Sombra's Bat

The Changelings arrive, and within three days build a huge new hive from scratch. Apparently their journey was delayed by bad weather, but they are here now and that is all that matters. Chrysalis seems to like exaggerating everything in a very villainish manner, but she is really a mother who does everything she can for her young to thrive. She somewhat has a sense of humour, but not as much as Sombra, who seems to be in a good mood as of late, perhaps because he got all of that negativity out of his system. He is nice to our subjects and also makes a spontaneous decision that turns out to be absolutely brilliant.

The crystal ponies rejoice when he announces the abolition of the Elite Guard. He tells me it was a tough choice, but that he thinks it was the right one. Those who were in the Elite Guard are now regular Crystal Guards, and Sombra destroys all of the old armour that allowed the mind control spell to work. After the announcement, I notice that various black crystal structures change colour, and I point this out to Sombra.

"This is excellent, Moonlight. If we can have that Festival of Colour, then maybe the Crystal Empire really will shine," he exclaims. "It could be our ticket to ending the war with Equestria and getting the Crystal Ponies to truly see us as their leaders."

"What about us? The Crystal Heart would have destroyed you if I hadn't smashed it to pieces. Don't the Umbrum die when the ponies around them use their light and love?"

"I have something to stop that. I will have to teach you more about how our magic works. The thing is, our magic is not just fuelled by dark emotions. There are such things as Light Umbrum, but one must be a Shadow Umbrum to change, and something major must happen for it to work."

"What has to happen?"

"I must tell you more. Have you walked past the sealed door in the dungeon yet?"

I tell him that I have. I have seen it: there is a door that will not open regardless of what you do. It will not break if you kick it; there are seven locks that even the craftiest locksmith cannot pick; the handle will never turn; and you cannot teleport into the room behind it. I ask him what is in there.

"Let me show you."

We teleport to the dungeon corridor and check that nopony is looking. Then, once the coast is clear, Sombra walks through the wall opposite the door. Eyes wide, I follow him, and there is a corridor beyond that slopes downward. We walk down and down and down, then walk around a bend in the passage. He opens a door and I look into the room.

Crystals. Tons of them. Hundreds and thousands of crystals.

"Why?" I demand. " What for? It's pointless keeping them all down here. This seems crazy."

"Becoming a Shadow Umbrum means that your magic is created by your emotions. Shadow Umbrum are usually very negative beings. To turn to a Light Umbrum, the Shadow Umbrum must not have love and light directed at them, but must have it within them in huge quantities. When more love and light is channelled through crystals at the Shadow Umbrum, rather than banishing or killing them it makes them stronger, thus starting the transformation."

"Woah. That's why you had everypony in the mines. Just before the big event you were banking on, you could have ordered that they all stop working and that you wouldn't make them mine the crystals any more, so they were all in good spirits. So that means... you're waiting for me to transform before the wedding."

"Correct. I originally wanted Radiant Hope to be the one to transform into a Light Umbrum with me, but she was convinced that I wanted to harm her. After that, I decided that I would become a Light Umbrum on my own. You, however, are clearly pleased to be with me, and I enjoy the thought of us two achieving what so few before us have. First of all though, Sunbutt is a problem that needs to be dealt with. While I know that there is something that could separate us, I will not rest."

"Dramatic, but good. You seem to have a lot of love in your heart already, but when Sparkle wanted to use the Crystal Heart, you didn't and its use would have meant all of this preparation was for nothing."

"The Crystal Heart was created as a defence mechanism against Umbrum. Even if I were to get the crystal ponies to use it, there was a chance that something would go wrong. Amoré was not a nice mare, and it led to her downfall." He closes his eyes and lets out a sigh.

"What's wrong?"

"I have done so many regrettable things in my life, and the worst is having blood on my hooves. As of yet, she is the only pony who has died as a direct result of my actions. I have never been at war with another nation, nor asked my soldiers to kill another creature, nor harmed anypony with my own hooves before or since the incident with her.

"She would not admit it. I was being driven by my anger at the way she treated me and convinced Hope to give up on me. She convinced my best friend that I was a lost cause. She started the fire in my heart that has burned ever since. At the time, my takeover of the Empire had just taken place. I wanted answers that she would not give. I used the mind control spell, but when it wore off her own fiery soul wanted to fight. I thought of everything that I could do to stop the battle between us, but I lost control and chose to end it quickly."

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean, Moonlight. The instant death spell. She taught both Hope and I how to use it in case we were ever in a life-or-death situation. Then I went and used it on her."

I don't reply.

"I must seem like the most odd stallion in the world to you," he remarks. "On the one hand, I make often reckless decisions before thinking about their effects, and can be self-centred. I rush into things with no clear way out and have been known in the past for my temper tantrums. Then you see this side of me, the other side of the coin where I think too deeply about things."

"Don't let a few nasty thoughts get in the way of our goal, though. We want to live long, happy lives together."

"Yes."

He nuzzles the side of my neck and I plant a kiss on his forehead. He moves to kiss me on the lips. He says, "Don't ever leave me. We have both lost everything before, and you're all I have left. I was a complete idiot the other day."

"I've forgiven you already. Stop stewing in your regret, silly." I ruffle his mane.

"Stop before you mess it up. I have to look professional, you know."

"My mane is always messy and nopony seems to mind."

"They should. When you are my queen, you can grow it long and beautiful so that everypony has something positive to say about your appearance."

"What's your opinion on this?" I use magic to style my mane and tail into perfect spikes.

"Warrior manecut. Fitting. Come on now, we have more important things to discuss, such as our mutual defence policy with Chryssie."

We walk back to the dungeon corridor in silence. I didn't realise exactly how much Sombra has been through up until now, and how he punishes himself for the smallest of mistakes. "Hey, Sombra."

"Yes?" he replies.

"How much of this deep thinking do you do?"

"Too much. My sleep is plagued with nightmares as well."

"It's not healthy, you know."

"I do know."

"Just remember that I'm here. I can always come and tell whatever nightmare you're having to pick on somepony else. Even if it's really stupid, like Sunbutt writing a song about little things you've done that she doesn't like. Ok, now I think about it, maybe that is intimidating."

"It's not like that, but I appreciate the help."

The moment we step onto the ground floor, we are told that something is wrong. It doesn't take long to spot the pegasus mucking about in the clouds, and I recognise who it is: one of the Elements of Harmony. I Her name is Rainbow Dash. What she forgot is that the average bat pony can fly even faster than some of the Wonderbolts, and I sneak up on her easily, hiding behind a cloud. I grab her with my magic.

"Spying, are we?" I ask, bemused.

"Not. Cool. I'm one of the fastest pegasi in Equestria, and you sneak up on me without me realising?! Put me down."

"Prisoner of war, number one. What were you doing in the Crystal Empire?"

"So maybe I was sent to try and find some stuff out by Princess Celestia."

"Ha! I knew it!"

"Originally! Princess Luna told me not to listen to Princess Celestia for some reason and deliver a message. I heard absolutely nothing, anyway. The sound doesn't carry here like it does in Equestria. It's like the laws of science have changed here."

"What is the message?"

"Yeah, no. It doesn't work that way. You let me go, and I tell you."

I release her.

"Princess Luna says that it's going to take a lot of work to convince whoever it is she's trying to persuade."

"Thank you. Do you serve Princess Celestia or Luna?"

"How am I supposed to answer that?! I'm the Element of Loyalty! Both!"

"Tell Celestia to stop sending her missionaries to solve her problems, and that the next pony to set hoof on our soil won't be sent back."

"I'll be off then." She shoots off into the sky at a normal pace, then suddenly performs a loop-de-loop at such a speed that it causes a Sonic Rainboom. The blast nearly knocks me out of the sky. I have doubts, and follow her. Sure enough, a secret base has been set up by the Royal Guard in the mountains. All six Elements of Harmony are there, as well as a group of about a hundred guards, made up of all three pony races.

Where are you? Sombra calls.

Not far away, and that's the problem.