//------------------------------//
// (5-2) Future Plans 
// Story: I Am Not Sombra 
// by Boopy Doopy 
//------------------------------//

Celestia was gone. The fact was just starting to sink in for Twilight that Celestia was gone. The princess, who was the picture of perfection, the alicorn who ruled over Equestria and had a large hoof in raising her into the mare she was now, had completely snapped, and was now banished off to… somewhere. Twilight didn't know, but that wasn't the point. The point was that her teacher had gotten to that point.
Twilight could've stopped it. She could have stopped her from becoming Daybreaker, or from being banished after turning into Daybreaker. But she didn't. She froze up, and forced Luna and Cadance's hoof. Forced them to fight Daybreaker on their own. Not that it was much of a fight. Despite her rage, she was largely unable to stop the alicorn tandem. A spell was cast, and a princess was banished. For how long, Celestia only knew. Or, in this case, Luna and Cadance only knew. And it was because Twilight didn't act. Had she, Celestia almost certainly would've still been with them.
"Twi? Are ya okay?" Applejack asked as the six sat around a small table in Princess Cadance's castle.
She wasn't okay. The Princess of Friendship had never been more terrified in her whole life. Not by Celestia's rage, but by what it meant for her. Celestia and Luna both had evil counterparts they could change into. Who was to say she didn't have one as well? What was to stop her from becoming a monster and trying to hurt her friends? If Celestia, of all ponies, could lose control of herself, then Twilight certainly could. Maybe it was only a matter of time before it happened…
"Twilight?"
The princess gently put her head on the table. She felt like she couldn't do anything right over the past several days. First, she tried to have that creature hurt even after Luna said it might kill him. Then she did next to nothing to try and help him after she was instructed to. Maybe if she had, he'd have been gone and Celestia's rage wouldn't have burned. And even as it did, she did nothing to stop that either, simply standing and watching. She disappointed both Celestia and Luna with her telling them she didn't want to be the ruler of Equestria, her apology to that creature was just pathetic… and she couldn't even remember its name! She just felt so horrible.
Twilight sniffed back tears, then sniffed again. She was awful, and she hated it. Before she knew it, she was a mess of tears, being hugged by her friends as she cried.
“I’m a horrible person!” Twilight got out before anypony could ask her what was wrong. “Everything that’s happened is because I’m an awful princess!”
“Twilight, you’re not-”
“Yes I am!” she interrupted. “I was going to kill him, and Celestia’s gone because I didn’t try to help him, and I just stood there and watched while Celestia and Luna did everything!”
“It was all of our faults, Twilight,” Applejack tried to tell her. “We all could have done more.”
“But it’s my job to do it!” she argued. “I’m supposed to be a princess, but I’ve just been a horrible person…”
The other five went quiet after that for a little while, trying to think of something to say to counter that. Finally, Applejack said, “It’s actually my fault the most. If Ah would have just said he was bein' honest ta begin with when Ah knew he was instead of convincing myself he was lyin', none of this mess would've happened in the first place.”
“Applejack…”
“But,” she continued, “while we've messed things up a lot, instead of looking back at the mistakes we’ve made, we could take the opportunity to try an' fix them.”
“Yeah, try,” Twilight answered bitterly.
“Or, we can jus' sit here an' feel sorry for ourselves when somepony might need our help.”
Twilight sighed and wiped away her tears. “You’re right,” she said. “You’re right. I’m sorry. We have to do something. You're right. I just… I have no idea where to start.”
There was a brief silence for a little while after that, before somepony else spoke up. “Well,” Fluttershy offered, “we could start by listening to what he has to say, and believing him.”
“We could also do some investigating of the Crystal Empire,” Rarity suggested, thinking of the investigator, Shadow Spade, from her favorite book series. “I mean, he was here when you found him, right, Twilight? We could check out the scene and see if we can find any clues.”
“That’s a good idea!” Twilight started, brightening a bit. “There also might be a library here that we can use to find more information! We can split up! Fluttershy and Applejack can visit him, Rarity and Pinkie Pie can check out the castle, and me and Rainbow Dash can find a library to read from!”
“Why do I have to go to the library with you?”
“I think it’s a great plan,” Fluttershy told her with a smile. “If we put our heads together, we’ll have that creature back in his home in no time.”



Princess Cadance stood over Sombra, watching as he slept. She watched him, and watched him, and watched him some more. She stared him with a serious expression, as though expecting him to wake up at any moment and try to escape. He instead breathed slowly and deeply, staying in a slightly uncomfortable sleep.
Radiant Hope stood outside the hospital and watched Cadance watch him through the window, becoming frustrated the longer it went on. “You’re the princess!” she thought, growling to herself. “Don’t you have other things to do? Or somepony else you can send over to watch him?” Still, the princess kept watching, perhaps knowing that Radiant Hope was there and trying to make her angry.
The crystal pony stood near the window, watching and waiting unseen, thinking about the best way to approach the situation before her. Very first, once she made it to him, she’d have to get him to safety so she could heal him. He, right then, didn’t look like he was in any condition to take another hit from somepony. She was sure she could teleport them somewhere, but wasn’t sure on how far away, or how much stamina he would have right now. Not only that, but they’d be looking for him, which would put a wrinkle in any surprise attack they would try and plan. Sombra was strong, but even if he was able to stop Luna and Cadance, Twilight, Shining Armor, and the rest would know he was coming and overwhelm them. That was why she wanted to do this today, when they would’ve had the element of surprise on their side.
She would also have to find some creature else to help them. She could try to sneak into the dungeon of the castle to recruit Chrysalis again, but that was too much of a risk, and she might just decline anyway. She really didn’t like the idea of working with Tirek, who would likely just steal her magic without a second thought, and couldn’t think of anyone else who would be strong enough to help the two of them. It wasn’t an ideal solution to have just the two of them going up against the group that consisted of the main protectors of Equestria.
She growled to herself again. If he would have just stayed put…
She tried to think of this from another angle. Sombra was trusted right now, at least, more than he normally was. They might have still had surprise on their side. If she could heal him, he could take out Princess Cadance and one of the elements, and then they would only have to worry about Shining Armor, who would be easy to take down, and Princess Luna, who would be more of a challenge, but still doable. Of course, however, the problem then would be getting to him. She couldn’t do so now. Her voice would give her away as the one who shouted about Chrysalis and the Crystal Heart, and it would look suspicious if some random crystal pony went to visit him when she was supposed to be terrified of him. That might have been why Cadance herself was watching him. Because none of the guards would. Heck, the doctor wasn't even a crystal pony. Knowing her, she probably wouldn’t let a single moment go by when he wasn’t being watched. All Radiant Hope needed was for him to be alone for a few minutes, but those few minutes didn't seem like they would become available for quite a while.
The mare huffed and sat down, still watching Cadance, who was practically glaring at him. This was going take forever.