The Crystal Empire Part 4
“Rainbow Dash, I need you to do something really important” Twilight said as they made their way to the fairgrounds.
“Anything, just name it” Dash said with a smile.
“I need you to tell the others about this whole mess and help them keep it under wraps while I look for the Crystal Heart”
“But…”
“The heart is powered by love and unity. There won’t be a lot of that when they realize the Crystal Heart isn’t really there” she said as they made it through the doors of the tower, watching as Applejack did her best to keep the curious away from the heart, while at the same time trying not to draw any attention to herself.
“You have to keep them happy here at the faire”
“Keep the faire going and the crystal pony’s spirits high! Done and done!” she said, saluting her friend before flying off to inform everyone else of the situation.
“Twily!” Shining called from the balcony above. “Be careful”
“I will” she said before heading off to find the Crystal Heart.
Meanwhile
The spot where Sombra’s horn sank into the ground grew a dull lifeless crystal. Sombra’s laughter could be faintly heard near it.
At the faire
Rarity was showing a few Crystal ponies some art made from using straw when Dash showed up and informed her of the situation. Her reaction nearly causing the ball to drop.
“I was just informed they’re offering face painting for the little ones” she said, picking up Spike. The ponies just nodded and smiled, buying that. Rarity then began to whisper into Spike’s ear about what they needed to do and what Twilight was doing.
“Twilight’s doing what?” he asked before running off to find his friend.
“He really loves…having his face painted” Rarity said with a nervous chuckle.
With Twilight
Twilight was walking around, trying to figure out where the Heart was hidden. “Who wants a Flugelhorn?” Dash called out from a nearby stand.
“I want a flugelhorn!” Pinkie said, dressed as a jester. Dash just gained an irritated look before recovering.
“Who else wants a flugelhorn?” this in turn made Pinkie the irritated one. Espio just smiled at the scene, finding it funny.
Twilight stopped and realized where the Heart was, turning her gaze to the palace. “Of course, it’s so obvious he’d hide it in the one spot only he had access to” Twilight thought. “Right under the empire’s collective nose”
“Twilight wait! I’m coming with you” Spike said as he stopped in front of her.
“No Spike, I have to retrieve the heart by myself” she said, turning to head toward the palace
“I know, I promise I won’t lift a claw to help you” he said, folding his arms. Twilight sighed before using her magic to lift him up and place him on her back.
“Not a claw Spike” she said before galloping to the palace. Sonic saw that and grinned at the prospect of exciting adventure. He ran after her, making sure to hold back so she wouldn’t notice since he heard that whole “by myself” speech.
“So where are we heading exactly?” Spike asked
“King Sombra would’ve hidden the Heart where nopony would even dare to look for it” Twilight said
“The Palace?” Spike asked as they entered. “I just hope you’re right Twilight”
“You and me both” Twilight said.
Meanwhile
Applejack and Rainbow Dash were doing their best to keep any of the curious away from the fake heart. Which Rainbow was doing a great job at. If you call scaring those who weren’t even curious about the heart a great job.
“Uh Rainbow Dash, we’re supposed to act like nothing is wrong” Applejack said.
“I know” she said before scaring off a pair of ponies.
“What I mean is, let me guard the fake heart, and you go show them your jousting skills” Applejack said.
“I get ya, seeing my awesomeness does have its way of putting ponies into a pretty good mood” she said before flying off to Fluttershy’s petting zoo.
“Come on Knight Fluttershy” Rainbow Dash said, using her head to push her friend along by the flank.
“Huh?” Fluttershy asked, confused and scared.
“It’s Showtime” Dash said, in a voice that would make anyone involved scared, no matter who they were. Tails just watched as Fluttershy was whisked away, confused. Changer just blinked as he watched the two of them disappear.
“Dad…is mom gonna be okay?” he asked Tails.
“I really hope so Changer, I really hope so”
With Applejack
“How ya’ll doing? Having a great time?” Applejack asked a crystal mare.
“The best I’ve ever had in a thousand years” she said before Applejack started to move toward her.
“Gotta keep that spirit of love and unity strong so you can power that Crystal Heart.” she said. The mare was backing away from her, trying to see the heart.
“I sure would like to see it” the crystal mare said.
“I hear ya, but…” she paused removing her Stetson and fanning her face with it. “Woo, getting a little toasty out here, bet you’d like to cool off with some cold Crystal nectar” she said. The mare smiled and headed toward the booth that AJ was indicating. She breathed a sigh of relief before turning and noticing a pony was getting way too curious. Thankfully Knuckles was to the rescue on that one.
“You try the crystal fritters yet?” he asked, “made from the sweetest Crystal Apples” he held out a nice hot bowl of fritters, the pony regained his color and smiled hungrily at the fritters.
“I hear there’s a jousting match about to start, don’t wanna miss that” Applejack said to a mare that was heading straight for the heart. Knuckles handed the bowl to the pony and watched as they both left.
“That was too close” he said.
“Yeah, thanks for the help hun” Applejack said.
“Don’t mention it” he said with a smile.
With Twilight
She was running around with Spike running behind her. She used her magic on anything that wasn’t bolted down, trying to find the hiding spot of the Heart.
“It’s gotta be here, it’s just gotta be” she said. Spike noticed a lump under a rug and moved to see what it was. Sonic moved in trying to stop him and ended up hitting a wall with the dragon on top of him as he hit the floor.
“Not a claw Spike.” Twilight said sternly, noticing Sonic and Spike in a heap as she turned to them. “Sonic?” she asked.
“Heya Twilight, heard you were looking for the Heart, well count me in” he said.
“I can’t Princess Celestia’s orders” she simply said before leaving the room and stopping in front of the entrance to the throne room. She looked up and saw a crystal in the same shape as the one Celestia used to explain how the empire works. Then it clicked, “Of course!” Twilight said happily.
“What’s up?” Sonic asked.
“You’re still here?” she asked.
“Yeah, can’t keep me away from any adventure. Plus this sounds exciting and is way better than running around a fairground” he said. Twilight sighed in defeat, allowing this.
“Did you find it?” Spike asked.
“No, because this isn’t Sombra’s palace” she said.
“Isn’t this where he lived?” Spike asked.
“Yes, but it didn’t look like this” Twilight said before concentrating her magic, her aura turning black before it began to bubble with the hatred she was putting in it. A purple aura trail formed from her eyes as she fired a bolt into the crystal, revealing a hidden staircase.
“When did you learn that?” Spike asked.
“A little trick Celestia taught me” she said before using her horn to create a light as she began to descend the stairs. “You both stay here” she said to them before continuing.
“You find anything yet?” Sonic asked after about a minute.
“Not yet, I don’t even know how far down this goes” Twilight answered before using her magic and grabbing a crystal from the wall and dropping it down. She perked up an ear to listen for it to hit the bottom floor. After about 4 seconds she cleaned out her ear before listening again, 5 seconds later it hit the floor.
“Can you two see outside?” she asked, scared about how much time was left. Sonic and Spike ran to the window, noticing that the barrier was flickering and Sombra was using the part of him that made it into the barrier to contaminate a crystal structure.
“Yes…Crystals…” Sombra said as a grin formed on his face.
“Not good!” Sonic said.
“Cadance’s magic must be fading faster than before!” Spike said before Twilight began to gallop down the stairs. Though a piece of stair broke and she lost her footing, tumbling down before finally stopping herself with her magic just before hitting the ground floor.
“You alright down there?” Sonic called down.
“Yes” Twilight said before teleporting into an upright position and using her magic to try to open a door. The door however moved every time she tried. “What in the?” she wondered as the door moved behind her. She kept trying “Stop moving!” she said, before firing a bolt of hatred at the crystal atop the door. The door opened revealing a blinding light.
“Spike, I think it’s here” she said before galloping into the light only to find herself back in Canterlot. “Huh?” she wondered, seeing Celestia’s throne in front of her.
“What are you doing here?” Celestia asked in a not too pleased tone from behind her.
“I don’t know, I opened the door and”
“And now you must go” Celestia said
“Go? Go where?” she asked
“It doesn’t matter to me, you failed the test Twilight!” she said, turning to her angry at her student’s failure. Twilight’s reaction was nothing short of shock at hearing that.
“I don’t understand…the test” she said
“Not only will you not move to the next level of your studies, but you will no longer be studying under me” Celestia said sternly. Twilight felt the tears well up in her eyes.
“You didn’t say anything about me not being your student if I failed!” she said, trying not to cry. Celestia draped a wing over her before pushing her toward a stained glass.
“Didn’t I?” she asked before leaving.
“But…what do I do now?” she asked turning toward the stained glass which showed that Sombra had won. She curled up on the floor and began to cry, Spike’s voice echoing softly. Getting louder each time he said her name. Eventually she snapped out of it and found herself sitting in front of the door, which just lead to a wall.
“You okay?” Sonic asked, “You weren’t answering us so we came down to see what was up” he said.
“So what’s with the wall?” Spike asked, moving closer before the magic activated and he began to freak out.
“Ponyville? But…no! Please don’t make me go Twilight!” he said as tears began to fall before Twilight shut the door, snapping him out of it.
“King Sombra’s magic, a door that leads to your worst fear” Twilight said.
“We were home, you told me you didn’t need me anymore and that you were sending me away” he said as he wiped his tears. Twilight hugged him with a smile.
“A fear that will never come to pass, I’m never going to send you away” she said. “And I’m not gonna fail my…” she stopped, noticing Sonic had opened the door and was under the trance. She sighed before going over and moving him aside before shutting the door. Sonic snapped out of it and was visibly shaking.
“Did you not hear me?” she asked him.
“I heard you, I was just curious.” He said, taking a deep breath and sighing.
“What did you see?” she asked.
“Death, destruction, blood, bodies, darkness, fear, anger. A lot of things” he said.
“What was it caused by?” she asked.
“I didn’t know until I saw Dash, battle scarred and pissed. She was looking right at me, with sadness and aggression mixed. I started to attack her, and before it could continue you snapped me out of it” he said.
“So the cause of all that bad stuff was…” Spike trailed off.
“Correct…it was me” Sonic said.
“How? You’re far from evil” Twilight said.
“Let’s just say there’s something deep inside of me that I can’t really control when it gets out” Sonic said. Twilight nodded.
“Alright, now to pass this test!” she said before filling the crystal above the door with love magic. Allowing them to reach, you guessed it more stairs.
“Really?” Spike asked.
“Come on you two, we’ve got an empire to save” she said, beginning her walk up the stairs with Sonic and Spike close behind.
Meanwhile
Cadance was struggling to keep her magic going as Sombra’s magic began to spread from the crystals he infected. On the other side of the fairgrounds Dash was suiting up in a jousting suit. A crowd having gathered to watch her and Fluttershy joust. Tails and Changer were part of the audience, to help be the moral support Fluttershy needed for this.
Fluttershy walked in, so nervous that she nearly pole-vaulted off her own lance as she moved to her starting point for the joust. Pinkie was helping to entertain and noticed that the barrier was failing. She blew the flugelhorn, more professionally this time since it actually didn’t hurt anypony’s ears.
Dash smirked and took off at full gallop towards Fluttershy. Fluttershy started to skip before galloping as well. She stopped short and felt Dash’s lance slam into her sending her flying into a pile of hay. Dash earned cheers from the spectators as she moved over to help Fluttershy up.
“Isn’t there somepony else that could take over the jousting demonstration with you?” she asked, curling up and shivering in fear.
“The fate of an entire empire rests on us. It’s up to us to show these ponies a good time. But I mean if you don’t want to do that” she said, trying to place guilt onto the timid Pegasus. Fluttershy stuck out her bottom lip and began to whimper before soft sobs escaped her as she hid her face.
“Okay okay, I’ll take it easy on you next time” Rainbow Dash said. Fluttershy smiled at that, feeling more relaxed. “But not too easy, I’ve got a reputation to maintain!” she said, earning a frown from her friend before she got up and followed her back to the arena.
“I just know this is gonna be massages and bed rest for her” Tails said.
With Twilight, Sonic, and Spike
Twilight and Spike began to pant as they continued to ascend, not reaching the top anytime soon. “What if this is more of his magic?” Spike asked. “A door to your worst fears, what about a staircase that never ends?”
Twilight thought a moment before lifting him onto her back, “Hang onto me” she said. “Sonic, race ya” she said with a grin.
“You’re on!” he said before starting to run up the stairs at full speed. Twilight used her magic to flip her and Spike upside down, allowing them to slide on the base of the stairs all the way to the top.
Meanwhile
A crystal stallion turned to see Sombra’s magic spreading, immediately his coat lost life and color before Rarity directed his attention to her straw art, which perked him right up. She then continued to make them at a fast pace, Rouge helping her in order to keep them happy. It was too late though, as more of his magic spread and sent the ponies into a panic.
The crystal ponies gathered around the fake heart, not knowing it wasn’t the real one and seeing it as their only salvation. Applejack and Knuckles were keeping the ponies at bay.
“I’m running out of materials, I used three pieces of hay and a drinking straw to make a hat!” Rarity said to her.
“We just need to hold out a little longer until Twilight gets back, then the princess can finally take a break” Applejack said.
“She isn’t looking too good, I doubt this barrier will last much longer” Knuckles said.
“They better hurry then, even I can’t keep this party going forever!” Pinkie said as she juggled flugelhorns while balancing on a ball. She then lost her balance, sending the ball into the fake heart and causing it to fall onto the ground. The sight of the fake heart didn’t really do much to raise the hopes of the crystal ponies.
“This isn’t the Crystal Heart” a stallion said.
“Well of course not, the real one is” Rarity said, trying to find an excuse.
“On its way” Applejack said.
“I was going to say being polished, to buy us more time” Rarity said to her.
“Oops” Applejack said as the barrier flickered more and Sombra could be heard laughing in triumph.
With Twilight
“Good thing I studied gravity spells thinking it was going to be on my test! Turns out I was prepared for this! Woohoo!” she said, before they reached the top and she undid the spell causing her and Spike to land on top of Sonic.
“I was wondering where you were…I’ve been up here for a while now” Sonic said. Twilight just stuck her tongue out at him before they all stood and gazed at the real Crystal Heart, which was glowing faintly and emitting a beating sound as if it where pumping light instead of blood. As soon as Twilight stepped on the floor under it an alarm was triggered, to which Sombra responded to by using his magic to cage her. Luckily she managed to knock the heart out of the area and toward Spike and Sonic.
“Where’s the heart?” Twilight asked
“Over here” Sonic said.
“Okay, stand back you two” Twilight said before using a teleport spell, only to be dragged back into the cage by Sombra’s magic.
“Okay...Chaos Control!” she said only to receive the same result. Sombra felt that, a new energy and when he traced it to find where the residual on Twilight came from he found a crystalline object practically radiating with power. He grinned as he now had a new target, whatever that gem was.
“You have to get out of there and pass the test!” Spike said.
“There may not be enough time for me to get out of here. And Sombra is already attacking…he could reach my family…my friends…” she said thinking. “Spike, you have to take the heart to the faire, and Sonic you’ll help him.” She said.
“But Twilight” Spike began to protest
“There’s no time, just go”
“But”
“Go!” she shouted, at that Spike picked up the heart and Sonic picked him up before getting out of there.
Meanwhile
“Don’t you worry your pretty little crystal heads, the real Crystal Heart is on its way!” Applejack said from the balcony.
“I don’t know if they believe you” Rarity said to her.
“Don’t know if I believe me”
“Sensors indicate that subject Cadance will soon be out of magic” Omega said.
“How soon?” Shadow asked before Cadance’s magic slowly moved from the base of her horn to the tip before it flickered off.
“That soon” Rouge said as the barrier finally vanished.
“I can’t take it!” a pony said before running away and right into Sombra, “K-King Sombra!”
“My crystal slaves!” he said with a smile before finding Shadow and immediately going straight for him, blasting his emerald with a bolt of hatred, which just rolled off of it. Though it was enough for him to establish a link and land on a dead crystal spire, fully restored to his former self.
Spike and Sonic were on their way down before a tangle of dead crystals managed to catch them, crystal heart and all.
“Dammit!” Sonic shouted.
“New faces, I don’t think I’ve ever seen your type” Sombra said, “you’ll do well serving me and finding more of those” he said indicating the emerald with a hoof.
“Of course if you just tell me where to find more I can surely” he was cut off by a chaos spear striking his face.
“Damn that was annoying” Shadow said, earning a growl from Sombra.
“How dare you? Worthless inse” he was cut off by another to the face.
“Word to the wise, Shut up” Shadow said with a smirk.
“I’ll make you regret that!”
“Well come on bring all 4 feet of you, or should I count your stupid hair?” Shadow taunted.
Sombra growled, readying a spell as Shadow readied a chaos spear, both of them ready to clash. The fate of the empire, hangs in the balance.