” She asked gently.

“Just... some darkness like my shadow or something,” he admitted, casting a sidelong look at an oblivious Hope who was still riding an endorphin high from the prospect that she might be able to become a princess.

“That moment was probably the first hint that something was wrong,” Hope told Spike. “That vision that Sombra saw depicted him much as he is now. And I was too foolish to see it and help him because I was so caught up in my own foalish dream of becoming a princess!” She stomped a hoof on the crystal road.

“That’s not really something either of you could have predicted,” Spike protested. “I mean you both were still just a filly and colt and there was no way either of you could have known what that meant especially during that time. Besides,” he added, “the fact that you’re trying to do everything you can to rescue him makes me think that you’re making up for it.”

The two exchanged a brief smile before Hope’s smile melted into a more solemn expression.

“Unfortunately,” Hope began sadly as the scene transitioned into the dawn of the day of the Crystal Fair. The pair watched as a filly Hope barged into Sombra’s room insisting that he wake up. Her yelling had the additional effect of causing him to fall out of the bed. She had hustled him into movement but frowned when she didn't hear him following her.

“I can’t move my legs,” Sombra told her, grimacing in pain as he tried in vain to curl up in hopes of at least alleviating it.

It had turned out that Sombra was unable to move at all and had been bedridden the entire fair much to the mutual disappointment of both Hope and Sombra. Ms. Chestnut Falls had brought in a physician to look Sombra over but could not for the life of him find anything wrong with him no matter what sort of physical or psychiatric exam he could come up with, Sombra’s exam results came back normal or within normal limits for a unicorn of his build.

In the end, Sombra had been told to stay in bed and hopefully sleep it off. Hope had opted to forgo the festival and stay by Sombra’s side. She had told him that she probably wouldn't have had as much fun without him anyway. Sombra had appreciated the sentiment but the guilt that it was because of him that Hope wasn't attending the festivities weighed heavily on the colt's mind.

“There’s always next year,” she told him as he expressed his regret that he couldn’t go with her to the Fair.

The scene changed to show that the day after, Sombra had returned to full strength as if the ordeal hadn’t happened which in and of itself was quite unusual. However, neither had really questioned it and had simply gone through as normal. But every year on that day, Sombra would be bedridden for no apparent reason and it was clear that whatever his condition was, was weighing on his mind especially since it was because of him that Hope never got to go to the fair since they'd become friends.

One year on the day of the fair, Sombra’s condition worsened to a point to where his body had begun to crystallize, much to Spike’s surprise. Ponies typically did not make a point of crystallize and being friends with Twilight had made him privy to most pony diseases. Admittedly, his knowledge was nowhere near as extensive as Twilight’s but he could safely say that he’d never heard of a condition that caused somepony to turn to crystal. Desperate to save her only friend, Hope had lit up her horn and pumped out as much magic as she possibly could. The end result being that Sombra’s body had been restored and that Hope had finally earned her cutie mark: a caduceus and thus discovering her talent in healing any injury or ailment. Hope had found herself in Sombra’s forehooves as he hugged her tightly, a gentle smile on his face.

The scene shifted to a later point in time in which Hope had just finished telling Sombra about the princesses’s invitation to study with them in Canterlot. In response, Sombra had only run off.

“I don’t get it,” Spike frowned as he and Hope watched Sombra run off. “Why would Sombra run off like that? Shouldn’t he have been happy for you.”

“I’m sure that a part of him was happy for me,” said Hope carefully, “but you also have to keep in mind his position at the time: I was the only friend he had and he was the only friend I had at that time as well. The fact that I was most likely going to be leaving him behind to study in Canterlot hadn’t boded well for him. I also think that he thought that this would be the first step that would lead to my becoming a princess which would make his only destiny come true.”

Spike was dubious but decided to take Hope at her word. After all, she knew Sombra better than anypony around did.

The scene shifted once again where Sombra slowed to a stop into the frozen wasteland outside the empire. There, he ran into a strange red crystal claiming to be his “mother” and revealing that he was not in fact a pony.

“What do you mean?” Sombra asked dubiously, eyes transfixed on the pulsing red crystal. “I look and act like a pony. How can I possibly be anything else?”

“Haven’t you ever wondered,” the crystal asked, ignoring his question, “just why you were never able to attend the Crystal Fair?” That caught Sombra off guard as the crystal began to explain his true origins.

Apparently, Sombra was an umbrum: a shadow and smoke given physical form.

“You were created from the darkness to destroy the Crystal Heart which is Princess Amore’s weapon against the darkness and to set the umbrum army that rests beneath the army free,” it told him. That talk had then awakened Sombra’s dormant powers as he took on the more familiar appearance Spike had encountered through the busts of Sombra’s head.

“But… Hope,” Sombra had tried to protest when the crystal had given him an ultimatum: if he did not remove the Crystal Heart by the next Crystal Fair, said relic would destroy him. Sombra wasn’t the only one shocked by this ultimatum. Spike and Hope had both been caught off guard by the revelation.

Sombra’s only bothering with this because he wants to survive. He didn’t want to lose his friend and he wanted to see the Crystal Fair. But because of who he was and the life that he’d led up to that point, that had become a near impossible feat. Spike realized as he processed the ultimatum.

In any case, the pair watched as Sombra snuck under the cover of darkness to steal the Crystal Heart. Unfortunately, he didn’t get far before Princess Amore confronted him, trying to persuade him to not steal the empire’s key protection source while having admitted to knowing just what he was all along. That had enraged Sombra as he believed that the Princess had knowingly caused Sombra years of pain. As a result, he had turned her into a black crystal statue, much to Spike’s surprise. He’d never heard of anypony being strong enough to be able to turn them into stone without the element of harmony at least.

It was here that Radiant Hope had appeared, horrified by what her friend had done and had pleaded for him to stop.

“I knew that at that point, Sombra was past reason. I knew that by that point, I needed to warn the princesses,” Hope told Spike as they watched her other self refuse Sombra’s invitation to rule by his side. The refusal had caused her to destroy Princess Amore’s statue and scatter the fragments across the world so that she couldn’t be restored in time to try to stop him.

While Radiant Hope had sent word to the Princesses, Sombra had enslaved the crystal ponies and released the umbrum army that had been locked away beneath the city.

“Of course,” Hope added as they spotted Celestia and Luna confronting Sombra, “he knew that his defeat was inevitable so he enacted a terrible curse that caused the empire to disappear.”

Spike watched in shock as both Luna and Celestia were thrown out of the empire while Sombra had been knocked out cold.

* * *

“And now Sombra is back and wants to finish what he started,” Hope concluded. “He wants to rule all of Equestria and he needs to be stopped before that can happen.”

“He needs to realize that not everypony was responsible for what had happened to him,” Spike told her. “He can’t punish everypony for the actions of the few that had tormented him when he was a colt.”

“Indeed,” Hope nodded. “But I’m still certain that the Sombra that I knew and loved is still in there somewhere and I’m not giving up until he’s returned.”

“Well, I know that my friends are currently setting up a Crystal Fair to help the ponies here,” Spike offered. Hope told him that they would need to find the Crystal Heart as that was the central relic that powered the empire’s defenses.

“It’s actually hidden somewhere in the Crystal Castle. Sombra created a door that led to his own personal castle where he kept the Crystal Heart but if you decide to go after it, be careful, he has set up some curses to… dissuade those who would try to steal it back from him,” Hope warned. She had gone on to explain some of the protections surrounding the sacred relic. The most prominent were the door that forced whoever was perusing the relic to experience their own worst fears come to life and the second being a curse that sealed a unicorn’s magic when the Crystal Heart was removed from its place.

Forget the test. Spike thought defiantly. As far as he was concerned, this test was nothing more than a dumb farce. When ponies’ lives where on the line then all bets were off as far as he was concerned.

But he still needed to tell this piece of information to his friends. They needed to know this so that they could make the preparations.

“Thanks for all your help... Radiant?” Spike paused, looking around and noticing that his unicorn acquaintance had since disappeared. He scanned the room once more before taking his own leave.

* * *

Which leads us to now.

Having found the crystal heart, Spike and Twilight had made to escape and get the heart to the fair. Unfortunately, it was not quite that simply given that the latter had knocked the relic off its pedestal which activated several black stalagmites to emerge from the ground and trapping Twilight inside.

Her first thought was to use a standard teleport spell to escape.

And it worked! Except not really…

Sombra obvious had good foresight on such a thing given that the magic in the stalagmites reacted with Twilight’s horn and pulled her back inside.

Realizing that she was trapped and there wasn’t enough time for her to come up with a way to escape without putting the safety of the empire in danger, she knew what she had to do.

“You have to be the one to take the Crystal Heart to the fair,” Twilight told him.

Spike didn’t bother trying to argue, there wasn’t enough time anyway, so he did what anybody would do in such a situation.

Namely, he grabbed said relic and jump out a window. He also ran as fast as his small legs would carry him.

He was just lucky that there was already a spire right outside the tower for him to use to get back to the plaza. However, that was where his luck ended as he spotted Sombra practically flying at him with his blood red eyes homing in on relic.

In his panic to avoid the umbrum though, Spike had lost his grip on the relic and had fallen off the tower. In his desperate attempt to save himself, Spike tried to reduce his surface area to increase his speed so that he could grab the Crystal Heart before Sombra could.

It was right here that several things happened at once: both Spike and Sombra had managed to touch the crystal heart which triggered a reaction within the relic, pulling them both inside much to the surprise of everypony present.

* * *

When Spike came to, he blinked when he found himself in what looked to be a royal sitting room on par with those he’d seen in Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s sitting rooms. He could see the numerous comfortable looking chairs and the high ceilings that seemed to go on forever. The only major difference between them being was that unlike the Canterlot castle sitting rooms, this one was made up of pure crystal.

Being a dragon, Spike’s first instinct was to either eat everything or hoard it all for himself. The remembrance of what had nearly happened on his birthday was enough to dissuade him from hoarding it. As for the former…

Spike had tried a few crystals in the past and while they smelled nice and looked pretty they didn’t taste all that great to him.

Okay, that wasn't entirely true. Still, they certainly weren't rubies...

Frowning at the thought of having nothing to do. He was alone in this room, he suddenly found a tray with three cups of what smelled like piping hot tea along with a few biscuits sitting in a small container next to them. His stomach had stopped his thought process from questioning just where this had all come from as he’d been certain they hadn’t been there moments before.

However, before he could so much as pick up the cup or sample some of the delicious smelling biscuits, the young dragon could hear the sound of clattering hooves nearby. Looking up, he found himself more than a little taken aback when he saw the familiar face of Radiant Hope. What he didn’t expect was the pony that was with her.

More accurately, the umbrum that was with her.

Yes, King Sombra was in their wake. However, Spike, much to his relief, couldn’t help but notice that he seemed weaker in this place. That much was obvious by the fact that the tyrannical king hadn’t tried to attack him for stealing the Crystal Heart. The young dragon wasn’t sure if it was because of the power of the Crystal that weakened him enough to reduce him to such a state or if it was something else but he didn’t get a chance to think on it for much longer when Hope spoke up.

“Couldn’t be bothered with waiting for us, could you Spike?” she smiled wanly at him. Spike fidgeted while smiling sheepishly. Despite everything that had happened ever since he and Twilight had moved to Ponyville, Spike had, at his core, been a baby dragon and still had some semblance of childlike instincts in his psyche.

“Sorry Hope,” Spike replied apologetically. Hope, for her part, had merely shaken her head at him in amusement as she forcibly lead Sombra to an armchair and despite his protests as shown by his growls and snarls, she pushed him head first into said chair, however, she hadn’t accounted for how strong she was and the excess force exerted from her push had caused the chair to tip over. The king had soon followed with a rather spectacular faceplant worthy of a king of his stature.

Hope, at least, had the gall to look apologetic about her actions. Spike, on the other hand, held no such qualms at his almost childlike laughter echoed almost eerily across the hall as he fell off his own seat and clutched his small belly in a vain hope to stem the amusement from Sombra’s accident.

* * *

Now found the three of them properly seated in their respective chairs, a cup of tea close by while they munched on a plate of biscuits.

Spike sighed. He really didn’t like having such awkward silences and wished for nothing more than for Pinkie to burst in out of nowhere and break the abrupt silences with a party or music or anything really. He actually paused for a few seconds in the vain hope that it could possibly happen.

This was Pinkie Pie after all.

A few moments passed and Spike had to concede defeat. His friends had no means of rescuing them and he was on his own.

Well… since I’m here I might as well talk to Sombra. Spike thought. Maybe I can get his side of the story so if nothing else, I can at least understand him a little bit better.

“Why?” Spike asked, staring at Sombra.

Sombra finished off his biscuit before wiping his mouth daintily with a napkin before leveling Spike with a shrewd look.

“You’ll have to be more specific, dragon,” Sombra spoke coherently for the first time. “Why is but a single word with an open ended meaning that could be referring to any one of the many things that I have done during my life.”

Spike sighed. "First off, I have a name. It's Spike. Anyway, I don’t understand why you went through all the trouble of enslaving the Crystal Empire.” He paused. “Okay, that not entirely true. I can empathize with you about being different just by nature.” He gestured down at himself. “I’m a dragon that lives among ponies while you’re an umbrum that lives among ponies.”

“Granted, Sombra’s main disadvantages happen to be his speech patterns as well as his lack of a cutie mark,” Hope supplied helpfully. She pointedly ignored her friend’s glare as she maintained eye contact with Spike. “He didn’t even know that he was an umbrum himself until he’d grown much older and had become a stallion.”

Hope couldn’t help but blush a little as she said the next bit. “An attractive stallion.”

That had caught Sombra off guard.

Hope thinks I’m… attractive? He thought, staring at the unicorn mare in equal parts shock and wonder. Spike had to fight back a smile as he watched Sombra become more and more flustered in an ironic shift in character. However, the blushing was not meant to last as the red eyed stallion had quickly regained his composure despite Hope’s adorable pouting silently demanding otherwise.

Shaking his head, Spike decided to get the conversation back on what little track it had started with, “So going back to the dragon living among ponies bit.” He bit back a smile as he saw Sombra leaning in to listen to him. “I can relate because like I said before, I’m a dragon that lives among ponies ever since birth. Just because of the fact that I’m a dragon, I would always get these strange or scared looks from ponies as I went about my day.” He sighed, “It made making friends my own age a lot harder than it really should have been especially when they think that because you're a dragon, you're going to eat everything in sight.”

He paused.

“Although, I think it also might have to do with the fact that dragons tend to age differently from ponies and that also made them wary of making friends with me,” Spike admitted. There was also the fact that dragons were reputed for having among the sharpest teeth in the entire world. “But my point still stands about some ponies not liking me just because I was a dragon. But just like you, I had very quickly found a friend in Twilight and later in her family.”

Sombra sighed as Spike finished his account of what essentially amounted to his life story sans his move to Ponyville.

“I didn’t think that we would be quite so similar, dragon... Spike,” Sombra admitted while catching his near-slip up. “But even though you were fundamentally different, I would argue that you were lucky because you had grown up around a group of much nicer ponies who ultimately didn’t pick on you if the friends you’ve made are any indication. Not only did you have the purple unicorn but her family and friends had, from what I can tell, adopted you into the fold as well if what you say is accurate.”

Spike had to concede that point but fortunately was able to come up with some kind of rebuttal.

“Hope showed me what essentially amounted to your life story,” Sombra let out a growl while Hope was torn between giving a sheepish look to Sombra or a betrayed one to Spike. That kind of information was meant to be private for a reason. It also made Sombra wonder just how Spike had managed to break through the many curses that he kept on both the study where he kept the journal as well as the journal itself.

He looked at Spike.

And then it clicked.

And then he wanted to find the strongest earth pony in all of Equestria and ask them to buck him in the head as hard as they could. How could he have possibly have overlooked the possibility that a dragon with magic resistant scales might wander into his study to find some tasty gems to eat! The Crystal Empire was practically famous for them as well as their alliance with dragon tribes.

Or at least that had been the case before Sombra took over the Crystal Empire.

“And from what I saw,” Spike continued, either oblivious or purposefully ignorant to Sombra’s internal dilemma, “it seemed like you were adjusting to the empire just fine. I mean your speech had improved significantly and you seemed to learn really fast as well! So why didn’t you ever try to make any friends after the fact?”

“You’re forgetting that by the time that I managed to adapt well enough to consider the idea of making other friends, I already had Radiant Hope by my side and I figured why in Amore’s name would I even need anypony else? I already had my one true friend whom I’ve endured all manner of torment.”

Hope found herself blushing brightly. She hadn’t expected Sombra to feel as strongly about her as she did about him. All the while, it did make her happy to hear him speak so highly of her.

Even if he did end up a tyrannical king.

Bad Hope she chided herself harshly. Sombra’s not a bad pony. He’s just done some bad things that he had been forced by that dumb crystal to do if only to ensure his own survival.

Deciding that moving on was the best remedy, Spike continued. “So that vision you saw in the Crystal Heart…”

“Princess Amore always said that the images shown within the relic were reflections of what were in our hearts,” Sombra stated simply. “I didn’t want to believe it since things had started to look up: the bullies had started to back off, Hope and I had become better friends, and we’d had a goal: namely, going to the Crystal Fair. I was scared of what might happen if it came to pass.” He cracked a smile for the first time although it had the effect of making him look more intimidating than any of his snarling or growling could even come close to pulling off.

“Ironically, it was that same fear that led me to fleeing to the frozen north and finding my ‘so-called Mother’. Well that fear coupled with the news of Hope’s intention to travel to Canterlot to study healing magic under the Equestrian Princesses so that fear coupled with the fear of Hope’s inevitable departure led me to the very vision that I saw in the Crystal Heart.”

“Yes, but Princess Amore also pointed out that we all have the power to control how the future can turn out for each of us,” Spike pointed out. He’d explained that just because something we see in a vision might happen, didn’t necessarily mean that it would happen. He’d brought up Hope’s vision of becoming a princess which had clearly never came to pass if the lack of wings or any sort of royal adornments were any indication.

“Sombra,” Hope spoke up for the first time in a good while. “Did that crystal provide any proof that she was actually your mother.” Sombra stared at her while she shrugged helplessly.

“I just have an awfully hard time believing that a crystal can give birth to a pony or an umbrum for that matter,” she explained.

“That’s actually a really good point,” Spike agreed. “Since crystals are, well, highly ordered structures and ponies and umbrums, I guess, are not since we have water and other stuff inside us and we have more ability to move than a crystal can hope to achieve.” He paused. “Plus, there’s also the fact that you don’t have any crystal traits going for you that would make you attractive to a dragon since gems are, in a sense, crystalline in structure.”

The odd look that he got prompted him to respond with a shrug, “Dragons have had a flare for material science after all.”

Leaving that last remark aside, Sombra paused to consider this point. “The only evidence she offered was the explanation of why I had always fallen ill on the day of the fair. If you read my journal, then you probably know that, according to ‘Mother’, the crystal heart was a weapon that Princess Amore used to banish the darkness and keep the light and love strong in the Crystal Empire. If what she said was correct, it then explains why I wouldn’t have been able to move on the day of the Crystal Fair; that was the day when the relic would be at its most powerful since so many ponies would be using their light and love to feed and strengthen it to protect them until the next fair. If I wanted to continue to surprise, she explained that I would have to destroy the Crystal Heart.”

“Wait just a second,” said Spike abruptly. “If that was the case, why not just go with Hope to Canterlot in the first place? It would have been a double win for both you! Sombra wouldn’t have even had to bother with destroying the Crystal Heart since he wouldn’t live in the Crystal Empire anymore and Hope would have a friend that could provide emotional support in Canterlot which led a much different lifestyle compared to the life that the ponies in the Crystal Empire led.” In all honesty, Spike wasn’t entirely sure if that was true given that he wasn’t certain about what Canterlot was like a thousand years ago. He also pointed out that Sombra might have been able to find his special talent in Canterlot if he didn’t find it in the Crystal Empire.

Nonetheless, Sombra and Hope had paused and were genuinely thinking about it. In hindsight, it seemed like that would have been the best option.

Besides, seeing more of the world might have done Sombra some good if only because nopony would have known of his past and he would have had an easier time making friends. But even still…

“There was still the Crystal Fair,” Sombra pointed out. “Aside from Hope, my only other reason for living in the Crystal Empire, familiarity notwithstanding, was that I really wanted to see the Crystal Fair. It was something that I wanted to see and do when I was a colt since Radiant Hope made it seem like it would be a lot of fun.” He looked down, partially ashamed with himself and partially guilty that his sickness had prevented Hope from going as well.

“I wanted to take Hope out to the Crystal Fair just so we could see it together before we did anything else,” Sombra explained, an odd sense of passion in his voice that he’d never felt there before. “Even if it ended up destroying me.” That passion had turned into a desire to protect the pony he cared about most.

It was here that many things happened in unison. Firstly, Hope had practically lunged at Sombra, hugging him as tightly as her hooves would allow. Not satisfied, she had then gone in to nuzzle his neck which, to her delight, Sombra had returned enthusiastically. Secondly, Sombra had started to glow brightly before being bathed in the white light, blinding both Spike and Hope as they had been forced to shield their eyes from the radiance emitting from the umbrum.

That, in and of itself, was strange if only because umbrums were meant to be creatures of darkness and light had no business existing in them.

Then again, Sombra had always liked to challenge fate.

When the light faded away, the red eyed tyrannical king that Spike was familiar with was no more, and in his place was a light gray stallion with a black mane and tail. Once he opened his eyes, the blood red hue that Spike had been so accustomed to seeing was gone in favor of a bright green that seemed to radiate far more benevolence than the old red eyes could have ever hoped for. Hope had let out a gasp of delight while Spike stared in shock.

“How… did that happen?” he asked, speechless as he stared at the two as they nuzzled each other again. The scene reminded the young dragon of how Shining Armor and Princess Cadance interacted not long after their wedding ceremony. However, there was another revelation that came as a result of the improvised light show.

And it was on Sombra’s flank.

“Sombra,” Spike spoke, his voice belied his awe. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo are going to love this. “Check out your flanks.”

Sombra and Hope had blinked at the young dragon’s statement before they both obeyed and looked to Sombra’s flanks, curiosity being the chief emotion at work.

What was originally a pair of blank flanks now bore the symbol of a heart-shaped shield half covered in light and half covered in darkness with several small starts circled around the heart. Spike wasn’t sure what his talent ultimately meant but figured that Sombra and Hope would have a good time figuring it out.

“Your cutie mark,” Hope breathed as she threw herself back into his hooves. Sombra was too stunned to speak himself as he turned back to his friend while Spike watched them from the side while wondering when he would be lucky enough to be in that same situation, hugging his friend turned beloved.

One thing at a time, I suppose. Spike mused with a wry smile as the the three of them felt their surroundings start to warp and fade from their eyes…

* * *

When Spike came to, he immediately recognized a couple things. First, he wasn’t in the plaza like he would have thought; instead, he was in the palace in a small but comfortable bed. A quick view of his surroundings had told him that he was in some sort of infirmary. The fact that he was in the bed made him wonder whether the whole discussion he’d had with Sombra was just a dream of had it really happened?

The next thing he noticed was that he wasn’t alone in the infirmary. He could see Radiant Hope and a revived and possibly reformed Sombra resting on beds across from him. That ruled out the possibility that the conversation had been a dream.

The final thing he’d noticed was that his friends were at his bedside, fast asleep. However, it seemed as though Pinkie was stirring as she stretched her hooves and rubbed the remnants of sleep from her eyes. A smile appeared at the sight of Spike’s awakening so she had hastened to wake up the rest of her friends.

Grumbling aside, they had asked about what had happened after he’d disappeared into the Crystal Heart.

Their dragon friend had happily obliged as he recounted both the tale of how he stumbled on Sombra’s diary as well as how he and Sombra had talked to each other after they had apparently disappeared. That one had piqued Twilight’s interest as she asked why he didn’t tell her about it.

Spike had replied by stating that he’d gotten caught in the preparations for the fair and helping her search for the Crystal Heart that it kind of slipped his mind.

Thankfully, Twilight had let the subject go and let him continue.

However, they had mentioned one thing that had been rather curious. Namely, that the Crystal Heart had been pulsing violently while changing between its normal bright blue color to a dark shade of red bordering on black. That had led them to believe that Sombra and Spike had been absorbed into the Crystal Heart when they vanished on direct physical contact with the relic.

In any case, their attention was diverted when they noticed the mare and stallion in the beds stirring before awakening.

Twilight had decided to tell her brother and sister-in-law that the three had awakened and so with that as her motivator, she galloped out of the infirmary.

* * *

The first thing that Sombra had done when he met Princess Cadance was apologize for he’d done to both the empire as well to Princess Amore herself. As he reflected on his actions, he had come to realize that he had petrified her in his rage at her purposefully allowing him to suffer for years on end.

“She wasn’t able to help me like I was hoping she would and I got mad at her for it,” Sombra explained to a more sympathetic Cadance.

In the end, the crystal ponies, after listening to Sombra’s tale, had found it in themselves to applaud his reformation. What he said next would both shock and impress them even further.

“I’m going to find all the pieces of Princess Amore and hopefully, I can restore her,” he told the crowd of ponies assembled. A series of collective gasps met his declaration. However, that quickly died in favor of the stomping of hooves and the cheers at the thought of their long lost ruler returning to them.

“Is that even possible?” Spike whispered in Sombra’s ear once the ponies had dispersed.

“Yes,” Sombra nodded, addressing the ponies present alongside him as well. “I may have turned her to stone and scattered the pieces, but that does not equate to death since I did not cast a mortally dangerous wound on her. All my spell did was imprison her in the stones. If I can find all the pieces scattered around the world and bring them together, I should be able to revive her.”

That much was great news for all of them.

“Well you’re not going alone,” Radiant Hope pointed out. “I’ve only just found you again and I’ll be darned if anything takes you away from me again.”

Sombra looked like he wanted to protest but the determined look on Hope’s face killed any argument he may have had on his tongue. Besides, he liked the idea of spending some more time with Hope and he had always wondered what lay beyond the Crystal Empire's borders.

“Deal,” he agreed. He turned to Spike. “I owe you a debt of gratitude, dragon. If you happen to need any help or happen to find one of the pieces of Princess Amore, do let me know. Rest assured that your letters will find me.” His horn glowed a bright green as Spike glowed a similar color before said light dissipated. “Now you can send me messages via dragon fire.”

With Sombra and Hope away from the Crystal Empire searching for Princess Amore's shards, it had been decided that Princess Cadance and Shining Armor would rule the empire in his stead. The fact that Princess Cadance was her her descendant only served to solidify this sentiment. With that, the former King Sombra and his best friend Radiant Hope had set off to hunt for the fragments and bring back the long lost Princess Amore.

Spike smiled as he watched them walk away from the place they had called home. It was clear to him that they had found happiness together.

It was a good day.

Author's Note

This one was a tough one to write. I had gone through three different renditions of this chapter before I finally settled on this one which I liked the most out of the segments I wrote. All that being said, I should explain one thing for those who don't know.

Radiant Hope is not a pony of my creation. She was introduced in the comic book series: Fiendship is Magic (no I didn't misspell that) issue #1. This is where Sombra's backstory came into play and I came to understand him having more to his character than the show would have us believe.

All that being said, I hope you all like it and leave any suggestions for how I can improve in the comments. (Or you can PM me).