Radiant Hope

Radiant Hope is a female unicorn Crystal Pony who appears in the IDW comics' and Siege of the Crystal Empire. Her cutie mark is a caduceus.

Development and design
Radiant Hope has a similar color scheme to "Rubinstein".

On Twitter in mid-December 2015, IDW comics writer Jeremy Whitley was asked, "Was Radiant Hope intended to be a 'strong female' character, or a 'progressive' character, or a 'flawed' character? Thoughts?", and replied, "Radiant Hope is flawed. The way she sees it, she turned away from her only friend in his time of most need." "and then she lost him and her home, both of which she blamed herself for. She would do whatever it took to correct that." "she's like Twilight, in that friendship is the most important thing." "But Twilight's friends are 100% good and her friend had a tendency toward evil. A problem Twilight never faces."

Depiction in the comics
Radiant Hope debuts in, where it is revealed that she was Sombra's only friend during their childhood, in which both were ostracized for acting differently from other foals. The pair visited the Crystal Heart and saw visions, with Hope seeing a future version of herself as a princess. The path to this future later seemed certain when she gained her cutie mark by healing Sombra when he started to turn into a being of shadow. Sadly, she later witnessed his theft of the Crystal Heart and attack on Princess Amore, and left to warn Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

Radiant Hope returns 1000 years later during the events of Siege of the Crystal Empire, having avoided aging by spending the time in the prison of Sombra's people, the Umbrum. In Friendship is Magic Issue #34 she assembles a group of villains from across Equestria: Flim and Flam, Iron Will, Lightning Dust, and the Changelings. After they steal the Crystal Heart and distract Twilight Sparkle and her friends, Hope uses her healing magic to restore the disembodied Sombra. In Friendship is Magic Issue #35 she intervenes when Celestia and Luna arrive to stop Sombra and the other villains, only to witness Sombra turn the pair to stone.

In Friendship is Magic Issue #36, Hope is hurt by Sombra's choice to distance himself from her, and is then confronted by Princess Cadance. In an effort to convince Cadance of the nobility of her quest, she takes her to see the Umbrum. However, Cadance's magic then reveals their true monstrous nature, and after escaping them Hope tries to convince Sombra not to unleash them upon Equestria. Still determined to protect him, she takes a blast from Twilight meant for Sombra. In Friendship is Magic Issue #37, Hope is revealed to still be injured as a result of this incident while being declared "Empress" of the Crystal Empire, which is now ruled over by "Emperor" Sombra and the Umbrum. Also, she appears to now see Sombra as a monster, but decides to be with him against her will for eternity, but has lost all hope. When she suggests destroying the Crystal Heart for the Umbrum to permanently be released, Sombra finds the heart to put the heart back in it's place and cause the Umbrum to be trapped once again. This not only causes him to regain the trust of Hope, but become a true unicorn and receive amnesty for his crimes from the restored Alicorn princesses. Still hoping to make things right, he and Hope decide to find Princess Amore's shards and put them back together to resurrect her from her crystal imprisonment.

Imagination
As a filly, Hope always imagined that she could see fairies and other creatures that no one else could, and enjoyed fantasy adventures with her young friend Sombra. Sadly, this was later exploited by the Umbrum, who masqueraded as her childhood companions in order to trick her into helping Sombra release them.

Friendship with Sombra
Hope's relationship with Sombra has long been extremely important to her, to the point that she maintained a vigil by his bedside during the Crystal Faires that the pair longed to attend together. Her friendship was such that she continued her efforts to protect him even after he started down his monstrous path. Though she turned to the Princesses to help stop him, she was left wracked with guilt over Sombra's banishment following the disappearance of the Crystal Empire. This would eventually lead to her being willing to recruit villains to help her rescue him, and to steal the Crystal Heart to keep it from harming him again.

Magic
As a unicorn, Radiant Hope possesses some magical abilities, the most notable being incredible healing magic. Her abilities were such that Celestia and Luna invited her to study with them, and she has on two occasions restored Sombra to health following his being subjected to the detrimental effects of the Crystal Heart's magic.

Quotes
"Don't let them bother you. They said I was weird too."

- as a filly,

"Do you mean what we see in the reflection will actually happen?"

- To Princess Amore,

"They were right about you all along! You are a monster!"

- To Sombra,

"No more talk about destiny Sombra. I've never believed in it."

- To Sombra,