Into the Light

Sombra walked back and forth feverishly in his rooms. What would draw out the evil energy? He thought about past examples of evil ponies turning good. From what he was told about his own counterpart, Sombra didn't think drawing out the umbrum in him would do anything. He was one hundred percent pony.

When Celestia and Luna turned back, he absorbed their evil magic, making the good in them shine through. When Luna in the other world became good again, they used the Elements of Harmony to-

"That's it!" He looked out of his window to see the rest of the party almost to the castle. "I just need to use the Elements of Harmony to switch sides. But there's no way they would just do that for me," he thought out loud.

After thinking for a little while longer, Sombra realized, "I can use the Elements by myself! I did it before to draw out the evil, so why can't I do it again?" He gasped. "What if I use them to stabilize the portal? Then Celestia and I can travel back and forth whenever we want!"

Sombra left his room and opened the main castle doors to greet them as they came in. Celestia wouldn't meet his eyes, while everyone else looked around, realizing that he hadn't been travelling behind them the whole time.

"So, I was thinking," Sombra said. "It's late, and I'm sure it's an… interesting experience to travel home, so how about everypony stay the night to rest up?"

"I'm not sure you know exactly how the journey works," Luna said, "But that's fine. We're not going to come back, anyway, so why don't we see what this Equestria has to offer?"

"I know they don't have any cake anymore," Pinkie pointed out.

Rainbow laughed. "Pink, I'm sure you can live without one night of cake."

"Fine. But only because it's for one night."

"Alright then." Sombra escorted them all back to the guest wing and they all chose a room for the night. Sombra made a mental note of where Spike put the bag with the Elements inside. "I'll ask the chefs to make a feast, and we can talk in the dining room until then. I trust that you know your way around the castle?"

"Y-yes, we do," Celestia stuttered.

"Wonderful. You can walk yourselves there then. I'm going to go talk to the chefs." He disappeared down the hallway.

As they all filed out of their rooms and into the hallway, Luna caught up with Celestia and asked, "Is it just me, or is there something going on with Sombra? He's been acting strange since you two talked on the way back."

"He suggested that I stay here with him. I told him no, of course, but he got really mad and said that the reason I said no was because he was still evil, and then he teleported away saying that he wanted to change and become a good pony."

"How would he do that? The few reformations we've been a part of were extremely complicated."

"Well, there was the other Sombra, but we basically just used alicorn magic to pull the umbrum out of him and turn him into a real pony. But he can't use that method, he's not an alicorn and the others won't help him, not to mention he's already real."

"Well, for me, Twilight and her friends used-"

"The Elements of Harmony!" Celestia exclaimed, the realization crushing her. "Which Spike left in the guest rooms, leaving the perfect opportunity open for a certain someone to grab them!"

"We must go back!" The two princesses scrambled to get to the guest wing and burst open the door to Twilight and Spike's room. But he wasn't there.

"Maybe that wasn't his plan?" Celestia said hopefully.

"Maybe. But where are the elements?"

A loud clunking noise sounded from the courtyard outside the window. Celestia and Luna peered out the window, hoping that it wasn't what they thought it was.

But they found that Sombra had just put down the bag of elements, and he was taking them out of the bag and floating them around his head.

By the time the princesses got downstairs, Sombra had pulled the gems out of their settings, leaving a pile of golden jewelry at his hooves.

Celestia cried, "Sombra! Don't do this!"

"Don't worry, my dear sweet Celestia. I'm going to give them back once I stabilize the portal and then deliver my evil magic to that stallion who hurt you on the other side."

Sombra closed his eyes. When he opened them, they glowed with the energy of the Elements. He opened a glowing portal to the other side. When Celestia peeked through, she saw a very confused Radiant Hope with her Sombra, standing in the desert.

"Sombra? What's going on? And who is that?" Hope asked, shuffling closer to Sombra out of fear.

"I don't know, Hope. Is that what I used to look like?"

King Sombra shook his head. "All of that doesn't matter! Now that I've managed to open the portal, get ready to receive my magic."

In a matter of seconds, the purple and red mist oozed out of his eyes and horn. The large mass of mist wrapped itself around the other Sombra, lifting him in the air. Both stallions winced in pain as the evil magic transferred between them. Finally, the mist lifted, letting both of them fall to the ground.

"Sombra!" Hope and Celestia screamed in unison. They rushed to their respective love's side and helped them to their hooves. Tears streamed down their faces, but Hope had tears of sorrow, while Celestia's were selfish happiness.

Hope glared at the good Sombra with hatred in her eyes. "What did you do to him?"

"I… I don't know… I'm so sorry… I don't know what I was thinking…"

"H-Hope?" the now evil Sombra stuttered, looking into her eyes. "Don't stop. Find Princess Amore. I'm afraid you must complete that task alone."

He ran back into the portal, looking back only once to say, "I hope you can find somepony better for you than me."

Hope watched him run away, and turned around to face the other Sombra. "I hope you're happy with your new life. And you?" she said, looking at Celestia, "I know this wasn't your fault, and he better treat you right." Holding her head high, she walked back into the portal. Sombra let it close behind her.

"What I did… that was wrong."

"At least we'll be like we used to. Before all of the drama happened."

"Yes, but how will I live with myself, knowing that I purposely ruined somepony's life?

"Hey," Celestia said, appreciating how normal his eyes looked as she stared into them. "You aren't to blame for your evil side's actions anymore, because what matters now is that side is no longer a part of you. I don't want you to feel guilty for the things you can't control now that you're you again."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. Even if you're shrouded in darkness, everything will be okay as long as you have somepony to pull you into the light."

This is the end! Thank you for reading this all the way! Please comment if you have any questions or feedback.