//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Princess Luna in the Crystal Empire // by arglefumph //------------------------------// As Twilight and the others went to bed, Luna went outside to see if she could get information from the crystal ponies. At this late hour, there were only two ponies out on the streets, but neither of them were any help. In fact, judging from their responses, they were depressed amnesiacs. Luna flew off by herself and tested her magic skills. Her powers were weakened in this area, without her sister Celestia around to serve as a compliment to her powers. If worst came to worst, she could probably hold King Sombra off for a while, but she would need Celestia there to destroy him completely. Luna pondered what sort of strange magic was keeping King Sombra alive. She suspected that he somehow tied his life force to the Crystal Empire, which was why the Empire disappeared after his defeat. But how was that possible? What artifact did he bind himself to, in order to cheat death? Luna shook her head. That last question sounded ridiculous; clearly, she had been reading too much of the Harry Trotter series. The task ahead was relatively simple. Twilight needed to find the Crystal Empire's defense system, then activate it. Sombra had disabled this system, and most likely protected it with traps of some kind. But if Twilight could find a way to get past them and reactivate the defense system, Sombra would be destroyed, permanently. As it is, Sombra is little more than a shadow of a memory, Luna thought, remembering her encounter with the monster in the clouds. He is simply hanging on to the edges of the Empire's strong magic. Cut him off from here, and he will never bother anypony again. Luna had surprisingly little trouble sleeping the next day. Unlike most ponies, she was used to sleeping in bright sunlight. But the downside to being nocturnal, as you may have guessed, was that Luna had a tendency to miss out on important events, like the Royal Wedding or the Grand Galloping Gala. "Good afternoon, everypony," Luna said, walking into the throne room hours after lunchtime. "How are things?" The only ponies in the throne room were Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. Cadance looked even more exhausted than before, and she could barely spend any effort acknowledging Luna's presence. "Not well, I see," Luna said, approaching the throne. "Cadance, have you not slept since yesterday?" Cadance shook her head sadly. "But what of your husband?" Luna asked, looking at Shining Armor. "I thought he could cast the protective spell over the empire." "I can't do magic with these crystal shards in my horn," Shining Armor said. "But since the crystal ponies are all Earth ponies, they don't have any doctors who specialize in curing unicorns." Luna highly doubted that the crystal ponies didn't have doctors who could remove crystals from patients. More likely, Shining Armor hadn't gone to any doctors, because he didn't want to admit that King Sombra gave him hornpes. "You will have to teach me the protection spell once this is over," Luna said. She had never learned protection magic because she never needed to use it; few ponies were foolish enough to directly attack her. "What has been happening with Twilight Sparkle and her friends?" "Twiley figured out how to protect the empire," Shining Armor said, a note of pride in his voice. "All they have to do is put on a traditional crystal fair." Luna felt the urge to facehoof. "A fair?" Luna asked. "You think a fair is going to stop King Sombra?" "A fair will help spread light and love, which is just what this area needs," Shining Armor said. "It will strengthen their magical defenses, allowing the crystal ponies to protect themselves." In a slightly sarcastic tone, Luna asked, "And what if Cadance's magic fails before the fair is over? What will you do? Pick up Cadance and throw her at Sombra?" "If that's what it takes to defeat him, then, yeah," Shining Armor said. "But in any case, I don't think it will be long now. Twilight and the others are almost done, see?" Shining Armor gestured to a window. Luna took a few steps towards it and looked out. The fairgrounds were already in place, and the Mane Six (plus Spike) were all together, striking a group pose. Luna strained her ears to hear them. We can save the crystal ponies With their history!!! "...They're singing again," Princess Luna noted. "Hm. Not a bad song, this time. Kind of makes me wish I could sing." "What?" Shining Armor asked. "Everypony can sing." "Not me," Luna said, casually revealing one of the Royal Sisters' best kept secrets. "Every time I try to sing, it's a failure." "We can be the judges of that," Shining Armor said. "Very well," Luna said. "You asked for it." She cleared her throat and began a tune. Moon river, wider than a mile, I'm crossing you in style, Someday... "Ugh!" Shining Armor said, putting his hooves over his ears. "Now I know how you intend to keep King Sombra away from here! You'll sing him to death!" Princess Luna glared at Shining Armor. "We are not amused," she said. From the throne, Princess Cadance spoke for the first time since Luna's entrance. "High," Cadance mumbled. "What?" Luna asked. "The notes are too high," Cadance said, more loudly. "You're cutting off your air circulation. You need to sing deeper and lower." "I do?" Luna asked, surprised. "But that's not the way the other ponies sing." "You have larger lungs than they do," Cadance said. "So you have to sing a bit differently. More like a stallion." "Yeah!" Shining Armor said enthusiastically. "If you two did a duet, it'd be the same song, just with a different...cadence!" Luna and Cadance groaned at the pun. "I think that's my cue to exit," Luna said. "Thank you for your help." "So Applejack is in charge of the food, and Rarity will run the crafts booth," Twilight Sparkle said, rolling up her scroll. "Perfect! That's everything! Pinkie and I will announce the fair from the royal balcony, and--" "Twilight Sparkle!" Princess Luna said, landing on the ground. "I have arrived!" "Oh, even more perfect!" Twilight said. "I was hoping you could help us with something!" "I will do anything you need me to do," Luna said in a majestic tone. "Saving the Crystal Empire is of the utmost importance." Ten minutes later, Princess Luna regretted her words. "I will do anything you need me to do," Luna said in a nasty voice. "Boy, was that a stupid thing to say." Twilight had assigned Luna to run the game booths, based on the fact that Luna enjoyed the spider toss on Nightmare Night. Luna scowled mightily. This was a task that was far, far beneath her. She understood that they did not have enough ponies to run a full-fledged fair, but asking a Princess to watch over a hoop-tossing booth was ridiculous. Fortunately, the Princess of the Night did not have long to wait, before a new assignment came in. "Princess Luna! Rarity!" Applejack cried, running into the area. "What is it, Applejack?" Rarity asked, looking up from her weaving at the booth next to Luna's. "We have, uh, a bit of an emergency on our hooves," Applejack said, checking to make sure no crystal ponies were within earshot. "We don't have the Crystal Heart." "We don't?" Rarity asked, confused. "But didn't Twilight put that on a pedestal beneath the tower?" "No, that was just a replacement she made," Applejack said. "It turns out we need the real one in order to save everypony." "And where is the real Crystal Heart?" Princess Luna asked. "Twilight ran off to get it," Applejack said. "And she came up with new assignments for you two. Rarity, she wants you to stall for as long as possible." "Understood," Rarity nodded. "And Princess, Twilight wants you to leave the hoop toss and do something else," Applejack said. Luna stood up straighter, happy to be able to do something more important than running a game booth. Perhaps Twilight had need of Princess Luna's magic. "What is it she wants?" Luna asked. "Something only you can do," Applejack said confidently. A crystal pony trotted to the area, beneath the tower. "I want to see what the Crystal Heart looks like!" he said enthusiastically. He walked towards the blanket covering the fake heart. "HALT!" Princess Luna said, landing in front of him. "Huh?" the pony asked. "None shall touch the Crystal Heart until the fair has been completed!" Luna shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice. "Now leave it be!" "Y-y-yes, Your Highness!" the pony said, his hooves shaking in fear. None of the crystal ponies dared to come close to the fake Crystal Heart after that.