Clarity gazed out on the Crystal Empire as the sun hit high noon. The ponies were out doing their usual daily business. The sheep were in their pastures, the librarian was organizing books, and the occasional pony was seen polishing her house.
Things had changed a lot in the empire. A stallion named Push Play had found Clarity encased in black crystals and freed her. But he also unknowingly freed King Sombra, the corruption of Clarity's brother, Raven Dusk.
After the battle with Sombra, Clarity had vanquished the phantasmic stallion and found her lost brother. After the battle, Play left to return to Manehattan. He had gotten permission to work on his first documentary and had to return to the city to do it.
Cadance and Shining Armor had given Clarity the same room she had before Sombra's attack: in the eastern part of the central tower, where she could watch the sun rise. And Raven was in the room right next to hers. She was getting settled in to the empire, but her brother wasn't.
She walked out of her room to see him walking down the hall, still behaving distant when he saw her. Clarity wouldn't stand for it. She didn't want to lose her brother a second time. She caught up with him.
"Raven, what's wrong?" She asked, only to slap her forehead, "What am I saying? Right now, with us, everything's wrong!" It was a white lie; Clarity was settling in nicely (as said before), but it pained her to see her brother so upset.
"I just want to know what I can do to help you," she said.
"I don't know," Raven said, "Just leave me alone."
"I don't know if I can do that," Clarity answered, "Did sealing yourself away help you with your anger before?"
Raven stopped, and sighed. Out of frustration. Not because Clarity was wrong, but because she was right.
"It pains me to see you like this," Clarity said, "Can we talk?"
"I guess," Raven answered.
..................................
The two ponies were back in Clarity's room. It wasn't too big, but it held many lavender-colored crystals.
'A hint of passionate red with a bit of serene blue, mixed with the purity of white,' she had thought when she first saw it.
But that wasn't on her mind now. She and Raven were sitting on her bed.
"I understand if you're not ready to talk about Sombra," she said, "But can you at least tell me why you got so distant?"
"Envy," Raven answered, "You had everything I wanted. Power, attention, the future throne. I felt unimportant, like you didn't need me around."
"Oh, Raven," Clarity said, "You're my brother! Of course I need you around! That's why I kept trying to reach out to you."
"Although it seems stupid now," Raven continued, "I deluded myself into thinking that you just saw me as a pathetic prince."
"No," Clarity said, "From what I've heard from Cadance, that would be Prince Blueblood."
"I began to sneak into the tunnels beneath Canterlot and practice dark magic from an old book I found," Raven said, "And when Mirar fell ill, instead of feeling upset, I began to feel anticipated that I could seize power."
"No wonder you seemed so excited," Clarity said, with a hint of anger present in her voice, "I had the right to distrust you."
"Yeah," Raven said, "After that, all I could think of was vengeance."
"I can imagine," Clarity said.
"Happy now? I gave you answers," Raven said.
"Yeah, I guess," Clarity replied with a sigh.
With a nod, Raven exited Clarity's room. Clarity sighed again, and looked out her window.
Dark clouds were rolling in. She remembered hearing that the pegasi were planning a large storm.
'The first Raven and I have seen in over a thousand years,' she thought.