//------------------------------//
// The Crystal Empire 
// Story: The Beginning 
// by DeadlyPegasister 
//------------------------------//

	"Hey guys, can somepony swap me places of flying? My wings are aching," Spirals said, obviously pained.
" Yeah, give me a second to stretch my wings," Josie replied, unfolding her wings. Spirals landed in the basket of the balloon, slowly folding her wings. "Does that hurt, after flying so long?"
"A bit, like taking out a tight ponytail and finally moving your mane." Spirals said. "You may not need to feel it though. We'll be coming along the Crystal Empire soon."
"Really?" I asked. "We haven't been in the air too long. Is the trip seriously not that long?"
Spirals was still folding her wings. "Yeah, it's not too far, we've also been entertaining ourselves throughout the trip. Like, I don't know , talking and such."
Flitter Note was quite most of the trip, until now. "Sorry I haven't been saying to much. It's been a little traumatizing to see my entire family and my cat missing after seeing them the night before." I was a little surprised she hadn't said anything because of that. We had all been talking about what we had done the night before. I had been having a family game night, my idea, playing Sorry. My mom had won, but it had still been very fun.
"Y'know, all of us were doing something with our families last night. I was playing a board game, Spirals was roller skating, Josie was practicing barrels with Starred Hearts, Pom was playing with her baby sister, and Aqua was playing catch with her brothers. What were you doing Flitter?"
"I was helping my family clean so we could go out for dinner tomorrow, er, today. After helping clean Spotlight's room, which was the last room we needed clean, we all went to bed, and that was it. That was the last I saw of my family," Flitter said. I was surprised, since we were all doing family-related activities the night before. How would this be connected, and why to Ponyville? I could now see the peak of the castle in the Crystal Empire. 
"Hey," Josie asked, "Isn't today, like, the third birthday party of Princess Skyla? Shouldn't there be streamers and balloons everywhere?"
Flitter and Spirals flew out of the basket to see. "She's right! There's nothing there, not even a single decoration!" Spirals called out.
"I don't understand," Aqua inquired. "All of this must be connected in some way. We had fun with our families the night before they disappeared. Then we realize the Crystal Empire is under-decorated for the party of one of the biggest celebrations of the Crystal Empire! The ponies there must be missing too!" She pulled the chain on the burner to make the balloon rise higher, and suddenly the balloon lurched forwards. Pink-violet magic aura formed around the front of the basket and pulled us to the ground. Quickly but safely, we landed in the lush grasses and jumped out of the basket. "That must have been Shining Armor! He's the only other pony in the empire that's a unicorn."
We raced to the gateway of the empire, and we were met with Shining Armor, looking worried and frantic. "Thank goodness there are more ponies at least in Equestria! I've sent letters to Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Twilight, and haven't gotten anything back from any of them!"
"Slow down! What do you mean?" I asked Shining Armor.
"I mean, EVERYPONY is missing! The citizens of the Crystal Empire, the workers for Celestia and Luna, my sister, Cadance, and Skyla! Have you seen anypony recently?"
Josie replied, "Other than you and our selves, no. We went looking for our parents and siblings before we came here."
"Oooh, what are we gonna do, what are we gonna do, what are we gonna DO?!" Shining Armor paced franticly, obviously worried by the disappearance of his wife and only daughter.
"Get a hold of yourself! We haven't been anywhere but here yet! Are you going to come with us to the Library of the Two Sisters in the Everfree or not?" Asked Spirals, who seemed to be trying very hard to keep her cool herself.
Shining replied shakily, "Y-yes, but mainly because I need to calm down and keep in mind that if Cadance and Skyla are gone, they must be together."