Twilight being Twilight, it didn't take her long to find out about a local holiday that might lift the crystal pony's miserable morales. She and the girls were determined to host a perfect 'Crystal Faire', whatever that was. Tempo stepped in Twilight's way as she darted about. "May I also help?"
"Tempo, hi! Yeah, of course. But I'm in kind of a rush here." She sidestepped Tempo, continuing on. "I think I know what can help these ponies, and we're going to bring the party to them."
Tempo glanced back towards the others. "What does this party entail?"
"Party," chirped in Pinkie with a nod. "Yup! It's got lots of parts, and Twilight has the list." She bounced along, determined to do her own little part of things. "But we also need snacks."
Twilight led Tempo further until she stopped and twirled around. "We're missing one thing, and I haven't found it yet."
Tempo's ears raised at that. "Please tell me. Maybe another set of ears would help."
Twilight's horn glowed, forming an image of a crystalline heart above her head. "I need to fashion one of these, quickly, and we have so many other things to do, can you assist?"
"Gladly." Tempo looked around and her magic cut into some out-of-the-way crystal with precision. Her body favored precision when it was an option, slicing out the heart she had seen fairly exactly and swinging it around to show, oh. Twilight had already fled off to her next task. She shook her head, tucking the heart under her left arm and trotting off awkwardly to bring it to Cadance instead.
Cadance reclined against Shining Armor. The two of them had found a quiet place to relax and recharge, together. "I really shouldn't be lying around, but I do need to recover."
"That is why I have arrived." Tempo set the heart aside for the moment and advanced to touch horns with Shining, then Cadance, taking the spell from her in the contact to take her turn holding it up for the city. "Why don't you let me do it? I don't get tired the same way. It would be easier if you left the spell with me."
Cadance groaned faintly, shaking her head. "That's tempting, but we can't. I appreciate that you're here to help, but we're responsible for the safety of this city. This is our job." She nuzzled against Shining as he likewise nuzzled back. "I'm glad you're here, Tempo, but you're not the princess."
Tempo huffed gently at the rejection. "I may not be the princess auntie assigned to this job, but you both told me I am a princess. Were you deceiving me?"
Cadance waved a hoof weakly. "Of course not, but this is my city and my people, specifically. I have to take responsibility." She closed her eyes as her ears pinned. "I hate not being able to do my job, but I'm so weak."
"Cadance, it's alright." Shining nudged her gently. "Neither of us are at our best." His expression turned to a smile. "But we do have backup. Tempo, if you feel tired, remember you have a lovely stallion that'd gladly take a turn."
Tempo's face bloomed with warmth as her tail fluffed up. "I do have a husband that seems intent on spoiling me."
Cadance raised a brow as she half-smiled. "And you love him for it. Thank you, both of you, for standing strong at our side. Now, why did you bring that crystal here?"
Tempo looked over her shoulder at the crystal. "Ah, right. Twilight wanted to make this heart crystal, and she had to dash off to do something else."
Cadance nodded slowly, head falling back. "You'd best catch up with her then."
Tempo willed the heart over and marched off with it bobbing beside her. "Twilight?" She looked left and right, hoping to catch sight of the studious unicorn wherever she happened to be hiding. "Twilight Sparkle?"
The palace was bustling. Crystal ponies were busy preparing the castle for the upcoming Crystal Faire that the guests were hosting, and that in and of itself was an event. Tempo struggled to weave through the crowd of ponies, bumping and jostling with every step, the crystal heart hanging to her right side, making the journey even more interesting at times.
She broke free out of the doors of the castle and spotted Rainbow Dash flying overhead, setting up decorations and flags, though she had to fly back for more again and again.
Tempo glanced around for some sign of Twilight. A nearby stall caught her eye. It was run by a female pegasus with a teal coat and blue mane, selling crystal apple-flavored treats to any hungry customers. She decided she needed to see this, if only for curiosity's sake. She made her way over and sat before the booth with the heart settling in at her side.
The pegasus noticed it before she noticed Tempo. "That's a pretty heart." She only then looked at Tempo. "Hello! Still setting up, but nice to see you. Already tempted by my crystal apples?" She lifted the food over with a wing, offering one to her customer.
Tempo leaned in to sniff at the crystal treat. "A crystal apple, really? I must know what that is like." She leaned in and touched the end of her snout to an apple for just a moment, but it was enough that she got a full taste as if a normal pony had actually bit into it. "Delicious."
The pegasus blinked with surprise. "But you didn't actually taste it." But she smirked at that. "Or pay for it."
Tempo reasoned through that. She hadn't taken the apple. Did she owe bits for touching it? She fished one out and slid it across the counter of the stall. "Thank you." She grabbed the crystal and floated it along, going to continue her hunt for Twilight.
The pegasus nodded at the offered coin. "You're welcome." She tilted her head as she watched the odd alicorn and the crystal float off. "She reminds me of Princess Cadance." It only hit her a moment later. "I am being slow today. Bye, Princess Tempo!"
Tempo spotted a flash of Twilight and accelerated to see her and the girls having a meeting, discussing something. Tempo couldn't hear them, but they waved her over. She floated the crystal with her. "I have the heart crystal."
"Great!" Twilight nodded with satisfaction. "With that, we have all the supplies we need." She clapped her hooves with a pleased smile. "You've all done great. This will be a crystal faire for them all to remember!"
Tempo glanced at the heart crystal, and then the rest of the supplies that had been collected. "But what is a 'faire'?"
"A faire is a place to have fun," explained Twilight. "A place and a time, like a holiday. This one celebrates many of the great parts of the Crystal Empire." She waved Tempo over to look at the book they'd been consulting about it. "See? We'll have all kinds of games and contests for everypony to enjoy, and that'll lift their spirits. Well, that and the sweets."
Tempo leaned over to peer at the text. She gave the heart to Twilight and took up the book in her magic to flip through it carefully, analyzing it with an intensity. "I see. I see, hmm, yes." She nodded along as she worked until she got to the end, where she frowned. "Twilight?"
"Yes, Tempo?" Twilight blinked as Tempo turned the book back to the page with the celebration. "What's up?"
"The last page." Tempo waved at the book. "It's missing. I cannot read what isn't there. My studies are incomplete and, I admit, that bothers me." Leaving a task completed at 95%? It was too maddeningly close.
Twilight peeked at the book herself. "I didn't notice that before, but I don't remember reading it either. It must have been lost or torn out."
Tempo glanced at the crystal heart as she levitated it back. "Are you sure it is ready?"
Twilight accepted it back. "Ready as it'll be without the last page, anyway."
Tempo folded her arms, considering the book and that heart. She was so close to completion, but it was denied to her. She noticed movement and looked up just in time for Rainbow Dash to swoop in on them.
"Yo, guys, I just heard from a crystal pony that they're supposed to power a 'crystal heart'" She noticed the crystal heart floating next to Twilight. "Like that, yeah. Some crystal heart. Sombra was keeping it deep in the castle. Good job finding it, wow. Already ahead of me?"
Tempo felt something stir. "Excuse me." She stood and strode purposefully into the castle, down into the depths, listening, sniffing, tasting the air with her tongue, using every sense and every part of her body to search for a secret path or door or something, because her instincts screamed that there was a 5% gap, and she could not rest until it was filled.
"Tempo!"
The alicorn was too focused on her task to immediately acknowledge the other pony. Twilight rushed up to her side. "I know you want to help, but if Sombra hid this, you don't have the key." She hugged her sister-in-law gently. "Let's do this together. I have the girls playing distraction outside for now."
Tempo calmed her mind with a series of deliberate breaths. She noted Twilight's presence and touched a hoof to hers. "Forgive my enthusiasm, I feel that something important is right before me, and I could not rest if I did not seek to solve that problem."
Twilight put a hoof to her own chest. "I'm right with you. I want to find the real crystal heart just as much, I promise. Now, Sombra uses shadow magic. Celestia showed me how to do that." Her horn glimmered with dark notes as she threw the dark magic across the floor, revealing a spiraling staircase into the depths.
Spike whistled at the sight, shaking his head. "We have to go down there?" He plopped his tail down to the ground. "I just knew it would be scary and gross. But I'll do it for Twilight. And the crystal ponies."
"I'm going to lead the way, okay?" Twilight started down, horn glowing with light into the gloomy depths.
Tempo could feel that answer approaching, and felt pleased, not scared, as she descended the stairs behind Twilight and Spike. She lit her own horn to help illuminate the way. They reached the bottom after a short while, and there was nothing but a large door, one with a glowing purple lock.
Tempo peered at the door. "There are magical defenses on it. Can you undo them?" She leaned in and carefully examined the intricate locks. "They are quite complex."
Tempo advanced. "I can try." She fired a thin line of magic into the lock, which just triggered it, plunging her into a nightmare.
Tempo took a half-step back in surprise as reality shifted around her. Cadance stood before her, glaring at her with a burning hatred. "You've really messed up, this time," she spoke with dripping hatred. "I thought I could count on you." Her voice dripped with acid as she loomed closer. "But you were not the pony I hoped for."
"Cadance?" She was not blind to the animosity in the princess, but she could not understand it. What had she done? "Please, explain. I will try my best to address my shortcomings."
"I can't trust you." Cadance recoiled as if struck. "You are a failure to me. Your very existence is an insult to my brother."
Tempo gasped softly, retreating back another step, which only prompted Cadance to advance on her with increasing hostility.
Tempo felt a sting as tears ran down her face. Her accursed metal form didn't like making them, but they were coming, and she felt rust rapidly marring what had been perfect copies of Cadance's cheeks as her vision grew blurry with the build up.
"You're not even trying to justify yourself." Cadance loomed ever closer. "You should be ashamed of yourself! You've turned on us."
Tempo shook her head, denying the claim. "No! I only wanted to be a good sister, and your protector!"
Twilight shook Tempo firmly, rousing her from the forced nightmare. "Are you alright? You're crying."
Tempo rubbed at her eyes. "Nightmare, fake, but Cadance was cruel." She rubbed at her cheeks, wincing as her hoof came away with more rust staining it. Golems were not built to cry, but she did. What cruel creator had fashioned her with such obvious failings?
Spike scrambled up on top of Tempo and reached around, rubbing her gently with a rag to help clean her off. "It's okay. Twilight figured out how to open the door."
Twilight pointed up to the crystal. "We can go pass. Are you alright to continue? You don't have to come."
Tempo gasped with shock. "I failed!" Her horn glowed with intense power as she put the bubble back up that had come down in her moment of terror. "There." She put a hoof to her chest, though she had no lungs to heave in fright. "I'm sorry, Cadance. This is not my best day. I would continue. I must make it up to her."
Twilight touched hooves. "We can talk later, alright? Come on." She urged them along through the door and out onto a flight of stairs that went right back upwards in a seemingly infinite procession. "Ugh, this looks impossible." She grumbled her frustration, trotting a few steps up, looking back to the others. "Well, come on."
Tempo glanced down at the darkness beneath her hooves and ascended behind Twilight, Spike still on her back. She did not normally play mount to anything, but his presence was oddly comforting at the time, so she allowed it with the faintest smile.
Tempo climbed. It was monotonous, and tedious, and taxing, and she was not alone in that feeling as Twilight let her frustration out in a series of frustrated grumbles.
Spike slumped his shoulders. Though he wasn't climbing himself, he joined in the complaints. "Twilight, do you have a spell to hurry this up?"
"A spell?" Twilight considered this a moment. "Yes, I think, actually." Her horn glowed with the arcane letters as she grabbed gravity and casually reversed it. She fell to the roof of the stairs and began sliding up/downwards towards the top of the staircase with a cheering woop at the suddenly rapid progress she was making.
Tempo quickly copied her with her own horn, falling to the roof of the stairwell and sliding up with Twilight. "Wee! This is actually a lot of fun, thank you." She giggled at the sudden excitement as she slid up the stairs with an eager hoof waving. "Wow, I have never done this before."
They both raced along up the stairs. Spike was holding onto Tempo for dear life as the world spun around him.
Both spellcasters cancelled that spell as they flew up into a new space. Gravity righted itself and they came down on their hooves in a new room, and a wobbling Spike atop Tempo. There, just ahead of them, the crystal heart sat, just waiting for them to come claim it.