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                       Prison Break                        
                    -by HexedAndDexed-                     
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                   Step 1: Acquire Ally                    
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Step 1: Acquire Ally
Radiant Hope was not a complex pony. Complexity didn't particularly interest her. The world worked best when there were good ponies and bad ponies, and the good ponies beat the bad ones and everypony was happy.
Radiant Hope was, also, not a filly. She knew that things were rarely so simple. Take her good friend Sombra, for example. He was a nice guy, pretty funny and very hard-working. He was also a tyrant, one who ruled her homeland with such absolute brutality that the Equestrian princesses felt the need to personally intervene.
For a good part of her thousand-year self-imposed exile, Radiant Hope struggled with that dichotomy. It was hard to believe morality was black and white when the most important person in her life was a beautiful shade of dark gray. She was referring to his morality there, nothing else. It wasn't until her good pal umbrum #62 provided her with some words of wisdom that she figured it all out.
“If you care about Sombra so much, just say that he's good and everypony against him is evil or something. Now, can you release us alrea–”
Umbrum #62 was a great guy. Too bad about what happened to him. All that smoke…
Radiant Hope shivered. Never again.
But, the late umbrum’s words had helped her. There was no need to make things complex. Her moral compass didn't have to be replaced with a new model, she just had to shift it a few degrees clockwise. Sombra wasn't morally gray, there was no such thing! He was good, and everypony who stood against him was evil. Bing bang boom, problem solved.
Now, as Radiant Hope was also a good person, it was thus her responsibility to find Sombra and help him. She had planned to find his scattered parts and piece him back together, a process that would've taken years, but was halted before she could even begin.
On the cold, cold wind, as it howled like a dog near death, a feeling was brought to her. It told her that somepony, somewhere, was making assumptions.
So, with a determined smile, Radiant Hope took her first steps out of the Arctic Wastes in a thousand years. She had a friend to find.
Sombra, meanwhile, was trying to smoke milk out of the bottle like it was a bong. Trixie and Starlight cheered him on.
Radiant Hope’s moonlit journey quickly came upon a bump in the road. Well, the bump in question was a cloud of dark blue smoke nearly the size of a house, but it was blocking the road. She felt the metaphor was apt.
She considered, for a moment, turning around and fleeing into the night before the living cloud noticed her. It was clearly alive, as it could be heard muttering to itself. Also, Radiant Hope had a lot of experience with living clouds, and this one fit the bill.
But, she couldn't flee. Sombra needed her, and she knew her destination was on the other side of the cloud. Call it a gut feeling, but those had never led her astray. Never ever.
So, holding her head up high, Radiant Hope stepped closer to the cloud. Instantly, a pair of cyan eyes formed in the cloud, glaring down at her with slit pupils.
“Halt, pony!” The cloud demanded, its voice seeming to come from every wisp of smoke at once.
Radiant Hope stopped halfway through a step and flailed for a moment before catching herself and acting as if nothing had happened. The cloud’s narrow eyes informed her that her acting could've used some work.
“Who art thou–” The cloud coughed, somehow. “Damn it. Force of habit.”
Radiant Hope waited patiently for the cloud to continue.
“Ugh. Anyway, who are you to stand before me? Do you not know who I am!?” The cloud questioned.
“Well, I'm Radiant Hope, nice to meet you.” She went to offer a hoofshake, but thought better of it. “And, um, no. I can't say I do.”
“Figures.” The cloud muttered, though it was barely quieter than its normal voice.
“It's very nice to meet you, but could you please move out of the way? I have something very important to do.” Radiant Hope said.
The cloud’s eyes snapped back to Radiant Hope and seemed to analyze her.
“Important, you say?” The cloud’s eyes took on a distinctly hungry look. “Well, you're in just the right place! You see, I am an individual of much renown and even greater power. I could assist you in your task.”
“Who…” Radiant Hope took a step back, the cloud’s horribly famished gaze quickly crumbling her confidence. “Who are you?”
“Who am I? I am the greatest practitioner of dark magic to exist. I am the shape that has fueled horror stories for a millennium. I am the crusher of the insignificant and weak. I am the one who has dirtied the very word once used to refer to the greats! I am the tyrant of the Crystal Empire, King Sombra–”
“Nope.” Radiant Hope interrupted.
“…excuse me?” The cloud growled.
“You're not Sombra. Considering the fact that he and I are best friends forever and ever and ever, I think I'd know.” Radiant Hope looked into the shocked eyes of the cloud, giving it an unimpressed look. “Try again.”
“Well– I– um… of course I'm not King Sombra! What I meant was…” The cloud paused and closed its eyes, before opening them and revealing its regained conviction. “Sombra and I are similar, almost one in the same! You see, I am one of an ancient race, one only spoken of in hushed whispers. One known to few yet feared by all! I am one of the powerful, fearsome, unstoppable umbrum–”
“Nope.” Radiant Hope interrupted once more.
“What now!?” The cloud yelled.
“I've been living with the umbrum for the last thousand years. I know them all, and you're not one of them.” Radiant Hope paused. “Plus, they're all still trapped in the crystal.”
“Damn it!” The cloud yelled, before taking a deep breath. “Okay, you didn't let me finish. I was simply trying to say that I am similar to the umbrum. Let me finish this time!”
“Alright.” Radiant Hope agreed. “Third time’s the charm?”
“Right.” The cloud looked up into the night sky for a long moment before it tried again. “I am like Sombra, and I am like the umbrum. We are all ancient creatures, proficient in dark magic, and able to turn ourselves into smoke. But, unlike them, my deeds have affected the entirety of Equestria! I bathed this world in eternal night, I struck the princesses down and reigned over their kingdom, I brought the element bearers to the brink, and it is only through the luck of fools that I do not stand before you with a crown atop my head! I am the mare on the moon, the evil haunting the minds of all, the one, the only, Nightmare Moon!”
Radiant Hope blinked up at the cloud, who was panting, somehow. It glared down at her with a challenge in its cyan eyes, as if daring her to find a hole in its newest claim.
“Never heard of you.”
“Motherfu–”
Sombra sat back and smirked, having just smoked an entire bottle of milk. Trixie immediately grabbed a bottle and started trying, while Starlight just stared at him like her life had been irrevocably altered.
“So, you possessed Princess Luna?” Radiant Hope asked, sitting on the side of the road next to Nightmare Moon, who was not sitting because she was a cloud.
“Yes! For a thousand years I ruled her body and mind, the powers of an Alicorn at my command.” Nightmare Moon sighed. “Unfortunately, there wasn't much use for Alicorn powers on the moon.”
“That's really sad.” Radiant Hope said. “Did you talk to her?”
“What? No, why would I have done that?” Nightmare Moon asked, confused by the very concept of the question.
“Oh, that's just awful! All alone for a thousand years, I couldn't imagine it! At least I had the umbrum!” Radiant Hope paused. “And the others.”
“Others?” Nightmare Moon questioned.
“Yeah, my friends! I haven't seen them much, not since the… incident.” Radiant Hope shivered. “But, they were always there for me until then. Even if no one else could see them.”
“I have a sneaking suspicion that you are insane.” Nightmare Moon stated bluntly.
“Insanity is the name given by cowards to attitudes they don't understand.” Radiant Hope recited proudly. “Sombra taught me that.”
“I'm sure he did.” Nightmare Moon responded dryly.
“Anyway, I don't see any reason to refuse your help. I could use a princess-level ally to get Sombra back.” Radiant Hope said.
Nightmare Moon glanced away uncomfortably at the phrase ‘princess-level’ but powered on before Radiant Hope could comment on it.
“Back? Where has the former king gone?” Nightmare Moon asked.
“Oh, I… don't actually know. But! I can tell he's in…” Radiant Hope pointed down the road, forgetting she was putting most of her weight on that hoof and falling to the ground. “That direction! Ouch.”
“Right.” Nightmare Moon accepted, not sounding particularly accepting. “Well, I suppose I might as well assist you. All you need to do is let me in.”
“In where?” Radiant Hope asked, looking around from her spot on the ground.
“In…” Nightmare Moon extended a strand of smoke that tapped against Radiant Hope’s forehead. “There. The heart too, I suppose, but it's really more about the brain.”
“Oh.”
Radiant Hope was not an idiot. She knew that giving her mind, body, and soul to a being of pure nightmares was, to put it bluntly, extremely stupid. From Nightmare Moon’s description of her possession of Princess Luna, it wasn't even close to an equal relationship. She'd be giving Nightmare Moon full control, and, at best, Nightmare Moon would honor their agreement and complete Radiant Hope’s goals in her place. At worst, Nightmare Moon would use Radiant Hope’s body to her own ends, leaving Sombra forever unsaved.
Sombra. The person who meant more than anything to Radiant Hope. The person she'd turned her back on. The person she'd left alone, no umbrum or friends to keep him company like she'd had. The person who was now probably alone and scared, tormented by the fiends who struck him down all those years ago.
She wouldn't make the same mistake again.
“I accept.” Radiant Hope declared.
Nightmare Moon cackled. And cackled. And cackled. By the thirty second mark, Radiant Hope began to scoot away. Then, Nightmare Moon‘s eyes locked onto Radiant Hope's, and the pony found she couldn't look away. The world seemed to fade away, leaving only those cold cyan eyes in its wake. Screams filled in the air, circling around Radiant Hope in a cyclone of eternal torment. She could feel time slowing, the seconds stretching into minutes into hours into days. Nightmare Moon was eternal, Nightmare Moon was unstoppable, Nightmare Moon was everyth–
The world snapped back into focus. Radiant Hope took a gasping breath, rolling onto her side and clutching her chest. Her heart was racing, pushing against her ribcage like it was trying to escape. She'd expected possession to be unpleasant, of course she had, she wasn't stupid, she wasn't! But that– that was–
“Ugh. What… what happened?” Nightmare Moon asked dazedly, voice sounding oddly… singular.
Radiant Hope turned to face Nightmare Moon, not wondering for a moment why she could still control her body, only to freeze at what she saw.
There was a pony laying there. She was an extremely dark blue, so dark that it might as well have been black, and had a puffy mane of a brighter blue with small white streaks dotted throughout. On her head was a proportionally tiny horn and on her sides were wings just as unusually small. She looked up at Radiant Hope with unfocused eyes. Cyan eyes, with slit pupils.
“Huh. Didn't… expect you to haunt me.” Nightmare Moon, for that was who the pony was, said. “Luna didn't do that.”
Then, Nightmare Moon looked down at herself. Then, back to Radiant Hope. Her eyes cleared somewhat, and she repeated the motion.
“…what.” Nightmare Moon said eloquently.
Sombra was laughing at Trixie’s failure to emulate his trick when the door creaked open. He looked over, only to find himself locked in a staring contest with Princess Cadance.
“…”
“…”
“I'm too drunk for this.” Cadance stated, turning her head to look down the nearest staircase. “Twilight!”
Author's Note
Turns out I am making a sequel. Let's see how this goes.

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                 Step 2: Become Bedridden                  
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Step 2: Become Bedridden
Radiant Hope stared at the ponified Nightmare Moon, unsure of how to react. Nightmare Moon clearly hadn't meant to gain her own body, that was for sure, but was it really that bad? The combination of wings and a horn meant that Nightmare Moon’s new body was an alicorn, so she was surely powerful enough to help. Honestly, Radiant Hope couldn't find it in herself to consider this anything less than a stroke of good luck. She could keep her body, and Nightmare Moon could have one of her own.
Nightmare Moon, apparently disagreed.
“What did you do!?” Nightmare Moon screamed, diving at Radiant Hope.
Radiant Hope was not a dexterous pony and so was tackled without much resistance.
“I didn't do anything!” Radiant Hope yelped, scrambling out from under Nightmare Moon and putting some distance between them.
“Really?” Nightmare Moon growled, climbing to her hooves and stalking towards Radiant Hope. “Really? You expect me to believe that, for no reason at all, completely and utterly randomly, like a lightning strike in a clear sky, I've been turned into… this?”
Nightmare Moon glared down at herself in disgust, which Radiant Hope thought was a bit unnecessary. She wasn't ugly or anything. In fact, Radiant Hope would've gone so far as to say Nightmare Moon’s new form was pretty, though maybe that was her preference for dark coats talking.
“Well… um… maybe you messed up the spell?” Radiant Hope suggested, taking a small step back.
“There is no spell!” Nightmare Moon shouted, getting right up in Radiant Hope’s face. “It’s just something I can do! I go in your head, I control you, and that's all there is to it! So, I will ask again. What. Did. You. Do!?”
Radiant Hope looked into Nightmare Moon’s eyes, having to tilt her head down slightly to do so, and saw a storm of emotion. Her slit eyes showed anger, which the rest of her showed quite plainly, confusion, see previous, and, otherwise very well hidden, fear. Even in her eyes it was barely visible, and it was only through Radiant Hope’s millennium of experience with the emotionally distant umbrum that she was able to notice it at all.
Nightmare Moon was scared, and whether that was because her magic didn't work or because she was in her own body for probably the first time ever or just because she was smaller than Radiant Hope, the fear was there. Radiant Hope couldn't let that stand.
So, with absolute confidence, Radiant Hope got up on her hind legs and engulfed Nightmare Moon in a soothing hug.
For a moment, the two ponies stood in absolute silence. Then, with a voice like ten thousand metal crates smashing into each other, Nightmare Moon screeched.
“–and that's the spell dispelled.”
“Heh, spell dispel–”
“Finish that comment and I’m sending you to Yakyakistan. Explosively.”
“Understood, Princess Sparkle.”
Sombra opened his eyes, groaning. As always, he began his day by taking stock of the situation. The first thing he determined was that his head was killing him. The second was that Twilight Sparkle and a royal guard were looking down at him with unrestrained loathing, and the third was that he was sprawled out on the stone floor of a prison cell.
“Oh. You're awake.” Twilight stated, her look becoming a proper glare in response to this information. “Couldn't have waited another minute?”
“Good morning to you, too.” Sombra responded grumpily, before getting to the meat of things. “Why am I in prison?”
“Crime.” Twilight answered.
“Drat.” Sombra said, too groggy to argue her accusation. “Is bail posted? I have work in the morning.”
“It is morning.” Twilight said, and, as if sensing his next question, groaned. “You slipped in a puddle of milk when Cadance called for me and knocked yourself out.”
“Oh.” Sombra coughed, a tad embarrassed. “So… bail?”
Twilight walked out of the cell, barely waiting for the royal guard to follow before telekinetically slamming the door behind her.
Radiant Hope’s eyes fluttered open as she mumbled incoherently, the remnants of the night’s dreams fading from her mind. Looking around, she found herself in a fairly dry cave. She was against the back wall, and from there she could see daylight pouring in through the cave’s entrance. It wasn't a particularly large cave, probably wouldn't have taken longer than fifteen seconds to walk to the entrance, but Radiant Hope could see the charm. All it needed were a couple of lights, maybe a table or two… oh, and a bed would be nice. Radiant Hope was not unfamiliar with sleeping on the ground, but stone was very good at pricking at a few specific aches and pains that she did not enjoy being reminded of.
Radiant Hope gave the cave another look around, now slotting imaginary furniture into place. Sure, it was going to be a bit of work, but the place had potential. She could already imagine the look on Sombra’s face when she showed him her awesome new home. He could live there too, of course. It'd be like a sleepover every night!
“Oh. You're awake.”
Radiant Hope squeaked, head snapping towards the origin of the voice. Standing at the entrance to the cave was Nightmare Moon, who was looking at Radiant Hope with a seemingly conflicted expression. It was quickly replaced by a bored one, though, making Radiant Hope question if she'd seen anything at all.
The sight of the ponified Nightmare Moon snapped Radiant Hope out of her home decor stupor, and she tried to stand. A bolt of pain went through her left hind leg, and she fell back to the ground with a groan.
“Don’t try to move.” Nightmare Moon scolded, walking over to Radiant Hope. “You hurt your leg pretty badly last night.”
“What did I do?” Radiant Hope asked, not remembering anything that would've caused such an injury.
“Well…” Nightmare Moon glanced away, voice quieting. “It wasn't exactly you who did something.”
“What?” Radiant Hope looked at the clearly embarrassed Nightmare Moon and sucked in a breath. “You…?”
“I may or may not have, through no fault of my own, broken your leg.” Nightmare Moon revealed, voice dropping to a whisper on the last few words.
Radiant Hope looked back at her hurt leg and shifted it experimentally, wincing at the results. Yep, that was broken. Theoretically, she could heal it, but she had no desire to deal with the issues associated with self-healing. There was a reason even the most powerful unicorns went to the doctor, and it wasn't the bedside manners.
Radiant Hope looked back up at Nightmare Moon, who was shifting uncomfortably.
“I… I'm not going to apologize.” Nightmare Moon began shakily, before gaining confidence. “I mean, really, it was your fault. I don't know why you grabbed me like that, but my response was completely reasonable. Violence begets violence, as they say, and you were clearly planning some sort of violence. It was only fair that I responded in kind… before you had the chance to do anything. Preventive measures, as they say. I already used that line, didn't I? Well, it's still true. They say a lot.”
Nightmare Moon took a breath as if she was about to continue ranting, but Radiant Hope interrupted.
“Um… okay. I'm not mad.” Radiant Hope said.
“I didn't say I cared if you were mad.” Nightmare Moon replied quickly.
“It was implied, I think.” Radiant Hope said.
One of Nightmare Moon’s eyes twitched. Instead of continuing the argument, though, she sat down silently next to Radiant Hope, looking down at the broken leg. After a long moment, she looked away from it and made eye contact with Radiant Hope.
“Are you going to fix it?” Nightmare Moon questioned.
“My leg?” Radiant Hope asked, not discounting the possibility that Nightmare Moon was referring to her hurt feelings.
Nightmare Moon nodded, saving the both of them from Radiant Hope’s awkward attempts at comforting Nightmare Moon. Normally she'd be more confident in her comforting abilities, but the broken leg had put a bit of a damper on that.
“I'd rather not. Are there any hospitals nearby?” Radiant Hope asked.
“Why not?” Nightmare Moon asked, completely ignoring Radiant Hope’s question. “Your cutie mark is medical, is it not?”
Radiant Hope glanced down at her cutie mark, a golden staff with two similarly colored snakes coiled around it. It was called a caduceus, and Radiant Hope liked it quite a bit.
“The history there is actually really interesting. While it does have a modern meaning of healing, or at least it did a millennium ago, it has also historically been used to represent diplomacy, commerce, and, according to my therapist, being a lying bitch. I don't talk to her anymore, though.” Radiant Hope explained, happy to get a chance to talk about her cutie mark, as the umbrum didn't really care about things like that. Egalitarian weirdos.
“Right. That sounds like a good choice.” Nightmare Moon said awkwardly, waiting a few moments before clearing her throat. “So, can you heal your leg?”
“Oh, I can, definitely. I'd just… really rather not. Are you sure you didn't see any hospitals while you were out and about?” Radiant Hope asked once again, a note of desperation entering her voice.
“The nearest settlement has a population of eight.” Nightmare Moon stated, before, completely unprompted, continuing. “I have been stalking them for the past two years, bringing about poor harvests and undue misery. I believe Derby Striker is days away from snapping and finally murdering the young mare he has been cheating on his wife with for the past six months. It is something of a big moment for me.”
“Please never mention that again.” Radiant Hope requested. “So, no hospital?”
“I do what I want. But, no. Unless you wish to walk to the nearest city on a broken leg, you will have to heal it here.” Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes. “Something you seem unusually hesitant about.”
“Me? Unusual? I’m perfectly usual! Nopony is more usual than me, especially in this situation. My reluctance is perfectly normal, as I have already explained in my internal monologue. Really, you're the unusual one for not remembering.” Radiant Hope explained concisely and convincingly.
Nightmare Moon looked up at the cave’s ceiling, took a deep breath, and then looked back down.
“I can not read your mind.” Nightmare Moon stated simply.
“Oh.” Radiant Hope grinned awkwardly. “Right.”
Nightmare Moon stood and walked a slow circle around Radiant Hope.
“I grow bored of this meaningless debate. So, instead of wasting even more of my time, let's lay out the facts.” Nightmare Moon stopped in front of Radiant Hope and began laying them out. “Your hind leg is broken. You can not stand up, much less walk, and the nearest hospital is well over three hours away regardless. You, for whatever reason, completely refuse to heal your own leg, and I have no experience in the art of healing magic myself. On top of all of that, you're an insane mare with no friends except an ancient dictator who I honestly doubt even knows you exist and a bunch of mental illnesses you collectively refer to as fairies and/or umbrum, depending on how edgy you feel at the time. Did I get anything wrong?”
Radiant Hope stared up at Nightmare Moon with wide eyes. The nightmarish pony smirked back at her, waiting to see how Radiant Hope would respond.
“Well?” Nightmare Moon questioned, her smirk only growing as the seconds ticked by. “I'm waiting.”
Then, Radiant Hope sniffled. Nightmare Moon's face fell, and she took a quick step closer.
“Oh no. Come on, don't cry–” Nightmare Moon was cut off as Radiant Hope burst into tears.
“You're so mean!” Radiant Hope sobbed, burying her face in her forehooves.
Nightmare Moon waved her forehooves around frantically, seemingly at a loss as to what to do.
“It was just a joke!” Nightmare Moon claimed.
“You– you said I was mentally ill! And that I– I’m making everything up, including my relationship with Sombra!” Radiant Hope cried.
“I… did say those things, yes.” Nightmare Moon admitted. “Oops?”
“You're just like my therapist!” Radiant Hope continued to sob, unaffected by Nightmare Moon’s response.
“Hey, I am nothing like your therapist! I haven't even called you a bitch yet.” Nightmare Moon argued, seemingly surprised when this did not improve Radiant Hope’s mood. “You’re oddly bothered by this.”
Radiant Hope didn't give a response this time, as she had passed the point of being able to articulate her thoughts and was now sobbing wordlessly and messily.
“I… I'm going to give you some space.” Nightmare Moon said, the proclamation accompanied by the sound of hooves on stone. “Hope you… uh…”
Nightmare Moon stopped walking for a moment, as if pondering what to say.
“Ah, whatever.” Nightmare Moon eventually decided. “See you later.”
With that, Nightmare Moon left the cave, and Radiant Hope was alone.
And all alone, surrounded by nothing but the echoing sound of her own misery, Radiant Hope remembered what she'd forgotten. She remembered why she'd first met Sombra, why she'd held on so desperately to their friendship as he wasted away, why she couldn't live with herself after what she did to him.
It was because not a single one of these hateful, disrespectful, careless ingrates were even one billionth of the ponies they pretended to be. It was because each and every one of them were nothing more than bullies, pulling and tugging at the ponies least deserving of their torment until all that was left was a shell of a pony to be molded into the same monster as the rest.
Nopony deserved what they had. Each and every one of them took and took and took while the good ponies, the ones who'd done nothing wrong, suffered. She'd hoped the centuries would result in a change, but all she'd found was the same rotten core.
Her earlier moral compass was inaccurate. The world was not a battle between the good Sombra and his supporters versus the evil opposition.
No.
It was him and her, against everypony.
Always and forever.
The King and his Queen.
Author's Note
I made a funny image for this chapter. If you want to see it, it's here (https://www.tumblr.com/hexedanddexed/771435178441736192/new-chapter-of-prison-break-out-if-youre-coming) on tumblr because I can not for the life of me figure out how images work on this website and I am very tired.

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                 Step 3: Consider Covenant                 
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Step 3: Consider Covenant
Radiant Hope’s leg was healed by the time Nightmare Moon returned. Said pony entered the cave with a piece of straw hanging out of her mouth, which she chewed on casually.
“I see you're feeling better.” Nightmare Moon noted, the straw falling out of her mouth in the process. She glared down at it for a moment, as if it was somehow at fault, before shaking her head and moving on. “Now, I know we both said some things we didn't mean.”
Radiant Hope blinked at Nightmare Moon, which she ignored.
“However! You and I, we're a team. We made a deal. A pact, even. So, even though you technically didn't hold up your end of the bargain, I'm willing to work with you anyway. That's just the kind of being I am, you know?” Nightmare Moon said, holding her head up high. “You can thank me later.”
Radiant Hope didn't say anything. Nightmare Moon, apparently expecting a response, also didn't say anything. This silent status quo persisted for roughly twenty eight seconds, give or take twenty five.
“Really?” Radiant Hope asked, voice trembling.
“Mhm… in case you couldn't tell, that was an affirmative noi–” Nightmare Moon was interrupted by Radiant Hope tackling her in a hug.
Nightmare Moon almost reenacted the leg-breaking incident from the previous day but managed to force down the instinct, leaving her trapped in the embrace without much of an idea of what to do.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you! Oh, I just know we're going to save him, Moony!” Radiant Hope declared confidently.
“Do not call me that.” Nightmare Moon demanded, glaring up at the larger pony still trapping her in the hug.
“But why not?” Radiant Hope whined. “I need something to call you while we're around other ponies, otherwise news might get back to the princesses that the big bad Nightmare Moon has returned, and then we'd never get Sombra back!”
“But… Moony?” Nightmare Moon questioned.
“It’s cute!” Radiant Hope argued.
“I am not cute. I’m awe-inspiring, fear-inducing, hauntingly beautiful, and many other two word adjectives I switch out depending on the day.” Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes. “Cute is never included.”
“Well, that just makes it an even better trick!” Radiant Hope said, disengaging from the hug so she could give Nightmare Moon a wink. “Besides, I’d say you're pretty cute right now.”
Nightmare Moon’s dark blue face grew a shade closer to purple at that, and she looked away.
“Right. Well. I suppose it is an effective deception.” Nightmare Moon admitted, before straightening. “Very well. In public only, you may call me Moony. When we are alone, I expect you to refer to me by my actual name.”
“Of course, Nightmare Moon.” Radiant Hope accepted, giving Moony a deferential nod.
“Good.” Moony said, turning to the entrance of the cave. “Let's get going. Do you still know where the former king is?”
Radiant Hope took a deep breath, centered herself, and tapped into the ambient magic in the air. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and pointed toward the right wall of the cave.
“Straight line that way.” Radiant Hope stated. “We should probably take the roads, though. It'll be just as fast and save us from running into any… unfriendly creatures.”
“Sure. Let's go, then.” Moony said, walking to the entrance of the cave.
“Is it just me, or are you being a bit insistent on us leaving as soon as possible?” Radiant Hope asked, following behind.
“Oh, that's because I set fire to Derby Striker’s barn.” Moony replied casually. “If he's not going to murder that mare, I deserve to get at least some entertainment out of him.”
Radiant Hope took a deep, calming breath.
“Lovely.” Radiant Hope said eventually. “Let's get out of here.”
Sombra was quite bored in his prison cell. More of a dungeon, really. The stone everything, the heavy locked door, the undergroundness, everything pointed to his cell being a room ponies were thrown in as a… permanent arrangement.
From his experience with his old crystal mines, Sombra estimated he was close to one hundred fifteen feet underground, meaning he was almost certainly in a castle, as opposed to a standard, far less extensive prison. Determining which castle specifically required a bit more expertise.
Sombra's old castle in the Crystal Empire had, despite common peasant jokes claiming otherwise, stone dungeons like any other. Crystal dungeons were certainly nice to look at, but stone provided a hopeless quality one couldn't quite get with crystal. However, the stone used in Sombra's current prison didn't match that which was used in the Crystal Empire. His, or rather Princess Cadance’s, dungeons utilized slate, a perfect material for the variable temperature of the Crystal Empire. So, it couldn't be his old castle.
That left three castles: Twilight Sparkle’s crystal castle, the Sisters’ stone fortress, and that newfangled thing in Canterlot. This was where it got difficult. All three castles were quite close to each other and shared a climate, so the builders almost certainly used the same materials for each. However, there were a few hints that narrowed it down.
Twilight Sparkle’s castle was, according to Starlight Glimmer, no more than a few years old. The dungeon Sombra was in, though, was covered in both cracks and tally marks which implied it had existed for far longer. Of course, Twilight Sparkle could've simply been horrible at maintaining her dungeons and also a frequent jailer, but neither of those traits matched what Sombra had seen from the princess. Well, he could believe the jailer part, but the other point stood. Strong evidence against Twilight Sparkle’s place of residence being his prison.
Next was the sister princesses’ castle. Or, their old castle? It was unclear to Sombra whether they had two castles or if the original was no longer in use. Regardless, the older castle was an option. Sombra had never actually set foot in the certified fortress, though in his youth he'd always wanted to. It was legitimately certified, Radiant Hope had shown him the certificate and everything. How she’d managed to steal it, bring it to the Crystal Empire, and return it without anypony noticing? Sombra had no idea. He appreciated the friendship anniversary present, though. It was kind of her.
His strongest, and only, point against his current prison being within the fortress was that there was a distinct lack of bones filling the room. One would imagine any millenia old dungeon worth its salt would have at least a couple skeletons, plus a few miscellaneous bones here and there. Yet, no matter how hard Sombra looked, he couldn't find even a single shard of bone.
All together, the evidence pointed to his prison existing in an old but not ancient castle, and only one fit the bill. Therefore, Sombra could say with near one hundred percent certainty that he was in the castle in–
“–Canterlot are so rude! Do they not know who Trixie is!?”
“No, dear, I don't think they do.”
“Preposterous! They should all be executed immediately.”
The door to Sombra’s cell swung open, and the Great and Powerful Trixie herself sauntered in. Starlight followed close behind, mid-wince at Trixie's furious remark. A royal guard stationed themself just outside the cell, almost out of view and what little could be seen appearing extremely uncomfortable.
“Sombra! Trixie is sure it is wonderful to see her–” Trixie’s self-aggrandizing declaration was interrupted as Sombra leapt up from the floor and shoved her.
“Are you kidding me!? I spent so long analyzing every aspect of this cell, just for you to come in and spoil my moment of investigative triumph!” Sombra shouted.
“Well, old man, maybe think faster next time, hm?” Trixie countered, not for a moment questioning the reasonability of his accusations. “It is not Trixie’s fault that you suffer from super-duper dementia.”
“You overeating rat–”
“Alright!” Starlight shouted, getting between the two. “Let's not do this right now.”
“Staaaarlight.” Trixie whined, breaking her staring contest with Sombra to pout at her marefriend. “Trixie was having fun.”
“Yeah, way to kill the vibe.” Sombra agreed, nodding. “Vibe-killer.”
“You two there is a guard watching us and I am not getting arrested because you refuse to act like normal ponies for five minutes!” Starlight hissed, glancing over at the royal guard.
The guard in question made eye contact with Sombra for a moment and shuddered, quickly looking away. Rude.
“Fine.” Sombra said, deciding to give the frazzled mare a break. “Anyway, not to be a disrespectful host, but why exactly are you here? Also, how? Maybe a bit of when and a smidge of what? Don't worry about where, though. I've already figured that one out.”
“Trixie was simply in the area and decided to stop by.” Trixie replied easily.
“She forced me to book the first available tickets to Canterlot about three minutes after Twilight carted you off.” Starlight revealed, ignoring Trixie's horrified look at her secret being revealed. “To answer your other questions: I'm the principal of the school of friendship, so ponies just kind of let me do things, it's about an hour until sunset, and I have no idea what you mean by ‘what’ in this context.”
“I suppose it's similar to ‘why’, which I feel you haven't actually answered either.” Sombra decided. “So, let's get down to it. Is this an interrogation? Torture? Extrajudicial execution? I'm not particularly fussed about it, but I'd like to get myself into the right mindset before we begin.”
Starlight looked quite perturbed at that.
“That… that's not–” She started.
“All that and more, my friend!” Trixie interrupted, her horn lighting up. “Because I've got… this!”
Trixie removed from her cloak a metal lunchbox, the passionate motion making her cloak flare out behind her. Sombra squinted at the box, examining the odd characters printed on it. There was one which appeared to be a red earth pony engulfed in flames, another which resembled some sort of spider-pony thing, and Sombra stopped caring.
“Your lunch? I know I've said it before, but eat less–”
“Quiet!” Trixie shouted, levitating the lunchbox in front of her. “This may appear to be an ordinary lunchbox, but in reality it is so much more: a portal to an alternate world, where anything is possible!”
Sombra saw the guard tense out of the corner of his eye.
“It is Trixie’s most prized possession, one she has kept close since she was a filly!” Trixie unlatched the lunchbox, slowly opening it. “Are you curious? Excited? Positively awed?”
“I… guess?” Sombra said, glancing at Starlight, who seemed to be having a hard time deciding between infatuation and exasperation with Trixie and her showponyship.
“It is…” Trixie finished opening the lunchbox with a flourish and levitated out dozens of… cards? “Trixie's Ponyfenders cards!”
Trixie stood tall, waiting for the cheers to come in response to her grand reveal.
“Trixie, have I ever told you how much of an absolute disappointment you are?” Sombra asked.
The groan from the royal guard told Sombra he was not alone in his opinion.
Radiant Hope and Moony walked for much of the day, making slow but steady progress on the dirt roads webbing throughout the Equestrian countryside. The sun was now setting, bathing the sky in swathes of oranges, reds, and yellows.
The two ponies hadn't talked much since they left the cave, only occasional complaints from Moony and unintelligible mumbling from Radiant Hope interrupting the neverending chirp of crickets and rustle of trees.
Over the course of the day, they'd passed a number of farms and a few small cabins barely visible on the edge of distant forests, but not once had they seen another pony. Radiant Hope considered this normal, Moony did not, and this served as the source of a good fifteen percent of Moony’s complaints. The other eighty five percent mainly consisted of such things as food, water, aches and pains, and having to walk faster than Radiant Hope to make up for her shorter legs. None of these were things Radiant Hope could do anything about, and some unfortunately applied to her as well, so she had stopped responding after the second hour.
The unbroken solitude and general exhaustion led to the pair being quite unprepared for a pony to crest the hill they were nearing, pulling a wagon filled to the brim and beyond with what could best have been described as ‘stuff’. Both parties froze as they caught sight of each other, unsure of how to proceed.
The new pony broke the stalemate first, pulling her wagon down the hill and parking it on the side of the road. As she busied herself with undoing her harness, Radiant Hope and Moony cautiously made their way closer.
“Why is she stopping?” Moony whispered.
“We'll see, Moony.” Radiant Hope whispered back.
Moony’s left eye twitched, but she didn't comment on the nickname. That had been their deal, after all.
By the time they got to the pony, she had finished with the harness and now stood next to her wagon with a smile on her face. She was a light blue unicorn with brown hair done up in a bun, and her cutie mark was an open cardboard box. She had a pair of round glasses set on the bridge of her nose, though not in a spot where she would’ve been able to see anything through them.
“Hello, fellow travelers!” The pony greeted brightly, glancing between the two before settling her focus on Radiant Hope. “Can I assume that you two are some combination of hungry, tired, thirsty, or just in need of a cheap back scratcher? If so, you're in the right place! My name is Heart o’ Gold, that's ‘o’ then an apostrophe, and I happen to be a seller of quite a wide variety of goods.”
“She has food.” Moony whispered to Radiant Hope. “Should we kill her?”
“I have money.” Radiant Hope whispered back.
Moony glanced at Heart o’ Gold, then back to Radiant Hope.
“Not answering my question.” Moony whispered.
Radiant Hope shook her head and straightened.
“Alright, what do you have for sale?” Radiant Hope asked.
Heart o’ Gold took a deep breath.
“Well~” She sang.
“No!” Moony screeched, getting into Heart o’ Gold’s face as well as she could. “We are not doing songs!”
“You sure?” Heart o’ Gold asked, looking down at the smaller pony with a slightly diminished smile. “It’s a pretty good one.”
“Considering it begins with ‘well’, I highly doubt that. That word is probably the most basic, least interesting way to segue into a song.” Moony responded, a mean smile growing on her face as Heart o’ Gold’s lessened. “Maybe take a few music lessons, then we'll talk.”
“Hm.” Heart o’ Gold looked down at Moony for a long moment, before turning to Radiant Hope. “Your foal is quite obnoxious.”
“I am a grown mare!” Moony shouted.
“Though, perhaps… yes.” Heart o’ Gold mumbled to herself, ignoring Moony completely. She jumped up into her wagon and rummaged through it, eventually hopping down to the ground with a carrot held in her magic. “This one's on me. Growing foals require their vegetables, after all!”
For a moment, Moony almost seemed to consider accepting the free food, but her pride quickly took over.
“Do you not know who I am!?” Moony thundered. “Mere merchant, I am the mare on th–”
Radiant Hope telekinetically forced Moony’s mouth shut.
“I'm really sorry about my friend.” Radiant Hope said, ignoring the furious noises coming from Moony. “She isn't great around other ponies.”
Heart o’ Gold smiled understandingly and shook her head.
“Oh, it's quite alright. You don't exactly meet normal ponies in this line of work, you know?” Heart o’ Gold joked.
“I'm sure.” Radiant Hope agreed, barely glancing at Moony attempting to pry her own mouth open.
Heart o’ Gold nodded, giving a slightly longer glance at Moony.
“You can undo that if you want.” Heart o’ Gold said casually. “She doesn't offend me.”
“Yes. Offending you. That is the issue here.” Radiant Hope lied, looking away. “Moony! If I let you go, will you promise not to… offend her?”
Radiant Hope threw in a wink, hoping the hidden message of ‘do not reveal yourself as Nightmare Moon’ was clear. Moony glared up at Radiant Hope but, eventually, angrily, nodded.
Radiant Hope released her magical grip, and Moony immediately started yelling.
“The disrespect! The indignity!” Moony shouted, marching over to Radiant Hope and rearing up on her hind legs so she could grab the sides of Radiant Hope’s head and force eye contact. “If you value your life, you will never do that again. Do you understand me?”
“Of course, Moony.” Radiant Hope replied simply.
“…good.” Moony said, letting go and returning to all fours. “Merchant! I demand your gift.”
Heart o’ Gold looked between the two, though what was going through her head was unclear.
“…sure.” Heart o’ Gold levitated the carrot over to Moony, who grabbed it with her hooves and quickly shoved it in her mouth. “Hm. Anyway! I don't believe I got your names.”
“I’m Radiant Hope, and my friend is Moony.” Radiant Hope said.
“Well, it's very nice to meet you, Radiant Hope.” Heart o’ Gold said. “Now, would you like to buy anything? I'm sure you're hungry too, and I’m unfortunately out of free carrots.”
“Oh! Um, give me a moment.” Radiant Hope magically searched the pockets within her cloak, eventually finding and taking out her coin purse. She then levitated out of the purse her entire wealth of coin, spreading it out in the air. “How much can I buy with this?”
Heart o’ Gold stepped closer and squinted at one of the coins. She then magically plucked it out of the air without asking and held it up to her face, analyzing it.
“These are tenth bits.” Heart o’ Gold stated flatly, looking up from the coin to Radiant Hope. “They went out of circulation eight hundred years ago.”
“Oh…” Radiant Hope hadn't considered that. “Well! That just makes them collector’s items, right?”
“Nope.” Heart o’ Gold replied. “When the Crystal Empire returned, the market was flooded with so many of these that you would have to pay me to take them.”
Radiant Hope quietly took back her tenth bit from Heart o’ Gold and put it and the rest of the apparently worthless coins back in her coin purse, then put the coin purse back in her cloak.
“I… guess I'm broke.” Radiant Hope said, smiling in the fragile way one does when there is little else to do.
Moony, having long since finished her carrot, stepped closer to Radiant Hope and, when the internally panicking pony didn't react, kicked her in the side of the leg.
“We can still kill her.” Moony whispered, sounding almost like she was trying to… comfort Radiant Hope.
“No.” Radiant Hope whispered back, sounding less stern than she would've liked. “We can figure something else out.”
“How about we make a deal?” Heart o’ Gold offered.
Radiant Hope and Moony jolted and looked over to Heart o’ Gold, who was standing there with the same inviting smile she'd worn since the conversation began. The trees rustled as always, but it was only at that moment that Radiant Hope realized she couldn't remember the last time she heard even a single cricket.
“Explain.” Moony demanded.
“Well, just as you would've had to pay me to take those coins off your hooves, I have an item that I am willing to ‘pay’ you to take off of mine. The ‘payment’ would come in the form of food and drink, of course.” Heart o’ Gold explained, her smile beginning to… twist. “A good deal, is it not?”
“We have no need for vagueness.” Moony stated coldly, taking a step in front of Radiant Hope. “Tell us exactly what you want from us, now.”
Heart o’ Gold’s horn glowed, and she levitated from her wagon a small round bottle which held inside it a bright purple liquid. She hovered it next to her head, her smile worsening by the second.
“This, my fellows, is a potion. A very rare and very dangerous one.” Heart o' Gold brought the potion in front of her, gazing into it longingly. “In fact, it has the power to fell even a mighty Alicorn.”
Moony tensed, watching Heart o’ Gold carefully. Radiant Hope’s eyes never left the bottle.
“I will admit, I was quite stumped when I encountered a dark blue Alicorn calling herself ‘Moony’ on a random road in the middle of nowhere. Though her identity was obvious, I couldn't quite believe it.” Heart o’ Gold’s twisted smile grew. “Nightmare Moon herself, diminished though she is. Together with a crystal pony still lost in time when all others have integrated, plotting my death in whispers they believe I can not hear. It is quite fascinating. Quite unusual. Quite… villainous.”
Heart o’ Gold looked up from the bottle.
“I will not pretend to know your goals, motivations, plans, or anything like that. What I do know is that you have a bone to pick with the princesses of Equestria, same as I.” Heart o’ Gold levitated the bottle closer to the pair. “Take this, and bring them to their knees. Tear them from their pedestals, crush them beneath your hooves, and wither them away until they are nothing more than a faint memory of light in an overwhelming sea of darkness.”
Radiant Hope was… interested, but Moony seemed no less suspicious than before.
“What do you gain from this?” Moony questioned, eyes narrowed.
“I thought I made that quite obvious.” Heart o’ Gold said, her smile now holding none of its original warmth. “I despise the princesses. Everything they are, everything they do, everything they represent. I despise it all, and I want it, and them, gone.”
“Then why not deal with matters yourself? Why carry around a deadly potion with no plans to use it? Why allow us to obtain the revenge you seek?” Moony pressed.
Heart o’ Gold looked up to the sky, where faint stars were appearing in the quickly darkening expanse. For a long moment, it was silent. Then, she looked back down, a smirk on her face.
“Wouldn't you like to know, Moony?” Heart o’ Gold snarked.
“You disrespectful peasant–” Moony’s furious tirade was halted before it could begin by Radiant Hope taking a step forward. “Huh? What are you doing!?”
“We accept your gift.” Radiant Hope stated graciously, reaching out with her magic to take the potion.
Before she could, though, Heart o’ Gold pulled it back.
“Ah, this is for the Nightmare’s hooves only.” Heart o’ Gold said, shaking her head regretfully. “Though I sense darkness in your heart, I have no reason to believe you will do as I request. She, on the other hoof, has a proven track record. You understand, yes?”
Before Radiant Hope could so much as formulate a response, Moony cut in.
“Come on, do you really think someone like her would break a promise?” Moony questioned, rolling her eyes. “I don't even think she knows how to lie.”
Heart o’ Gold snickered at this, showing she had at least some amount of emotion somewhere inside her.
“Thank you for the passionate defense, Moony, but it's fine.” Radiant Hope said, eyes never leaving the potion. “I trust you with it.”
“As you should.” Moony said with a nod. “Very well, merchant. We accept your gift.”
“Wonderful.” Heart o’ Gold stated, levitating the potion over to Moony, who grabbed it out of the air with her hooves. “Let's get you two set up for your trip, hm?”
“Trixie hits face for eight hundred ninety seven life.” Trixie declared, triumphantly slapping down her final card.
“I only have six!” Sombra protested, looking among the cards on the field in an attempt to figure out Trixie's combo.
“Is that Trixie’s problem?” Trixie asked, fluttering her eyelashes.
Sombra grumbled.
“I want different cards.” Sombra said, throwing down his hoof of worthless junk. “All of these suck.”
“As a neutral third party, might I suggest not creating a deck solely based on the card art?” Starlight proposed, content to watch and, more importantly, not play.
“I have a reputation to uphold.” Sombra responded, gathering up his cards. “Whatever. Rematch?”
“Of course, old man.” Trixie said with a smirk, ready to add to her thirteen game win-streak.
It was deep into the night when Radiant Hope and Moony finally bid farewell to Heart o’ Gold. Now equipped with moderately-used saddlebags filled with non-perishable food, inherently non-perishable water, and, in Moony’s case, the potion, the pair set off. Their first obstacle: the hill.
Overall, not much of an issue. With a simple light spell from Radiant Hope, the hill was no more fearsome than its daytime form, which wasn't. Moony, of course, refused to cast a light spell of her own, arguing that it would defeat the purpose of her new wide-brimmed black hat, which Heart o’ Gold had given her to prevent other ponies from seeing her horn and realizing she was an Alicorn. It was easier to cover the horn than the wings, she'd successfully argued.
Soon after they made it to the other side of the hill and began to walk the flat road ahead, Radiant Hope stopped.
“Oh no.” Radiant Hope gasped, feeling at her cloak. “Where is it, where is it?”
She frantically looked through her pockets, pulling out random knick-knacks and stuffing them back in with the same panicked fervor.
“I know I brought it with me, I know I did! Did I drop it?” Radiant Hope searched the ground, but couldn't find anything. “It has to be around here somewhere. I know I had it just a bit ago.”
“What's got you…” Moony started to ask, pausing to yawn. “…so stressed?”
“My necklace!” Radiant Hope shouted. “Sombra gave it to me when we were foals, I can't lose it!”
Radiant Hope looked back at the hill.
“Moony–” Radiant Hope was cut off by a huff from the pony in question. “Nightmare Moon, I need to check back where we talked to Heart o’ Gold. Maybe I dropped it when I was taking out my coin purse.”
“Fine.” Moony said, sighing. “Let's go.”
“Oh, you don't have to come!” Radiant Hope assured. “I know you're getting tired.”
“Lies… and slander.” Moony claimed, blinking slowly.
“Here, just lay down for a bit.” Radiant Hope said, herding Moony to a nice-looking patch of grass on the side of the road. “I'll be back in a moment, promise.”
Moony resisted at first, but her willpower quickly crumbled.
“I am not doing this because you suggested it.” Moony claimed, testing the ground under her hooves. “I simply feel the need to rest, and your mistake is giving me a fine opportunity.”
“Of course.” Radiant Hope said, turning to head back to where the wagon had parked. “Be back soon.”
“Sure.” Moony said, plopping herself down in the grass. “Don't die.”
Radiant Hope quickly rushed up the hill, mumbling to herself worriedly. As soon as she crested the hill, and was thus out of sight, she slowed her pace and carefully lessened the light coming from her horn until it was completely gone. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, familiar to her after a millennium underground. Near the bottom of the hill was Heart o’ Gold’s wagon, meaning the salespony hadn't left yet. Perfect.
Radiant Hope made her way down the hill, keeping quiet. A faint light emanated from the other side of the wagon, pointing her to her target. As she crept closer, she levitated her necklace from the spot she'd left it and tucked it into its pocket.
Then, when she was as close to the wagon as she dared to be, so close she could almost hear Heart o’ Gold’s breathing on the other side, Radiant Hope stopped muffling her steps, lit up her horn, and casually circled to the other side.
What she saw on the other side was no salespony, though. It was a monster nearly twice Radiant Hope's height, a beast whose smooth dark body reflected the light cast onto it by her spell. It stood on four legs, but in a way that felt somehow mocking. Odd bends and sharp turns, bones noticeable where they shouldn't have been and nowhere to be found where they should've, and gaping holes which seemed to have no effect on the thing's ability to hold itself up. Its mane, or at least the thing that served the same purpose, was a stringy, tangled length of cerulean that reached almost down to the ground. On its back were a pair of transparent torn wings, appearing completely non-functional but almost certainly working just as impossibly as the rest of the creature. Its horn was long and twisted, ending in a sharp, curved point resembling the blade of a knife.
Radiant Hope recognized the being before her, a creature thought to exist only in ancient legends and the nightmares of foals: Queen Chrysalis, matriarch of the changelings.
The two stared at each other, wide-eyed and frozen. Eventually, though, Queen Chrysalis’s eyes narrowed into a fearsome glare.
“You saw nothing, pony.” Queen Chrysalis hissed, wings twitching angrily.
With Queen Chrysalis's mouth open, Radiant Hope had a full view of the sharp fangs within. She considered, for a moment, that Heart o’ Gold’s smile made a lot more sense when imagined onto this creature’s face.
“Oh?” Radiant Hope questioned, taking a calm step forward. “Because I'm pretty sure I'm looking at the legendary Queen Chrysalis herself. Please, let me know if I'm mistaken.”
Chrysalis looked down at Radiant Hope, opened her mouth as if to reply, then quickly spat a large blob of some sort of mucus at her. Radiant Hope summoned a bubble around the projectile, halting its momentum as it splattered against the inside of the bubble. She let the bubble pop, watching as the mucus smacked against the ground a few feet away from her and quickly hardened.
“Hm.” Radiant Hope hummed, looking back up at Chrysalis, who was staring at the mucus in disbelief. “I'm not here to fight, and I have no plans to inform anypony of your existence. I simply wish to speak with you… your grace.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere.” Chrysalis spat.
Yet, she did not go for another attack.
“I'll keep that in mind. Now, let us get down to business.” Radiant Hope said, matching Chrysalis’s glare with a flat stare. “I want a potion.”
“You already have one.” Chrysalis countered.
“If I remember right, and, again, you may correct me at any time, that potion was ‘for the Nightmare’s hooves only’.” Radiant Hope replied dryly. “No, I want one.”
“I'm all out.” Chrysalis stated.
“No, you're not.” Radiant Hope countered simply, not believing her for a moment.
“Even if I did have another, why would I give it to you?” Chrysalis questioned.
“Because otherwise, you'll have a bit of a harder time making sales from now on.” Radiant Hope answered, clearing her throat and dipping into a carefree tone. “Oh, mister policeman, I saw a big scary monster on the road heading north! It was dark and had holes all over and I think I even saw it transform into a pony! I'm just so scared, won't you please hunt it down?”
“Are you…” Chrysalis stalked over to Radiant Hope and snapped her head down to the pony’s level with a loud crack. “threatening me?”
“Of course not, your majesty.” Radiant Hope replied. “I don't make threats–”
“–you make promises, yes?” Chrysalis finished dryly, lifting her head back up. “Unoriginal. Sombra's been using that barb since he came onto the scene.”
“I’m well aware.” Radiant Hope said.
Chrysalis was quiet for a long moment, seeming to analyze Radiant Hope.
“A crystal pony who has refused to integrate with modern society and who quotes the tyrant king.” Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. “Are you a fangirl?”
Radiant Hope looked up to the night sky, filled with hundreds and hundreds of stars. Then, she looked back down to the changeling queen, an innocent smile on her face.
“Wouldn't you like to know, Chrysalis?” Radiant Hope said.
Chrysalis bristled at Radiant Hope's omission of her regal title. After a tense moment, though, she turned away.
“I only have half of a dose.” Chrysalis stated. “It takes time to synthesize, especially since I must travel throughout Equestria to harvest the ingredients.”
“Oh, that'll do just fine.” Radiant Hope giggled. “My Alicorn’s only half of a pony, after all.”
Author's Note
With the way I have the story planned right now, there should be three more chapters.
We'll see.

//-------------------------------------------------------//
               Step 4: Determine Differences               
//-------------------------------------------------------//
Step 4: Determine Differences
For a week, Radiant Hope and Moony travelled without incident. As they grew closer to their destination, more signs of civilization began to appear. Ponies passed them more often, branches off of the road led to towns instead of small farms, and pegasi could be seen flying through the sky, some travelling, some managing the weather, and some, to Moony’s horror, wearing the armor of the Equestrian royal guard.
Once it became clear that the royal guards were unaware of their existence, Moony calmed down. Not enough to stop her from complaining every single time one flew overhead, of course, but enough that she stopped demanding Radiant Hope blast them out of the sky.
The pair avoided every town on their journey, either taking a different route or, if none were present, skirting around the edges of the communities. Though Moony’s horn being hidden by her hat made her appear a simple pegasus, neither pony wanted to risk a repeat of the incident with Heart o’ Gold. Sure, it had technically worked out, doubly so in Radiant Hope’s case, but it was very uncomfortable and not something they felt the need to go through again. With plenty of food and water, as well as a contentedness with sleeping on the ground, their avoidance of civilization didn't cause much of a problem.
That was, if one ignored the elephant in the room.
“Where are we!?” Moony shouted, glaring in disbelief at yet another small town. “Where is this!?”
“Well… I have no idea.” Radiant Hope admitted, looking at the town with far less anger but no less disbelief. “There are a lot more towns in Equestria than I remember.”
“Of course there are. It's been a thousand years!” Moony yelled, before blinking and processing her own statement. “A thousand years. Is– is anything where I think it is? Are we even going south!?”
“I think so?” Radiant Hope said hesitantly. “I started in the Arctic Wastes and we haven't changed direction all that much, so we still should be going south.”
“Of course, ‘we still should be’, wonderful.” Moony grumbled. “That salespony should've given us a compass.”
“Well, it's not like it's that important.” Radiant Hope said. “As long as we're heading towards Sombra, we're good.”
“And are we?” Moony questioned.
Radiant Hope closed her eyes and checked for the hundredth time in the past week.
“Yes.” Radiant Hope answered plainly.
“Good. However, the central problem remains unsolved.” Moony stated. “We know very little about the modern day.”
“I mean, it's just like a thousand years ago, right? How much could've possibly changed?” Radiant Hope asked.
“Well, we’ve already seen that economic inflation has rendered your money irrelevant.” Moony noted. “Then, there's the way everypony speaks, no ‘thou’s or ‘thy’s.”
“I don't think we ever used those in the Crystal Empire.” Radiant Hope noted.
“Yes, well, we didn't use them on the moon, either. Something of an Equestrian trend, from my understanding.” Moony paused and shot Radiant Hope a look. “You're getting me off-track.”
“Sorry.” Radiant Hope apologized.
“I accept your apology.” Moony replied. “Anyway, did you know that there are new bearers of the Elements of Harmony?”
“You've mentioned it once or twice.” Radiant Hope responded, mentally marking down a ninth tally mark. “I’m not too worried.”
“You should be.” Moony said darkly. “They were the ones who struck me down at the height of my power. Underestimating them will ruin us.”
“That is true…” Radiant Hope trailed off, then looked at Moony with a questioning expression. “Do you have a plan for them, then?”
“Well, first I will tear that rainbow pegasus’s wings off. Then, I'll throw the pink one into the upper atmosphere and watch her suffocate. Next, I'll bury the one with the hat under a mountain. I'll probably toss the yellow one to a rabid mob of ponies, I'm sure I could find one somewhere. I’ll just annihilate the white one; sometimes simplicity is best. Then, lastly, the purple one… oh, the purple one. I have so many plans that I can barely imagine what I will do first. Probably something to do with the eyes.” Moony paused. “Wait, no, that would screw up my plan to make her watch her friends’ deaths on loop for a thousand years. The blinding will have to come later.”
Radiant Hope stared at Moony, which the nightmarish pony seemed confused by.
“What?” Moony asked.
“I was asking for your plan to beat them.” Radiant Hope clarified. “Not… that.”
Moony blinked.
“You weren't clear enough.” Moony stated, before considering Radiant Hope’s actual question. “No, I don't have a plan for that. I was hoping King Sombra would incapacitate them for me.”
“What if they’re guarding him?” Radiant Hope asked, feeling this was a fairly likely scenario. “He won't be able to help until after we free him.”
“Hm. Instead of answering, I will ask you a better question: how are we going to free him at all?” Moony questioned.
“I… I'm working on it.” Radiant Hope said defensively.
“You haven't even thought about it.” Moony claimed.
“I have! It's just very hard to come up with a plan when I have absolutely no idea what I'm planning for. I mean, is he in jail? Turned to stone? Hung by the hind legs above some city gate?” Radiant Hope listed, growing panicked the more she thought about it.
“Oh, that's a good one. I'm stealing that.” Moony said.
“Maybe… maybe our lack of information is a problem.” Radiant Hope admitted.
“Of course it is. I am very knowledgeable on this and also everything else.” Moony replied.
“If you were, we wouldn't be in this situation.” Radiant Hope mumbled under her breath.
“What?” Moony asked.
“Nothing.” Radiant Hope replied.
Radiant Hope looked to the town.
“I think it might be time to get some first-hoof information.” Radiant Hope said.
Sombra was sitting in a half-asleep daze when the door to his cell slammed open. Before he could react, he was picked up by a familiar raspberry aura and slammed into the wall opposite the door.
“I have reached my limit with you, Sombra.” Twilight Sparkle spat, standing in the doorway with a furious, well, everything. The magic on the tip of her horn flared and dulled erratically, her wings were spread as far as the doorway allowed, and the look on her face was one that matched even the worst of Princess Luna’s in intensity.
“What?” Sombra groaned, still reeling from the sudden spinal rearrangement.
“I already had an insane amount on my plate before you decided to throw yourself on it, and all I needed was a few months of peace to deal with it all. Just a few! I would've preferred years, obviously, with how much I have to do. I mean, do you know how hard it is to take control of an entire country?” Twilight Sparkle questioned.
“Yeah.” Sombra confirmed half-heartedly.
Twilight Sparkle glared at him.
“That was rhetorical.” She growled, then shook her head. “Equestria has never once had a transfer of power, well, ever. It turns out there's a lot more involved than simply declaring me ruler, and of course Celestia and Luna are already off on their world tour, so I have to navigate every part of this unprecedented transition alone. I've slept four hours in the past three weeks, and now, during my first break in days, I have to spend my time dealing with you.”
“Well–” Sombra started.
“And that's not even the worst part!” Twilight continued to rant. “The worst part is why I have to be down here, which is that my student, my friend, took it upon herself to abuse her authority in order to come down here and speak to you. Trixie I can handle, she’s already dedicated herself to making this transition as hard as physically possible, but Starlight? How dare she, and howdare you?”
Twilight breathed heavily as she finally finished her rant. Sombra waited for a long moment, making sure she didn't start back up again, before he spoke.
“Is that all?” Sombra asked.
“Excuse me?” Twilight Sparkle questioned, eyes narrowing with an unsubtle threat.
“Are you done? Can you let me down? Are you going to stop pretending I’m even slightly to blame for Starlight coming to visit me?” Sombra pressed, uncaring of the threat. “She’s the pony who made that choice. I didn't tell her to, I didn't ask her to, I didn't even imply that I might appreciate it. If there's anypony you should be slamming against walls, it's her.”
“I would never–”
“No, and you shouldn't. She’s a lovely mare.” Sombra said. “But, clearly, it's fine to do it to me.”
“Yes!” Twilight Sparkle snapped, stomping her hoof hard enough to crack the floor. “How do you not understand this!? You're a monster!”
Sombra instinctively bared his teeth, ready to fire back, but hesitated. Instants in time flashed through his mind, all the moments he'd had that word thrown at him. By his peers, his teachers, ponies on the streets, that giant crystal that called itself his mother, Princess Amore’s guards, Princess Amore’s eyes, Princess Amore's broken pieces, Radiant Hope…
His rage was extinguished before it could begin. He didn't have the right to be mad, not when he'd done nothing but confirm everypony's fears about him. All he could do was… change.
“I… I know. But, I'm trying to be better. I know you can't tell, but I really am. I don't want to be the pony I used to be. I don't want to keep hurting the ponies around me.” Sombra admitted, looking into Twilight Sparkle's eyes, searching for even the slightest hint of understanding. “Please, give me a chance to prove I don't deserve this. To prove I can fix myself.”
In Twilight Sparkle’s eyes, faced with Sombra's earnest, pleading gaze, there was nothing but hatred.
“You’re wrong, Sombra.” Twilight Sparkle spoke coldly. “I can tell you're trying. It's just not nearly enough.”
“Oh.” Sombra voiced, nothing more fitting coming to mind.
Twilight Sparkle released him from her magic and was already turned away by the time he hit the ground.
“Your actions have consequences, Sombra.” Twilight Sparkle stated. “It's time to face them.”
With that, she left, leaving Sombra with an aching back and a messy mind.
Radiant Hope and Moony entered the town after only a few minutes of light argument. Legitimately light, interestingly enough. Radiant Hope suspected Moony was just as worried about their minimal knowledge as she was. The only difference was that Radiant Hope was comfortable asking for assistance, while Moony was… not. Her pride couldn't outlast her fear of failure and the likely annihilation thereafter, though, so enter the town they did.
The town was a quaint little thing, most of its buildings seeming to exist on the quite predictably named Main Street, which was really just a slightly better maintained section of the dirt road they'd been traveling on for the last few days. A couple offshoot roads barely big enough for a wagon branched off of the main one, but the little Radiant Hope saw of them revealed little of interest.
There were more ponies on the street than Radiant Hope had seen in a while, but when compared to the number in a proper city or even an average town, it was small. Additionally, unlike most of the ponies they'd encountered on their travels, these ones were rather… shy.
“Is there something on your face?” Moony asked in a whisper.
“I don't know.” Radiant Hope whispered back.
She tried to make eye contact with a nearby pegasus, who was whistling a little tune as they walked. When the pegasus noticed her, they jolted and took to the skies, disappearing behind the clouds with nothing more than a few stray feathers left in their wake.
“It is odd.” Radiant Hope continued, watching as an earth pony turned a corner, saw her, and immediately rushed back the way they came. “Is there something on my face?”
“Let me check.” Moony and Radiant Hope stopped and faced each other, Moony scanning her face for imperfections. “…nope.”
“Hm.” Radiant Hope glanced around the deserted street before awkwardly pulling up her hood. “Just in case.”
The pair walked for another minute, Radiant Hope growing uncomfortable in the now deserted street. It was looking like they weren't going to get any of their questions answered, and she was maybe getting just a tiny bit stressed about the future.
“Hey.” Moony prodded, waiting a moment for a response that didn't come before repeating herself. “Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey–”
“What!?” Radiant Hope questioned sharply, realizing her mistake a moment later. “I mean… yes, Moony?”
“We just passed a bookstore.” Moony stated, either not noticing or not caring about Radiant Hope’s slip.
“And?” Radiant Hope questioned. “Do you even know how to read?”
“I do, in fact.” Moony replied proudly. “I taught myself on the moon.”
“What were you reading on the moon?” Radiant Hope asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.
“Books, obviously. I could see the whole planet from up there, you know. I'd simply find somepony reading an interesting book and follow along.” Moony explained, then scoffed. “Some of them took far too long to turn the pages.”
“I'm sorry, you were reading books in Equestria? From the moon?” Radiant Hope questioned in disbelief.
“Mhm. When I'm in my original form, my vision is unmatched! I can see everything. Including souls!” Moony said, sounding legitimately excited to talk about herself. Unsurprisingly.
“We have souls?” Radiant Hope asked.
“Most of you.” Moony replied vaguely.
“…moving on, do you really want to buy a book?” Radiant Hope asked.
“Huh?” Moony asked, knocked off-balance by the fact that the conversation was no longer focused on how cool she was. “Oh, no. I don't pay for things. I simply figured we could ask the pony running the shop for information. They are surely knowledgeable, running a bookstore and all.”
“Oh. That's… a good idea.” Radiant Hope admitted.
“Of course it is, it's one of mine.” Moony responded, turning back the way they came. “Come on.”
So, they retraced their steps. Still, they saw no other ponies, and Radiant Hope would've been lying if she’d said it hadn't gotten to her.
“Here it is.” Moony announced, stopping in front of a small building on the corner of Main Street and one of the small roads. The building had a wood carving of a book above the door and two large display windows, though both showed nothing but the world-facing side of dark curtains.
Radiant Hope glanced around the empty street one last time before opening the door and stepping inside. Immediately, she was hit with the smell of… lavender. The inside of the store was lined with bookshelves which were filled, of course, with books. The far end of the store had a wooden counter, behind which was a door presumably leading into some employee-only space. On the counter was a purple candle, the only light source in the store, which filled the store with a relaxing warm light and the lavender scent. In the near corner of the store, right next to one of the curtained windows, were a pair of comfortable-looking seats and a small end table.
However, the most striking feature of the bookstore was not its cozy atmosphere. It was instead the massive sword hanging above the history section on the right wall, dark as night from hilt to tip and blade curved to a surely unnecessary extent. Radiant Hope couldn't imagine the thing was ever used for anything except ceremony, considering it was twice as long as she was.
“Starstriker…” Moony whispered breathlessly, taking a step closer to the sword.
Or, maybe, Radiant Hope still had too much faith in her fellow pony.
“Welcome, welcome!” Somepony said, causing Radiant Hope and Moony to jolt. “Heh, scared you, did I? Sorry about that.”
Radiant Hope looked over to the counter, finding it was now manned by a pony. He was a tan earth pony with a gray mane, and between that and the wrinkles covering his face, it was safe to say he was an old one. Also, he talked like an elderly know-it-all. Normally, Radiant Hope had opinions on such ponies, but she’d come for knowledge, so she’d have been a hypocrite to complain.
“My name is Page Finder, though I admit my years of championship gold are long behind me.” Page Finder said, chuckling at his own joke. “What can I do for you two?”
“Well, we were hoping–” Radiant Hope started.
“How did you get this?” Moony interrupted, waving a hoof at the sword.
“Ah, that old thing?” Page Finder gave the sword a light smile. “Been in the family for generations, it has. It's said to have been wielded by Princess Celestia during a great battle many, many years ago. She left it stuck in the ground, and one of my ancestors decided to pluck it out and hang it up in his store.”
“And it's sat here ever since?” Moony questioned.
“Oh, of course not. This town's been torn down and rebuilt so many times, we aren't even sure this is where the battle happened! To be honest, the old thing’s probably a replica, or maybe a fake some ancient youngsters got everypony to believe was real. It's a nice legend, though, and where's the harm in playing into myth a bit?” Page Finder asked, throwing in a wink. “Certainly helps with business.”
Moony, of course, didn't respond. Instead, she looked back to the sword, Radiant Hope getting a brief glimpse of an odd look on Moony’s face as she turned.
“Sorry about my friend.” Radiant Hope said quickly, covering for Moony’s persistent lack of social grace. “She's… really into history.”
“Hey, not the first. I say it's good for business, but a lot of ponies really just come to see the sword.” Page Finder explained. “Speaking of which, you buying anything?”
“Oh, well, um…” Radiant Hope didn't have to check her pockets to know she had zero usable currency. “Can I ask you a few questions first?”
“Well, sure, not like I’ve got anything better to do.” Page Finder agreed, eyeing Radiant Hope. “Gonna have to ask you to take off the hood, though. It sounds like you're speaking through a pillow in that thing, and my ears aren't what they used to be.”
“Oh, of course!” Radiant Hope said, using her magic to remove her hood.
Page Finder took one look at her unobscured face and paled.
“Oh… oh no.” Page Finder breathed. “You have to leave.”
“What?” Radiant Hope asked, caught off-guard by the sudden shift.
“You need to leave, now.” Page Finder pointed to the door with a shaking hoof. “Go! Quickly, before they–”
The front door slammed open.
“Pops! How's it going, you old coot?” A youthful voice called out, accompanied by a chorus of snickering. “I thought you keeled over months ago! I guess you’re just enjoying life without that old hag, yeah?”
“Ea–Earnest Skies.” Page Finder said shakily, ignoring Radiant Hope’s questioning look. “Why– why are you here?”
“Oh, it's an interesting story, actually! See, my crew and I were hanging out by Floral’s house, having a grand old time, when this mare came running up to us, shouting about seeing one of them entering your little bookstore. I just had to come see for myself, assuage her fears and all that.” Earnest Skies chuckled, the sound accompanied by the starting of slow hoofsteps on wood. “I’m glad to see she wasn't lying. ‘Course, then I gotta wonder why you didn't tell us.”
“Please, I– I didn't know–” Page Finder pleaded.
“Yeah, I'm not buying that.” Earnest Skies interrupted, his hoofsteps getting closer. “But, hey, I’m feeling generous today. So, just sit there, stay quiet, and don't take your eyes off the show.”
Radiant Hope didn't let herself so much as twitch when Earnest Skies came to a stop behind her.
“So, you gonna turn around or am I gonna have to turn you around myself?” Earnest Skies asked dryly.
Radiant Hope took a deep breath and slowly turned to face Earnest Skies. He was a dark pink pegasus with a short yet untamed gold mane and a scar stretching from just under his right eye down to his jaw. Crowding the front of the bookstore behind him were about a dozen ponies of various types and colors, though with the common feature of a similar but much smaller scar on the same side of their faces.
“A mare, huh?” Earnest Skies looked Radiant Hope up and down, and she barely managed to repress a shiver. “What’s a little thing like yourself doing so far from home?”
“Oh, I'm just… traveling! Seeing the sights, hearing the sounds, smelling the smells.” Radiant Hope sniffed exaggeratedly, getting a noseful of lavender for her troubles. “Equestria is so different from how I remember!”
“Is it now?” Earnest Skies questioned, taking a step closer.
“Yeah, it's sooo interesting! Almost makes me glad to have missed the last millennium, you know?” Radiant Hope replied, taking a step back.
“Of course, of course.” Earnest Skies said, continuing to advance. “We have a pretty good thing going, don't we?”
“Y–yep! You really do!” Radiant Hope’s flank hit the counter, and she felt her heart skip a beat. “Actually I'd really love to get back to sightseeing so if you could let me leave–”
“Pale Scraper?” Earnest Skies called out, not breaking eye contact with Radiant Hope.
One of the unicorns’ horns lit up, and there was a knife against her throat.
How– how dare they who do they think they are stay calm stay calm stay rip their heads off don't drop the facade don't kill them all–
“See, I can't do that.” Earnest Skies said, his easy-going tone unchanged. “Quite simply, I've got a problem with you crystal ponies.”
“D–do you now?” Radiant Hope questioned, head drooping slightly as she fought to stay composed stay composed stay composed.
“Yeah…” Earnest Skies said, pausing for a moment. Suddenly, he grabbed Radiant Hope by the mane and yanked her head up. “I do.”
Radiant Hope stifled a gasp at the sudden pain, knowing the knife was already dangerously close to breaking skin.
“I hate you crystal ponies. You think you can come in out of nowhere and impress everypony with your tragic enslavement. But, guess what? That's your fault. You were too weak to save yourselves and needed us to bail you out.” Earnest Skies snarled. “And as thanks for our selfless deed, what did you do? You took our jobs, our celebrations, our Alicorn, and now you prance around our land all happy-go-lucky like you aren't parasites.”
Radiant Hope didn't dare open her mouth.
“What, no stupid comment to make? No ‘oh, you're wrong mister, I’m a good pony!’?” Earnest Skies questioned.
Radiant Hope stayed silent.
“Come on, say something. Say something!” Earnest Skies shouted, getting right up in her face. “Say something or I'll kill you right now–”
*CRASH*
Radiant Hope and Earnest Skies froze. They stared at each other for a moment, before turning to face the source of the noise. What Radiant Hope saw was Moony, standing on top of a bookshelf, holding in her mouth the hilt of the no longer wall-mounted sword. The blade of the sword was instead embedded about an inch into the floor, chunks of the floorboards scattered around the hole it had created. Moony looked around the staring crowd with wide eyes, giving a brief glance down at the hole created by the sword she had failed to sneakily acquire.
“What in Celestia’s name–” Earnest Skies started.
Moony snapped out of her trance and, with strength Radiant Hope couldn't fathom the source of, yanked the sword out of the floor and slashed a sweeping arc through the air. From the sword, a cyan crescent of magic shot out, heading straight for the crowd, Radiant Hope included.
Radiant Hope used the moment of distraction to magically wrench the knife out of Pale Scraper’s telekinetic grip and dive to the floor. The cyan magic passed overhead a split second later, catching the gang and sending them into the wall of the bookstore. Then, with a grand cacophony of splintering wood and screams of pain, through it.
Sunlight poured in through the gaping hole in the wall, lighting the store with a brightness she'd begun to miss. Through the hole, though truly it was better described as the complete non-existence of a wall, Radiant Hope watched the gang smash into the building on the opposite side of the small road, though through that wall they unfortunately did not go.
“Wow…” Radiant Hope breathed, taking a careful step out of the building to better observe the writhing criminals.
She turned to say something to Moony, but a pegasus dive-bombed her the moment she turned her back.
“I don't know what happened in there, but I won't let you–” The pegasus, who shared the same scar as the rest, was cut off by Radiant Hope blasting them in the face.
They went flying into the air, though they quickly righted themself with a harsh flap of their wings. Before they could attack again, a cyan slash cut through the air and smashed into the base of their left wing with an utterly delightful sound. They went spiraling down to the ground, the harsh collision resulting in a plume of dust and an out-of-commision pegasus.
Moony climbed out of the store over the shattered pieces of wood, dragging behind her the sword that she absolutely shouldn't have been able to lift.
“You good?” Moony asked, voice somewhat muffled by the hilt in her mouth.
“Yeah.” Radiant Hope confirmed, climbing to her hooves.
On the other side of the road, Earnest Skies and his gang were just about done doing the same.
“Good.” Moony said, eyes narrowing at the sight before her. “Because we're not out of the woodwork just yet.”
“I’m going to skin you alive!” Earnest Skies screamed, wings beating furiously as he rose into the air. “I’ll turn both of your hides into doormats!”
“Starstriker.” Moony whispered. “Let us make them fear the Nightmare.”
Moony slashed another magical arc at the gang, though most dodged out of the way this time. Two didn't and were sent through the wall, presumably dealt with.
Three of the gang’s pegasi used the momentum of their dodges to lift off and barrel towards Moony, and she–
Radiant Hope heard a whoosh and threw herself to the side, barely avoiding Earnest Skies diving at her.
“Pale Scraper! Tear Hoarder! Help me out over here!” Earnest Skies yelled, righting himself and diving once more at Radiant Hope.
With a flick of her head, Radiant Hope created a magical barrier between herself and Earnest Skies. He frantically slowed himself down, stopping moments before he crashed into the barrier. She took the opportunity to stick her tongue out at him, reveling in the snarling rage he responded with.
A sudden sound behind her reminded Radiant Hope that Earnest Skies was not alone. She spun to face the noise, igniting a ball of light blue fire on the tip of her horn as she did. The moment she could, she shot the fireball at the source of the sound, a gray earth pony poised to buck her head off. A shaky barrier popped into existence in front of the earth pony and ricocheted the ball of fire through the window of a nearby building. A moment later, it exploded. Screams echoed from the building, which was quickly engulfed in the magical flames.
Who cared about that, though? More importantly, Pale Scraper dropped their barrier, and Radiant Hope could only bring her hooves up in a vain attempt to protect her head from the earth pony’s kick.
The hit sent her flying, though thankfully she didn't feel anything break. Before she could tumble to the ground, a pair of dark pink hooves grabbed one of her own and dragged her higher into the air. Above the buildings, above the smoke from the burning building, above even the clouds.
“Let's hope you leave behind enough for that mat, yeah?” Earnest Skies taunted.
Then, he halted his upward movement with a harsh flap of his wings. Before Radiant Hope could blast him, he spun in a quick, decisive motion and threw her straight down.
As she plummeted, as the air whipped around her and roared in her ears, as she stared with unblinking eyes at the scarred pegasus watching her fall with a smirk on his face, Radiant Hope had but one thought.
Screw this guy.
Radiant Hope reached out with her magic and gripped Earnest Skies’ wings, forcing them to still. He frowned at the sudden resistance, and his eyes widened when he looked to his back and saw the light blue aura surrounding his wings. The fear built as he fruitlessly struggled against her magic, increasing to all out terror when he started to plummet.
Radiant Hope knew she'd keep the look on Earnest Skies’ face close to her heart forever. It was wonderful.
Suddenly, ruining the moment, Radiant Hope was hit with the smell of smoke. She, regretfully, flipped over so she could see the ground, which was rapidly approaching. From her vantage point, she could see Moony fighting three ponies, dodging and weaving between spells and physical attacks and responding with magical slashes. Nine unconscious ponies were strewn out across the road, including the two who had attacked her, all in various states of injury. The burning building’s flames were higher than before, no one coming to its aid presumably due to the all-out brawl going on outside.
Radiant Hope built up her magic, hoping with all her heart that the idea that had just popped into her head wasn't going to result in a painful death. Reinforcing her grip on Earnest Skies to make sure he couldn't escape his fate, Radiant Hope took a deep breath to prepare herself.
Then, mere feet from the ground, Radiant Hope surrounded herself with half a dozen bubbles. She hit the innermost bubble moments before the outermost bubble hit the ground, causing her to bounce off of the relatively kind surface instead of the ground. Of course, all that built up momentum still had to go somewhere, and, over the next five seconds, Radiant Hope bounced around the inside of the multilayered bubble no less than seventeen times.
When the bouncing finally stopped, Radiant Hope dissipated the bubbles and fell to the ground with a groan. Everything hurt. It was better than being dead, but that wasn't saying much. As soon as she freed Sombra, she was going to find a feather fall spell and practice it until she could do it in her sleep.
Earnest Skies crashed into the ground a dozen feet from her, breaking Radiant Hope from her thoughts. He also bounced on impact, though the packed dirt was certainly less forgiving than her magical bubbles. When he settled on the ground, Radiant Hope realized with annoyance that she could still hear faint noises coming from him.
Pegasi.
Radiant Hope climbed to her hooves and slowly, painfully, stalked over to him. He was curled in on himself, whimpering in pain like a little foal. Radiant Hope pushed him with a hoof so that he was on his back, forced to look up at her.
“Shame how this all turned out, hm?” Radiant Hope said. “I mean, there was no need for any of this. You could've walked away, could've let me go, could've not started a fight you had no chance of winning.”
Radiant Hope giggled. Earnest Skies glared up at her with the one eye he could still open, so she lightly placed a hoof on his neck.
“It's funny, actually, because I know you still have absolutely no idea just how outclassed you are! That mare over there?” Radiant Hope nodded her head in Moony’s general direction, knowing the sword-wielding pony was still distracted by her fight. “That’s Nightmare Moon! Take off the hat, and she's got a little bitty horn and everything!”
Radiant Hope shook her head.
“Oh, but I'm weak, yeah? Even if Moony’s a sword-wielding Alicorn, little old Radiant Hope should've been an easy target! Well, newsflash, buddy! I am a thousand years old. I was Celestia and Luna’s personal student, the first from the Crystal Empire in history. I’ve made deals with beings that would eat you alive, I’ve spent almost my entire life surrounded by the most monstrous creatures this world has to offer, and I've come to Equestria to burn it to the ground.” Radiant Hope pressed down on Earnest Skies’ throat, relishing at the choked gasp the movement elicited. “Most importantly, though, I have had to spend the last week of my life with the most unpleasant, obnoxious, egotistical bitch on the planet. I have had to constantly rein in my desire to rip her apart because, unfortunately, she’s still useful. You, on the other hoof?”
Radiant Hope leaned in close, smiling down at the shaking pony below her.
“Nope.” She whispered, her smile growing to the point of pain and beyond. “Not at all.”
Radiant Hope stamped down on Earnest Skies’ throat as hard as she could. He flailed, frantically trying to bat away her hoof, but she magically held his hooves down. His wings tried to spread, so she held those down too. His mouth tried to scream, so she stopped that too. His eyes tried to cry, so she stopped that too–
“Yo.” Moony said.
Radiant Hope jolted and flung herself away from Earnest Skies. She glanced at Moony, who was giving her a questioning look, then around at the ponies strewn about the road. Her smile grew fragile.
Stupid, stupid, stupid! How long had Moony been done fighting? Long enough, surely! She knew. After a whole horrible week of tip-toeing around Moony, making sure not a single crack in the facade showed, it was over in an instant. Moony knew and was going to kill her with her stupid oversized sword and she'd never be able to save Sombra! It couldn't end like this, it couldn't! It wouldn't. She wasn't going to lose it all. She'd–
“Why'd you stop?” Moony asked around the sword still held in her mouth.
Radiant Hope’s thoughts came to a screeching halt.
“…huh?” Radiant Hope asked.
“Why'd you stop choking him out? I was enjoying it.” Moony said, pausing for a moment to stab the sword into the ground. “Honestly, I didn't know you had it in you! We might just make a stone cold killer out of you yet!”
Radiant Hope stared at Moony. Then, she chuckled. It escalated into laughter, and further into a cackling fit, bringing her to the ground, clutching her stomach.
“You– you are the worst pony I have ev–ever met!” Radiant Hope cackled, tears in her eyes.
“I am, aren't I?” Moony agreed proudly.
“Heehee… oh, I don't know why I even worried!” Radiant Hope exclaimed, lifting her head to look at Moony. “There’s not a single nice thought in your head!”
“Nope.” Moony nodded, before holding out a hoof.
Radiant Hope looked at it for a long moment before taking it and pulling herself to her hooves, her laughter subsiding. The two smiled at each other, the smiles plainly nasty and cruel.
“Y–you… monsters.” Earnest Skies groaned, shakily climbing to his hooves. “I… won't le–let you get away with thi–this.”
Moony’s eyebrows furrowed, and she in one smooth motion pulled her sword out of the ground and slashed with it, sending a cyan arc at Earnest Skies. His wings twitched weakly, but he could do nothing more before the magic slammed into him and sent him flying.
“Bye!” Radiant Hope called out, waving after the pegasus as he crashed through a building.
“You know.” Moony said, watching Radiant Hope with a smirk. “I think this is going to go just fine.”
“Oh, it will.” Radiant Hope agreed, turning from the carnage to look at Moony with one of her own. “It’ll go perfectly.”
Then, out of the corner of her eye, Radiant Hope noticed movement near the wrecked bookstore. She spun and fired a blast of magic at the movement, and, simultaneously, Moony did the same with her sword.
Their magic mixed in the air, combining into a single blue projectile which glowed with a brightness that hurt to look at. The source of the movement, Page Finder, stumbled back, causing the projectile to narrowly miss his head and instead blast through the remains of the building behind him.
“Ah, ah, ah.” Radiant Hope warned, smiling at the cowering pony. “I never got to ask my questions.”