Prologue: La Ciudad ha regresado
Celestia was at her desk in the throne room as one of her office staff placed a stack of paperwork, “Alright, your majesty, this is the last of the recent proposals. This one is about expanding the northern settlement of Borealton northwards towards the Crystal Mountains.” the staff member said as another member of the staff took the rest of the paperwork off of the desk to be sent out. Celestia placed her elbows on her desk held her face between her hands stuck out her tongue and blew raspberries like a disgruntled and bored child clearly not wanting to do any more paperwork. “Your Highness it's the last thing you need to look over and either sign or veto.” The first staff informed. Celestia removed her right hand and resting her left check on her left hand after folding it into a fist, she repeated the action.
Just then a male Skyborn in the armor of the royal guard came running into the room. He stopped just before he got to the desk and genuflected, taking off his helmet, revealing his blue hair. “Your Highness, (pant) a report (pant) from the end (pant) of the northern track (pant, pant).”
“Report, Chief Warrant Officer Sentry,” the princess ordered as Flash caught his breath.
“A city, a city of crystals had appeared out of (pant) thin air just south of the Crystal Mountains,” Flash reported.
Celestia opened her mouth as something dawned on her, “Find Princess Cadance and Shining Armor!” she ordered her voice thundering in the hall, “Wake my sister!” she ordered another guard. “Take a note and light a dragon-fire candle.” a staff did just that, “Twilight, I need you in Chantalot, post haste....” Celestia started to dictate as the staff scribed the letter.
A la Ciudad de Los Cristales
Inside the Golden Oak, Twilight was running around so much that a chicken with its head cut off was much more orderly, which Spike learned the hard way when he ate one of Fluttershy's chickens when he grew exponentially before his body settled on its current form during that gem mine incident. Twilight's breathing indicated that she was in a panicked state, “Where are all my quills?” She asked as she rushed around looking for items to take with her. “Brbrbr.” She babbled as she gathered more and more supplies. To the average person all that was needed was a set of flashcards, a few pencils and/or quills and maybe a notebook or two all that could fit in a small attache bag, but Twilight... she was anything but normal as she packed a mountain trail back-bag not only of those supplies, but textbooks, reference books, and spell books, “No, no, no, no, no... Ugh!” Twilight exclaimed as started looking through more and more of her personal books. “I need the Magical Compendium volumes 1 through 36!” Twilight asked as she searched for the books in question. “Where is it?!” Twilight almost raged until she found the books, putting them into her bags with a thud. Twilight then straighten up, “Flashcards!” She exclaimed as she started to run to one of the desks. “I should make more flashcards.” She then turned to her familiar, “Spike, I'm gonna need you to quiz me. On everything. Everything I've ever learned. Ever.” She then ran to bags and pulled out the cards she had, “That isn't going to be enough cards.” she said after a count.
Spike rolled his eyes watching all this, if only the letter arrived three hours earlier, this would all be on Owlowiscious' watch. However, the dragon knew what needed to be said and to be fair, Owlowiscious had not been with Twilight long enough to handle a ‘Celestia sudden quiz’ Twilight meltdown. “Twilight, calm down. It's just a test,” he explained.
Twilight froze and turned to face Spike, “Just a test?” She asked as she was starting to boil over. “Just a test!?” She shouted at her familiar. “Princess Celestia wants to give me some kind of exam, and you're trying to tell me to calm down because it's just a test?!"
Seeing how things were going, “Uh…” Spike started before he ran to get some padding and a helmet, “ yes?” he asked as he put the makeshift armor on.
Outside the Golden Oak, every one of Twilight's friend was watching the effects of a Twilight-academic panic from the windows. After having evacuated the library of all civilians, with Rarity having enchanted the books with a temporarily indestructible enchantment. Rarity spoke up, “So does anyone think she's taking this well?”
“Ah'd say she's handlin’ things pretty well, considerin'.” Applejack commented as she and everyone but Pinkie looked at each other, shrugging shoulders.
“No, Twilight the one on your other left, if you use that one!” Pinkie shouted as she watched Twilight grab something.
“Urgh!” Twilight yelled and then there was an explosion within the Golden Oak. Just by luck, the tree was still standing.
After seeing the results, “Buck!” Rainbow almost cursed as she dug into her pockets. “Hey Shy, can I get an IOU?”
“Sorry Rainbow, but your line of credit is past due. I have to call-in your tab.” Fluttershy informed the elementalist as she closed her eyes with a slight frown.
“Hey AJ can you spot me a few bits?” Rainbow Dash asked Applejack for help in paying off her debt to Fluttershy and pay her wager.
“Enope, yah still have to pay off yahr cider order this year.” Applejack informed as she also closed her eyes calling attention to the debt Rainbow Dash still owed her.
“Pinkie can I...?” The elementalist started to ask the pink-clad trickster.
“Sorry, Dashie, but I am still waiting for what you owe to pay for Tank’s adoption party. Do you know you how much time it took me to find a cake recipe that was safe for all our pets?” Pinkie asked rhetorically as she called attention to her own labors in setting up the party in question, making it clear that they didn’t come out of thin air.
“Rares?” Hoping against hope that the enchantress would help her out fiscally.
“Given your current debt-repayment status…” Rarity paused as she weighed her options, however, in spite of how loyal Rainbow Dash was, Rarity was still a businesswoman and seeing that the three other members of the group that ran some sort of business were still owed money from the elementalist, Rarity knew that in this case, the most generous thing she could do was force Rainbow to pay her debt, “Most dreadfully sorry, Darling, but you are on your own.”
“Gah!” It was at this point Rainbow realized how much she was limiting her options, granted it was in pursuit of a quick fix or resolution, but then again that was Rainbow’s biggest fault. She made choices based on what she that would be the fastest, not the most effective.
All the while Owlowiscious seemed to just appear on one of the outer branches of the Golden Oak. Surprisingly, he slept through the miniature catastrophe played out so close to him.
In Chantalot, hours later, as they waited for Twilight’s arrival, looking at a stained glass window what for long time remain was blank as it shifted to reveal what looked like a male Magicborn in full armor, a red cloak fit for a king, on his head was a helmet not unlike Shining Armors’ but was more like a crown and the focusing gem was horn like and being turned into a shadow and forced below ice by a beam of light that was a merger of the lights of the sun and moon, stood Luna and Celestia. “Are you sure you don't want Us to go as well?” Luna asked. “we have bested him before.”
“Yes,” Celestia answered her sister as the two still looked at the window. “Princess Cadance and Marshall Shining Armor are already there, and while Twilight will be here soon, her friends will be joining her here and will meet up with them there.”
“Krystalopolies' magic is powerful. It cannot fall again, Our sister. Are you certain Twilight, even with the help of her friends, Cadance and Shining will succeed? Let Us go as well.” Luna requested as she turned from the window to look at her sister.
Celestia turned to face Luna, “No.” she declared calmly. “You and I both know you have yet to recover from Nightmare and her aftermath until she was finally destroyed not even a week ago, and you're charging the Tantabus to torment you in your dreams all the while from your return to then had made the whole matter even worse,” Celestia said to her sister, she knew that she did not need to remind Luna of what happened a week ago, however, this was not a time for sensitivity over Luna's past. Seeing Luna turn her head away, both in anger and in shame, Celestia brought Luna's face back to face her and continued to speak. “But back to the matter at hand, Discord might have given pause to the dynamics of our relationship, however, we both know it was not him but...” Celestia paused as she scowled at the stained-glass rendering of the man in the window as if she heard the man depicted was laughing at her in delight over her anger, “Him that truly sowed the seeds for the change in the first place.” Celestia then turned back to Luna. “Do you think he wouldn't have planned for us to attempt to stop him again? He took it with him before, we cannot try the same thing. But Twilight, she will succeed at her task. And when she does, we'll know that she is that much closer to being ready.”
“Are you certain, even if she...” Luna started in an attempt to challenge her sister’s plan but stopped as she heard a door open.
The two turned to see Twilight enter with several backpacks full of books, papers, pens, quills, inkpots, pencils, “Ahem.” Twilight said timidly.
Celestia looked at Luna, “Trust me, little sister.” the elder sister said trying to assure Luna of her faith in Twilight.
“As you command, your highness,” said Luna a slight dissatisfaction in her tone, then turning her attention to Twilight and started to leave the royal hall. “Know this, Young Twilight, you can still call for Us, no matter what Our sister says.” Luna then placed her hand on the door.
“Luna, please, stay. I’ll need you here as well.” Celestia called out, Luna stopped and walked back to her sister, walking past Twilight.
Twilight dropped everything she had, “You wanted to see me?” She asked. Rapidly going the next question. “To give me a test?” She then pulled out some of what she brought with her. As she spoke Luna look to Celestia, the slightly disapproving look on her face silently voicing her questioning of Celestia’s choice. Celestia gave a weak smile in response. Luna could only roll her eyes in response. “I brought my own quills and plenty of paper to show my work.” As everything started to scatter around her on the floor, “Sorry, sorry!”
“This is a different kind of test, Twilight,” Celestia said as she levitated everything back into Twilight’s bags. “Krystalopolies has returned,” Celestia said as she walked over toward the thrones and started to levitate a gem that was on a pedestal to the right of her throne towards her.
Utterly befuddled and baffled at what her mentor just said, “Kryst, what?” Twilight asked. The younger arcane mage went back to her bag starting to bring her books on history. “I'm sorry, I-I thought I'd studied.” Twilight continued as she scanned through history book after history book “Ooh. I don't think there's anything in any of my books th–” Twilight was cut short.
Luna spoke cutting Twilight off as she walked to join her sister, “There wouldn't be.” The princesses then placed one of the hands on the large crystal. “Our sister and Us are the only ones alive today in Mystica that know it ever existed at all,” Luna said as the room was bathed in white light before Twilight saw that she was in a city with buildings that looked like crystals. The humans there seem to have a crystalize over-skin. “But both of our knowledge of the city is limited. However, what we do know is that it contains a powerful magic.” As Luna’s voice seemed to have echoed Twilight witnessed the people out in about, young lovers holding hands and showing their affection. Children playing in the streets, parents watching their children and many other groups of people happily going about their days even shopping at the many vendors selling their wares most of those were variants of what Twilight could find in Magiville but at least a millennium older. Luna ‘s voice continued as Twilight was caught up in the history she was witnessing, “Over a thousand years ago, King Sombra, a Magicborn, specifically a Shadowborn, whose heart once noble went foul, took over Krystalopolies.” Twilight turned to see a man in his late thirties, he was dressed in gray steel plate armor that protected all but his face, over it and flowing from his shoulders down his back was a red cape trimmed with white fur with black spots, Twilight knew that was something that screamed ‘king’. On his head was a dark gray crown that allowed his jet hair flow. As part of his crown, over his ‘third eye’ was a horn like focusing gem, not unlike Twilight’s, however, his started out black at the base but shifted as if it bled into a blood-like rudy. What Twilight barely noticed was an amulet the same coloration as his armor shaped like an upside-down triangle and what looked like a unicorn’s head with wings in profile, with a ruby cut into a rhombus in the center. His eyes were red with cat-like pupils. The whites of them suddenly became a lime-green not unlike Chrysalis’ magic and from them, a royal purple colored smoke seemed to form and float out, not unlike Celestia’s and Luna’s hair. He gave a wicked smile, showing that all his teeth were more akin to a pure carnivore to the more generalized teeth most humans poses. He gave a triumphant laugh as everything Twilight witnessed rapid changed consumed by a lime green fire.
Looking around her, Twilight saw the once happy and lively crystal-skinned people reduced to a miserable, dejected, forlorn, etc, slaves as many were chained to together as they were forced into gurgling and harsh labors, Some, however, were spared the labors, but their fate was no less cruel. As Twilight saw a line of women being directed to the throne room, all the while Sombra seemed to reveal not so much in the misfortunes of his subjects but his power over them.
Everything then changed again as Celestia’s voice was heard, “Luna and I were ultimately able to overthrow him.” Twilight saw that she was standing in the northern part of Mytica, She looked and saw the man before standing with a two-handed sword, the blade itself seemed to be made of a red crystal, Twilight didn’t notice the absence of the amulet. Twilight then looked around and saw Celestia and Luna, Celestia was in the armor she wore when she came into the Dreamscape during the whole Nightmare Rarity incident. Luna was also in armor, but it was more night-sky and moon themed and colored. “We fought in the tundra just north of Borealton, the northernmost city in Mystica would be found.” Twilight witnessed as Celestia and Luna charged and used their magic to confront the man, however, he seemed to be able to beat them at every turn, it was clear that the two were not using their full power. Twilight could tell they knew what the effects of using their true power would be. However, Twilight could tell Sombra had no such reservations and seemed to enjoy the fight and unlike Celestia and Luna seemed to grow more powerful as it went on. After thirty seconds Sombra had best the two princesses and threw Luna back into Celestia laughing at his apparent triumphant, Twilight heard Celestia’s voice again. “There he met us in battle.” Twilight witnessed the two call forth the six gems that made the Elements of Harmony and targeting Sombra, “While the Elements of Harmony had no effect on him,” the magic of the Elements had no effect on him as he remained standing in the wake of the blast of the Elements. The two sisters looked at each other as their hands started to glow, golden in the case of Celestia and silver in Luna’s as the two light merged and spiraled combining as they left and flew towards Sombra. As Celestia’s voice is heard saying, “our combined power turned him to shadow, and banished to the ice of the just south of the Crystal Mountains.” Sombra’s body was forced into being what tantamount to a black cloud as he in his new state was forced into an opening in the ice. Sombra roared in defiance as the ice closed on him trapping him therein.
Luna’s voice is heard as Twilight followed the gaze of the Princesses she was shown to the city, “But not before he was able to put a curse on the city.” As Luna continued to speak Twilight witnessed the city vanished before her eyes. “A curse that caused it to vanish into thin air.” There was a sudden flash of light as Twilight was back in the throne room of the castle in Chantalot. She looked and saw a map of Mystica on the floor with the gem that Celestia and Luna used to project what Twilight just witnessed over the location of Krystalopolies. “If the city is filled with hope and love, those things are reflected across all of Mystica. Driving back the Windigos that still linger, waiting for the Fire of Clover to extinguish.” As Luna said that Celestia’s eyes became solid solar yellow and from her tiara, a rainbow of light hit the crystal and soon covered the map and spread beyond the borders of Mystica. Luna then dipped her head and in a somber tone, “However, if hatred and fear take hold…” As she spoke Celestia closed her eyes and opened them showing them as fields of lime green and nothing else, from the corners came a purple like smoke. As Celestia focused pitch black magic seemed to bubble around her tiara until an obsidian black beam left from her tiara and made contact with the gem. From it, the map was covered in darkness as blood red and black gems started to emerge and spread from the Krystalopolies and just Mystica but it the whole of the world. After seeing that Twilight, in her horrified stare at the map, understood that only ill would befall the world she Sombra succeed, Luna spoke again, “Which is why we…” it was clear how Luna said the ‘we’ that she meant Celestia. “have sought your help finding a way to protect it.”
Confused at what was said, “You want me to help protect ...?” Twilight asked as she looked to everything she brought with her and had the realization that she brought all the wrong things.
Celestia spoke again as she levitated the gem back to where she got it from, “It is, as I said, a different kind of test.” As she turned back to Twilight a smile was on her face. “But one I'm certain you will pass.” the princess said her confidence in her student written on her face.
Twilight was a loss at what she could do she looked to her mentor and asked, “How do I begin?” seeking an answer.
Celestia walked up to Twilight and placed her hands on Twilight’s shoulders, “By joining Princess Cadance and Shining Armor in Krystalopolies.” Celestia informed, “They already have mobilized the garrison based in Borealton and have since evacuated Borealton.”
“My brother is there?” Twilight asked upon hearing that Shining Armor and Cadance were already at the destination.
“He is, as his and Candance's honeymoon is now over and matters of the state are to be addressed, Krystalopolies’ reappearance being the most recent event.” Celestia informed as she removed her hand and started directing Twilight towards the door, “And your friends, after they join you at the station, will travel with you there. I have every confidence you will succeed. And when you do, I'll know you are ready to move on to the next level of your studies.”
“But what if I fail?” Twilight asked as she and Celestia proceeded towards the doors out of the throne room.
“You won't,” Celestia announced confidently, having no doubt in her student’s capabilities given everything Twilight and her friends have already accomplished, with and without the Elements of Harmony, together and separate.
“But what if–” Twilight started, but was cut off by her teacher.
“I know you won't.” Celestia declared cutting her student off, there was a subtle inflection that Luna picked up that Celestia had enough of Twilight’s doubt about her skill. Celestia took a breath. “Please, have faith in my faith in you, my student.” Celestia requested as she walked leading Twilight towards the doors out of the throne room. Reluctantly Twilight nodded as the doors were opened by Celestia’s magic. “Then go,” Celestia said as Twilight stepped through the door almost in a daze. “There is no time to lose.”
After the doors closed, “We still think We should go as well.” Luna commented. Celestia only sighed in frustration. “So what do we do with…” Luna said as she turned to Twilight’s stuff. “Mail it to Magiville?
Twilight was at a loss at what to do. She was tasked to help protect a city that had vanished for over a thousand years from a threat that has not been around for the same amount a time and also threaten not only the city, or Mystica but the whole world. How could she do that? She asked herself silently as she walked through the castle towards the exit and the train station. All the while she seemed to not notice anyone or anything thing else, even that she forgot her things. “Ah! Twilight!” she barely heard her familiar exclaim as she walked passed him. The dragon rejoined her, “That was fast!” he cheered all the while Twilight was not able to speak, her words lost in her thoughts, not knowing how to explain what she was shown and tasked with to the young dragon. “Let me guess, you got a perfect score?” Spike asked with confidence not only with his guess but his master’s capabilities. Twilight did respond, by shaking her head. “A-minus?” Spike asked baffled that his perfectionist master would score less than perfect. Twilight shook her head again, this time with closed eyes, a sign to Spike that things didn’t go well, “B-plus?” he asked hoping for some sort of verbal response. Not getting an answer from Twilight, he gasped, after which he asked, “Twilight, did you…” he stopped and continued in a hushed tone “fail?” he asked as terror gripped him at the prospect that Twilight had failed something.
Twilight shook her head, “No, but I have to prepare.” She informed as she started towards the Chantalot train station.
“Uh, prepared for what exactly?” Spike asked as he walked with Twilight. He wanted to know, but for some reason, he could not seem to get anywhere with his master-familiar connection, it was if Twilight was blocking him.
“I’ll tell you when we meet everyone at the train station.” Twilight informed her draconic familiar. She even caused an anti-divination spell on herself so that Spike could not use their master-familiar link to find out what was hidden by her.
About an hour later Twilight and Spike waited for the next train from Magiville to pull into the station. After the train stopped, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie exited the train. Twilight smiled as she felt her confidence rise as she had her friends with her and she knew that with them she could accomplish anything. Her friends then turned and walked to her happily.
“Twilight!” Applejack proclaimed happily as the group embraced their friend. “Uh, did you pass?” Applejack asked the question that was on everyone else's’ minds and hers as they all ended the group hug and everyone look to Twilight waiting for the answer.
Assuming the answer to the question, Pinkie Pie pulled out her party cannon, “Are we gonna celebrate your awesomeness with Princess Celestia?” Pinkie Pie asked as she jumped happily up into the air as her party cannon fired as part of the pre-party celebration.
“Not quite.” Twilight’s voice was heard saying as Pinkie Pie landed her smile gone leaving a confused and befuddled expression on her face as the confetti that was fired from the cannon returned to the cannon. As everyone turned to from the confused jester to Twilight. Twilight “We're going to Krystalopolies!”
“Crys-what?” Rainbow Dash asked putting to words the confusion everyone else had as they remained stupidly silent.