//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Crystal Field Trip Part 3 // Story: Luster Dawn Friendship Successor // by SamSwordsman123 //------------------------------// The wind was starting to pick up as Moondancer lead the students to the Crystal Hotel after Twilight left to deal with the business she had with Starcutter. Clouds seemed to be moving in rather fast. She approached the front desk where a Crystal Pony with a checkmark inside a bright crystal for a cutie mark sat. The pony didn’t shine to brightly, and he looked a bit depressed. “Hello,” Moondancer greeted. “Good afternoon, I’m Check Shine. How might I help you?” the greeter said without much enthusiasm. “I’m here with Princess Twilight,” Moondancer said. “We reserved rooms for twenty-five students.” Check Shine looked at a list of reservations. “Ah, yes. Class of Moondancer from the School for Gifted Unicorns. Let me see it’s for two nights and twenty-five students as well as a teacher. That will be two hundred and sixty bits.” Moondancer hesitated. The payment for staying at the hotel was going to be covered by the school funds. And only Twilight had access to those. When she didn’t answer right away, Check Shine frowned at her as well as the students. “I presume you all bought bits along, didn’t you?” “Of course, we did!” Silly Sun said with a giggle. “We need bits to pay for meals, sweets, and things like souvenirs here.” “Well, pay up then!” Check Shine said. Silly Sun shook her head, her usually constant smile vanishing. “We’re the class of the Princess herself! We ought to get rooms for free!” “No bits, no staying at the hotel. You pay, you get the keys.” “Princess Twilight will be covering the students,” Moondancer said. “But she had to go to the castle on urgent business before coming here. If you could just wait a while, I’m sure Princess Twilight will be along shortly,” Moondancer tried to reason. “She’ll bring those bits up in a flash.” The last part was quite literal as Twilight had put summoning spells on the chests containing the school funds so she could bring them to her whenever she needed them for her student’s needs. Check Shine shook his head with a frown. “No bits, no rooms. But if you want to wait, feel free.” He gestured to a nearby sitting area which only had four chairs. Moon Dancer frowned. “This is so unfair! Give us our rooms now!” Silly Sun demanded. “The Princess will pay you when she gets here!” The other students angered over not getting their rooms and having to be for what was promised free lodging. Luster Dawn, who had been listening slightly while also reading a book, looked up in annoyance as the agitated students shouted at the Crystal pony. “Yeah, hoof over those keys!” “We wanna drop our luggage off!” “We can just pay for the rooms ourselves,” Luster Dawn said stepping forward. All the other students looked at her in surprise. “No! That’s not fair!” Silly Sun said. “We shouldn’t have to pay for the bits ourselves!” “Princess Twilight can just reimburse us,” Luster pointed out. Moondancer thought for a moment. “I guess that would be okay. We were going to pay anyway. You’ll all get your bits back!” The students looked at each other and shrugged, happy as long as that was the case. “Hmph, I don’t care as long as you pay,” Check Shine said. Moondancer scoffed. This wasn’t her most pleasant experience from a hotel greeter. “Not exactly a friendly welcoming pony, is he?” Silly Sun whispered to her friends. “You’d think somepony would respect the Princess enough to let her class go in a hotel for free!” “No exceptions!” Check Shine said, hearing her. “Now pay up!” The students each gave him ten bits. Moondancer felt slightly guilty since they had to pay. But at least they would get new bits once Twilight arrive and her business at the castle was concluded. Moondancer went to her assigned room in the hotel to wait for Twilight * The Princess of Equestria stood by her niece as Flurry Heart walked among the halls of Crystal Castle. Flurry hadn’t been here since the deaths of her parents. Walking through the castle brought back memories of her parents. How she would have snuck into the kitchen and take cookies from where her mother hid them on the top shelf, her mother catching her eating one and then chasing her through the castle!” “Flurry you get back here!” Cadence called as she flew after her daughter who had just taken off out of the kitchen. “Drop that cookie jar right now!” “No!” Flurry said as she flew while levitating the said jar. She teleported, something that she’d somehow been able to do even as infant. Flurry was back in her room, she grined at her triumph, her mother, despite being an alicorn was not as gifted as her with magic somehow. Perhaps it was because she had been born one? Flurry grinned mischievously and prepared to eat the cookies before her mother could get in. Only to find that something very important to that plan was missing. The cookie jar! She’d left it behind when she’d teleported. Flurry sighed and teleported back to the hallway she’d been in. Only to find her mother there along with a broken jar and cookies on the floor. Cadence gave her daughter a disapproving look. Flurry Heart was forced to spend a week in her room after that. Guards would be stationed at her door to hear if she tried to teleport out. Flurry also remembered her father. Shining Armor would hold her in his hooves and keep her close. He’d tickle her and give her blow kisses to the stomach, or she’d ride on his back and feel herself bump around as he ran through the castle. Flurry and her aunt came to the throne room where her mother would sit as ruler of the Crystal Empire. Now, it was her turn to do so. Flurry had known this day was coming, but she still felt so unprepared for it. She gulped, was she truly ready to become ruler? By law she was now a full-grown pony, but did she have the wisdom to rule like her aunt did? Flurry then felt a wing wrap around her. “Still nervous huh?” Twilight asked. Flurry nodded. “Nervous, sad, and worried. I didn’t expect the Crystal Heart to be stolen when I’d just gotten back to the empire. And walking through this castle just…” “Brings back memories?” Twilight guessed. Flurry nodded. “I felt the same way when I came back to my old house in Canterlot for the first time after leaving Ponyville,” Twilight said. “It’s strange when you come back to someplace after being away for so long. You might see it in a different light. Sometimes you change into a different pony, it was like that for me. I left that tower to go to Ponyville thinking the only thing that mattered was books and studying. Then I came back years later to make amends with the friends I had in Canterlot like Moondancer.” Flurry looked from the throne back to her aunt. “Do you think Starcutter and the guards will be able to get the Crystal heart back?” Before Twilight could answer, Flash Sentry suddenly flew in with the said object in his hooves. “Princesses, I have the heart!” he said. “The diamond dogs have been dealt with.” “Excellent work, Flash,” Twilight said with a smile at the pony she’d once had a crush on. “Where is Starcutter?” “He stayed in the cave to look for whoever took the energy from the heart,” Flash told them. “Somepony took the energy inside?” Twilight inquired, a little worried. Flash nodded. “We got the heart back though, and the Diamond Dogs have been locked up.” Twilight put a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. “I hope Starcutter finds whoever took the energy. I don’t want to know whatever they have planned to do with it. It can’t be good.” Flurry Heart stepped forward. “Now that we have the heart back, can we use to make every pony feel better again?” Twilight nodded. “I guess your coronation is going to have to happen a little sooner than expected.” Flurry sighed. “I don’t know what kind of ruler I’m going to be… but… if I can be one that looks after her subjects and makes them happy and safe. I guess that’s enough.” She took the Crystal Heart in her yellow magic. As she began to walk with it, Twilight continued to speak. “Shining Armor and Cadence would be proud of you for becoming a ruler just like that,” she said. “The best ruler is one… that puts the needs of her subjects before her own desires.” Flurry looked back at her aunt who smiled at her. Though she noticed Twilight’s eyes appeared sad. “Something wrong, Auntie Twilie?” Flurry asked, placing the Crystal Heart gently on the ground. “Oh, I’m fine,” Twilight said. “I was just thinking…” “About what?” Flurry asked. “Don’t worry about it, Flurry. It’s my problem,” Twilight said. “Today is all for you, and I want you to know. I’m proud of you.” Flurry blushed, “I haven’t even done anything heroic like you did.” “You will make the ponies here happy under your rule. That’s something.” Flurry smiled at her Aunt and nuzzled her. “Love you, Auntie Twilie.” “Love you too, Flurry,” Twilight said. “Now if you’ll excuse me. I need to get my students ready.” She teleported to the Crystal Hotel and walked up to the front desk and spoke with the Greeter. “Hello, could you tell me which room Moondancer is staying in?” she asked politely. “Room 236,” the greeter said. “I just gave her and all those students a bunch of keys to the second floor after they finally paid.” Twilight’s mouth fell open. Her students had had to pay for staying here? She was supposed to cover them! This was not supposed to happen! Twilight made her way up to Room 236 and knocked on the door. “Moondancer!” she called. “It’s Twilight.” The sound of magic being channeled came from inside and the door opened. Moondancer stepped outside. “I heard the students had to pay! I was supposed to cover that!” Twilight said. “You weren’t here,” Moondancer said, without anger. “But its no problem. You had royal duties.” Twilight sighed. “I need to give you access to the school funds in case something like this happens again.” “You sure you want to trust me with the school funds?” Moondancer joked. “Relax, you can just reimburse the students.” Twilight nodded. “Alright, I’ll do that. Get them rounded up.” Moondancer nodded back and pulled out a list she had made with the numbers of each of the student’s rooms on it. She and Twilight went to each one and knocked, bringing the students out into the hall. “I’m sorry to hear that everypony had to pay, I was supposed to cover the expense of all of you staying the hotel for the duration of our trip,” Twilight apologized. “But I can give you all new Bits.” She lit up her horn and summoned a large chest full of gold coins. Ordering her students into a line, Twilight gave each of them ten Bits as they came, before doing the same for Moondancer. “Now that that is taken care of, I have some good news and bad news. The bad news is the Crystal Heart was stolen sometime before we arrived.” This caused many of her students to gasp. “But the good news is that thanks to the brave members of the Crystal Empire’s Royal Guard it has been recovered. Unfortunately, the energy was drained from it. Because of this, the Crystal ponies have lost some of their joy and Flurry Heart must restore it as quickly as possible to make them happy again. So, we’re going to have the Coronation as soon as possible. Everypony, follow me.” Twilight lead her students to the front doors of the hotel. As soon as she opened them however, she received a rather unpleasant surprise. The streets of the Crystal Empire was now being covered in snow! “Where did this come from!” Silly Sun asked. “It’s nearly summer for Pony’s sake!” Realization hit Twilight. She was about to say what must have happened. But Luster did first. “Without the Crystal Heart to protect it, the Crystal Empire will be buried under ice and snow. The heart is what keeps it from freezing like the rest of the artic!” Luster said. Twilight nodded. “You’ve studied this place, Luster.” “What do we do? What do we do?” Silly Sun asked. “We’re going to be buried under snow and freeze or starve death. We got to get out of here! To the train station!” All the other students began to try and scurry out, Moondancer and Twilight had to block the doorway. “Everypony, please calm down!” Moondancer said. “Calm down?” one of them shouted. “How can we be calm when our lives are in danger?” “Because we can fix this!” Twilight said. “Everything is going to be fine! I know what to do.” The students maintained their worried expressions but hearing of their Princess saying that she knew what to do eased them out of their panic. Twilight looked at Moondancer. “You get the students to the Castle. Tell everypony, Princess Twilight and Princess Flurry need them there. We need all the Crystal Ponies present to power the Crystal Heart and get rid of this snow. I’m going to try and hold it off until Flurry Heart can get the Crystal Heart powered.” Twilight flapped her now massive alicorn wings and flew up into the blizzard. She called upon not only her own magic, but also the additional power that Celestia and Luna had given her. She shot a beam of rainbow magic (something that thanks to the sisters magic, she could perform even when her friends weren’t around now) into the immense cloud. But it had little effect aside from creating a hole. She’d been able to vanquish the Wendigos at the same time as defeating Chrysalis, Tirek, Cozy Glow during her greatest battle, but even the combined power of Celestia’s sun, Luna’s moon and Twilight’s friendship magic wasn’t enough destroy natural weather. Twilight continued to battle the blizzard. But soon her wings and face became covered in ice. She began to lose the ability to fly. Fortunately, she did accomplish her mission. Below her, she saw the Crystal Ponies make their way to the castle. Then a glow came from it and Flurry Heart came soaring up toward her frozen aunt as the streets of the Empire lit up bright blue and the snow melted. Energy flowed throughout the empire, turning all ponies to crystal. It reached Twilight as well, causing her mane change style as it had whenever she’d been affected. Her body shined just as her mane and her wings unfroze. She let out a breath of relief. She smiled at Flurry and the two Alicorns flew back down. As they landed in front of the repowered Crystal Heart, Twilight saw Starcutter beside Flash Sentry and the other guards. She then turned to the rest of the ponies. “Thank you, Princess Flurry Heart!” they screamed out in gratitude. “You saved us!” “If not for you we would have been buried under snow and forced to leave!” one pony said. They all began to crowd around Flurry and raised her up on their hooves. Twilight watched her niece proudly for a moment as she basked in the love of her subjects. Then she realized something. Looking over at Starcutter, Twilight said, “You better get Flurry’s crown wherever it is.” The coronation can’t happen without a crown, right?” Twilight asked. Starcutter hesitated. “Crown?” He hoofplanted. “I forgot to order a crown be made!” “What?” Twilight said. That was not good, they couldn’t have the coronation without a crown. Twilight began to feel the need to suddenly pace around. Fortunately, Flash came to the rescue. “I think Princess Cadence kept a few other crowns in her room! Let me go grab one!” The orange Pegasus flew off to the top tower as fast as he could. Twilight gritted her teeth nervously. Flurry Heart was set back on the ground by the Crystal Ponies and made her way back to her aunt while Twilight watched her with a nervous smile. Flurry approached her aunt. “Well, Auntie Twilie. I think I’m ready,” Flurry said. “That’s good, Flurry.” “So… where’s my crown?” Flurry asked. “It… should be here soon,” Twilight replied. Sure enough, Flash came flying down with a crown in his hooves. It was a rather large crown with four points on it and a sapphire in the center. But it was beautiful nonetheless, and Flurry could easily have a new one made for herself if she wished. Twilight took it with her magic and lifted it up as Flurry bowed her head. Her aunt set the crown atop Flurry’s head. Slowly she rose and turned to her subjects. “All Hail Princess Flurry Heart! Ruler and Savior of the Crystal Empire today!” Twilight spoke out. All the Crystal Ponies bowed to their new ruler. “You once caused a snowstorm to happen when you were a newborn foal. But today, you saved the Empire from being frozen,” Twilight said. “I think that is a major turn around.” Flurry giggled, she didn’t remember causing the Empire to almost be frozen but had heard that was the case when her crying broke the Crystal Heart. “I guess.” * Two days passed and Twilight’s students were getting on the train to go back to Canterlot. Starcutter and Flash stood by Flurry’s side as she prepared for her aunt to leave, along with her grandparents. “Can’t believe we missed your coronation, just like the Crystalling!” Night Light said. “But we’re still very proud of you, Flurry!” Twilight Velvet said. “And your parents would be too.” Both Flurry’s grandparents were now elderly, their mane had turned gray. “A pity you couldn’t find who took the energy, Starcutter,” Twilight said. “I don’t want to think about what it could be used for.” “Me neither Princess,” Starcutter said. “I just hope we’re able to stop… whoever took it.” Twilight nodded. “I’m sure if we ever find out who took it we will. Now you and Flash take care of my niece please.” “We will, Princess,” Flash said. “I swear,” Starcutter said. “I will not let any harm come to her or this Empire if I can prevent it somehow.” Twilight then got onto the train. Luster sat next to Princess Twilight on the train. “So, did you enjoy the trip to the Empire Luster?” Twilight asked. “Oh yes,” Luster said, looking up from her book. “It was amazing to see the Coronation and become like I was made of Crystal for a while.” “And what did you do yesterday?” Twilight asked. “Did you have fun with your friends seeing the sights? Buy any souvenirs?” Luster laughed. “Me, buy souvenirs? No, I was busy in the library reading as many books as I could there. They have books there you can’t find anywhere else.” This surprised Twilight. “You spent all day in the library rather than with your friends?” “Friends,” Luster scoffed. “Who needs friends?” Twilight froze up. Her top student… not interested in making friends!