Seaddle.

The bar was a small place – to call it a “dive” might be too generous – and even for its size, it boasted few customers. No wonder; the whole place was covered in grime and the tables wobbled on rickety legs even when there was nothing atop them. When the few fans overhead had last worked was anypony’s guess. Behind the bar was a mirror, perhaps, but it could easily have just been another wall with how opaque it was from dust.

Into this bar stepped Radiant Hope and Sombra.

“Are you sure this is the place?” Sombra asked.

“I’ve been looking for him for a while now,” Hope responded. “And every lead I found points to this place.”

Hope’s sky-blue eyes scanned the bar. She could not make him out from the three or four ponies lined up there. She was looking for the wild mane and the massive beard, neither of which she saw.

“Hope, I’ve been thinking,” Sombra said, “about what we should do now.”

“After we’re done with this, we have to head over to Seaddle Specialist,” Hope said. “I need to clear out Dr. Fie’s office and study. I don’t think there’s anypony else to do it.”

She turned to Sombra. “But after that, we don’t have to stay here. We can go wherever you want.”

Sombra nodded slowly. “That’s what I’ve been thinking about. We said we were going to right the wrongs of our past.”

“Of course,” Hope said. “We’ll do it, together. That is what we’re doing here.”

“I know. But there’s still one major wrong after this that I need to fix.”

Hope’s eyes widened. She knew instinctively. She did not know how, but she knew. “You’re talking about… Princess Amore?”

Sombra nodded. “After I’ve been given my second chance, I feel like I owe it to her to give her one as well.”

“But I thought… when you shattered her… that you….”

“No, Hope. She’s still alive, though I shudder to think what her mental state must be like after a thousand years as a thousand fragments scattered across the world. But I can still restore her.”

Hope’s face lit up. “You can? Oh, Sombra! Then, we have to do it!”

Sombra smiled back. “I know. It’s not going to be easy. I don’t even know where to start, but I know that I have to do this. I have to make things right by Princess Amore if I’m ever going to move on.”

“Both of us do,” Hope responded.

Then Hope noticed a particular cutie mark on one of the ponies at the bar. An oaken staff. Come to think of it, that was a crystal pony sitting there. A crystal pony whose coat was blue.

“There he is!” Hope said. “Follow me!”

“Lailoken!” she said as she approached.

Lailoken turned to look at the two new arrivals. Hope was surprised at his appearance, though she really should not have been. The beard was all gone, shaved off. Underneath, despite several wrinkles, Lailoken still had some of his youthful handsomeness. His mane was also cut short and slicked back now. His purple eyes were bright and clear. He looked well, or at least as well as a pony who had aged a thousand years could look.

“Hope,” he said. Then he looked to the figure beside Hope. If Sombra gave him any concern, he did not show it.

“What have you been doing with yourself since I last saw you?” Hope asked. “Have you just been hanging out in this dive bar?”

Lailoken shrugged. “Nothing much else to do. When you come back after a thousand years, Equestria looks like a very different place. I don’t need to tell you that.”

“You, at least, weren’t gone for a thousand years,” Hope said. “You were still wandering Equestria.”

Lailoken tapped his head. “I was gone. Up here.”

“Right,” Hope said with a nod. “But you can’t just sit around here and waste the life you’ve been given. You still need to do something with it.”

“I don’t know if I can,” Lailoken said. “I just don’t feel like there’s any place I belong in the new Equestria.”

“I know the feeling,” Hope said. “But your special talent has gone unused for over a millennium. You can’t let it go unused now.”

“What am I supposed to do? Find more druids? They haven’t existed for centuries.”

“No, but the skills they practiced are still needed. We always need more healers. I can’t do it all alone.”

“But where do I even start?”

“I’ll tell you what,” Hope said. “There’s a place in town, Seaddle Specialist Hospital. They’ve got quite a reputation and I’m sure they’d love to have a healer with your skills working for them. They haven’t had a decent pharmacist in a while. With your skills, you could probably even whip up a whole new bunch of medications for them in no time!”

“That sounds like chemistry,” Lailoken said. “I made potions. I didn’t do chemistry.”

Hope grinned. “It’s just the modern version of potion-making! Besides, they just lost their head doctor, so....”

Hope's grin disappeared. She fell silent as she thought of Dr. Fie.

Lailoken tilted his head as considered. Finally, he nodded. “Okay, I’ll check it out later.”

That was enough to snap Hope out of her reverie. She recovered. Pleased with her work, Hope turned to leave. Then she saw Sombra, standing there, rather uncertain as to what was going on.

“Oh, right….” Hope said as she turned back to Lailoken.

She tapped him on the foreleg. He faced her and Sombra again.

“I don’t think you two have ever been introduced,” Hope said. “Er, I mean, not properly. Lailoken, this is Sombra. Sombra, Lailoken.”

Sombra managed a small, “Nice to finally meet you.” Lailoken did not respond at all.

Hope gently nudged Sombra. He shifted his weight back and forth a little, unable to get comfortable. "I know, I know," he said to her.

“I’m sorry about what I did to you a thousand years ago,” he said to Lailoken. “I’m sorry that I tore apart your mind, drove you completely insane, and cursed you with a millennium of unending life without the youth to go with it. I am sorry for the unimaginable suffering I must have caused you. I know that you can probably never forgive me for that. But I want you to know that I will always be truly and deeply sorry for what I have done and how I have hurt you.”

Lailoken looked at Sombra for a moment, as though studying him. His expression did not change. Then he spoke.

“Pick up my tab and we’ll call it even.”

Then Lailoken turned and flagged down the barkeep. “Another round of drinks for everypony!”

As the other three ponies cheered, Sombra gave Hope an annoyed look. Hope just smiled innocently back. Sombra sighed and began to dig bits out from a saddlebag underneath his cape.

“I really should get rid of this thing,” he said as he pushed the ermine aside. “It made sense when I was a king. Now it just seems flamboyant.”

Hope tapped Lailoken’s foreleg again. “I just wanted to tell you one more thing,” she said.

Lailoken tore himself from his newest beverage to return his full attention to her.

“I want you to know that you were right,” Hope said. “All those years ago and again at the Empress of Equestria, when you said destiny isn’t fixed. You were right.”

Lailoken shrugged. “Maybe.”

“I never thought it would be so hard to come back to this place,” Hope said as she and Sombra walked through the halls of Seaddle Specialist Hospital, toward the third floor front desk.

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t feel comfortable, Hope,” Sombra said.

Hope shook her head. “No. We need to do this. I need to do this.”

Raspberry Ripple was at the front desk. When she saw Radiant Hope coming, her lips curved into a smile. This time, though, Hope could not tell whether it was supposed to be mean or kind.

“Haven’t seen you around in a while,” Raspberry Ripple remarked. “I didn’t think you’d ever come back, not after what happened.”

Raspberry pointed toward the wall. There, with the words “In Memoriam” above it, was a photograph of Dr. Fiddly Fie, his hooves on his chest, with his characteristic large grin and narrowed eyes.

“I had to,” Hope said. “For him, I had to.”

“You know, I always liked him,” Raspberry responded as she studied the portrait.

Hope smiled a little.

Raspberry then looked to Hope. And then from Hope to Sombra. She gave him a once-over. Her eyes focused particularly long on his red cape with ermine trim.

“But I see that you’re already on the rebound,” Raspberry said. “You do like the fancy boys, don’t you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sombra asked.

“Nothing,” Raspberry said, her tone indicating that it meant everything. To Hope, she said, “One of these days, honey, we need to have a long talk about your taste in stallions.”

“That’s it!” Sombra said. “I am throwing this cape into the next trash-bin I see!”

“Can I just have the key to Dr. Fie’s study, please?” Hope asked. “I’ve just come to clear it out.”

Raspberry’s eyes narrowed. “Is that really all you came to do?”

“What else?”

Raspberry pretended to go innocently back to her filing. “I just thought Seaddle Specialist’s new head doctor would have too much responsibility to up and leave just like that.”

Hope took a few steps back, a physical representation of how blown away she felt inside. “New head… doctor?”

“That’s the rumor that’s been going around,” Raspberry said. “I don’t know if it’s true. You’d have to ask the board of trustees. They keep sending ponies around here looking for you.”

After a moment, she slyly added. “I guess you can get to the top by playing the field….”

“Well, you don’t have to worry, Raspberry, because I’m not taking it!” Hope said. In a huff, she levitated up the key Raspberry had placed on the desk and stormed toward the elevator.

“Hope, wait!” Sombra called. “I don’t think you should just turn it down out-of-hoof! Let’s think about it for a little while!”

But Hope was already gone. Sombra was left alone. Alone with Raspberry Ripple, who was giving him a knowing look.

Sombra noticed her eyes on him. They made him feel embarrassed. Pointing to his cape, he said. “This isn’t… I’m not….”

“You don’t have to explain anything to me, honey,” Raspberry said. “I always did say that Hope looked more like a colt than a mare.”

“No, no, that’s not it!” Sombra said. He felt something he had decidedly not felt in his thousand years as a monster. He felt flustered. “It’s that…. You see…. I’m King Sombra!”

Raspberry shrugged. “I don’t follow politics.”

“You really don’t know who I am? I tried to conquer the Crystal Empire three times!”

“Don’t read the news. My husband’s editor at the local paper, so I try to avoid it. Otherwise I’d have something to talk to him about.”

Sombra just looked to Raspberry in disbelief. Then he looked to the elevators and began to rush toward them.

“For the first time, I almost regret being redeemed!” he said to himself. “Are all modern ponies this crazy?”

“It’s been a week, Hope,” Sombra said. “You still haven’t told me what you want to do.”

“You told me to take some time and think about it before rejecting it,” Hope responded.

They were in Dr. Fie’s study. Hope was sitting at Dr. Fie desk, slumped down in the chair, while Sombra paced back and forth.

“I said that because I wanted you to think it over before either accepting it or rejecting. You still sound like you aren’t even considering it. Like you’re just trying to find the words to turn them down.”

Sombra grew tired of pacing. He began to lower himself into Dr. Fie’s old armchair.

“Don’t do that!” Hope said loudly.

Sombra jumped up, startled.

“Dr. Fie didn’t like anypony but him sitting in his armchair,” Hope explained.

“Hope, I know you miss him,” Sombra said. “I know you don’t feel right taking over in his place. But he clearly believed you should. He was the one who sent that message from the Empress of Equestria to the board of trustees telling them that all the healing, and this hospital’s extraordinary recovery rate, had been because of you. He was the one who recommended that you should take over for him, in the event of his passing.”

“I know,” Hope said quietly, “but still….”

Sombra shook his head. “Hope, we said we wanted to build a new life for ourselves. Maybe this is where we start.”

“No. We said we’d start with finding Princess Amore.”

“I can do that on my own. I don’t want to see you miss another opportunity to become the pony you were meant to be.”

“The pony I was meant to be….” Hope said to herself with a mirthless laugh. Then, to Sombra, she said, “But I promised you that we would find her and save her together. I’m not going back on that.”

“Fine,” Sombra said. “But it doesn’t mean you can’t have this. I need time, anyway, to figure out where to begin looking for her fragments. And I’m sure that, being the top doctor at a hospital like this, you’ll get plenty of vacation-time.”

“It’s not that simple,” Hope said. “I promised you and–”

“You promised me something else, Hope. Do you remember? When the Siege was over and I thought I was going to be imprisoned with the other umbrum? I made you promise me that you wouldn’t run away again. Do you remember that, Hope? You made that promise.”

Hope looked up at Sombra. Her voice became tense. “Are you saying I’m running away?”

Sombra did not answer.

“You don’t understand,” Hope said. “If I accept their offer, I’m going to have to stay here. I can’t go on vacations. I can’t help you find the princess. With my healing power, I could never leave. None of the other doctors could take care of things for me.”

“If you leave now, they’ll have to,” Sombra said.

Hope looked down. “Of course, maybe if I tried to teach them the healing spells I’ve developed…. But I don’t know if anypony could use them without my special ability….”

“It might be worthwhile to find out.”

Hope seemed tempted by the idea. But then she shook her head furiously, causing her mane to nearly cover her eyes. “No! I can’t do it!”

Sombra nodded sadly. “I was afraid you’d say that.”

There was a knock on the door. A rather forceful knock.

“Come in,” Sombra said.

“Sombra!” Hope said. “We’re having a private discussion!”

It was too late. The door was open. And in trotted Starlight Glimmer.

“Starlight!” Hope said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“I asked her to come,” Sombra said. “I figured if I couldn’t talk any sense into you, maybe she could. You two both knew this Dr. Fie. I didn’t.”

“Well, well, new head doctor of Seaddle Specialist!” Starlight said. “Somepony’s really moving up in the world. Are you going to clear out the incurables’ ward? Maybe start using it for ponies who actually need help? Somepony should needs to do that.”

“I would,” Hope said, "but I'm not taking the job."

“What?” Starlight said, approaching the desk. “How can you not take the job? Hope, this is your special talent. You were born for this!”

“Starlight, you should know by now that I don’t believe in destiny,” Hope responded.

“I know by now when you’re lying,” Starlight said.

Hope had been desperate to change the subject for a while now. Starlight’s sudden appearance gave her the opportunity.

“But how are you doing?” she said. “What have you been up to?”

“Trying to find Sunburst, mostly,” Starlight said. “No luck with that as of yet. But Princess Twilight is helping me. We’ll find him together, eventually. I’m sure of it.”

“And all the ponies you wanted to make things right with?”

“I’m still working on that. I still need to make my way back to my town. I want to see if I can set things right there. But first, I was heading to San Franciscolt to try and see Stirring. He’s working for the Daily North Equestria now, you know. I thought maybe I could patch things up with him.”

“Then what are you doing in Seaddle?”

Starlight smiled. It was the first smile Hope had ever seen on her face that carried absolutely no trace of smugness. “I had just made it to San Franciscolt when I got a message saying that you needed my help. Since you’re the only friend I haven’t managed to completely alienate yet, I thought you should be my top priority.”

Hope smiled. But in her smile was a trace of sadness. “Thank you, Starlight. Thank you for being my friend. I wasn’t always the best friend to you. But thank you.”

Starlight chuckled. “If we’re comparing notes, I think I outdid you in the ‘bad friend’ category by quite a bit.”

“You always have to come out ahead, don’t you?” Hope said playfully.

“Yep, always do," Starlight answered. "But thank you, Hope, for being my friend. You didn’t just save my life on the Empress. You saved it even before that. Which is why you should take this job! You’re a healer, Hope! It’s who you are!”

“You tied those two completely-different points together rather nicely,” Sombra said. “You’d make a great politician. Or a propagandist.”

Starlight grinned. “Been there, done that.”

“I’m not taking the job,” Hope said, quietly but firmly. “Nothing either of you can say will make me change my mind.”

“Not to sound rude, but this just occurred to me,” Starlight said. “Why are they offering you the position in the first place? Don’t you need a medical degree for it?”

Starlight looked to the plethora of degrees on Dr. Fie’s wall. “How did he, of all ponies, even earn all these?”

“I think at least half of them come from those universities that mail you a degree if you pay five bits,” Hope said.

"I wouldn't have expected he'd actually do that," Starlight responded. "Not the part about degrees by mail. He would definitely do that. But paying so much money for them? He's still surprising me!"

“I don’t have any degrees," Hope continued, "but I guess a thousand-plus years of experience with healing every ailment known to ponykind kinda trumps that.”

Starlight nodded. “It sure does! You see, Hope? This is perfect for you!”

Hope looked over to a large case that was on her desk. She ran her hoof over the top of it. Inside, there was a large, golden medal. Engraved on the medal where images of the sun and moon and the words, “Hero of Equestria.”

“What’s that?” Starlight asked.

“Princess Celestia awarded this to Dr. Fie posthumously,” Hope said. “I accepted it in his place.”

“So, he did win it in the end, just like he always used to dream of!” Starlight said. “I can practically hear him gloating it up to that heavenly choir of his.”

Then, she took on that motherly expression which Hope had come to know so well. “But if that’s what’s bothering you, you know that Dr. Fie would want you to have this position. He cared about you, Hope. Whatever his many faults – and Celestia knows I was never his biggest fan – he cared about you. He wanted you to be happy.”

“I know,” Hope said, not taking her eyes off the medal. “Even after all the things that have happened to me, even after everything that I’ve done, he still thought I could have a happy life, that I still deserved it. I am so grateful to him for that.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Starlight said. Redemption had not removed her tendency to impatience, it seemed.

Sombra walked around the desk. “There’s something that’s still holding you back. What is it, Hope?”

Hope did not answer.

Sombra crouched down a little to be at Hope’s eye-level. He put a hoof on her shoulder.

“You’ve always told me everything,” he said. “I’m the one who kept secrets from you. And we saw how that turned out. Don’t stop talking to me now.”

Hope let out a sigh. A long, difficult sigh. Sombra could see that tears were beginning to form in her eyes.

“Roaring Storm,” she said.

“What? But, he’s gone! Hope, he’s gone!”

“I know. It’s not him, specifically. It’s what he said to me. He told me that, where he comes from, that the umbrum get released again. He said that they nearly destroy Equestria.”

“Hope, I won’t let that happen,” Sombra said. “I would never release them again. You know that.”

“You aren’t the one who releases them,” Hope said, looking deeply into Sombra’s eyes. “Roaring Storm said that it’s me who does.”

“Hope, you can’t believe that!” Starlight said. “Roaring Storm was just trying to play mind-games with you. He wanted to soften you up so he could use you in his scheme. That’s all!”

Hope shook her head. “No. He wasn’t lying about this. He was sent from the future to eliminate me. Why would he do that if I didn’t do something truly terrible in the years to come?”

“I don’t know, Hope,” Sombra said. “But, if anything, we’ve proved that the future doesn’t have to be set in stone. We can change it. Whatever happens, we can face it together. And I know that you’re stronger than Roaring Storm thought. Even if something does happen, even if you’re tempted, you’ll overcome it.”

“Oh, Sombra!” Hope said as she jumped out of the chair and embraced him. “We’ll overcome it, together!”

They hugged for what seemed a long time. Starlight began to shuffle toward the door, somewhat embarrassed to be party to this rather intimate moment.

“Starlight, wait!” Hope said as she let go of Sombra.

“What?” Starlight asked. “I was just going to get some air. You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

“It just occurred to me,” Hope said. “Roaring Storm said his ability to travel through time was from technology developed using Starswirl’s time-spell. But you destroyed the time-spell. That should mean that his ponies will never get time-travel, shouldn't it? And that means that he should never be able to come back to our time in the first place, doesn't it? And if he never comes back, none of this should have happened.”

“But it did happen, Hope,” Starlight said. “We’re all still here, so it happened.”

“But how is that possible?” Hope asked. “Won’t that… cause problems?”

“Like what? A massive paradox that rips the whole universe apart? That's ridiculous!” Starlight said. “Though I guess I could ask Twilight about it just to be on the safe side. She probably knows more about those things than I would. That is still hard for me to admit, by the way.”

“I’d feel better if you did ask Princess Twilight,” Hope said. “But you don’t think the universe could be ripped apart?”

“Be serious!” Starlight responded. “Things like that don’t happen!”

Underneath Canterlot Castle extends a series of labyrinthine tunnels. They lead far below the city of Canterlot, deep into the mountain on which it is so precariously placed. In fact, how far they go down has never been precisely determined. Nor will you find them on any floor-plan because, truth be told, they were here long before the castle itself was. Their existence is known only to a select few. Actually, to only two.

In one of the deepest of these tunnels, deep inside the mountain, Princess Luna waited impatiently.

“Come, sister, what is taking you so long?” she asked the darkness.

Of course, she expected no response. But she got one.

“Finding it wasn't as easy as I hoped. I had to dig through the entirety of the Starswirl the Bearded wing to find it."

Suddenly, a sun-like glow illuminated the entirety of this particular passage. A glow that emanated from Princess Celestia’s horn.

“We really need to order a full reorganization of the Royal Library,” Celestia said. “We never seem to be able to find what we need when we need it. Thankfully, we weren’t actually racing against the imminent destruction of the universe this time.”

“Sister, I too remember the Fillydelphia Incident,” Luna said. “You do not need to remind me of it.”

"I wish I could forget it, myself," Celestia responded. "But there isn't a memory-erasing spell in all Equestria powerful enough."

Celestia shined her horn to reveal a very large vault. The door to the vault was ancient and appeared to be carved out of an even more ancient oak. Scratched into the blackened bark of the oak was a variety of arcane symbols, their meanings long since lost in the mists of time. Around the symbols were positioned three wheels, each one of a different size. On each were intricately-detailed images of leaves, leaves that together formed mocking, laughing faces. Once, they had all been painted different colors, but those had worn off centuries ago, leaving only the faintest traces of blue, silver, and green.

"So this is the infamous vault once used by the druids?" Luna asked. "It was regarded as a myth before my banishment. Ponies of this era do not even remember it."

"This is it," Celestia responded, her tone suggesting a sense of awe. And there were few things which could hold the Princess of the Sun in awe.

"So the legends are true, then?" Luna asked. "All the dark legends about what the druids used to do...."

Celestia nodded, not taking her eyes off the oaken door. "I'm afraid so. This is indeed where the druids kept their storied supply of bootleg cider. The parties they threw were incredible. Of course, the cider's all gone now. This vault hasn't been used in ages."

"Let's just get this over with," Luna said. "This place is starting to make me uncomfortable. I fear it may be haunted."

Luna’s horn lit. Her magic joined with Celestia's and both made their way toward the door. The symbols glowed and the wheels began to turn. The door to the vault flew open. Beyond it was a large room. Perhaps it was decorated, perhaps not. There was not enough light to tell. But the princesses could just barely make out the broken remains of a number of bottles of cider.

A scroll, surrounded by sun-yellow light, floated up from behind Celestia and found its way into the vault. Swiftly, the door slammed behind it. The wheels spun back in the opposite direction, the symbols lost their glow, and the light disappeared from Celestia and Luna’s horns.

As they stared at what they could still make out of the vault in the darkness, Luna said, “Are you sure that is the last surviving copy of Starswirl’s time-spell, sister?”

“Yes, Luna, I am sure,” Celestia said. “I had copies made of all of Starswirl’s spells. In light of what happened with that yellow pegasus, I’ve had the other copies destroyed. But I feel it is important to save one for posterity’s sake.”

“No wonder you are so fond of Twilight Sparkle,” Luna observed. “You sound just like her, sometimes.”

“Best not to let Twilight know about this. She's been asking so many questions about time-travel lately and I don't think she's ready for the answers,” Celestia said. “Nopony but the two of us can know. Time-travel is clearly too dangerous for even the most capable of hooves.”

“And you’re certain there’s no way that anypony but the two of us can find this place?” Luna asked.

“Not unless an army of dark abominations manages to get past our defenses, completely wipe out our forces, defeat the two of us, and raze Canterlot to the ground,” Celestia said.

The two princesses exchanged glances. Then, together, they laughed.

“But what are the odds of that happening again?” Celestia asked with a smile.

“Yeah,” Hope said. “I guess paradoxes and unstable timelines are a pretty crazy idea."

Just then, there was another knock on the door. Raspberry Ripple barged in without waiting for a reply.

“I don’t mean to intrude,” she said, “but there’s just been a massive snowstorm on the east side of Seaddle.”

“Only the east side?” Hope asked.

Raspberry nodded. “Yep. Word is that Princess Twilight finally sacked that hot-shot new weather controller she brought in at Cloudsdale and now she’s retaliating against the princess with one last blizzard.”

“But why not send it to, I don’t know, Canterlot or Ponyville?” Starlight asked. “Why Seaddle?”

“Honey, have you seen how that pegasus manages the weather?” Raspberry responded. “She hasn’t exactly earned a reputation for accuracy!”

Hope approached Raspberry. “It must be pretty bad for you to come and tell us.”

“Word is, they’re sending upwards of a hundred-fifty ponies our way, and that’s just to begin with,” Raspberry said. “Mostly frostbite, but it’s going to be a lot to handle. I didn’t know who to take this to, so I figured I’d come to our head doctor. That is, if we have a head doctor….”

Hope caught Raspberry’s meaning. She glanced first at Sombra and then at Starlight Glimmer. Both of them responded with reassuring looks and encouraging nods.

Radiant Hope smiled as resolve came into those sky-blue eyes. “Let’s get started,” she said.

It was dark now. Radiant Hope had finally finished up with the last of the frostbite victims. There had been a 100% recovery rate. No pony in Seaddle would be losing a limb to the cold today. But, knowing she would be late, both Starlight Glimmer and Sombra had found places for themselves among the cots that had once been used for quick naps during 24+ hour shifts, the type of place where Hope had until so recently spent most of her nights. They were both fast asleep by the time she was done.

She did not have the heart to wake them. So Radiant Hope had made her way up to the top of the hospital, to a little balcony that overlooked the city. There, she leaned against the balustrade and turned her mind over the day’s events.

“Excuse me, I didn’t realize anypony else was going to be up here.”

Hope turned. Coming out onto the balcony was a well-built golden earth pony, a stallion with blond hair and a scraggly beard that seemed to be forming into the beginnings of a goatee. He was dressed in a smart, expensive suit and a green tie.

“Oh, Mr. Queen,” Hope said. “What are you still doing here? I thought you’d be gone by now. Your frostbite wasn’t even that bad. It was barely anything, really. Seems like you’ve built up a tolerance to cold somewhere.”

The stallion did not respond.

Stepping over to the railing, he looked out across the city. Somewhere, in the distance, sirens blared. These were not the sirens of ambulances – Hope had learned to recognize those instantly – but were instead the sirens of the law.

“You’re Radiant Hope, aren’t you?” he said.

“Yes, I am,” Hope responded. For the first time, saying so did not cause her any mental anguish.

“I’ve heard about you,” he said. “You’re the pony they say nearly brought down the Crystal Empire last year.”

Radiant Hope, perhaps, should have been upset by the stallion’s statement. She should, perhaps have feared another round of accusations like the ones she had, until recently, constantly subjected herself to. But she was not upset and she did not fear. Something in the stallion’s voice calmed her. Hope knew what that sound in his voice was.

It was understanding.

“Yes, I nearly did,” Hope said. “I was just thinking about that, to be honest. I’ve learned to live with my mistakes, with what I did. But I still wonder, what type of pony does it make me?”

“ You might not believe this, but I know what you’re going through.”

“You do?” Hope asked. “I know you were trapped on that island. But did you–”

The stallion nodded. He looked down. Hope thought that he must be mentally replaying his life.

“Yes, I had to do things to survive that I’m not proud of,” he said. “Like you, I did a lot of things which ponies would have a hard time accepting if they knew. I have trouble accepting them most days. I don't like to think about them much, but they're always there, always in the back of my mind.”

“But you don’t seem like it’s tearing you up inside,” Hope said. “That’s how I felt for a long time. Like it was tearing me up inside. But I don’t anymore.”

“You’ve discovered a way to deal with it,” the stallion responded. “So have I.”

“What’s that?” Hope asked.

The stallion looked at her out of the corner of his eye and smiled. The sirens continued to blare. “You probably think a lot about light and darkness. I know I do. Especially lately.”

Hope nodded. “I do. I recently had to make a choice between light and darkness. I chose light. Or, at least, I think I did. There are some days when I still don’t know.”

“While I admit that I prefer green, myself–”

“That color seems to be coming up a lot around me lately,” Hope observed. “I wonder why?”

The stallion shrugged. “What I was saying is, I too have had to make that choice. I have to make it every day. I don’t think there will ever be a day when I don’t have to make it all over again.”

“That sounds difficult,” Hope said. “No, it is difficult. I know, because I have to make that same choice everyday too.”

The stallion nodded. “But it’s not so bad. It's not bad that we have to keep making that choice. Believe it or not, it’s taught me something. I’ve learned that it’s not what you’ve done that defines you. It’s what you do now. I believe that ponies are capable of redemption, that the bad things we have done do not have to be who we are. I believe that, even after being shrouded in darkness, being so completely filled up with it that you think it is the only thing left, there can still be a light in you, and it can still shine through. That darkness, it makes you someone else. It makes you something else. But that isn’t necessarily for the worse. I believe that you can come out of the darkness, better and stronger than when you went into it.”

“Sounds like you’re saying that light shines most brightly when it comes through darkness,” Hope said.

The police sirens in the distance grew louder. The stallion reached for the pocket of his expensive suit. “That’s what I believe, anyway. But I also believe that those sirens mean that somepony has failed this city.”

He drew something out of his pocket, something small. With a click, it expanded outward, forming itself into an archer’s bow. With a flick of his other hoof, a green arrow came flying up from his sleeve.

“And I believe nopony should be allowed to fail this city,” he said. “I also believe somepony has to make sure that they don't.”

He positioned the arrow in his bow. Attached to the end of the arrow was a long line of black cable extending into the stallion’s sleeve.

“How do you even do that with hooves?” Hope asked.

“Five years of practice,” the stallion responded as he let the arrow fly.

He quickly tied the other end of the cable to balustrade and stepped out on top of it. Turning back one last time, he gave Radiant Hope a knowing wink. Then, without hesitation, he jumped down, using his bow and the cable to glide over the rooftops of the city.

Hope could only watch him disappear into the strange mixture of light and darkness that was Seaddle at night.

She stood there for a little while longer, having even more to think over. Light and darkness, darkness and light. They seemed to be everywhere around Hope. Looking back, they always had been. They probably always would be. And Radiant Hope finally felt completely fine with that.

"Light shines most brightly when it comes through darkness,” she repeated.

At last, Radiant Hope smiled.

“Good thing I decided to stay,” she said. “Clearly, this city’s going to need a lot of healing. I hope Raspberry Ripple hasn’t left yet. I think we’re going to be in for a long night.”