//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Captured in the Crystal Empire // Story: Luster Dawn: New Days of the Magic of Friendship // by SamSwordsman123 //------------------------------// Starcutter looked at the guards of the Crystal Empire that had been placed under his—or rather Grogar’s control. They were all controlled like he was now—their helmets radiating the same red energy that occasionally shined in his eyes. Grogar had made him touch every helmet in the Empire with the Ruby of Reign. That was another way it could be used to control somepony besides having them look at it. The ruby was now in Starcutter’s possession, kept in his pocket, but since Grogar’s magic ran through it, he had no power to break its control over him. Grogar commanded, and Starcutter obeyed. Use the ruby to control all the guards. Keep it close to you at all times. Starcutter spoke to the guards in the way Grogar told him to. To act as though he himself were leading this coup. “You belong to me now!” he said. “You will remove Princess Flurry Heart from her throne tonight and make me the new Crystal King!” “As you command Captain Starcutter!” they said in unison. “Or KING!” The guards marched up the stairs of the palace. It was night time, the moon shined through the windows. Most of the residents were asleep, including Princess Flurry Heart. There were servants in the palace as well, but they were no threat. They stopped a floor below. Starcutter selected three to accompany him. One unicorn carried a magic suppressing ring with his magic while two others held the rope. They walked up to the princess's chamber door and opened it to see the her sleeping soundly and unsuspecting. If she had awoken, she might have been able to put up one hell of a fight, being a powerful alicorn. “Do it!” Starcutter ordered, loud enough that it woke Flurry. He actually hoped that he would give her a chance to defeat them. But there was no such luck. Before her eyes could register the danger, the unicorn guard had already placed the ring on her horn. “Wha—” she tried to scream, but a gag was shoved into her mouth, reducing her speech to mumbles as both her wings and hooves were tied up as well. She looked around at her captors, recognizing them as her own guards. Starcutter approached the captive princess. “Sorry, Princess… but you’re removed from the throne.” His apology was genuine. Flurry Heart squirmed and scuffled, but with her magic disabled and her limbs bound by the ropes, she was helpless as they carried her down to the dungeons. In the morning, Starcutter addressed the citizens of the Empire. “I am now your new ruler!” he declared. “Princess Flurry Heart is imprisoned in the palace!” This caused outrage among the Crystal Ponies. “No!” Somepony screamed. “Traitor!” “You were her captain! You served as overseer until she came of age!” “How dare you!” “We won’t let you keep her imprisoned!” Several ponies charged at Starcutter, only for the guards to immediately pin them down. The ponies were no match, being untrained in combat. They were helpless as they were dragged off to the Crystal Dungeon as well. The rest of the citizens, frightened at the strength of the guards, backed down. “As of now, I declare martial law!” Starcutter continued. “Nopony leaves this empire. Detain any visitors that come from the train station and lock it down!” … Luster spent most of the train ride trying to read her book. River Song talked so much it was difficult to concentrate. The Kirin never stopped asking questions. “Are the buildings in the Crystal Empire as shiny as they say?” River wondered. “Are the crystals valuable? Do you know if Kirin can be crystallized in the same way as ponies?” “I don’t know,” Luster said. “How shiny do they say they are?” “Very!” “Well, then, I’d say that must be true. As for value, not sure. But I imagine it’s not worth destroying somepony’s house over. And I don’t know if a Kirin has ever been to a Crystalling before.” Soon the train came to a stop. As she and her friends walked out the doors, they saw an unexpected sight. A large battalion of guards stood at the station. All around them, other ponies and creatures that were getting off with surprised looks as well. “Whoa!” River exclaimed. “You think that they’re sending an army somewhere?” Before any of them could ask what was going on, the guards were after them! Earth Ponies grabbed the passengers with their hooves, unicorns levitated hoofcuffs onto their legs, and pegasi swooped down and carried them off. “Hey, what’s going on?” Gallop yelled before a pair of Earth ponies came at him. They pinned him down before he could react. “Get off him!” Yelena ordered. A unicorn sent a pair of hoofcuffs at her, but her yak legs were too wide for standard pony cuffs. Luster brought up some of her gold magic to her horn, ready to fire a spell to defend herself. But before she could, a pair of pegasi grabbed her and lifted her into the air. “Let me go!” she squealed. “Luster!” River Song screamed, her usually joyous voice full of fear. Luster looked down at her friend only to see an Earth pony tackle her. “Hang on!” Georgia flapped her wings and took off, dodging the hoofcuffs intended for her. The griffon flew after the pegasi carrying Luster over the Crystal Empire. She rammed into one of them, causing him to lose his grip on Luster’s hind legs. The other one struggled to keep hold of Luster as she continued squirming. He too lost hold of her, and she escaped. But that victory was short-lived as the pink unicorn began falling to the ground with a scream. “Hang on, Luster!” Georgia yelled as she dived. The griffon reached her just in time, catching Luster a split second before she would have hit. As she was set down the unicorn took several breaths. “T-thanks, Georgia!” she said. “No problem!” the griffon said. “But why are they arresting every creature? Is it illegal to travel here now? Did they think some creature’s coming to steal their crystals?” “I don’t know,” Luster said before looking up. “Look out!” The two pegasi were flying down at them. “Now, really! I’m sure we can talk about this!” Georgia tried to reason with them. The pair didn’t stop. Luster instinctively lit up her horn, and the unicorn and griffon both vanished from the area just outside the train station. They reappeared in front of the Crystal Hotel, where Luster had stayed last time. The sudden teleportation left Georgia’s feathers singed—the griffon groaned. “Oh! Sorry!” Luster said. “I did it so quickly! I didn’t mean to burn you!” Georgia took a breath, “It’s alright. It's—oh no...” Luster turned to see a bunch of guards walking towards them on the street. Gritting her teeth, she began charging her horn for another teleport, but with adrenaline flooding her veins, and her concentration gone, it only sparkled a little. She tried again but couldn't get it right. As the guards shrunk the distance between them, it became more apparent to Luster that they would have to stand their ground. But then… "Citizen..." one of the guards said with a nod, not even stopping as they walked past them. Luster and Georgia glanced at each other in a mix of confusion and shock. "They... didn't arrest us?" Georgia said. "Hmm, maybe they're just after creatures arriving at the station," Luster said, then grabbed her friend. “Come on, we have to get out of here before they change their minds.” “But what about the others?” Georgia asked. Luster hesitated. “I don’t know. They’ve probably been captured by now. There were so many guards!” “We can’t just leave them to suffer through… whatever is to happen to them!” After a moment’s consideration, Luster decided it would be good to at least find out what was happening here. She looked around, spotting a pair of bushes nearby. “Hide in there,” she said. “If they see a griffon, they might try to arrest you on the spot.” “What about you?” Georgia asked. “I’ll try to find out what’s happened here,” Luster said before walking off. It didn’t take long for her to find a guard patrolling the streets. Praying she wasn’t making a mistake, Luster approached him. “Excuse me, can you tell me what’s going on here?” “We have a new ruler of the Crystal Empire. Captain Starcutter has taken the throne, made himself King, and imprisoned Princess Flurry Heart. We must obey him now!” “So… he just says he’s in charge and you follow him?” Luster asked. “We have… no choice,” the guard said. His helmet emitted a slight red glow. “You should have been briefed this morning. Are you from around here?” “Y-yes!” Luster lied. “My father lives here!” That had been true once. “Carry on then, and don’t do anything to make us arrest you.” Luster nodded and went back to Georgia. “I can't be sure, but… it looks like the guards are under mind control,” the unicorn said. “Can you undo the spell?” Georgia asked. “Maybe, but if I fail and a guard or another one sees us, we’d end up getting caught. Best to play it safe.” They made their way back in the direction of the station. As they got closer, they saw their friends being led in chains along with all the other passengers that were on with them. Their hooves were all cuffed together and a pair of guards held spears at River Song. Luster noticed that all the unicorns who had been taken prisoner were forced to wear magic suppressing rings on their horns, but Kirin horns were shaped differently, so there wasn’t a pony ring that would fit on River’s. The trio spotted their other two friends. “Luster! Georgia!” River Song called, only to be pushed with the butt of a spear. “Keep moving, Kirin!” River Song gave a pleading look at her friends. Luster turned her gaze to Gallop, who shook his head, silently seeming to ask her to save herself. Luster watched as the three of them were led in the direction of the castle. She knew that the smart thing to do was to get out of here and warn Princess Twilight of Starcutter’s takeover. But her heart told her something else. That she could not abandon those three. They were all she had left in Ponyville now since her family had sent her away. She had to save them, and anypony else she could manage. “Don’t worry guys. I’m gonna free you! … somehow...” … Gallop, River Song, and Yelena were all led to the dungeons of the Crystal Empire Castle. The spacious cells were packed to the brim with various creatures. They barely managed to fit them inside. “Ah, hayburgers! No room to sleep in and nothing to sleep on!” Gallop complained. “This is getting better and better.” “Next time we look for hotels, remind me to cross out those with dungeons,” River Song said. “Yelena not in mood for jokes,” the yak said before looking at the guards gazing at them by the doors. “Why you ponies lock us up? We do nothing wrong!” “King Starcutter's orders. Soon you will all bow down to him. Tonight, every creature in the Empire will accept his rule, like it or not. Then you shall take the rest of Equestria for him.” All the creatures gasped. A few unicorns tried to do their magic desperately, but with the rings on their horns, there was no way. Some of them tried to have other creatures pull them off with their teeth, only to receive a shock that forced them to let go. “Our magic suppression rings have been improved,” the guard said. “If anypony tries to remove them by any means besides magic, they will get a little shock. We call it the Shockingly Good Magic Suppression Rings.” River Song scoffed. “Well, that’s a plain name.” “And the only ones with magic here are us!” another guard said. River frowned at him through the bars, then her eyes widened at the last few words. Only magic could undo the rings, and she still had hers since they didn’t have a magic suppressor for Kirin. She could just wait until they left, and then she could take off the rings from the unicorns and help every creature escape. This idea caused her to giggle. That was a mistake, the guards looking at her noticed the lack of a ring on her horn. “If that Kirin tries to do any magic… break her horn off!” the first one said. “Yes, sir!” They kept their eyes focused on River Song, who shook in fear. At that moment, Yelena suddenly came forward, the chains connecting her to Gallop and River rattling. “You let Yelena out of here right now!” the yak yelled. “Or Yelena break bars down.” This threat got her heavily chained to the back of the cell. She was unattached from Gallop and River, with three chains attached to each leg. This prevented her from moving more than a foot forward. “You ponies pay for this when Yelena get free!” River Song tried to move to the back of the cell to be with Yelena and lift her friends' spirits, but the guards shouted at her. “Kirin! You stay in front of the cell where we can see you!” River sighed. She and Gallop remained chained together at the very front, feeling those emotionless eyes watching them. They sat silently, the minutes seemed like hours, the hours seemed like days. They had come to the Crystal Empire hoping to see the sights. Instead they were stuck in prison. “I hope Luster can find a way to help us!” River said. “She probably teleported or is flying with Georgia back to Ponyville,” Gallop said. “She’ll alert Princess Twilight. That’s the smart thing a brainy pony like her would do. I mean, if I were free, and she was a damsel in distress with you two, I’d probably charge in for the rescue. I’d never abandon my friends!” “You think Luster would abandon us?” River asked worriedly. Gallop hesitated. “I don’t know… I mean… we’ve all known each other for a long time but she’s only been part of our group for less than two months, right?” River thought for a moment, then said firmly, “Long or short, Luster is our friend. She’ll stay, and find some magic to help us out. I’m sure of it.” … Starcutter sat at his desk. A communication artifact lay before him. He pressed his hoof to it, and Grogar’s face appeared above him. Starcutter bowed his head in disdain at the grim-looking ram. “My Emperor. The soldiers of the Crystal Empire are yours. We have blocked off all ways to escape and have taken the tourists who arrived prisoner.” Grogar nodded. “Good, I will come tonight. You will gather all the prisoners and citizens of the Empire at the palace. You still have the Ruby of Reign?” Starcutter reached into the pocket of his saddlebag and drew it out. Grogar smiled menacingly. “Tonight, every creature in there will be mine!” “Yes… my lord.” Starcutter bowed again. … Luster and Georgia stood outside the castle, hiding in a pair of bushes across from the entrance. It was heavily guarded, and they weren't letting anyone in. It used to be that anypony could enter the castle freely to at least look around, but with the sudden coup, that was no longer the case. “How are we going to get inside?” Georgia asked. Luster put a hoof to her chin. “We can’t just walk in obviously, but maybe I can sneak in. My mother taught me an invisibility spell last summer. Maybe I can use it to get in and free the others.” “But what about me?” Georgia asked. Luster looked at her griffon friend. “You better stay here. If I don’t make it, you’ll need to fly to Canterlot. Tell the princess what’s going on.” Georgia nodded. Canterlot was closer to the Crystal Empire than Ponyville. Luster lit up her horn and vanished into thin air as she cast her invisibility spell before jumping out of the bush. The unicorn made her way to the doors of the castle, crawling on her stomach so that the taps of her hooves wouldn’t alert the guards. She’d considered teleporting inside earlier but knew that it wouldn’t be a good idea. The guards would overwhelm her with sheer numbers if nothing else. Luster was forced to wait until another soldier came out to take the next watch. She managed to use the brief instant the door came open to fly up through it, but the flying spell caused a golden aura to appear around her. She herself didn’t appear, but the shine was bright enough to alert the guards. Thankfully it was so quick that they assumed it was nothing. Luster crawled a few feet forward after the door closed behind her. Once she was out of earshot, she got to her hooves, grunting as she began to lose the concentration of maintaining her spell. It wasn’t going to last much longer. If she was spotted, then it would all be for nothing. But then she took a lucky turn down a hallway leading to the armory. There were hundreds of suits of blue silver armor used by the guards. It greatly contrasted with Canterlot’s golden armor that Luster was used to seeing from her time there. She approached the right side, which was made for mares. These suits were lighter and smaller, but no less shiny and durable. As she looked at the armor, an idea occurred to Luster. She looked back, seeing to her relief that no pony was around. Luster undid the invisibility spell and got into one of the suits. First came the hoof shoes, then the breastplate, which weighed a ton. Luster groaned; she wasn’t the most athletic unicorn, everypony required some sort of training and strength to wear something like this. She knew this was going to slow her down, but she needed it to disguise herself. Finally, it was time to put the helmet on. She lifted it up with her magic and placed it on her head. But no sooner had she done so when she felt it grow hot as though it just came out of the forge. “Pony feathers!” Luster exclaimed. “I didn’t think all the helmets had been enchanted to have mind control!” The helmet radiated red energy as Luster grunted and felt it entering her mind, trying to take control of her. She gritted her teeth, remembering her lessons from Princess Twilight on resisting evil enchantments. “Focus on something that makes you feel positive. Something you hold dear to yourself.” “I will not let myself be controlled by some helmet!” Luster said. “I am the daughter of Starlight and Sunburst! Student of the Princess of Friendship! I am a friend of Gallop, Yelena, and River Song! Those three need my help, and I’m going to rescue them!” Her horn lit up as her will prevailed. The helmet came off her head as she levitated it, then shot it with a beam of magic. It clattered to the ground, red sparks flying off of it. Luster smirked. The enchantment on it had been dispelled, now she could use it to disguise herself without fear. Luster put the now harmless metal back on her head. This made her look just like a Crystal Empire Guard. “Now to save my friends!” she said before turning around. Only to see two real Crystal Empire Guard ponies in front of her. The two mind-controlled guards looked at Luster. One a unicorn like her, the other a muscular Earth Pony. Luster silently hoped that they thought she was one of them. But all her hopes evaporated as soon as they opened their mouths. “Time to save your friends?” one of them repeated. “You’re not a pony of our guard,” the other said. The Earth Pony was on her in an instant, raising her front legs into the air and forcing her to stand up on her back ones. The unicorn stood facing her and removed the helmet from her head. “Huh... not only resisting the mind control spell that Starcutter put on all of those helmets, but able to remove it too? Impressive! It takes powerful skills to be able to pull that off.” “Should we put a magic suppression ring on her and lock her in the cells?” the one holding her asked. “No, we can make her our very first new mind-controlled recruit,” the unicorn levitated the helmet she’d disenchanted back onto the shelf. “She managed to get in here without detection until now. Must know some fancy spells, could be useful. Though by the looks of it, she could use more workouts before she’s able to wear the armor.” He then removed Luster’s breastplate and looked at her flank. “A rising sun, eh? Well, Little Miss Infiltration Pony, you’ll rise up to a high place in our guard as we take over Equestria for King Starcutter. I’m sure you can shine as bright as a sun in our ranks once we give you proper training.” “Should we interrogate her first?” the Earth pony asked. The unicorn shook his head again. “She’ll tell us everything once we put a new helmet on her.” The unicorn was definitely the smarter of these two. Luster struggled against the strong Earth pony holding her, but it was useless. She wasn’t strong enough and possessed no physical skills or knowledge of how to escape hoof grips. She watched from the corner of her eyes as the other pony set the breastplate down, then picked up a new helmet. He slowly levitated it above her head. She grunted, and finally resorted to the one thing she was really good at- magic. She wrapped her golden magic around the helmet, now half of it shined gold, the other half red. Luster tried to push it back at its levitator to strike him in the face. But he managed to stop it, pushing it back at her. For a moment, Luster did her best to keep it from getting closer, but then an idea occurred to her, and she stopped pushing. Instead, she pulled, having the helmet fly at her hard while she ducked. The helmet hit the guard restraining her in the face. “Oh… ow!” he exclaimed. Luster seized the opportunity to free herself, pulling out of her captor’s hooves. She then aimed her horn at the unicorn and shot the same dispelling enchantment at his helmet. The unicorn stopped the spell he had been preparing to fire at her as he regained control of himself. “What’s going on?” he asked. Before Luster could tell him, the Earth pony guard pounced on her. His eyes glowed red in anger. “What the- what are you doing to that unicorn?” the freed guard asked. “He’s being controlled by that helmet!” Luster shouted as she was pinned down, grunting as she felt the weight of the pony on top of her. The other unicorn hesitated, apparently not remembering everything that had happened. For a moment, Luster feared he might not act quickly enough, and she would be overpowered. The Earth pony drew a magic suppressing ring from his pocket and was about to put it on her horn. If she lost her magic, she would also lose her only chance of saving her friends. But as the unicorn saw the red glow in his comrades' eyes, he finally understood. He pulled the Earth pony off her and removed his helmet from his head. The Earth pony gaped as he too looked around in confusion. “What’s happening?” he asked. Luster looked at the two of them. This could be her chance to save her friends. She picked up the helmet that she had unenchanted and put it back on her head. “Um… miss, Only guards are allowed to use our helmets,” the Earth pony said. “I don’t recognize you… are you a new member?” “No, but-” “What’s going on here?” Two new guards had appeared in the doorway to the armory. They must have been attracted by all the noise. Luster cringed and, thinking quickly, picked up the Earth pony’s helmet. “Just a little… uh… situation,” she said, trying to put on a fake bad guy face. “This imbecile here tripped and dropped his helmet! We’ll put it back on now!” “Excuse me?” the Earth pony said. “Shut up!” Luster shouted, slapping the Earth Pony. “Ow! What are you-” “Hmm. Fine. Carry on.” The two new guards left. Luster let out a sigh of relief. “Sorry, I had to fool them! Every guard in the Crystal Empire has been put under some kind of mind control spell that’s on the helmets,” she said to the guard. “It’s true, you were pinning her down,” the unicorn said. “Your eyes were glowing red.” “Oh, boy. We gotta do something. How can we help you, Miss?” “My friends are in the Crystal Dungeons,” Luster explained. “I could use a hoof getting them out.” Luster removed the enchantment from the Earth pony’s helmet, allowing both guards to lead her down to the dungeons beneath the castle. She looked just like one of them. The red glow only appeared occasionally on the helmets, so it wouldn’t be too noticeable hopefully. The dungeons were cavernous, but fortunately, her friends were in the first cell she saw when she entered. River Song sat at the very front of the crowd stuck behind bars along with Gallop. Luster couldn’t see Yelena, though. As Luster approached the cell, River’s eyes widened in recognition. “Luster!” the Kirin exclaimed in joy. This caused Luster to cringe, as yet another pair of mind-controlled guards looked at her. They stood in front of River Song, watching her carefully. Luster noticed that all the unicorns had magic suppressing rings on their horns. But River Song’s horn wasn’t shaped the same way, so they couldn’t fit a ring on it. For a moment, Luster feared that River had given her away. “This mare a friend of yours, Kirin? She the one you journey here to visit? Too bad, she’s one of us.” Both River and Gallop looked at Luster wide-eyed. Luster cleared her throat. “I’ll be happy to watch over my friend here!” she said. “You guys go take a break.” They saluted her and walked off. Luster then stepped up to the bars. “I’m gonna get you creatures out of here,” she whispered. River and Gallop both let out breaths of relief as they realized Luster was not under mind control. River grinned widely. “I knew you would come to save us!” the Kirin said. “Where’s Yelena?” Luster asked. “Chained up in the back of the cell,” Gallop said. “We need to free her. Can’t leave without her.” The unicorn guard accompanying Luster passed a set of keys through the bars. “Free your friend quietly.” Gallop took the keys in his mouth and moved to the back of the cell. Meanwhile, River Song began to whisper to the fellow prisoners. “We’re going to be freed. Help is here!” This caused the ponies and other creatures inside to look at Luster and her new companions hopefully. They began to chatter excitedly. “Get us out of here!” “Yeah!” “Yeah!” The sudden commotion drew the attention of other guards in the dungeons. They were led by a black pony with a white mane and gold eyes that seemed to pierce Luster like a knife. “What’s going on? These prisoners sound rather joyful!” Luster grit her teeth. There was no end to this! The prisoners became silent as they realized their excitement had possibly exposed the impending escape. Luster hoped that maybe she could talk her way out of this like she had the last couple times, but her luck had finally run out. “You’re not a member of the Crystal Empire’s guards! You’re not wearing a breastplate! You don’t have the physique required for females to wear one well, and I know the face of every mare that’s joined. We don’t have any pink ones!” the unicorn who noticed the prisoners being joyful said. He used his magic to take hold of her helmet and remove it from her head. She let out a gasp of surprise. “This helmet isn’t enchanted anymore,” he said looking at it. “Looks like somepony is very skilled with magic.” “As always, you don’t miss a detail, Sharp Eye,” the unicorn guard who’d accompanied Luster said. The one who’d seen through Luster’s act, Sharp Eye, smirked. “Seems you’re free as well, Street Smart and Hard Hunk.” “I can free you too!” Luster said, hoping that maybe adding at least one more to her numbers might make a difference. Another golden blast shot from her horn with great accuracy. But Sharp Eye didn’t even dodge it. Luster’s spell hit his helmet, but no red light shone off it as it did so. Sharp Eye grinned before firing a black beam of his own at her. This pony was not mind controlled like the others! This pony was in on Starcutter’s plan of his own free will! Luster nearly got struck by the dark beam. She had never seen a unicorn that used black magic before, but Street Smart put up a shield of blue light in front of her. “Get your friends and get out of here!” he said. “We’ll hold them off!” Luster nodded, she turned to River Song. “Get the rings off the unicorns!” The Kirin nodded, activating the magic she hadn’t been able to call upon for fear of being harmed. But now, they had a chance. She began to remove the rings from the unicorn’s horns, and one by one, they did the same with the others. “Out of the way, ponies!” a familiar voice yelled. The ponies in the cell scurried off to the side as Yelena came charging forward. The yak rammed the bars of the cell. Her strength was enough to break them down. “Yelena... SMASH!” Yelena said. With the door down, the raw numbers of the prisoners proved too much for the handful of guards in the dungeons. They needed reinforcements. “Sound the alarm!” Sharp Eye ordered. One of the few mind-controlled guards left ran to a panel on the wall and pressed his hoof to it. A loud ring filled the dungeons. Soon more soldiers rushed into the room. The unicorns and River Song fired spells from their horns, but the Royal Guard was much better trained for combat than they were. The guards quickly began to take down the escaped prisoners and blocked their attacks. “We need somepony with a lot more magic power!” Luster said as she deflected a spell aimed at River Song. “We need Princess Flurry Heart!” Street Smart said. “She’s up there!” Luster looked up and saw a cage suspended high above the ground with a single pony inside. Surrounding herself in a golden aura, she flew up and saw it was indeed Princess Flurry Heart. The alicorn’s wings were tied to her back, a gag in her mouth, and a magic suppressing ring on her horn. The rightful ruler of the Crystal Empire tried to speak through her gag. “Hold on,” Luster said before using her magic to remove the gag on her mentor’s niece. “What are you trying to--” “Look out!” Flurry shouted. A mind-controlled Pegasus grabbed onto Luster, the contact broke her concentration, and her flying spell stopped working. She instinctively kicked at the Pegasus, which caused him to lose his grip on her. With a yell, she fell toward the ground. “Luster!” Gallop shouted in concern and leaped up at her, extending his forelegs, and catching her before she could hit the floor. “Phew, thanks Gallop!” Luster said. “No problem,” he said as he set her back on her hooves. “Thanks for coming to rescue me and the others. I didn’t really know if you were going to-” “Less talking, more smashing!” Yelena said as she wrestled with several Earth Ponies. Looking around, Luster saw that the guards had nearly managed to put all the prisoners back in their cells. They wouldn’t last much loner. They needed to escape somehow and fast. Luster looked back up at the caged Flurry Heart. Once again, she flew up there and looked at the Princess. “Please get this ring off my horn! I need to help!” Flurry said. Luster nodded. Using her magic once again, she removed the ring on the princess’s horn. Flurry removed the ropes on her wings and then fired a beam that split the bars of her cage. Its floor plummeted to the ground, Flurry spread her wings and flew through the dungeons, firing spells at her own guards. “I don’t know what Starcutter did to make you all turn on me! But I will see him answer for this treason!” Flurry said. The naturally born alicorn’s power was formidable, but her guards were too many. She managed to take down many of them but was soon hit by Sharp Eye and fell to the floor. Luster landed in front of the princess. Her friends came up beside her as she put up a shield around them. “We need to get out of here!” Luster said. “No! I can’t abandon my kingdom!” Flurry said as she got back up. “Princess, there's no time! Yaks know when time is to fight, now is not!’ Yelena said. “Yaks regroup and fight another day!" “If we don’t get word to Princess Twilight, the entirety of Equestria could fall! Fast!” Gallop said. Street Smart approached with a few ponies that he’d managed to prevent from getting recaptured. “Go, get to your Aunt, Princess! We’ll hold them off!” He and Hard Hunk both charged at Sharp Eye and the remaining guards. Luster looked at the ponies that they’d be leaving behind, but they had no choice. They had to get to Princess Twilight and tell her what was going on. She looked at Flurry Heart, who teared up. “I just started ruling this kingdom, but I’ll be back!” the alicorn shouted as she lit up her horn and teleported with Luster, her friends, and the handful of lucky escaped prisoners straight to Canterlot. Gallop, River Song, and Yelena all sighed in relief. “Yay! We’re free! We’re safe!” River leaped for joy. “Yelena glad to not be in dungeon anymore.” “Glad we’re out of there!” Gallop said, before looking around. “Wait… where’s Georgia?” Luster gasped. “She’s still back in the Empire!” … The sun set on the Crystal Empire as Grogar stood in front of the doors to the palace with Star Cutter and Sharp Eye by his side. He was wrapped in his blue cloak to prevent anyone from recognizing him. It was doubtful that would happen, of course, seeing as there were no wanted posters out of him and everypony assumed he was still in banishment, but best not to take chances. Grogar held the Ruby of Reign in front of the gathered crowd, whose eyes now all glowed red. He had his army of ponies ready. The first phase of his plan was complete. “Princess Flurry got away, your Excellency,” Sharp Eye said. “It is of no concern, I have the army, what’s one alicorn against that?” Grogar asked. “Soon, I shall have my full power back, and then no pony can stop me.” Neither of them noticed the shadow of a black griffon flying away in the distance. Georgia started flying once the ponies in the empire gathered. She’d already flown out of the city limit. Before continuing, she looked back, thinking her friends were still there. “I’ll be back for you, my friends! I’ll just head to Canterlot like Luster told me, and get Princess Twilight’s help!” Georgia whispered. Since Luster hadn’t gotten back with their friends as planned, the griffon assumed she’d been captured as well. Now she could only fly to Canterlot for help.