"I'll make sure she doesn't forcefully take you back....she's kind of a.....well....there's word I'd rather not say, but it describes her.."
Just then, a big red stallion entered the room.
"Is that your big brother?" Loyal said to AJ.
"Ayup! That's Big Mac, alright! What's up, Big Mac?"
Loyal gently approached Big Mac., examining him. Something about him seemed...interesting. "He's.....big."
Big Mac smiled and nodded. "Eeyup."
"Yup, he's big, and he's strong. He's a real helpful stallion to have around, and I'm proud to call him my older brother!"
Apple Bloom smiled in her brother's direction. "Big Mac's gotta be the best stallion in Equestria!"
"He's probably protective, too."
"Oh, he sure is! He's so strong, he barely breaks a sweat doing the applebuckin'! Ain't that right, Big Mac?"
"Eeyup," he said, proudly.
"So....how long has he been in the family?"
"Oh, since he was born, 'course! Just like the rest of us!" Applejack chuckled. "If you meant how old he is, he's around 21."
"Wait...I know this is going to sound ridiculous...but I didn't think ponies had ages. For us humans, having ages can be easy to tell...but if ponies just grow to a certain size, and they just age then, it's hard to tell just how old they might be. But if that's not the case, how old are each of you? For me, I'm 15.""
"Well that's just silly, but if you're not from around here, I guess I could understand the confusion. As for me, I'm goin' on 20, and AB and the others are about 13."
"That kind of proves the point of how confused I am about age and size. So...." Loyal sat down on a couch "How many OTHER members in your family are there? I get the feeling there's more."
"Tough to say, really. Our family is spread all across Equestria. Everywhere from Appleloosa to Manehattan," Applejack said, as she sat down.
"'cept the Crystal Empire. But to be fair, the place wasn't around for a thousand years."
"That's true, Apple Bloom. That is true."
"Crystal.....Empire?" Loyal said, clearly sounding confused.
"Oh, it's this BIG crystal city in northern Equestria! It's ruled over by Princess Twilight's brother, Shining Armor, and Princess Cadance." Apple Bloom said, smiling. "We went there for the Equestria Games a while back."
"Hmm....seems i've got a lot to learn about this world than I thought....come to think, is there anypony who CAN teach me all about..err....what's this world called?"
"Oh, Twilight knows EVERYTHING!" Sweetie declared. "She's helping to teach me about magic, and she's saved the world like a bajillion times, and she created new magic and became a princess for it-"
"Calm down, now, Sweetie Belle, Twilight doesn't know EVERYTHING. But she DOES know an awful lot. She might be able to help you," Applejack said.
"Can you take me to her?"
"Oh, sure! C'mon, girls, we're goin' on a field trip," Applejack exclaimed.
*half an hour later*
Applejack knocked on the castle door, and the familiar purple pony came out.
"Oh, hey, Applejack. Hello, girls!" Twilight looked up and noticed Loyal. "Oh, it's you again! Did you learn anything?"
"Actually, that's why I'm here...I wanted to learn from an expert. One such as yourself."
"Oh, well, of course! What can I help you with?" Twilight smiled, inviting everyone inside.
"I wanted to learn about this world, and its inhabitants."
"Oh! Well, if that's what you want to know, I'm your mare! Where should we start?"
Loyal sat down on a nearby bench, and Twilight did the same. "Well....what exactly is this world? It's nothing like back home. Where I come from, we use vehicles, made of..metal. I noticed the vehicles are different here......do you ponies live different lives?"
Twilight shrugged. "We just live our lives the way we know how. We follow the guidance of our Cutie Marks to find what we're meant to do in our lives. When we need to get somewhere, we take a train, or if it's somewhere close by, a taxi. Ponies tend to help one another out, but sometimes we're content to do things ourselves."
"And I heard that ponies tend to the weather and crops. Where I come from, crops and all that work by themselves."
"Well, Earth Ponies have the innate ability to superpower plant growth. When an Earth Pony is tending to crops, they grow worlds faster than you'd think possible. Meanwhile, the weather doesn't move here, for some reason, so Pegasi control it so we're not stuck with droughts all the time."
"Hmm..do you happen to have a library where I could read more on this?"
As soon as Loyal said "library" Twilight's eyes widens with joy.
"Who else is in here?" Loyal asked. The voice sounded...well....light and female. he didn't really know how to describe it.
"Oh, do I EVER! Come with me!" Twilight stood up and began walking into the castle, the others following after her. "I have one of the most comprehensive libraries in Ponyville, if not all of Equestria. Perhaps second only to the library in Canterlot. Although I suppose even that's a bit of a stretch; the library in the Crystal Empire is amazing, too..."
"Okay, note to self: Libraries is a key word that you seem to love to hear I'm guessing you're a book lover?"
"Reading is my favorite pastime. When I was a little kid, my books were all I had, besides my brother and my foalsitter, and my parents. I just didn't think I needed anyone else. I wouldn't know for a long time how WRONG I was, but even now I love books." Twilight giggled. "The library should be right.... here!"
When Loyal entered the library, he saw how huge it was. "In the name of all that is holy...." He said, shocked to see such a huge library.....
"Yep! We have a big library! You could find just about anything you'd need to know here!" Just then, a small voice called out from somewhere in the library.
"Twilight? Is that you?"
"Oh, that's..." Just then, a pink pony stepped out from behind one of the bookshelves. She seemed startled.
"Oh, I didn't know we had company."
"Oh, no, it's okay, Starlight! You've met Applejack, but you've met the others, too, right?"
"No, just Applejack, I believe." Loyal replied.
"Right, well, this is Starlight Glimmer, my pupil in the magic of Friendship," Twilight said, gesturing to the pink unicorn before the group.
"Oh, Twilight, I'm really nothing special..." Starlight rubbed sheepishly at the back of her neck.
"How long's she been here?"
Before Twilight could answer, Twilight noticed something flying towards the window....a small snowflake like object. She rushed outside, and extended her wing to catch it.
The flake opened up to reveal an invitation.
"You are formally invited to Shining Armor and Cadance's official Crystalling on Thursday. Come celebrate the birth of a newborn foal!""
"A Crystalling? Sounds fancy." Loyal commented.
"Oh, it sure is! They pick out a Crystal to increase the power of the Crystal Heart, and then choose a Crystaller to hold the baby up for everyone in the Crystal Empire to see! It's really such a beautiful ceremony! ...I'm told."
"And it says on Thursday. That's tomorrow! Loyal replied. He then felt a nudge on his back. He turned around to see Starlight behind him, motioning for him to follow her. Loyal followed Starlight behind a shelf. "What's up?" He replied.
"Hey... What exactly... ARE you, anyway...? I've never seen anything like you before and, well.... I'm intrigued..."
I'm what's known as a human being. As crazy as it sounds...I'm not of this world."
"Interesting... Twilight's never told me anything about creatures like you... I wonder if she knows your kind even exist...?"
"Well..." suddenly, something clicked with Loyal ."Know what...? I was actually transported here....I didn't know how before...but considering how Twilight didn't act too surprised to see me....perhaps SHE was the one who brought me here...but for what reason, I wonder..."
"Well, Twilight tends to have a reason for everything she does... Trust me, I'd know. It's because of her that I'm here where I am now..."
"Starlight...is there something I should know you've done...?"
Starlight flinched a little and then nervously giggled. "Ah, nope! Nothing, uh, no horrible past atrocities here! Hahahahaha!"
"Riiiiight.....well, if we're finished, I must return to...or begin...my studies."
"Right! Fair enough! You... go learn everything you can!" Starlight continued to giggle nervously.
Loyal gave a suspicious look to Starlight, before turning around and heading out. Why had she acted like that? Clearly, she had done SOMETHING evil in the past. Or just majorly embarrassing. In any case, it didn't matter......yet.
Loyal continued to search for a book, until he found it: "The History and Biography of Equus." He got it out, got out a notebook, and began taking notes from the book. Hours and hours passed, but Loyal didn't notice. Eventually he fell asleep, since writing somewhat relaxed him. He was eventually woken up when he heard the familiar voice of Starlight.
"Hello? Equus to Loyal? Are you in there? The train to the Crystal Empire is leaving soon, Twilight wants to know if you're coming with us."
"H-huh...oh.....yeah...I'll go..." Loyal said, still half asleep.
"You're lucky, at least. You get to go to the castle. Twilight wants to take me to look for my old friend, Sunburst, and try to rekindle our friendship after it fell apart years ago..."
"When's the train leave, then..?"
"It's leaving in about 10 minutes! C'mon, hurry!" Starlight urged Loyal along and she left the library.
Loyal quickly grabbed his stuff, and took off as quickly as he could. However, running with a heavy book isn't exactly the best idea. Not because it slows you down, but because....you can trip. So Loyal fell down 2 flights of stairs, and tumbled out the door. "I'm okay!" He exclaimed, got up, and ran after Starlight to the train station.
They made it just in the nick of time, aid for their tickets, and entered the train, Starlight sat next to a window, and Loyal sat next to Twilight.
"This is my first time being on an actual train...it'll be glorious!"
"Oh, you don't even know! We're going all the way to the Frozen Northern part of Equestria! You'll get to see so much!" Twilight exclaimed, clapping her hooves together.
"The Frozen north. huh. Sound an awful lot like the North Pole where I come from..."
The pony with a rainbow-colored mane and tail known as Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. 'Eggheads...' She thought.
"Well, there's a lot of snow and ice up there. And one Crystal Empire! That's where my brother and Princess Cadance live."
"And soon, their newborn child!"
"That's right! Oooh, I wonder what they're going to name the baby? Will it be a filly or a colt? A unicorn or a Pegasus? Or maybe an Earth Pony? Oh, I'm just so excited!"
"Who knows? It'd probably end up being an Alicorn itself! Hehehehehe..." Loyal joked.
"Yeah, right, like that could happen!" Twilight chuckled. "If it did, I think I'd probably faint out of shock!"
Just then, a big shiny area came into view.
"Whoooooa...." Loyal commented.
"Welcome to the Crystal Empire!" Twilight exclaimed. "My brother said he's going to meet us at the station."
Loyal remained in awe until the end of the train ride. Once everypony left the train, white stallion with a raggedy mane and tail came to greet Twilight. He didn't look in his best shape.
"Shining Armor? Are you alright?" Twilight asked. There was concern clear in her voice.
"I've uhh...never been better!"
"You don't seem so good..." Twilight said, sympathetically. "Are you sure you're alright?"
Never better! Being a father is amazing! And wonderful, and amazing, and confusing, and amazing, but surprising too, you know? I mean, not that you'd know. You wouldn't know, I know... You know? [beat] Sorry. I haven't really slept since Cadance had the baby. Come to think of it, she hasn't either. It sure would be great to get a break.
"Hey Twilight....
"Well don't you worry, big brother! Lucky for you, my friends and I are here! We'll all just go to the castle and see if we can sort this mess out!"
Starlight seemed to perk up. "Oh, no! Well, I guess that means we won't be going to find Sunburst after all, huh? Bummer! Darn! Oh, well, I guess it can't be helped..."
That's when the small purple dragon next to Twilight spoke up. " Maybe there is! You've already done the work for Starlight's lesson with this list. All we have to do is follow it!"
Starlight's eyes shrank, filling with fear, and her front left hoof quickly found its place upon her face. She let out a whimper of dismay.
"Spike, you're a genius! Okay, while the others and I are helping Shining Armor and Cadence with the baby, you and Starlight, go find Sunburst! You think you can handle that?" Twilight asked, smiling.
"....Yeah.... Sure.... This'll be great..."
"Ye's ma'am!" Spike replied with a salute.
As Spike and Starlight turned to head off into the city, Twilight turned to Loyal. "I wasn't exactly expecting this, but if you want, you can come to the castle with us. If you think you'd be of some use to Starlight, instead, you're more than welcome to go with her and Spike. It's up to you, really."
"I can try to see the baby first, then see if I have time for her. I get the feeling the baby's visit won't take as long as HER task will."
Twilight nodded. "You might be right. Alright, it's your choice!" Twilight turned her head forward and continued smiling.
The group headed through the empire, and past the ancient relic Loyal read as the Crystal Heart. H took photo of it with his camera he always carried with him.
A little while later, Loyal and the others arrived in the sort of delivery room...
"Get ready Twilight...we're about to find out what kind of baby it is!"
"I can hardly wait!" Twilight exclaimed, as she and her friends entered a fit of excited giggles. "Shining Armor, can we see the baby now?"
Shining nodded, and gestured towards a small baby carriage. Inside was a small pink filly unicorn, with curled mane. Its eyes were closed.
"Aww...it's actually kinda cute..." Loyal commented...just then, wings spread out from the baby.
Twilight reeled back in shock. She tried to sputter out some kind of comment, but words failed her. A short moment later, her eyes rolled up into her head, and she fell over on the floor, unconscious.
"Okay, when I said the baby could be an Alicorn on the train, I was joking!"
The Pink pony beside Loyal let out a little giggle. "Funny story about jokes around here: They have a funny way of foreshadowing future events!"
"Stil...an Alicorn?That's...it's...it's impossible! how could al Alicorn have been born?
"Even with the whole "shared traits from its mother" thing, that's still impossible!"
"The birth of an alicorn is something my sister and I have not seen for a very, very long time. Certainly never in Equestria... I was not even aware this could happen anymore," the white alicorn standing nearby said.
"Indeed. In our time, alicorns were... much more common. Still rare, and yet..." The blue alicorn let out a cough. "Still. This is most surprising, to see a baby alicorn born here."
Just then, the bab let out a little sneeze, but as a result, blasted a giant laser through the ceiling.
"Oh....my God..." Loyal commented., slowly backing away.
"It appears the baby's magic is even more powerful than a newborn unicorn's!"
"That could be very dangerous to the viewers of the Crystalling... Do you think we should call it off?" The pink alicorn asked, a tone of concern filling her voice.
"It would still ruin the tradition, despite how dangerous it s. Perhaps there's a way to....reduce the baby's....issues?" Loyal said, trying to find the right word.
"You can't just cancel it now, think of the effect it would have on the citizens of the kingdom!" the white unicorn spoke up.
"This Crystalling is more important now than ever," the white alicorn said.
"Though...who knows what else it can do...?" Just then, the baby alicorn accidentally shot something at Loyal, causing him to become attracted to the ceiling, basically reversing gravity for himself.. "Like THAT, for instance."
Applejack seemed to be helping Twilight to her hooves. After a moment of dizziness, Twilight shook her head. "Wha... did I pass out? Is the Crystalling over?"
"Far from it, Princess Twilight. We're having a bit of trouble trying to figure out how to proceed with a baby this powerful," the white alicorn said, as she did her best to reverse the effects of the baby's antigravity spell and help Loyal to the floor.
"Hmm... Right... Well, if Celestia isn't sure how to proceed... Maybe my friends can be of some assistance?"
Unfortunately, the anti-gravity spell became an anti-anti gravity spell.
"There's another way to solve this. I just need a ramp connecting from the ceiling to the wall, then from the wall to the floor. Easy....hopefully."
Princess Celestia nodded slowly, unsure, before creating two magical ramps linking the ceiling to a wall, and a wall to the floor. "Your help would certainly be appreciated, Twilight."
Twilight nodded. "Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, I want you to help Cadance and Shining Armor prepare for the Crystalling. Meanwhile, Pinkie and I will stay here and keep an eye on the baby."
Loyal used the ramps to make it back to the floor...without gravity pulling him up, thank goodness
"Or, keep the baby on the eye.." Loyal replied, pointing to the baby, hugging Pinkie's eye.
"Don't even know how you don't feel that.."
Pinkie giggled at Loyal's comment, before turning to play with the baby. Twilight, meanwhile, approached Loyal as her friends, brother, and sister-in-law left the room. "I don't know if Pinkie and I will need any extra help, but seeing this baby's power has me a little worried. Maybe it'd be better if you went to see how Starlight and Spike are doing."
Loyal nodded. "Sure...kinda don't wanna be turned into stone or something anyways...better safe than sorry..." Loyal hustled out of the rom, and back outside, where he saw a group of ponies surrounding Starlight and Spike.
Starlight was the first to notice him.
"Oh, it's you! So how'd it go? How's the baby? What was that loud noise I heard earlier, and all the flashing lights?"
"Three words for that.. Doom. Destruction. Anti-gravity."
"That bad, huh?" Starlight said, as she swallowed a hoof full of popcorn. "Yeesh. Kinda makes me glad I'm out here and not in there."
"So what's going on out here?"
"Oh, apparently, Spike's some kind of hero in these parts. I can't believe he never told me about that! Supposedly, it was him who brought the Crystal Heart back where it belongs - with plenty of help from Twilight and Princess Cadance, of course - and he's busy telling the story to these ponies. I would hate to keep him from his fans..." The last sentence sounded a little forced.
"Though unfortunately, we've still got to visit Sunburst. It's best to deal with your fears, not put them off." Spike replied.
"AH!" Starlight screeched, tossing her popcorn over her shoulder. "Wh-when did you finish telling your story? I-I don't think I heard the end of it! I-In fact, I don't think I heard... most of it! Maybe you ought to tell it again!"
"Nice attempt, Starlight, but he's probably right. everyone has to do their task sometime....you wouldn't want to disappoint Twilight."
Starlight sighed in defeat. Under her breath, she mumbled, "Does it make a difference? I'm going to disappoint her either way..."
"You don't know that till you don't try..."
Startled, Starlight looked to Loyal. "Wh... How did you...?"
"Hearing's better than it looks."
Starlight sighed. "It's just I haven't seen Sunburst since we were foals. Who knows if he even remembers who I am?"
"There's just one way to find out."
Starlight gulped and nodded, hanging her head as she followed the others forward. "This is going to be terrible..."