Flurry Heart cautiously approached the black pony on the ground. "Black Alley?"
He groaned and blinked a few times. He lifted his hoof and pushed himself up wearily.
"Black Alley, I'm so happy you're okay!" Flurry Heart hugged him.
"Princess Flurry Heart?!" Black Alley quickly pulled away and bowed.
"What's that for? You don't have to do that for me."
Black Alley glanced up at her and looked down again. "I-I'm not sure I understand, Your Highness."
"Bla-." Flurry Heart choked up. "Black Alley, it's me. Don't you remember me?"
"Sure, I've seen pictures."
"Black Alley, get up!" Flurry Heart pulled him up and pulled him toward Red Storm and Sharp Shard, who had emerged to see the interaction. "Do you remember them?"
"I don't know, I mean . . . they seem kind of familiar. Have we met before?"
Sharp Shard stepped forward. "Black Alley, it's me. Your best bro."
Black Alley just looked at them all in turn.
"He obviously has no memory of the time Sombre was in him. Or . . . was him," Red Storm said.
"Sombre . . . ." Black Alley growled and shrank back, holding his hoof to his head.
"Black Alley!" Flurry Heart touched his withers.
"I went into the storm . . . after my dad . . . and . . . Sombre was there . . . . He took me. He was in me. He became me," Black Alley said with a shudder. He growled and shook his head.
"What's happening?" Flurry Heart asked.
"I'm getting . . . flashes. Flashes of memory . . . . Nothing specific. More of a feeling than an image."
"Maybe you'll eventually remember," Flurry Heart said optimistically.
"Maybe, but I'm not . . . sure that I want to."
"Do you remember being homeless?"
"What?"
"Well . . . Sharp Shard and Red Storm don't have good home lives . . . but I've got plenty of room in the castle!"
"Wait . . . are you offering to let me stay in the castle?!"
"Wait, no. We don't have a castle." Flurry Heart grinned. "We can be homeless together!"
"This is all so confusing," Black Alley said, taking a step back.
Shining Armor appeared overhead, whooping with delight. His magic moment of perfect flight ended and he plummeted, wings suddenly out of sync. He yelled and flailed. He teleported before he reached the ground and appeared right side up on the ground beside Cadence, looking quite disoriented. Flurry Heart trotted toward him.
"What happened? Why couldn't I fly anymore?"
"You get a couple minutes to enjoy your new wings before they stop working and you have to actually work up the muscles," Cadence explained.
"Wait till Twilight hears about this!" Shining Armor said competitively.
All the Crystal Ponies helped tear down Sombre's black stone castle and rebuild the bright Crystal Castle. In the meantime, Flurry Heart convinced her parents to sleep in the warehouse for the homeless instead of taking advantage of one of the many offers by well-meaning citizens. They agreed, and several other rich ponies decided to try it as well. The whole warehouse buzzed with excitement. Cadence and Shining Armor struggled to cope with the hard ground instead of their cushy mattresses and pillows.
"Why don't you help these ponies?" Flurry Heart asked.
"What do you mean?" Cadence asked.
"You can't just ignore them! In our castle we have much more than we need, and these ponies have nothing!"
"We don't ignore them," Shining Armor said.
"But Black Alley told me they're all alone. There's nopony to help them."
"Black Alley as in King Sombre?" Shining Armor asked.
Flurry Heart paused. "Oh . . . ."
"We have programs that give homeless or unemployed ponies money to buy food. It's only good for food, so they can't spend it on drugs or anything else they don't need, and it's barely enough to survive. Instead, we encourage private organizations to offer aid to the poor and homeless. Private organizations can give out food, teach ponies how to get and hold a job, and how to maintain a house. A large percentage of homeless ponies is constantly changing, as some lose their livelihood and some get back in the game."
"Oh. I'm sorry. That was one of the reasons I was so mad at you. I thought you didn't care about these ponies."
"But you're right about one thing," Shining Armor said, "A big castle is much more than we need. Why don't we build a slightly smaller castle? We don't need an outrageous number of bedrooms and meeting halls."
"The castle is a sign of authority!" Cadence argued, "A small castle represents a weak ruler, and the people will begin to question our leadership."
"A small castle is a sign of humility," Shining Armor countered, "Ponies will like that, and see that we're not so different from them. Ponies will follow a relatable and personable ruler."
Cadence sighed. "You've been right about everything this whole time, my dear. Let's build a slightly smaller castle."
Shining Armor spread his wings to cover Cadence and Flurry Heart. Flurry Heart spread a wing to cover Black Alley. They all laid down their heads.
Red Storm and Sharp Shard came to help rebuild the castle. Flurry Heart was surprised how much the presence of her friends improved the work experience. They laughed and teased each other and still got plenty of work done. When they had to leave, Flurry Heart went back to her parents.
"Black Alley doesn't remember the last two years, but your other friends are still criminals," Shining Armor said softly.
Flurry Heart stopped. "Well then I'm a criminal too!"
Shining Armor and Cadence looked at each other.
"You've been making me choose between my parents and my friends! I don't want to have to choose! Can't I just have both?"
Shining Armor and Cadence whispered to each other.
"Okay. We'll give them a chance, but if any of you repeat any criminal behaviors again, we'll have to rethink."
As soon as the castle was complete - more like a mansion than a castle - Black Alley moved in. His personality began to return, but it was always softer than it was before. He still loved adventure and mischief, but he cared if somepony got hurt. He had sharp mood swings and Flurry Heart once caught him crying for his dad and trying to be angry instead. She left him alone. He suffered from chronic nightmares.
The nightmares never improved, but overall he improved gradually. Sometimes he randomly remembered something he'd done when he was Sombre without even realizing it. His mood swings stopped and he was no longer triggered by small things that reminded him of his time as Sombre. But mentioning Sombre still caused him to shut down.
Flurry Heart had to resume her Princess responsibilities and training. Shining Armor and Cadence helped her with long, meaningful, encouraging conversations. Black Alley offered to help her with her duties and join in her lessons. They suffered together, but Black Alley's presence lessened the suffering. After a while, Flurry Heart began to improve much more rapidly than ever before. The work didn't seem so hard, the diplomacy not so boring. Most days, Flurry Heart and Black Alley had time to visit Red Storm and Sharp Shard.
Red Storm and Sharp Shard were not enthusiastic about Flurry Heart and Black Alley's new law-abiding way of life. The group had trouble getting along, until Flurry Heart took them the same places they used to go, but respectfully and legally. Flurry Heart paid for everything and Red Storm and Sharp Shard eventually decided it wasn't so bad to not steal. The four of them became Rocky Road's best customers.
Thank you for reading my story. ^.^ I posted it specifically to get feedback from MLP fans so I can change it and make it better. Please leave a review and tell me anything you thought was unnecessary, wished was different, or thought should be added. I'm specifically wondering about the whole homeless pony thing and Shining Armor's wings. The homeless pony stuff was originally a more important part of the story, but it changed somewhere along the line and now I'm wondering if it feels like unnecessary filler. I think Shining Armor will get wings, but it doesn't have to be in this story. Even though he was mainly in the background, he was working hard to keep his family together and be a good father and husband, which is why he might get his wings.
If you love MLP FIM check out Sawtooth Waves on YouTube. He is responsible for the birth of this fanfiction. Thanks, Sawtooth Waves!