King Sombre laughed arrogantly at the ponies’ sadness. “Hah! How peculiar. They try to sing their sorrows away! So redundant, it seems. Perhaps I shall enjoy this sad little show for a bit longer, and then create more chaos.” He continued to laugh as he blissfully enjoyed the melancholy of depression around him.
Derpy and Peppy were the first ones off of the train as soon as it stopped at their hopeful destination: the Crystal Empire. “Hopefully Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor can help us,” Peppy said. Derpy and Zecora nodded. They treaded on with excitement, the clops of their hooves sounding off like a freight train. Derpy almost crashed into a group of crystal ponies she was so excited. But then the thought of Roseluck struck her mind. She stopped abruptly, sorely skidding her hooves. Tears welled up as she remembered solemnly of the sight of her best friend. Derpy almost let out a wail of a cry when Cadence just happened to show up. “Oh! Guests of Ponyville? Who is this I see?” Peppy then went into a very long explanation as to why they were there. Cadence only nodded her head and responded with “Yes”, “Okay”, and “M-hm”. Once Peppy was finished with her story, Cadence closed her eyes and nodded slowly. “So, my sister-in-law, her friends, my two adopted aunts, and the whole entire town of Ponyville have been taken hostage by King Sombre… how terrible!!! I thought that what he’d done here to the Crystal ponies was horrid enough. But, clearly I was wrong!” She furrowed her brow into a frown, a growl erupting from her throat. Derpy giggled and said, “Oooo, a princess who actually shows her temper to be quite dangerous! I see why they say that she is a force to be reckoned with.” Zecora face-hoofed and shook her head. Peppy made a face of amusement, while Derpy giggled all the same.
Cadence cheered when Shining Armor suddenly appeared. The young stallion stared at the newcomers, cocking his head to one side with a confused look. Cadence did a quick run through to Shining Armor on the current events of what had become of Ponyville. Shining Armor’s mouth dropped wide open, his eyes bugged out. “Twily!!!!! Where is she!!!??? Is she safe!!!!???? Where are my men? We’ll take him on! Flash Sentry! Get over here, quick!” Suddenly, the Alicorn’s love interest galloped up to the prince’s side. Chest proudly outright, Flash looked up to the prince bravely and asked, “Yes sir! What is the problem, sir?” Shining Armor recapped on the events with his proud soldier, and told him that he had plans. “We’ll sneak down into Ponyville, find everypony, and free them all!” Shining Armor nodded happily, while Cadence turned her direction towards the girls. “Who has Celestia left in charge of this assignment?” Derpy sheepishly stepped forward. Shocked and appalled, Cadence just stood there. After a moment or two, she continued her speech. “Derpy, uh… you need to get to the library, here in the empire. You’ll be able to find information on King Sombre, hopefully. I don’t actually know much about him just yet. Once you find what you need about him, head to the Mountains of Secrets. There’s a special waterfall there, with a secret entrance. Once you find that secret entrance, follow the riddles on the map. If anypony can decipher riddles, it’s Zecora,” she said, finally turning to the zebra. “Twi has told me many interesting facts about you Zecora. Please do your best.” Cadence bowed her head and trotted off with her husband and Flash Sentry, whispering amongst themselves. Derpy gave a sign of salute and started heading towards the library.
There were many lines of books along the walls of the Crystal Empire’s sparkling halls of written words. Derpy stared in awe as Zecora trotted off to find the right book. Peppy Mint looked down sadly at her hooves, and Derpy gave her a concerned glance. “Everything okay, Momma?” Derpy asked. Peppy looked sorrowfully at her adopted daughter. “Yes, Derpy dear. It’s just that… Well… Hmm…” Peppy trailed off. Derpy was worried about Peppy. Perhaps she was thinking about something really important. Maybe, just maybe, it was about Derpy herself. The Pegasus knew that she wasn’t the minty-based pony’s biological daughter, but maybe she was thinking about something that Derpy didn’t even know about. And perhaps, it was about her. “Soooo, Peppy,” Derpy started. “Um, is there something that you’d like to tell me?” Peppy suddenly whipped her head in fear at Derpy, like she had just uncovered a huge secret. Derpy gasped as her adopted mother’s eyes inflated and overflowed with tears. “I LOST MY DAUGHTER A LONG TIME AGO!!!! I’M SO SORRY, DERPY!!!!!” Peppy wailed and raced outside. Derpy charged after her. Zecora was busy finding the book, happily stating, “Yes! Such a bless! I have found—Huh? Wah? Where have my dear friends gone, for I hope not homeward bound?” Zecora cocked her head, wondering just where the two Pegasi had gone.
Derpy called Peppy as she gave chase to the wailing Pegasus ahead of her. “Mommy! Come back!” she called desperately. Peppy finally stopped as soon as she was at the heart of the castle, where the Crystal Heart wafted softly up and down. Dropping to a pitiful heap, she hid her face in her hooves. Derpy trotted up and sat down quietly next to her. “Please,” she begged, “tell me what’s wrong.” Peppy raised her head and turned towards the goofy-eyed pony. “Okay… When I was barely into adulthood, I had given birth to a beautiful baby Pegasus, and I named her Minty Fresh. She was the most beautiful filly in all of Cloudsdale. She looked just like me, her eyes twinkling ever so brightly. One day, when she was 6 years old, she decided to explore outside of our yard. She had just gone past the border of our home cloud, when suddenly, a bright beam of light had penetrated our home! The one responsible for this awful disaster… Sombre! He had tried to take over the cloudy abode, but failed. Houses were destroyed, Pegasi struggled to fight for survival, and I tried to save my daughter. But, to no avail. He had her in his evil clutches, and with one swift attack, had…” She broke off, tears welling up once again. Derpy knew what came next. She could only imagine the lifeless body of a Pegasus filly just wafting on a cloud. Derpy shook her head furiously, tears spouting out like a hose. Then it struck her, like a lightning bolt from Rainbow Dash. That beam of light… was that the one that had turned Derpy into a Pegasus, from a Merpony!?
King Sombre paced the floor, trying to figure out what to do next. He had Celestia and her comrades at his mercy, and he also had a huge chunk of Equestria at his hooves. The dark stallion had finally been able to transform into his normal form, rather than a field of darkness with demonic-like features. It was a bit painful, however. The claws changing into hooves, the huge fangs shrinking, and the giant eyes as well were all painful. The reason for his delay of change… he was too busy bustling about, causing destruction. Now that all of that was over, he had more important things to focus on. And that, under his own circumstances, was to destroy those who opposed him. He trotted over to the window of the room that he existed in. He became worried… What was that wall-eyed pony up to? She was the only one who had escaped his grasp. Was she the one who was trying to stop him? He didn’t know. Once thing was certain, though… she had to be caught. “Guards!” he called. Four dark stallions under his dark control strolled into the room. “Find the messed up Pegasus and any who are considered her allies! Bring them to me!” he ordered. The four nodded and backed out of the room. King Sombre laughed darkly, relishing in the control that he was granted.