• Member Since 1st Apr, 2014
  • offline last seen Jul 25th, 2021

Gordon Pasha


"We cannot say how long his memory will live, but there is this: A world with no room for the Gordons is a world that will return to the sands." - "Khartoum" (1966)

T

Radiant Hope thought she could save Sombra from himself. Instead, she lost everything.

Alone and hurting, Hope finds her way to Seaddle and tries to settle down into a quiet and obscure life where she can be left to her sorrow. That is, until she crosses paths with Starlight Glimmer, who realizes that Hope could be the key to setting her own dubious plans into motion. They may not like each other, but before either of them knows it, a series of events launches them on a perilous journey along the western coast of Equestria and they must depend upon each other to survive.

Enter a devotee of Starlight's who takes this whole "Equality" thing a little too seriously, a quack doctor with an ego the size of Manehatten, a wandering lunatic that's convinced he's Starswirl the Bearded, and a secret agent intent on protecting the princesses at all costs, and things get complicated rather quickly. Everypony has their own agenda and nothing is what it appears to be. Through it all, Hope and Starlight will be forced to take a hard look at their lives and the choices they've made. But if they can manage to make peace with their respective pasts, our heroines might just have a shot at that rarest of things; redemption.

(For Radiant Hope, this story diverges at the conclusion the Siege of the Crystal Empire arc (Issue 37). It diverges between The Cutie Map and The Cutie Re-Mark for Starlight Glimmer.)

Featured on Equestria Daily on September 29th, 2020.

Chapters (24)
Comments ( 44 )

So, not having read this yet, let me see if I understand so I can decide whether I want to or not: by "took" Sombra, are you saying he dies or he simply gets corrupted again and she "loses" who he became?

6764833
Neither, actually. He's imprisoned by the antagonist. The other characters don't have any clue what's happened to him, other than that the antagonist did something and he disappeared.

Oddly, having binged-read this, it feels like... wangst. So many characters wangst.

Also, future Rainbow Dash is a bitch, and it feels, I dunno, wasted that we basically only get Storm's side of things and never actually what she may really think of him as a disappointment. In fact, I think it's also missed opportunity that, with time-travel being what it is, Storm didn't start to fade away due to the crap he was pulling, nor that Future!Dash herself didn't appear, nor present RD after the first or second chapter, and there wasn't some confrontation between the two about the future-self being such a bitch.

Otherwise, okay story. *shrug* Happy writing. This was just opinion.

7494983
Fair enough.

You have a point. Roaring Storm's storyline is rather lacking in, well, every regard. I could probably have done so much more with the whole 'future' aspect to make it more satisfying. I had intended to write more stories exploring that future in greater detail. But, of course, what I was going to write is no excuse for what I actually wrote.

Then again, as it appears to me these many months later, there is nothing all that interesting about Roaring Storm in any respect. I don't excel at writing antagonists, but he seems particularly poor.

Thank you for the feedback. I appreciate hearing your opinion.

Comment posted by Cozybro deleted Sep 6th, 2016

What's this a crossover with?

“Did you know that the wings of a pegasus, when moving fast enough, actually work like a blade?” he asked Hope, who was still too out of it to pay much attention.

Nonsense. Someone saw too much Anime!

This story totally deserves more views. I love it and am really enjoying it so far. I'm always looking for more stories with Radiant Hope, as this one is epic! *Continues to read.*

10056722
Thanks! I’m glad you’re enjoying it so far and hope you continue to do so as you read further.

10062072
Of course! Still loving it! Just finished the chapter where the Umbrum give Hope thier offer. Can hardly wait to get the answer to what Hope will do. Alas will have to wait though as I must go to bed. *le sigh*

10069450
Great! You’re getting really far into the story, then. It’s not a small story, so I’m glad someone is reading through all of it and so far enjoying it.

10072212
*nods* it is very interesting, heh and gives me ideas of working with my own version of Hope in my Stories. (The idea also started for me from that first issue of the Siege of the Crystal Empire arc. Of course, things went differently from what I was expecting, but I still enjoyed the arc, even if my version of Hope took a far different path based on what Sombra had done. (Siege hasn't even happened. Well, not yet at least. ;) we'll see.) )
I can hardly wait to see what happens next! (When I'm feeling a little better, I want to be able to concentrate so I don't anything.)

10072358
I hope you feel better soon.

It’s cool you have your own story idea! I hope you turn it into a story one of these days. We could always use more stories about Hope. There’s a ton of room for authors to explore her character and offer different interpretations. I’m glad to hear someone else is thinking about doing something with her.

10072456
Same here, being sick sucks. X.x

Oh it's already in the works, she's just not listed as a character in it as well, she's my villain, and was a surprise villain. I've had fun with her in that role. *cackles* She'll have a bigger role in book two of my story though. I agree, I'd love to see more stories with her and see people explore her character more. Sadly I think there is a far smaller number that read the comics than that watch the show. (Sometimes I've enjoyed the comics more than the show, as their allowed to get more on the dark side of things.) So we might not see as much for her, unless she appears in the comics for season 10, (but then with Sombra dead again show wise, I don't see that happening sadly. :( )
(It's my longest story on here.)

Poor Lailoken, poor Hope. *sniffs*

Noooooo Hope! :raritycry:
Well what I was thinking might happen didn't happen, but oh wow!

I knew it! I did guess what would happen! Sure it took a little longer than I originally thought it would but my prediction was correct!
Poor Doctor Fie. *sniffs*
*Continues to read.*

And now I've reached the end... This story was awesome! Best story I've read on here in awhile. I felt the characters were very well on point, both the ocs and canon characters. (With there being so little canon on Hope, not sure where to categorize her...) Still, I loved your version of her, as well as Starlight. (SO much better and well rounded here than in the show!)
I fell in love with your amazing ocs, especially Dr. Fie and Lailoken and Misericordia. (Never thought about there being a GOOD Umbrum until your story!
So now that I have finished, I repeat once more with certainty, this story REALLY deserves more views. Sure grammer/spelling isn't perfect, but that doesn't matter to me. (It is still far better than many I've read in the grammer/spelling department). I hope that even this late into the fandom, more people will find it, read it, and love it as much as me!

10072827
10077672

Sorry for the late response, but things have been non-stop busy for me since last Friday.

I’m really glad you enjoyed the story so much. I know it doesn’t mean much to say I did my best with it, but I truly did; a lot of hard work went into writing and rewriting this. So I’m happy that you found so much to like (even things like Starlight which ended up being... quite different from canon....). I can’t help but feel a little embarrassed by the 184k length, so I’m also quite grateful whenever someone sticks with it to the end. And it was great to hear your responses as you read through the story’s major plot developments.

Like you said, I don’t think there’s much chance of seeing Hope again in the comics or any other canon source, especially after the show was so quick to dispose of Sombra. It’s a shame, but that’s why it would be nice to see more fan-work around Hope, the comics’ version of Sombra, and their whole arc. There’s still a lot of untapped potential there.

Best of luck on your story. Like I said, I’m glad someone else wants to use Hope, even as a surprise villain. I think that’s a very interesting direction to take her in, by the way. With so few fanfics about her out there, every little bit helps. It sound like you’re already making a strong start and I’m sure your story will turn out great.

I enjoyed hearing your opinions and discussing the story with you. Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts.

10084261

It's okay mine is kind of late too now. XD

Oh no I get that entirely! Knowing an writer/author did their best in a story means a lot to me, as it means you tried to make a story worthy of being read. (Which it absolutely is!) Heh and nothing wrong with that. I am still 'on the fence' for canon Starlight. (A large part of that is how much hatred some of my friends have for her has kind of influenced me.....but I don't hate her *nearly* as much as they. Heh nothing wrong with that, I think the length made it even better! (I mean sure there is a limit, things like FOE:Horizons with its near 2mil words is a liiiiitle too much with me, but less than 200k? Fine with me.) Good I'm glad you enjoyed them. :) As a fellow writer on here, I know how much comments helps us feel better about all the hours we spend to entertain our readers. So.... many.... hours.... o.o (Current chapter of my own has taken over a year to get it just right. Partly because my editor and I had a very busy year, and partly because it is such a critical chapter to get down... the pressure is high! *facehoofs*. )

Which is really sad, as I love Hope and want more of her! (Good King Sombra as well. Is why the mirror arc with him and Celestia is another fave comic arc of mine!) Exactly! I hope to see more work of Hope and Sombra or even just Hope from the fans, from others who love her as much as we do! SO much more that could be done with her!

Thanks! It has had good numbers in the past, but unless I figure out time to update more often not sure if it will ever get that again. x.x Hehe me too! I have so much fun with her that way. (Also showing both sides of her, as she tries to convince good, naive ponies to join her side...) Also exploring what all happened during those 1000 years in solitude with the Umbrum. That's a LONG time to be waiting and planning and figuring out what to do! Yep almost done with book one (will be a trilogy if I ever get that far. x.x) So there is a LOT more to cover for Hope's character!

Of course! I'm glad to hear replies from you as well, and talk about our favorite obscure characters! You're welcome! ^.^

This was brilliant. Excellent work! The characterisations were good and the humour was funny, never in an awkward place either. I’m sorry there’s not a lot of views or comments on this, because you deserve them. But then, a gem shines brightest when it’s hidden.

10092555
Thank you! I’m happy to hear that you liked it so much. Given the effort that I put into this one, it’s nice to know you found it worthwhile.

10088875
Yeah, “on the fence” is a pretty good way of describing my feelings toward Starlight’s canon role and evolution as well....

It is surprising how much work ends up going into writing. Especially when you think a chapter or a scene is only going to take an hour or two to write and then you go on for days or weeks trying to get it down. But that’s the care and effort we put into our stories In order to make them just how we want them to be.

The mirror arc was one of my favorites, too. It was our first look at a good King Sombra and sorta paved the way for the ending of “Siege of the Crystal Empire” in that regard. The comics had quite a few good arcs which are among my absolute favorite MLP stories. Shame that they tended to get ignored or forgotten about by later canon after they were finished.

Best of luck on your trilogy. It sounds like you’ve got some ambitious plans for it and a lot of good ideas. I’ve long envisioned this story as the beginning of a trilogy too, and every so often I try to get to work on a sequel. I just don’t have very much time to write now, which is a shame. Real life, unfortunately, doesn’t always seem to recognize the importance of writing fanfics. Sigh.

10102248
I’m glad you liked all of these stories.

I liked Sombra even back in his S3 appearance when most people did not. But the whole Fiendship is Magic / Siege of the Crystal Empire arc gave him depth and background and overall served to make him a fascinating character. And, of course, it introduced us to Radiant Hope, probably one of the most complex characters to appear in any FiM-based story.

It came when the series itself seemed to be moving toward greater maturity and complexity with Starlight’s initial appearance. This story emerged out of the sense that the franchise as a whole was moving toward stories with complicated characters and moral ambiguity. Of course, FiM didn’t ultimately go too much further down that road, so this story now looks far darker than either the comics or the series.

I noticed, as I was going back through the story this time, how much this version of Equestria is not the harmony-based utopia most fans interpret Equestria to be. I mean, I enjoyed making Equestrian society a little more humorous and satirical, but even I was surprised how far it went.

I’ve seen the whole “light-and-darkness” couple archetype which Hope and Sombra represent in a few other franchises and I’ve always loved it — it’s why I’m probably the only fan of Cloak and Dagger in the Marvel comics. The previous version of this story, as you recall, did end with Hope and Sombra getting back together at the end. That was my intention this time, too, but as I went on and the story became more and more about Hope finding her strength in Sombra’s absence, it seemed wrong to end with them being dependent on each other again. So it seemed necessary to split them up again while also acknowledging that their bond endures and leaving open the hope for a future reunion.

And as for Starlight, I was fascinated by how she got to be like she was, and most of her backstory hadn’t been revealed yet. So I tried to give her a story which would account for her to slowly become an extremist over the course of her lifetime while still leaving room to grow. I actually had plans to do a fic exploring her background before reading Fiendship #1, so I had her early life all planned out and was able to just bundle it in here.

As for future stories, as I’ve mentioned before, I had plans to make this into a trilogy and have a pretty good idea of where the next two stories would go. I’ve started writing the second one several times but then ended up not getting back to it. I sometimes think its worse to have a story in my head for too long; makes it harder to actually finally get it all out. But I sort of like how A Glimmer of Hope feels as a stand-alone now, so if I did anything else, it might not even be related to this particular story. But maybe it’s best to leave things where they are. My stories have a few dedicated fans such as yourself but don’t seem to interest most people and, besides, my own interest in FiM is not what it used to be, so I don’t know if I want to keep on with fanfiction.

But never say never, I guess.

10111832
No, it's fine. I don't mind long comments. It just takes a while for me to respond these days.

I was working out my backstory for Starlight worked out during Season 5, and then I had to add in Sunburst after the Season 5 finale, so it was before we got too much else about her background. I gave a lot of thought to what would turn a mare into an aspiring dictator / cult leader and this is what came of it.

Yeah, I did get the sense from that the comic's ending was meant to get Hope and Sombra out of the story so that they could go on to the next story without ever referencing these events again. I think there was some hope (no pun intended) among some other fans that they would show up somewhere in a later comic story arc. I don't think that ever happened, unless I've missed something in the comics since I stopped being able to pick them up regularly. Princess Amore showed up again briefly, though, which was interesting.

And yes, of course, there was no chance of this staying canon once the show decided to bring Sombra back. It's a shame, but it did mean that I felt freer to do things like leaving my own backstory for Starlight when I came back to this story. Of course, it leaves open the question of how much canon to incorporate into any stories going forward, but A Glimmer of Hope works fine since it does not go too far beyond Season 5.

Ha, restaurant owner. Now there's an interesting fanfic idea....

Boy, is this story underrated or what? I really enjoyed reading that, great work!

The doctor drew his hand back swiftly, as though it had been bitten.

Hoof, right?

10736140
Fixed. Thanks for letting me know.

This first chapter was quite a delight to read. Hope is one of my favorite characters, definitely my favorite addition from the comics. Its nice to see a fic about her, there aren't nearly enough

Why couldn’t he just return the Crystal Heart to its pedestal like she had expected he would? Like she had hoped he would?

Though I do have to ask, what happened to sombra? Did the crysal heart not get returned or is it still there? I'm guessing the events of seige on the crystal empire turned out differently in this story? Perhaps this will all be explained later in the story, but I'm quite interested.

Well, I guess this chapter answered all my earlier questions. Wonderful work, I find myself getting increasingly invested in this story despite not even knowing what direction its heading towards yet. I look forward to seeing where all of this leads.

I greatly enjoy the protagonists dynamic in this fic. It's not often a story has a group of characters that don't trust eachother as much as this group does and proceeds to execute that idea so well.

Dr. Fie doing noble things? I'd be surprised if it weren't common knowledge that he embodies noble virtues. Things are really ramping up, indeed I shall read on.

Well that was rather intense. This Sombra definitely seems more evil than the seige comics made him out to be.

Now that was a fantastic chapter! I figured that was the fate Fie was heading towards, though I had hoped he would make it out some how.

“Oh, you can trust me,” Hope said with a smirk. “I’m a healer, so I know about these things.”

This moment was to perfect.

The fact this story has so few likes is a crime. This was, without question, one of the better stories that I have read. The narration and characters were top notch and I found myself enjoying it start to finish. Perhaps most importantly, you brought to my attention shocking interesting parallels between Hopes story and Starlights that I found incredible compelling.

I admit I'm not the biggest fan of protagonists being overtaken by their inner evil and quite literally transforming into evil versons of themself, though it can be done well, I find that cliche has been overdone both in fanfiction and in the show proper. That said, I found this story did it better than every other attempt at this I've seen, and despite my previous statement, I found myself enjoying it at the edge of my seat regardless.

You have definitely gained another like and favourite from me. Fantastic work.

10861833
Sorry about not seeing and responding to these comments sooner. I haven't been on the site in a while. But I'm glad you liked the story!

Thank you for your comments and feedback! There was something serendipitous about how the end of Season 5 aired roughly around the same time as the Siege of the Crystal Empire arc was playing. It really made the parallels between Hope and Starlight stand out to me. Which made me think a team-up would be fun, and the whole story grew from there.

Hope does tend to be underutilized in fanfic (and everywhere else). I'm happy that this story at least gave you a little something to fill that void. That's what it's here for. I doubt this story will ever have a large audience, but it's nice when another Radiant Hope fan stumbles upon it.

Thanks again for commenting. It was great to hear from you!

Oh this is not gonna end well

God that doctor is such a piece of shit. ;)

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