Princess Amore blinked, her eyes adjusting to the sunlight for the first time in over a millennium.
“Where… where am I?” the mare asked as she looked around the gorge she was in, confused. “Who are you ponies?” She looked the group over as she spoke before her eyes settled on the alicorn among them, whose horn was still lit up.
“You’re not Radiant Hope are you?” she asked the purple pony as she took a small step forward, unsteady on her hooves after such a long time. “You don’t look like her, but you’re an alicorn and yet still young enough to be under the tutelage of Princess Celestia, so I can only wonder.”
“Oh, no, I’m not her,” the mare explained. “Although I am… err, was, under Princess Celestia’s tutelage. My name is Twilight Sparkle! And these are all my friends, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy!”
“I see… where exactly are we? I can tell this isn’t the Crystal Empire. How much time has passed?”
“Right now, we're in Galloping Gorge, but it might be better if we got you back to Canterlot. Having a conversation there might be better, plus I’m sure you’re tired and hungry from spending so long encased in stone.”
“Yes, that sounds like a good idea,” she agreed. “Although I can't say exactly how long I was inside that stone statue. Please lead the way if you would do so kindly.”
Twilight didn’t waste any time, quickly lighting up her horn again and getting the seven of them to Canterlot in the castle, feeling a little bit drained from teleporting so many ponies.
“If nopony cares,” Rainbow Dash said before anypony could make a move, still wet from diving in the river “I’m gonna go dry off and take a nap. I’ll see you guys later.”
“That’s Rainbow for you,” Twilight commented with a light laugh. “Diving to the bottom of a river one moment and taking a nap the next.” With that, she turned back to the princess and said, “Anyway, this is the castle in Canterlot. I hope it’s okay that we came here.”
“It looks exactly the same as when I visited it a few weeks ago… except, where are Princess Celestia and Luna?”
“That’s… a tricky subject that I think would be best to sit down for,” Twilight admitted to her.
“I see. It must not be good news then. In that case, before we do, I have one more question.”
“Yes?”
“How long has it been?”
Twilight frowned uncomfortably at that question and rubbed a hoof behind her head. “Well, um, it’s- it’s um…” she stuttered, trailing off as Amore tilted her head. There was a moment that passed before the alicorn sighed and answered, “It’s been… over a thousand years.”
Sombra and Hope were laying in their bed just before noon, pressed together as they read, when their door suddenly opened and a pony entered their room.
“I wish I didn’t- oh, there are ponies in here,” Rainbow Dash muttered as she took a step in before stopping to turn around and head back out. “Sorry Hope, Sombra.”
“Is that- Rainbow Dash?” the stallion asked, confused. “What are you doing barging in here? Why are you all wet?”
“Ugh. River. Dove down in it. Now I’m wet and tired. Need a nap.”
“Wait, what were you diving into a river for?” Hope asked.
“To get that pony, Princess… Smores? Or Armor? I can’t remember her name, but she’s really tall for somepony who’s not an alicorn. Like, almost as tall as Princess Celestia was. It’s crazy.”
The two of them were expecting to hear about her return eventually, but both of them still flinched when they heard the news, Sombra especially, who almost seemed to start to cower in fear, pressing his back up against the wall, not that Rainbow Dash noticed.
“She’s… is- is she here right now?” Sombra asked nervously, his ears flattening as he pulled part of the blanket he was under up to him. “In the castle?”
“Yeah. We just got her, which is why I was in the river. You don’t have an open bedroom, do you? Like, one with a bathroom and some towels? My coat’s gonna get matted if I don’t take care of this and cause all sorts of problems. Aerodynamic mostly. You know how it is.”
“Y-yes,” the crystal pony responded. “There's- there are rooms all throughout this hall you can stay in if you want. I don’t believe there’s anypony occupying them right now, so…”
“Got it, thanks,” the pegasus said cooly, quickly making her way out to take the nap she wanted. Once the door closed behind her, Hope let out a long worried sigh as she turned to her friend.
“Sombra, I know what you're thinking, and I'm telling you that we’re going to be fine. This doesn’t… this- this doesn’t mean anything. We were expecting this to happen. We’re not gonna-”
“Oh, Faust, she’s going to distort what happened to those Elements,” Sombra told Hope worriedly. “She’s going to say I attacked her without cause, and they’ll believe her, because that’s how they are. Oh, I just know it!”
In all her time knowing him, Radiant Hope had never seen her friend this anxious. After everything that happened, it seemed this was what was getting to him. He looked genuinely afraid, like he would start shaking at any moment. The sight of him like this got to her and made her start to feel afraid as well.
“I… that’s. … that’s not going to happen, I promise you that,” Hope assured him. “She won’t do that.”
“Yes she will! Those ponies haven't believed me about one thing that's happened! Why would this be any different? That's probably why they wanted to reassemble her, so they can-"
“Sombra," the mare interrupted, placing a hoof on his shoulder. "You’re getting worked up before anything’s happened. We need to just take it one step at a time. Everything's going to be fine. I need you to trust me.”
“One step at a time? What would the first step even be? What are we-”
“You are going to stay here while I go out there to talk to her, okay?” the mare instructed. “I’ll go talk to her and make sure she’s being truthful, okay? Please stay here and calm down while I do that. I’ll make sure that everything is alright, okay?”