“You’re alive?!” Sombra exclaimed.

I gracefully straightened my posture and examined the change in settings. We now were in a crater.

“The Gaia-corn…is she dead?”

“Umm…yes,” said Sombra, deciding to look at the ground.

“I’m the Crystal Empress.” I briefly explained some of what happened when I was in the Crystal Heart.

“Huh…so that’s why the Heart was glowing.”

Now to see if what I feared had come true.

“Sombra…I heard what you said…and it…it’s not…”

Sombra looked disgusted.

“NO! It’s not! Why would it be you?!” He made a huffing noise.

I looked at the sky.

“We had best get going, friend.”

Sombra jerked his head around.

“Friend???”

I nodded.

“Yes, you are my friend. You have saved my life on multiple occasions, come to my aid, and most importantly you have saved my kingdom. If Celestia won’t knight you like I would then I will go into saying how you gave up your most-precious-secret-”

“How did you guess that you little-“he grumbled.

“-to save my kingdom and if the Element Bearers and Twilight try anything, they will have to go through me. Okay friend?”

Sombra glared at me, as if trying to detect a lie.

“Knighted?”

“Of course!”

“Hmph.”

I took that grunt as an okay.

    There was silence for a moment as we headed back south.

“Fine,” he muttered out of the blue.

“What?”

He sighed in a slightly annoyed manner.

“I can’t believe I’m even considering this, but I'll tell you…who she is.”

I giggled and scooped up the Heart, cradling it gently in one of my wings. All of my gear with the exception of my now holey cloak had now perished.

“Whisper it, the wind might hear you.”

He frowned, leading me towards the notion he had no sense of humor.

“YOU OWE ME!”

I plucked a gem from the headdress and tossed it to him.

Sombra shoved it in his bags.

“That'll do, Princess.”

He whispered a name in my ear.

My eyes widened. I couldn't believe it...yet in the strangest way I knew his words were true.

“Let me guess, I don’t even have a chance,” he mumbled.

I giggled once more.

“Take it from the Princess of Love: you have a shot and I wish you luck.”

For the first time, I think I saw him smile.

Or was I just hallucinating…

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