• Published 12th Nov 2013
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Empress Rarity's 250th Birthday - Lord-Commander



Today is the Birthday of the Empress of the Crystal Empire, Rarity Belle. Everypony is excited for the celebrations, that is everypony except for one...

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Chapter 6

For the most part, the journey had been uneventful and much of the island was devoid of life. Even with the rains, the ground was so dry and dead that it couldn’t accept the life-giving water. In all of this, Rarity and her guide trotted along their path as it wound them through a dying forest of twisted trees.

But the forest wouldn't last. They trekked through clearings empty of everything except stump-sized craters. It was as if the trees had been pulled straight out of the ground in this section of the island.

For a period of time, Applejack and Rarity climbed hills and mountains. When Rarity looked back, she saw that they were ascending above the treetops that were already well behind them as they pushed on towards the center of the island, to the gateway that would lead them to her cores.

As they walked, Rarity took note that this portion of the island appeared to have once been inhabited. They passed old buildings, some of them decayed right down to their foundations, but others fared better. Although, these abandoned structures were hauntingly familiar to the wandering Empress.

Several times during their journey Rarity would pause and glance over her shoulder, down the trail. She knew that something was following them, but whatever it was stayed just out of view, off in the shadows. She never saw it, but she could feel its presence.

It was there. All around them, waiting patiently to see how events would unfold. A passive observer, perhaps, waiting for fate to drop the other horseshoe... No, if she was being honest with herself, Rarity knew that it too had a hoof in all this. It wasn’t just watching. It was also herding, directing the shadows and the fading light around them, and that frightened her.

The sound of dirt underhoof gave way once again to the sound of stone, and Rarity felt a reassuring smile spread across her lips. She looked up, and she knew that they’d finally reached the center of the island.

The light here was natural. As natural as it could be in an island locked inside your own head, thought Rarity. Plant life was still abundant here, and healthy. The trees were vibrant and thriving when compared to the husks beyond the stone path that circled the center. The grass under her hooves felt soft, and the sky remained free of clouds above them. There were even small pink birds dashing this way and that. It was as if they stood in the eye of the storm.

There was a clear stream with fresh water melts from the snowcapped mountains they’d already traversed in the distance. Flowers and other bushes blossomed in the sunlight, and the ruined buildings that framed many of the plants here seemed more like architectural pieces from ancient Roam than the decay that was further out.

Still, they weren't to the gateway just yet. Rarity felt something pull at her mind, beckoning her to keep going. She looked around uneasily and, for the moment, walked away from her farmpony friend. Her gaze fell on a set of rocks arranged in a rough set of stairs that wrapped themselves around a copse of trees before ascending a nearby hill.

Rarity climbed the stairs and slowly circled around the top of the hill, Applejack’s hoofsteps always keeping at a close pace behind her, the farm mare following wordlessly. The rocks were different here, organized and arranged into a smooth semi-circle. On the other side were two thin flights of long stairs, each framed by a simple stone arch.

Rarity stood before the stone ring and pawed at it with a hoof, removing a patch of accumulated moss. Beneath the moss was the crude outline of runes, both familiar and arcane.

Rarity heard her friend take in a breath, but before the earth pony could speak, Rarity's horn lit up with pale blue light. The light poured into the exposed runes before reverberating throughout the hill in a soft hum. The hum was soon replaced with a whooshing sound as a magical gateway appeared, shimmering in the blue light of Rarity's magic.

"No time like the present, yes?" asked Rarity as she tossed a smile over her shoulder. Then she took a breath and stepped through.

Applejack nodded grimly before following with her hat pressed down snugly to avoid flying off in transit.

* * *

As her eyes adjusted to the odd quality of the light within the chamber, Applejack let out a low whistle. "Dang," she added thoughtfully.

Rarity wanted to respond, but she couldn't. There was something humbling and more than a little frightening about standing here. Very few ponies were ever meant to see their own cores, and yet here she was. For the second time in her long life.

Each and everypony in the world had a core. It was commonly thought that with enough focus and meditation, the most talented of ponies might one day hope to visualize their own core. To catch even a brief glimpse of it in their mind's eye. But as far as Rarity knew, she was the only pony in existence with more than one, as well as the only non-Alicorn pony to ever see and touch her own cores.

Rarity knew that, in some cosmic sense, she was extremely lucky to be standing here. That being said, she'd much rather be anywhere else at the moment. Particularly anywhere else that also had a masseuse. And a wet bar.

The inner chamber was dominated by a wide triangular platform made of opaque glass. The platform filled the center of the space, though it was only raised off the stone floor by a foot or so. Three marble pillars, about a yard across each, rose from the triangle’s three corners.

It was above the exquisitely gilded capital of each of these pillars that one of her three cores floated inertly on.

Each core was a hoof-sized sphere of stone, and reminded her a great deal of the first time she saw the Elements of Harmony back in the ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters long, long ago when she and her five friends freed Princess Luna from the maddening clutches of Nightmare Moon.

Her first core, the one representing her natural unicorn magic, sat at the triangle’s southern end. She recognized it both because of its faint blue glow and the simple, chiseled outline of a diamond, much like the trio of diamonds that made up her cutie mark.

Her second core was almost identical, but the symbol etched into it was the unmistakable outline of the Crystal Heart. It pulsed softly like a heartbeat of translucent white light.

She couldn't help but curl her upper lip into a sneer as her eyes fell upon the damnable third core. It didn't pulse or glow but it leaked darkness instead. She could feel the barely contained rage that simmered within the stone sphere with a jagged crack through its center.

Wisps of magic, like uncoiled rolls of floating fabric, swam through the air lazily between the three pillars on a never ending cycle of ebb and flow.

Faded, rune-covered bands of power flickered and flowed in the shadows around the three marble pillars as they wound themselves in a cycle, stretching between plinths. As the tattered lines crisscrossed one another towards the center of the triangular platform, they arced in a circle above a raised central dais.

If everything was working as intended, these faded runes would’ve been glowing with theurgic might, heady and bright like a furnace. In that state, the darkened walls of this chamber would glow with her glory. Not only that, but the island itself would have been humming with raw energy, and Applejack's expression of ‘Dang’ would have been a severe understatement.

But everything was not working as intended. The three cores glowed, pulsed, and leaked respectively, but they were not in sync. They were not in harmony. The loosely flowing bands of power were no longer taught, and they floated about in a haphazard ellipse.

Tattered, torn, and faded as they were, the bands and their runes flickered meagerly on alternating paths between two cores at a time. Rarity inspected the containment rings that lined the central dias. These rings were used to contain and regulate the magical energy from the cores as the power flowed. They held together, but there were noticeable gaps. Gaps that resulted in a shower of sparks whenever two or more gaps lined up.

"Alright, Sugarcube. I guess we better, uh… get to fixin’?"

"Quite,” said Rarity as she walked up to her unicorn core and inspected it. The runes that lined the pillar’s apophyge glowed weakly and a few had already gone out entirely. “You know, I've only been here once before. With Twilight, long ago. But, my goodness, it looks as though everything has gone to pot in the interim.”

"Huh. I think I remember you and Twi talkin’ about that. After we beat the windigos, weren't it?” asked Applejack as she experimentally poked at the unicorn core, causing it to flare and flash with every tap.

The unicorn's eye twitched with each careless prod. “Applejack? Could you be a dear and not do that?”

Applejack looked over at her friend and smiled bashfully. “Oh, uh, sorry Rares,” she said with a sheepish chuckle as she stepped away from the pillar.

Rarity smiled appreciably as she went back to assessing the core without her friend's prodding.

After a moment of silence, Applejack chimed in again. “So... three cores. That sure is somethin’ ain't it?”

"Yes, darling, but it isn't as fun as it sounds," Rarity replied as she shifted one of the runes on the apophyge around, charging it with magic from her horn. "The cores create an enormous amount of strain, even at the best of times. When they’re like this… Well, to be perfectly frank, I've never seen them like this before."

“Well, when you’re up and at’em again, why don’t ya ask Twi fer help? I’m sure she’d lo”

“I… I don’t think that would be a good idea,” interrupted Rarity with some finality. She pushed aside the fear and heartbreak that threatened to resurface. Emotions tied to Twilight’s support for Blueblood’s Senate bill that would undo centuries of her own hard work.

Why Twilight? Why would you do that?

Applejack saw the hurt in Rarity’s eyes. “Oh, come on now. Tell ol’ Applejack what happened.”

“I’d rather not, if it’s all the same to you.”

"Rarity, we’re all friends. I don’t think she'd never do something ta hurt ya.”

"A lot can change over time, dear Applejack.”

Applejack didn't have a response for that. Instead she sighed and busied herself with walking around the triangular platform while Rarity worked.

Rarity smiled victoriously as she finished repairing the last rune on the apophyge and hopped down off the platform. The runic bands that emanated from her unicorn core were restored to their former splendor, and the room took on a soft blue glow as a result.

The Empress half expected that to solve the problem, and for her to just suddenly wake up. But she didn’t, and her smile faltered. She walked around the triangle once. Then a second time as she tried to think of what to do next.

She heard Applejack mutter something to herself.

“Is everything alright, darling?”

“Did you make all of this?" asked Applejack, gesturing towards the platform.

"I suppose I did, but not consciously, mind you." She glanced at the bare walls within the chamber with an appraising eye. "I would have used more tapestries."

Rarity reached up and tapped one of the runes absentmindedly, then watched as it briefly shimmered in response before dulling. “Oh! Oh my, yes. How could I have forgotten?” She turned and looked at Applejack sheepishly. “I need to activate it.”

She turned back to the runic band that streamed from her unicorn core and tapped several of them in a particular sequence. They shimmered together but didn't dull. Rarity grinned and happily clapped her hooves, but her celebration was short-lived when she noticed that double the number of runes had faded on the adjacent side of the triangle. She was about to let loose a series of very colorful words to 'encourage' the faded runes to turn back on when she heard Applejack call out to her.

"Uhh... Hey, Rarity. What in tarnation is wrong with this one?"

Realizing that she’d done as much with the unicorn core as a pony could, Rarity trotted over to the earth pony and looked at the cracked core. Despite herself, Rarity couldn't help but shiver at its grim appearance. The floor around its pillar bore the tell-tale marks of a backfire. Jagged ice had formed in a ring, as if it’d been melting in a harsh wind and then refreezing over and over again, and shards of larger ice fragments laid all round. The Crystal Empress reached up and stroked one of the ice rings, then watched the magic within it flare angrily in response.

"See this?" she asked, pointing to the pillar’s base where a sizable crack made it lean a little too far to the right. "The core isn't correctly aligned and energy is funneling back into itself."

“And that’s bad, right?”

“Right.”

“So how do you reckon we fix it?”

“The ice rings need to be cleared and the runes on the apophyge need to be repaired.” Looking at the pillar’s sorry state, she tsked dismissively. “The pillar needs to be fixed too, and that is going to take quite a lot of work, but first it needs to be moved back into place.”

"Well, I don't know about any of yer fancy magic, but I sure know a thing'er two about movin’!" Applejack trotted to the other side and raised her rear hooves up to buck the pillar back into position.

"No!, Applejack, wa—"

Too late. The farm pony bucked the pillar, causing the core at its apex to seethe with renewed darkness. Rarity dove out of the way as raw power shot out into the chamber, bouncing off the Crystal Core and into the ground. The cores and rune bands flared brightly as the triangular complex worked to dissipate the surge of energy.

“Rarity! Are ya okay?”

“I think… Ugh, I think you gave me a brain-freeze.”

“Heh, sorry.”

Rarity stared up at the cracked core. From where she lay on the ground, the pillar appeared to be back in place, and thankfully the core looked no worse for wear, but it was still in an unhealthy state. Experimentally, she reached out with her magic to assess it, summoning just the faintest bit of magic to test its strength. She smiled as she watched light travel from the center dias along the rune bands to the third core and back again.

Rarity gave a sigh of relief and pushed herself off the floor. She was feeling better now, stronger and more like herself than she had for a long time. Rarity began to move to the next core when something caught her eye. Just on the light’s edge, there was something hiding in the darkness. It felt wrong, like there was something out of place. Rarity put some magic into her horn, causing it to glow and examined the area.

“Rarity? Everything alright, sugar?” called out Applejack as she trotted back over. The Empress raised a hoof to her friend, signalling for silence as she focused on what was before her.

It was a door. A door that wasn't there just moments ago.

Scattered around the darkness were the remains of metal bars, twisted and broken. Shattered locks and battered chains hung limp from the door frame, rattling hauntingly in an unfelt breeze. Rarity risked more light from her horn, and the cores behind her glowed to aid in her task. But it still wasn’t bright enough to illuminate the darkness beyond the door frame.

It was thick. Both impermeable and unnaturally black. It seemed to drink in the light she was making, feeding off of it and growing. It looked like emptiness, but Rarity knew it wasn't.

There was something in there and she could feel it as pressure, building up in the back of her skull. The longer she stared beyond the door, the more she felt like she was being watched.

"Come on, Rarity," whispered an uneasy looking Applejack. "Let's get ya fixed up and on outta here. I can’t say I like the looks of this—"

A deep baritone laugh rumbled out from beyond the door, cutting the farm pony off.

"My, my. Two ponies? Fascinating." The voice was a deep, bassy growl, but with a harsh edge to it like a knife’s blade. "Pity, I only need the Empress."

The darkness from the door swept forward like a rushing tide and blanketed the room, causing the lights from the cores to dim. The two old friends tried to gallop away from the encroaching darkness, but the pressure building up in her head was too much and Rarity felt her legs buckle out from under her. She looked up as Applejack skid to a halt and attempted to double back, yelling something or other back at her. But Rarity couldn't hear it.

She was drowning.

Rarity gave a final cough-ridden cry before the darkness consumed her.

* * *

Lady Merry Sapphire couldn't help but grin as she plummeted through the atmosphere. The wind rushed through her silver mane, and she couldn't resist the occasional playful twist in her dive. There was a sense of freedom, a rush of adrenaline as she fell.

It had been so long since she'd done this.

Her grin of delight soon morphed into one of focused determination as the grey cloud layer started approaching from below. Sapphire tucked her forelegs close to her barrel and dropped like a Roc as she punched into the cloud layer. The calm, crisp sky above the clouds gave way to the roiling storm where lightning danced and flashed around her. One arc of electric light, slower and more deliberate than the rest, strayed too close to the falling mare, forcing her to roll to stay out of its way.

Dream weather was always more stubborn than the real thing, but rarely as deadly.

“Screw this,” muttered Sapphire in the modern vernacular she had grown to enjoy.

Black smoke began trailing from her sides, giving the appearance that maybe she hadn't dodged that last lightning strike after all. A pair of majestic, dark blue wings unfolded from the smoke, and the crystal mare quickly used them to correct her flight path.

Merry Sapphire continued to streak forward, using her wings to boost her speed. More lightning, as if angrily reacting to the sprouting of her wings, flashed and roared around her. She ignored it while pushing further down into the cloud layer.

A sudden break in the clouds appeared ahead of her, and the little island that was her destination appeared as a speck in the churning greyish-green sea below. She dropped, faster and faster, grinning the whole while. What was once a speck of rock was now a boulder. The boulder grew into an island, which itself grew to fill the entirety of her vision.

At the last possible moment, when Merry could smell salt in the air and the rot of vegetation, she twisted her body around, gave her wings a mighty flap, and stretched her hooves out beneath her.

Lady Sapphire impacted the ground with a deafening boom. There was a shower of rock mixed in with the falling rain, but she appeared unphased, save for the black smoke that continued to mist out of her.

The rocks settled and cooled, and the rain let up but for a moment. It was in that moment that all was still. In the silence, a silver flash, like moonlight peeking through dark clouds, emanated in her black mist. The rain started again, and a definitive clicking sound met Merrys ears; the touch of her metal horseshoes on stone.

Her transformation complete, she allowed the rain to wash away the rest of her black mist. What stood in Merry Sapphire's place was now something else. Something much more. The mare's dark blue wings folded up neatly against her elongated, slender frame and she was once again crowned with the Regalia of the Night.

Princess Luna, Guardian of the Night, Keeper of Dreams, and former Princess of Equestria stood tall with both pride and determination.

That is, until a spiteful wave crashed against the cliff face behind her, showering the lunar princess with ice cold sea water.

With a series of sputtering, grumbling coughs, Luna blew a strand of salty wet ethereal mane out of her face and slumped away until she was certain that such injustice would not befall her again. After a good shake from tip to tail and a flash of her horn, she was dry once more.

"This was supposed to be about a birthday," mumbled Luna as she grumpily made her way along the stone path. "But now it's about a potential war, and Blueblood, and who knows what else. I just wanted to throw a party for an old friend... Really, is that too much to ask?"

A bolt of lightning answered her by striking a dead tree along the path, filling her nostrils with the mismatched scents of ozone, mildew, and charcoal.

Princess Luna pushed on with a defeated sigh, ignoring the building remorse inside of her. She wanted to believe that the day could still be saved, and all of Equestria along with it, but she was starting to have her doubts. Had she been more vigilant, or even a better friend, perhaps none of this would have happened.

She paused, stopping in what looked like some sort of grove. The shadowed husks of the dead and dying trees that lined the path did little to improve the inglorious remains of some badly deteriorated statues. Or were they very elaborate rocks? Still, it wasn't unsalvageable. Throw in a few shrubberies, maybe a bird feeder, squint at it funny, and maybe it could be quite possibl—

A deep explosion rocked the small island. She extended her wings to help stabilize herself, but fell to her knees anyway when she looked up and saw a column of darkness roaring into the sky from the center of the island. A darkness that she felt in the back of her mind, clawing away at her free will.

The column faded away and darkness passed, but the fear of it lingered in her mind regardless. Tasting copper on her tongue, Luna’s ears flattened against her head. She knew what she had to do.

Luna closed her eyes to concentrate and tapped into the ley lines. She knew she had to be brief, lest Twilight find her, but she had to contact her sister.

Which was a problem, considering the high probability that the two of them were in the middle of a conversation at this very moment.

Luna felt for the magical signature of her sister’s disguise and quietly brushed their minds together.

Luna? What is it? Is some—

I need your help, replied Luna. Rarity is in trouble; I must interfere.

What sort of trouble?

I’m in her dream. There’s a darkness here that must be dealt with for the safety of all. I fear it’s the Nightmare.

...Alright. Good luck.

Thank you Tia, I’ll need it. Keep Twilight occupied for as long as you can.

Nothing came back for a while, to which Luna feared her sister had already left. But soon enough she felt a warm blanket of magical protection drape her.

I will do what I can to distract Twilight, but hurry, Lulu.

Luna felt her sister withdraw, and when she opened her eyes she was still standing in the grove on the island. But she was no longer alone.

“Princess Luna?” an unexpected voice called out to her.

The Princess of the Night jumped and quickly looked around for the source of the voice that had startled her. It had a ghostly echo to it, and she couldn't tell if it belonged to a mare or a stallion. Luna followed the path around the bend and paused. In a clearing off the path stood a pony made of pure crystal. Like the ambiguous nature of its voice, she couldn't tell from its features whether this pony was a stallion or a mare.

"It is you," they continued with a noticeable sigh of relief. "May the Maker be praised."

"You're... you’re the Crystal Heart," said Luna as her curiosity carried her closer.

The pony's head bobbed in confirmation. "Yes, I am the Crystal Heart as imagined by the Empress and presented as I will it, but that isn’t important right now. What is important is that you are here.” With a relieved chuckle, the featureless pony confessed, “I must admit, I had begun to lose hope."

"Hope?"

"Yes, that somepony would come and rescue me."

"Rescue? Wait, I—" a second tremor shook the island, causing Luna to pause and look around for some new danger.

"There is no time to explain," whispered the Crystal Heart. "It's already beginning. Please, Princess Luna, take me with you and let us leave this place!"

"With me? With you?” stammered Luna. “But I..." she trailed off upon realizing the Heart's intent. “I didn’t come to remove you from Rarity.”

"Oh," said the Crystal Heart with some surprise. “I see,” it continued as it shifted tactics and eyed Luna appraisingly. “You know, I've always felt something special in you, Princess. A desire to be loved. To be praised. I could help you with those desires. The crystal ponies would adore you forever. The Empire would—"

"You seek to abandon Rarity?!" interrupted Luna with a snarl.

"I must do what is best for the crystal ponies," replied the Heart, visibly taken aback by Luna’s sudden outburst. "Rarity's actions have brought strife and the rumblings of war to the Empire. I’m afraid that she may not be fit to lead. Please, I care greatly for the safety and prosperity of my ponies. They are all that I have."

"I well understand the risks the Crystal Empire faces," said Luna. "Which is why I refuse."

"But I—"

"Not to mention that removing you would likely kill her!" shouted Luna, her wings flaring out. "Look at you. She gave up so much to save you and your ponies, taking on a burden that was never meant for her, giving up on so many dreams so others could reach theirs. And when she needs you the most, you would abandon her?"

The Crystal Heart said nothing, but its featureless face fell from the glaring alicorn and to the ground between them.

"If you will not aid our friend..." said Luna as she turned and walked further down the path, "...then I will."

* * *

Twilight sighed with lazy pleasure as she stretched out on her haphazard collection of silky pillows. This was nice. Just her, her new favorite mystery novel, and a plate of some of the best Prench chocolates she’s had in a long time. If only it could last forever.

A loud crunching sound came from a few feet behind her in the royal train car, reminding her that she wasn't alone. She smiled at that. She turned her long slender neck to spot Spike happily chowing down on a bowl of assorted gems as he kicked his stumpy legs back and forth, watching the scenery race by the window. He was getting crumbs all over his adorable little tuxedo.

Twilight rolled her eyes and buried herself back in her book to avoid getting into an argument with her Number One Assistant over his manners. A few chapters of her book passed before her ears perked up when Spike said something.

"Hmm?" she hummed, looking back around at the dragon.

"I said, why are we taking the train when we could just fly?" asked Spike as he greedily dug through the bucket for a ruby. “Mm, or teleport,” he added mid bite into an emerald instead.

"Oh Spike," said Twilight with a laugh. "Taking the train lets other ponies prepare for our arrival." She shook her head dismissively. "It turns out that most ponies don't really like it when a Princess just appears in the middle of whatever it was they were doing."

"Yeah, I guess I can see that," said Spike.

Twilight levitated another one of the delicious sweets and tossed it into her mouth, savoring the taste as it melted on her tongue. "Plus, this way we get to lay back, relax, and not worry about anything. Just let all the stress melt away, you know? You have to do it every once in a while, or else you’ll go crazy."

“But we could just relax at the Palace... with Rarity,” Spike responded with a slight blush.

Twilight laughed again. "We will Spike, we will. Just be a little more patie—"

A quick knocking at the door interrupted her, followed by the armored form of Captain Shining Star slipping into the room. “Princess Twilight,” said the unicorn mare with a nervous bow. “Forgive the intrusion, but, uh, we have been notified of a matter that needs your assistance.”

“Oh?” said Twilight with a frown and a longing glance at her half finished book. “Can it wait until later?”

“Er… no, I’m afraid not, your majesty, we’ve… umm, been running through some of the treasury numbers and there is a discrepancy that requires your attention,” reported Shining Star.

Twilight cocked an eyebrow at her captain. "Really? Which numbers?"

“All of them," said the Captain with an emphatic nod. "Somepony in the treasury specifically requested your time and attention as soon as possible."

“Who did?”

“Oh, uh. I think it was Miss... Late Night? Yeah, Late Night.”

“Strange, I’ve never heard of her,” said the Goddess of Magic with a quizzical look out the window.

"I think she's new," the mare said with a bit of a twitch to her eye.

Twilight heaved a sigh and climbed off her pillow pile, before stretching her back out and unfolding her wings with a delightful series of pops. “Fine,” she groaned, “let’s go have a look at… all of it.”

Author's Note:

I hope you guys have enjoyed this update. It's been a blast so far! :3