//------------------------------// // 33 Cartographer's Delight // Story: Errant Finale // by Doug Graves //------------------------------// In less than an hour everything is packed and ready to go. All they could reasonably carry without encumbering themselves too much: supplies for three days, trinkets, and minor magical baubles they could barter (or, far more likely, give away). Nothing overtly offensive; Celestia maintained that they are going there to get the Empire back on its hooves, not to turn them into some sort of protectorate (though that might still happen. But it would be the Crystal Ponies’ choice, not Equestria's diktat). The train ride passes quickly. Cadance and Shining Armor sit together, exchanging soft nuzzles. Shining tries not to get too distracted as he goes over reconnaissance planning with Rainbow Dash, though it consists mostly of speculation. Pinkie Pie finds herself forlornly watching the green hills roll by, the somber mood getting to her. Not enough to get her mane to deflate, but the fact that she isn’t pronking around and chatting everypony’s ear off is a little off-putting. It is Rarity’s last chance to feign a bit of normality, especially as she and Fluttershy compare their scarves and winter gear to the bridesmare dresses. Initially, everypony gives her a lot of flak for bringing so many garments, though when a pegasus courier intercepts them and drops off not only Doug’s armor but also all of his heaviest winter gear, their tune starts to change. Mostly to include him in the teasing too. It isn’t until their pegasus chariots drop them off on the edge of a snowy plain that they reconsider. Shining Armor keeps a quick pace, almost as a way to shrug off his airsickness quicker. Doug and Applejack alternate between carrying Spike while Rainbow Dash keeps a lookout from high above. “Oh, dear,” Rarity says as she wraps another scarf around her already scarved head, “I know I said before that one cannot have too many scarfs.” She gives a worried glance at her compatriots, similarly clad in heavy barding. “But I’m beginning to think that, somehow, I failed to bring enough!” “Can we please not use the ‘F’ word?” Spike says in hushed tones, furtively glancing around. Fortunately, at the moment Twilight Sparkle is joining Rainbow Dash in the air, and isn’t around to somehow connect the use of the word with Celestia sending her on this mission as some sort of test of her ability as an alicorn. That she only freaked out about it twice on the train ride and once on the chariots is probably a good thing. “How come we can’t see it yet?” Doug asks, squinting as he tries to make out anything on the horizon. However, the snow covered ground just seems to continue on for miles in every direction until it fades into the blue mountains capped by white snow. At least they have found the pass that leads through the Crystal Mountains. The tracks have long since disappeared, buried under feet of hard packed snow and permafrost. “You’d think that a giant crystal castle would be visible from here.” “Still too many mountains in the way, I think,” Rainbow Dash says. She shakes bit of the ever-accumulating snow off as she drops down to give them another progress report. Their journey continues to the northeast. “However, I’ve got a pretty good feeling about this next one.” “This next one being the next mountain, or that freakish snowstorm heading directly towards us?” Fluttershy asks, pointing to the north. There is, indeed, a large snowstorm, though it is difficult to make out if it is actually heading towards them or randomly moving about, currently parallel with them and heading east. “Is it just me, or does that snowstorm look particularly menacing?” asks Rarity, wrapping her scarf around her a little tighter. Bits of black occasionally mar the otherwise pristine white. “Oh, dear, I do hope we don’t have to travel through it.” “Nah, it’s nothing,” Rainbow Dash says confidently. Perhaps too confidently. She motions to many of the other storms dumping snow on the surrounding land. “Whatever ‘curse’ that King Sombra used is just sending the local weather into mayhem. It’ll take a few days for the storms to burn themselves out, but it’s not like they’re intelligent. Or malevolent.” “I do hope we get there soon,” moans Cadance, easily the most worn out of the group. She keeps throwing glances at Shining Armor, then sighing to herself, then continuing her plodding pace. “Rainbow Dash!” Twilight Sparkle calls from above, the cerulean pegasus immediately looking up. “Come look!” A rainbow blur later and Rainbow Dash joins her. Her eyes widen with joy as she points excitedly, a large blue structure visible between two different storms. “Hey! There it is! Nice eyes, Twilight!” “It is?” Cadance says to herself. Her eyes get a wicked gleam as she stops in order to rub her hooves together. “Soon, everypony will know the might of Chrysa, ahem, the cha-, no, the Crystal Empire!” “You okay?” asks Shining Armor, worriedly looking back at his fiance. “Just the cold,” Cadance lightly replies, offering a wink. “The sooner we get there, the more love we can…” Cadance struggles briefly, biting her tongue while taking a few deep breaths. “...Give. Share. With everypony!” “That’s the spirit!” Shining Armor exclaims, nuzzling Cadance. She immediately perks up, a new spring to her step as she starts outstripping everypony else. He massages his head briefly before he commands, “Alright, everypony! Let’s pick up the pace! The sooner we get to the Crystal Empire, the sooner we can get out of this cold!” Excited cheers ripple through the group, though their enthusiasm quickly wanes as they realize they are still over an hour away from cresting the next large hill in their way. Pinkie Pie manages to keep everypony’s spirits up as Fluttershy begins to lag behind. Rarity would as well except her bags are much lighter, given that she’s distributed almost all of the winter gear that she brought to everypony else. When they crest the hill they are treated to a nearly indescribably beautiful scene. In the center of the roughly circular city sprouts a massive blue crystal castle. Six wide streets, quickly getting covered with snow, stretch out from the castle. Tiny dots can be seen moving this way and that, though with no immediately observable purpose or rationale to their movements. The edge of the city is immediately apparent, with a drop off nearly as tall as a pony. However, snow is quickly drifting into the edges, as well as blowing from the rest of the frozen north into the once fair city. It barely even slows the ten down as they enter the Crystal Empire for the first and almost certainly not the last time. “Crystal ponies!” shouts Rarity, motioning towards the dull green and blue and purple forms shambling around. Rarity’s eyes sparkle like the crystal buildings, tiny pinpricks of light reflecting the sun’s rays from every angle. “They’re gorgeous!” “Excuse me!” shouts Shining Armor at the closest one. The light blue crystal mare shivers as she slowly turns, regarding the unicorn with flat, emotionless eyes. Her face briefly contorts with confusion. She glances back towards the Crystal Castle, then takes a hesitant step backwards. “Please, don’t hurt us,” she says, cowering as she drops to the ground. “Whatever you want, just take it. Please.” “We’re not here to take your stuff!” Rainbow Dash exclaims from above, frowning and crossing her forelegs across her chest. “We come in peace and all that!” “Y-you’re not?” she says as a brief flicker of hope spreads across her face. It is then dashed by a violent shuddering of her body. “Then, why are you here?” “We’re looking for whoever is in charge,” Shining Armor says gently, smiling as nicely as he can. “Um. Nopony is. Not since King Sombra left.” The crystal mare points towards the giant castle. “He used to rule from there.” “I guess that’s as good a place to start as any.” Shining Armor turns to leave, but reconsiders. “Oh, and if you can tell everypony that we aren’t here as invaders, that would be great.” “Sure,” the crystal mare says cautiously. “But, pretty soon there won’t be many others to tell. King Sombra may have been a wicked unicorn, but at least he kept the cold out.” “We’ll do a lot better than keeping the cold out,” Cadance says, smiling. “We’re here to bring hope and love to everypony! What do you love?” “Me?” the crystal mare replies, confused. She glances to her flank, two berries joined by a stem. “I… I don’t remember what I loved.” She sighs in disappointment. “I don’t know what I liked before King Sombra took over. And I don’t want to remember what it was like once he was here.” “We’re very sorry to hear that,” reassures Twilight Sparkle. “But we will do everything in our power to set things right.” She nods, perhaps a hint of a smile nearly breaking the stony expression. The ten wave goodbye to the mare as they continue towards the castle. Rows of buildings line the street, many shops offering various items for sale or the remains of street vendors. Twilight looks up at the sky. Storm clouds continue to dump snow on the surrounding land, while a harsh wind picks up and blows the snow throughout the city, slowly covering everything in white. “Maybe this is what Celestia meant by protect the empire?” Twilight Sparkle ventures, motioning to the outskirts they recently passed. “They need a way to weather the storm and cold. And I don’t know about you all,” Twilight Sparkle says, looking at everypony but mostly focusing on Rarity, “but I haven’t seen a lick of magic since we got here. And I don’t see a way without using magic to stop this weather, or to even partially alleviate the effects of the storm.” “I haven’t either,” Rarity admits, “but, to be honest, I haven’t been looking all that intently at their magic. Instead, their beautiful fashions!” Twilight Sparkle sighs, then turns to Shining Armor. “Do you think you could do something like that? A way to help keep this storm off them?” “A city wide shield made to keep out the snow and keep in the heat?” Shining Armor grimaces. “Well, it’s possible. Barely. I have no idea how long I can keep it up, though.” “Maybe they use a different kind of magic!” suggests Pinkie Pie as she sifts through one of the destroyed stalls along the road. She pulls out a twisted blue instrument that looks like a horn up and decided to have twins. Pinkie Pie gives it an experimental blow, the surrounding ponies grimacing from the horrendous screeching. “You know, that could be,” Twilight says as she looks around at the houses surrounding them, then up at the castle. “I don’t know about you, but I feel like our answer is going to be found inside there.” She turns to Shining Armor. “Plus, a sphere is going to be the easiest and strongest form for your shield. We’ll need to find you a spot that’s centrally located, and hope this works.” “So, what’s the plan?” asks Rainbow Dash as crystal ponies begin accumulating around them. Many exchange worried glances, but more and more point at the heart on Cadance’s flanks. “We still need more information.” Twilight Sparkle’s gaze goes to the crystal castle. Cadance demands, “Who put you in charge?” Twilight Sparkle’s brow furrows. “Princess Celestia did. If you think of a better plan, or any suggestions, I’m all ears.” Cadance grumbles to herself, but mostly stays quiet. “Right. Sorry I was a little harsh there.” Twilight smiles at Cadance. “You’ll be with Shining Armor. See if you can combine your ability to spread love and light with his shields.” “My what now?” Cadance asks dumbly, which she immediately covers with a cheerful smile. “Of course! We’ll get right on that!” Cadance mutters to herself, “I don’t need you telling me what to do! Soon the only thing I will be spreading is word of your defeat!” Twilight either doesn’t hear Cadance or her poker face got as large a boost as her magic. “Rainbow Dash, you and me will start at the top of that castle and work our way down. Doug and Spike, start at the bottom. Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, search through the city. We’re looking for anything or anypony who knows how the Crystal Empire was protected in the past.” “The… past?” one of the crystal ponies ventures. “Oh. Right.” Twilight Sparkle sighs as she puts a hoof to her forehead. “King Sombra cursed the Crystal Empire, banishing it for a thousand years. And now it’s, or, you all are back.” Murmurs spread through the crowd like wildfire as the ten ponies continue towards the castle. Shining Armor - levitating himself on a pink shield - and Cadance fly up to the main balcony of the Crystal Castle. After a brief consultation with each other Shining Armor’s horn flares, brighter and brighter as a pink shield rapidly expands away from him. While it can do little to restore heat, the shield keeps any warmth from leaving the city, and the chill winds no longer blow. Everypony sighs in relief as they begin their search, hoping to find some clue as to what to do. Out in the frozen wastes, a lost snowstorm notices a giant pink bubble appear. It grins an icicle filled grin, hail and snow swarming to create what might have passed for an ebullient whisper. “Cryssstaaaalssss…”