Leap of Faith

by A bag of plums

Sunrise

When Sunset Shimmer opened her eyes again, her surroundings were still walls of white light, formless and limitless, but she did notice her feet were touching a floor of sorts, though she couldn’t tell what was what. Just ahead of her, a few meters away, was a shadowy mass, formed into a human body with only a grey face visible, looking up, his red and green eyes focusing on nothing in particular.

Sunset felt like she’d been in the sun for hours; her arms and legs were slightly numb and warm, like she was having a fever.

“Sunset Shimmer, are you unhurt?” Emerald’s voice echoed in her head.

“Y-Yeah…” Sunset croaked, her throat a little dry. “What happened? We didn’t die or anything, did we?”

“No.”

Sunset was so focused on Sombra’s form that she almost missed the spectral form of Emerald Edge walk in beside her. She turned her head and slightly jumped, but calmed down when she realized it was only the First Assassin.

“Emerald?”

“Yes,” the turquoise haired woman nodded. “We are once again able to meet, Sunset. You are here because of my artifact’s magical armor, but I’m afraid I had expended the last of my magic to save you. I don’t know how much longer I can stay, but I want to see this to the end.”

“Is there anything we can do?” Sunset looked around the white world. “Where are the artifacts? They’re gone?”

“The artifacts are no more. In a way, it worked out. Without the artifacts, both the Assassins and the Templars are finished. Nopony can ever use the artifacts for their own gain anymore, but for Sombra and I, we can no longer remain, but thank you, Sunset Shimmer. Because of you, my journey has been complete.”

“I was glad to help,” Sunset smiled. “I wasn’t going to let him turn Equestria into a land of darkness, but it wasn’t just me, Emerald. I wouldn’t have gotten this far if not for my friends and the Assassins. I wouldn’t have gotten this far without you.”

Emerald Edge smiled and placed a hand over her chest. “It has been my pleasure to get to know you, Sunset. Come, let us finish this.”

Emerald led the way to Sombra, who was still looking up. Even when Sunset and the Assassin were next to him did he look over, though it was just a glance.

“So, it has come to this, hasn’t it…” he muttered, his shadowy body flailing about like a fire; his armor was absent. “I never chose this path. I didn’t want this, but the Crystal Heart showed me the truth, it showed me what I must become.”

“You don’t have to do it just because you were shown the future,” Sunset told him, kneeling down beside his body. “I was shown that I would have power, more power than I could imagine. It wasn’t until I was shown my mistakes did I know that friendship was the strongest magic I could have.”

“I had a friend, girl…” Sombra looked at her and sighed. “But even she couldn’t understand the weight on my back. In the end, she ran from me, she abandoned me just like everypony else. Even Princess Amore. She knew my future and she knew the outcome, but yet she decided to hide my choices from me. It was there that I decided the only way to be happy was to do as I please as king of the Crystal Empire. That was my destiny.”

“That’s just it. If you always think about yourself, you’ll never understand. Having friends means looking out for them, taking care of them, understanding them and being with them in their times of need. Sure, maybe yours wasn’t with you when you needed her the most, but others deserve a chance at that. Taking over will only make things worse, not just for everypony else, but for you too.”

“Your kind doesn’t want me…” Sombra went on even as his shadows began to diminish. I was shunned, oppressed, deemed a loser by the ones whom I tried to befriend. I am the way I am because of the ponies I’ve met. No, I know my destiny, girl. Your kind will never accept me amongst them.”

“We can, Sombra,” Sunset explained. “Not all ponies are the same. You just have to give us the chance to show you. Friendship… really is something else.”

The king closed his eyes as his shadows began to evaporate up into the white unknown. “Maybe you are right, maybe you aren’t. However, I know this: one day, I shall return and I will see what the Crystal Empire has to offer then. If they still cannot accept me, then know I will wreak havoc across Equestria until the world is mine to rule. Long live the king…”

And then he faded away, wafting up into the air before shrinking into a tiny black flame, which also flickered and died out.

“Rest now, Sombra,” Emerald looked up. “Your journey is at its end, as is mine. With him gone, my promise to my queen has been fulfilled.”

“So what happens now, Emerald?” Sunset watched as the white world seemed to shift and flicker around her.

“Now,” Emerald looked at her hand. “Now it is time to say goodbye. Thank you, Sunset Shimmer. I shall never forget what you have done for me, for my empire and for my princess. I will forever be in your debt. Go, return to your world. Your friends will want to see you.”

Sunset nodded her head sadly. “People won’t know history as it was, but I will remember it, Emerald. I will remember the sacrifices you have made to protect the Crystal Empire. I will be sure to let the princesses know of your feats.”

Emerald chuckled and looked to the left. “Then I wish you all the best in life, Sunset. Use my gifts well. I’m sure you can find an everyday use for them.”

“I sure will…” Sunset rubbed at her head and smiled. She already knew some of her new skills would come in handy for getting around.

Around her, the world began to brighten, like it wasn’t already bright enough. Sunset shut her eyes as she felt herself being pulled away into the unknown. After this long night, she was ready to see her friends again.

---

Twilight Sparkle lowered her hoof and cracked open an eye, noticing the portal wasn’t shining it’s blinding light any longer.

“What happened?” she asked as the magic net they had thrown rover the mirror began to disintegrate, falling away in charred fragments. “Did Sunset do it?”

Princess Cadance stood beside her, helping a unicorn guard up, who rubbed at her head. “Wait, somepony’s coming through.”

Twilight’s eyes widened as she readied her magic again. Then she stopped as a faint form of a turquoise pegasus trotted out of the mirror, looking around at the Equestrian forces.

“Who are you?” Princess Cadance asked her, keeping a wary distance.

“Crystal Princess…” the spectral pegasus said softly, sinking into a bow. “Have I served thee well?”

“Who are you?” Cadance took a few hesitant steps toward the newcomer. “You can’t be… Emerald Edge?”

“It is I, princess,” she said without looking up. “Sombra is vanquished. Equestria is safe. Have I served thee well?” she asked once again.

Cadance felt tears spring to her eyes. “Even after a thousand years, you kept your pledge to serve the Crystal Empire. I can’t think of anypony else who is more deserving,” the princess of love wiped her eyes. “Yes, Emerald. You have served me… us well. Go now. Be at peace.”

“At last… rest at last.” Emerald sighed, smiling. Her body dissolved into thousands of tiny green motes and drifted away on the breeze.

---

“Sunset!”

Sunset Shimmer felt the crushing arms of her friends as they wrapped around her as soon as she stepped out of Canterlot High’s statue.

“We were so worried, darling,” Rarity patted Sunset’s head. “Oh dear, were you exposed to large amounts of sunlight? Your hair’s awfully pale.”

“Is it?” Sunset rubbed at her head. “Well, it was pretty hot in there and I think I’m going to be ill for the next couple of days… But it’s over. Sombra’s gone and our worlds are safe.”

Snow was gently falling around her, but she couldn’t even feel the cold.

“Gone? That’s a relief,” Fluttershy widened her smile.

“It’s over…” Applejack rubbed at her bandaged arm. “Hoowee, it feels like it’s been a while since we started out on this journey. Ah’m glad we’ve finally arrived at the end…”

“Sure is,” Morning Blade joined the group and patted Sunset on the back. “Good to see you in one piece, Sunset. I didn’t know if we would’ve pulled through, but I knew for sure that you’d get the job done. Frigid and Mentor Steel Shine would’ve been proud of you.”

Sunset nodded, then looked around quickly. “Where’s Velvet? Is she okay?”

“She’s with Keila,” Morning stepped aside to show Sunset. Velvet Breeze was lying on the ground with her upper body resting against Keila’s leg. “She’s weak, but she doesn’t have any physical injury.”

“I think it’s from the strain of the artifact shard,” Sunset knelt down beside them, checking Velvet’s heartbeat. It was faint, but at least it was still beating. “She had it for so long, fighting to protect us. Only an Equestrian can use the artifacts without dire consequences.”

Just as Sunset was about to try and wake Velvet up, the young Assassin’s eyes stirred as they fluttered open slowly, looking around before focusing on Sunset.

“S-Sunset…?” she croaked, her voice weak. “You-you’re here… Is it… Is it over…?”

“Yeah, it’s all over, Velvet, we’re safe,” Sunset held her hand as the blue-skinned girl tried to lift it. “Sombra’s gone.Things can go back to normal now.”

“I’m… glad to hear… Sunset,” Velvet said. “I’m sorry… I wasn’t myself… I tried my… best, Sunset. “I… I should’ve known better…”

“It’s alright, Velvet, don’t use your strength,” Sunset patted her hand softly. “You’ve done so much. Thank you, Velvet, for looking out for us all this time.”

Velvet coughed, and specks of blood made themselves known. “I’m glad you’re… with me, Sunset. Even… to the very end.”

“End? No, no, Velvet, you’re not going to die. You can’t.”

“I… I don’t think I can… go on, Sunset…” Velvet’s grip loosened on Sunset’s hand.

Sunset gripped Velvet’s bloodstained hand tightly. “Come on, stay with me! Velvet. You can’t die, not here.”

At that moment, Sunset became aware of the Wondercolts statue’s base shining with magic, and out stepped Princess Twilight and two older women. One of them had dark skin and wore a tattered red scarf around her neck, while the other was…

“Dewdrop?” Sunset mouthed, looking confused.

The woman looked confused for a second and pointed to herself. “Do-Do I know you?”

“S-Satin…?” Velvet whispered, looking at the other woman. “Is that… you? It can’t be… and Dewdrop…?”

Dewdrop still looked as confused as before, but Satin quickly rushed forward, taking over Keila to support Velvet.

“Velvet, my dear sister… It’s so good to see you,” she choked, holding her close. “Even if you’re from this world… you look just like my sister.”

“Satin…”

“She needs medical attention, stat,” Twilight declared after a quick look at the young Assassin. “We can save you, Velvet, but you’re going to have to trust me,” Twilight motioned for Sunset to come closer. “We need to bring Velvet back to Equestria. It’s the only place where we can help her.”

“What? But why?” Sunset asked. “We can’t do anything for her here?”

“Velvet’s in this condition because of magic. We need to use the magic in Equestria to heal her,” Twilight explained. “Don’t worry though, we’ll send her back here as soon as she’s well again.”

“Al-alright,” Sunset said hesitantly. She didn’t like the idea of sending Velvet over to Equestria, but she trusted Twilight. She probably knew better about these sorts of situations. “I’ll leave her in your care, Twilight.”

“Don’t worry, Sunset,” Twilight gave her shoulder a pat. “We’ll look after her. No harm will come to her while she’s with us. Lance Corporal Satin, if you will.”

“Yes, princess,” Satin answered and scooped Velvet up in her arms. “Don’t worry, Velvet. We’ll help you.”

“The resemblance certainly is uncanny,” Dewdrop muttered, adjusting her hair with her fingers. “Though looking like this, I’m not surprised.”

Pinkie Pie looked among the two newcomers, rubbing at her chin when she inspected Dewdrop. “You look just like Dewdrop, though your hair’s a little shorter.”

The girls busied themselves with Dewdrop while Satin carried Velvet over to the portal, ready to step through.

Sunset was about to say goodbye, but then she thought of something and took off her dark leather jacket, placing it atop Velvet’s body. “Here, Velvet. I want you to have this. Your current coat’s kinda… stained, plus, I’d like you to remember us when you’re over there, and trust me, you’ll like Equestria.”

“Thank you… Sunset…” Velvet murmured before snuggling deeper into Satin’s arms.

“We should get going, Satin,” Twilight motioned for the mirror. “And Sunset, thank you. If not for you, Sombra might’ve returned to Equestria, more powerful than ever.”

“It wasn’t just me, Twilight,” Sunset accepted a hug from the lavender girl. “The others helped, Velvet helped, then there’s also Emerald Edge.”

“I know, we met her. She came to Equestria to say goodbye.”

“Seems we have lots to talk about,” Sunset placed a hand over her forehead. It still felt like she had a fever, but so warm that she wasn’t bothered by the winter air. “But you better go, Twi. Velvet needs you now.”

The princess smiled and stuck a leg through the portal. “Well, whenever you want to talk, just drop me a note! I’ll be sure to reply when I can. Take care, Sunset. You’ve earned a good long break.”

And then she was through the portal, shortly followed by Satin, who gave Sunset a nod of thanks.

Dewdrop seemed to have gained the popularity of Sunset’s friends and the two Assassins, but eventually said goodbye and vanished through the portal as well.

“She’ll be safe there, girls,” Sunset said as her friends crowded around her, all six of them looking at the portal and Sombra’s auditorium leftovers.

“So what happens now?” Keila flicked snow off her shoulders. “Things are kinda over for us, aren’t they, Morning?”

The white haired Assassin nodded her head. “We’ve actually reached the end of our war. No more Assassins, no more Templars. It’s actually over.”

“And how does that feel?” Pinkie popped up between the two in a shower of confetti.

“Feels pretty good, considering we were almost killed by crystal constructs,” Keila patted her injured leg, which she had bandaged up. “And Morning Blade, I’m sorry I left without saying anything. I was wrong. I thought Frigid Night was a useless cold-hearted man who couldn’t handle himself in battle. I… I was wrong and I’m so sorry.”

Morning pulled back her hood and nodded sadly. Then she turned away and walked to one of the remaining walls, suddenly taking interest in it.

“Don’t worry, Keila,” Sunset told the Saddle Arabian Assassin. “She’s not mad at you. She just hasn’t gotten over the fact that Frigid’s gone.”

“I guess that’s just the way things have turned out, huh?” Keila slung her bag of guns over a shoulder. “It’s almost dawn. I think… I think I better make a move. Look, Sunset Shimmer, this city is Morning Blade’s home and I’m guessing she’ll be staying. Do me a favor? Look after her for me. Make sure she doesn’t do anything silly?”

“I will,” Sunset looked to the white haired Assassin. She was resting her head against the wall. “But Keila, where will you go? Are you going back to Saddle Arabia?”

“Well, the way I see it, the Assassins and the Templars are both finished. So I guess I’ll head over to Trottingham to sort out things there, then, who knows? Maybe I will head back to Saddle Arabia.”

“Keila, um, if you ever need anything,” Sunset told her. “If you need any sort of help. You can always find us here.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Sunset Shimmer,” Keila started off, but stopped and waved a meter away. “Thank you, kid, and take care!”

Then she turned back and walked down a street, away from the school’s front lawn.

Sunset watched her go for a few more seconds, before turning to Morning Blade, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“You okay, Morning?”

“I’m trying to be,” she said softly. “It’s over. It’s all finally over, but I just can’t help but think of the sacrifices of all my friends. They gave their lives for the Brotherhood for us to be here today.”

“They did, Morning,” Sunset put a hand on the Assassin’s shoulder. “They’ll be remembered, Morning. I won’t forget what they did.”

“None of us will, of that you can be certain,” Rarity added as the rest of the Rainbooms joined Sunset around the Assassin. “The same goes for you and Keila. We won’t forget you two.”

“You’ve risked your lives even to save us,” Applejack patted her own chest. “We weren’t even really important in all this, but ya did so anyway.”

“Thank you, girls,” Morning Blade turned around with a smile. “I’m glad I got to know all of you.”

“Hey, friendship kinda is our thing,” Rainbow Dash looked at her hands. “So that would make us rather awesome at it.”

“Never thought Ah’d hear ya brag again, Rainbow,” Applejack pulled at the scarf around her neck. “For once, Ah don’t mind. It’s nice to hear somethin’ normal after what we’ve been through.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get over their deaths, but at least you girls have given me a future to look to,” Morning looked up to the sky, which was slowly turning a little orange. “A future where we all still have free will.”

“I think I’m done with world-taking schemes for the rest of my life…” Fluttershy whispered, pulling her coat closer around herself.

“Yeah, it’s been so long that I’ve sorta forgotten what normal life feels like…” Sunset rubbed her head. “Plus, I’m kinda beat. It’s been a long night…”

“Well, I dooo!” Pinkie threw up more confetti around them. “When we get back, I’m planning a party for us! It’s going to be a blast!”

“I can’t wait, Pinkie,” Sunset rubbed her forehead and looked on as the sun began to rise over the skyline. “But I think I’m going to need a few days off after this.”

“You’re in luck, Sunset,” Applejack rested an arm on her shoulder. “It’s the winter break. You’ll have all the time ya need to rest up.”

“That is sooo true,” Rainbow Dash put a hand on her other shoulder. “This was one hay of a way to start the break. Even I need a break from all this.”

“At least we’re all still here,” Fluttershy cracked a smile. “Together.”

“Fluttershy’s right,” Rarity brushed snow off her violet hair and joined them. “It hasn’t been easy, but that’s why we have each other, right?”

“That we do, girls,” Pinkie wrapped her arms around all their necks and pulled them in. “Group hug!”

Sunset looked over and waved for Morning Blade. “Come on, Morning. You too.”

“Really?” she scratched at her cheek.

“Yeah, come on!” Rainbow called.

The Assassin complied and joined in between Rarity and Sunset.

“Welcome back to a normal life, Morning Blade,” Sunset grinned.

Sunset and the girls watched as the edge of the sun became visible over the tallest of Canterlot’s buildings, already brightening up the area around them. The auditorium was in shambles around the school’s Wondercolt statue, but that was a job for someone else to clear. For now, all Sunset wanted to do was watch the warm morning sun rise, signalling a new day for them all.

---

Author's Note:

Achievement Unlocked

From Light Comes Darkness and from Darkness, Light: Defeated King Sombra

As always, comments, speculations, and constructive criticism are welcome!

Comments

[Sonata Eternal]

They did it!!!!! They ended Sombra and the Templars!! I'm so...touched that Emerald got to see her empire one more time before disappearing. That was one great moment. As for the Assassins, I'm glad there are survivors and I like how this chapter went. So is this it? Is this the end? I must say this was a good run. I'm glad I found this story!!

[badninja]

Raises a toast to Sunset Shimmer, congratulations pony girl you did it! Now I wonder what will happen in the epilogue?

[Maxemilien]

Why do I feel like we might meet a Sombra that is willing to be reformed in the near futures?
Great story, sequel pleaaaaaase?

[Jaxxon Markus Citadel]

Woohoo! Sunset did it! She beat Sombra! Story's still marked as incomplete though, so does that mean we'll have an epilogue to deal with! Either way, this was a great story, and I look forward to seeing what you post next!

[hydra30]

that conflict went on for generations how do you get over that its well over

[wanderingmagus]

The Assassin's and Templar cannot be so easily destroyed. So long as their ideas exist, so too will there be humans, both good and evil, who will seek out those ideals. The Illuminati may no longer have any pieces of Eden, their leadership may be destroyed, but there will always be those who seek out power and control and absolute Order. And so long as they exist, there will be those who defy them with Free Will.

[MoonlightRift]

Cadance felt tears spring to her eyes. “Even after a thousand years, you kept your pledge to serve the Crystal Empire. I can’t think of anypony else who is more deserving,” the princess of love wiped her eyes. “Yes, Emerald. You have served me… us well. Go now. Be at peace.”

Heart shattering. This (and the next line) are perfect.