My Little Pony: Ren's Adventures In Equestria

by MaxTV1234

Chapter 61 - The Crystal Empire Part 3

Previously on My Little Pony: Ren’s Adventures In Equestria

“This is bad!”

“Dammit! Now what do we do?!”

“When you put it like that, it really does feels like its the end, huh?”

“Jamie! You have to create a new shield for Cadance’s place!”

“Huh?! You can what?!

“Be a hero…”

“Well…I did Archery once a while back, but haven’t done it in a while.”

“So looks like we remembered the same thing…”

“ALRIGHT! YOU ARE SO ON FATTY!”

“BRING IT SKITTLES!”

“N-No…that’s not what I meant.”

“I knew it! It’s really one of the crystals that Celeste was talking about!”

“What the? A door? A door to what though?”

“Well…its best if we don’t complain and move on. What do you say…leader?”

“Yeah! The fate of an entire empire rests on us showing these ponies a good time!”

“Ahh…it’s such a shame. You two were really close on trying to save this empire from me.”

“…Heh, you got guts girl! I love it!”

“Mwahahahahaha! Yes! Let me witness this and we can truly see ‘true hope’!”

“ENOUGH!”

“Watch out! That pony…she’s under their control.”

“You don’t get it, do ya? Did you even listen to our conversation? She’s being controlled by the leader of the Umbrum Army.”

“Radiant…Hope…”

---

My Little Pony: Ren’s Adventures In Equestria

“……..”

….How long have I been out? And…why am I still asleep?…Mm, I guess I have no choice but to wake up. Either way, I think the paralysis is slowly going away then. I slowly began opening my eyes to find myself leaning against some hard wall before seeing a pony who had their back turned to us as she was examining…some sort of door.

“…What are you doing?” I questioned, trying to get up but couldn’t before looking down and saw my arms and legs were tied up with some sort of rope, but it was made out of crystals.

“…So you’re finally awake, huh?” The figure called, which I was able to identify as female. “I was wondering how long you guys would wake up. To be honest, this wasn’t what I expected to happen. Also…I didn’t want to capture you, but you all took that photo and my book.”

“Ah…so those items do belong to you.” I hummed in thought, sitting comfortably down on the chair before looking at my hands. “But may I ask why did you bring us here?”

“…I’m not much of a killer.” Hm? Her voice…that sounded hesitant for a second there. “But anyway, just keep quiet and let me try to figure a way to break this door.”

“U-Ugh…” Hm? Oh…he’s awake. Rantaro slowly begins to wake up and finds himself tied up.

“Oh great…first I get paralyzed and now I’m a hostage.” Rantaro rolled his eyes, completely unfazed by this. Though I saw through his eyes was he was already surprised.

“So you’re awake too, huh?” The figure stared at us for a while before looking away, continued to examine the door. “Well as long as you guys remain quiet and allow me to find a way to break free of this door, then maybe I can let you go.”

“You don’t know sound so sure of yourself.” Rantaro grinned slyly. “What’s wrong? You can tell us…and maybe we can tell you about us.”

“That you’re humans and you’ve been living here for sometime, right?” Ah…so she’s aware of us.

“I take it that you know this like how everypony else around here knows?” I guessed, staring at her with narrow eyes. “Or…did you learned this from when you were eavesdropping on either us or someone else?”

The figure stares at me for a while before shaking her head and replied “I learned from either way.”

“Either way, huh…” Rantaro hummed before noticing me. “Oh, so you’re awake?”

“You’re now just noticing me?” I asked with a stern look before sighing “You know what? Just never mind…”

“Yeah yeah, whatever.” Rantaro rolled his eyes. “So…how long we’ve been out?”

“I just woke up before you did.” I answered before turning to the red cloaked figure. “So…what is going on here? Where are we?”

“Can’t tell you.” Hmm…so she wants to keep this a secret, huh? I see…

“You can’t tell us…is that so? Then that means that this door is very important to you, huh?” I narrowed my eyes at her with suspicion. “This door leads to somewhere, right?”

“….So I guess there weren’t kidding that you were amazing with your analytical psychology skills.” Huh? So she knows about that too, huh? Hmm…I’ll keep a note of that.

“So…I was wondering who you were.” Rantaro grinned nonchalantly. “Since we’re together as your hostages and you as our kidnapper, would you mind getting along?”

“No.” She answered, glancing at him with a slight glare.

“Really? Not even to this door? Heh heh, I see…” Rantaro smirks at her. “Some hostage negotiator I am.”

“It doesn’t matter. What matters is trying to find a way to get the Crystal Heart and open the door to allow the Umbrum Army come out.”

Hm? Umbrum Army? Hmmm…

“Umbrums?” I spoken, gaining her attention. “Do you mean something is beyond that door?”

“…..Do I really have to tell you? What’s in it for me?” Hmm…So she tends to hold back information. I could try to understand her if I read her face, but that’ll be difficult due to the hoodie…

“Well I’m afraid that you need to tell us, Radiant Hope.” Rantaro grinned, causing me to blink in surprise while we heard the red cloaked figure gasped. “Oh? Did I catch you both off-guard? Well…I guess it makes sense since Ms. Psychologist can’t easily read people who conceal themselves or even you can’t fool me.”

“….” The red cloaked figure looked away before asking “So…how did you figure that out?”

“I saw your eyes.” Rantaro answered with a solemn look. “The eye color of that pony in the photo we found and when I saw your eye color when I was about to black out.”

“Anypony else could have the same eye color as me.” She retorted, which made Rantaro shook his head and gave her a smirk.

“Really? Then what about your face? I don’t think anyone could fight against that.” Rantaro grinned, causing her to froze before turning away from me. “So…got nothing to say.”

“….So you guys really know, huh?” So she admits it…I guess I can thank Rantaro for figuring that out, but right now isn’t the right time.

“So…” I spoken up, narrowing my eyes at her. “You’re Radiant Hope, aren’t you?”

“…Yes, I am.” Hm…her tone is filled with sorrow and regret. “My name is Radiant Hope, but I’m sure nopony around Equestria knows who I am, and anypony here in the Crystal Empire don’t remember much. Though…that doesn’t bother me. Right now…I want to go and get the Crystal Heart to open this door.”

“The Crystal Heart?” I questioned, but all I received was silence. She’s pretty difficult, but I’m sure I can get her to talk. “You know, being silent isn’t going to help. While I may not read you clearly, I can tell your tone is filled with grief, sadness, and regret. You seemed to have something that’s bothering you, right?”

“….Well….you aren’t wrong there.” She nodded. “Right now, I’m trying to bring him back if I released the Umbrum Army so that the leader can bring Sombra back to his physical form.”

“You mean King Sombra, right?” Rantaro guessed. “Ooh, so you really are Radiant Hope.”

“Why would I lie about my own name?” She asked, her tone showing irritation.

“For many reasons.” Rantaro replied. “So…this door leads to these ‘Umbrum’, right?”

“That’s right.” She nodded. “The Umbrum Army are these friendly creatures that’s been trapped in their own world for a long time.”

“Been trapped?” I questioned. “Did something happened to them to make them get trapped inside there?”

“Apparently, the ruler of this place locked them away for a slight misunderstanding, but I know for sure that they can help Sombra.” Radiant Hope explained.

“Ah…” I smiled softly, which Rantaro and Hope noticed.

“Huh? What is it?” She asked in concern.

“You seemed to be feeling happy about it.” I stated. “It seems that your personality is surfacing now. You’re trying to hide how you feel from acting all anonymous.”

“Hmm….” Radiant Hope hummed in thought. “Your skills on reading people are quite amazing…”

She soon uncovered her hoodie, revealing her face as a purple coated pony with light blue azure mane that nearly looked like it was crystallized.

“Well you see…I’m trying to do my best to find the Crystal Heart to open this door to release the Umbrum Army. That way…they can come back and help Sombra bring back to his physical form.” Radiant Hope explained.

“You seemed pretty committed, and you’re telling us that these ‘Umbrum’ can help him?” Rantaro questioned. “How do you know that they can help?”

“Because they and Sombra are from the same kind.”

…The same kind? But we saw him as a dark figure, but…these Umbrum she states are said to be friendly creatures. Something doesn’t seem to be adding up.

“Hm?” Rantaro raises a brow at him.

“Yes, you see…I’m sure you read pretty much everything from my diary, but it’s the truth. Sombra and I were best friends.” Radiant Hope sighed, gazing at the door with a sadden look.

“If I remember correctly, that book states about his life and such here in the Crystal Empire.” I closed my thoughts and hummed in thought. “So all of that stuff in that book was written by you?”

“Yes.” Radiant Hope nodded. “Well since you two are gonna keep bugging me with questions, it’s best if I just answered them to shut you guys up. Besides, you two are tied up at the moment, so I don’t see why not.”

“Yeah, we noticed.” Rantaro scoffed sarcastically. “So…besides, we can skip a few things considering that we already read your little diary.”

“Wait…” I called, turning to him with a stern and solemn look. “There are a few things I need to clarify.”

“Yeah, like what?” He asked.

“Like for instance, why are you still here?” I questioned, turning to Radiant Hope. “That book we read….it seemed to been written for a very long time, and judging by how much dust was on it, it seemed to be over a year or much more.”

“So you got to know about it.” Radiant Hope sighed. “Well…you aren’t wrong there…You see…I’m a hundred years old.”

I let out a small gasp and nearly became surprised by this. The fact to learn that somepony here can live this long is quite impossible. How is this possible?

“Hm…so you lived for that long? Is it because of the curse surrounded around the Crystal Empire?” Rantaro asked.

“No…it’s more like because I lived with the Umbrum Army in their world for a very long time. Time is very different there than here in Equestria.” Radiant Hope remarked.

“Really?” Rantaro questioned while I stared at her with a slightly raised brow. Hmm…she doesn’t seem to be lying, but why does it feel feel so weird and strange at the same time?

“Yes. I grew up with them for so long when the Crystal Empire was controlled by Sombra…” Radiant Hope sighed. “Right after…I betrayed him…”

“Betray?” I asked. “So you betrayed him over his take over across Equestria?”

“Yeah…it was after he transformed Princess Amore…to stone.” She looked away with a grim look. “He asked me to be his queen, but I never wanted that.”

“Because that’s not who you are, correct?” Radiant Hope stares at me before nodding and continued “Yes…because I didn’t want this and I know that Sombra would never do that.”

“Having faith in some guy you know for many years…” Rantaro muttered. “Heh…you trusted him too much.”

“Shut it!” Radiant Hope narrowed her eyes, her horn glowing as she was about to shoot a magic beam at him but Rantaro was unfazed by it. “I trusted Sombra since the day we met at the orphanage, and I know that he would never do it…!”

“Really? Well what do you think what set him off?” Rantaro raised a brow. “Was this because how those Crystal Ponies out there just view him as a ‘freak’ because of him being a ‘unicorn’?”

“…That’s what I thought at first.” Radiant Hope looks away with a grim look. “The moment we first met, everypony would steer clear away from him, but I didn’t. I decided to become good friends with him, and he and I became the bestest of friends for as long as I can remember. During my time, I would discover my talent for healing magic due to the many illnesses Sombra kept suffering.”

“Oh right, I remember reading that book.” Rantaro thought aloud. “I was wondering who it belonged to.”

“It was obvious who it is judging by that photo.” I pointed out. “But right now, please continue.”

“What’s the point since we read the book?” Rantaro grumbled, rolling his eyes.

“Because I wish to hear this from her perspective and in person.” I retorted before looking at Radiant Hope. “So Ms. Hope, would you mind continuing with your story?”

“Alright…” She nodded. “Ever since Princess Celestia and Princess Luna discovered my talent of healing, they invited me over to hone my skills which I happily accepted. I felt so excited to do it, but before I could go, I…I…”

Her face…it’s PTSD. In other words, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She’s seemed to be suffering what cruel fate she went through or witness, and I can already tell what it was.

“Was this about Sombra’s descent to darkness?” I guessed, causing her to wince and looked away sadly before she silently nodded. “I see now. That experience about him transforming into that form we all witnessed when we were heading out to the Crystal Empire and him killing your previous ruler of this place really traumatized you…I see.”

“Ngh…after that, I couldn’t go with it so I decided to run off and do my studies at their school.” Radiant Hope looked away, her eyes showing signs of fear. “But…I couldn’t focus on school, and…I was scared…I couldn’t take it anymore…so one day, I left the school…”

“I guess your trauma of guilt and regret for betraying Sombra must’ve really affected you.” I thought aloud.

“I couldn’t take it…I couldn’t handle abandoning Sombra.” Radiant Hope closed her eyes with deep regret. “So…after when the princesses banished Sombra and with the Crystal Empire disappearing for good, I ran away and tried to find a way to save Sombra.”

“Hm…” Rantaro stares at her with a raised brow. “And by that, you think these ‘Umbrum’ guys can really save him?”

“I don’t think. I know.” Radiant Hope glares at him. “I know the Umbrum Army for a long time. When I came to the frozen wasteland to find a way to free Sombra, I came across a mysterious portal that lead me to their world, and they’re really friendly creatures that took care of me. And I also discovered recently that time passes differently in their world and here in Equestria.”

“I see…so that’s why you aren’t that old.” I remarked. “Oh…please forgive me if I insulted you with that little remark.”

“No no, you had the right idea.” Radiant Hope shook her head. “But anyway, right now…I need to focus on my mission to open this door. That is all I can tell you.”

“…So…you’re the one who saved Mason and Shining Armor?” Rantaro questioned, changing the subject.

“Huh? Oh that…yeah.” Radiant Hope hummed in agreement, examining the lock at the door. “I didn’t want Sombra to kill them because I wanted him to at least gain a heart, but no matter what I said to him…he wouldn’t listen to me.”

I see…So when Mason and Shining Armor escaped from the clutches of Sombra, she tried negotiating a deal with him, but it seemed like it was no use.

“So I take it you ran away from him? What a good friend you are.” Rantaro smirked, surprising me a bit while Radiant Hope stopped what she was doing before marching over to him and glared at him.

“What?” Radiant Hope hissed.

“I mean it, if you really want to save your friend, then I guess it’s too late.” Rantaro rolled his eyes. “Besides…how can we be sure that if those guys really mean it?”

“What are you getting at?!” Radiant Hope exclaimed. “I’ve lived with the Umbrum creatures for a very long time! They’re really great creatures! You don’t know anything!”

“Well if you’re that smart, then don’t you find it weird that your ‘friend’ looks like an evil demon lord while these Umbrum as you described are kind and gentle creatures.” Rantaro raised a brow.

Actually…he’s not wrong there.

“They said that they could redeem him. He was just like as an error, but they can transform him into a real pony if I opened the door to their world and make them back here.” Radiant Hope explained.

“Really? So you think they can help? I highly doubt that.” Rantaro scoffed before making a smirk. “Besides…how can you be so sure?”

“I know that they do care. Besides, the Umbrum aren’t evil as everypony claims!” Radiant Hope retorted.

“What? What do you mean?” I asked, trying to get up but remembered the crystal bondage that wrapped around our arms and legs.

“You wouldn’t understand. The Crystal Ponies are the real villains here. They locked the Umbrum away.” Radiant Hope stated.

“Strange, I don’t remember being told that.” Rantaro smirked. “I don’t think you have the rights to tell us…unless you’re lying to yourself.”

“I am not lying!” Radiant Hope exclaimed, glaring coldly at Rantaro. “And the reason why nopony out there in Equestria knows about the Umbrum Army because the princesses demanded any history book related to them to be destroyed!”

“What?” I asked.

“It’s the truth! They deemed them dangerous and hidden that fact from everypony in Equestria for a thousand years and it’s the truth!” Radiant Hope nodded with a serious look.

Her emotions…fascinating…it seems to go high above with this belief of the Umbrum Army being sincere and good. But I won’t know for sure…but I do know one thing…if what she says is the truth, then that means one thing…

“You’re being fooled.” I stated, confusing her. “You may be saying that as a fact, but how can you be so sure if what they’re saying could be the truth?”

“See, she gets it.” Rantaro pointed his finger at me with a smirk. “But unless you have proof, then I guess we can’t believe anything you say is the truth. For all we know, they could be really be monsters just like your poor little King Sombra.”

“They aren’t! They’re nice, decent, creatures!” Radiant Hope pointed out. “I’ve been living with them for all these years.”

“Wait…” I stopped her, narrowing my eyes at her. “I know you told us that before, but there’s one question I want to ask; Why did you leave their world in the first place and came here?”

“They let me go.” Radiant Hope explained. “They wanted me to know that they were good. That Sombra could be good. They wanted me to help Sombra complete his mission.”

“His…mission?” Wait…his mission…could it be related to when he took over the Crystal Empire back then and was planning to rule all over Equestria? How peculiar…

“But if these guys are locked away as you claim, how did you manage to find them?” Rantaro questioned.

Radiant Hope darkened her face a bit and began her story.

“There’s a red crystal. In the Artic Wastes. It’s like a door, but the problem is that we can go in but they can’t get out.”

I raised a brow at that little answer she gave out. So anyone can enter to their dimension, but they can’t. Could it be some sort of curse or mechanism? Very interesting…and she doesn’t seemed to be lying, so I‘ll take her story…for now.

“And you were able to go into their prison and speak with them?” I asked.

Radiant Hope nodded and replied “For centuries, something about that place just kept me from aging.”

“Well…if you really think that’s true, why not take us there?” Rantaro grinned slyly. “If you prove to us that these guys are as his claim, we believe you.”

“I thought you’d never ask.” Radiant Hope gloated, smirking at us.

I see…so that’s his plan. Rantaro was trying to make a bargain for us to see the Umbrum Army. Hmm…interesting. I never thought his skills might become useful, but then again, it has worked a few times.

Radiant Hope’s horn slowly began glowing before it fired directly at a nearby wall, creating a portal.

“Oh, and…” She turned to us with a stern look. “I’m going to release you guys, but if you try anything…you two will be sorry.”

“Yeah yeah, we get it.” Rantaro rolled his eyes.

“It’s not we want to leave.” I stated with a sigh. “Let’s go and trust us, even if we attack you, it’ll be no point.”

“Hmm…Alright then.” Radiant Hope nodded before her horn glowed, releasing the binds out of us. I stretched my hands and fingers before feeling a bit better as the two of us gotten back up

“Thank you.” I thanked.

“Don’t mention it.” Radiant Hope smiled softly. “Though I must admit, for humans…you two seemed very calm but I still don’t trust you.”

“Hm…” I narrowed my eyes at her, sensing that little distrust in her. It appears that she’s lying to us as well. It looks like someone did tell her about us. How strange that she would hide this fact from us…it’s best if I kept my eyes on her.

“Well, what are you two waiting for? Let’s go.” Radiant Hope walked towards the portal, which Rantaro and I did too.

“Well this isn’t what my day was supposed to be. Ugh…fine.” Rantaro shrugged before we headed towards the portal.

“Alright…let’s see where it leads.” I’m not sure where my iPad went, but I guess I don’t need it. I kept all my save data of learning everything about this place safe and sound in my pockets before I gotten knocked out. Assuming that she didn’t take it…

However, the moment I was about to stepped to the portal she made…I saw it…

---

N-Ngh!…What the? Is that…the door she was examining? But…it looked brand new…and plus, it’s slowly closing something dark. I hear the voices coming out of the door, those voices…are the people voices…of how they feel about life…wanting to die, wanting to give up, every negative emotion I can see…

“Come on you guys! Close the door!” Huh? I saw some individuals attempting to close the doors for good. Wait…is that…?!

---

“Hey!” Hm? I glanced upwards and saw Rantaro staring at me with a deadpan look. “You just gonna stare into space or are you gonna come?”

“….Right…” I nodded before we entered through the portal. I don’t understand…why did I see them and more importantly…why do I know about this place?

---

Meanwhile

“Where are they?”

Back with Kodiak, Spike, and Gizmo…they were exploring the dark tunnels of the place as the talking husky was sniffing out as much as he can in search for one of his lost friends.

“Beats me, I can’t even sniff like you.” Spike commented, crossing his arms before looking over at the photo Gizmo handed them. “Seriously though, I can’t believe that this was Sombra in this picture…he looks too young to be that evil.”

“I’ll say…” Kodi nodded before something caught his attention. “Wait…”

Kodi started sniffing on the ground, finding something on the ground.

“What is this?” Kodi picked the item off the ground as Spike and Gizmo hopped off his back and found the said item.

“Hey wait…I think I’ve seen that before.” Spike folded his arms as he stared at the item before letting out a gasp. “No way! It’s that iPad thing that Nicole always carries around!”

“Oh, actually…now that I’m holding onto it, I’m starting to see it too.” Kodi muffled, which Gizmo squeaked in agreement.

“I never seen her leave without it.” Spike nodded. “So she must’ve dropped it! Oh no, where could they have gone?!”

“Wait…” Kodi gave the iPad to Gizmo before he began sniffing it. Five seconds later…

“A-A-ACHOO!” Kodi sneezed, annoying Gizmo due to him being the only one in front of him for the husky to sneeze at. Kodi scratched his nose with his paw and gave the raccoon friend a sheepish grin. “Excuse me…your fur gotten my nose all clogged up.”

Gizmo rolled his eyes before he began squeaking, which Kodi was able to translate.

“Well, what did he say?” Spike asked.

“He said something about ‘Cover your nose next time mutt’.” Kodi translated before glaring at him. “Hey!”

Gizmo giggled before hopping on his back, along with Spike as he asked “So, did you find a scent?”

“Yeah! It’s…this way!” Kodi began running off throughout the dark tunnel before arriving to a dark corner.

“Umm…Kodiak? We’re at a dead end.” Spike pointed out, hopping off his back while Gizmo remained sitting on Kodiak, who was confused by this.

“That’s weird…the scent keeps on going.” Kodi pointed out, sniffing around the place.

“Huh…maybe your nose is misleading us.” Spike pointed out, leaning against the wall till…

“W-Whoa!” Kodi and Gizmo turned around and saw Spike was nowhere in sight.

“Spike? Where are you?” Kodi called, looking around in concern before seeing Spike popped his head out of the dark cornered dead end. “Whoa! Spike?! How are you doing that?!”

“I don’t know, but I think your nose wasn’t wrong! You gotta check this out!” Spike pointed out, gesturing him to head towards the wall. Kodi and Gizmo looked at each other in confusion and felt hesitated to do before walking towards the wall and went past the darkness, arriving to the other side of the wall and finding a long dark hallway.

“Whoa!” Kodi gasped.

“Crazy, right? I guess that dead end was meant to fool anypony who finds that tunnel.” Spike suggested.

“Yeah, but…” Kodi sniffed in the air before smirking to himself. “I can smell them up ahead!”

“That’s great to hear!” Spike grinned before hopping on Kodiak. “Now let’s go!”

“Okay, I still smell their scent!” Kodi grins before he prepares to run till…

“AHHH!” The moment the three stepped forward, they instantly saw a pair of shadow-like hands coming out of the walls, almost like they were reaching out for something.

“W-W-What?!” Spike gasped.

“Quick! Run!” Kodi yelled out, running through the halls while avoiding the crazy hands while Spike and Gizmo held tight on him. Gizmo kept nudging Kodi hard to the side, which was starting to irritate him.

“Ow ow ow ow! Stop that!” Kodi hissed, glaring at the grey raccoon as they rushed through the halls before arriving to the end before looking back and saw that they weren’t there. Almost as if they were never there.

“….Okay, so I wasn’t the only one who saw that, right?” Spike asked the animals, which they nodded.

“I don’t know what just happened, but I probably won’t.” Kodi sighed, which Gizmo nodded before their ears perked up as they looked over and saw another dark corner at the end. “Hey! Look at that! Another dead end!”

“You think that might lead us to another room like the last one?” Spike asked curiously.

“Probably…” Kodi shrugged before muttering “And hopefully not those crazy dark arms again.”

“What was that?” Spike asked curiously.

“Oh nothing! Come on, we should head out before they might-” Unfortunately, it was too late as the dark arms stretched out towards Kodiak and grabbed him by the legs, causing him to scream while Gizmo and Spike fell of him and avoided the arms as they tried to save Kodi.

“Guys! Get me down!” Kodi whimpered as the shadow-like arms lifted him in the air and attempted to grab him.

“Hang on…!” Spike called, trying to think of a way to save him. “Ooh! If only I had wings so that I can fly!”

Gizmo noticed Spike’s tail and an idea came to him as he immediately bit on it, causing him to scream in pain, letting out his green flames which directly hit the shadow-like arms that was holding Kodiak, causing him to fall down before he immediately gotten up and ran off. He immediately picked off both Spike and Gizmo before placing them on his back as he avoided more of the shadow arms coming out from the walls.

“Watch out!” Spike yelled out, holding onto him before he managed to avoid the rest of the arms for good before jumping, side-stepping, or managing to duck in time to avoid them before he races over to the dark corner and went past it before finding themselves in a nearly dark room.

Kodi took them off his back as they all panted heavily.

“Man…that was so crazy…I thought I was toast back there…” Kodi sighed in relief.

“I’ll say…” Spike panted before glaring at Gizmo. “And what the heck was that for?! You didn’t have to bite on my tail like that!”

Gizmo waved it off before noticing a pair of stairs leading upwards before running off towards it.

“Hey wait! Where are you going?! I’m not done talking to you yet!” Spike yelled out before he began chasing after him. “I just hope that you don’t have any rabies!”

“Spike? Gizmo?” Kodi looked over and saw them running up the stairs. “Hey wait…!”

Kodi began sniffing in the air before gasping.

“They’re this way! Just where Spike and Gizmo went!” Kodi began running ahead before racing upwards to the stairs before meeting up with Spike and Gizmo, who were staring at something right in front of them. “There you guys are, don’t leave me behind like that again! I swear that I felt pretty scared alone in that dark…place…”

The moment Kodi laid eyes at where Spike and Gizmo were staring at, he widened his eyes in shock upon seeing what was right before them.

What laid before them was a giant door right in front of them. It looked pretty big and very old, ancient-looking to be precise.

“Whoa…” The three muttered in awe.

“So this isn’t a dream, right? I’m not the only one staring at it, right?” Spike questioned.

“Nope, I’m seeing it too.” Kodi gulped while Gizmo blinked in shock before slowly fainting onto the ground. “What’s this door doing here? And…how is this so huge?”

“I don’t know, but is this the right place?” Spike wondered, looking around the area. “I don’t know why, but I have this weird feeling that they were here.”

“Maybe.” Kodi stood still in a dog position and stared at the door. “I mean…this is where the trail ends…Oh! Maybe they could be in the door!”

“You really think so?” Spike questioned.

“Well…the trail ends around in this room, and this door seems to be the only entry to this place.” Kodi remarked.

“Good point, but how are we gonna open it?” Spike wondered, examining the giant lock on it. “It seems that it won’t open unless we had a giant key for it.”

“Yeah…say, doesn’t it almost shape like a heart?” Kodi wondered. “I don’t know why, but I’m getting this strange sense of deja vu that I’ve seen that shape before.”

“Yeah…” Spike crossed his arms and was in deep thought before shrugging. “Ah well…let’s try to find a way to open this door.”

“Probably…” Kodi hummed before noticing Gizmo on the floor. “You okay Gizmo?”

“I think he couldn’t handle seeing this giant door.” Spike suggested with a shrug. “But anyway, let’s try and open it.”

“Okay!” Kodi got up and gotten excited yet determined as he and Spike walked over to the door and attempted to pull off the giant lock off the door, but to no avail.

“Come on…!” Spike grunted, pulling with all his might with his claws while Kodi tried biting it off, but it was futile.

“Man, this thing is so tough….as metal!” Kodi exclaimed.

“That’s probably because it is made out of metal!” Spike retorted before they stopped and started panting heavily, trying to regain their breath. “Okay…maybe we need to try something else.”

“Why not use your flames?” Kodi suggested.

Spike widened his eyes in realization upon that idea before snapping his fingers and exclaimed “Oh yeah! Duh! I’m a dragon!”

Spike cleared his throat before he blasted the giant lock with his flames, but once he was getting tired out, it barely made a dent.

“Oh…never mind.” Kodi blinked in surprise.

“…This might take a while.” Spike groaned.

---

Meanwhile
Rantaro’s POV

Hmm….well I’ll say two words to describe our situation right now; I’m cold.

Apparently, that Radiant Hope fell for my little bargain and promised to bring us to the Umbrum’s dimension. The moment we exited out of the portal, we were around the frozen wastelands, just outside of the Crystal Empire and was around is just snow but one thing caught my eye.

A big red crystal sitting lonely in the snow.

“I can’t wait for you to meet them! You’ll see they’re not at all what you think!” Radiant Hope grinned happily.

“Ms. Hope, I want to make sure we understand each other.” Nicole spoken as we walked over through the snow.

“Just give them a chance! You’ll see that they’re not evil!” Radiant Hope happily assured.

“If you’re right, then I guess we can get them free.” Nicole sighed. “But if you’re wrong-”

“We won’t set them free.” I sternly stated before grinning at her. “But I know that I’m right. I mean, it’s kinda obvious if you think about it due to King Sombra being a crazy and evil entity, you know.”

“It’s just something that happened to make him like this!” Radiant Hope argued.

“Yeah sure.” I rolled my eyes before giving her a sly smile. “But in exchange, if we’re right, you have no choice but to free us for us proving a point that these things might be not what you say and…you’re gonna take us back to the Crystal Empire. Those guys are probably wondering where the hell we are.”

“For once, I agree. Those guys are very protective with each other, even us despite not wishing to be around the others.” Nicole nodded.

“Well of course! I promise!” Radiant Hope smiled. “But you’ll see, I’m not wrong!”

“Yeah yeah, just where is the way to get there?” I questioned before gazing at the giant red crystal. “Do we like…go through that?”

“Yep! Just follow me!” Radiant Hope happily trotted over to the giant red crystal before going through it, surprising me a bit while Nicole stared at it with a curious look as she examined it, using her fingers to go through it.

“Hmm…interesting.” Nicole muttered.

“Yeah yeah, just hurry and get in Miss Psychologist.” I rolled my eyes before muttering “I can’t believe I’m wasting my time doing all this. I could be relaxing taking some old valuables and treasures around that palace, but I just happened to be a hostage for that pony that says that she friends with a demon pony. Yeah…totally not want I wanted for my life.”

“Mr. Wilde, please stop.” Nicole called sternly. “It’s best if we just do what she says.”

“Whatever…I don’t trust her.” I waved it off before gazing at her. “And I don’t trust you either.”

“You always distrusted everyone unless you get paid. Though, even so, you are the type to not easily trust anyone unless something earns you your trust.” Nicole pointed out.

“Well you certainly got me there…but while you may be annoying, you peek my interest after all.” I chuckled with a smirk. “After all, I can’t help but wonder what you’re hiding.”

“Where are you going with this…?” Nicole questioned.

“Just…who are you really Nicole Bonnie? You seemed to be more than a psychologist.” Nicole looked at me, feeling a bit bewildered by that remark as I smirked at her and continued “I don’t know why, but I just have this feeling that you aren’t telling us who you really are.”

“…And you?” Nicole furrowed her brows at me, which made go silent before sighing.

“Well…what’s there to tell?” I shrugged.

“….Fair point. I suppose…I could tell you everything since you will keep suspecting me. But first, I like to ask you a question.”

“Yeah, what’s that?” I asked.

“You don’t remember anything at all, right?” Nicole questioned.

“None of us remember how we gotten into those pods at all.” I shrugged.

“True…but have you really been thinking about some things?” Hm? Where is she going with this?

“What are you talking about now? If you’re just changing the subject, then-”

“I mean that something just seem right with each of us. We don’t seem to remember how we gotten here, but…that’s the strange part. Tell me, what were you doing before you wound up here?” Huh? What kind of question is that? Oh well…might as well answer that stupid question for her.

“I was busy making a deal with one of my clients. I was selling a Bell UH-1N Twin Huey to the client who happily payed me 10,000 dollars, and then…”

However, the moment I tried to say something, no words came out of my mouth. It wasn’t because of hesitation, it was…because that’s all I can remember.

“…You see now? That part of the memory seems to stop.” Nicole stated. “You seemed to only remember that and I’ve been studying everyone. I was hoping if I could ask them all what they remember before they all, including myself, wounded up in those pods.”

“What are you getting on?”

“Those pods…I was studying them till I manage to find out something through their program. Those pods seemed to be machines that were programmed to put a person to cold sleep, freezing the subject’s entire body at will without ever damaging it by slowly freezing each of their cells and let the patient rest easily in a sleep for however you wish to sleep.”

I stared at her for a while, seeing how she knew much about it. Honestly, I was not expecting her to knew that. But…I can’t believe that a thing like this could exist.

“I honestly never knew that something like that exists.” I admitted, staring at her with a suspicious look. “As a matter of fact, how exactly can you know something like that? In fact, you sound like you know of it.”

“Because I do since I was the one who came up with the idea.” Nicole answered.

….What? Huh…well looks like we’re getting some interesting things at least.

“What?” I questioned.

“When I…was examining each of the pods we each awoken from while you all were busy doing your own things, I decided to check the coding of this system, but when I was hacking into its system when using my iPad, the coding…it was very easy to decrypt the code after I hacked into it for a while before somehow getting blocked off. I wasn’t sure if the person or people who put us in those pods intentionally left that coding for us, but I do know one thing…the coding for those pods said about putting us to cold sleep…but that’s the strangest part because that coding was mine.”

“So you’re saying that these pods’ coding was made by you?” How can that be? Unless of course she’s the one who put us to cold sleep in those pods, but why bother putting herself in there as well? Something doesn’t seem to add up. “And also, why are you telling me this now? I was hoping that you wouldn’t tell any of us anything, making you look more and more suspicious.”

“…If it means solving the mysteries of our appearance of how we wound up in Equestria, then…I suppose I could say something. Besides…” Nicole looked away with her cheeks turning a bit red. “I…was agitated if you guys would even believe me, and I calculated that you all would make me the enemy judging by the info that I told you.”

“I see now…so you’ve even calculated how we react.” I hummed in thought before smirking at her. “And I take it you saw how I react huh?”

“You are most peculiar since you do tend to hide your emotions quite a lot, but I sense you are between the lines of understanding me and not wanting to understand me.” Nicole deduced.

“Huh…you really know me.” I grinned before asking “So…you really sure that program in those treatment pods really yours?”

“Well yes…but there’s one set of the code that I haven’t even set yet.” Nicole explained. “If I had my iPad, I could have shown it to you if we weren’t in this situation.”

“I see…but you kept it in a thumb drive, right?” I guessed, earning a raised brow from her. “What? I pay attention whenever I find something that interests me.”

“…Right.” Nicole nodded.

“You know…you should probably tell them that you knew of this or else.” I chuckled before forming a sly grin. “You really aren’t that good making yourself look less suspicious than you already are what with hiding these petty little secrets. First hiding a Changeling and now telling me this. Wow…this might not be your lucky day, huh?”

“I know…” Nicole sighed. “But I am planning to tell them all soon…probably after this crisis…but as I was saying, that code…that part of the code was half my work since I recognized it, it would seem that the other half of the code for the pods seemed to be made by someone else. Though, it’s odd…that other half of the code seemed to be similar to the code I made that seems to activate the cold sleep again…how peculiar, isn’t it? I only managed to catch a minute of it before being blocked off.”

“Jeez, that’s problematic.” I sighed before asking “Okay, I see now…but one question remains in my head, when you mention it was blocked out, what do you mean?”

“The system seems to stopped me before I could move any further, but I don’t know how. My bet…that someone or something is preventing me from seeing it. My bet is that it somehow relates to how we got to that home-ship. Though…I fear of a possibility that I think it show us.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Do you remember when I ask you about what you remember before wounding up in that pod? When exactly did that happen?” Nicole asked.

“When? What’s in it for me to tell?” I asked.

“….You’re not telling me because you’re starting to see, don’t you?”

….Well she certainly gotten me there. I remember that I did this on August 24th, 2017. But…there are some places and some things that seems to contradict it. So-

“Hey!” Huh? We turned around to see Radiant Hope popping her head out of the red crystal. “Are you guys coming or what? I’ve been waiting like forever.”

“Ah, I almost forgot about that.” Nicole sighed. “I am afraid that we should continue with this conversation some other time Mr. Wilde.”

“…Yeah.” I nodded before we both faced the red crystal as Radiant Hope pulled back through it. Me and Nicole looked at each other before I slowly reached out and touched it, making some sort of reflection as it bounced back. Frankly, this isn’t one of the weirdest things I’ve experienced, but whatever…besides, who knows? We might experience and prove this girl wrong to make her realize what she’s doing.

Soon, we stepped in through the red crystal and arrived to a mysterious dark room that has some ruins to it.

“Hm…so this is where the Umbrum Army lives, huh?” Nicole wondered.

“I’ll say…and really?” I gazed upon to see a set of stairs. “Looks like we’re gonna walk through these stairs, huh?”

“Watch your step you two, it’s very dark.” Radiant Hope warned.

“Hmm…” I hummed, fiddling with my fingers in hopes to break free of the ropes wrapped around my arms, but it was tough. Ugh…well…guess I’ll find a way to break free of this. Even Ms. Psychologist’s binds…

“…It’s revolting.” Nicole said bluntly.

“Don’t judge anything by appearance. Just follow me.” Radiant Hope began trotting down the set of stairs, which we obliged to stay close in case we might end up falling down or whatnot.

“This smell…it’s disgusting.” Nicole sighed.

“Well you better get used to it, apparently.” I shook my head before glancing at her. “So…you ain’t gonna tell me more about yourself or our lost memories that you might’ve figured out?”

“No.” Nicole answered.

“Wow…you really know how to break a guy’s heart, you know that?” I smirked at her, which made her furrow her brows sternly at me.

“Stop that please, Mr. Wilde. It’s not helping.” Okay, okay. Jeez…she sure doesn’t like being joked around, even in these types of situations, huh? “But…that last thing we’ve spoken about is something that you can figure out. Though…I never expected to tell you all that to someone like you.”

“Yeah, you really didn’t think this far, huh?” I smirked. “And you know, it’s not nice to hold back info, you know.”

“And you don’t?” She raised a brow, causing me to smirk and replied “Touche.”

“…But very well, if it helps us with our situation then I suppose that I can tell them to make us grow closer to our appearance to this world or why we were in those pods.” Nicole sighed. “Though I expect them to hate me.”

“Yeah, totally.” I smirked, earning a look from her. “But either way, this is a you problem, don’t get me involve in your crap.”

“Yet you do realize that I’ll also tell them that you were a part of this.” Nicole reminded, causing me to give her a blank look. “I am serious about this.”

“…Ugh, you really know how to blackmail, I’m impress. I thought I could pull your strings, but I guess not.” I sighed. “Alright…fine. I’ll tell them the truth, but don’t get mad if they don’t accept it.”

“….Alright.” Nicole nodded.

“What are you two talking about?” Radiant Hope questioned, looking back at us with a confused look.

“Oh nothing.” I grinned, but she gave us a suspicious look before sighing.

“Alright…” Radiant Hope didn’t respond to anything us before we arrived to the bottom part of the stairs. As we continued to walk down, I remembered one little thing that she spoken a while back before we got here.

“By the way, you mentioned about some Crystal Heart? Like what in the world is that exactly?” I questioned. “Is it valuable?”

“Why yes. It’s a special treasure that was founded many years ago when the first Crystal Ponies first founded it after they formed the Crystal Empire out of the many crystals they discovered in the Arctic Wasteland.”

“Really?” Nicole asked, raising a brow at him.

“Yes, and once it’s powered up by much hope and light, it can create a powerful barrier that is said to protect all of the Crystal Empire.” Radiant Hope nodded. “And if I had that power, I would be able to break free of that lock to open that door for the Umbrum Army to finally be out and they can finally save Sombra.”

“Really? It can do that huh?” I questioned, rubbing my chin in thought.

“Yep! With that powerful magic of its light and darkness, I’ll be able to free them!” Radiant Hope smiled.

Hmm…the Crystal Heart. Heh…I think I can make good money out of it. Well…actually, never mind. If it’s that important for them, I won’t take it. Just anything that doesn’t involved protecting the Crystal Empire and all that.

Hm? Why is she giving me that smirk? I saw Nicole giving me a small smile, much to my annoyance. Ugh…

“But right now…I don’t think your companions know about it.” Radiant Hope sighed, much to my confusion.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Earlier, I saw many Crystal Ponies having fair at the Crystal Faire. To think that it would one day be brought back when the Crystal Empire finally came back to Equestra. But anyway…Your little companions presented the Crystal Heart to them, but it was a fake.” Radiant Hope explained. “But they’ll eventually find out eventually.”

“A fake? So they made a fake? Why is that?” Nicole wondered. “Hmm…I guess that they didn’t know that it was a real artifact, huh?”

“Probably.” Radiant Hope shrugged. “But…I’m sure they’ll realize.”

“Hopefully knowing those guys…” I rolled my eyes, placing my hands in my pockets.

Making a fake artifact…Heh, didn’t expect them to do it. Oh well…like it matters.

“Alright…we should be around here…” Radiant Hope muttered, arriving to the bottom of the stairs.

“Alright…so now what?” I asked, still putting my hands in my pockets.

“Rabia! Rabia, it’s me, Hope!” Radiant Hope called the moment we arrived to the bottom of the stairs.

“Hm…” Nicole looks around the nearly darkened place. “I don’t see a door. Where do we go from here?”

“I brought some guests, Rabia! They want to meet the Umbrum and help me to free you!” Rabia? Rabia…Well that’s gotta to be at least the normal name than those guys’ name.

“Ms. Hope, maybe we should-” However, before Nicole could finish, Hope smiled happily as she exclaimed “Here she comes!”

Huh? What the?

Soon, we were introduced by some small pony-like pixel but its entire body was cloudy. Almost like smoke…

“Friend Hope! You have returned! Is it time? Are we free?!” What the hell is that thing? Man…and I thought talking ponies that can perform real childish magic and fly around the place was the last thing I would wanted to see. But I’m afraid that wasn’t it…

“Almost, Rabia. I brought some new friends.” Radiant Hope turned to us with a smile. “These are the humans that you once told me about. Umm…”

“Nicole Bonnie.” Nicole introduced herself.

“Rantaro Wilde.” I held a blank look, staring right at the thing. Hmm…there’s definitely something about this thing.

“Oh! Two humans? Here?” It asked, feeling a bit surprised to see us.

“It’s nice to meet you, Rabia.” Nicole stepped forward with a curious look. “Radiant Hope has told us much about you and how you were unjustly imprisoned.”

“Yes, it is a painful memory for us.” Rabia nodded, placing a hoof on its mouth while it stared at us.

“Well…we were wondering if we could meet with the rest of your species. We are just curious to learn more about you, that’s all.” Nicole explained while I stared at it for a while. I don’t get it…what is this thing? Are you telling me that this is an Umbrum? And this is where that King Sombra guy was born from? From these little guys?

No…something’s-

---

Suddenly, I see a static-like image of some freakish devil looking pony with its eyes glowing as its entire body was all smoky and stuff. It was staring right at me and-

---

“N-Ngh!” I flinched before coughing a bit.

“Mr. Wilde?” Nicole called. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Never better.” I scoffed before staring at the thing, who stared back at us with a suspicious look.

What the hell was that? What did I just saw? The moment I met this thing, I saw something different about it. Was that…? No…I better not jump to conclusions…for now, that is.

“Hmmm…two humans in the Prison of Shadows? That’s unheard of.” Rabia hummed.

“Please Rabia!” Radiant Hope begged.

“How can we be sure to trust things like you? I mean, we were locked away for so long, so if these two might do the same?” Rabia thought aloud.

“Really? How can we even do that?” I asked blankly.

“Well…fine.” Rabia sighed before giving us slightly suspicious and stern looks. “But…I need you to not use any magic inside.”

Hm? Not any light? How is that supposed to make you trust us?

“…..Of course.” Huh? What is the woman doing?

“You sure?” Rabia raised a brow towards Nicole, who nodded and added “We promise.”

“Excuse me but how can we even shine light?” I asked irritably. “If you think we can use magic, you’re wrong.”

“Huh? You can’t use magic?” Rabia asked, feeling surprised by this.

“…? Yes…we can’t.” I replied with a raised brow. Rabia glanced away for a bit before nodding to us. Why the hell would it ask us that? Okay, this thing may know about our species, but not that much apparently.

“Well, in that case…” Rabia flew over right what we were staring at front as something appeared before us through the darkness, revealing to be a prison-like area.

“Welcome to the Shadow Prison.”

Me, Nicole, and Radiant Hope looked over at the place and were in awe upon seeing this place. Okay…seeing this place makes me think that this might be a prison.

“Well…let’s go.” Nicole gestured as she and Hope began heading out with me following after them. We walked around the place, seeing the many rocky ages around the place before walking upwards to the stairs, entering the higher floor of this place before encountering more creatures that were just like Rabia and I gotta say…they’re freaky looking.

“Hello Hope! So glad you’re back!”

“Oh hello humans! You two sure look beautiful as we heard from Hope!”

Okay, these guys are really pushing it. What the hell has this mare been telling them about us humans? I mean…I get she was spying on us, but…

“This way, please you all. I would like you all to meet my daughter.” Rabia called, flying next to Hope.

“I would like that very much.” Nicole softly smiled while I nodded.

We walked around before seeing a couple of more pixel shadow-like ponies waving at us from inside the rocky cages. Jeez, they sure seemed to like using this place to act as their homes, huh? Well…imagine me living in a cell-like area. Heh heh, yeah like I would ever get caught in jail one day.

“Hello!”

“Good day!”

I waved at them while I didn’t look back at them. I was mostly not interested, but…I still had my suspicions on them.

“What did I tell you two? They’re wonderful, right?” Radiant Hope smiled brightly.

“Yeah…” I slightly nodded before noticing the other Umbrum flying around happily. This doesn’t make sense…

“They certainly do seem nice.” Nicole nodded, rubbing her chin in thought. “But why would anypony lock these things away?”

“It must have been a misunderstanding.” Radiant Hope shrugged.

“Hmm…” I tilted my hat a bit to avoid eye contact. A misunderstanding…Nah, it couldn’t. That wouldn’t explain based on what she told us that Sombra was an Umbrum just like these guys.

“Here we are! It’s not much, but it’s my home!” Rabia showed us to one of the stony prison cells, but this placed seem darker than the other rooms.

“Thank you, Mr. Rabia. We are honored to be your visitor.” Nicole nodded as we entered the place.

“My daughter, Ira, will be so excited to meet a bunch of humans!” Rabia exclaimed with a smile on his face.

“Hm…Okay.” Nicole nodded before noticing how dark the room was.

“Hmm…Ira must be hiding in the shadows again. She loves to do that.” Rabia chuckled. “Come out, darling!”

“Is she shy?” Nicole questioned, which made Rabia chuckled nervously.

“Heh heh, I’m afraid so.” Rabia sighed. “I’m sorry you two. She should have better manners when meeting guests like you.”

“I see.” Nicole closed her eyes as she delved into deep thought. I’m not sure what she’s thinking, but I have feeling that she’s probably thinking the same thing as I am. This all seems too suspicious for them to just be friendly creatures.

“They can hide in the smallest shadow. It could take hours to find the little one.” Radiant Hope stated.

“Well…mind if I take care of that?” I took something out of my pockets and revealed a lighter.

“What is that?” Radiant Hope questioned.

“It’s a lighter. It’s something we humans use to guide ourselves through the darkness.” I explained with a small smirk on my face before flicking the light on, seemingly brighten up the place before looking around to find her. But…what we saw…truly made us regret me using that lighter…

“….!” Nicole widened her eyes in horror upon seeing a slightly disfigured shadow-like pony with weird butterfly-like wings with creepy looks, almost like a zombie.

“Wow…Just wow. You seriously don’t look like anything like your mother.” I remarked blankly.

“W-What is this?” Nicole asked. Huh, her tone…it’s trembling in fear. Huh…I never expected her to show fear.

“T-This isn’t Ira!” Radiant Hope gasped, her moth agape. “Ira’s a tiny little horse like her mother! She looks just like a small version of Rabia!”

“You’d be surprised.” Huh? Okay….No…don’t tell me…Don’t you dare go there. We slowly turned around and saw…

…Dammit. I told you people not to do this to me.

“Rabia, what is-”

When we saw Rabia’s face, it was the same as his daughter, but even more bigger than her and weird and creepy looking as well.

“W-What?” Radiant Hope widened her eyes, her pupils shrinking in fear before being grabbed in the face by Rabia, who was staring at her creepily.

“Oh, finally be quiet you numbskull! You only had one job! You were to find the Crystal Heart and use its power to set us free! But instead, you bring these two inferior humans to our doorstep!”

“And that is our cue to leave!” I quickly grabbed Nicole’s hand and Radiant Hope’s hoof before we quickly began making our get-away.

“And you two! The only think I asked was ‘no magic!’. And you had to use that damn light to reveal our true selves!” Rabia screeched.

“Well I sure damn well did it!” I exclaimed.

“Ah…” Nicole stares at them in horror. “These emotions I see…they’re filled…what are they?”

Funny…I never thought I see her reaction like this. Just what is seeing in them? More importantly…how about that exit?!

We quickly ran out of the house and quickly headed downstairs before looking back and saw that we were being chased by these things. Can’t these things catch a break?!

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You can’t run away forever, Hope! I given you what you wanted! You wanted Sombra not to be what we are! You wanted me to tell you that Sombra was not a monster!” Rabia rambled on while it irritated her more and more.

“He’s not! Sombra is good inside! I know he is!” Radiant Hope exclaimed angrily.

“You fool!” Rabia exclaimed. “Do you really think you can escape from us? Father will surely make sure you all will die here! Can your hopes really be called ‘hopes’ for you all!”

“What?” I called before running straight through the halls.

“Your hopes….means nothing! Your despair is lurking deep within your hearts that will surely come forth when the time you all learn why you can’t leave this world!”

“W-What do you mean?” Nicole questioned.

“That is for me to know and for you all to die!” Okay, you’re seriously not making this situation more better than usual. “But what’s more great is how you all can’t use any of your magic than you did back then!”

“What?!” I exclaimed.

“Ha ha ha! This shall be easier for us all to enjoy! It would seem that you all lost everything! Maybe ever since you all sealed us away!”

Okay, I have had enough! I ain’t listening to what crap he’s saying to us at all! Let’s just get out of here!

Soon, we saw the way out as we proceeded there, but then we began hearing more and more voices of him kept talking, but soon, we began listening in what he was trying to tell us.

“Do you really think that Sombra can change? He’s just like us!” Rabia exclaimed, causing Radiant Hope to grit her teeth in anger before shouting “You’re lying! He isn’t!”

“Really? Though do you mind if I told you that Sombra was the one who suggested to be a spy to the Crystal Empire?” Rabia asked with a small smirk, shocking Radiant Hope.

“What?” Radiant Hope asked, her eyes widening in horror.

“Sombra’s just as much an Umrbum as any of us. When he was just a young filly, we came up a plan. Our powers kept us from crossing through the crystal.” Rabia explained. “So we had to lock the darkness away in him. We had to make him look and seem like a pony, so he could pass through. From when the ponies took him in, they wouldn’t know what he really was. It was hidden even from him until he was finally strong enough.”

“So that’s why…” Nicole muttered. “Even he was deceived.”

“Heh, it’s funny and ironic since you humans can relate to Sombra since you two went similar situations.”

“What? What do you mean?” I questioned. “We can relate to a guy like him?”

“Oh, but it is truth. You all will soon learn what it’s like when all of your hopes will fall into despair.” Rabia laughed.

“Guys, we need to go now!” Nicole exclaimed. “Hope, take us back to the entrance now!”

“T-There’s too many of them!” Radiant Hope exclaimed.

“Yes humans! She’s right. You’re not leaving here.”

“Really? In that case…” I quickly grabbed ahold of my lighter and shined it to them, causing them all to hiss before I grabbed Nicole, who noticed this as she grabs ahold of Radiant Hope’s hoof as I yelled out “RUN!”

“Rantaro! Don’t let that lighter die out!” Nicole exclaimed. “They seem to can’t stand the light!”

“You don’t think I know that?!” I yelled back, annoyed by this but remained focus on trying to escape the place.

“What are we going to do?! We can’t let Sombra nor I free them!” Radiant Hope exclaimed.

“Just shut up and keep running!” I yelled out before we managed to get to the stairs and raced out of there in time before arriving to the entrance, but the light was slowly about to die down as the others were about to head out. However, before we could enter, one of the Umbrum grabbed Hope by the hooves, causing her to shriek in fear.

“AHHHH!” She screamed as she was met face-to-face with Rabia.

“You aren’t going anywhere Hope!” Rabia screamed, looking at her with a dark look till I managed to shine my lighter towards it, causing it to hiss in pain before letting go of Hope as the rest of us immediately walked into the portal, stepping right out of the red crystal.

“Okay…” I sighed, letting go of those two before dusting myself off. “Well…it would seem that I was right. So you owe me one.”

Hm? No response? Huh…tough crowd.

“…Hope…send us back to the door.” Nicole stated sternly.

“…R-Right…” Radiant Hope nodded before transporting us out of there before returning to the floor where we all met up.

“Well…looks like we’re back here.” I sighed, adjusting my hat a bit.

“It appears so…” Nicole coughed, but I noticed her hand still shaken.

Hmm…so she does experience fear, huh? She tends to hide and oppressed these feelings to give herself a calm demeanor.

“…It’s okay to be scared.” I stated bluntly, surprising her a bit before she gave me a look and said “I’m not scared.”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that.” I rolled my eyes before turning to Radiant Hope, whose eyes was still widened upon…well basically going through with that painful truth. “Hey you…Hope, was it?”

“…It…it was all a lie…” Radiant Hope muttered, her eyes showing how traumatic they were. “I can’t believe it! After all these years, I’ve been lied too! Why?!”

“Likely to trick you onto releasing Sombra and using that Crystal Heart to open this door to break free of this control.” Nicole suggested.

“I can’t believe it!” She hissed angrily. “They lied to me for so long and…and…”

Oh great, she’s crying. Fan-frigging-tastic. Can this day get any worse?

“Rantaro! Nikki! You’re here!” What the? Ah!

“Ahhh! Get off of me!” I cried out before feeling something licking on me. I managed to open my right eye and noticed a familiar talking husky was licking me.

“Oh, it’s you.” Nicole blinked in surprise.

“Oh! It’s a good thing that we found you guys!” Spike cried out, rushing over to our side with an excited look on his face. “I thought for sure that you two were already out of the empire!”

“Why would we do that?” Nicole asked bluntly, causing Spike to sweat-drop before he scratching the back of his head.

“W-Well…”

“Whatever! Get off of me!” I pushed the mutt off of me, who was still smiling over me before giving me one last lick.

“Heh heh, sorry. Force of habit. I normally do this with Ren!” Kodi grinned, much to my annoyance. Of frigging course that boy would received licks from a dog like you. As I slowly gotten back up, I was immediately hugged and snuggled in the face by none other than my favorite pal.

“Oh, it’s about frigging time Gizmo.” I grinned, which made Gizmo chuckled before the two of us fist-bumped each other. “So…did you deliver the photo to the gang?”

Gizmo started giving me a shrug and a sheepish grin before pointing over to both Spike and Kodiak.

“…You showed it to only both the small dragon and the mutt, did you?” I guessed in a deadpan look, which made Gizmo nod sheepishly, which made me face-palmed. “Great…”

“Oh right, we did find evidence that relates to Ms. Hope and Mr. Sombra.” Nicole realized while she adjusted her glasses. “That is quite problematic if the others don’t know about this.”

“What’s the point now? I mean…this is all crazy! We can’t open that door!” Radiant Hope exclaimed. “If we do! Then…the Umbrum…we would…!”

“We know.” I sighed. “So…now you know the truth.”

“I do…and after all these years…I’ve been lied to!” Radiant Hope cried out.

“Umm…who is she?” Spike called in confusion.

“This is Ms. Radiant Hope or Ms. Hope for short.” Nicole introduced her before forming a serious look towards her. “But Radiant Hope, you need to calm down.”

“But…how can I be after I’ve been lied to?!” Radiant Hope exclaimed.

“But even so…do you trust Sombra?” Nicole questioned, surprising her.

“Wait, what?!” Kodi exclaimed.

“Okay, did we miss anything or…?” Spike looks back between Nicole and Radiant Hope.

“But…don’t you get it? I’ve been lied to…” Radiant Hope cried out.

“But even so, you seemed to be committed to find a way to bring back the Sombra you all know and love.” Nicole pointed out before softly smiling at her. “Maybe there is a way to revive him…If there is a chance, then maybe he can remember something about you.”

“Ah…” Radiant Hope remained silent, wondering what to do before softly smiling at her. “Y-You’re right…maybe there’s a chance that I can get him to remember me. While it may be difficult due to me betraying him, I know that I-”

However, the moment she tried to say something else, she flinched in pain before her eyes turned blank. Her eyes devoid of anything. No emotion…just staring blankly like she was a predator searching for its prey.

“Umm…is she alright?” Kodi asked in concern while me and Nicole stared at her with suspicion.

“…Hey, you alright? Hope?” I called, raising a brow at her till she disappeared in a flash. “What the?”

“It appears that she vanished by using her teleportation magic.” Nicole placed a finger underneath her chin and went to deep thought.

“We figured but why did she act like that?” I asked with a raised brow.

“…That I don’t know.” She shrugged.

“So anyway…what’s been going on?” Kodi asked.

“Yeah, we’ve been trying to track you two down till…you know.” Spike shrugged.

“Oh…let’s just say that I think we have more problems than with that King Sombra guy.” I sighed, adjusting my hat a bit. “Well…no matter.”

“Hm…” Nicole closed her eyes for a moment before reopening them with a serious look. “Though her reaction felt off….could it be…?”

“Nikki?” Kodi called in concern.

“…..You guys, I think we might be in trouble.” Nicole sternly stated.

“Hm? Did you realize something?” I asked.

“Yes…and I might not like it.” Nicole sighed. “But even so, it’s best if we be safe.”

“What?” Spike asked.

“Well whatever.” I shrugged. “While we’re here, what are we gonna about-”

However, before I could say anything else, a sudden flash appeared in my head.

---

W-What the? What is this? What is that door? Is it…opened?

“Now’s our chance! Come on! Close it with all your might!”

Wait…is that voice? I don’t understand…why am I hearing their voices? No…

---

“Ngh…” I placed a hand on my head and panted heavily, which the others noticed.

“Huh? You okay Rantaro?” Kodi asked in concern.

“…Did you remember anything?” Nicole walked over and looked at me with a raised brow, but I saw her eyes glinting with concern. Ooh? Is she feeling concern for poor old me? Well I do have ways to ‘pizzazz’ ladies. “You seemed to experience some minor headaches.”

“Never better.” I replied before shaking my head. “Hey…do you happen to remember anything about this door?”

“Hm?” Nicole blinked in surprise before slowly nodding. “Yes…and I heard some voices that I think you must know.”

“Yeah…” There’s no doubt about it. Who can forget their voices? Those voices…it was-

“WAH!” Hm? Oh great, now what? We looked over at where Spike shrieked and saw Radiant Hope slowly walking over with some heart-shaped Crystal in her hooves as she still kept the blank and eerie look on her face.

“Ms. Hope?” Nicole called, but received no response.

“Is she alright?” Kodi barked.

“Beats me…” I shrugged before glancing towards her. “Hey you…you still awake?”

She doesn’t offer a response at all but then…

“I am afraid that she won’t be speaking for the moment…”

What the?!

“What the?! That didn’t sound like her!” Spike cried out. “Who are you?!”

Radiant Hope let out a cruel smirk before saying “Oh, but I am afraid that I cannot reveal myself, but you should see me during the battle in the surface of the Crystal Empire.”

“What?” I questioned.

“So something is happening up there with the others…” Nicole scratched her chin before sternly glaring at Hope. “So tell us…who are you and why are you controlling Hope?”

“It was pretty easy when she was hanging around with the Umbrum Army for so long. We have managed to control her thanks to her being influenced by us.” Radiant Hope smirked.

“What?!” I asked, glaring annoyingly at her before realizing who it was. “Wait…Rabia?!”

“Rabia?” Kodi called, confused by that name.

“Ahahahahahaha! So you do finally recognize me! Well thanks, I appreciate the offer human! But it doesn’t matter. With Father by our side and with us Umbrums finally be released, I’m sure we can work together to create ‘true hope’ for all.” Radiant Hope immediately disappeared and appeared in front of the door with that heart-shaped crystal in her hands.

“H-Hold on…Is that the Crystal Heart?!” Spike exclaimed. “But how did you get it?! I thought that Ren, Mason, and Twilight were trying to look for it in their own hands!”

“Oh, don’t you worry about it. I knew Sombra would let us all down since he’s just a failure from the very beginning.” Okay, now it’s sounding like we’re the ones getting lost.

“Sombra? Wait…” Nicole stared at the mind-controlled Radiant Hope with narrowed eyes of suspicion. “So you managed to mind-control her due to her staying in your world and being influenced by you guys.”

“Indeed. You two are those that we can’t control. Makes sense since you humans hold so much light than we do.”

“You know, you’re making less sense the more you talk.” I pointed out. “Do you even like…listen to yourself whoever-you-are?”

“Now now, it is enough for the childish games, it’s time to finish this…”

“H-Hey wait!” Huh? Is that…?

We all turned around and saw a familiar orange-haired boy walking up the steps that leads to this area along with a black coated pony with green eyes as his horn was slightly curved with a red tip on it, along with wearing one of those medieval robes kings’ wears.

My best bet is that this pony with the angry eyes is Sombra himself. Huh…they weren’t kidding what with how he looks like a pony to fool the others. I’ll give it that to them.

“Rantaro? Nicole? Kodiak? Spike? Gizmo?!” Ren exclaimed in shock, seeing us all in here.

“Ren?!” Nicole looked at him, a bit bewildered to see that he came here.

“Oh great, and just when we needed rescuing, you show up.” I grumbled. “Oh well…just hurry before that crazy mare tries to unlock that door.”

“What? Why?” Ren asked. “W-Who is she?”

“Ren!” Kodi raced over and began licking his face, which made the boy laugh. Ugh, well he may be a teen, but acts likes a little kid that it makes my head hurt seeing this scene.

“There you are! I thought I would never see you again!” Kodi smiled, giving him one last lick.

“Kodi! Stop! That tickles!” Ren laughed while the rest of us walked over to him.

“Ren, what are you doing here?!” Spike asked before glancing at the crazy black unicorn as he walked past us and went to confront the red cloaked figure. “With King Sombra of all ponies?! Are you insane?!”

Yep…I totally guess right.

“Ren…something’s happening up there right?” Nicole asked, which he nodded.

“Yeah, and I tried to grab the Crystal Heart from King Sombra, and we ended up here where you guys are.” Ren explained. “So what is this place? Why does it look like Tartarus?”

“What? This place? It doesn’t even look like Tartarus.” Spike raised a brow of confusion.

“No, that kind of ‘Tartarus’ I mean. I mean the one from Persona 3. I mean, it nearly looks like the place.” Ren clarified. “All we need is that giant clock entrance that leads us to the dungeon and we’re sorta in.”

“…Huh?” Spike asked in confusion.

Okay, really? Are we really talking about games at a time like this?

“Ignoring that, care to share what’s up?” I asked with an annoyed look. “You guys now just learned about the Crystal Heart?”

“Yeah, but-”

“You guys just realized that it was real and instead used a made-up one, right?” Nicole guessed, which made him flinched out by surprise before nodding. “I see…but it looks like we have no time left. We have to stop her!”

“What do you mean?” I asked in confusion.

“ENOUGH!” Oh right…I forgot that he was around! We immediately turned around and saw King Sombra confronting the red cloaked pony.

“I recognize you! You are that foolish fool that tried to intercept me before managing to hold back to allow that foolish human and insolent pony escape before I transformed into a small shadow to hide into their shadows before they could enter the Crystal Empire!” King Sombra glared angrily at them. “But now is not the time! Hand over the Crystal Heart or else!”

However, the figured remained silent, much to Sombra’s anger.

“Are you deaf?! GIVE ME THE CRYSTAL HEART!” King Sombra screamed.

“She won’t listen. She’s under their control.” I answered, pointing towards Radiant Hope.

“She?” Ren asked in confusion.

“…..” The figure remained silent before slowly uncovering her hood, revealing herself which seemed to made King Sombra widened his eyes in horror as I saw his face slowly turning pale.

“W-What is this…? N-No…you…I thought…it’s not possible…” Oh? Is he hesitating? For an evil tyrant that is said to enslaved an entire kingdom thousands of years ago, seeing her must be shocking to him. Makes sense considering who’s he looking at.

“So…you do recognized her, eh?” I sighed annoyingly. “And I thought that the big bad king like you would instantly forget his own sanity the moment he turned to the darkness.”

“What? What are you guys talking about?” Ren asked in confusion. “And who that mare? She’s…kinda creepy with that blank look of hers.”

“Ren…I sensed that you must know that King Sombra wasn’t always evil, huh?” Nicole guessed, which caught him by surprise a bit before nodding. “Well…you were right on the key. But it seemed like they influenced his mind just like they planned when he first arrived to the Crystal Empire.”

“What? What are you guys talking about?” Ren asked in confusion.

“Jeez, and I thought you had some sort of hidden intelligence inside ya. Use your head.” I sighed. “King Sombra isn’t a pony…he’s an Umbrum.”

“An Umbrum?!” Ren exclaimed in shock. “Hold on, how do you guys know about that?!”

Hm? So he knows about the Umrbum Army as well? Huh…I knew that he was hiding something, but not like this.

“You don’t have to lie. I knew that you were hiding something the moment we headed into the train towards here.” Nicole explained, which made me give her an incredulous look. Really? Since when did ya? Then what was the point of listening to her story then? Ugh…forget this. I’m too tried for this. “But we gotten a better view on them when she took us.”

“She? You mean that mare?” Ren asked, gazing at Radiant Hope. “Who is she again?”

“Don’t know, but she’s pretty scary and hasn’t said a word when me, Spike, and Gizmo found them!” Kodi explained.

“Well…if ya want to know, why not ask your shadow unicorn friend over there?” Rantaro shrugged. “You know…to save the suspense. I’m already wasting my time explaining it to a kid like you.”

What? Right now…our lives are on the lives right now, isn’t it?

“Hey Sombra…do you know this mare?” I asked in confusion, but I saw the horrified look on his face. Wow, never thought that he could even show that kind of face despite his crazy yet arrogant look.

“……No….Hope…?” Huh? Hope?

Oh…so he does recognize her. And I thought he was gonna get upset upon seeing her.

Ren slowly turned to the mare who was holding onto the Crystal Heart in her hooves as she gave us a blank look while me and Nicole glared towards the mind-controlled Radiant Hope.

“…Hope….it can’t be…” King Sombra widened his eyes in shock as we all stared at the red cloaked pony. So…is her name ‘Hope’? What a weird name, but then again, everyone around here has weird yet funny names.

“Watch out…!” Nicole warned, narrowing her eyes sternly towards the pony.

“What? Why?” I asked in concern and bewilderment.

“That pony…she’s under their control.

“They’re…control?” I asked in confusion.

“You don’t get it, do ya? Did you even listen to our conversation?” Rantaro asked with an annoyed look. “She’s being control by the leader of the Umbrum Army.”

I widened my eyes in shock before turning back at the said pony, who was giving us a blank look still, unfazed by anything.

“No way…” Ren muttered with widened eyes..

“Radiant…Hope…” King Sombra muttered.

Yep…I guess finding much more about this pony along with what these Umbrum Army guys are, including learning more stuff about Ms. Psychologist and what she found in her research and investigation during her time in Equestria, and maybe coming up with several theories…looks like we’re done for…

…Well, that is…if we can fight them off, that is. But I know one thing…we’re doomed.

To Be Continued

Author's Note:

Alright, I finally gotten Part 3 and now I can finally work on Part 4, possibly the finale and in the following up is the humans discussing about the possibility of their memories.

Sorry if this wasn't what you expected but Part 4 will possibly conclude the end!

P.S. - Please point out any mistakes I made in this chapter. I was really not motivated as I always been when making chapters for my stories. Thanks!

Now let the credits roll!

Comments

[Bumblebee16]

Awesome!!

[dar88]

are you planing to add more of the mlp comic in the mlp show lore

[MaxTV1234]

9649352
Probably, but I think I might make it different.

[MaxTV1234]

9690214
Yeah, but first, there's something I need to work on first so it's gonna take a while.