“Nope. Can’t say I’ve seen’em. Now git!” Daisy smacked her husband upside the head before leaning down towards Spike.
“Are you still up for those surfer lessons?”
“You batcha.”
“Terrific, there’s a filly sized wet suit that just might fit you in the shed next to the boards. Go get that and pick out a body board, they look like small surf boards. In the meantime, you two,” she gestured to Cartwheel and Twilight, “can talk in the kitchen. And Cartwheel,” she gave her husband a meaningful look, “be sure to put the cookies in the jar for the party tonight. About three at a time or they get crushed. Understand?”
“…I get yah women. Follow me princess.” Twilight and Spike shared a look but did as their hosts said. Spike following Daisy outback towards the beach as Twilight and Cartwheel headed inside. They walked right past the perfectly functional front room seating area to the kitchen beyond. Twilight stopped to pet the parrot sitting on his perch trying to have a nap. The bird startled at the touch but allowed it. Cartwheel offered her a seat at the kitchen table as he grabbed a tray of freshly baked cookies and a very large cookie jar and set them on the table. “Can I get yah something to drink Princess Twilight Sparkle?” Cartwheel said a bit louder then strictly necessary as he opened a cupboard full of tea.
“I, guess tea works?” Twilight reached for one of the cookies.
“Yah can have some of those but not all! They’re for the party.”
“I understand. My friend Pinky Pie throws parties all the time, I know how much effort goes into baking for them. What kind of party is it?”
“Duhm, grandfillies graduation party, from the 5th grade…dumbest thing I ever heard in my life.” Cartwheel grumpily set the kettle on the stove and turned it on. “Takes a bit to heat up, old stove.”
“That’s fine.”
Cartwheel sat across from Twilight and grabbed three cookies, he quickly put them in the jar then replaced the top. “So, what can I do you for princess? I have some more friends you can put to death, though to be honest, all you have to do is wait for most of them.”
Twilight stomped her hoof on the table in a huff, “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t think the elements would actually hurt Sombra. I didn’t find out until much later that he stood no chance.”
Cartwheel scooted the jar closer to him and dropped three more cookies in. “What do yah mean by that?”
She sighed, “I found out later that Sombra isn’t a unicorn, or even a pony, he’s an Umbrum.”
“What’s that?”
“They are one of the first races in Equestria. Beings made of shadow. The elements of harmony are the most powerful light magic artifacts known to pony kind; he stood no chance.” Twilight looked down, ashamed. Cartwheel tapped his hoof on the table in thought.
“I ain’t never heard of these Umbrum and I’m one of the oldest creatures in Equestria. But it’s too bazar a story for you to lie. Assuming you are right, then where does that leave him? If he survived like you claim, does that mean he’s free?”
Twilight hesitated for a moment before nodding, “Yes, he faced the elements of harmony and survived. Princess Cadence will still forbid him from returning to the Crystal Empire but he is free to go.”
Cartwheel hopped up so fast that the cookie jar almost fell over but he caught it just in time. “I want it in writing! A Princesses word is the highest authority in the land, I don’t want you weaseling out of this.” He pointed a hoof threateningly in her face but Twilight stood firm raising her chin.
“You have my word, and Spike is more then qualified to draft an official decree.”
“Well then I’ll go get’im right now.” Cartwheel began to rush off but stopped just long enough to drop three more cookies in the jar before racing down the beach to find his wife and the dragon. Twilight took a cookie to nibble on and looked at the jar.
“They’re not very subtle you know?” The jar remained quiet; Twilight made herself more comfortable in her chair. “I really am sorry about how this all turned out. I knew the executing you was wrong the entire time; that’s why I agreed to give your friends those letters. I thought if I could find a really good reason to spare you then it wouldn’t happen. But I could never find enough justification beyond my gut feeling. My head said putting you on trial was right but my heart told me it was wrong; it drove me mad to not find a connection between the two.”
The jar didn’t speak.
“Discord is the one who saved you you know. He tried to warn me and when that didn’t work, he got you out in time. I know for a fact you’ll want to thank him, if you keep me posted on where you end up, I’ll introduce you two properly…what do you say?”
“I say why are you talking to a jar?”
“AH!” Twilight turned around to face the parrot, the bird flew from his perch to land in front of the princess on the table. Up close, Twilight could see Sombra’s eyes in the bird’s face, she raised her arms in exasperation. “What is with ex-dictators of Equestria sneaking up on me!? And why are you so colorful? You’re not supposed to be able to do that!” The bird raised his wing to show the colorful paint ending underneath.
“It was itchy around the armpit area.”
Twilight put her head in her hooves and groaned. “I’ve been a princess for one year and already want to retire. How did Celestia manage it?”
The bird shrugged, “I think you’re doing ok. You were the only one who advocated for me the entire time. I’ll never be able to repay you for that.”
Twilight looked back up at him, “So you’re not mad? Or itching to go on a revenge conquest of the crystal empire?”
“That’s very specific. No, I actually feel more at peace with things then I ever have before. I guess third times the charm or something.” Sombra shrugged his little bird wings, Twilight couldn’t help it, she pet his head. Sombra pushed her hoof away, “Stop that, it took Cartwheel two hours to paint me.”
Twilight giggled, “Sorry.” She smiled down at Sombra as he helped himself to a cookie. “How do you feel? You were hurt really badly a day ago but you seem fine now.”
Sombra swallowed what was in his mouth before answering her. “I just needed some darkness, cold, and some food.” He gestured towards the refrigerator, “All provided with the comforts of home. My new form not only helps me hide but I can fit in there no problem.”
“So, you have your shapeshifting under control? No more late-night barbecues?” Twilight teased, Sombra rolled his eyes.
“Not very under control but close. I heard about what you said about me being an Umbrum, being another species explains a lot but now I have so many questions.”
“I can imagine, Sunburst found quite a few books on the subject you could probably barrow. He really appreciated your review by the way.” Sombra fluffed up his feathers in pride.
“He deserved it. I wasn’t a fan of my own actions but considering what he had to go through to find out what he did, I’m impressed.”
“I’m glad you’re glad,” Twilight’s expression shifted into one more serious, “It took a lot of bravery to turn yourself in like that, you should be proud of yourself. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that before.”
Sombra fluffed up a bit more and had to shake himself to calm his feathers, Twilight wished Fluttershy was here to see how cute it was. Though, Fluttershy already had enough all-powerful overlords under her hoof, she didn’t need more.
“I really need to transform back. I think with new forms comes new annoying species related tics.”
Twilight laughed at the same time the door swung open to revel Spike, Daisy, and Cartwheel all soaked and arguing about who tried to drown who in the ocean. Sombra pointed over to where the towels were kept so she could levitate them over to the bickering trio. After everypony was calmed down enough, Spike got to work drafting Twilights royal pardon, signed and witnessed on the same coffee table. Now that Sombra and Twilight had reconciled, Daisy and Cartwheel were more genuinely welcoming and they had a celebratory dinner on the beach that night. They said their goodbyes, Sombra decided he would stay as a secret pet bird until there was an official announcement and things calmed down. As Twilight and Spike were making their way home, Twilight suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and picked up Spike in excitement.
“It’s the parrot, not the cookie jar!” She didn’t stop shaking the poor dragon as he tried to speak.
“Wu-wu-wha-t er y-you t-t-taking ab-abo-ut ahug?”
“The crystal heart! We thought the crystal heart was in the cookie jar because it was right in front of us. But it was the parrot the whole time! The crystal heart is in the castle dressed up to look like it belongs. I’m sure of it!”
Twilight dropped the poor dragon and teleported them to the crystal empire before he hit the ground. Spike stood up disoriented as Twilight rushed to look at the castle, eyes scanning over every surface. Spike barely had time to catch up and admonish her from using so much of her magic on something that could have waited till morning when she suddenly pointed to the very top of the tower. “There!”
Twilight made to take off but a headrush caught her before she could even flap. Spike pushed her down before she could hurt herself.
“Twilight, wherever you need to look, I’ll look. I have wings now remember?” He flapped them for emphasis. Twilight looked torn between doing this herself and going with the safest option, she nodded and pointed back up at the tower.
“Look around the spire and be as thorough as you possibly can. Not one crystal unturned, got it?” Spike nodded and flew off. It was sunset so there wasn’t a lot of light to go off of but that’s what fire breathing was for. Spike started at the highest point and circled slowly downwards, the sides were smooth and unmolested, no sign that they were cut to make a compartment or add something decretive. He flew until he got to the rotunda and stopped to rest on the guard rail. It was a very pretty view, he remembered Shinning Armor saying that they couldn’t find any stairs to this place, such a shame, it would be popular. Spike sighed and hopped down to walk around the rotunda but the second he stepped on the center tile, it lit up like an alarm going off.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Daisy and Cartwheel were getting ready for bed as Sombra picked the checker pieces off the floor. He had accidentally knocked the board over during the game, wings were so clumsy.
Suddenly, he let out the loudest squawk he ever made without warning, Daisy and Cartwheel ran in.
“What happened?”
“Are you alright?”
“Somepony touched my stuff!” Sombra screeched, they all stood in silence, trying to decipher that random comment. Eventually Sombra raised his wings over his head in defeat, “I don’t get it either!”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Spike braced for something to happen and was not disappointed as spikes raised from the floor, barely missing him. Spike collected himself then began looking all around the room, he triggered a booby trap, there had to be something here! He searched all over the room before looking up and stopped. Above him was a decretive mural made out of crystal with a literal crystal heart at the dead center.
“It can’t be that easy.”
Spike flew up to it and inspected its edges, there were gaps but that could be from just installing it in the first place. No pictures of the crystal heart survived and its image was a constant blank spot in the crystal ponies memories. It couldn’t be a literal heart, could it?
Spike sent a silent apology to his adopted siblings for breaking their house and tugged as hard as he could, the heart popped out.
‘Ok, so I have this…Now what?’
Spike combed his memory for a method to test if this was the real crystal heart and found one. “There was a magic pedestal for it at the base of the castle!”
Spike flew down to where the pedestal theoretically was, a circular tile pattern on the ground. Nervous about what happened last time, he held up the heart as far away from himself as possible and shut his eyes.
The pedestals sprang up out of the foundation and ceiling to hold the heart in suspension. The heart radiated light from its very center in a blinding display as it spun and gleamed. Every single pony in the crystal empire could feel the hearts return and ran out into the streets to see that Spike the dragon had found and returned the crystal heart to its rightful place. Ponies cheered; Twilight came to congratulate him in a crushing hug. Cadence, Shinning Armor, and Flurry Heart came to proclaim him Spike, the Brave and Glorious, hero of the Crystal Empire.
As the cheers began to settle, Cadence knelt further down to be at eye level with him. “You’re so quiet, don’t have anything to say on your triumphant day?” Spikes left eye twitched.
“You never thought to look in your own house!!!!!”