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// (6-1) Discussions 
// Story: I Am Not Sombra 
// by Boopy Doopy 
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Radiant Hope wasn’t surprised to see Princess Luna waiting for her at the door to the room Sombra was in. As new as the other Princess, Twilight Sparkle, was, she didn’t expect her to just let her hang around Sombra alone. She'd want somepony to be there to make sure she didn't try anything with him. Which made sense. The very first question the purple pony asked her was if she brought Sombra here. You didn't typically seek out help from people you didn't trust.
“Princess Luna,” Hope greeted politely, Twilight beside her, both of them lowering her heads respectfully in a small bow.
“No need for that,” the alicorn said. “It is quite lovely to see you again, Radiant Hope. Although I must say, it is rather upsetting that it must be under these troubling circumstances.”
These circumstances. She was talking about her and Sombra being here, especially at the same time. She probably thought that she brought him here. Actually, she knew she thought that, otherwise, she wouldn’t have bothered to come here.
“Twilight Sparkle has informed me that you would try to help this creature,” Luna told her. “Is that true?”
Hope knew that Luna was trying to distract her in an attempt to make it so she didn’t notice that she was trying to read her mind. However, she was prepared for this, and knew a spell that she could use that would keep her from seeing the truth of why she was here. It was a variant of a spell of Sombra’s, and made it so that Luna only saw what Hope had wanted her to see. However, the trick was to make it so that it wasn’t obvious that she was using it, both in her actions and in her memories. Luna was one of the ponies there when she returned the Crystal Heart, so she had to let that be revealed that she took the Crystal Heart. Otherwise, she didn’t think she’d be allowed in at all. But she’d use her thoughts to tell her that she tried to take it to reform him, which she was sure that Luna would forgive.
“Yes,” Hope answered. “I’ll definitely try to see what I can do.”
“That is wonderful news,” Luna said in a monotone voice. “Although, if it does you no trouble, I would like to ask you several questions.”
“It’s fine. I understand,” she told her. “I was Sombra’s best friend, and I’m back in the Crystal Empire at the same time he came back. I understand how it looks.”
“We appreciate your understanding. Now, if I may, Twilight has mentioned seeing you watching him when she found you. May I inquire as to why?”
She decided to keep her story simple. “I saw him arrive in the Crystal Empire, and was waiting for a chance to speak with him.”
She tried to avoid lying to the princess. Hope knew that the blue alicorn could typically tell when somepony was lying, so she didn't want to lie. She decided that she would just keep her story vague and believable.
“I was actually looking for him, and was lucky enough to find him here in the Crystal Empire,” she offered, pretending to cooperate.
“And why exactly was it you were looking for him?” she asked.
“Because he’s my friend,” Hope responded without hesitation, “and I wanted to see him again.”
“An understandable sentiment. Although I must ask if it was you who announced the Crystal Heart’s return.”
“Ah… yes,” she admitted. She already knew that Luna knew she said it, otherwise, she wouldn’t have asked her.
“Can you tell us why it was recovered so quickly? Could it be because you were responsible for its loss?”
And now, the tricky part, explaining why she took the Crystal Heart without technically lying. “Well, yes,” she answered, “but that was because I didn’t want him to be hurt by it.”
“I see…” the princess trailed off. “And why was it you returned it?”
Radiant Hope was silent for a second, thinking of what to say before responding. “I don’t see how that’s important,” she said calmly.
She mentally kicked herself at the response. It was bad, and she knew it implicated her, but it was the best she could come up with on the fly without lying. Although, as bad as it was, it would’ve been worse to lie. She knew the princess would see through it immediately.
The alicorn stared at Hope for several seconds, before deciding how to proceed. “Well, I supposed since it was returned, you can be forgiven, so long as it’s not done again. As well, I expect to see you apologize to the prince and princess of the Crystal Empire for your behavior.”
“I understand,” she responded. “I will do no such thing again. I thank you for your compassion,”
“It does me no trouble. Give me just a moment to gather them. Twilight, would you wait here with her?”
“Oh, of course,” she said as Luna went into the room Alex was in.
“Don’t smile,” Hope told herself silently.



“Is it really her?” Cadance asked both curiously and suspiciously.
“Yes, it is,” Luna told her. “As well, she had admitted to stealing the Crystal Heart, as Twilight and her friends suspected."
Cadance’s expression darkened. She stayed silent as she turned towards the creature before her, scowling angrily at him.
“I will not tell you again,” Luna started sternly, catching her look, “to put whatever you are thinking out of your head. If you cannot do that, then I would advise you to leave.”
The Princess of Love closed her eyes and took a breath. “You’re right,” she said. “I’m sorry. I’ll keep control of myself.”
“I have no doubt that you will. However, regardless, this inherent hatred you have is not something a princess of love should possess. When this problem is fixed, I’d recommend that you reflect privately on why it is you feel this way, and see to it that it is no longer an issue.”
Cadance blushed at that, embarrassed, and simply said, “I’m sorry.”
“Now, as I was saying previously, the mare, Radiant Hope, has admitted to taking the Crystal Heart earlier.”
“Which is suspicious.”
“Cadance,” Luna said flatly.
“It is,” she insisted. “We can’t ignore the fact that the one thing that would hurt him was stolen. We also can’t ignore that Chrysalis said that she was working with Sombra. Not that she was planning to work with him, that she was working with him. More importantly, she specifically said that “that mare” betrayed her. She was obviously talking about her. And we can’t question him because all he wants to do is...” She turned her head around and looked at a sleeping Alex. “That,” she finished, pointing a hoof at him and portraying her annoyance in her voice. “The point is, we can’t let them see each other.”
Her blue counterpart also looked at Alex. “You must admit, he does look rather peaceful while he sleeps,” she told her.
Cadance scowled at that. “Princess Luna, this is serious.”
The Princess of the Moon sighed. “I understand. What you have said is all true. However, we cannot be sure of her ultimate motive. As I tried to read her thoughts, they became more blurry the farther I went down, quicker than they would for more ponies. It might be a blocking spell that she’s not proficient in, or it might just be a coincidence. She also did not reveal why she returned it, which may serve some larger purpose for the two of them. Although, in either case, we do have one important fact on our side.”
“And what’s that exactly?”
She once again looked at the sleeping pony. “This creature is not Sombra, so any impure motives she might have with him would fail. Now, if it is no trouble, please retrieve Shining Armor so that she may apologize to you and him.”