Soon the Carriage came to the entrance of the Crystal Empire; the six Ponyvillans were unnerved at the sight of the Harmony Guard stationed there. “Oh my, I have never seen creatures like this before. Not even in the Everfree Forest....” Fluttershy muttered as they got off and nervously made their way to the entrance where Tempest was waiting.
“Oh my dear what happened to your horn and your mane? You must let me take a look...” Rarity shrieked going over to Tempest before being enveloped in a giant bubble by Cadance. Cadance then gave some quick apologies to Tempest who was glaring fiercely at them.
Cadance then hustled them together and whispered “listen, please act civil and keep any criticisms to yourself. It’s very important because thanks to a boneheaded stallion we did not make the best first impression. We have to be as friendly to them as we can!” she then gave them a fierce look to ask if they understood and they gave fearful nods.
“Since you’re here I will introduce myself, Commander Tempest of the Harmony Empire. I will show you to the inside and there you will meet Princess Skystar who is in charge of the Crystal Fair. She will be your supervisor.” Tempest explained motioning them to follow her to the inside.
They did so and marvelled at the sight of the buildings but were in shock at the posters and banners. Spike grabbed one and showed it to the others. “Queen Twilight invites you to the Crystal Fair?” Applejack read out loud and looking at the picture of Twilight smiling there with her crown and robe.
They sighed at the sight of their lost friend and Rarity could not help but comment “that Crown does not suit her color at all; she would need some new robes that suit her...”
One of the Guards went up to Tempest and whispered in her ear. “I have to go and deal with King Sombra since he escaped from his stone again. Go the outside of the Castle where the Fair will be held. You cause any trouble and I WILL deal with you!” Tempest warned storming off.
Shining looked like he wanted to do something but wisely kept his mouth shut. He didn’t need to cause anymore tension and he wanted to prioritise helping the Empire as well as finding his sister.
They then started scouring the area to see if they can find where this fair was being held. They could not help but be frightened at the sight of the Harmony Kingdom Guards as well as the scared Crystal Ponies who were looking confused and depressed. “I bet it’s those Harmony Kingdom Guards to blame! First King Sombra and now they are at the mercy of this conquering power....” Shining thought in his head as he was not noticing what most of the Guards were doing.
Cadance and the other Ponies could not help but notice that the Guards seemed to be giving warm waves to the Crystal Ponies that passed them. One guard ruffled the mane on a passing filly and one even offered the rest of the candy he was eating to another one. “Well they seem friendly and harmonious, hard to believe they were under a conquering Storm King. Must be Twilight’s influence, we might have been worried for nothing. If only Shining realises it before he does something that he regrets.....” Cadance signed in her head.
Then the sound of an unusual song was being played on speakers:
“Does anypony hear that? It’s catchy!” Pinkie commented bobbing her head to the weird song and they followed where the song was coming from. They passed Crystal Ponies who were at a sign saying “CRYSTAL FAIR PREPARATIONS – DO NOT ENTER!”
They reached the centre of the area outside of the Palace when they heard a voice they had not heard in a long time:
“This is totally inappropriate music for a Crystal Fair! The book clearly stated what type of music was to be played!”
They looked and silently gasped at the sight of Twilight standing there in royal regalia looking quite annoyed as she was telepathically showing an open book to Princess Skystar. Skystar took the book and closed it with her claws shocking Twilight.
“Trust me Twilight, the Crystal Ponies will totally love the music. Mum really liked the song when I showed it to her and............ hey look the preparation team from Equestria arrived!!!” Skystar told Twilight and then began waving to them as they came running forward shouting:
“TWILIGHT!!!”
Twilight gasped at the sight of them and panicked ran towards the palace. Skystar then used her wing to prevent most of them from running after Twilight and used her claw to catch Rainbow Dash’s wing as she tried to fly past.
“Sorry, I know you must be super excited to meet the most amazing queen on the planet but Commander Tempest made it very clear that you would only meet Queen Twilight when she was ready.” Skystar stated to the disappointed and anxious looks on her faces.
“Horseapples to that, I have waited too long to go see my friend so let me go!” Rainbow Dash ranted trying to get free of Skystar’s grip.
“You know, Commander Tempest gave me instructions to let her know if any of you caused any trouble. Plus Queen Twilight is super busy having to find the Crystal Heart to save the Ponies but she kinds of need this Fair put together.” Skystar commented dragging Dash back down to the ground.
Applejack gave her a silent glare who just grunted, “We will do what we can to help!” Cadance told Skystar and gave a look to the others telling them silently to be a bit more patient.
“Excellent, we need to have the stands and the jousting all set up!” Skystar squealed excitedly giving instructions. The Equestrians knew that Twilight was there and knew they now needed to wait for the moment to talk to her.
Twilight herself calmed down as she entered the Palace. “You knew they were coming Twilight, you have to face them soon enough but now I have to focus on getting the Crystal Heart to stop King Sombra. Going to be simple enough as I have dethroned enough tyrants now since becoming Queen....” Twilight muttered to herself going through the castle.