The Mane Six were all on a train bound for the frozen north with the CMC and White Flame's Gang accompanying them.

"So Twilight, we're heading to the Crystal Empire to help Cadence huh?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"That was what we're doing. Thing is, it won't be without danger." Twilight said.

"Right. You mentioned it on the way over here that some tyrant known as King Sombra once enslaved this place from what Princess Celestia told you." Rarity said.

"There's a good chance we'll encounter him, and you'll have to face him." Twilight said. "Spike and Smolder will be with me though. I did some research, and there was a relic known as the Crystal Heart that had gone missing once Sombra took over." She added.

"So, you're going to take the two dragons with you to find the Crystal Heart." Applejack said.

"That's the plan. Besides, Spike has his whole 'turn into a giant dragon' in case of emergency." Twilight said.

"Don't you mean him going Spikezilla?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"I. REFUSE. TO CALL. SPIKE'S GIANT FORM. SPIKEZILLA." Twilight said.

"So why are the CMC and the colts here? I mean there is the danger of Sombra and all." Rainbow Dash said.

"White Flame insisted on coming." Twilight said.

"Yeah that's what bothers me. Rainbow Dash has to take me because she's my mother, but why is White Flame coming?" Scootaloo asked.

"I have my uses. Couldn't bring Carol because of how cold it is. But I have other uses." White Flame said.

"It's true. He's a unicorn." Apple Bloom said.

Scootaloo had a confused look on her face. "Come again? I don't see a horn on him." Scootaloo said.

"Hmph." White Flame parted a part of his mane that was covering his forehead, showing that he indeed was a unicorn.

"YOU MEAN HE'S BEEN A UNICORN THIS WHOLE TIME?!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"I don't tend to use my magic unless it's in self-defense. And even then, all I know is a basic shield spell. I tend to rely more on my hooves and muscles then my magic." White Flame said. Scootaloo just looked at him.

"So why are the rest of the CMC here with Scootaloo?" Rarity asked.

"Well considering Sweetie Belle would also be the only one home, she was coming along too. And since two of her friends were coming, it just made sense to include Apple Bloom in the fun as well." Twilight said.

"So why are Button Mash and Rumble here then?" Scootaloo asked.

"White Flame made some very convincing arguments for both. With Rumble, he argued that Rumble and you could team up to help keep an eye out for Sombra." Twilight said to Scootaloo.

"And Button Mash?" Scootaloo asked.

"I was going to make an argument when Button Mash's mother wanted him out of the house for a few days because something happened that she wouldn't tell me about." White Flame said.

"A sink burst in the kitchen and dampened a bunch of the carpets. This gives me the perfect excuse to be away while she gets everything replaced." Button Mash said. "At least it was downstairs. My video games weren't touched." He added.

"Well, I think my sister wouldn't mind if you stayed over at our place." Sweetie Belle said.

"I suppose we could do that." Rarity said.

"So White Flame, why are you coming along then?" Applejack asked.

"I have my reasons." White Flame said simply.

Clever boy, using such a vague but still honest answer. Eventually White Flame, your secret's going to come out. Scootaloo thought to herself.

The group soon arrived at the station in the frozen north and were greeted by Shining Armor.

"Twily, so glad you could come. Cadence is already in the empire helping out where she can. But there's already been a few sightings of King Sombra." Shining Armor said.

"That's not good. We need to protect the Crystal Empire from him." Twilight said.

"I know." Shining Armor said. "What's with you bringing six kids with you though?" He asked.

"I'll fill you in as we walk." Twilight said.

"Well that's my sister for you at times. Still, I'm rather surprised that White Flame prefers not to use his magic." Shining Armor said.

"My parents are both Earth Ponies, my uncle is one too, but my father's grandfather was a unicorn as was my mother's father." White Flame said.

"So, he's had two different unicorn family genes mixing and ended up a unicorn in an otherwise earth pony family." Applejack said.

"Those are only the ones from my parents part of my family. I have an aunt who's a unicorn, one of my three cousins is a unicorn, and my uncle's sister is marrying a unicorn." White Flame said.

"Wow, that's quite a few unicorns your calling family." Twilight said.

"There's also the fact that my mother can actually trace her bloodline to Princess Platinum of all ponies." White Flame said.

"WAIT WHAT?!" Twilight exclaimed. "I'm shocked. I never believed you would end up related to Princess Platinum." She said. Scootaloo was looking at White Flame.

"Yeah unicorn genes run strong in my family it seems. Though I won't lie, earth ponies fascinate me much more then my Unicorn kind. It's honestly why I've styled my mane to hide my horn. I much rather no pony know I can use magic. You never know who might want to take advantage of a colt with a horn." White Flame said.

"Ah can't argue with that logic." Applejack said. "We're here." She added.

"Twilight. Your here." Cadence said she looked tired. "Maintaining a barrier is exhausting, but it's either this or risk King Sombra getting the empire." She added.

"I can tell. And I think I have a solution. On the way over here, with some material Princess Celestia gave me, I was able to detirmine something we can do to lift the spirits of the crystal ponies: Something known as the Crystal Faire. It's a fair full of games and activities." Twilight said.

"Games? Activities? SIGN ME UP!" Pinkie Pie said.

"So, you're going to have us run this fair?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I trust all of you to do just that." Twilight said before leaving with the two dragons.

"Look on the bright side: We get to actually spread smiles. My specialty~" Pinkie Pie said after Twilight said.

"Well this is a strange door." Twilight said, noticing a door with a black crystal on it. "...Something tells me this is no normal door." She added before simply opening it's doorknob with magic. However, she was greeted to some kind of strange sight. It was a large orb of purple energy looking down on her and her friends with only her barely concious, with White Flame there as well, looking determined.

"Gareth, I've searched far too long for you." The Orb said, it's voice somewhat reminding Twilight of White Flame.

"I am not Gareth. The one known as Gareth is dead. My name is White Flame." White Flame said.

"You really expect yourself to believe that Gareth? Don't you remember that I am you?" The Orb said.

"I'm not you. Not anymore. I threw away every part of myself that had to do with you. Your days of controlling my life are over, Zanth!" White Flame said.

The Orb seemed to laugh. "We'll just have to see about that then, won't we?" The Orb said.

Suddenly Twilight was snapped out of whatever she was witnessing by Spike. "Twilight, are you alright?!" Spike exclaimed.

"I-I'm fine. I think it's some sort of door that is meant to show one their greatest fear, but I think something's gone wrong with its enchantment. Something that is far more eviler than King Sombra did this, I'm sure of it." Twilight said.

"What could possibly be eviler this Sombra character?" Smolder asked.

"I have a bad feeling we'll be finding out soon." Twilight and the two dragons went up some stairs to find the Crystal Heart, and using her magic, Twilight retrieved the heart from a distance which managed to trigger what appeared to be some kind of trap.

"Smart thinking Twilight." Spike said.

"It was far too obvious really." Twilight said, but noticed the forcefield around the empire was fading during the Crystal Fair. "Th-there's no time for me to get this down the tower." Twilight said and shoved the Crystal Heart into Spike's claws. "It's up to you now Spike." The Purple unicorn then used her magic to throw Spike out the window.

"I'm going to go help." Smolder said and then lept out the window after him while Twilight started rushing out of the heart's hiding place.

Soon enough, Cadence caught Spike and even Smolder before taking the Heart to the spire where it was energized by the Crystal Ponies. Sombra had gotten there just a moment too late though and was almost vaporized. Yet he felt something grab him.

"We did it!" Pinkie Pie said.

"What in Equestria is that?!" Rumble exclaimed, pointing to where King Sombra was, only for there to be no King Sombra.

Only a large purple orb. "That's the--!" Twilight recognized it from her vision.

"Hey, what's up with White Flame?" Button Mash asked. White Flame looked pale.

"White Flame, snap out of it!" Apple Bloom said before rushing to White Flame's side.

"Raef eurt ekirts lliw taht mrof a uoy tnarg I, egar erup fo arbmU repusU" The Orb said before suddenly it gave form to King Sombra once more, only parts of his body were made of the same purple energy as the orb now. "I’d love to stay and chat, but not only does it seem you'll be busy, I've got someone I need to find. Ciao~" The Orb said before seemingly teleporting away.

"Wh-what just happened to Sombra?!" Pinkie Pie said. The now transformed Sombra let out some kind of distorted snarl, before he/it started to attack.

Transformed Usuper Umbra
Void Sombra

Void Sombra while using his usual crystal attacks like normal, were much more purple and staring into them just seemed to fill one with intense sadness and despair.

"What happened to Sombra and his attacks? Everything has gone haywire." Shining Armor said.

"I-I can't believe of all the places he'd show up, it'd be here." White Flame said.

"Do you know what that orb thing was?" Scootaloo asked.

"That orb was a being known as Zanth; an entity created from sadness and despair. He must have come here being attracted by Sombra's own sadness and despair." White Flame said.

"...Sombra has sadness?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

"Sometimes, the sadness of a broken heart is more than some can cope with." White Flame said.

"You say that like you know what that's like." Scootaloo said.

"There will be time for this talk later, we need to rescue the Crystal Empire from this menance. This new version of Sombra won't be content with stopping with destroying us, it'll start infecting the ponies here too." White Flame said.

"Ah believe you." Apple Bloom said. "Don't ask me why ah do, ah just do." She added.

"Apple Bloom..." Was that...a tear that treaded down White Flame's face? "...Thank you." The unicorn colt said.

The ponies did their best to attack Void Sombra the best ways they knew how, but then suddenly a unicorn mare appeared and tackled Sombra.

"Sombra, stop this." The mare said.

"What the-where'd she come from?!" Twilight said.

"Listen to me, you don't have to be some monster. You don't have to be like this. I...just hope this works..." The mare said before casting some kind of magic spell which started connecting to Sombra's horn.

After some time, suddenly Void Sombra turned from the transformed state into what seemed to be a normal Unicorn Stallion.

"...Hope? You...your still alive?" Sombra asked.

"Of course I am you dolt." The mare said.

"...Did he just call that mare 'Hope'? As in Radiant Hope?!" Twilight started to fangirl.

"Why...why did you save me?" Sombra asked. "You know...what I did..." He said.

"Doesn't matter. I still love you. Always have." Radiant Hope said.

"Hope...I can't stay here...you know that." Sombra said.

"Then don't. Wherever you go, I go. Let us search for our own purpose together." Radiant Hope said.

"I...would like that..." Sombra said. With a flash of light, the pair teleported away.

"That...was something else..." Rainbow Dash said.

The main six, CMC, and White Flame's gang were on a train back to ponyville with Cadence and Shining Armor becoming the new rulers of the kingdom.

"So White Flame, what's this whole story about Zanth?" Scootaloo asked.

"...I suppose with his appearance, it's time you all finally knew the truth." White Flame said. "The part of my family, it's legacy, and who I am was all true. I never once lied about that. But what I've been keeping secret is that I was once someone else. Someone different." He began. "White Flame is the name I was given when the person I was previously used their remaining power to reincarnate into a foal to be reborn into a better world: Your world. It was the name my parents gave me to contrast with my black body. Before I was White Flame however, I was a man known as Gareth. A long time ago, before the existence of your world, I had lived in a town where if you were ever accused of a crime, then even if you were found innocent of it, the people would treat you as if you were guilty with no exception." The colt started.

"That's horrible!" Fluttershy said, hooves over her mouth.

"Luck was not on my side. One day, when I went to go cash in my recent paycheck, the local bank was robbed and was blown up by the robbers. As they fled in the smoke caused by the explosion, they had left me with a bag of the money which ended up making me become accused of the crime. Soon enough, I was tried and found innocent, which was when my entire life feel to pieces. The only person who ever defended me was the mayor's daughter Galina. But eventually, the mayor blackmailed her, so she stopped defending me. It was then in my moment of pure sadness, when a mysterious figure offered to give me the power to make others suffer in my despair. In my moment of desperation, I accepted the deal, but it transformed me into a dangerous being known as Zanth." White Flame explained. "Eventually though, things happened, and I chose to try and make up for the things I had done as Zanth. Eventually, it led to a point where I escaped from the Void Energy that made me into Zanth where the Void Energy became a seperate entity. You saw what it had become: A floating orb of pure sadness and despair." He continued.

"That was this new Zanth then? So what happened after that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I followed Zanth to a different version of your world, one that was far more along it's timeline then yours. Eventually, with help from version of you from that world, Zanth was defeated or so I thought. When I reincarnated myself into a foal in your world, ever since I was three, I've felt Zanth's presence once again." White Flame said. "...He's searching for Gareth, but the man once known as Gareth no longer exists. I'm not him anymore." He added.

"You got that right." Apple Bloom said. "Ah don't care who you were before. What matters is who you are now. And who you are now is White Flame. Yer still the same colt who stood up to Diamond Tiara. Yer still the same colt who moved to ponyville to attend school here. And yer still the same colt who ah became friends with. Yer right about one thing: Yer not Gareth. Your White Flame." She added before hugging White Flame.

"...Even...even though you know the truth...you still..." White Flame said.

"Hey, I was convinced you were going to be some pony totally evil or something. Now I know you were just delt a really bad hand and now you want to reshuffle that deck." Scootaloo said.

"Heh...my daugher's right. Even if the card metaphor is kind of cheesy." Rainbow Dash said.

"We'll help you give Zanth a proper hoof kicking when the time comes." Pinkie Pie said.

"Yeah, you can count on us." Button Mash said. "This'll be more fun then any video game could ever be. Hmm...note to self: See about turning this into a video game." He added.

"Of course he'd say that, but it's fine." Sweetie Belle said.

"All of you..." White Flame shed another tear. "...Thank you. You don't know what this means to me." He added.

Twilight meanwhile couldn't help but stare and White Flame. But what happened between now, and my vision? I think Zanth was trying to mess with my head at first, but now I have a feeling I just saw the future. And it doesn't look good. She thought to herself.

Author's Note

Could I have made this into a normal chapter with around 1,000 words? Yes. Yes I could've. But as you tell, I decided to do something different and set up things for later. This will probably be one of the few the times that you will see me make a chapter update be this long, but considering I took a three-day break, maybe you should've expected this.