The Test
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I KNOW I FORGOT CELESTIA’S CUTIEMARK!!* JUST ENJOY THE PICTURE!!!

Also, pretend Flurry is much much much much younger in this picture then I drew her. She’s supposed to be around 1 or 2 here.

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Standing inside the palace, Sombra looked outside at the huge crowd. “How can there be this many ponies in the Crystal Empire?!” he muttered to himself.

“It isn’t just from the Empire,” Shining Armor told him as he walked up behind the grey stallion. “Thousands of ponies have come to see this event.” Sombra glanced over at Shining. The white stallion was only a few inches shorter then Sombra, but he made up for it with his mane, which was spiked up through his helmet in the traditional Crystal Guard style, even though Shining was General.

“How many would you say?” Sombra asked hesitantly.

“I think around ten to eleven thousand was the last update.”

“TEN TO ELEVEN THOUSAND??!!” Sombra nearly shouted. “How can I talk in front of that many??” Shining grinned at his coltish reaction.

“Just focus on the princesses and ignore everything else completely,” Shining instructed, facing Sombra.

“How can I ignore everything else?!” Sombra demanded. “There will be THOUSANDS of ponies watching me, most of them probably thinking that I’m not even telling the truth!”

“You couldn’t possibly lie,” Shining pointed out. “You’ll be connected to the Crystal Heart by a spell and everypony in Equestria knows the Crystal Heart visibly reacts to a lie. I think it turns red or something.”

“I guess…” Sombra trailed off, looking back out through the crystal window to the crowds awaiting him. The two stood in silence, then Shining spoke up again.

“Remember what’s going to happen?”

“Uh, Celestia’s going to tell me everything that I did when I was possessed by the Umbrum, then of the time in the Caverns, and ask me if it is true or not… or something.” He couldn’t take his eyes off the milling ponies, all watching the palace doors.

“Close enough.” Shining waved at the guards to open the doors. “Now go get ’em!” And with those words of encouragement, he promptly shoved Sombra out the giant double doors onto the crystal steps. Sombra managed to keep from stumbling, but he had to make a hasty descent down the stairs to keep his balance. He threw a quick glare at Shining, who was trying to hide his smile (without much success, I might add). The two walked over to where the Crystal Heart was floating between a crystal stalactite and stalagmite. Princesses Celestia, Cadence, and Flurry Heart were waiting next to it.

Where’s Luna? Sombra wondered, looking around. He almost wished he hadn’t. From inside the palace, he couldn’t really appreciate how massive the crowd really was. Hundreds upon hundreds of ponies were packed together, crystal, earth, and unicorns alike. All the pegasi had taken to the air to get a better view, blotting out most of the sky. All the different coat patterns and colors and clothing was making Sombra feel a bit dizzy. He quickly shifted his gaze back to the princesses.

Cadence gave him a sympathetic smile. “You get used to it after a while,” she murmured encouragingly. Flurry ans Shining stood off to the side, watching. Celestia stepped forward.

“Citizens of Equestria!” she began, her voice ringing out clearly over the crystal ground. “We have gathered here today to test the word of a past villian. He has claimed that he was not in control of himself when he attacked us, that he was possessed by a night creature like my sister, Luna, was.” Murmurs of surprise and anger rippled through the crowd, but Celestia ignored them. “We will link Sombra’s mind to the Crystal Heart, one of the most powerful relics in our land, and he will answer all the questions we ask him.”

“Oh, boy,” Sombra muttered. Celestia turned to face him.

“Are you ready?” she asked, her voice quieter. He nodded stiffly, anxious to get the whole thing over with. With the help of a few unicorn volunteers from the crowd, Celestia, Cadence, and Flurry cast a mind-meld spell, connecting Sombra to the Crystal Heart. He didn’t feel any different except for a slight tickling sensation behind his ears. Celestia backed up a few steps and began the questioning.

“Sombra, King of Shadows, why should we Equestrians believe you when you answer our questions? Have you not lied in the past? Have you not killed our own?” Everypony in the crowd leaned forward, eager to hear Sombra’s reply.

“Truth be told, you don’t have a reason.” He faced the crowd. “You can’t take my word as a fellow Equestrian, or even as a unicorn, because I know I look like neither of those.” He paused, then gave a small grin. “But I don’t think I’d have the guts to lie to you all because I’m worried if I lie this thing’ll blow my brain up.” He gestured at the heart, pleased to hear some laughter and see some smiles.

“When you were possessed by the Umbrum, I have heard you compare it to the possession of Princess Luna. How are they similar?” Celestia asked, her eyes emotionless.

“Well, the Umbrum and the Nightmare creature can possess anypony if they are in a certain state of mind, in the same proximity as the possessor, and are not able to fight them off. I was so focused on my anger that they had a path made for them into my mind. As for proximity, they attacked me in a ravine in the mountains, about a hundred miles north of here. I was too surprised and distracted to fight them off, so they won quickly.”

“What was the source of your anger?” Cadence asked.

“Well…” Sombra took a deep breath. “I had been exploring the mountains around the Empire for several years, tacking trips back and forth, making maps and the such. I found a cave one day, and, since it was uncharted, I wanted to explore it. I went in and ended up waking a pack of windegos. They wrecked havoc on the Empire, and I was too scared to go back for a while. When I finally did get back, I learned that several ponies had died in the attack, and most buildings had been badly damaged or permanently frozen in ice. It was on the West road, for those who remember,” he added, seeing several crystal ponies nodding as they remembered.

“Well,” he continued, “I got chased out of the city for waking the Windegos, and I became very angry, telling myself it wasn’t my fault and they had no right to run me out.” He stopped for a moment and suddenly noticed the silence. “I kept blaming everypony in the Empire for everything bad that happened to me, and when the Umbrum attacked, I was so angry they possessed me.” He stopped talking, glancing around awkwardly. Cadence looked very sorry for him, but Celestia’s expression was unreadable.

The questions went on: How old were you when this happened? How long did the Umbrum possess you? and countless others. One of the last questions Celestia asked was: “Who are your parents?” Sombra was surprised at the question.

“I never knew them. They died in the Rhymopledic epidemic. At least, everypony told me that.” He shifted his hooves. “I was raised in the orphanage.” He saw the crystal ponies nodding again.

“There was an epidemic that went through a couple decades before the Empire was banished,” a blue stallion offered.

“It killed my sister,” a mare added quietly.

“He’s playing you all!” a shout rang out. A couple pegasi and an earth pony stepped out of the crowd. “He’s using events that are familiar to you to get you no his side!” The stallion turned on Sombra. “How convenient that your parents died. How convenient you were the one responsible for the windego attack!” He cocked his head to one side. “Were you even born in the Empire?”

“I don’t know,” Sombra admitted. “I wasn’t a crystal pony, so probably not. My coat was a greyish purple, and my mane was a really dark blue at the time. I never had a cutiemark.” Several older crystal inhabitants, gasped.

“I remember! Actually I…” the mare broke off , looking away. “I was one of the ponies who chased you out of the Empire.”

“Oh.” Sombra gave her an awkward smile. “Well, I probably deserved it anyway.”

“No, you didn’t.” A green crystal stallion pushed his way forward. Sombra gasped.

“Luko!” The stallion nodded to the name.

“In the flesh.” He looked at Sombra. “I was the jerk who was always teasing you about not having a cutiemark when you were 16.” Sombra smiled at the unpleasant memory.

“I remember that,” he said, grinning.

“It was the day I called you fi-” He broke off, seeing a few foals in the crowd. “Actually, it’s better if I don’t say if I don’t say it, but after that, you disappeared into the mountains and woke the windegos. i instigated you into leaving. So if anypony is responsible, it’s me.” He walked up to Shining Armor. “You can arrest me now if you’d like.”

“No need for that,” Shining told him, grinning. “What’s past is past. It wasn’t really anypony’s fault directly for waking the windegos.” Luko looked a bit relieved.

“Can’t say I’m disappointed,” he said, bringing a round of laughter from the crowd. The two pegasi and earth pony who had come forward apologized grudgingly, and the thousands of ponies watching surged forward to congratulate Sombra. Many apologized for thinking he was a villian, some offered advice for good places to look for a home, a few richer ponies had work opportunities for him, and a group of foals gave him a sketchbook. He thanked them, smiling, and watched as they ran off.

“I thank you all for your offers!” Celestia called, stilling the tide, “But I would like to ask Sombra if he would like to come to Canterlot with me a train to be a Prince.” Sombra’s jaw dropped and he stared at her in shock. A PRINCE?!

“Better close your mouth before the flies go in,” Celestia told him. The ponies around him laughed as he quickly shut his mouth.

“I don’t really know what I want to do,” he admitted.

“That’s fine,” Celestia said. “You can start training and see if its for you, then we can move on from there.”

“I…” Sombra stammered. “I’d be honored.”

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WOW. that was long. I think I’ve fainted.

I like how the picture came out though, and its the first time drawing Flurry Heart. I think she’d be a lot like Starshine, Twi’s daughter, in that she prefers being a guard to being a princess, but Flurry is a bit more accepting of her role.

Working on my new style! I’m finding it a bit hard to do 3Q heads, but I’m working on it. 🙂

Anyhoo, hope ya like it, and the reason Luna isn’t there is because Celestia didn’t think it would be fair for the citizens to have two ‘villians’ in the same place. Some might think they were helping each other.

And the reason Celestia is so enotionless is because she is basically the judge of the whole thing. A judge cannot take sides.

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