//------------------------------// // 1 // Story: Legends of Unova // by Tricondon //------------------------------// Chapter 1 The Crystal Train was calmer than any other train in Equestria. It moved like a pegasus in full flight, without a single disturbance to the passengers—or at least none that Princess Celestia could notice. Most of her time had been spent on the passing landscape; watching the forests and grasslands give way to cold tundras. A light snowfall had begun to fall, scattering streaks of white across the landscape. “Attention all passengers,” the voice of the conductor rang. “We will be arriving at the Crystal Empire within ten minutes. In addition, once this train arrives at the Crystal Empire it will be out-of-service and all passengers are asked to disembark.” “We’re arriving already?” Princess Twilight asked, her head finally out of one of her many traveling books. “Apparently so,” said Princess Luna. “And for the best. Fast or not, traveling by locomotive still unnerves me.” “I seem to recall you saying something similar about being pulled around in a chariot,” Celestia said with a wry smile. “And now it seems to be your preferred method of transportation.” The midnight blue alicorn frowned at her older sister. “At least chariots provide open roofs and places to spread my wings. I feel so confined in here.” She ruffled her wings indignantly. “I prefer the roof considering how bad it’s snowing out there,” Twilight said. She closed her book and slid it into the saddle bag beside her, between two other books in alphabetical order. Some habits never die, Celestia thought with a smile. Even as a filly, her former student was almost tyrannical about her organizing. “Princess, did Cadance say anything else in her letter?” Twilight asked, turning to Celestia. “Nothing more than what I’ve shared with you,” she replied. “I’m sure it’s nothing worth concerning ourselves over. Cadance is not the sort of mare to withhold important information.” “She might if she were afraid the message could be intercepted or misinterpreted somehow,” Luna said gravely. “Not everypony is quite so eloquent in their correspondence as you are, Celestia.” That’s true, Celestia thought. Though I shudder to think what could have Cadance so worried as to fear the information falling into the wrong hooves. The remainder of the journey went in relative silence. Twilight had her nose pushed against the glass, obviously eager to see her sister-in-law. Though judging by the conductor, she wouldn’t be able to view the Crystal Empire until they were close to arriving. Celestia again toyed with the notion of teaching Twilight proper royal etiquette, as would be befitting a mare of her status, though ultimately decided against it. Her status as Equestria’s fourth Princess was still new, and there were sure to be more opportune moments in the future. Luna was simply sitting in her seat, unmoving, with her eyes closed. She might have been giving the outward appearance of reserved collectiveness, but Celestia knew her younger sister was swallowing waves of nausea. The slight grimaces her lips made, combined with the way she angled her muzzle closer to the window, were all subtle clues Luna had shown since she was a filly. They were all signs she’d thought she’d never see again. Though she didn’t look it, the white alicorn and her sister were both over one thousand years old. They were the oldest ponies in Equestria, and for the longest time its only Alicorns. As such, they’d taken over the ancient responsibilities of the unicorn ponies to raise the sun and moon. Together, they’d ruled side by side, sharing the burdens leadership carried. And ponies loved them. Ponies loved you, Celestia corrected herself. That’s what pushed Luna away. Looking back now, all the signs of Luna’s growing animosity seemed so obvious, but then hindsight usually was better. It had started small — leaving a meal early, being late for a meeting or proceeding — but eventually grew to veiled insults, backhoofed comments, until finally reaching her downfall and transformation into Nightmare Moon. Celestia sighed, trying to push the past aside. Luna is back beside me, thanks to Twilight and her friends, Celestia thought to herself. “I see it,” Twilight said, excited. Celestia turned her attention from the frozen landscape and followed her former pupil’s gaze. The cold, snow covered land was quickly giving way to green hills and valleys. In one of these valleys, Celestia could begin to make out the shapes of buildings — brightly coloured, and with irregular shapes. They were arranged in irregular segments divided by brightly polished roads. If viewed from above, the roads created an almost snowflake-like pattern. In the center of all this was a massive tower of blue crystal resting atop four arch-shaped legs. Five towers rose from the crystal, giving it the shape of a palace. The Crystal Empire, Celestia mused. Despite the name, the city was as much a part of Equestria as the pegasus city of Cloudsdale. Perhaps under the rule of their King things had been different, but that was near one thousand years ago. Now only this city remained to tell of that time. The title of empire was little more than a formality. And now they’re ruled by an alicorn princess. Many of the Canterlot elite had objected to that decision. Before her ascension, Cadance had been a pegasus. It was her unparalleled understandings of the physical and emotional sides of love that allowed her to reach the level of an Alicorn, and even back then, ponies spoke out. “Love was not a skill with which to lead,” Celestia recalled a number of them saying. Cadance herself didn’t help matters. She’d never dabbled in politics or diplomacy. Her teenage years had been spent as the foalsitter to Twilight Sparkle, back when she was still a unicorn, and courting her elder brother into an eventual marriage. Many in Equestria didn’t even know her name until her wedding, where a Changeling queen had stolen her place in an attempt to infiltrate Equestria for her Changeling hoards. The politicians had used this as a prime example of why Cadance was too young and inexperienced to control the newest territory to be added to Equestria. But the choice had never been Celestia’s to make. The Crystal ponies chose her, and gave her the title of Crystal Princess. After that, there’d been nothing more to say. Celestia rose from her seat as the train pulled into the station. She inhaled deeply and strolled out, keeping her head high and being sure to smile at everypony. However, the station platform was deserted, save for a battalion of four Crystal Empire guards, dressed in sapphire armour. Thanks to the enchantments of their home, the guard’s armour sparkled, and their lavender coats appeared angular, as if made of crystal. At their head was a pink alicorn, smiling brightly. “Cadance!” Twilight Sparkle exclaimed. She almost rushed towards her old foal-sitter, but managed to catch herself and resume a regal appearance. “Thank you all for coming here,” Cadance said, nodding to her fellow princesses. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience of it all.” Celestia stepped towards the smaller alicorn. “We know you wouldn’t have called us all unless it was urgent.” “I do hope King Sombra hasn’t attempted another return,” Luna said. “Goodness no,” Cadance replied. “It’s nothing that severe, but I think it’d be better to talk back at my palace.” She extended her left wing. The four guards each gave a stiff nod and walked off the platform. A moment later the sound of wheels against the half-frozen ground could be heard. Celestia turned her head towards the sounds, and saw the guards pulling two silver chariots into view. Cadance climbed into the front chariot — with Twilight following close beside her — leaving Celestia and Luna to ride in the rear. They rode through the city, past the red and blue houses that looked as if chiseled from giant crystals. And everywhere there were ponies. Like the guards, they appeared crystalline thanks to the magic of the empire. Curiously, there were only earth ponies that Celestia could see. It was a strange feeling, being in a place with only one tribe. Even in Equestria’s capital of Canterlot, where unicorns were dominant, there were still earth ponies and pegasus ponies living within. The crystal ponies watched them pass with curious looks. A few smiled and waved, while others watched on with distant intriguement. It was something Celestia had grown accustomed to. In her long years as Equestria’s ruler, she had borne witness to every expression ponies could produce. Sometimes I do miss those old days, though, Celestia thought to herself, turning to look at Luna with a smile. The first time she’d seen the Crystal Empire was when it had been conquered by King Sombra, a unicorn who dabbled in dark magics for his own personal gain. He ruled the Crystal Empire through tyranny and oppression, keeping the crystal ponies as little more than slaves. It had taken the combined power of both Celestia and Luna to properly banish him. Together they stripped him of his corporeal form, and sealed him away within the frozen north. But Sombra’s powers were greater than they’d anticipated. Somehow, he managed to cause the Crystal Empire itself to vanish along with him. Countless decades of study were wasted as the two tried to figure out his methods and they were eventually forced to concede that the empire was lost. Until half a year ago, when the Empire had mysteriously returned, and King Sombra with it. Instead of facing the tyrant again, Celestia sent her pupil, Twilight Sparkle, and her five friends, who encompassed the six Elements of Harmony — laughter, honesty, generosity, loyalty, kindness, and magic. The experience was to test if Twilight was truly ready to face the challenges that would have faced her in becoming an Alicorn herself. And thankfully, she’d passed, and the empire was saved. Another of my ancient foes vanquished by my student, Celestia thought. Twilight, her friends, and even Spike are revered as the heroes who forever banished Sombra from this land. Myself and Luna are little more than curiosities to them. She gazed at the ponies watching them pass. Did any of them even remember that she and her sister had faced Sombra first? “Celestia?” The princess turned from her thoughts and looked at her younger sister. “What is it, Luna?” “You’re being awfully quiet. Is everything alright?” “I am merely reminiscing about the past. Thinking about some of the challenges we’ve overcome and sights we’ve seen.” Luna smiled in recollection. “Yes, we have accomplished much in our time.” “Do you ever miss it? The simplicity of just being a hero and not a ruler, I mean.” Luna paused a moment in thought. “Why are you asking this?” “No reason. I’m just recollecting, like I said,” Celestia replied. Luna was silent and brought a hoof to her chin. “Things were much simpler then, I’ll admit. All we had to focus on was expelling an evil force, and not managing the lives of countless ponies. But there are many rewards that come from that as well.” “Rewards, perhaps, but not as many accolades or triumphs.” Celestia gave a very un-princess-like sigh. “Perhaps I am merely jealous of Twilight and her friends. They have done so much in recent times and so many still speak of them highly. Anypony who would be able to recollect our own adventures is long gone. I almost feel like I am being overshadowed at times.” Luna looked at her sister, perplexed. “I’m shocked, Celestia. It almost sounds like you want to abandon your duties to go rekindle some old fire. Those times were invigorating, yes, but we have new responsibilities to uphold. Let the new generations don this mantle of responsibility — you know all this.” “I know, Luna,” Celestia sighed. “I’ve just been remembering a lot since Tirek’s return. When we had to give our magic to Twilight, I felt as if my years had finally caught up to me.” Celestia shut her eyes tightly, rueing what she would say next. “I felt old.” Luna was silent for a long while, with no sounds besides the chariot wheels on the road or the floating notes of Twilight and Cadance’s conversation. This too was silenced, however, when the group arrived at the palace. Cadance wasted no time and hurried inside; to anypony else it may have seemed like she was simply trotting, but Celestia could detect the sense of urgency in her movements. Even once inside, Cadance remained on edge, guiding her princess entourage through the palace halls with rushed slowness. The three princesses had to rush to keep up with her. Cadance only seemed to calm down when they neared a storage room, walking towards it with purpose. Two crystal pony guards stood on either side of the door, looking as determined and stoic as any other. Twilight was the first to clue in. “Hold on, Cadance, isn’t this where that magic mirror is?” “Yes, it is,” Cadance answered, nodding at the guards. They moved aside and she trotted in smartly. “And it’s the reason I’ve called you here.” The room was dark blue from the walls to the floor to the doors Celestia entered through. Purple crystals grew along the walls, making borders, but aside from them, everything was a shade of blue. Pictures hung on the wall depicting sunrises over castles and landscapes, and flanking the entranceways were display cases filled vases and other ancient looking artifacts. But the object that had everypony’s attention was the mirror. It was to the right of the doorway, on a raised pedestal, blue in colour, and ringed by purple horseshoes. A lavender, upside-down horseshoe embedded with rubies serving as a border. Above it, fixed with iron details, was the image of an earth pony. The most striking thing about it at this moment in time, however, was the large crack, stretching from the top right and jutting across to the opposite side. Even more worrisome than the crack were the colours floating around it; Celestia mused that the wispy ever-changing colours reminded her of her own mane. “What happened to the mirror?” Twilight asked, leaning in and observing the colours. “I’m not sure,” Cadance answered. “I believe it happened during Tirek’s rampage.” “Do you think he damaged it to absorb its magic?” Luna asked. Celestia had been thinking the same thing. Lord Tirek had been obsessed about amassing and hoarding all magic for himself. The mirror was decidedly magical, and considering that Tirek had stolen even Discord’s power, it stood to reason that he would have attempted taking inanimate magic. If Twilight and her friends hadn’t stopped his most recent rampage he would have succeeded. Just another reminder of how useless I was, Celestia thought bittery. Aloud, she asked, “Even if he did, all the stolen magic was returned to its rightful owners.” “I think it was,” Luna said, gesturing to the shimmering colours. “This magical energy is being drawn to the mirror, but doesn’t seem to be settling.” As if on cue the mirror shimmered, the colours bursting forth from the crack and bathing the room in a multi-coloured glow. The glass itself seemed to bulge and contort, distorting everypony’s reflection. For a moment Celestia swore she felt herself being drawn into the mirror, though that feeling quickly passed. The rainbow of magic pouring forth abruptly halted. A great WOOSH resounded in the room and the magic was quickly re-absorbed into the mirror. Cadance’s lavender eyes were as wide as serving plates. “What just happened?” “Some kind of magical backlash, from the looks of things,” Luna replied far too calmly, all things considered. Twilight Sparkle stepped forward and peered at the mirror. “I think I know what the problem is. Even though the mirror’s magic was returned after Tirek’s defeat, the crack is too big. The magic keeps slipping out and being re-absorbed.” Her eyes widened. “If this keeps happening, the magic could damage the mirror even more. And that could lead to it imploding on itself!” Celestia stepped up beside her former student. “With the four of us together, it shouldn’t be too difficult to repair the mirror before another surge happens.” “It would be best if we linked our magic together,” Luna said, stepping forward. “Twilight, you have dealt with the mirror before. I propose that you be the one to guide the spell.” Twilight gave a firm nod and faced the mirror. Celestia and Luna took up positions behind her on either side, with Cadance between them. Celestia focused on her magic, willing it into her horn until it was surrounded in a golden aura. Looking across from her, she could see that Luna’s horn was surrounded by a similar blue aura. The white alicorn closed her eyes and focused her thoughts on her sister’s magic. It was the one she was most familiar with, so establishing a connection was easy. She felt herself link with Luna, and her sister’s magic began reacting with her own. A golden bolt shot from Celestia’s horn, as bright as the sun, while a deep blue one came from Luna’s. The twin beams met in the space between the alicon sisters, where they conjoined like a pair of serpents, twisting and writing together until their colours began to overlap into a single ball of light, both gold and blue, yet at the same time neither. The feeling was both invigorating and intrusive. Celestia could feel Luna’s considerably large magic pool as if it was her own. If she wanted to, Celestia was sure she could have tapped into it. But she knew that Luna felt the same thing about her own magic. In that way, it was like her sister was peering into her like she was a book to be read and picked apart for information. A shimmer of magic was all the warning Celestia was given before an aquamarine lance speared into the magical orb. Cadance’s magic was smaller than either Luna or Celestia’s levels, but she had only been an Alicorn for less than two decades. Celestia was unfamiliar with Cadance’s energies; it was like she was trying to read the same letter, but the wording had changed ever so slightly. Did Twilight feel this when we lent her our magic? Bridging the gap to Twilight was considerably easier, no doubt because of her natural attunement to magic, and as a fellow user of the Elements of Harmony. The link to her was also different than that to Luna and Cadance. Twilight wasn’t pooling her energies into the ball of magic, but rather tapping into the magic itself, and using it as she saw fit. This left her magic pool sealed off from Celestia’s view. Twilight got to work straight away. Her horn lit up in her trademark magenta glow, and like a moth to a flame, the ball of magic shot out and latched onto its tip. Celestia could see the sweat beginning to form on Twilight’s brow, but her former pupil stood fast and took in short breaths of air. With a choked grunt, Twilight focused their conjoined magic on the mirror. A thin beam of white magic left her horn and touched the crack at the bottom of the mirror. Slowly it trailed along the fracture, and the glass mended together as it did. Celestia chanced a glance at the ever-changing colours surrounding the mirror and was pleased to see they were already beginning to fade back into the glass. The surface of the mirror shimmered, drawing Celestia’s attention. Faint ripples were traveling along the length of the glass. It almost looked like the mirror was activating its magic, but that couldn’t be. It hadn’t been thirty moons after its last use. Twilight’s attention remained intent on repairing the crack. Celestia glanced between her former student and the mirror; keeping her magic linked to the others didn’t require much focus, so she was allowed to let her mind wander. The glass continued to ripple ever so slightly, and in places, small white lines began appearing. At first Celestia thought they were a trick of the light, but the lines quickly lengthened and spread, joining in some places and expanding into others. It couldn’t be activating, Celestia thought to herself, even as their reflections wavered and distorted. Casting a glance back to Twilight, Celestia saw that the lavender alicorn had almost mended the crack over completely. The white lines were inching towards the mended section of mirror, coming from all manner of twisted angles. If they were more solid, Celestia would have thought the mirror was cracking again. Twilight noticed them, and her focus faltered. Her horn accidentally pointed the conjoined magic off-course, but she quickly regained control. Still, she kept one eye on the lines while she mended the last of the crack. They didn’t seem dangerous, but something about the way everypony’s reflection was distorting concerned Celestia. At the least, it didn’t seem to be threatening any of them. Until the glass reached out towards Twilight. Celestia couldn’t see what Cadance and Luna were doing, nor feel what they were planning through their link. She acted quick, bolting beside Twilight and using her wing to block the glass. With her free wing, Celestia pushed her away. All around her, sections of the mirror lifted off along the white lines and settled on her body like dust on an object. There was no pain, only a chilling cold where the glass touched her skin. She heard Luna call her name and tried twisting her head to her sister, but the glass on her neck locked together to stop her. She could feel the mirror, more like rubber or latex by this point, slowly creeping its way along her body, chilling her to her bones. Twilight called her, or perhaps it was Luna. It was difficult to tell with the mirror filling her ears. Celestia’s gaze fell on the ball of magic floating above them. All four alicorns were still firmly attached through its link. The mirror, almost acting with a mind all its own, had nearly engulfed Celestia entirely. She knew she didn’t have enough time to recall her magic, nor did she know what would happen if the mirror and the link were to join. So she did the only other thing she could think of. She severed the connection. The last thing Celestia saw were the shocked expressions from the other ponies. A force pulled her back, and her senses went numb. Then the mirror completely encased her.