//------------------------------//
// Equus: Dealing with the Past 
// Story: Bleach: Heart of a Hero 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

Sombra sat in the lounge area of the ship that he and the others were traveling in, taking in everything that he had learned since he came back to his home world and the fact that most of what he knew was no longer correct, as so much had changed during the time he was in Ichigo's world. Twilight explained to him that Ponyville, as well as most of Canterlot and the Crystal Empire, had gone through the Ascension Process, basically the same process that he and the other displaced had gone through, but while he and the others gained immense power from their adventures the others that went through the change didn't. That, in turn, lead to her and the others opening a school that let them teach everyone else about their powers and how they could use them, along with the fact that fights between students weren't allowed, since some of them were quite strong and could really mess up the area around them, and, oddly enough, the transformed ponies listened to the order and didn't fight each other. He even found out that there were other towns, villages, and cities that had gone through the process, but where there were ponies that ascended to a new level there were those that stayed as ponies and continued with their old lives, somehow finding a balance between both types without a battle breaking out.

It amazed him that Twilight and Discord could come up with a method that mimicked the effects of the mirror that he and the others had gone through, even if some of them, like Trixie, Lyra, Gilda, and Derpy, didn't actually walk through the mirror and were displaced by the effects of Discord tampering with the effects he put on the mirror.

"So the reality is that it's all Discord's fault that everyone was sent to other worlds." Yoruichi commented, as she had opted to stay near Sombra while the others explored, because she had the feeling that none of the futuristic components of this ship would be integrated into Hueco Mundo, especially not after everything Sombra had done to make the realm like what it used to be a thousand years ago, something that was still odd when she considered it.

"Well, he originally intended to use Starlight as bait to send Sunset somewhere else," Twilight replied, as this was part of the tale that she didn't like at all, more specifically what would have happened to their planet had Sunset come into her powers as the God of Destruction in her own time, "Here's the truth as to why Discord did what he did: when it comes time for a God of Destruction to come into their power, and actually assume their role as the god that destroys planets and threats to the balance of their universe, the energy they generate from their ascension, in one way or another, destroys the planet that they ascended on. Basically Sunset's sheer power would have detonated Equus, wiping out everything in a blinding flash... I guess you can say that we're lucky he somehow found out about her future as our God of Destruction and acted as quickly as he did."

Sombra could tell that Twilight, despite being thankful that Discord had gotten Sunset away from Equus before she reached the level of a God of Destruction, wasn't too happy with the God of Chaos, since it was his fault that Sombra and the others had been sent away to other parts of their universe, especially since Sunset had trashed a few planets in the process of her adventure with Starlight, if what they had told earlier was to be believed. Normally one would have found that the existence of other worlds, which could sustain life like Earth could, to be quite the shock to their lives, more so if there were more planets like the one they lived on, but for someone like him, who knew of the existence of four realms that made up the world he called home, he wasn't too surprised by the news. He was less surprised by the existence of a number of 'alien' species that lived on all the planets that Sunset had briefly told them about, since she knew he didn't much care for specifics since he'd be staying in Hueco Mundo, and he associated his lack of surprise to the fact that he knew about Hollows and Arrancar, things that were strange to those around him. Even their Captain, Ratchet, was a feline-like creature called a Lombax, who were apparently renowned engineers in the galaxy they came from, and it appeared that he was Sunset and Starlight's brother, since they grew up with him when they were under the effects of Discord's spell, hence why he agreed to help Sunset carry them all back home when the battle was over.

Once all of that had run through his mind, and he wasn't entirely sure about some of it since he had other matters that needed his attention, he decided that now was the time to tackle something that he had been trying to figure out since Twilight first mentioned it a few minutes ago.

"And this backlash that you mentioned earlier," Sombra said, speaking up for a moment, as he had been keeping quiet for some time while they were talking, since there had been some pieces of information that Yoruichi was interested in and it gave him some knowledge on what was going on at the same time, "I take it that Discord was behind that as well, even if he didn't intend for it to happen?"

"Yeah. Discord originally cast an enchantment on the mirror that made everyone that entered it lose their memories, revert back to being four years old, and sent them to part of our universe." Twilight explained, though her tone revealed that the places they had been sent to had to be random, as if the mirror had sent each of the displaced that had walked through it to a location where they would be able to grow into their individual powers, "After we caught onto what he had done, which was after Sunset got back, Discord promised to undo what he had done to the mirror, though the act of taking away the enchantment caused a magical backlash that knocked Lyra, Trixie, Gilda, and Derpy to the planets they were sent to. Of course I should have shut down the mirror after that, to prevent it from being used, but it was the only thing that was helping us locate the others, though that only lead to Rarity, Chrysalis, somehow the Dazzlings from the world that the mirror originally connected to, and yourself using the mirror... though none of us are quite sure why you were affected by the memory loss part of the enchantment, since it was supposed to be gone at this point in time."

"Oh, that was because I pissed him off before I was sent flying through the mirror," Sombra stated, remembering what had been one of his final moments as the evil King Sombra, before he lost his memories and became the new Sombra that was sitting in the chair at the moment, "remember, before I found myself in Hueco Mundo for the first time I was still the dreaded King of Darkness, the evil master of shadows that wanted to conquer everything and everyone. What happened was that the old me told Discord that I was going through the mirror and that I'd come back with the power to enslave both him and whoever his friends were, even including Fluttershy as the first pony that would be enslaved upon my return, which got a reaction out of him. Discord basically put a curse on me, to force me to lose my memories, and then threw me into the mirror, sending me to Hueco Mundo and putting this whole adventure into action, even though it would have happened differently had he not stopped me for a chat."

"Which would mean that he lied to cover up what happened to you," Sunset said, as she was sitting nearby and had been listening to their conversation, though at the same time she had reverted back to her base state, leaving behind the new Aspect form that she had gained from their battle, which she would be able to access later, though Sombra was a little surprised that she was taking his side on the matter, "Remember, Discord used Starlight as bait to get me away from Equus, even going so far as to give me a golden bracelet that prevented me from using any of my magic for years, until a crack formed in it and my power started to pour out of it, so I'm more willing to believe your side of the story."

"Now that everyone's back from their adventures, I think it's time we turned off the mirror anyway," Twilight added, showing that she had been thinking about turning it off for some time, but because most of them had been missing she had been keeping it on so they could survey the universe for wherever everyone had wandered off to, only for Sunset to nod her head in agreement, "Wouldn't want someone else to wander into the castle, step into the mirror, and head off to another part of the universe, otherwise we'll never get any peace and quiet."

"Well, we'll need to be getting back to Hueco Mundo soon as well," Yoruichi said, as she knew that the other Arrancar could hold down the fort while they were gone, but since they had done what they came to do, and showed the gods the power that Sombra now commanded, she felt that it was time for them to head back.

"Indeed... though there is something that I need to do before we leave." Sombra stated, as there was one thing that came to mind that he needed to do, someone that he needed to check on, before he left his home planet behind, where he noticed both Twilight and Sunset were looking at him, "It's time I visited the Crystal Empire, the real one that I took over a thousand years ago, and finally set things right, though I don't think there's any possibility of saving Princess Amore, not after what I did to her."

Yoruichi had no idea what Sombra was talking about, since he preferred to keep his sinister past a secret, though it was more like certain parts of it he didn't feel like sharing with anyone, but at the same time she knew that if he said that there wasn't anything they could do for someone he had hurt, even a thousand years ago, than it was the truth and that he wasn't trying to give false hope to those that were around him. Sunset and Twilight, on the other hand, seemed to know what he was talking about and nodded their heads in understanding, showing him that he'd have the chance to do what he needed to do, even if that meant meeting Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor, the new rulers of the Crystal Empire and it's inhabitants. She actually wondered what would happen when they arrived at the Crystal Empire, since there was the chance everyone would freakout when they discovered that Sombra was alive, in a different sense of the word since he was an Arrancar, though she hoped that everyone remained calm and collected when they arrived, as she didn't want something bad to happen while they were there.

Fortunately they didn't have to wait long to return to Equus, as they had been on their way there the entire time since they boarded the ship, though once they reached their destination Captain Ratchet told them they were just above Equus' atmosphere and that Celestia would be taking them back down to the surface... though as they gathered in the docking area, where the smaller spaceships were located, Sombra discovered that one of them was staying on the ship.

"Chrysalis, aren't you coming back to Equus with us?" Sombra asked, though at the same time he knew that his visit to their home planet was only temporary, as he intended to leave the moment his business in the Crystal Empire was over, so he could resume his duties in Hueco Mundo.

"No... it holds too many bad memories for me," Chrysalis replied, knowing that, out of all everyone that had been displaced by Discord's tampering with the mirror, the only one that would even understand what she was going through was Sombra, especially since her sister had fallen for him and he showed her the same feelings back, before she shook her head and pushed the memories back, "besides, Ratchet is technically my commanding officer and we only took a break from our latest mission to come here for the battle that Sunset had planned. Once we drop you guys off we're heading back to Planet Igliak, or more specifically Meridian City, to meet up with Starlight, Isaac, and the others so we can resume our mission and take the fight to the latest Supervillain that thinks they can take over the galaxy, or wipe out an entire species for whatever reason they have in mind."

"Well, then I wish you and the others luck in your mission." Sombra said, because it appeared that Chrysalis, just like him and some of the others, had turned over a new leaf and left her life as a 'villain' behind, becoming a protector of the innocent and a threat to those that sought the destruction of a galaxy's order, just like he didn't tolerate anyone or anything that would threaten the safety of his new home.

Chrysalis smiled for a moment and waved her hand as Celestia surrounded them in her barrier technique, to which Sombra and the others were lifted into the air and were pulled outside the docking area, allowing them to descend through the atmosphere and head back to Ponyville. While they were traveling through the space between the ship and the planet, however, Sombra and the others glanced at the Starship Hyperion, the name for the ship they had used to get back to their home planet, as it glowed blue and seemed to flash through space itself, disappearing entirely and showing them that Chrysalis was heading off to resume her latest adventure. Once the ship was gone, and Sunset confirmed that it would be some time before she and Ratchet would be in the same area again, they resumed their trek down to the planet below them, where Yoruichi inquired as to how they had been able to contact the starship, to ask Ratchet to bring Chrysalis to the planet they had been fighting on earlier. Twilight revealed that Sunset still had her communicator, from when she was traveling alongside Ratchet and the rest of her group, and that was how they had contacted Ratchet to make sure Chrysalis was present for what Sunset had in mind, so that way, if they needed to contact him in the future, they had a method in place that would allow them to get in touch with Chrysalis.

It took them a minute or two to reach the area of Ponyville that they had departed from earlier, back when Sombra and the others had first encountered Sunset, Celestia, Luna, and Twilight, though when they reached their destination the barrier came undone as everyone touched the ground once more.

"Well, we had better get going," Rarity said, though at the same time she and the other displaced, those that lived in Ponyville before they had been sent to the worlds they had gone to, separated themselves from Sombra's group and turned towards their homes, "Sweetie Belle and the others are still practicing their skills near the Everfree Forest, to figure out how strong they really are, and we'll likely need to stop them before they burn something down... especially since they accidentally burnt down a shed the last time they were doing this."

"Tell them that I'd like to talk with them once I get back from helping Sombra out," Twilight stated, showing Sombra that this had to be a replacement for what Sweetie Belle and her friends were up to when they were ponies, though he said nothing as Rarity and the others nodded before heading back to their homes, so the elderly siblings could stop their younger siblings from doing anything dangerous.

Sombra watched as Rarity's group broke up and disappeared as they went their separate ways, some heading to their homes while some were going to look for their siblings, before he nodded his head and Celestia beckoned for them to follow both her and Twilight as they floated into the air. This time around it appeared that they would be flying towards the Crystal Empire, instead of using the barrier like the last two times, though instead of leaving them alone to their devices Luna and Sunset came with them, to see what happened when Sombra returned to the Crystal Empire. Sombra and his group made sure to keep up with Celestia, since she was faster than most of them thanks to her position, but at the same time it allowed them to observe the landscape that they were passing by, mostly giving Yoruichi and the others a sense for what Equus was like, since Sombra had never actually described his home world to them. It was safe to say that they were surprised by the appearance of the planet he had come from, even though it was all things he had seen before, but what Sombra did look at was the school that they flew by, the one that Twilight and the others taught at since they were the strongest of the transformed at a specific element, before they continued onward and resumed their journey towards the Crystal Empire and what he needed to do when they got there.

Thanks to their speed, and the fact that it was impossible for the Crystal Empire to move, Sombra found that it didn't take too long for them to reach the outskirts of their destination, where he and the others descended towards the ground when they reached the barrier that was keeping the winter conditions outside the empire. When they touched down on the ground Twilight stepped forward and nodded her head as she passed through the barrier, to which Sombra and the others did the same thing, where Sombra was pleased to see that the barrier understood that he was different from who he had been in the past, otherwise it would have prevented his entry entirely. Once all of them were inside the Crystal Empire, and didn't have to worry about the wind and snow that was on the other side, they started to walk forward as they followed Twilight, who was going to take them right to the palace so they could meet up with Cadance and Shining Armor, as she called them by their names since she was more familiar with them, where Sombra would call them by their titles when they met them.

"No way. Is that... is that the King of Darkness reborn?" one of the transformed crystal ponies asked, as this was just confirmation that Twilight had been telling the truth, that the Crystal Empire had done what Canterlot and Ponyville had done by going through the Ascension Process, though while Sombra could see that they were wearing more modern clothing he also knew that the mere sight of him was causing the majority of them to back away in fear.

"It is!" another crystal pony replied, confirming that they still held him and his terror deep in their hearts, which made sense considering that he had been terrible to them until his timely defeat at the hooves of Queen Crudelis, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna, even if he had been a sore loser at the time, "Hopefully the Princesses are escorting him to the palace, to present him to our new rulers and suffer a fitting punishment for what he did to us."

"Some don't consider being sealed away for a thousand years, and then having my mortal body destroyed, to be a fitting punishment for what I did," Sombra commented, keeping his voice low at the moment, since he found that there was no reason for him to tell the crystal ponies that he was actually an Arrancar, an evolved soul or spirit as it were, since he felt that the knowledge of Hueco Mundo might freak some of them out, "Oh well, that doesn't bother me at all, as I knew that the chances of showing them that I had reformed, and was no longer the Sombra they once knew, was already rather slim since they don't trust me. Let's just get to the palace and get this over with, before some of them decide to ignore your presence and actually attempt to lash out at us... especially since I don't want to see anything happen to this place before we head back home."

Twilight nodded her head, as she didn't want any harm to come to the place that her foal-sitter and her big brother were ruling, especially since Flurry Heart lived here as well, to which she continued to walk forward and headed right for the palace, the heart of the empire, even though she knew that some of the guards will have already informed the couple of their arrival, and who they had brought with them. As they walked Sombra let a smile appear on his face, because while he knew that the crystal ponies didn't like him, based on how they stood back and glared at him when he walked by where they were standing, he found that being in the true Crystal Empire, even for a short period of time, to be relaxing, allowing him to prepare for what he needed to do when they reached the throne room. Sure enough it didn't take them long to reach the throne room, where the guards took one look at the group and moved out of the way, though when the door opened Sombra found a young transformed mare, maybe just a few years older than Twilight, standing near the throne, though her moderate violet colored hair, with moderate rose and pale gold streaks, was easily recognizable. Sombra had to admit that the brilliant blue dress that Princess Cadance was wearing, while revealing a little bit of the top of her chest, fit her more than she might think it did, and he had the feeling that she had different color combinations of the same dress somewhere... and, as they walked into the throne room, she turned and stared at them, though Sombra could tell that she was focusing on him.

"So the guards were right, you're back from the dead once more," Cadance said, though at the same time she didn't have the same opinion as the rest of her empire, because the moment she saw Sombra enter the throne room, with Twilight and the other Princesses standing near her, including some mysterious beings she didn't know, she knew that he must have changed, as there was no way Celestia would allow Sombra to get this far if he was still evil.

"Princess Cadance, technically I'm not alive in the manner that you're thinking about," Sombra replied, as that was something that most of the transformed ponies seemed to be ignoring the fact that he was a transformed soul and not a flesh and blood person like they were, since an Arrancar's body mimicked a Human's, but that was something he could correct at another time, "but we can talk about that some other time, as I'm sure that you're more interested as to why I came all the way here, when I could have just gone back to my new home."

"I will admit that I have been wondering why you came back to the Crystal Empire," Cadance stated, though as she said that she walked towards them, where the only sound they heard was her walking over to where they were standing at the moment, before she eventually came to a stop, "My citizens were concerned the moment they saw you, as they thought you had come back to take control of the empire once more, but I know that, from just seeing how you entered this room, you aren't the same Sombra that took control of the Crystal Empire a thousand years ago. So tell me, why did you decide to come back to your old kingdom?"

"I'm going to put Princess Amore's statue back together, even though there's nothing I can do to save her at this point in time," Sombra replied, as most crystal ponies knew that he had turned their previous ruler into a solid black crystal statue in his rage, though they didn't know that it was because he had found out that she knew what he had been and let the power of the Crystal Heart, powered by the Crystal Faire, hurt him for a number of years, leading to Radiant Heart to leave for Canterlot to see if she could find a cure, and he had shattered that statue into a number of pieces to ensure she never broke out of the enchantment, "though I plan on modifying the statue before I depart, so the crystal ponies can remember the ruler that came before me, since she was more loved than I will ever be."

Cadance raised her eyebrow for a moment, as she expected a number of other things when she asked the question, but hearing that Sombra intended to reforge the statue of the previous ruler, which had been her prison for all of a few minutes considering what happened to her, was definitely interesting.

"Where's Shining Armor?" Twilight asked, as she expected to see her brother at some point, since they had walked through the entire empire with it's former ruler, the King of Darkness, and she had been expecting him to be here, with Cadance, but right now she didn't see him anywhere.

"Right here." a voice said, though that was followed by a knight, wearing a light blue set of armor that looked more like what the guards they had walked by had been wearing, teleporting into the throne room, where his sapphire blue hair, which had different blue colored streaks in it, gave away who he was.

"Prince Shining Armor, it is good to met you for real, given what happened during our last encounter," Sombra said, as the last time they had seen each other it was when Shining Armor was protecting Twilight and her friends as they ran towards the barrier that prevented him from entering the Crystal Empire, where he took away the transformed unicorn's magic with his black crystals, "Sorry for nullifying your magic when we first met, that version of myself wasn't the nicest pony around and deserved what came to him... though it did result in me turning over a new leaf and taking out several of the villains that tried to ruin the balance of the planet I was sent to."

Shining Armor glanced at the Princesses that had come to the Crystal Empire, including his little sister, and discovered that they were confirming the fact that Sombra had, in fact, turned over a new leaf, that the transformed unicorn in front of him was no longer the dreaded King of Darkness, rather he was someone else that had turned Sombra's dark life around and made it better.

"Well, it's nice to meet the new you as well," Shining Armor replied, because if the Princesses and his little sister were going to vouch for the new Sombra, as they were doing at the moment, than he was going to trust their judgement and hope that the visit was short, since their citizens would be asking questions soon enough, "Now then, you said that the reason behind your visit is to restore Princess Amore's statue, and that you were planning on changing it a little before you went back to Ponyville?"

"That's correct. Though to get to where the statue is located I need to access my hidden chamber," Sombra stated, to which he noticed that Twilight's eyes lit up, because he had taken great care to hide the area that was his study, so much so that the only way one would be able to find it was if he told them where it was located, even though this one was much smaller than the one he had in the Shadowlands, which held all of the dangerous knowledge he had learned, "which means that I need to use the throne room for a moment. Don't worry, I'll put it back to how it was once I'm done here, I just need a moment to open the way and then we can head down to where Princess Amore's statue is located."

Cadance and Shining Armor glanced at each other for a moment, knowing that Twilight had told them that someone needed to use Dark Magic in the throne room to even get close to where Sombra's study was located, even though a single glance at the transformed unicorn in question revealed that the one they were heading to was just a workshop that he kept hidden from everyone. Since neither of them knew how to wield Dark Magic, and Twilight couldn't muster the power to constantly wield it like Sombra could, none of them had dared open the way since the Crystal Empire had been saved, so the royal pair walked over to where Celestia and Luna were standing, getting out of Sombra's way. Once they were in position, and were away from the center of the room, Sombra focused his mind and the strands of Dark Magic emitted from his eyes once more, as the opening spell was rather easy and didn't require the power he held in his Resurreccion, before he fired a small beam of energy at the crystal above the throne. A shadow immediately fell over the center of the throne room, generated by the crystal he had struck, and when it reached a certain point the carpet crumpled, the illusion disappearing under the power of the spell he used, before it stopped and revealed that there was a walkway heading down into the depths of the palace, even though there technically wasn't anything down this way if one were to look at the palace from the outside.

He had gone through a lot of effort to create the spiral staircase and the area that it lead to, as well as the inverted staircase that lead to where he had kept the Crystal Heart, though since they existed in a small separate space, connected to the palace, it was easy to fool ponies into thinking that it didn't exist. With the way open Sombra jumped into the middle of the passage and floated down to the bottom level, to which he turned his head towards the ceiling and watched as the rest of the group followed after him, as they were all curious as to what he was doing and wanted to see what was down here for themselves. It didn't take him long to reach the bottom level, the circular area that seemed to only have one doorway and the stairs that would take someone back to the throne room, but at the same time that was the point of his other illusion, that it kept the other door hidden until he used the spell that would reveal it, hence why no one thought to look in this area for his workshop. He waited for a few moments, to let everyone else catch up with him, though as they started touching down in the area around him, however, he noticed that Twilight was staring at the door that, if the correct spell was used on it, would take someone to where the inverted staircase was located, or show them one of their worst nightmares if the incorrect spell was used, and, judging from her expression, he could tell that she didn't like it.

"Something on your mind, Twilight?" Sombra asked, as he just wanted to know what her expression meant before he opened the second door that was in the area, as it was interesting to see Twilight be a little shaken, especially since she was used to seeing what Sunset did to planets that needed to be destroyed.

"No, it's just... that door brings back memories..." Twilight replied, recalling how she and Spike had been lured into their own worst nightmares by her opening the door, since she thought she had opened it correctly the first time, before she shook her head and cast the memory back where it came from.

"It's a Nightmare Door, or a Door of Fears if you prefer." Sombra explained, though at the same time his horn glowed and the frame of the door followed suit, as he felt that now was the time to clean up the area a little, since there was no reason for the door to be here since the Crystal Heart had been found, "Basically it shows whoever gazes into it their worst nightmare or fear, just like what happens to those that are banished to the Shadowlands... but, since it was made to guard the Crystal Heart, and you've already recovered it, I guess it's time I uninstalled it."

The moment he said that his horn flared for a moment, where the group watched as the door shattered into a number of shadowy fragments, which were absorbed by his own shadow, though where they expected that to be all he was doing he kept the Dark Magic going as he reached out for the other doorway, one that caused both Cadance and Shining Armor to jump when it appeared near them and unlocked itself.

"Originally when I constructed this place I installed two doors, the first being the Door of Fears," Sombra explained, to which he stepped towards the one that he had conjured into existence, while at the same time Twilight expected the first one, finding that it was now permanently connected to the inverted staircase, without having to go through the process of casting the spell every time someone came this way, "the second was an Illusory Door, meaning that it blended in with the environment around it and made it neigh impossible for anyone else to find, not unless I told them where it was located and gave them the spell to unlock it. Behind this door lies a passage, one that will take us to the location of Princess Amore's statue and whatever else I left in my workshop, where I'll do what I came to do and then we can leave before one of your citizens decides to take matters into their own hands."

As the group agreed with him, that it would be best to get underway, Sombra turned the handle and walked into the passage that was in front of them, one that had more than enough room for everyone, though while it was short it did bring them to a second door, which allowed them to enter a larger chamber than the room they had been in a few moments ago. This chamber had a number of bookshelves, each filled with the lesser knowledge on how to wield Dark Magic, since all the major stuff was sealed away in his more private study, though even then he remembered all the various topics that were detailed in the books and determined that a good percentage of it would have to be taken with him, since he was sure that Celestia wouldn't let anyone else learn from his entries. Other than the bookshelves there were a few desks with a number of ingredients, back from the time when he tried his hoof at alchemy, though while he got the hang of it he determined that it would never be useful and eventually stopped bothering with it. The room was exactly like how he remembered it, especially since all the dangerous stuff had been moved out before he went to war against Queen Crudelis, but resting in the middle of the chamber was a pile of black crystals, ones that looked like they could form a statue of some kind, which were what he came to find.

Once he found that all the fragments were where he remembered them being, not that it mattered since he was the only one that could have opened the way here and was merely checking to be sure they were all present, Sombra drew his power back to the surface and the various fragments lifted into the air, allowing the others to watch as he found the base and started building from there. Each piece, upon finding where it was supposed to go, reconnected itself to the whole statue and didn't move at all, merging and becoming a single piece instead of staying as multiple pieces, allowing him to reform Princess Amore's legs, body, and head while he worked. At the same time, since he was able to multitask much better these days, he had a circular door appear out of the darkness and tendrils, with hands at the end, emerged from his study area, as he had a personal assistant of sorts that kept the place in order, one that only showed itself to others when he wanted to, but at the moment he had the creature claim the majority of the knowledge that was trapped down here, to prevent another pony falling down the path that he took. Truthfully he expected Twilight to get upset over losing out on all this knowledge, but she seemed to understand that he knew what was best for each book and said nothing, though he also knew that she was overjoyed to see that he was leaving a few books behind.

It only took him about five minutes to claim the books and knowledge that he deemed too dangerous for someone like Twilight to get their hands on, allowing him to close the door to his personal study once his assistant was on the other side, before he got to work assembling the statue... where not even a minute later he and the others were staring at a statue of a unicorn mare that had a look of terror on her face.

"Behold, the final expression Princess Amore wore before I killed her," Sombra said, though at the same time he sighed, as there hadn't been a single bit of life coming from the fragments as he put them back together, and he had done a few checks to be sure that he was right, so he knew that she was gone for good, before he frowned as he stared at the statue in front of them, "and, before anyone asks, let me clarify what I mean. In my rage a thousand years ago, by finding out that she knew why the Crystal Faire was hurting me each and every year, I cast a powerful spell on Princess Amore and sealed her inside this statue, one that held her terrified expression, before I shattered it and killed her at the same time, hence why I said that it might be impossible for me to help her recover... her soul has moved onto whatever plane comes next for ponies that have died."

"But you said that you were going to modify the statue," Cadance commented, as while she was still sad that they couldn't reverse Princess Amore's fate, because she had been hoping that Sombra would be wrong in his thoughts about what he could do, she did recall what the former king had said, "How do you plan on doing that?"

"Like this." Sombra replied, though as he said that he stepped forward and touched the neck area of the statue with his left hand, where he closed his eyes and focused on the Princess Amore that the ponies of the Crystal Empire had looked up to, and not the one that he had seen before he truly gave into his anger and hatred.

Cadance and the others watched as Sombra's magic pulsed over the surface of the crystal statue, melting away the darkened appearance that it currently possessed and replaced it with a coloration that would have matched Princess Amore's crystallized appearance when she was under the effects of the Crystal Heart. Once Sombra was sure that her body was as it should be he focused his attention on her face, taking away the terrified expression she was currently wearing and replaced it with one of the more joyful smiles that he had seen her wear over the years, a genuine one and not one that he imagined her wearing. Normally the art of manipulating crystals was hard, for those that weren't talented in the field or for those that needed more training, but he was always talented in both crystal magic and Dark Magic, hence why changing the appearance of the statue, from one of terror and despair to one of hope and beauty, was well within his powers, and not a few minutes later he pulled his hand back and smiled as he stared at his work. Standing before them was the statue of Princess Amore, but this time she looked like someone had cast a spell on her and merely froze her in her crystallized form, or had used magic to form a statue in her likeness, back when she was alive, and right now this was the best he could do for the Crystal Empire.

He wasn't sure where Princess Amore's soul had gone, since he had no experience in the afterlife of Equus, but at the very least the citizens of this empire could remember their former ruler with smiles on their faces, something that he was more than happy to accept at this point in time.

"There, your citizens should appreciate this, even though it's up to you two to either reveal who made this or just say you found it," Sombra said, to which he removed his hand from the statue and stared at it for a moment, as it truly looked like the real thing, which was the point, though it was much better than leaving her as a broken statue forever, before he turned and headed back towards the passage they had walked through, using his magic to carefully carry it and the remaining books outside, "I'm just going to bring it, and the books, up to the throne room, and then I'm going to seal this area off so that no one accidentally finds there way down here, despite the fact that there's nothing left to be taken, so you'll have solid floors from this day forward."

It didn't take him long to get the statue and the books back up to the throne room, where he determined that the guards must have stayed outside the throne room since they entered it, and as he set everything down the rest of his group caught up with him, landing all around the opening that he had created earlier. Once everyone was up with him, and no one was down in the depths anymore, he used his Dark Magic to seal the opening in the floor, this time adding a permanent lock to the crystal, meaning that no one would be able to open it again, effectively sealing off the small space that was tied to the palace. Twilight was overjoyed to have some new reading material, which was basically just the basics of learning how to wield Dark Magic and nothing too serious, though he could tell that Celestia and Luna were planning on going over them to be sure that there wasn't anything harmful in them. Sombra was fine with that, as he had the more dangerous tomes in his possession and there wasn't much the being that taught him how to wield Dark Magic could do if they decided to find another apprentice, not with his level of control over both the darkness and the Shadowlands, and he knew that, in time, the Royal Sisters would agree with his decision.

Of course what Cadance did was stare at the statue that Sombra had crafted, no doubt because of the fact that she might be Princess Amore's descendant, but at the same time he hoped that she and Shining Armor ruled their kingdom better than he did, since the crystal ponies deserved a better life.

"So, Sombra, what will you do about the Umbrum and Radiant Hope?" Celestia asked, because she had noticed that there was something that the former king hadn't thought about since he came back to his home planet, no doubt because it was painful for him, "I mean, weren't you trying to free the Umbrum when you were King of the Crystal Empire? That's what we were told when Radiant Hope came and told us about what you were trying to do."

"Once upon a time I sought that, but not anymore," Sombra replied, though at the same time it was an interesting question, one that he hadn't actually thought about since he had completely forgotten about them, before he sighed and drew Rey from his sheath, as he had something in mind to get rid of them, "in fact I might be able to make sure they don't threaten Equus at all..."

Celestia watched as Sombra focused on what he was doing, as he released his Arrancar Zanpakuto and assumed the form that was associated with the King of Darkness, where he then turned towards the left wall of the throne room and knelt for a moment, where the shadows seemed to vibrate for a few seconds. In the following moments a small oval, which bared the green part of one's eyes when they were channeling Dark magic, appeared in the air near Sombra, forming a small portal in the process, though it wasn't long before some shadowy tendrils reached in and gently pulled out a young mare that Celestia and Luna hadn't seen for a thousand years. It wasn't hard for them to recognize the grayish heliotrope coloration of the mare's coat, which was a pink-purple color, or the light grayish arctic blue mane and tail she possessed, and it was hard to mistake the golden medical staff, a caduceus as they were called, that was the mare's Cutie Mark. The only thing that surprised both of the Royal Sisters was the fact that Radiant Hope was alive after a thousand years, as she had been outside the Crystal Empire when Sombra's spell sealed it away, so they naturally assumed that she simply decided to disappear and never talk to them again, making them wonder where she had been the entire time.

They also felt that Sombra was being rude to her, since he was ignoring her, but as it turned out he was still focused on something else, as a few seconds later a series of screeches could be heard from the portal, one that Sombra glanced at and closed the moment Radiant Hope was safe, before he reverted back to his base form.

"Sombra, what did you do?" Cadance asked, as it appeared that he must have done something to the Umbrum, no doubt brought upon by Celestia inquiring what he was going to do about them, but she had to admit that she was curious as to what he had done, even though he was tending to the exhausted mare that was near them.

"The Umbrum were imprisoned deep below the Crystal Empire, hence why I created the mines and forced so many ponies to dig into the depths," Sombra replied, as it wasn't common knowledge that the Crystal Empire was sitting on a host of shadow ponies that would have tried to conquer the empire, but now they were safe from that danger, "after remembering what I intended to do, however, I used my new powers and sent that prison to the Shadowlands, where the Umbrum can reside for the rest of eternity. Some of them might be lucky and be chosen to take on the form and duties of one of the tormentors, though most of them are going to be living through their own nightmares and fears for the rest of their existence, all without a way to get back to the Crystal Empire, so you won't have to worry about seeing any of them again. It also appears that Radiant Hope had found her way to the prison and was living with them for the last thousand years, hence why she doesn't look like she's aged a day, so I retrieved her and brought her here, where she can heal, before I sealed the Umbrum in another plane of existence."

"And this is why my friends and I, along with Soul Society, are allied with him," Ichigo commented, speaking for the first time since the battle on the destroyed planet, as he and the others had been trying to get over everything that they had seen since they came to this planet, especially the power that Sunset and the others commanded, "he's a force of justice and order that is so powerful that not even the strongest Shinigami can hope to challenge him... we're better off having him on our side and calling on him for help if the situation requires it."

Sombra would have chuckled or said something to that, since it would have been interesting to see how he and Captain-Commander Yamamoto fared in a fight against each other, but before he could actually do anything he heard a few coughs and turned towards Radiant, who had opened her eyes and was feeling the effects of not having anything to eat or drink after a thousand years, hence why Shining Armor went to get a guard that could fetch them something before she ended up hurting herself. It wasn't long before the guard came back with some water and something light, since they didn't want Radiant to cause chaos on her stomach so soon after leaving the realm of the Umbrum, but despite the small amount she was being given she seemed happy to have something after such a long time. At the same time, however, he knew that she was also happy to have found her way back to him, since they had been friends for a long time, despite the fact that the past him had foolishly believed that she had abandoned him and threw that bond away like it was nothing, though it was a little amusing to see her so confused by their new forms, while she was stuck in her pony state.

"Sombra, it's good to see that... you're doing well." Radiant spoke up, though it was clear that it would take some time before she was back to normal, which was understandable since she had been stuck in the realm of the Umbrum, before she glanced around her once more, "But you must tell me... what has happened since we last saw each other?"

It was in that moment that Sombra knew that they were going to be telling Radiant what had happened since his return, as a shadow, some time ago and the events leading up to what was going on around her, so Twilight suggested that they tell her back in Ponyville, leaving Cadance and Shining Armor to tend to their citizens about the fact that many had heard about Sombra's return. It was definitely better than sticking around and letting them see Sombra again, since most of them still didn't like him, something that both of the rulers of the Crystal Empire agreed with, to which they let Twilight teleport them all back to her castle in Ponyville, where they could relax and tell Radiant everything that had happened recently. Sombra knew that it would be a lot to take in, especially the news that he was technically an evolved soul and not a living pony anymore, but Radiant seemed eager to hear the tale that he and the others had to tell her and he wasn't about to leave her hanging, and hoped that her opinion of him had improved when the story was over.