//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Crystal Empire Part One // Story: Light and Dark // by MXCDarkHorse2020 //------------------------------// Chapter 1: The Crystal Empire Part One: On a bright and sunny day in Canterlot, inside the castle Princess Celestia is filling out paperwork using the magic from her horn to levitate a quill pen to do the writing where one of the royal guards bursts into the throne room. “News from Northern Equestria.” The royal guard said as he remembered his manners by bowing down to her. "Uh, your highness.” “Yes?” the princess answered as she used her magic to a hand her assistant a female unicorn with brown hair, glasses, and a red tie her paperwork. “I am simply to tell you that it has returned.” The guard said as he removed his helmet leaving the princess shocked upon hearing this as she turns to the royal guard standing on her right. “Find Princess Cadance and Shining Armor!” “Yes your highness.” The guard replied as runs forward to do so along with the other two guards in the room immediately after receiving his task at hoof. As all three guards exit the throne room Princess Celestia wonders herself who can help protect them from this uprising threat with Twilight gone and unable to power the Elements of Harmony as she uses her magic to levitate her quill pen to write a letter. “To Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Spike, you all must come to Canterlot at once.” She said as she wrote. In a forest not far from Canterlot as this same mysterious hooded pony who spied on every pony at the funeral trots forward through calmly on the trail. Unbeknownst to the pony, a group of bandits are hiding behind the trees plotting to ambush this pony. At this moment one of the unicorn bandits signals to the two Pegasus bandits to fly in on her which they proceed to do so. However, to their surprise this hooded pony having sensed this used magic to redirect the Pegasus’s to nearby trees where they end up crashing knocking them out cold. This mysterious pony is a unicorn. Shocked, by this un-flinched display of magic he along the other unicorn bandit and couple of earth pony bandits from the parallel bushes on the opposite of the trail move in openly attack the pony which is quickly countered by the pony unicorn around and tackling the earth pony from behind kicks the other earth pony bandit and uses magic to swirl the unicorn bandits around before slamming them down on the ground hard. They all tried to get up they are too bruised and injured to continue as they slump down in defeat as the unicorn casually trots forward to Canterlot with the castle within sight. Meanwhile, at the Canterlot Castle, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna look at a new stained glass window depicting Princess Cadance and Shining Armor saving Equestria with the power of love. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go as well?” Luna asked with concern. “Yes” Celestia said with an assuring tone. “Princess Cadance and Shining Armor are already there. The others will be joining them.” “The empire’s magic is powerful. It cannot fall again, my sister.” Luna responded still not assured by this. “They will succeed at their task. And when they do, we’ll know that they will be able to protect Equestria.” She assured her confidence in the Mane Five, Spike, Shining Armor, and Princess Cadance. “Ahem” said a voice at the doorway to the room the Princesses are standing in. Turning their attention to the direction of the voice they see a unicorn wearing the same dark purple cloak who had removed his hood to reveal the unicorn is actually a female unicorn with a deep voice with dark purple fur, with a black mane and tail being black with some pink streaks with blue eyes. Her cutie mark is a bunch of black stars similar to Twilight’s cutie mark. “Sorry to interrupt, you both must be Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.” The unicorn politely said as she bowed down to them with respect. “And who are you are young lady?” asked Princess Celestia in a quizzical tone since she didn’t know who she was. “My name is Midnight; I am a wizard of magic who has traveled through the mountains seeking to learn about magic in Equestria." She introduced herself as she removed her hat to bring it down to her chest. "During my travels I heard and saw strange signs of dark magic and terrible evil lurking around it. So I figured I would tell about this and you would need some help dealing with this problem.” Seeing that they are not the only ponies who know about what is going in the Crystal Empire after a moment of silence and closing her eyes in a pause. “I’m afraid this concern is something that we have just learned about as well.” Said the Princess, then she inhaled a breath and continued. “You see.” The Sun Princess started. “The Crystal Empire has returned.” “Crystal Empire…?” Midnight questioned, with an intrigued look on her face. “Yes, few remember it ever existed at all.” She further explained and answered as she used her magic to lift a glass case protecting a colorful and crystal clear looking stone that looked like a big and long diamond. She placed it in front of her, causing the guest to lift up one of her hooves and tilt her head in curiosity. “Even my knowledge of the empire is limited”. Princess Celestia added as she suddenly shot a beam of magic towards it, causing the diamond to reveal a map and us to back away. The magic surrounding the diamond shot up and revealing a large castle in the middle of the map. “But what I do know is that it contains a powerful magic. One thousand years ago, King Sombra, a unicorn whose heart was black as night.” The white alicorn explained as the map depicted a peaceful and beautiful town ran by calm ponies, but suddenly transformed into what appeared to be a desert landscape with stones everywhere. “…took over the Crystal Empire.” As she continued the projection of magic she casted in the center, the top of the castle was suddenly transformed into a face of a horrendous pony. He watched over as the other crystal ponies, now appearing to be sickly ill and dull as they were slaved and chained. “Then he was ultimately overthrown, turning to shadow and banished to the ice of the arctic north.” She added as the image depicted both her and Princess Luna working together to defeat him and send him away to the frozen ice. “But not before he was able to put a curse upon the empire. A curse that caused it to vanish into thin air.” The image held before us suddenly disappeared back into crystal. “If the empire is filled with hope and love,” Princess Celestia said as she lifted the crystal and shot a beam at it creating a beautiful colored and transparent rainbow formed throughout the room, causing Midnight to show a intrigued expression on her face. “…those things reflected across all of Equestria.” “If hatred and fear take hold…” Princess Celestia seriously said as she suddenly shifted her facial expression and formed a dark and disturbing one. She sent out another beam of magic, this one being dark and dull as her eyes and horn turned green and purple. The magic entered the crystal, infusing it with its color and causing for a shadow to head towards Midnight, revealing what appeared to be thorny stones where the stones grow and spread which Princess Celestia was quick to destroy with her magic. “This is why we need help in finding a way to protect it. Especially since we have just lost a powerful and talented unicorn who would have been capable of accomplishing this task.” She sadly finished as she hung her head in regret. “Really?" Midnight said in surprise hearing this before continuing. "I am sorry to hear that. I heard about the train explosion that took Twilight’s life. It is definitely a shame that had to happen to hear. I was so looking forward to meeting her when coming here. I really think we could have been great friends had we met.” Midnight said sympathetically and sadly, “And as for the Crystal Empire, I think maybe I can help you out there. Let me lead this mission and I can promise I will protect the Crystal Empire from King Sombra.” Midnight said with determination on her face as she offered her assistance. “I don’t know.” Princess Celestia responded unsure of the idea of trusting her with this mission. “I understand if you don’t trust me considering we had just met and my appearance gives you that vibe, believe me I get that a lot." She understandably responded before continuing with certain confidence. "But I really am certain I can pull this off as like Twilight I happen to be a magical prodigy with great intellect. Plus I wouldn’t be asking you of this if I didn’t have any confidence in myself. Plus I'd hate to be reopening wounds here but would you happen to know any pony else in Equestria that can step up to this task?" She finished with a pressing question. Princess Celestia took a minute to think about this and could not answer Midnight’s question as she does not now another pony who could step up to the task and decided she is going have to put her faith in this unicorn. Something that Princess Luna didn’t quite agree feeling offended of being forced to standby even though she can do the job herself. At this moment Spike the young dragon cleared his throat to get their attention who had brought Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie standing at the doorway having listened to their entire conversation looking in surprise when they saw the dark-furred unicorn. “Princess Celestia” Spike called out as they entered the room after briefly shaking off his surprise of seeing Midnight. “We are here as requested, so what’s the emergency and who’s the unicorn?” “The unicorn’s name is Midnight who has traveled through the mountains and is very powerful and talented with magic and has great intellect.” Princess Celestia said “Who has stepped to lead this upcoming mission that you six will be accompanying her on.” Hearing this surprised them as they clearly did not expect her to be put in charge of a very crucial mission especially since they had all just met. “Really, she is.” Spike asked in surprise. “Yes, because I honestly don’t know any other pony than Twilight who can pull this off and since she has an idea on how to deal with this, I am willing to hear her out.” Princess Celestia answered leaving Midnight showing a brief smile to see that she is on board with her proposal. Even know the other ponies don’t quite agree with this, they know that don’t have another choice since Twilight is gone and hearing her name causes them to look down in shame since it serves as a painful reminder of how they lost a friend because of their own actions. Luna on the other hoof could only register a disapproving glare at Celestia’s direction for her decision and that she is forcing her to stand by the sidelines by doing so. “Just remember this” Princess Celestia said turning to Midnight. “With great power comes great responsibility. If you honestly think you can do this then I have faith in you.” “How do I begin?” Midnight seriously asked. “By joining Princess Cadance and Shining Armor in the Crystal Empire.” She answered as she walked past them leading them to the exit at the end of the hall. “I wouldn’t disappoint you Princess.” Midnight assured the sun princess as she bowed down with respect again. “Then go. There is no time to lose.” Princess Celestia urgently responded as she closed the doors shut after we walked out of the room. With all said and done Midnight leads everyone out of the castle and towards the train station to their destination at the Crystal Empire. “Well, you heard the princess.” Midnight said as she started running towards the train station and briefly turned back to address them. “Let’s go, we have got an empire to save.” As the seven approached the train station they saw an incoming train approaching them. “That must be our ride. Do any of you need to stop for anything? It is going to be a little chilly on the way.” Midnight asked the others to give them the chance to properly prepare for their trip and mission to save the Crystal Empire. “Oh! Well in that case, let me get my new scarves." Rarity responded excitedly as the train arrived and stopped for us. “Fine… Just make it quick, we don’t have much time to lose.” Midnight reluctantly allowed her to do as she answered as they began boarding. The train ride was pretty quick and before any pony knew it they were all ready at the train station ready to set out to the Crystal Empire. They arrived in a freezing area. Midnight looked out the window seeing a small blizzard outside. The train whistle blew. Once we felt the train coming to a stop, we all walked towards the door and waited for it to open. When it did, they were immediately welcomed with snow and heavy cold winds. Midnight had to place a hoof in front of her due to this. Every pony walked out the train, except of Rarity, who was lagging along with Spike. “Ha” Rarity laughed. “And you all made fun of me for packing so many scarves.” Spike grunted due to carrying so many items on his back. “I didn’t say a word. Whoa!” He said as he slipped on the ice causing Midnight to quick redirect her focus on magic to saving Spike from falling. “I don’t suppose you could have brought only one suitcase of scarves…?” Midnight said with sarcastic annoyance at Rarity's direction as she made sure Spike is okay and didn't break a leg. “My apologies, but I must have a different scarf that fits the occasion!" She responded in defense while grinning happily. “Girls!” A stallion shouted as he approached them wearing a gray scarf and a gray mask, it was Shining Armor, Twilight's brother. “Shining Armor!” the girls minus Midnight exclaimed happily in return as Shining Armor removed the winter gear from his face. “You all made it.” Shining Armor happily said before turning his attention to Midnight with a questioning look on his face. “And who are you.” Shining Armor quizzically asked. “My name’s Midnight, the pony who Princess Celestia just put in charge of this mission.” Midnight answered as she held out her hoof for a hoof shake. “Well, nice to meet you.” Shining Armor responded as the two shook hooves although reluctantly on his part. “As much I like to get to know every pony, we better keep moving if want to get this done as soon as possible. Midnight said in a polite and firm tone. “You’re right” said Shining Armor with a mutual understanding agreement, “Especially since there are things we really don’t want to run into after dark.” “What kind of things?” Fluttershy asked in a soft and fearful tone. “Let's just say the Empire... isn't the only thing that's returned.” He said as his response caused the girls behind Midnight to exchange worried expressions. “Come on. Let’s get moving.” He added as he began leading the way with Midnight the first to follow him walking side by side with him. As everypony continued moving, the blizzard began getting stronger. “Something keeps trying to get in! We think it’s the unicorn king who originally cursed this place." Shining Armor said as he raised his voice due the increasing winds and snowfall. “King Sombra.” Midnight correctly answered with a knowing look on her face. “If he can’t get in, then it must already be protected.” Midnight added and correctly deduced again. Suddenly, they heard something in the distance, causing us to stop in our tracks. It sounded like a roar. Fluttershy gasped. ”Th-That’s one of the things, isn’t it?” “Guh. We have to get to the Crystal Empire. Now” Shining Armor shouted towards every pony that they need to get to safety immediately. Unexpectedly, they heard something from behind, causing them to look back. This humongous shadow appeared right before us, and when they could see these terrifying eyes on it which shocked every pony except Midnight who only glares at the shadow in turn. Spike seeing is left frozen in fear causing Shining Armor to pull him away and leaving the baggage behind. The shadow noticed them and began rushing towards us like an avalanche! “Run!” Midnight yelled, commencing us to dash away while picking Spike up with her magic “Come on, let’s go, go, go!” “Almost there.” Shining Armor said as every pony sees a bubble in the distance. They all continued running until we finally reached a bubble where Shining Armor and Midnight stay behind to fend off the shadow. Shining Armor was struggling until Midnight quickly intervened and strikes the shadow using her magic staggering him buying them enough time for them to get across the bubble. Once in, Midnight after catching her breath turns her attention to Shining Armor. “You okay?” Midnight asked then noticed familiar looking stones on his horn. Shining Armor tried casting some magic, but it failed. He nodded yes but also shook his head to emphasize he can’t do magic now. “Sparklriffic!” Pinkie Pie cried in awe, due to the appearance of the town the Crystal Empire. “It’s gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous!” Rarity exclaimed in excitement as well as she observed the crystal layer of the entire area. She mumbled incoherently. “There are no words!” “Focus, Rarity.” Applejack placed a hoof on her as she firmly reminded her why they are here. “We’re here on an important mission, not admire the scenery.” Hearing this causing Midnight to turn to Applejack and silently nod thank you for acknowledging the seriousness of the situation. “Eh, I don’t see what the big deal is. Just looks like another old castle to me.” Rainbow Dash commented on her point of view. “A- p- guh!” Rarity reacted dramatically. “Another old…! Have you lost your mind?! Look at the mag-“Applejack and Rainbow Dash began laughing, cutting her off and making her realize the joke they played on her. “Very funny.” She responded as we walked through the doors into the castle causing Midnight to roll her eyes somewhat amused by the joke. “Thanks for saving me back there, Midnight.” Shining Armor expressed towards me as we continued to walk. “I owe you big.” “Well, when I think of some way you can repay me I’ll let you know.” Midnight responded. They all entered through another couple doors, noticing Princess Cadance sitting at the far end of the room who wasn’t looking to good and had bags under her eyes, as if she hadn’t slept in a long time something that Midnight noticed with great concern. “Princess Cadance… you don’t look so good… Are you all right?” Midnight inquired in a worried tone. “Cadance has been able to use her magic to spread love and light.” Shining Armor answered her question as he steps next to her. “That seems to be what is protecting it. But she hasn't slept, barely eats. I want to help her, but my protection spell has been countered by King Sombra.” Cadance released a deep breath. “It’s alright Shining Armor, I’m fine.” She tried to reassure him. “She's not fine." He interjected Cadance's claim seeing through her claims and insistence otherwise. "She can't go on like this forever, and if her magic were to fade... Well, you saw what's out there waiting for that to happen.” Shining Armor added with worry. “Well, fortunately for you Princess Cadance, that’s why we’re here.” Midnight reassuringly announced “For I have been appointed by Princess Celestia herself to lead this mission.” “Why we’re all here.” Applejack added, getting the girls to agree along. “Well with Cadance putting all of her strength into keeping her spell going,” Shining Armor spoke. “And me trying to keep an eye on signs of trouble in the arctic, we haven’t been able to gather much information from the Crystal Ponies.” “Crystal ponies?” Rarity suddenly exclaimed, again forgetting about the big picture here. “Hahaha, there are Crystal Ponies?” She pulled her hair down in excitement, but when she noticed the looks the other girls gave her especially the stern look Midnight gave her, she stopped. “Um, hmm. Please continue.” “But we have to believe one of them knows how to protect the empire, without having to use Cadance’s magic.” Shining Armor continued to explain Midnight thinks to herself for a moment by placing a thinking hoof on her chin. Once she comes up with an idea she speaks up. “Okay, I’ve got an idea.” Midnight said getting every pony’s attention “If we go out and gather information from the crystal ponies we can bring it back so we can figure how to defeat King Sombra from there.” “I guess it’s worth a try.” Rainbow Dash reluctantly said. “Don’t worry, I promise you I will succeed at this task.” Midnight assured. “Please hurry. I don’t know how much more Cadance can keep up with this…” Shining Armor pleaded her to be as quick as possible. “Understood.” Midnight responded while nodding before facing every pony. “Okay, girls. Spread out and try to find out as much as you can while Spike and I will look for ponies to talk to.” They all nodded and raced out the hallway with Midnight briefly stopping to turn to Cadance to tell her before leaving. “Don’t worry…I’ll try to do this as quickly as possible.” She quickly and gently assured her before turning back to join the others. “Okay… let’s start looking around here.” Midnight said as she led us the others towards the left side of town with only Spike accompanying her, revealing houses. We walked up the small steps towards a red crystalized house. Midnight knocked on the door. After several slow seconds, the door opened. “H…Hello…?” the pony hesitantly said. “Hello” Midnight greeted one of the crystal ponies that seemed to be very depressed and dull. “We were just wondering if you might know any information special to the Crystal Empire, like an automatic protection spell or something.” “I…” The mare paused for a moment. “I’m sorry…I don’t know anything…” “Are you sure? Absolutely sure?” Midnight asked as she formed a frown on her face. “I’m sorry. I wish I could help you. But I… can’t seem to remember anything before King Sombra came to power.” She said as she suddenly lowered her head and strained her eyes. “And I don’t want to remember anything about the time he ruled over us.” She added with a shudder. “King Sombra's spell must be why their coats aren't... crystally.” Midnight whispered to Spike. “Have we really been gone for a thousand years?" The mare asked wondering if it really has been that long since the empire last appeared. “Yes.” Midnight honestly answered. “It feels like it was yesterday…” the mare said feeling weirded out of how much time flew by. “If you think of anything, even the smallest thing…” Midnight kindly told her. “Of course.” She told her as she walked backwards and slowly closed the door shut. “Well that was a total bust.” Spike commented as they walked down the steps. “I know…” Midnight agreed as she thought to herself. “Maybe the others are having better luck.” After several more failed attempts in receiving any information, Midnight and Spike returned to the center of the castle, meeting the others there as well. Rainbow Dash had just flown by, sighing where she landed. “I got nothing so far.” She reported. “Oh, me neither.” Rarity said as she was fluffing her hair and added in a more non-serious way. Pinkie Pie speaking next in a hushed tone. “My cover has been blown. I repeat my cover has been blown.” “Ooookay.” Midnight responded sounding weirded out by her response. “Sorry, Midnight” Applejack apologized as Fluttershy stepped onto of the costume of herself, forming a shocked and confused look while backing away from it. “These crystal ponies seem to have some kinda collective amnesia or somethin’. Only thing I was able to get out of ‘em was somethin’ about a library.” Hearing this causing Midnight to widen her eyes and immediately think of a idea. “A library?” She smiled. “Then this wasn’t a complete bust. Good work Applejack.” Midnight said as she galloped ahead “Come on, follow me.” Directing everyone into the direction of the library when they arrived they opened the doors which revealed a large vast amount of books in different shelves, everything crystallized as well causing Midnight herself to look in amazed awe. “Ahem.” A soft, almost quiet, voice announced. Said librarian at the front desk is an older mare. “May I help you?” “Yes, we were wondering if you had any books on the history of the Crystal Empire specifically books that would tell how the Empire might’ve protected itself from danger back in the day.” Midnight kindly asked. “Yes. Of course.” She responded then thought and rubbed her chin. “History, history… Ah, yes.” She pointed a hoof upwards, seeming to remember. The girls minus Midnight returned huge grins of accomplishment. However, the librarian continued to look at us saying nothing until Midnight broke the silence saying “…which is where, exactly?” “I... I can't seem to remember. I'm not sure I actually work here.” The librarian said unsure of what she is doing. “Ugh” Rainbow Dash groaned in frustration while rubbing a hoof on her face. “It’s ok, we’ll just take a look around. I’m sure we can find it on our own from there.” Midnight calmly offered, allowing the girls to feel a little more confident as they walked with her. “Let me know if you find anything.” The librarian said to them as the six ponies and young dragon walked ahead. “I like her!” Pinkie Pie expressed joyfully. “You all know what to do right girls.” Midnight said as she turned to face each and everyone to make sure they know to split up and search for answers. The girls nod obediently as they all do what Midnight wants from them but so far no one at the moment could find answers. “Uh, anyone else startin’ to think this is a lost cause? Applejack asked after she finished shuffling through several books. “No, no, no, no, no…” Midnight said as everyone turned to her direction who was looking for books as well, using her magic. Suddenly, she wrapped her hooves around a book and exclaimed “Yes, here it is.” She said as the others immediately stopped searching and walked towards her. Midnight then placed the book on the floor in front of them, allowing see the cover. In the center, there were three crystals of different colors but same shape. “History of the Crystal Empire. I just hope it has the answers we need.” She said as she flipped through the pages and skimmed a little. Then she closed and looked at all of us. “This looks trustworthy enough. Come on, let’s get back to the castle.” Arriving at the castle, the girls stepped inside a conference room and gathered around a table. Midnight placed the book in the middle and began flipping through the pages. After spending some time reading the table of contents, she spoke up “Look at this! A Crystal Faire!” The others, including Midnight, analyzed the page for a moment. “I’ve got to show this to Shining Armor really quick!” Midnight said as she closed the book and faced Spike. “Spike come with me! The rest of you, stay here. We’ll be back with the news.” Midnight then raced off ahead with Spike following close behind her while calmly sporting another small smile with the feeling she has everything under control as she approaches Shining Armor and Princess Cadance where she would show them her discovery. “According to this book, it was established by their first queen, and became their most important tradition. The Faire was held every year to…” She said as she placed a hoof and began quoting from the book. “…restore the spirit of love and unity in the empire so they could protect it from harm.” Turning to Shining Armor with a confident expression “With the others help we can definitely pull this off. Everything we need to know is in this book!” “That sounds very promising.” Shining Armor approved and looked towards Cadance for a reaction, but she was too busy keeping her eyes shut, wanting to sleep. “We’ll get started right away.” Midnight assured him. “C’mon, Spike, we’ve got a Crystal Faire to put together!” Spike closed the book and grunted as he tried to walk with the weight of the book causing Midnight to use her magic to lift the book herself and the burden off of Spike. Midnight and Spike walked into the room where the others were waiting. Once they were in the room they walked over to the open space near the table. “Look I know you all don’t entirely trust me, and I don’t blame you, but as long as you follow my lead and have faith in me. I am certain we got this as long as we work together.” Midnight said with confidence as she began to sing. “Her magic will not last forever. I think we can do it. But we need to work together.” The girls all looked at each other, smiling and believing they could get this through now having more trust and faith in Midnight. “We have to get this right” Midnight sang as she placed the book in the middle of the table. “Yes we have to make them see, we can save the Crystal Ponies with their history” She sang as she flipped through the pages, starting with the first chapter in jousting. “It says that they liked jousting” Rainbow Dash sang as she joined in by placing on the jousting gear and analyzing its fit. “They flew a flag of many hues” Rarity sang as she twirled around a long piece of fabric. “Made sweets with crystal berries” Applejack sang while picking the berries with Pinkie Pie. “They had a petting zoo with tiny ewes” Fluttershy sang as she led several of those cute furry little creatures joyfully, appearing adorable herself. “Oh, we have to get this right” They all sang together in unison, looking at each other and feeling extremely motivated with teamwork. “Yes we have to make them see. We can save the Crystal Ponies with their history.” Pinkie Pie sang as she flipped a page and reached a part about a horn. “There was a crystal fluegelhorn that every pony liked to play” Pinkie then blew a horn loudly in front of us all. Every pony seemed to be negatively affected by this sound. Rainbow Dash strained her eyes and placed both of her hooves on her ears. Applejack only remained surprised. Spike was backing away due to the sound. Rarity was on the floor, trying to block the sound away from her ears by covering them both with her hooves as well. Fluttershy turned her head away, closed her eyes, and placed a hoof to her right ear. Midnight returned a response while only annoyed and unfazed by this sound by telling her “Pinkie, that’s too loud.” “And the Crystal Kingdom anthem” Midnight sang placing a hoof to her heart, towards the flags. “Can you learn it in a day?” “Oh, we have to get this right” They all continued singing as we set up the final touches. Rainbow Dash held little flags and flew them across buildings. “Yes we have to make them see” The rest of girls sang as they contributed to their part. “We can save the Crystal Ponies…” Spike ran over to Midnight with several balloons and released them in the air. “… With their history.” They finished singing as they sustained and finished the preparations. Midnight opened her eyes and looked around, having her mouth looking in awe and amazement at the sight of their accomplishment. “This looks amazing! Well done every pony!” Midnight opened the book and continued to look around. “One last check to make sure everything is in place, and then the festivities can begin.” “What’s this thing for?” Applejack said tapping some kind of statue or artifact with her hoof and creating a thunk sound. “The last page of the book mentioned a Crystal Heart as the Faire’s centerpiece, so I used my magic to cut one out of a crystal block.” Midnight explained, showing her the presented page in the book. “Nice work, Midnight!" Applejack complimented. "Think we’re ready to get this Faire up and runnin!” “Great” Midnight replied with satisfaction. “The rest of you girls, go do your parts. Spike, let’s go call Shining Armor and Cadance and finally save the Crystal Ponies!” She then said towards Spike. Once Midnight has reported her success to the rulers of the Crystal Empire they all walked out into the balcony, where they all heard Pinkie playing the horn very loudly into the wrong end of the horn. Aside from that minor nuisance, they all continued forth walking towards the end of the balcony and towards the railing, where Midnight began announcing the opening of the Crystal Faire. “Here ye, hear—“ She started until she was interrupted by Pinkie Pie blowing the horn furiously turning her attention to her annoyed. Pinkie chuckled nervously and placed the horn behind her upon seeing the dark mare's stern glare. “Heheh, my bad…” Midnight then turned her attention back to the crowd clearing her threat before continuing. “Ahem. Hear ye, hear ye. Princess Cadance and Shining Armor cordially invite you to the Crystal Faire!” After her announcement, the ponies had come out from their homes and looked at what was going on. A majority of the Crystal Ponies instantly brightened up, having crystal coats and instantly looking bright and intrigued. As progress and productivity skyrocketed, Midnight watching over smiled seeing everything is going according to plan before proceeding to head down to check up on the festivities. “Yippee” Pinkie Pie cheered. “I’m going to get me some COTTON CANDY!" She said as she sped off. Midnight traveled down towards the center of the castle where the Crystal Heart stood. As Midnight opened her book and began reading through it she spoke. “Alright… if everything is going well, we should be able to---“ Suddenly, a large violet cloth was placed over us, causing her to remove it from her head and look back noticing Rainbow Dash looking tense. “Everything okay?” Midnight inquired. “I think we may have a problem…” Rainbow Dash responded while keeping her hoof on the cloth. “What do you mean?” Midnight asked raising an eyebrow wondering what she is trying to hide as much as the crystal ponies nearby. "Everything's all good." She assured the staring ponies. "Move along." She instructed them as they all did so as Rainbow Dash directed her inside towards the balcony where Shining Armor and Princess Cadance are where she tells them that the Crystal Heart Midnight crafted herself isn't enough and that they need the real Crystal Heart because without it, it can't generate the same protective spell it creates. Hearing this, Midnight quickly flipped through the book to double check to make sure this is true. “So it was an actual relic? Because this book didn’t mention anything about the crystal ponies powering the Crystal Heart.” She asked as she reached the end of the book and noticed something odd. “There was a page missing…how did I not notice?” Midnight said as she placed a hoof in her face annoyed with herself of how she could have overlooked that one little detail. “It’s ok Midnight.” Cadance tried to reassure her while swerving greatly then suddenly, lost her balance and fell back, having Shining Armor catch her in his forelegs as her magic ran out causing Midnight to look out towards the shield. They then all heard a howl. Midnight and the others looked out in the direction of the howl. The protective shield was flickering off and on like a light a switch in a room. As soon as the spell went out, an avalanche of darkness began flooding the outskirts of the Crystal Empire. It was then when they saw his face appear from the mist of the darkness… King Sombra himself…