Shadow of Reform

The Coming Storm

Shards and pieces of black crystal lay scattered around the floor as Sombra shook off the last bits of the crystal shell. He flexed his hoof to shatter a piece of crystal still stuck to him before turning to Radiant Hope, “You said you wanted to help me reclaim the Crystal Empire, yet last time we saw each other you fled and set the Princesses on me. Now you return, use Dark Magic and resurrect me, what has brought about this change?” he asked while crossing his forehooves.

Radiant Hope didn’t say anything at first, but her expression said she was in her thoughts as she began to circle the dark stallion. “When you were banished by the Two Sisters I admit, I was devastated. Believe me when I say it was not my desire to see you be taken away, but the deed had already been done” she stopped behind him and sat on her haunches before continuing, “I wandered the realm of Equestria for days blaming myself for something that was completely my fault, but then I met a being… a sorcerer who took me under his wing, taught me everything there is to know about magic and opened my eyes to the true reality of this world.”

“... And what would that be?” asked Sombra suspiciously.

Hope turned to him, “That fate and everything in this world is fixed. There is no such thing as good or evil. Harmony? HA! That is just what we call the time before something happens that will destroy everything you cherish and leave nothing behind.”

Sombra listened while still eyeing the mare in front of him, unsure of how to respond. “The ponies responsible for your most recent defeat, the Elements of Harmony, they are nothing more than a bunch of ignorant fillies who only manage to delay the inevitable. The harmony they fight to protect is nothing but a lie, but you and I will bring about what should be” said Hope as she approached Sombra.

“And what is to be? What does fate and my conquest have to do with each other?”

“Your evil is the inevitable tide that will end this so-called ‘harmony’. Your reign was the beginning for how things should be, you were always a more fitting ruler than two alicorns who are so lazy that they send a group of fillies to solve their problems. And thus with you in power… things will be as they are supposed to be!” finished Hope in a low but malevolent tone, her expression more sinister and parted by an evil white grin as her eyes began to emanate with Dark Magic.

Sombra’s gaze remained fixed on the mare, his expression one of uncertainty but also silent admiration, “And what do you propose we do to get my throne back?”

“For now we bide our time until you have recovered a sufficient part of your power, and once you are strong enough we will lead a charge into the Crystal Empire… and the first phase of our plan will be within our reach” said Hope.

“And what would charging head on into the Crystal Empire possibly accomplish?” asked Sombra.

With his response, Hope’s sadistic grin graced her features once more, “It will accomplish the very reason for your conquering of the Crystal Empire in the first place… The release of the Umbrum!”

With the bigger picture now in front of him Sombra let a malicious smile spread across his face, his white and razor sharp teeth on full display as he rose from his position.

“I see…” he chuckled in a deep and dark tone “Yes… this is perfect! With the Umbrum free I could finally have the power I need to crush Celestia and Luna!” he let his voice drop to a deep tone, “And then I could finally get my revenge on Twilight Sparkle and her friends… once and for all!”

“But to gain the upper hoof on the the prince and princess of the Crystal Empire we would need to deal with the source of their power, the Crystal Heart. If we take that away the crystal ponies will be powerless to stop us” said Hope.

“And with the Heart out of the way there would be nothing to impede the Umbrum’s return” said Sombra as he deduced the rest of the plan.

“But with the Crystal Faire only a few weeks away my spies would need to finish their assignments as soon as possible.”

“Your spies?” questioned Sombra with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes. I have managed to gather a small ‘team’, if you will, that have agreed to work as my agents while we work out the details” explained Hope.

Sombra lowered his brow at the notion that anypony would assist them in their endeavors, he was very aware of how the crystal ponies feared and abhorred him, so the idea that they would willingly assist him brought a sense of disbelief.

“You need not worry about our little coven. The ponies I have chosen were the remains of your original advisors when you still held the throne before the princesses defeated you and your curse banished the empire. And like you and I, they are not pleased with the current rulers of the kingdom. So convincing them to join us was of little effort” said Radiant Hope with a wave of her hoof before she called out, “isn’t that right?”

Sombra turned his head and saw half a dozen ponies all emerge from the shadows, all wearing the same brown cloak as Hope. And as they emerged they all circled the dark stallion and mare before puffing out their chest and holding their heads up high before they all spoke in unison, “ALL HAIL KING SOMBRA!”

The sight left the evil tyrant speechless, but his surprise was quickly turned into satisfaction as his grin split into a low chuckle before it elevated to a cackle and finally into a full blown maniacal laugh as he surrounded himself with his minions.

With a group of loyal followers at his side and his powers soon to return, those ponies wouldn’t stand a chance.

~~~

The weeks that followed passed by in a blur, and the denizens had all been going about their daily lives.

Rarity had recently finished a line of dresses for her and her friends for the ball taking place after the Faire in the crystal palace.

Applejack had completed the harvest and had bucked enough apples to make cider for everypony to enjoy.

Pinkie Pie had spent her time organizing and filing all of the recipes she would need to bake the treats that would be served during the Crystal Faire and made a separate list for the party afterwards, of which of course she was in charge of and was positively and literally bouncing with giddiness.

Rainbow Dash had been doing her normal routine along with the rest of the weather team in clearing the skies of clouds and making sure all the scheduled weather came accordingly. But for the past few days she had been working extra hard in order to get everything done before the Crystal Faire, which was surprising to most since she had been passing up her usual napping sessions.

Fluttershy had been tending to her animals and making sure all of them were fed and healthy before her departure in a few hours.

And as for Twilight, she had been assisting the the mayor Ivory Scroll with the some of Ponyville’s resident requests and making sure all of her paperwork and assignments were completed, as well as keeping in correspondence with Princess Cadence, especially after their visit into the lower recesses of the crystal palace.

“Alright… that should be the last one” said Twilight as she put the finishing touches on a scroll before telekinetically handing it to Spike.

The little dragon inhaled deeply before breathing out a stream of green flames as the parchment magically faded away to its destination. “Alright if that's the last one, then we better get to the train station. Were meeting everypony there right?”

Walking out of the office room to the upper levels of her castle, Twilight responded “That’s right Spike, but before we leave we need to make sure we have everything packed for our stay with my brother and sister-in-law. We need to make EXTRA sure so we don’t forget anything.”

“Relax Twilight I got everything we need, besides it's not like we're gonna doing much so all we gotta do is relax”

Twilight became a little annoyed before saying “Spike, just because we’re gonna be staying there doesn’t mean we're gonna lounge around and leave everything to everypony else, we need to lend a hoof whenever we can.”

“Well of course we’ll help, but the Crystal Faire is only a few days away besides I’m sure Shining Armor and Cadence have everything under control.”

The pair had gathered their things and had walked down into the foyer of the castle where they met Starlight Glimmer patiently waiting for them at the front door, “Hey guys are you all ready to go?”

“In a minute I need to make sure I have everything checked out before we leave” said Twilight while levitating a clipboard and rummaging through her saddlebags. The unicorn and dragon both rolled their eyes with a smile at their friend’s usual behavior for perfection.

Once everything was done Twilight, Spike and Starlight exited the castle and made their way to the train station.