//------------------------------//
// Empire part one 
// Story: A different fate, but the same element 
// by Storyreader21 
//------------------------------//

The next day, Twilight woke up ready to help, with things being easier due to an unforseen side effect of their carriages landing. That being that Sombra in response to what he considered an attack took his army of mind controlled ponies to fight directly while angry at Equestria for the attack he thinks came from them. On top, of that they would be distracted by the Equestrian Army, and Celestia, Luna, and Cadence. This left only the unmind controlled Crystal ponies he left to provide him with energy through their fear after making his army.

Meanwhile Twilight,  Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell, Pandora, and Bark Wing were in a library looking for any clues to free the Crystal Empire

"Found it." Pandora said, holding the book. "We need to perform a Crystal Fayre. My grandmom once said she had visited a place in Equestria that used a Crystal Fayre to power a powerful artifact called the Crystal Heart to protect it. She never mentioned the places name, but it must be the Crystal Empire."

"So we need to perform a Crystal Fayre." Twilight said happily. "Though we will need the Crystal Heart first. Any clue where it is?"

"Lost." Sweetie Bell said from the counter, looking at a scrap of parchment she found by looking under the desk for clues despite their being no books there she thought there might be something since the librarian would sit there. "This parchment has a hastily scrawled message:

He is coming...I have to hide...
He has already hidden the Crystl Heart
were we will never find it...
Without it we are doomed.
No he's her...

That's all that's written it just cuts off afterwards, and the he must be Sombra."

"So Sombra hid the heart so it couldn't be used against him?" Twilight asked.

"Probably with traps." Bark Wing added.

"But where?" Scootaloo questioned.

"Ah don't know about you..." Apple Bloom said, "But if ah was an evil dictator ah'd want to keep the only thing that could defeat me where ah could keep a close eye on it."

"Of course!" Twilight said, "The palace. Three of us need to start setting up the Crystal Fayre, while the other three go to the palace to look for the Crystal Heart. I have a few spells to help with that."

"I'll help set up the Fayre." Pandora said. "My grandma told me about it, so I have more ideas then the rest of what it looks like, and this book provides the rest of the information."

"I'll go with Twilight to the palace." Bark Wing said. "Don't want to scare the Crystal Ponies."

"I'm going to the palace too." Scootaloo said with a grin. "Finding an ancient artifact probably surrounded by traps...It's like Daring Do in real life. No way am I missing that."

"Ah guess we help Pandora." Apple Bloom said to Sweetie Bell. 

"We'll have to hurry and finish before Sombra gets back." Sweetie Bell added. "I know the elements will work, but we don't want him to take the Empire with him."

"Right. CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS CRYSTAL EMPIRE RESCUERS, YEAH!" They called before heading out to work.