//------------------------------//
// Episode 1: Return of the Crystal Empire Part 1 
// Story: Elements of Heroism: Season 3 
// by Bahamut0 
//------------------------------//

As most mornings, Burst checked his mail box. However, one letter he'd received was of grave importance. It was an urgent summons from Princess Celestia, and it told him to bring the other Elements of Heroism. Wasting no time, Burst gathered his friends and met with Twilight and the others. They soon arrived in Canterlot Castle, and Burst followed Twilight with Inferno tailing close behind. Celestia had a serious look on her face. "Thank you for coming. Please have a seat." An image of a grand crystal city was soon displayed on the nearby table. "After a thousand years, the Crystal Empire has resurfaced."

"So...what made it disappear in the first place?" Twilight asked.

Celestia's face soon turned grim. "The Crystal Empire was ruled under the cruel fist of King Sombra. A magi king whose heart was as black as night. Luna and I defeated him, but he placed a curse on the empire. If he should be defeated, the empire would vanish with him."

"So what's his story?" Burst asked. 

Inferno nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Just what made the guy such a megalomaniac in the first place? I mean, Nightmare Moon was brought on by Luna feeling alone and unloved. Discord's the lord of chaos, so that's just what he does. Then we've got Chrysalis who had to deal with caring for her people and was in mental battle against a rival queen whose heart slowly warped her mind. So what's Sombra's story?"

"I suppose it was wrong of me to withhold how he became what he is." Celestia said with a sigh. "You see, Luna and I did not stop Sombra because he attempted to take over Equestria. We were informed of Sombra's rule over the Crystal Empire because of his only friend. Radiant Hope. Sombra wasn't even human. He was half Umbrum. A race that ruled the Frozen North with fear until they were sealed away. However, even prior to this knowledge, Sombra was an outcast. Radiant Hope was the only friend he had. She pleaded for Luna and I to find a way to save him...but he was too consumed by fear and hate. All because he saw a vision of what he might become and took it to mean that his destiny was set in stone."

Burst's face went solemn. "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. And now? Something tells me he's using all that rage and fear to hide something very important."

"What's that?" Celestia asked.

"He's suffering. Those who make others unhappy are usually unhappy themselves." Burst said sadly. "Like Luna becoming Nightmare Moon. You were right to bring me and the guys into this Celestia. I've got another sad story to give a happy ending to."

"That's good and all Burst. But what's so important about the empire?" Twilight asked. Celestia explained that if joy and hope are reflected across the empire, they spread through all of Equestria.

"Princess? Can I try something?" Inferno asked. "I think I know what'll happen if fear and despair are reflected." Inferno's hand crackled with black and green lightning, and a blast of dark magic was fired at the projection of the Crystal Empire! Creating a polar opposite image of the joy and hope vision. "Wow. That's bad."

Celestia was in awe. "I'm surprised you can use dark magic without any drive like that."

"Well, I guess that's thanks to my mom. She's an avatar like you. Her name's Seraph Flare. She's the Avatar of Passion." Inferno said with a proud smile. "Passion's a darker positive drive, so I just focus on the things that I'm most passionate about." Inferno then tapped his forehead. "There's a lot of Rarity in here." Inferno was then surprised to see Twilight pounce on him!

"PLEASE TEACH ME!" Twilight screamed in his face!

Inferno chuckled. "Easy there Twi. All you gotta do is picture the thing you love the most. The one thing that gives you the most reason to wake up in the morning. Close your eyes. What do you see?"

Twilight took a deep breath, and a single image came into her mind she opened her eyes and black and green lightning crackled around her hands. "Wow. All I needed to do was picture books."

"Just make sure not to overdo it Twi." Inferno cautioned. "Positive drive or not, dark magic can still take a lot out of you. Burst and I can teach you to be even more OP later. Right now, we've got a train to catch." 

Before they left, Burst was stopped by Celestia as she wrapped him in a tight embrace. "Please. Come back to me safe."

"Don't worry My Little Princess." Burst said as he kissed her. "I plan on coming back no matter what." And with that, the group of friends boarded the train bound for the Frozen North. Seeing the tense mood of the others, Akage decided to try and make light of the situation.

"So here we are. Going off to save an empire and all of Equestria in the process of taking down yet another crazy super villain." Akage stated before a smile graced his face. "Looks like another typical Monday."

Steel chuckled. "Well, this is kinda our job."

"If heroes run away, who's left to help?" Tyrannus asked with a shrug.

Ace nodded in approval. "Well said Ty."

"A thousand years with nothing but bad memories of fear." Ice said sadly. "Kind of reminds me of how the Nightmare Forces made me relive that helpless feeling I had from all those years ago." Ice then narrowed his eyes. "And something tells me Sombra himself is the most afraid of all."

Shadow scratched his chin in thought. "You just might be right. Princess Celestia said Sombra wound up like this because of some vision of a possible future. Right Burst?"

"That's it all right." Burst said with a nod. "Celestia was also kind enough to tell me where Radiant Hope is in stasis. This is why I don't worry about the future. I don't care what lies ahead. No time to worry about what might happen, or I'll miss out on enjoying everything I can clearly see."

In response, Tyrannus gathered all the guys into a group hug. "No bros I'd rather be friends with than you guys." The girls collectively 'aawed' at the scene. Soon enough, the train came to a stop and the group was met with Shining Armor.

"We'd better hurry." Shining Armor said gravely. "The blizzards around her tend to get worse as time goes on. We think the magi king that caused the empire to disappear is behind them!" Soon, an unearthly howl ripped through the air. Black clouds gathered over the sky, and a pair of red eyes with green irises and purple smoke flowing out of their corner appeared out of the clouds. "We've gotta run! NOW!" Burst and the guys however, had no intention of running as they summoned their Duelist Arms!

Burst drew his Twin Burst blaster pistols and aimed them right at Sombra! "We'll keep him off you! GO!" Akage and Magnet North went to help Shining Armor led Twilight and the other girls to the Crystal Empire while Burst and the rest of the guys stood their ground! Burst fired off shots from his blasters! Sombra sneered. However, that sneer was soon removed as the blasts struck him and he roared in pain! 

"GRAAAAUUUGH!" Sombra's eyes were burning with rage as he stared down Burst! The shadowy tyrant's cloud form lunged down at Burst, but a fiery blast from Inferno's Blackfire blaster pistol diverted his attention! Tyrannus continued the assault by firing a shot from his Tyranno Magnum! Sending Sombra reeling back! Steel, Ice, Ace, and Shadow followed up with energy projectiles from their melee weapons!  Venus' whip Rose's Wrath sent out a coiling jet of flame Sombra's way while Fang's Destiny Reaver Gauntlet configured itself into a plasma arm cannon! They kept up their barrage as they soon made a break for the empire! Constantly firing back at Sombra to keep him at bay! They made a leap for it, and landed safely on the other side of the empire's barrier! The guys breathed a collective sigh of relief as they holstered their weapons.

"That was NOT fun." Akage said as he dusted the snow off himself.

Magnet North groaned. "Well, at least we're safe for now lads. Best see what the new royal couple's up to." And with that, they made their way to the castle where they saw a tired Cadence striving to maintain the spirit of love among the Crystal-Sapiens. The light blue aura of her magic looked just as strained as she was. "You don't look so good lass."

"Love takes a lot of effort." Cadence said as she tried to lighten the mood. "But Chrysalis seems out of it the most." The group turned to see Chrysalis visibly shivering as she gazed out onto the horizon. "Chrysalis? You've been like this ever since we got here. Are you alright?"

Chrysalis turned to face the group. "No. I'm not." She then sighed. "You know how we changelings feed on love?" The group nodded. "Well, we feed on positive emotions. And due to feeding on emotions, we've gained empathic abilities. We can sense emotions. But negative emotions..." Chrysalis shivered. "...They scare us. Nothing more so than one who seems consumed by those negative emotions. Like Sombra out there. On our doorstep. Negative emotions are also so scary for us because they can cause the one who harbors them pain. Great pain. I can hear some part of him screaming for the pain to end."

"That's why we're here." Burst said with a nod. "I'm going to search for Radiant Hope's stasis chamber. The rest of you guys try to find out all you can about the empire. We meet back in the center once we find all we can." The guys nodded. "Twilight? You and the girls see if there's anything you can do to lift the spirits of the Crystal-Sapiens." And with that, they went their separate ways. Most of the guys spent their time inspecting their Duelist Arms. Making sure they were in proper condition should worst come to worst. As Ice was inspecting the blade of his claymore, Archfiend Dragon's Tenacity, he noticed a group of five girls eyeing him and the guys and whispering. Ice decided to investigate just what they were talking about.

"There something I can help you with?" Ice asked.

A girl with light peach skin and blue hair stepped forward. "We heard about you guys fighting King Sombra out there. You actually managed to hurt him. We were wondering...did you come here to destroy him?"

"If we need to, we will." Ice said with a shrug. "Being a hero's not about destroying the bad guys. It's about fighting hard to protect those who can't fight for themselves."

The girl smiled. "Deep. Name's Indigo Zap."

"Dark Ice." Ice said with a nod. "Nice meeting you too. It'd be fun to hang with you once this thing's over." Ice smiled as he rejoined his friends.

Shadow smirked. "Looks like someone's got a love interest."

"C'mon bro." Ice said as he rolled his eyes. "I don't like her like that. Yet."

At the same time, Burst was searching the crystal castle for Radiant Hope's stasis chamber. "Where could it be?" He soon realized that he'd been followed. "No need to hide Chrysalis. I sensed you ever since I started my search." Chrysalis stepped out of the shadows. "So. What's giving you a reason to follow me?"

"You were saying that you needed to find this 'Radiant Hope'. Who is she?" Chrysalis asked.

Burst sighed. "She is, or was, Sombra's only friend. And she's also the one who told Celestia and Luna about him. So, it's a safe bet she can probably reason with him. Or at the very least, get him to surrender peacefully. If not..." Burst tapped the handle of Bahamut Edge. "...I'll do what I have to." 

"Maybe I can help." Chrysalis said with a small smile. "Love exists on many levels. Be it romantic, or platonic. If Hope really cares for Sombra..." Chrysalis' horn glowed with a green aura. "...She'll be easy to find. This way." Burst followed Chrysalis to a giant amethyst crystal. Inside was a woman with light purple skin, and cyan hair. "So this must be her. Now all we need to do is wake her up."

Burst took a deep breath. "Now comes the tricky part." Burst's hands glowed with the blue aura of his magic as he focused on the crystal in front of him. He focused so that his magic ran through the lines in the crystal. Slowly, blue light began to emit from the lines. "Almost there..." Burst poured more focus, and they crystal soon began to open up. "...Got it!" They crystal soon fully opened, and Radiant Hope groaned as she started to awaken. "Radiant Hope?"

"Yes?" Hope asked. "Who are you? Am I still in the Crystal Empire?"

Burst nodded. "My name's Burst Stream. Yes, you're in the Crystal Empire. It's just returned a thousand years after the spell Sombra cast that made it disappear. And since the empire is back, so is Sombra. Here's your chance to make up for messing up last time."

"I'll do it." Hope frowned. "Because in a way, this is all my fault." Hope took a deep breath. "Long ago, there was celebration in the empire. The Crystal Fair. It was also said that if one looked into the Crystal Heart on that day, your future would be shown to you. When I looked upon it, I saw a vision of myself becoming a princess. But Sombra..." Hope shivered at the memory. "He saw what he is now. But I wrote my own destiny. I never became a princess, and went to Canterlot to warn Princesses Celestia and Luna in the hopes they could stop Sombra. They did, but the empire was sealed away for a thousand years. I met with the Umbrum, Sombra's people, and they put me in stasis for their plans to revive him."

Burst frowned. "You're kidding right? The Umbrum are the reason Sombra went bad in the first place! They used to rule the Frozen North with fear and hate before they were sealed away! How did you miss that?!"

"Gee...it's kinda obvious now that I think about it." Hope said with an embarrassed blush on her face.

Burst's frown soon vanished. "Well, here's your chance to make things right. Because I've got a really crazy plan. But before that, what's the Crystal Heart?"

"It's the artifact keeping the Crystal Empire from being buried under the snow." Hope answered. "It's here in this castle. However, I'd say Sombra didn't make it easy to retrieve."

Burst smiled. "I've got a friends who lives for challenges. I'll be back soon." Burst soon returned with Twilight in tow. An eager smile was plastered upon her face.

"So where do we begin?" Twilight asked eagerly. Hope explained that Sombra hid the passageway to the Crystal Heart in the throne room. And that two of the obstacles planted had to be dealt with dark magic. "This is perfect! Time to see just what my dark magic abilities can do." The group moved to the throne room, and Twilight focused on her passions. Sure enough, black and green lightning crackled around her hands as she fired a beam of dark magic at the throne. A hidden staircase was revealed.

"I'd better see how Cadence and Shining Armor are holding up." Chrysalis said as she looked to Burst and Twilight. "But something tells me you two can more than handle anything." And with that, Chrysalis left.

Burst, Twilight, and Radiant Hope made their way down the long staircase, and found themselves at a door. "Seems simple enough." Burst said as he reached for the handle. But as soon as he was about to grab the doorknob, the door slid away! "What the heck?!"

"I got this." Twilight said as she fired another beam of dark magic to freeze the door in place. "Hmm. Better keep my dark magic primed. No telling what could be on the other side of the door." Twilight opened the door, and froze for a minute before snapping out of it. "Wow. A doorway that shows your worst fear. Sombra certainly didn't spare any expense with his security system." Twilight fired a beam of regular magic, and the door opened to the true pathway. However, the trio was soon confronted with a seemingly endless staircase. But for Twilight, there was another solution. "Hey Burst? You remember how you were able to catch onto Discord's riddle so easily?"

Burst nodded. "Yeah. I just thought outside of the obvious solutions." Burst then smiled at Twilight's realization. "I've rubbed off on you. Haven't I?"

"Yep!" Twilight beamed as she fired a beam of magic that flipped them upside down! Turning the staircase into a gigantic slide! "WOOOHOOOO!" The three of them soon landed at the top of the staircase, and Twilight returned the staircase to normal. They went through a door, and found the Crystal Heart before them. Twilight was about to reach out to it, but paused. "Wait. This is too easy." Twilight once again used her passions to bring out her dark magic. She fired a beam at the floor, and a crystal prison trap was disabled. "I figured I'd pass the test." Twilight grabbed the Crystal Heart. "So...what do we do now?"

Radiant Hope scratched her head in thought. "If we just put the heart back where it needs to be, it'll kill Sombra. But if we don't, he'll probably storm in and enslave everyone again."

Burst stroked his chin in thought, and an idea came to him! "We need to see Cadence and Shining Armor. I've got a crazy idea, and I'll need their approval." Twilight teleported the three of them to Cadence and Shining Armor, and they explained what the Crystal Heart did and why it was so important. 

"So what's your plan Burst?" Shining Armor asked. "I owe you twice for saving my hide. Back at the wedding, and earlier out in the snow. So I'm all ears."

Burst sighed. "It'll sound a bit crazy, but I promise it'll work. I need Cadence to drop the shield over the Crystal Empire." Burst took note of the shocked expressions on Cadence, Shining Armor, and Chrysalis' faces. "I know it sounds insane, but it's part of my plan to save Sombra." Burst then looked to Radiant Hope. "And I'll need you to be present for this. It's your one chance to make things right."

"I messed up bad last time." Radiant Hope said with a nod. "I'm not going to mess it up now."

Burst took a deep breath. "Let's hope your old friend's mellowed out by now." Burst led Hope and Twilight to the main square of the Crystal Empire, and gave the signal for the shield to drop. Sure enough, the Crystal Empire was open to Sombra. But before the phantom tyrant could charge forth, Burst cried out! "SOMBRA! COME AND FACE ME!" Burst soon found himself face-to-face with the former tyrant of the Crystal Empire. He looked just as fearsome as the old image of him suggested. His wild black hair, glowing red eyes, and curved horn that was a result of his Umbrum half coupled with the battle armor made him the textbook example of intimidating.

"You." Sombra growled. "I recognize you. You are the fool who managed to damage me back in the blizzard field. Tell me boy. What makes you think you can beat me simply because you merely scratched me earlier?"

Burst kept a calm expression on his face as he answered. "I didn't come to beat you. I came here to give you another chance. I know your story. And I know you weren't exactly treated the best before you took control. I can't say you aren't in the wrong with being angry at everyone."

"They claimed to be a people of love and hope." Sombra said coldly before his anger exploded! "HOW AM I TO SHOW THEM ANY OF THAT WHEN THEY SHOWED ME NOTHING BUT HATE and FEAR?!?!?! Ever since I was a child, I was seen as an outcast! Treated like dirt simply because I wasn't a Crystal-Sapien like all the rest of them! That vision in the Crystal Heart showed what they all saw me as! A monster! So I gave them what they wanted! I made them suffer the same hatred and fear I endured for so long!" Tears and dark magic leaked from Sombra's eyes. "And yet I gained no satisfaction from it. I still feel the pain! And it's only grown! WHY HASN'T THE PAIN GONE AWAY?!"

Burst sighed. "Because you miss the one person who treated you right. Radiant Hope didn't think you were a monster. She saw you as her friend."

"Don't you dare say her name!" Sombra snapped! "She turned on me! She chose to live out the destiny that she saw in the Crystal Heart!"

"Did I truly hurt you so badly?" A voice asked. Sombra froze when Radiant Hope came out from behind Burst Stream. Tears were in her eyes. "It really is my fault you're like this..."

At that moment was a sight the citizens of the Crystal Empire never thought they'd see. Humanity returning to Sombra's eyes. "Hope...how is this possible?!? You had left when I saw you last to be trained as a princess. What happened?"

"You did...you dummy." Hope sniffled. "After you were gone, I abandoned everything I had been working on for you. To help you. To get you back. You were my only friend. Much like I was yours. But it's all my fault you're like this." Tears were flowing down Hope's face. "Do I look like a princess to you now?"

Sombra felt like he'd been punched in the gut. "Hope...I never meant for that! I only wanted you to hurt for turning on me. I never wanted to strip you of your destiny! I...I..." Guilt started to gnaw at the former tyrant. "I didn't want to hurt you like this."

"Sombra you dummy!" Hope shot back! "I already hurt when I turned you in! I caused the Crystal Empire to disappear for a thousand years! I lost you for so long! But you never robbed me of my destiny! I abandoned my path of my own will! All because I wanted you back."

Sombra almost sank to his knees. "Hope..." he gasped. "What have I done?" Sombra was about to wallow in self-loathing when he was surprised by an unexpected event.

"SOMBRAAAA!" Burst screamed as he ran up to the former tyrant! "LET'S SEE YOU GRIT THOSE TEETH!" Burst then slugged Sombra right across the face! Jolting him to his feet and into a state of shock! The whole empire's jaws dropped!

Sombra blinked. "Why did-?" He was cut off when Burst grabbed him by the cape.

"Listen up. If there's anything I don't believe in, it's destiny and fate." Burst said sternly. "Hope made her own path and decisions. All because she couldn't bear to be in a world where you weren't in it! Are you really gonna be a wuss and show her that all of that was for nothing?! That you weren't worth it?!" Sombra was about to counter, but Burst slapped him! "We're at the climax of your story Sombra! This is where everything hangs in the balance! Are you going to stick to the script? Or are you going to write your own ending?!" Burst let go of Sombra and pointed to Radiant Hope. "You mean everything to her. So the real question is what does she mean to you?"

Sombra was silent for a full moment before he fell to Radiant Hope on his knees. Wrapping his arms around her. "Everything..." Sombra lifted his head to see Radiant Hope smiling down at him. He returned the smile, but it soon faded as he pushed her away! A sharp, jagged spike of crystal pierced through Sombra! A shadowy figure slithered forth, and Sombra gasped with what breath he had. "Mother..."

"Hello. Son."