The previous evening - April 6th

Tempest Shadow scowls under her hood, teeth bared, ears flat against her skull. Sparks sizzle as they fall onto the table as she again tries to drive the distractions from her mind: the clink of coins in Captain Celaeno’s purse as the green-feathered captain motions somewhere on a weathered map of Equus, the creak and groan of the airship’s timbers as the motley parrot crew load yet another ton of paste and sand into the hold, or the bright golden glow lighting the clouds as the sun sets behind a hazy horizon.

She closes her eyes, furious at the celestial reminder. Deep breaths work to calm her, but not completely; if she isn’t careful she’ll burn a hole in her hood. If any of the crew glance at her out-of-the-way nook she doesn’t notice or care, so long as they do not keep her from her goal. She blocks the chatter of the captain discussing potential contracts with the first mate from her mind, again trying to focus.

Celestia has given her a peek, a fleeting glimpse, of what lies behind the veil. The alicorn seeks knowledge as ravenously as she devours cakes, everypony knows this, as evidenced by the reams of reports and legions of letters she receives daily from every corner of Equestria. She claims to share every scrap of paper that crosses her desk with the Council, and thus the Storm King. Yet even if the claim is true - Tempest has her doubts, but she can’t see the vaunted advocate of the Elements of Harmony caught in an outright falsehood - the phrase ‘crosses her desk’ implies there are items of interest that do not cross her desk.

A orchid hoof digs into Tempest’s skull as she tries to recall something, anything, that might prove useful. The Staff of Sacanas had been one such attempt. Finding another like it? A powerful artifact and yet one whose abilities are niche or circumstantial enough to not warrant the precautions found at, say, the Restricted section of the Canterlot Archives? The sheer quantity of reports parsed means that finding anything relevant is like finding a blade of grass in a field. No; it is more like finding which two blades of grass are identical.

But now? She has one of those blades in her hoof. And it will only be a matter of time before she finds the second.

A momentary lull in the captain’s tirade trips an alarm; the unicorn’s ears flick warily, her eyes opening minutely to scan her surroundings while appearing to slumber.

“E-excuse me,” a soft, high-pitched voice asks from off the side of the airship, out of Tempest’s view. “Are you offering passage?”

“Twenty Storm Bucks,” Captain Celaeno grunts out. “Realm of Clouds, then contract depending.”

“Hmm,” the enquirer muses. “Have you taken any other passengers?”

“Just one so far,” Captain Celaeno answers, lazily flicking a feather at Tempest Shadow before going back to her papers with a weary sigh.

Tempest Shadow recognizes the purple unicorn who peeks over the deck as Radiant Hope: an arctic blue mane that frames her face like snow heaped against a window, the golden caduceus on her flank currently concealed under a heavy winter cloak, and piercing eyes like a frozen stream. Her mind instantly snaps to the dossier on the crystal pony, though the contents are understandably sparse: Generosity (Greed) user specializing in healing, a valuable asset under any circumstance, who trained under Celestia and Luna before the Empire disappeared.

Radiant Hope’s passive expression brightens as soon as she spots the orchid unicorn, an infectious cheer that gets the parrots to sit up straighter and almost smile in spite of their gruff exteriors. “Certainly! Twenty Storm Bucks, you say? And I can put another thirty toward passage to the Crystal Empire. Whenever your other routes allow, of course.”

“Of course,” Captain Celaeno responds with a flicker of happiness, though she seems surprised at her own tone. She inspects a clawed hand after pocketing the proffered plump bag of coins; the other drums against the map and leaves little pock marks in the worn material, one eye never leaving the grinning unicorn as she makes her way aboard.

“Good evening!” Radiant Hope greets as she sits across from Tempest Shadow. Her horn flares gold, removing her heavy cloak; after a moment’s inspection she lays it down against the hard deck. She nestles against the downy fabric with a happy coo. It serves as an admirable barrier against the growing chill, one that will only get worse as shadows lengthen and the airship rises. “I was hoping to find you!”

“Really.” Tempest Shadow lets the silence linger, curious if the vivacious unicorn’s smile would falter.

It does not. If anything, it grows wider. “Is that so wrong?”

A low growl rumbles in the back of Tempest’s throat. “And why would you try to find me?”

This time, Radiant Hope’s smile falters as she skittishly glances from side to side. She says in a low voice, “Because you’re the only one who can help me.”

Tempest raises an eyebrow in disbelief. “Why should I trust you?”

“You’re not the only pony who lost something dear to them,” Radiant Hope says somberly. She stares off to the north, not focusing on anything except perhaps the distant mountains of the Frozen North.

Tempest snorts. “You wouldn’t rather run along to your precious Princesses for help?”

A scowl fit to match any of Tempest’s best cuts a ruthless line across Radiant Hope’s visage. It looks out of place on the otherwise effervescent unicorn. “The only Princess I trust is gone.”

Tempest Shadow leans back. She doesn’t fully trust the unicorn, but neither is she as nakedly suspicious. “Then what do you want from me?”

Radiant Hope’s lips pull together as she considers. “What do you know of the Crystal Empire?”

“I know enough to mount an invasion,” Tempest smoothly replies. “Were I still commander of the Storm King’s armada.”

Radiant Hope’s eyes go wide at the suggestion, her breath catching. It takes a moment for her to recover, shaking her legs out to help them relax. Her jaw locks as she looks away, afraid of saying the words on the tip of her tongue.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Tempest callously asserts. “You’re comparing me to King Sombra, trying to decide if I’m worth the risk.”

A slight smirk crosses Radiant Hope’s muzzle. “Yes,” she says with a small nod of her head. Her horn flares; a twinkling bubble briefly surrounds them, muffling the captain’s continued conversation. “You’re right, but not for the reason you think you are. Because I knew King Sombra, I knew him better than anypony else. They all thought he was evil, but he wasn’t! And I know that you aren’t evil, either.”

Tempest Shadow looks down as Radiant Hope stretches a hoof forward, backed by a radiant smile that threatens to overwhelm her. She steels herself against the onslaught of Kindness (technically Malevolence, though ponies get defensive when the distinction is pointed out), her years of training serving as an adequate barrier. She strongly doubts Hope is projecting such an assault consciously, much like the sparks that spray from her horn when her emotions rage, yet that realization makes the storm no less worrisome to weather. Especially with mental manipulation being nearly impossible to detect without safeguards; against a master, though they are thankfully few and far between (though confirming that to conform with reality is a Nightmare), even noticing failed attempts can be an indication they are attempting to lull one to a false sense of security.

The purple unicorn’s smile freezes when Tempest Shadow doesn’t immediately grasp her offered hoof. Her foreleg twitches, though remains outstretched, as if the reminder might get the orchid unicorn to accept.

If Tempest Shadow thought Radiant Hope was deliberately distorting her perceptions, much like the fallen King she advocates for, her reaction would be markedly more violent. As it is, she merely returns a pointed stare. “You never answered my question.”

Radiant Hope sighs, retracting her hoof and looking to the side. “I need your help searching for a way to bring my Sombra back to me.” She turns back, eyes watering and muzzle quivering. “He was… No, he is everything to me. I would do anything in my power in return. Including…”

Tempest Shadow cocks her head, intrigued as the purple unicorn glances above her eyes.

Radiant Hope gulps, unsure and hesitant. “Including fixing your horn.”

A gruff snort meets Hope’s assertion. “You think I haven’t had healers look at my horn before? Even Celestia thinks it too risky to attempt, and none other would even give me that glimmer of hope.”

Radiant Hope shakes the doubt from her body, standing straight and tall. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna took me under their tutelage because of my abilities. They praised me as being the best healer they have ever seen!”

“There has been a thousand years for them to refine their techniques,” Tempest Shadow counters. “What makes you think you are still their best student?”

“Because I have something the others don’t,” Radiant Hope states with an unbreakable conviction. “Not because ponies traveled from far and wide for my healing, though they did. Not because Princess Celestia and Princess Luna noticed my abilities, though they did. But because I did something nopony else has done before, or since. When the darkness tried to overtake Sombra, and he nearly succumbed to it? I fought off that darkness. I transformed him into what he should be. What he is!”

“Prove it.” Tempest Shadow stares into Radiant Hope’s eyes. “Fix my horn, and I will gladly follow you to the ends of Equus.”

Hope’s confidence shatters. “I-I can’t. I’m not strong enough.” Tears flow from light blue eyes, the frozen river melting. “I wasn’t strong enough then, either. The darkness returned, and I wasn’t there to stop it. In my celebration, I had abandoned my one friend, my one true friend. And he was lost. I thought I could save the others, I tried to go to the Princesses, but I didn’t realize that the only way to save them all was to save Sombra. And I didn’t.”

“So you have nothing.” Tempest Shadow sits back with a disappointed sigh. “Just empty promises.”

“No.” Radiant Hope wipes the tears from her eyes, taking a deep breath. “I have only broken one promise in my life, when I betrayed Sombra. But once we are reunited? He is a master of magics, including many forbidden by the Princesses. Together, I promise you, we will restore your horn.”

Tempest Shadow considers for long seconds, trying to get a read on Radiant Hope. The unicorn certainly projects confidence, an assuredness she adores breaking out of boastful braggarts, especially those that far outclass or outsize her. But there is no excess in Hope’s words, or anything but sincere faith in her convictions.

“Then we have a deal.” Tempest Shadow reaches forward, grasping Radiant Hope’s hoof. The purple unicorn seems surprised at the quick conversion, though not unhappily, and firmly squeezes back.

“Great!” Radiant Hope’s confidence falters, if momentarily, the stomps of the crew returning as her muting bubble dissipates. “Any, um, idea where to start? Canterlot?”

Tempest Shadow considers. For all the alicorn hoards information, Celestia does not keep it under lock and key. No; Invictus Solaris, for all that her claims to be unbeaten go uncontested, is acutely aware of the potential of her own mortality. She also has an admittedly impressive number of monsters defeated and locked away, not only in Tartarus. Should any break free, such as the power-hungry centaur Tirek, or even worse? She dares not allow the knowledge of how she defeated them to disappear, as happened when Princess Amore, Empress of the Crystal Empire, was overthrown by King Sombra. And she wouldn’t store anything truly dangerous so close to the capital.

“Not Canterlot.” The orchid unicorn smirks as the airship takes off, no other passengers joining them. “Your original plan. The Crystal Empire.”

Next Chapter: Ch. 64 - Emperor's Mastery, Part One Estimated time remaining: 21 Hours, 43 Minutes