//------------------------------//
// The Crystal Promise 
// Story: Flash Sentry, Crystal Darkness 
// by Banshee531 
//------------------------------//

"The first thing I could ever remember was one thing. I was alone."

A five year old Ruby Scarlet was shivering in the bitter cold of the night, her body walking down a low, broken alleyway. Despite the Crystal Heart's magic keeping the blizzard like wind of the frozen north out, the city could still be very cold after Celestia's sun was lowered. The young filly's entire body was numb, a feeling she was all too familiar with due to her constant exposure to the cold.

"I never knew who my parents were, or what happened to them, but it mattered not. All I cared about was staying alive, hoping that maybe one day my life could change for the better. It was that very reason I lived on the streets, trying every way possible to survive. My life was always like that, and I didn't know why about that either. But then one night, though I don't why I did it, I went to the one place nopony would regularly go. I went to the Crystal Heart."

Ruby found herself nearing the center of the city, a place she never went to due to there usually being so many ponies around in the day. As always, she was looking for somewhere warm to stay the night. But as she did, she felt a sensation cover her body, as if a string possessed her and pulled her towards a certain direction.

The direction was towards the crystal castle, center of the empire.

"Perhaps it was destiny. Maybe it was luck...or maybe, just maybe, it was something I was fated to do. Regardless, I felt as if I was...called there. Called to the Crystal Heart."

As she drew closer to the crystal castle, she suddenly felt the air around her warm up. Like a moth to the flame, she followed the warmth and found herself in the courtyard of the Crystal Castle. There, she spotted the source of the heat. The Crystal Heart.

The heart shaped jewel shined a brilliant glow, eradicating any sense of cold from Ruby's body. As she felt the sensation tremble through her body, the little filly stared at the ancient relic, seeing her reflection in its crystal surface. Then, in a blink of an eye, she saw her reflection begin to flicker and change. Eventually, the image became clear, showing Ruby as a full grown mare, standing tall in the middle of a raging battlefield. This new Ruby also wore a metal necklace around her neck, one with a red snowflake shaped crystal attached to it. As she wore this, the mare's unicorn began to shine and conjured a sword that appeared to be made out of the necklace's gemstone.

The new image shocked the filly, causing her to jump back. As she did, she felt herself bump into something behind her. She quickly looked around and saw the thing she had bumped into was a light pink unicorn mare with a dark pink mane and tail as well as a snowflake cutie mark. She wore a necklace similar to the one the reflection had been wearing, but with a heart in place of a snowflake. Ruby knew this pony all too well, as she was the ruler of the empire and protector to all its residents. "Princess Amore..."

The unicorn looked down at her with a large smile. "What did you see?"

The little filly felt her whole body once again go numb, except this time it was not from the cold. Despite this, she did not want to be rude to the princess for not answering. "I saw myself, but I was older and I looked like I was some kind of warrior."

The unicorn princess smile brightened. "You know, they say the Crystal Heart's reflection has magical properties. In fact, it is told that it can reflect what is in your heart. Based on what you saw, I'd say you have the heart of a protector."

Ruby's eyes went wide in awe at this. "I do?"

Amore nodded happily. "Indeed. Tell me, what is your name young one?"

"Ruby, Ruby Scarlet."

"And why are you here alone, Ruby Scarlet?"

"I...I don't have anyone to be with your highness."

The princess smiled again before turning towards the castle. "Well Ruby Scarlet, would you like to come inside my castle for some warmth? If you are one to have a heart of a protector, I will need to help guide you. In fact, why don't we use tomorrow to look into finding you a more permanent residence?"

Ruby almost didn't respond. She didn't say a word as a smile appeared on her face as she nodded to the princess, soon following after her to stay out of the cold night.

"That night changed my life forever. Before I knew it, Princess Amore was helping a street urchin like me find my destiny. She started out by trying to find out who my parents were and where I came from, hoping that would lead me to my path...but it was all for naught in that direction. Though she tried very hard, Princess Amore couldn't find out where I came from. As such, she sent me to live at Chestnut Fall's Orphanage."

Ruby and Amore were standing outside a building titled 'Chestnut Fall's Foal Center'. The door opened and out stepped a light brown crystal earth pony with a dark brown mane and tail. A smile graced her face as she opened her hooves to me. "Hello Ruby, my name is Chestnut Falls. You'll be living with me for a while, okay?"

"Before I knew it, I was one of the many foals in that orphanage. But despite no longer being on the street, I still found myself alone. I was the only crystal unicorn in the orphanage at the time, causing the other crystal ponies to shun me. Despite that, the Crystal Heart's vision had given me a purpose, to one day become a great protector. Because of this, I believed that I had to fulfill this destiny. And so, all of my free time was spent training, to become the hero I was destined to be."

A ten year old Ruby was in the orphanage's garden, a stick in her magical clutches. She was swinging the stick around haphazardly, trying to hit the tree she was aiming at. But each time she did, it would miss, either going to far left or to the far right. "Blast it!" Ruby yelled, growling as she levitated the stick by her side. "Come on Ruby, you can do this."

But before she could continue, the sound of snickering caught her attention. She turned around and saw a group of fillies and colts that also lived at the orphanage, all of them giggling at her.

"Still trying to play hero huh?" A light blue colt with a white mane and tail said.

"Aren't you too old to be playing such a foalish game?" A pink filly with a blue mane and tail added.

"I'm not playing, I'm training." Ruby growled, turning back around to the tree.

"Training for what?" a filly with a dark blue coat, mane and tail replied. "You trying to become the greatest stick twirler or something?"

The young ponies all laughed at this, making Ruby turn around again. Here, she gave what could only be described as a look of pure determination. "Stop laughing!" she yelled as she pointed at herself. "I'm training to become a protector, as that's what I'm gonna be when I'm older. I saw it in the Crystal Heart!"

The colt walked up to her face, showing an all-knowing smirk. "Oh please, like a loser like you could ever be a protector."

The pink filly behind him walked up and gave Ruby a scoff. "Yeah! I bet you made that up because the Crystal Heart showed you some lame future. What are you really gonna become? Some low-life janitor maybe?"

"Nah, I bet she won't get a destiny at all." the colt added, snickering. "I bet she'll just be some-"

"NO IT DIDN'T!" Ruby screamed back. "I'm gonna be a hero, no matter what!"

"Oh really? Then where's your cutie mark?" the blue filly remarked with her tongue out. "If you already know what you're gonna be, then you should have a cutie mark."

Ruby was about to respond, but she stopped as she looked back at her blank flank. Seeing this, the others began to laugh and insult again, "See? You're nothing special, you stupid freak." The colt spat while the others giggled. "Now do us all a favor and stop messing around in our playground. It's getting annoying loser." The trio laughed at her before turning to strut away, leaving Ruby alone.

The little filly's legs gave out, making her fall to the ground as a sad frown appeared on her face. Were they right? If she really was meant to be a protector, then shouldn't she already have a cutie mark?

"That was the first time I ever felt like I had wasted my life. I felt as if I didn't matter, just like when I was on the streets. I stopped my training, believing it wouldn't help. But not for long. I would soon restart it thanks to him."

It was breakfast time at the orphanage and once again, Ruby was sitting at a table alone, none of the other ponies wanting to be anywhere near her. But as she finished off her bowl of oats, the main door opened and Chestnut walked in. She was followed by a gray unicorn colt about her age, with a black mane and tail. However, unlike the rest of the ponies in the room, he had no crystal coat.

Chestnut cleared her throat, getting everypony's attention. "Listen up everypony. This is Sombra, and he'll be staying with us from now on. I want you all to help him adjust to living here, understood?"

"Yes Miss Chestnut!" The young fillies chanted, a response basically programmed into them at this point.

Ruby watched as Sombra moved over to another empty table, looking around the room with a look that she could only call fear. Finally the colt's eyes landed on her, causing her to look back down at the empty bowl.

"At the time, I didn't think anything would happen of being around him. He would most likely think of me in the same way as the others, so I kept my distance. Over the weeks, Sombra quickly began to adjust to life in the empire. Despite not being able to say anything other than his name at first, he quickly began to learn and could eventually speak in a 'relatively' normal way. But even so, that did not help him fit in."

Ruby was in the garden with the other young ponies, sitting under the tree she used to use for training. The others were playing with a ball, ignoring her like they usually did. Ruby leaned back on the tree, her eyes slowly closing as she decided to use it to take a small nap. That is, till her ears heard a certain voice.

"Greetings friends."

Ruby opened her eyes and looked for the voice, only to see Sombra step into the garden. There, he moved over to the other ponies, a happy smile plastered on his face.

"Can Sombra play too?"

The same three ponies that had made Ruby give up her training all rolled their eyes. The pink one sighed before talking to the others, completely ignoring Sombra. "Why does he talk like that? I don't even know why they keep him around, he's not even a crystal pony."

The blue one nodded in agreement. "I don't even know what he is. He doesn't even have his cutie mark."

Ruby rolled her eyes in frustration. What was it with those three and their obsession with cutie marks? She then watched as the others turned away from Sombra and walked away, their heads held high. "Go away sombrero. We don't want anypony to see us with a weird pony like you."

"Yeah! They might think we're weird, like you!"

"But-"

The pink one turned and flicked Sombra's nose, "Didn't you hear us you stupid, weirdo freak?! We don't want to be seen with you! Go away!"

Ruby blinked at this, her teeth grinding inside her mouth. She didn't know why, but she couldn't stand seeing what was in front of her. Getting up from her napping spot, she walked up and said, "Hey! Why don't you lot get off your high horses and stop thinking you're all Celestia's gift to Equestria!"

Everypony turned to look at her, followed by laughter from the trio as the blue filly pointed at her, "Look everypony, it's the great protector. So, still trying to be a hero?"

"Yeah! The great protector of weirdos!" the pink filly chimed in. "What a loser!"

Ruby just shook her head before walking up to Sombra, patting his shoulder. "Don't bother trying to be their friends. They're not worth anypony's time."

The three hopped in place at this insult. "We're worth more time than you disgusting freaks." the pink filly said as she patted her chest. "We're real ponies unlike you weirdos."

The blue colt stuck out his tongue before pointing at Ruby and Sombra. "Eh, let's just leave these losers alone. After all, you two deserve each other."

With that, they all walked away, leaving the duo alone. Once they were gone, Sombra turned towards Ruby and smiled. "Thank you for helping Sombra."

Ruby smiled back as she patted him again. "Don't mention it."

"After that day, Sombra and I were inseparable. I don't know why we were, but we just became that way. We played together, enjoying our youth to the fullest. He sat next to me in every class, usually passing notes to each other that were written in our own little language we invented. The other ponies still laughed at us, but we didn't care. As long as we were together, we were happy.

Eventually, I told Sombra about the Crystal Heart and what it had shown me. Unlike the others, he believed me and begged me to start training again. Granted, it took over a week to convince me, but I eventually caved in. Heck, we both practiced our magic, seeing as we were both unicorns.

At the time, I didn't know better. I didn't what was going to happen when I did what I did. For you see, I decided to show Sombra what I had seen. I asked him to come with me to go see the Crystal Heart."

"Come on Sombra!" Ruby cried happily as they raced through the city towards the castle, making their way to the Crystal Heart. Before they knew it, they had arrived and Ruby slowly pushed Sombra up to the relic. As the two stepped up to the heart, they began staring at it as they waited for it to show their reflections. Ruby watched as her reflection changed to the warrior pony she had seen before, the vision making her heart jump for joy.

But when she turned to look at Sombra, she noticed a look of terror on his face. Before she could say anything, Sombra leapt back, much like she had done five years ago. And just like five years ago, he bumped into a familiar unicorn, causing the duo to gasp in surprise.

"Princess Amore." Sombra whispered as he looked at the regal ruler he had just bumped into.

The princess smiled down at him. "You know, they say the Crystal Heart's reflection has magical properties. In fact, it is told that it can reflect what is in your heart." Ruby smiled at hearing the same words the princess had said to her so long again. But that was when Amore looked down at Sombra, her smile slightly growing. "But I've always believed we have to power to shape our future however we want it, so whatever you saw...you have the power to change it Sombra."

Ruby was taken back at those words. They were completely different from what the princess had told her all those years ago. The filly turned to Sombra, who replied to the princess with a look of uncertainly. "B-B-But I didn't see anything. All I could really see was darkness. Like...like a shadow or something."

Amore nodded. "I believe you Sombra." She raised his chin with her hoof as she continued to smile before glancing at Ruby. "Now, you two both better go home for now. The Crystal Heart is not something foals should just play with, okay?"

"Yes your majesty." they both replied in unison.

"If only I had known that that was the day Sombra had gotten his first glimpse of his future. I could have prevented everything...but I was a foal. A naïve foal, who didn't know a thing.

Four days later, the Crystal Fair arrived. I had gone before and had told Sombra about it, specifically about the fair's crystal corn, a treat I adored when I was a filly. He had never gone to the event, so Sombra and I had been saving our money, wanting to spend it on the fair's treat. But on the day of the festival..."

As soon as Celestia raised the sun, Ruby shot out of bed and rushed from her room towards Sombra's. "Sombra, wake up!" She cheered as she kicked open his door. "It's time for the fair!"

But as she entered the room, she found Sombra in his bed. Sweat poured down his face as he laid there, his whole body shivering. "Sombra? Are you okay?"

Sombra at first didn't reply. Instead, he looked over at her and gave her a pained look before slowly saying, "I...I don't feel so good."

"The doctors had no idea what was wrong with him. He just laid there in bed, pain flowing through him. As the day wore on, Sombra's condition got worse and worse. As for me, I stood by his side the entire time, comforting him any way I could. And as I did, he kept telling me to go to the fair, but I refused. I wouldn't leave him.

It wasn't until the fair came to an end that Sombra's pain subsided, allowing him to rest easy. The next day, Sombra was feeling better then ever. Heck, we even began planning for the next year's fair.

But that never happened, as on the day of the next fair, Sombra once again grew ill. Again and again the fair came, and Sombra's sickness left him bedridden and in pain. And as the years went by, I realized why he kept getting sick and decided to see if I was right."

"Why are we up so early?" Sombra asked as he rubbed his tired eyes while Ruby pulled him out of the orphanage.

Ruby didn't look back at him as she continued walking towards the edge of town. "I think I know why you keep getting sick."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I do. I think its the Crystal Fair." she replied as they hit the edge of the city. She turned to Sombra with a glare. "I don't know why, but I think its causing you to get sick. But we need to be sure, so we're leaving the city for the day."

Sombra's eyes went wide. "Are you nuts?! That's suicide! We'll freeze out there, or get eaten by monsters!"

"We'll be fine," Ruby said with a wave of the hoof. "If anything bad happens, I'll keep us safe with my magic." She was referring to the crystal making spell she had been working on for several months, but there was only one tiny problem with it.

Sombra came to halt, his left eye twitching. "As I just said, are you nuts?! You've never made anything bigger than a few inches. How is that supposed to help us?"

Ruby looked back at him and grabbed his hoof. "We'll be fine. Come on Sombra, let's find out the truth about you and that fair."

The two arrived at the barrier, seeing there was no blizzard in the distance. After giving Sombra a hardened glare, he agreed and the two walked through the shield. There, the chill of the freezing wind instantly embraced their body. The duo quickly huddled together for warmth as they started heading towards a nearby mountain. As they reached the first edge of the massive hill, Ruby turned to her friend. "How are you feeling?"

Sombra looked up at her before glancing at his own body, blinking, "I feel...great. No pain whatsoever."

The news made a large frown appear on Ruby's face. "So I was right. The Crystal Fair is the thing that's hurting you."

"But why?"

"I...don't know."

Sombra was about to ask another question, but the words disappeared when a new sound caught his ear. It was a low, yet powerful growl that filled the air. The two ponies spun around to see the source of the noise, only to then see a large white bipedal creature with think fur around its head. On its head was a red crest, which complemented its blood red eyes and sharp teeth.

Sombra's eyes went wide as he cried, "YETI!!!"

Ruby reacted and leapt in front of her friend as the yeti let out a powerful roar. "Back off!" She yelled as she closed her eyes and sparked her horn. However, as she did, only a small red gem appeared and flew into the yeti, hitting it on the head. In response, the yeti scratched his noggin for a second in confusion. That is, till he decided to let out another roar, charging as he swiped his claws at them. Both ponies let out a cry as they tried to dodge the attack, both of them getting hit by the tips of the claws.

Ruby hit the snow with a yelp before quickly scrambling back up, her horn soon sparking, "Come on, work!" She fired another magical attack, this time creating two small gems that hit the yeti on the shoulder. But the beast didn't even seem to notice, instead focusing on Sombra as it prowled towards him with its claws and fangs ready.

"Get away!" Sombra cried in fear, scrambling on the ground as he tried to get away from the monster towering over him. "HELP ME!"

"Sombra!" Ruby yelled as she rushed towards them, only for the yeti to turn and backhand her with its claw. She let out a cry of pain as she smashed into a nearby rock, her head hitting the rubble first.

"RUBY!" Sombra cried out, only to get the yeti's attention. "Oh no..."

Ruby's head felt like it was on fire, her vision now blurry and unfocused. But even with her state of mind, Ruby could hear Sombra's cries. She tried to pick herself up, but her legs instantly gave out and she fell into the snow. "Sombra..." she whispered in defeat. "I...I...have to...."

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!! RUBY!!!"

Sombra's cries once again filled her ears, causing her eyes to shoot open. As they did, they began to glow, a pink aura suddenly flowing out of them. The aura reached up to her horn as she slowly started to pick herself up. Sensing something was wrong, the yeti turned and froze at the sight of the crystal unicorn.

"Get...away....from...HIM!" On that last word, her horn exploded in a dazzling pink light. The light made the yeti and Sombra close their eyes, the light now illuminating the mountain top. It was then that the light began to take a solid shape, finally fading to reveal a twenty foot crystal sword levitating above Ruby's head.

"Go...away..." Ruby whispered before levitating the sword over the monster. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" she roared, magically slamming the sword into the ground, causing a mini quake to happen. The yeti roared in fear, quickly spinning around the rushing back up the mountain pass. With the danger gone, Ruby's crystal sword dissolved as Sombra stared at Ruby, his eyes wide in amazement.

"That's was...incredible."

Ruby's eyes returned to normal as she staggered towards Sombra, giving him a weak and worried look. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but how did you-" Sombra tried to reply only for his eyes to see something that made him gasp. He lifted his hoof and pointed at it. "Your...your cutie mark."

Ruby blinked at his statement, only to then follow his hoof to her flank, soon an image of a silver shield with a crystal rose on it. "My cutie...mar-"

Before Ruby could say another word, her body went limp, instantly embracing the snow below her. Sombra cried out again, quickly going to her side. As he did, he turned back to the empire, seeing the city in the distance as he glanced back his friend.





A few hours later...

The next thing Ruby knew, she was waking up in a hospital bed. Her eyes slowly opened as she woke up on that mattress, her whole body aching from the blow of the yeti's claw. "Oooohhhh..." she moaned, blinking as she tried to look around. "Wha....where am I?"

"Oh Ruby..." Ruby blinked again, only to then see Princess Amore standing over her along with a doctor.

"Princess? What the...what happened?"

The princess gave her a large smile. "You finally unlocked your full potential my dear. We saw the light coming from the mountains and when we went to see what it was, we found Sombra carrying you back."

"Sombra..." Ruby's eyes went wide with worry as she bolted up from the bed's pillow. "Is he okay?!"

"He's fine. Though he did start getting weak when he entered the city, but-"

"It's because of the Crystal Fair! It hurts him!" Ruby interrupted, glaring at the princess. "Why?! Why does it hurt him?!"

Amore's face became one of sorrow as she let out a long sigh. "I don't know. Whatever is inside him seems to be causing him pain when the fair happens. I don't know why this happens, but I can only hope that it one day disappears and he can enjoy the fair with the others."

"But-"

The princess's hoof placed itself on Ruby's muzzle, instantly silencing her. "But that's a discussion for another time, my little pony." Amore's horn glowed and opened the hospital door behind her. "Right now, there's somepony I'd like you to meet."

Ruby turned to the door and her eyes went wide as two not crystal ponies enter the room. They were a pair of tall mares, the taller one having white fur and a rainbow mane while the shorter one was dark blue and had a mane that looked like a nebula. These ponies were like nothing she had ever seen before, both of them sporting a horn and wings. Amore pointed to the two with a smile on her face. "Ruby, meet Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They're the rulers of Equestria and old friends of mine."

Celestia walked up to the bed, leaning over with a kind grin. "Hello Ruby, I'm Celestia. Amore has told me a lot about you. Apparently, you want to be a protector."

Ruby didn't respond. She just stared at the sight in pure, dumbfounded silence before nodding.

This time, Luna stepped up with a slightly smaller smile. "We can help you with that. After all, that is why we are here, as we wish to help you master your natural ability and grow into a true warrior."

Ruby's eyes went wide hearing this.

Amore put her hoof over Ruby's forehead, her grin growing. "You should take their offer. It's a great opportunity for you, and unlike the Crystal Empire, they have true warriors there that you learn from."

"To be fair, I had heard of Equestria. I had never thought of going there, but at the time, it felt like a dream come true. I was going to be trained to become what I'd always wanted to be. To become...a protector.

But as with all things, there was just one problem. I would have to leave my best friend."

The next day...

"You should go," Sombra told her as he helped Ruby out of the hospital room. "After all, isn't this your dream?"

Ruby tried to respond, only to frown as she began to stare at the floor. "But...but if I do...you'll be all alone."

In that moment, Sombra rose her chin with his hoof. "No I won't." Sombra replied, giving her the kindest smile she had ever seen. "Because even if you're a thousand miles away, I'll still have a piece of you with me. Our friendship is one that'll never be destroyed."

Ruby's heart felt like it was gonna explode, tears filling her eyes. She then threw her hooves around his neck, hugging him with everything she had. "I'll come back, I promise! I'll become the hero you inspired me to be! I will!"

Sombra hugged her back, tears starting to appear in his eyes as well. "I know you will."

"And so, I left my home, soon arriving at a place named the Castle of the Two Sisters. There, I was inducted into the guard and began to train. Though I was mostly focused on my studies, I had hoped to find friends there. But alas, it was once again not meant to be. The other ponies of the guard saw me as too strange, with my crystal coat, they seemed unsure of me.

It seemed I was fated to be alone and friendless as always. It seemed that Sombra would be my only friend. That is, until one day..."

A sixteen year old Ruby was in the courtyard, swinging a crystal sword at a training dummy. In the last year, she had learned how to craft almost any type of weapon out of her crystal magic. As she swung it around, three other guards walked into the courtyard, all wearing simple training armor. At the front of the trio was a unicorn with a brown coat and green hair, who quickly stepped up to Ruby with a big greasy smile on his face, his teeth shining like a row of pure white lights. "Hey there. You know, I've been watching you this last year. You ever do anything other than train and study?"

"What else would I do?" Ruby responded in a low, monotone voice. She didn't even turn around to face the stallion, as she suspected this was just another round of insults. "We're here to train."

The stallion quickly walked around and leaned on the training dummy, his grin growing. "There's more to life than training sweetheart. You need to open up a bit, have some fun."

However, Ruby didn't reply. Instead, she pulled the crystal sword out and began to morph the gem into a spear, her eyes making sure they weren't looking at the guard. As he saw this, the stallion let out a snort before placing his hoof on the spear, interrupting her magic. "You know, you're not half bad to look at."

Ruby froze in place, blinking rapidly as she gave him a quick glare. "Excuse me?"

The stallion just shrugged as he stopped leaning on the dummy. "Sure, the crystal coat thing's weird, but aside from that, you're pretty nice looking." His eyebrows then began to hop up and down as he pushed his hoof down on the spear she was holding, "How about you stop your training today and have some fun with a real stallion?"

With a flick of her horn, the spear vanished, causing the stallion to slightly stumble. As he did, Ruby turned around, "No thanks."

Growling at the rejection, the stallion rushed over to grab her by the shoulder. "Hey! Don't you walk away from me!" He spun her around with a tug, now glaring at her eye to eye. "Listen sweetheart, don't you know who I am?"

Ruby stared at the stallion for a second, only to push his hoof off as her glare intensified. "No, I don't. Should I?"

The stallion's grin turned into a huge frown, his sparkling white teeth showing again as his two friends walked up behind Ruby. "You're gonna regret that." he growled, leaning down until his and Ruby's muzzles almost touched.

"I don't think I will."





Meanwhile...

Princess Luna was taking her usual awakening stroll, as she had just woke up from her day time slumber to prepare for the night's work. Beside her was a tall bipedal figure, complete with a blue coat that had some black fur on it, red eyes and a white spike in its torso. Its name was Sharp Paw, an adult jakhowl and an old friend of Princess Luna's. The duo were about to take their usual path to the kitchen, only for Sharp Paw to come to a halt.

"Hmm? What is wrong Sharp Paw?" Luna asked, coming to a stop as well.

Sharp Paw turned and stared at a nearby hallway. "Something's wrong in the courtyard. The auras are...flustered."

Raising an eyebrow at the statement, the two quickly made their way to the courtyard. There, the duo came to a sudden halt again, their eyes going wide as Luna yelled, "What is going on here?!" She asked, restraining from using her Royal Canterlot Voice.

In front of her was three battered and beaten stallions, one of them now no longer having a perfect smile as four teeth laid out on the ground. Just a few feet away was Ruby, who gasped and quickly bowed at the sight of royalty. "Princess Luna! I-I-I-I'm sorry! I uh...they just-"

"Enough!" Luna stomped her hoof, prompting Ruby's mouth to stop. Luna took another look at the stallions, who were all moaning in pain, and then back to her. "Did you do this to them?"

Ruby slowly nodded, gulping as she admitted, "I did. Please forgive me, I just-"

Luna quickly walked up and put her hoof over Ruby's mouth, pausing the young mare. Ruby blinked at this before looking back at Luna's face, a large smile shining. "Impressive. There guards are several ranks higher than you, but you beat them with ease. I can tell, as you don't have a scratch on you." Luna then slightly turned her head, staring at her jakhowl companion. "Sharp Paw, gets these three medical attention immediately."

Sharp Paw did a quick bow. "Yes your majesty."

Luna turned back to Ruby, chuckling as she put her hoof around the unicorn's shoulders. "Its been a while since I've see a mare show soldiers above them what true talent is. Come, we will talk to my sister about having you moved up to a position that is more your...skill level."

"I was shocked after that moment. I thought for sure I would be punished for my violent actions, and I technically was going to be as Princess Celestia didn't like what I did. Thankfully, Luna convinced her to not punish me and had me join her guard. There, she began to train me personally, and the two of us soon became close.

Turns out, she was similar to me, one that was unnoticed and rejected by many ponies. I was originally surprised at this fact, as she was a princess, but it seems that whatever social standing you are, you can still be rejected. Despite this, I spent years under her tutelage. She taught me the way of swordponyship with my hooves, something I had not trained much with since I am a unicorn and prefer to use my magic.

We trained and fought together on missions, and she introduced me to the jakhowl clan, lead by the honorable Sharp Paw. I soon bonded with the aura-wielding warriors, having several of them join me on missions against all sorts of monsters like trolls, rogue griffons and Tricksters. I particularly became good friends with a jakhowl named Calm Paw, who was my fighting rival in those old times. She still beat me in our duels together, that being 30 wins to my 28.

It was here that I soon realized that I had made my first friends after Sombra, and more were soon to follow. Over the years, I bonded with the rest of Luna's guard, along with many of the Royal Knights of that era. And the more friends I gained, the more I wished to grow stronger and protect them. But despite all that, I never forgot about my first and best friend. I could never stop thinking about him.

And then finally..."

"Arise, Ruby Scarlet...The Crystal Knight."

A twenty two year old Ruby stood up as soon as she felt Celestia's sword leave her shoulders. She spun around to the room of ponies that had come to see her knighting, including Princess Amore, who were all cheering. And as the celebration continued, the princesses started a small banquet in my honor. As they did this, Princess Amore took Ruby aside.

"I'm so proud of you Ruby," Amore told her, putting her hoof on the knight's shoulder as they walked down a hallway. "You've come so far since the night I found you."

"Yes...I know." Ruby responded, slightly nodding as she continued to walk beside Amore.

"Are you alright?" Amore asked, leaning down as she saw the increasing frown on Ruby's face.

The new knight let out a low, long sigh. "I...I just wish Sombra had come. I miss him so much."

As soon as these words entered Amore's ears, she quickly turned her head away, "I know. I tried to have him come Ruby, but..."

Ruby came to a stop and glanced at the princess, blinking, "But what?"

Amore paused for a second, coming to a halt as well. She then looked back at the knight, a small smile on her face, "Its nothing. Don't worry about it."

"But-"

Amore shook her head and put her hoof on Ruby's shoulder. "Don't worry Ruby, you'll see him soon enough. After all, Celestia and Luna have allowed you to be stationed in the empire, didn't they?" Ruby nodded in response, her frown disappearing. Seeing this, Amore's grin got wider as she her horn began to shine. "That's reminds me, I need to show you something." A flash of magical light later, a box appeared and floated over to the knight. "This is a little present from me and the other princesses."

Taking the box in her own magic, Ruby opened up the box and her eyes went wide. It was a necklace, the same one Ruby had seen in her vision in the Crystal Heart, a necklace in the shape of a red snowflake. "This...this is..."

Amore leaned down and put her hoof over the necklace. "I worked with the princesses to forge this relic. Unfortunately, I am no alicorn, so it is not like a Celestic Gear. But the crystal inside the necklace will help you forge your weapons without using so much magic."

Ruby could feel tears brimming in her eyes as she put the jewelry around her neck, turning to Amore as she gave the princess a salute. "Thank you princess. I promise on this necklace, I will do everything in my power to keep the empire and everypony in it safe. I make it my knight's vow."

"It was here that me and Amore decided to call my new weapon, The Crystal Promise. I then said my goodbyes to Luna and my other friends there, as I began the last part of my journey to be a protector. I had succeeded, and returned to Crystal Empire as I would begin my duty as its hero.

But as I arrived, there was somepony I had to see before I started my duty..."

Ruby looked down at her piece of paper she held in her magic, then up at the small house. It looked more like a run-down shack, as its roof was rotting and the wooden door in the front had several slash marks over it and the walls. Was this really where he was living?

Ruby stepped up and knocked on the door, already feeling a tinge of hesitation in her body. Seconds passed with no answer, the knight slightly fidgeting as she started to worry. That is, until the door finally cracked opened. A familiar eye poked out from behind it, going wide when he saw who it was.

"Ruby?" The voice grumbled, the tone mature but still the same one she remembered from so long ago.

Ruby shined a huge smile. "Hello Sombra. It's been a long time."

"Yes...it has." Sombra replied, his tone still mumbling. "Its been seven years."

"I know. Time really flew, didn't it?" Ruby responded as she leaned towards the door, her smile widening. "It's good to see you. Can I come in?"

"No," Sombra immediately said, his hoof quickly shutting the door. "I'm...busy. I'm sorry, you must leave."

"Sombra?" Ruby reacted, her smile instantly disappearing. "What is-"

"Go away Ruby." Sombra replied, his voice growing colder by the second. "Please....just go."

"But Sombra-"

"GO AWAY!" Sombra yelled, making Ruby slightly backpedal at his raised voice. She had never heard him raise his voice like this. But as soon as she did, Sombra continued in a low, almost sad tone. "Please Ruby....just leave me be."

Ruby blinked at this, feeling tears starting to form in her eyes. She walked back up and tapped the door with her hoof. "Sombra? What's wrong? Why won't you let me see you?"

"I..." Sombra tried to say, only to then shut the door completely. "I'm sorry. I can't see you."

"Sombra-"

"I'm sorry Ruby." Sombra said again, his tone once again growing colder. "Please...just go."

"I should have known better when he reacted like that. Unfortunately, even after all that training, I was still naïve. I was such a foal to not have realized what was happening to my friend.

To be fair, I tried reaching out to him again and again, but every time Sombra would find an excuse not to be near me. And as the months went on, I tried less as I worked to keep order in the empire. I soon found myself as the head of Princess Amore's guard and was respected as such. In fact, the ponies that once ignored me, despised me while I was in the empire, now treated me like I was a princess. I had became the protector I wanted, no...what I was destined to be.

But as I said before, I was so naïve. So foolish to think I could be the protector I was destined to be. No, I was nothing more than a fool, a fool that lost everything on the eve of the next Crystal Fair..."

Ruby had finished her final patrol for the night, the last bit of it being a trip back to the empire's castle. As the knight walked down the dark streets under Luna's moon, her eyes spotted a pair of ponies she knew all too well. It was Princess Amore and Sombra standing face to face, Sombra wearing a black cloak and carrying a sack. In that moment, Ruby noticed something missing from its usual spot. The Crystal Heart.

Seeing this, Ruby kept to the shadows, wondering what was going on.

"All those years of suffering," Sombra spoke with a voice darker than any she had ever heard before. "And you knew why because you made it! You made the Crystal Heart to hurt me!"

"Not you Sombra," Amore replied, shaking her head. Her voice was firm yet still caring. "I saw that you had the potential to be better. I see it even now. You can choose-"

"ENOUGH!" Sombra screamed as a great flash of light appeared between the two, only to die down in an instant. As it vanished, Princess Amore disappeared, only for a statue of black and red crystal to stand in her shape. Ruby gasped at the sight, immediately running towards the statue.

"Sombra!" She yelled, causing him to hop in place. As he did, his hood unveiled itself, showing his horn to now be curved and red. Ruby blinked at the sight before looking back at the statue and saying. "What have you done?" She put her hoof on the rock as she whispered, "Princess, please talk to me. This is just a joke right? Some harmless joke that you and Sombra are playing on me."

"This is no joke." She turned back to Sombra, seeing a sinister smile on his face. "This is how things were meant to be."

"What are you talking about? Why have you done this?!"

"I have done this, because it needed to be done. I was destined to do it after all."

"Destined?" Ruby gasped, barely able to see anything else.

"Don't you see Ruby?" Sombra continued, his horn now starting to glow as his grin grew. "This is our destiny. To take over this city. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before, but I could not risk anypony finding out about this. If they had, my work would have been for nothing."

Ruby looked back at the statue, her eyes filled with tears. "Why?"

"She wanted us to serve her, knowing we were the ones who were meant to be served. She restrained us, making us weak and broken. She made me suffer for years on end..." Sombra let out a low hiss, only to begin chuckling, "But now I've broken my restraints and shown the world who the true broken one is." His horn once again glowed, firing a beam which struck the statue, shattering it into a million pieces.

Ruby felt her heart break as she watched the only pony she had ever seen as a mother crumble into a pile a rubble. Then, the shards began to float into the air, all of them suddenly shooting off into the sky. Ruby closed her eyes, fighting back the tears that threatened to escape.

That is, till they reopened, now showing nothing but anger and rage. She spun around, her horn glowing as a crystal sword appeared into her hoof. She let out a mighty battle cry, quickly charging the dark unicorn. But as she tried to strike him down, the unicorn merely smiled at her attack, his body suddenly turning into a dark shadow.

Sombra soon reformed behind her, a chuckle escaping his lips. "Don't think you can stop me Ruby. I have become more powerful than you could ever hope to defeat."

"Shut up." Ruby replied, turning around as rage filled her being. "You'll pay for what you've done here. I will avenge Princess Amore and destroy you, you monster!"

Sombra just shook his head, laughing as he did. "I am not just any monster Ruby." He magicked off his cloak, revealing a royal cape that had been hidden beneath it. "I am the king of the monsters!"

"DIE!" Ruby screamed as she charged him again, only for her whole body to come to a stop. She soon saw that her whole body was wrapped up in his magic aura, paralyzing her as he levitated her towards him. "Let...me...go!"

"Don't worry, I will Ruby." Sombra replied as Ruby floated up to his face. "As I said before, I believed that we were supposed to rule together. However, I suspect you'll turn down my offer as my queen. Because of this, I'm going to let you live as part of our previous friendship." Sombra leaned forward, his wicked smile growing on his face. "I will let you leave this city unscathed and...well, you can make your own decisions after that."

"Don't you dare-"

"Goodbye Ruby. I'll make sure that the crystal ponies suffer for what they did to me." Sombra interrupted, only for his horn to shine again. This time, the aura covering Ruby flung her across the city, her body instantly hitting the snow outside in just a few seconds from the throw.

As she hit the snow, she felt herself lose consciousness for a few seconds. And as she woke up from the blow, she looked back at the city, only to see a wall of dark crystals to suddenly appear, barring the city from the outside. The knight soon tried to get up, only for her ears to hear a new sound. It was sound of the crystal ponies screaming as a dark shadow covered the city in an instant.

Ruby could only sit there, agape at the sight. A few minutes later, she turned and ran, knowing she could not win the battle alone.

"Nothing went right after that. I had failed, and I should have known better. I soon warned the princesses, and they laid siege to the castle. I did my part as well, working to try and take down the monster that had replaced my friend. But it didn't matter in the end. I still failed. That was all there was to it.

And as I think back on all of this, there is one question that has always lingered in my mind. That question was never what happened to my parents or why they left me. It was never telling me why the heart showed me my destiny, or why everypony around me picked on and hated me. I never questioned if I should have stayed and served under Luna, Celestia or if Amore was the right decision. No, there was only one single question in my mind."

The Present...

Ruby could feel the frigid snow under her hooves as soon as she broke through the barrier. Her body tensed as the freezing winds scattered throughout the land in front of her, already chilling her to the bone. But as she stood there in the snow, she only took a few steps forward. As she did, her horn lit up, instantly activating her snowflake necklace. The air around her shifted as a crystal sword appeared, shining in the white blizzard abyss around her.

"I know you're there." she said to the wind, her eyes narrowed as she pointed the blade forward. "Come to me."

It was not even a split second before the blizzard in front of her changed colours. The white snow morphed into a hazy, gray gas as the shadow within the storm began to appear. As it did, Ruby stared forward, only to see a pair green glowing eyes covered in a long dark smoke. The figure sped through the snow, instantly appearing before her as it towered over as a giant ball of shadowy smoke.

Then, a mouth formed within the smoke cloud, a grin soon following as it spoke.

"Hello Ruby."

"Hello...Sombra."

The cloud leaned over, the grin widening as Sombra asked Ruby one single question. "Tell me Ruby, are you ready to fail your kingdom again?"

Ruby didn't say a word. Instead, she shifted her body into a fighting stance, her sword now twirling beside her. A small breath of air came out of her nostrils as her hooves moved the snow. Letting out a tiny breath, she then replied, "No. I will protect them all Sombra. I will defeat you."

As the last few words exited her mouth, the shadow now grew a long, blood-red unicorn horn. With it, the smile grew again as it said, "I was hoping you would say that." With those words said, Sombra's horn began to glow. "Come. Let us finish what we started."

"Let's."

"For you see, there was only question I always thought about. It was this: Could I have prevented all of this? Could I saved everything if I had given up my destiny, my mark, my everything...could I have saved him if I had just stood by his side?"