//------------------------------// // Judged by the Cover // Story: The Good King Returning Alive // by Misty Shadow //------------------------------// Before King Sombra and Radiant Hope had completed their quest to find Princess Amore’s scattered pieces…  It was a dark, starry night in the Crystal Empire, and a normal, quiet night inside the Crystal Palace. The only noises stirring were unheard by the guards, talking among themselves.  “So when do you think Snow’s coming back?” one of them asked. The noises they tuned out were the sounds of a shadowy pony trotting on the floor beneath the stairs that were normally hidden in the throne room by the illusion of Sombra’s dark magic. Reaching the door to Sombra’s study, the figure cast dark magic on the crystal hanging above to open it. Entering the room, he looked upon the busts of Sombra and chuckled to himself.  “He’s a vain one, just like myself…” the pony said in amusement, the green-eyed shadow speaking through him. “It’s no wonder he makes for such a great avatar…”  He was especially amused when he glanced over at the bookshelf that concealed the door to where the umbrum were sealed.  “Oh, exactly why I need this one under my full control for now.” he thought. “If his evil was not fully repressed, me having yet to absorb what still remains in him, that would be a problem. No, we’re saving that for when we have him...”  The pony then spotted what he was looking for, the green journal lying on Sombra’s desk. He picked it up, levitating it towards him with unicorn magic, and read it.  “Eureka.” he remarked happily. “It’s still fully intact. One can only imagine what a detriment it would’ve been had that fool Shadow Lock gotten to something like this. I’m far too evil for a simple erasure of the truth. Corrupting it, distorting it, that is my pleasure.”  The green-eyed shadow then let out a familiar wicked laugh as his vessel took out a blue book that looked like a novel. The shadow absorbed both books into himself, a sound akin to that of twigs twisting could be heard, and both books emerged from him, seemingly unchanged.  “Now then, my little puppet.” he told his vessel. “You will take these books to the fool called Discord and entertain him with a power of chaos greater than his...I’m sure he’s proud of his work...mwa ha ha ha ha!”  The vessel, having not been in a conscious state of mind, was then teleported by the shadow washing over him, and before long, he found himself regaining conscience and saying… “Where am I?”  “The library, where else?” Smolder retorted, rolling her eyes. “I get that it’s boring, but sheesh, you were out like a light!”  Sombra’s opposite self looked around, realizing that he was still at the library with the Student 6, Radiant Hope, and Sombra, sitting at the table across the room from him. Knowing that this once good Sombra now harbored evil in him, the gang had decided to watch him from a safe distance. While Opposite Sombra had been asleep, they had been mingling among themselves to try and get to know Radiant Hope and the reformed Sombra better.  Earlier, when they were talking…  The gang stared bemusedly at Opposite Sombra, who had just fallen asleep at the table. “What is he, a narcoleptic?” Gallus remarked. “Even I’m not that bad.”  “Guy doesn’t work or go to school…” Sandbar added. “Being evil must be really draining.”  “Guess there really is rest for the wicked…” Sombra chimed in, astonished.  “He’s so cute when he sleeps…” Ocellus muttered dreamily, garnering bewildered looks from the aforementioned three.  “What?” she responded. “It’s just a girl thing.”  “Yeah, this girl gets it…” Radiant Hope sarcastically interjected, irritated.    “What are you so miffed about?” Smolder asked. “The guy only looks like your man.”  “My MAN?!” Hope bellowed, even angrier now.  “Shush!” a real librarian pony, an earth pony with a gray coat and black, bunned hair said this time. “Honestly, first that book goes missing, now I have whippersnappers yelling in the library! Kids these days…”  “...Now that I think about it, didn’t Sombra’s opposite have a book in hoof?” Gallus thought, glancing over at Opposite Sombra suspiciously.  “Sombra is NOT “my man”.” an annoyed Hope grumbled. “He’s just a-”  “Friend?”  Princess Twilight Sparkle, talking to Discord in her throne room, was taken aback by what she heard.  “You don’t have butter in your ears.” Discord remarked, cleaning his left ear with a stick of butter before he made it disappear with magic. “Sombra’s opposite and I are friends, partners in crime, you can say.”  “But…but...” a bemused Twilight stammered. “He hates your guts. He told me all about how you brainwashed him to think he was the evil Sombra and used him before we banished him.”  “You definitely had butter in your ears then.” an unamused Discord replied. “That’s not what happened. Sombra’s opposite was a willing accomplice to my scheme. What I brought back was a shadow of my creation to disguise him, the same kind of shadow I used to disguise myself as Grogar.”  Twilight paused in a moment of self-questioning. “I want to believe them both, but…” she told herself in thought. “...one of them is obviously mistaken. Sombra’s opposite could’ve had something happen to his memories when he was possessed...or Discord, with his track record of tricks, could very easily be hiding something from me...or it could be both of them…”  Taking that into mind, Twilight’s next question was…  “Have you two “partners in crime” plotted to do anything recently?”      “I’m SO glad you asked!” a delighted Discord exclaimed, beaming. “Sombra’s opposite recently came to me showing me this amazing new trick! I can’t spoil the fun, but I will tell you one thing, it has to do with your favorite, BOOKS!”  “...Wait a minute…” Twilight thought, a suspicious scowl forming on her face. “I think I know what’s really going on here now…”  Meanwhile, in the library, Radiant Hope was still trying to explain to the giggling girls that she and Sombra were not in a romantic relationship, but to no avail.  “I mean it, we don’t date!” she exclaimed.  “And we mean it when we say you don’t have to deny it!” Yona replied. “You may think you just friends, but Yona know from Papa that not happen. Papa says that mare and stallion can not be friends! Male find female to be wife! A great wife who can cook! Clean! And of course, chop the firewood!”  “Uh...no offense to you or your father, Yona…” a disgruntled Hope said. “...but your dad sounds like he’s stuck in a different time. And that’s coming from me.”  The sound of a drum beat was heard as Hope made a joke about her backstory, being with the umbrum for a millenium. Yona, however, didn’t get it.  “You not funny.” Yona bluntly told her in bemusement. “But that okay! Papa say mares naturally not funny, except pink one!”   “Hey, I’m pretty pink!” Hope assertively exclaimed before pausing in a moment of self-reflection. “...Wow, I didn’t expect for that to sound THAT WRONG in retrospect…”   “Ah, don’t let it get to you!” Silverstream told Hope, trying to cheer her up. “Equestria as a whole is the farthest thing from sexist! Females are greatly respected in hippogriff culture, and certainly in pony culture! It’s just a yak thing! And while I love Smolder and Gallus, there’s a reason we look down on their cultures!”  “That doesn’t make me feel better…” a still annoyed Hope replied, gritting her teeth. “Aren’t any of you, like, learning not to judge anyone based on their appearance?”  “Yo!” Ocellus answered, shooting Sandbar a smug look as he rolled his eyes before she turned to Hope. “I’ll have you know that I always trusted Sombra had actually reformed. Even if he actually had been bad, so what? There’s no good without the bad, after all.”  Hope was stunned at what she just heard, having no idea how to respond.  “Heh heh heh…” the green-eyed shadow inside of Opposite Sombra and Snow Sentinel’s minds laughed. “I like this girl. Intelligent, pruned, yet easy to manipulate, her mind would surely be easy to control. As if there would be a need, for I have a greater goal. And now that I have a good idea of what to expect from this lot, there is no need for any more stalling from Sleeping Beauty…”  It was at this time that Opposite Sombra had woken up and been told off by Smolder.  “And good morning to you too…” he made a sarcastic rejoinder. “I’ll have you know dealing with this evil inside of me is not easy, I sacrificed myself to keep it contained.” “Hold on a minute…” the librarian interjected. “I recognize that voice. Are you that pony who checked out Me and My Shadow three weeks ago?”   “So what if I did?” Opposite Sombra talked back.  “Oh, I only wish your foul attitude was my greatest concern.” the librarian replied. “That was a special edition of the novel you took and I’d like to know when we’re getting it back. It’s due today.” “Wait...oh, that’s why I had that book.” he mused. “I came here to return it.”  “You’ve been to this library before?” Gallus questioned. “And no one recognized you as Sombra’s opposite?”  “He always had his hood on.” the librarian said in defense. “Seriously, with his hood on, he could pass for Shadow Lock!”  Gallus put his claw on his face.  “Where’s the security around here?” he asked in frustration.  “You called?” Snow Sentinel said from behind. “Give her some slack, lots of ponies look similar. Some of my men could pass for me.”  “Yeah!” the librarian exclaimed. “They all kind of look alike!”  “RRRGH!” Radiant Hope grunted. “Doesn’t anyone around here know not to judge a book by its cover?!”  “I do.” Snow answered, holding out the book he had taken earlier. “I know especially not to judge this one.” Putting it down at the librarian’s desk, he told her… “Why don’t you have a look?”  The curious librarian opened the book, started reading, and was horrified by the contents. “This...this…” she stammered. “This isn’t Me and My Shadow...this is King Sombra’s diary!”  “WHAT?!”  This revelation had the entire group flustered as they yelled in unison. Knowing they wanted answers, Snow spoke up.  “It’s apparent that Discord had something to do with this.” he explained. “And although he denies doctoring the royal records to erase our knowledge of Sombra’s origins, I have difficulty believing him after seeing this.”  “What does Twilight think of THIS?!” Hope bellowed, banging her front hooves on the table.  The librarian winced, no longer concerned with the noise in the library as her fear from Hope’s growing anger captivated her.   “She’s certainly not as angry as you…” Snow answered. “But she too is growing weary of Discord’s tomfoolery and asked me to call Princess Cadence-”  “TOMFOOLERY?!” Hope kept screaming. “That’s all this is to YOU?! FUN AND GAMES?! You would CONDONE his behavior?! Do you even care about how Sombra or I FEEL?!”      “Don’t shoot the messenger…” a frustrated Snow tried to defend himself. “I’m just a third party trying to do his job…”  “Oh, that’s cool.” Hope insincerely retorted. “I guess you won’t mind then if I do the job that should be getting done for you…” She gritted her teeth with those words she placed emphasis on as a worried Sombra followed her. Snow prepared to return to his position after apologizing to the librarian while the students simply stared, feeling distressed and unnerved.  “Maybe she wasn’t ready to hear that…” Ocellus thought, fearing she played a part in Hope’s breakdown.   There’s no good without the bad… “That’s bull!” Hope exclaimed in her mind, refusing to believe those words echoing in her head. “Where’s the good in this?! We already worked so hard to recover Amore’s shards, what bad should come from this?!”  Unknown to Hope, Amore’s shards began to glow ominously. Sombra, still following her, really didn’t know what to say or think at this point. All he knew was that as much as he wanted to bring Amore back, he didn’t want to do it at the cost of his friend losing herself…losing… Hope...  “Amore?” Sombra responded to hearing that word in his mind, noticing the shards illuminating, unlike his companion.  “Sombra…” Amore continued. “I know you and Hope mean well, but you must know, it is not the impediment of my return you must fear most. I can only tell you so much because of that monster’s control, but know that if you bring back my light…”  “I understand that changeling’s words.” Sombra interjected in a stoic tone in his mind. “I already know who the other scapegoat is. And I also know…*sniff*...that if you hurt others…*sniff*...they’ll hurt you back…*sob*...”  “Sombra?” Hope said with concern replacing her anger as she turned to her friend, hearing him weep. “Are you...crying?”  As Hope hugged Sombra, trying to comfort him, he spoke these words to her in the most heartfelt tone he had ever spoken in… “No matter what happens to me, never lose the hope you gave me…”