We arrived at the top of the tower in a flash of light. As I slumped to the ground, drained, I looked up at the Crystal Heart, which was floating next to the two elements of Harmony. I smiled. “Just as I thought.”
The others looked up, Applejack and Fluttershy staring at the elements, and Cadence staring at the Crystal Heart. I saw tears in her eyes as she looked upon the relic that could save this country. Before she could stand and reach for it, I warned her off. “The circle on the floor is a warning signal. If we touch it, King Sombre will be here in an instant.”
I saw the frustration plain on her face. “Then what do we do?” she asked.
I looked over at Applejack, who was digging in the bag she had grabbed. “Do you have any rope?” I asked.
She looked up at me and passed me my outfit and cloak. “Ah don’t think so, Twi. Ah couldn’t find our packs in that room.” She handed Fluttershy her clothing, and pulled out her own. Finally, she emptied the bag by pulling out Pinkie Pie’s clothing, which was still bloodstained. As she looked at the clothing with sadness in her eyes, I stared at the now empty bag, thinking quickly.
“Applejack, hand me that bag,” I asked. She looked up at me in surprise, but handed the bag over. I grabbed the bag with my magic and floated it up to the element of Kindness. Moving swiftly, I scooped the bag over the element and floated it back. The others looked up in astonishment as I pulled the element out of the bag. Then I floated the bag back up, grabbed the element of Laughter, and did the same. Looking over at Cadence, I brought the bag back up and scooped up the Crystal Heart, floating it over to Cadence, who took it reverently. I quickly changed clothes, noting that Fluttershy and Applejack had done the same. Slinging the bag over my shoulder, I deposited the elements back into it.
Suddenly, I heard the voice of my brother behind us. “Well, you managed to survive your time in the dungeons and get your elements. You’re far stronger than you look.”
We all turned back, watching Shining Armor step out of the shadows. His gun was trained on me, and he was glaring. “Shining Armor!” I cried. “Stop this! Cadence is alive! King Sombra has been controlling you with his magic!”
He sneered at me, shadow magic playing across his eyes. “How dare you say that name! Cadence is dead. I saw her die. And my name is Twilight Armor!”
We both turned as we heard Cadence’s voice. “Shining Armor?” She was stepping forward hesitantly, taking her helmet off. As her ragged hair fell around her face, her eyes looking at Shining Armor hopefully, he stared back at her in amazement.
“C-Cadence?” he stammered, reaching his shaking hand out slowly towards her, gun dropping to the floor with a clatter. She smiled at him, reaching for his hand. Suddenly, Shining Armor screamed, clutching at his head, shadow magic playing across his body.
“Shining Armor!” she cried, rushing over to him, and grabbing his shoulders. He continued to scream, writhing as the shadow magic flickered and flashed across his body. In between flashes of shadow, I saw flashes of his regular magical aura. The flickering stopped for a time, and he looked up at Cadence with eyes no longer tinged with shadow. “C-Cadence? You’re alive?” He looked around quickly. “Where’s King Sombra? What happened to him?”
She looked down at him, smiling, but suddenly the shadow magic flashed again, and he screamed once more, writhing. When it stopped, he glared up at Cadence, his eyes dark once more. “You’re dead. I saw you die. You’re just another imposter like Twilight.”
Taken aback, she pulled him to her, her hands glowing with azure light. “Shining Armor, you know that’s not true. You’ve been under King Sombra’s spell this whole time. Remember who you truly are!” With that, the blue light erupted from her, engulfing them both. The shadow magic flickered and flashed once again, playing across both of them, and both Shining Armor and Cadence screamed. Shining Armor’s purple aura intermingled with Cadence’s blue aura, driving away the shadow magic with a flash of blinding light, causing the rest of us to cover our eyes.
As the light faded, we looked back at the two of them. Shining Armor had slumped in her arms, eyes closed, and breathing deeply. Cadence held him closely, tears streaming and a smile on her face. After what seemed an eternity, he opened his eyes and looked up at her. “Cadence?” he repeated. “Cadence! I thought you had died, I – I saw King Sombra attack you. What happened? Did you defeat him?” Looking around, he saw the three of us and his eyes grew wide in shock. “Twily?” he asked, quietly.
I smiled, relief filling me. “Hi there, Shining Armor. Remember me?”
He stared. “I – I saw your remains!” he stammered.
My smile dropped slightly. “It’s true. Your Twilight is dead. I’m the Twilight from another world, as are my friends.”
He looked between us and Cadence. “But – how?”
I shook my head. “It’s a long story. We have to get out of here first.”
He looked around, as if seeing their surroundings for the first time. “Wait, this is the Crystal Palace! How did we get up here?”
“Twilight brought us here,” Cadence replied. “Shining Armor, look!” She picked up the Crystal Heart, showing it to him. He took it reverently, gazing into its crystal depths. “It’s what we were looking for. With this we can save the Crystal Empire. Twilight’s done it before!”
A deep, rumbling voice echoed through the chamber. “My Crystal Empire will remain mine.” A swirl of shadow flowed around us, spinning through the room and coalescing into a tall man standing next to Shining Armor and Cadence. His black hair flowed behind him, and his glowing green eyes stared out at us all. He was holding a large staff with a blood-red crystal on top, which was glowing with a similar magical aura.
He smiled viciously down at them. “So, my little puppet has cut his strings,” he rumbled, staring at Shining Armor, who looked confused.
“What are you talking about?” Shining Armor demanded.
King Sombra just laughed. “Did they not tell you, little puppet? What you have done all this time, in my service? Once I convinced you that your little toy was dead, it was easy to harness your mind to me.”
Shining Armor stared between King Sombra and the rest of us. “Twiliy?” he asked, plaintively. I felt my heart breaking at the sound of his voice. I opened my mouth to answer, but I couldn’t think of what to say. He saw the look on my face, and horror started to fill his expression.
King Sombra laughed even more. “Oh, little puppet, if you only knew. Knew of the lives you have ruined with your experiments. Knew of the torture that your little sister and her friends have gone through under your orders. Knew of what your toy has gone through. Knew of what you have done for me and my Queen!” He turned back to the shadows, staring into the darkness with a sly smile on his face. “Speaking of which… You may come out, my dear.”
I felt despair overwhelm me as I saw the form of Nightmare Moon materialize in the shadows. For the third time, I looked upon her intimidating form as she strode out of the shadows, a smile on her face. She glided across the floor, heading towards us, and the three of us scrambled away from her.
I heard movement, and looked over to see Shining Armor getting to his feet, sword in hand. “You monsters,” he grimaced, his body shaking. “I don’t know what you’ve done to me, or made me do, but I remember enough of what you are.” He raised his sword. “I remember that in order to save this country, I need to kill you.” With that, he rushed at King Sombra, swinging his sword with a cry of fury.
King Sombra snorted. “Impudent puppet,” he rumbled. He swiped his staff, and a blast of wind issued from it, catching both Shining Armor and Cadence, sending them flying back into the blue circle on the floor. They landed, bouncing, and the floor immediately flashed with shadow magic. I watched as Shining Armor pushed himself to his knees as Cadence rolled over, still holding the Crystal Heart, but our view of them was suddenly obscured by black shards of crystal shooting up from the floor, forming a black crystal cage.
“Shining Armor! Cadence!” I cried. I rushed towards the cage, but my way was blocked by King Sombra, who stepped in front of me. I was unable to react as he swiped his staff at me, sending a blast of shadow magic which struck me in the face.
I was flung backwards into the wall, feeling the crystals jutting from the wall cutting into my body, piercing my back, arms, and legs. Nearly blacking out from the pain, I saw Nightmare Moon’s hair floating around the room, grabbing Fluttershy and Applejack, lifting them into the air. This time, Nightmare Moon wasn’t pulling any punches as she stretched their limbs nearly to the breaking point. I heard both of them screaming, joints popping, and watched as King Sombra approached my friends. He raised his staff towards Fluttershy, and a blast of searing red light tore off her arm in a spray of blood, which floated away in Nightmare Moon’s grasp. She screamed, her voice growing hoarse. “Fluttershy!” I screamed.
Glancing over at me with an evil smile, King Sombra left Fluttershy hanging, bleeding profusely, and moved over to Applejack. He proceeded to trace the tip of his staff along her body, glowing red lines forming on her wherever it touched. She looked down in terror as the staff finished its journey, and King Sombra removed it with a flourish. He then turned away, moving directly towards me, and stabbed his staff down on the floor in front of me. At that moment, Applejack’s skin exploded in a spray of blood as she screamed in pain and terror. “Applejack!” I cried, sobbing, as King Sombra stopped in front of where I was pinned to the wall.
He bent down in front of me, putting his face directly in mine. His green eyes glowed brightly and he smiled. “Now, little one, it’s time for you to truly suffer.” He traced the tip of his staff across my face, burning like fire as it touched me. I screamed in pain, and light suddenly filled my vision.
I blinked, the pain fading like a bad dream. I found myself not pinned to the crystal wall, as I expected, but standing in the center of the chamber, exactly where I had been when King Sombra first attacked me. Looking around, tears flowing down my face, I saw that everything was exactly as it had been before the attack. Fluttershy and Applejack were standing where they had been, but they were staring at me with worried expressions. Nightmare Moon and King Sombra were staring, not at me, but at the crystal cage, which was glowing with a bright white light. Suddenly, I saw the crystal cage shatter, exposing Shining Armor and Cadence, who were holding the Crystal Heart. The Heart was glowing with the white light, which had stripped King Sombra’s magic from me.
As we all watched, the light between them grew, growing to blinding proportions. I covered my eye as best I could, but was able to see the light flash out from the heart, sending a wave through us all. I saw King Sombra struck by the light, which tore him apart as he let out a guttural howl, the crystal on his staff falling to the floor and shattering. The light hit Nightmare Moon after that, tearing through her hair, which had formed itself into a defensive barrier. The flowing midnight hair was stripped away, shredded to pieces of darkness that dissipated as the light passed, and tearing away what appeared to be an outer shell. The light struck the rest of us and passed through without harm, though I felt myself revitalized and uplifted by the passing energy.
When the light finally faded, we all looked around in astonishment. The Crystal Palace was glowing with a soft light, which pulsed throughout the entire Empire. I could tell that my friends felt the same revitalization that I had, for though our wounds weren’t closed, we were all moving better than we had been even half an hour ago. I looked over to where Shining Armor and Cadence had been, and saw them sitting together in each other’s arms, the Crystal Heart glowing between them. We also saw with astonishment that Nightmare Moon was no more, and in her place laid an unconscious Princess Luna.
We spent some time sitting in that chamber, resting and recuperating. We inspected the rest of the city as best we could from the tower chamber, noticing that the barrier of shadows was completely gone. We also could tell that the citizens had received the same benefits we had, and were even now filling the city in wonderment. The soldiers appeared to have given up, throwing their weapons down and surrendering to the populace. There didn’t appear to be any imminent danger of violence, but we knew that if no leadership took control anytime soon, things could escalate quickly as the effect of the Crystal Heart wore off.
After a short while, we noticed that Princess Luna was stirring. Her form had been completely changed by the light, stripping away her Nightmare Moon personality. Her skin was no longer ebony black, but a soft grey, and her flowing hair was a deep midnight blue. Her eyes still glittered like stars, but there was a kindness present in them that was never visible in Nightmare Moon. Applejack and I moved over to her, and helped her sit up.
She looked at us uncomprehendingly. “Where am I?” she asked, her voice soft and kind, but confused.
“You’re in the Crystal Empire,” I replied. “My name is –“
“Twilight Sparkle,” she interrupted, shaking her head. “I… remember your name, but I know not why.”
“We’ve… met before,” I replied carefully.
She looked confused, but I shook my head. “It’s not important right now. What is important is that there’s a country here that needs someone to provide leadership. Princess Luna, it might be best if you step up.”
“I?” she replied, surprised. “I have been gone for a thousand years, Twilight Sparkle. I know not the means of running a country. Besides, the subjects would not know me, nor would they be likely to trust.”
I heard Cadence speak behind me. “We can do it, Twilight.” She and Shining Armor were standing behind us. I looked up at them in astonishment, which was short-lived as I felt a sense of rightness. I saw the determination on their faces as we all turned to face them.
Shining Armor nodded. “I need to do something to make up for what has happened to this country. For what… I… did.” He looked frustrated, and I knew King Sombra’s words were weighing heavily on him, even though he couldn’t remember anything since Cadence had been captured.
Cadence hugged him close. “It’s ok, dear,” she reassured him. “We’ll do everything we can to help.”
I came over to them and hugged them close. Smiling up at them, I felt that sense of rightness once more, and we all came together with a sense of peace that had not been present in that country for quite some time.
We spend a few days exploring the Crystal Palace and trying to restore order in the Empire. We were unable to locate Pinkie Pie’s body, and neither Luna nor Shining Armor remembered enough to give us any clues as to where it was. We also discovered that the light had caused all of the people who had been implanted with their crystals to be healed, their crystals removed from their bodies and returned to normal. However, the discs they used to power were still functional, as long as someone was willing to operate it. After some discussion, Applejack, Fluttershy and I decided to take one of the discs. I would be the one operating it, since it would use less energy than teleporting and would allow us to get to places I had never seen much faster.
We removed the restraint chains from our chosen disc, cleaning it as much as possible. Cadence and Shining Armor had provided us with plenty of supplies, including some additional weapons, which we carefully strapped into the disc. As we worked, we heard a young girl’s voice behind us. “T-Twilight Sparkle?”
I turned, seeing a teenaged girl standing behind us. She had curly hair striped in shades of purple, a clear crystal hanging from her neck, and was looking at us apprehensively. “Yes?” I asked, certain that I knew who this was, and feeling relief that she was ok. Applejack and Fluttershy popped their heads up from inside the disc where we had been working, curious.
“Umm,” she stammered. “Y-you might not know who I am, b-but, I heard about you from Princess Cadence. I’m…”
“Sweetie Belle,” I replied, smiling. She let out a squeak of surprise, and I approached her carefully. She was staring at my eye patch, unsure of what to say. I stopped before I got too close to her. “What can I do for you?”
She looked down at the ground, shuffling her feet. “Ummm…” she started, “You see, umm… I was wondering…”
“Well, come on girl, spit it out,” called Applejack. “What can we all do ya for?”
Sweetie Belle let out another squeak, then mastered herself. “Well, can I come with you? At least back home?” She looked up at me expectantly. “I can fly the disc if you like. I’ve done it plenty of times.”
I smiled down at her. “Of course you can come, Sweetie Belle. We were just about to leave, as soon as we finish cleaning the disc. Is there anything you need to do before we leave?”
She shook her head. “No, nothing that I can think of. I already thanked the Princess and said goodbye to Shining Armor. He’s such a nice man, isn’t he?”
I looked down at her, curious. Either she had no memories of what Shining Armor had done to her, or the story Shining Armor told us while under King Sombra’s control wasn’t entirely true. Shaking the thought away, I nodded to her. “Yes, he is a really nice man. I’ve known him for a long time.”
“Really?” she asked, looking up at me in awe. “Wow, you’re so lucky.”
I motioned up at the disc. “Shall we get going?” We climbed into the disc, surveying our handiwork. All evidence that the disc had held a prisoner at one time was gone, and we had cleaned the metal until it shone with pride. “Sweetie Belle, I was planning on flying us in this. Is there anything that I need to do to get it going?”
She shook her head. “Nah, it’s pretty simple. Just have a seat in the center here…” She sat down, settling herself in the seat. “And power it up!” She placed her hand on her crystal, concentrating hard. A blue aura of magic surrounded the disc, and we rose into the air. “Just tell me where to go, and we’ll get there in a snap!”
I looked around in awe. The Sweetie Belle I knew had enough trouble getting a spoon off the table, let alone lifting an entire metal disc and three passengers into the air. Applejack and Fluttershy looked just as amazed. “This is great, Sweetie Belle! Ah never knew you had this much in ya!” Applejack said.
She smiled. “Ah, this is nothing. You should see me flying around the Palace. I can loop the loop like the best of them!” She looked over at me. “So where to, Twilight?”
“Well, let’s head home, Sweetie Belle. To the south.” I reached into my bag, and pulled out Pinkie Pie’s old cloak. I wrapped it around Sweetie Belle, saying, “It’s going to get cold after we leave the dome of the Crystal Empire, so here you go.”
She smiled up at me, and we started flying south. “Thanks, Twilight.” We picked up speed quickly, the Empire flashing past below us. Applejack, Fluttershy and I sat down in the disc next to Sweetie Belle, relaxing in the smooth flight. A few minutes later, we came upon and passed through the shimmering dome on the edge of the Crystal Empire, and out into the snowy north. I sighed as I saw the flying snow below us, looking out with a feeling of sadness.
“What’s up, Twi?” Applejack asked.
“Just thinking,” I replied. “Remembering how excited Pinkie Pie was when we first came here on the train.”
The mood became somber for a moment, as we all remembered our hyperactive friend. I wished that we had been able to find her body and bring her back for a proper burial. Fluttershy reached over and squeezed my shoulder in sympathy. “We know, Twilight. We all miss her. We never really had a chance to mourn her when she died.” Her eyes lit up, and she spoke excitedly. “Hey, we could celebrate her when we get back home!”
I smiled back. “That’s a great idea, Fluttershy. I think she’d like that.”
We flew in silence for a while, watching the scenery go by. I did my best to keep Sweetie Belle on track, but it was difficult without the sun to steer by. After another couple of hours, we left the snowy plains, coming into warmer weather. “Sweetie Belle, would you like to take a rest?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Nah, it’s ok, Twilight. This is pretty easy, actually.”
“Ok, if you’re sure,” I replied. We sat there chatting for another couple of hours, chatting and eating some lunch as we flew. It was late afternoon before we finally found ourselves approaching Equs. We landed on the outskirts of the town, doing our best to camouflage the disc from prying eyes, then headed into the city and entered the library.
It was a bittersweet reunion in the underground hideout. On the one hand, Sweetie Belle was welcomed back with open arms. Applebloom in particular was excited to see her, and the two of them spent the entire evening heads together, talking and laughing. I was struck by the similarity of this Applebloom with the one from our world, and found myself asking a question that I later regretted. Approaching the two girls, I asked, “Hey, Applebloom, where’s Scootaloo?”
Silence greeted me, as Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked up, sadness in their eyes. Surprised at their reaction, I immediately felt bad, but felt I had to push on. “What happened?” I asked.
“Well, Twilight,” replied Applebloom. “Scootaloo, well, she always really, really wanted to be like Rainbow Dash. When the town was attacked, she decided she wanted to be a hero like Rainbow, and rushed at the bad guys.”
“Oh, Applebloom,” I replied, sadly.
She nodded. “She didn’t last long,” she replied somberly. “When the attack was over, we buried her in the cemetery, kinda over by Pinkie’s family.”
“I’m so sorry,” I replied.
Sweetie Belle shook her head. “Don’t worry, Twilight. She did what she wanted to, and went down fighting.”
After that difficult moment, the next one came when the twins heard we had come back. I saw them come flying into the meeting room, excitement on their faces as they searched for Pinkie Pie. When they couldn’t find her, my heart broke as I saw their faces fall. They ran over to me, eyes hopeful as they looked up at me. I braced myself as they asked, “Miss Twilight? Where’s Pinkie Pie?”
“Well, you see…” I started replying, then hesitated. I wasn’t sure how to respond. “Pinkie Pie’s not coming back, kids. I’m really sorry.”
“Oh,” they replied, looking disappointed. “Is she staying in the Crystal Empire?”
I nodded hopefully, cringing inwardly at the twisted truth. “Exactly, she had to stay there.”
“Oh, ok,” they replied. “She should have fun, there’s a lot of shiny things up there, aren’t there?”
“You’re right, kids,” I said, hugging them both close. “You’re exactly right.”
We stayed for another day, throwing a party to celebrate Pinkie Pie, but decided that we should leave the following day. We’d already had plenty of time to rest in the Crystal Empire, and aside from dropping off our two new elements, there was nothing to keep us in town for too long. We were packing up the next morning as Cheerilee and Big Mac approached us to say goodbye.
They came up, giving us all hugs as we were getting ready to hoist our packs. “Good luck,” Cheerilee said as she hugged me. “Thank you for bringing back Sweetie Belle.”
“I’m just glad she’s ok,” I replied. We had told them what had happened in the Empire, and what had been done to her. I did leave out the part where Shining Armor had said he was the one who developed the methods for implanting the crystals. Sweetie Belle still didn’t seem to have any memory of the procedure or who did it, and I didn’t want to sow distrust of my brother.
“’Luck,” grunted Big Mac, shaking my hand. I nodded back at him, smiling. We thanked them once again, and headed out of town, towards our camouflaged disc. We cleared it off, and I settled myself in the seat in the center. Gripping my staff, I concentrated, and saw a purple aura surround the craft, and we were levitating with ease. I felt that the disc itself was working in my favor, boosting my magic to the point of making it easy to move.
Looking over at Applejack, I called, “Which way, AJ?”
She pointed off to the east. “Over thataway, Twi,” she replied. I focused my concentration, and we sped off into the air, heading towards our next destination: Camelot.