It wasn’t much different on the inside at first. The coldness took a while to drop as the group traversed further in and close to the empire. Greenery began to pop up randomly, but it wasn’t as frequent as it should’ve been. Nebula looked around at everything and realized things seemed to be freezing more, therefore killing off the grass and flowers attempting to grow.
“There’s something wrong here,” Nebula mumbled as Cacophony glanced at her before following her friend’s gaze.
“Yea, I agree. Winter is encroaching onto the Crystal Empire despite the barrier,” Cacophony pointed out. “The Crystal Ponies must be so confused.”
They reached the empire in about thirty minutes, caught in the silence of the streets. There were no merchants selling, no children playing, it was as barren as a desert.
“Where is everyone?” Reinette asked as she poked at a stall. “There is absolutely no one here.”
“They’ve either gone into hiding or taken prisoner,” Jet responded, also prodding a stall further down the path. “These are collecting dust, see?” He showed his claws off with said dust.
“Or they could be dead,” Cacophony said, making all turn toward her with shocked and disgusted faces. “What? Things can get bad!”
“I don’t think anyone could kill anyone…” Nebula started strongly but trailed off as she turned her attention to the Crystal Palace. It felt odd to her, her natural magic picking up on the taint of darkness but also on her family members inside. “I can sense my aunt and uncle.”
“And Flurry Heart?” Jet asked a bit hesitantly.
“Kind of,” Nebula mumbled, not wanting to think the worse. But the looks on the others’ faces said what she was feeling inside.
“Look, let’s just keep heading in. We got this far,” Reinette pushed forward as the others trailed behind her, leaving Nebula standing alone for a moment.
Cacophony turned to her friend. “Nebby?”
“Sorry, I’m just… having trouble at the moment,” Nebula trotted to catch up to the group. “I’m sure everything will be fine. I’m sure of it.”
But her voice wavered as worry ate at her thoughts. Cacophony wisely kept her own thoughts to herself.
There were no guards as the group entered the palace without preamble or a hint of trouble. They all seemed to pile closer together, most of them feeling a sense of dread but unsure of where it was stemming from.
“Well, well, well. It’s about time you showed up!” A familiar broke out cheerfully as doors flung open to the throne room. Magic was cackling around the large room as Flurry Heart sat at the throne her mother normally chose. Flurry Heart looked excited and was shimmering with her power. “I’ve been waiting for you, Nebula!”
Nebula found herself forcibly drawn forward by foreign energy, magic that she barely recognized as her cousin’s. It wrapped like a second skin around her fur, sinking in deeply as she was brought front and center.
“Flu… Flurry Heart,” Nebula began weakly. “Is everything alright?”
“Oh, it’s never been better!”
“Where is everyone?” Reinette attempted to ask only to find the other five caught in a bubble. Their lips moved but their words couldn’t pierce through.
“Let’s not let the interlopers intercede here. I’ve been wanting to talk to you alone for a long while now,” Flurry Heart’s smile widened, her teeth baring a little. Her opal eyes flashed as she waved a forelimb at her younger cousin. “But family always gets in the way. Your parents are so protective of you, it’s just hilarious really!”
“Parents are supposed to be protective,” Nebula said with a pointed tone. “I mean, what about your parents?”
“My parents? They wanted the perfect daughter, just like the rest of the empire,” Flurry Heart beamed. “Your parents, however, got you.”
Flurry Heart stood up, stretching. “You, the spawn of a monster.”
Nebula flinched, pulling back with surprise. “You don’t really think that.”
“Oh, come on. It’s what everyone else thinks, Nebby! The great and fearsome King Sombra, one of the greatest threats to the Crystal Empire…”
“Which means,” Flurry Heart hovered over her cousin, her smile slipping. “That also makes you a great threat.” Her eye flicked to her right haunch. “So, what happened there, little cousin? Magical outburst?”
“How did you know?”
“I’m a powerful alicorn, I can recognize great power when I see it. Power that is useless, that is. I don’t understand why it was you that was graced with that but if you don’t mind…”
Magic wrapped around Nebula again, seeping into her furry frame as her cutie mark once more felt hot and turned into a burning sensation.
“Stop! Flurry Heart, stop it, please!” Her body wanted to crumble under the pressure of foreign magic mixed with her cousin’s, invasive and draining. Her horn lit up as she aimed at her cousin and struck out, startling the alicorn princess.
“You think that’ll affect me?” Flurry Heart grumbled, increasing her magic. “Come on, just give it up!”
A body came forward, hitting Flurry Heart at the side and knocking her down the stairs. Cacophony was panting from exertion, barely having managed to etch her way out of the bubble.
“Nebula, run!” Cacophony gasped, falling to her limbs.
Nebula pedaled back but hesitated. That was enough for Flurry Heart to turn toward her with a blast.
Nebula opened her eyes only to see Cacophony once more attempting to protect her. She had taken the blast front on, now bleeding from her head and face from the magical assault.
“Cacophony!” Nebula cried out.
“Run, you fool,” Cacophony collapsed in a pile, caught in her wealth of pain. Nebula felt rage erupt as she turned to Flurry Heart.
“This isn’t you! The Flurry Heart I know would never attack another!”
“Then you don’t know me as well as you thought you did! Just like everyone else,” Flurry Heart shouted back, magic powering up. “I need to get rid of all threats and that means you!”
“Flurry Heart! I am not a..”
She jumped out of the next magical burst, attempting to talk her way to Flurry Heart but she realized swiftly that her cousin was in no state to listen.
“This magic,” Nebula powered up herself, using it to pull Cacophony back into the bubble with her other friends. “Isn’t yours!”
Flurry Heart began to laugh at that. “Please! Like that magic you have is yours as well,” She sneered. “Now either you let me take you out or I take out your friends!”
Nebula and Flurry Heart’s magic matched but Nebula found herself overpowered within moments, her body aching just having to repel enough so she wasn’t too maimed. Deep down, she knew that this was a threat but even further, she knew that this wasn’t Flurry Heart. This was someone else talking. Something that had been hidden, buried in Flurry Heart and brought forward from something that Nebula didn’t understand.
Well, she didn’t understand then but in time, she would learn. For now, she decided that retreating was the best option, but she couldn’t leave her friends. She moved into the bubble, finding it strong enough to repel another incoming attack from Flurry Heart. It gave her enough time to use her magic for teleportation, hoping that it was just enough to get them out of the Crystal Empire. Away from being targeted by Flurry Heart.
She and the others disappeared in a flash as Flurry Heart sat back on the throne, unperturbed by the chain of events. She was aiming to put Nebula in her place and she thought to herself that she did a fantastic job of that.
Though there was a teeny, tiny spot of guilt buried in her heart. ‘She’s family. She loves me.’
Flurry Heart rolled her eyes and settled in back, stretching out her wings. “Love isn’t enough to be perfect. And she must be the epitome of perfection.”