Chapter 4: Surprising Developments
Polaris sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes, tired after another long day of research. His wooden desk sat in front of him, a random assortment of parchment and books sitting on top of it. The small window above yielded a rather unfriendly view of the Crystal Empire, looking just as dismal and depressing as ever. In the distance Polaris could see the castle, which had begun to fall apart ever since his sister had left…
***
“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Why not? He and I have been friends since we were just foals!”
“I don’t trust him.”
Equina let out a frustrated sigh. “Polaris, he’s the son of one of our mother’s best friends. It’s fine.”
“You don’t think it’s strange then?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The deaths…”
“Oh, here we go again…”
“I’m serious, Equina. Those weren’t natural deaths; even mom thinks so.”
“And just what was so unnatural about them?”
“Well, our father’s is a good example. He died in his sleep, remember?”
“So?”
“Nopony his age just dies like that.”
Equina bit her lip. “Well, yeah, I guess that is a bit odd…but that doesn’t prove anything.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Polaris agreed. “But it still doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t want you to go to the castle.”
“I’m going,” Equina responded. “It’ll be fine. There’s nothing to worry about.”
***
Despite their argument, Equina had gone to the castle anyway. What happened after that, he never found out, although that was the last time he ever saw his sister. He had tried many times to get into the castle and see her, but it was too heavily guarded, and he had suspected that even his mother wouldn’t have been allowed entry, and she had been Queen Platinum’s best friend since the three tribes were still around. Of course, there was no way to know for sure, not after…
He glanced at a small painting of his mother on his desk. It had been done years ago, long before any of the six founders had passed away. As he looked back out the window, he noticed that it had begun raining. This was normal now. Ever since his sister had gone and the Empire fell, nopony was around to raise the sun and moon. The weather would fluctuate wildly every day. One moment it could be bright and sunny, the next it could be a torrential downpour. This rain seemed familiar, however…
***
“Polaris? Can I come in?”
“Sure, mom.”
Clover gave her son a concerned look as she walked into the room. “Is something wrong?”
“Equina’s gone to the castle. I tried telling her about…well, you know, but she wouldn’t listen.”
Clover nodded. “Yes, she’s very persistent.”
“But mom, I’m worried. I mean, those deaths…they’re just not normal.”
Clover hugged her son. “I know they’re not, but why do you think he was the one who caused them?”
“I…I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I want it to be him, but…there was something else, something I noticed.”
“What was it, sweetie?”
‘Sweetie?’ His mother had never used such a word when talking to him, not even when he was a colt.
“One day, when I was a foal, we were all out having a picnic. He was there, too, obviously, and I looked at him, and…it’s like something was there, right behind his eyes, just waiting. I don’t know what, but I saw it; I know I saw it.”
Clover nodded. “What did you see?”
‘No surprise in her voice or on her face,’ thought Polaris. ‘Did she already know I was aware of it?’ He looked down at the floor. “It was dark…so dark. And so…hateful. It hates everything, even-”
He stopped as he noticed his mother staring at him, a seemingly blank expression on her face, but Polaris knew better. Something was wrong.
“Princess Platinum…his mother…she had a seizure during the pregnancy,” he continued, looking for some sort of obvious response from her. “And…”
“And what?”
“And…mom?”
“Yes?”
“You’re crying.”
“What? Oh…” Clover wiped her eyes. “No, I’m fine. It’s nothing.” Her voice was shaking slightly.
“Mom, what’s wrong? What is it?”
“Nothing! Nothing! I’m alright.”
Polaris looked at her suspiciously.
“No, you’re not. What’s wrong, mom? You can tell me.”
Clover opened her mouth to speak, but stopped suddenly. Her eyes went wide, and she put a hoof to her chest. “It’s happening…” she whispered.
“What’s happening? What is it?” Polaris watched her in a slight state of panic as his mother’s breathing became shallower. She tried to stand up, but collapsed onto the floor, one hoof supporting her. Polaris kneeled down next to her.
“What is it?” His heartbeat increased as a knot of anxiety formed in his stomach. “Mom, what’s happening?”
She was clearly struggling to speak. “P-Polaris,” she said through strained breaths as she turned her head to look at him. “I’m s-sorry…”
“Sorry for what? What’s happening?” he asked her. He put a hoof around her back, leaning down to get closer to her. “Please! Tell me what’s happening! I can help you! I can-” He stopped abruptly as his mother shook her head.
“No,” she said. “There’s nothing…nothing you can do. I…ahhhh!” She cried out as a jolt of pain shot through her. The hoof supporting her gave out, and Polaris caught her before her head hit the floor. He leaned her against the bed.
“It’s…o-okay,” she said. “It’s okay. You-” Her eyes began to close.
“M-mom?” Polaris whispered. His eyes were wet now. “Mom, no…”
As if out of nowhere, it had begun raining, and Polaris sat on the floor, holding his mother as the raindrops pounded on the window. Clover looked at him one last time and gave him a small smile, her body shaking slightly. “You were r-right,” she whispered.
And then she was still. Her eyes were completely closed as Polaris hugged his mother, tears streaming down his face. He stayed there like that all night, and it wouldn’t be until the morning that he would begin making his plans, for now he knew for certain that it couldn’t be anypony else.
King Sombra had destroyed his family, and Polaris vowed to make him pay.
***
Polaris shuddered slightly. That was not a scene he enjoyed remembering, but the rain today was the cause of that. It had been nearly half a year since his mother had passed, and with nopony else around to attend a funeral, he buried her himself, placing her body peacefully in the ground outside the rear of the house. He had been by himself ever since then, trying to think of ways to fix things as the world around him fell apart.
At first, he had been very hopeful. His house was filled with books about all different kinds of spells thanks to his mother. After months of research, however, his hope had begun fading. He hadn’t found anything. There were, of course, no spells to bring the dead back to life; no spells to magically ‘fix’ everything. It had occurred to him at some point to try time travel, but he hadn’t found any books on the subject, which was very strange. He knew they had to be here. His mother had told him about her brilliant mentor, Starswirl the Bearded, and the advancements in magic he had made, including time travel. She had never said what he used it for, or if he used it at all, but he knew that there had to be at least one book in the house somewhere that spoke about it.
Polaris stood up and walked over to his mirror. His black mane and tail were a disheveled mess. There were small bags under his dark green eyes from all the lack of sleep. His normally brown coat was becoming more and more pale. Even his horn was looking a little discolored. He sighed as he stared down at his cutie mark, or at least where it would be if he had one. He was a grown stallion, and he hadn’t gotten it yet. His sister had gotten hers at a very young age, however, and it was his mother who had coined the term.
He missed his sister very much as well, and it angered him that he wasn’t allowed in the castle just to visit her. She was very dear to him, even though he was younger than her. He had always felt a need to protect her. After all, she was the only one of her kind, with both a horn and a pair of wings.
***
“Look, Polaris, look! I got my cutie mark!”
“A what?”
“A cutie mark! That’s what mommy calls it.”
“Oh, wow! What is it?”
Equina unfolded her wings to show him. “It looks like the sun and moon! I can move them, y’know.”
“No, you can’t. That’s the unicorns’ job!”
Equina giggled. “Not anymore! Now I can do it! It’s my special talent!”
“Wow…” Polaris said. “I wonder what my special talent will be.”
***
Ponies had come from all over the Empire to see the filly who could control the sun and moon. Until then, there had only been earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi, but not anymore. It had been Octan who had come up with the name for this new type of pony. Alicorn. Everypony had liked it, including Polaris.
He had never been jealous of his sister, either. Jealousy was a very pointless emotion to him. Why focus on what others can do when you can focus on making yourself better? He had always been very happy for his sister, but now, as an adult, he wished he had at least gotten his cutie mark. He had tried many different things, but despite how good he was at magic, nothing had ever really seemed to work.
Polaris turned away from the mirror and began walking over to the door. It was late in the afternoon, and he hadn’t eaten anything yet. He opened the door and jumped back in surprise. A pony was standing outside in the hallway, his hoof in the air. It looked like he had been just about to knock. The pony lowered his hoof as Polaris stammered out the only questions he could think of.
“Wh-who are you? How did you get in?”
The pony gave him a small smile. “My name is Starswirl the Bearded.”
Polaris just stared at him. “What?”
“My name is Starswirl.”
Polaris blinked and then reached out a hoof.
“What are you doing?”
“You…you’re not real. You can’t be.”
“Put your hoof down, boy! Of course I’m real!”
Polaris dropped his hoof to the ground and shook his head. “No…no, you don’t understand. Nopony but me lives in the Crystal Empire…and my sister, maybe. I don’t know.” He looked up at Starswirl. “And you’re dead. My mother told me you died years ago, before Equestria was even founded.”
Starswirl looked at him for a moment. “And where is Clover? For that matter, where is everypony?”
‘He knows my mother’s name. Is he actually telling the truth?’
“I don’t know. She died about six months ago, and everypony else just…disappeared.”
“Disappeared? What does that mean?”
“They’re just…not here. Look, I don’t really care about that right now. How do you know my mother’s name?”
“Because I am her teacher, Starswirl the Bearded.”
“And I’m telling you that you can’t be. She told me you died.”
“And did she perhaps mention that I experimented with time travel?”
“Yes, but…oh. Oh! Oh, you…”
“And there it is. Do you understand now?”
“Where…when are you from?”
Starswirl looked up for a moment, no doubt pondering whether it would be safe to tell him or not. “I’ve been on my journey for a few weeks now.”
“Why are you here?” he asked.
“Well…to be honest, I’m not entirely sure. This looks like the right Crystal Empire, but something about it isn’t quite right. There should be more…” he stopped talking suddenly. “Did you say that Clover died?”
Polaris looked down again. “Yes. She had a heart attack.”
Starswirl shook his head. “No, that’s not possible.”
“It’s true. King Sombra killed her.”
“King Sombra?”
“You know who he is?”
Starswirl nodded. “And I’m afraid I must leave it at that. I’ve already interfered very much with the events of this place. Telling the wrong pony the wrong thing at the wrong time can have serious consequences.”
“So then what are you doing here?”
“As I said, I don’t-” he stopped short as he noticed the desk on the far side of the room.
“What’s this? You’ve been researching something. I can tell from the state of your study area.”
“I’ve been trying to figure out…I don’t even know. Something. Some way to…fix all of this. The Empire fell apart when I lost my family, and I made a promise to fix it.”
“Yes, this is certainly a problem. It’s not the same as either of the two other versions I’ve seen, though this one is closer.”
“Two versions of what? What are you talking about?”
“Err…never mind. Have you found anything that may be useful?”
Polaris sighed. “No. I’ve thought of everything; even time travel, but I can’t find any books about it.”
“Clover spoke to you about time travel?”
“She only told me that you invented the spells for it. I know she has the books somewhere, but she never told me where they were.”
Starswirl looked around the room. He then walked over to the desk and looked out the window.
“Yes…” he said as he nodded. “Yes, I think we may have no choice.”
“No choice for what?”
“I really don’t want to do this, but we have to.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I need you to concentrate.”
“Concentrate on what?”
“Close your eyes and focus. Think back; back to the day your sister left, the exact moment if you can. Keep that memory in your mind and don’t lose it, or we’ll be done for.”
“What are you doing?!” asked Polaris as he felt Starswirl grab his hoof.
“Focus now. Don’t stop remembering, even for a second. Concentrate.”
A breeze began to blow around them, even though the window was closed. Parchment flew around the room haphazardly. The wind picked up, blowing even faster now. Polaris could barely hear Starswirl yell something to him as he kept focusing on the moment his sister left the house. It had been an average day. Bright, sunny, nothing out of the ordinary. They had been in the living room.
“NO!” he heard Starswirl yell. “A third pony point of view! We don’t want to land in the middle of your house!”
Polaris instead focused on the yard behind the house. Same day, same event, but a different place. He concentrated as hard as he could. The wind was whistling now. He felt like he was floating. Higher and higher, faster and faster. He heard Starswirl’s horn fire off some sort of magic.
It stopped. Polaris squinted as he opened his eyes. The bright sun shined down onto the grass he was lying in. Starswirl was next to him, legs outstretched, breathing heavily. Polaris stood up.
“What…” he said as he looked around. “Where are we? What did you do?” He helped Starswirl up.
“We’ve traveled in time,” he replied. It has now been about…half a minute…since your sister…left for the castle…assuming of course…you were focusing…correctly.”
“You…you brought us back in time?” asked Polaris. Unlike Starswirl, he wasn’t out of breath. “Why?”
“Because I have to know…what happened. The Crystal Empire I saw…the ponies were…gahh…I can’t tell you. We need…to get to the castle…quickly!”
“Why?”
Starswirl just stared at him. “Are you absolutely sure you’re Clover’s son? Your sister is on her way to the castle, and you said that this is the day your mother died. So let’s get to the castle to see what happened.”
Polaris gave him a look. “Alright, I see. But she’s already gone. How are we going to get there before her?”
“We’ll have to teleport. Come on.” Starswirl stuck his hoof out. “I really shouldn’t do this. Teleporting two with one spell isn’t as bad as time traveling like that, but it’s still draining, especially for somepony my age.”
“Why didn’t we just time travel to a few minutes before Equina left?”
“Can you remember what happened a few minutes before she left?”
Polaris thought for a moment. “Oh, well…not really, no.”
“That’s why. Now, with me. Let’s do this quickly.”
“Wait.”
“Oh, what is it now?”
“I never asked you…how did you know where to find me?”
Starswirl looked down at the ground. “I can cast a spell to search for life signs, and…”
“And what?”
“Well, it has a limit, but it can cover the whole Empire, you know.”
“So?”
“When I casted the spell…it only found one life form.”
“Yes, me. I’m…oh.”
His sister. The spell hadn’t found his sister.
“M-maybe she got away. Maybe-” He stopped as he noticed Starswirl shaking his head.
“No, that’s not it.”
“Then what? She died? She died inside the castle while the rest of the world fell apart? Is that it?”
“I…I can’t tell you.”
Polaris stamped a hoof on the ground. “What do you mean you can’t tell me?! That’s my sister!”
“I’m sorry, but you don’t know who I am yet, and there are certain things you shouldn’t know this early.”
“You told me your name was Starswirl.”
“Not my name, boy, me! You don’t yet know who I am or why I’m important to you!” He snorted. “I’ve already told you more than I should have. Now come on. We’re running out of time.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me exactly who you are.”
“And I’ve already said you can’t know that yet! Just…trust me.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“Because I’m currently your only solution. You wanted a way to fix this mess? I can help.”
Polaris stared at him for a few moments before deciding that he was right. “Fine.”
He grabbed his hoof as Starswirl looked up at the castle towering high in the sky.
“One, two, three.”
There was a brief moment of weightlessness, and then Polaris felt his hooves touch the floor of the castle. He looked around. They were standing in the entrance hall.
“Do you know an invisibility spell?” asked Starswirl.
“Yes.”
“Do it. I’ve used a lot of magic in the past few minutes, and I’m getting tired.”
Polaris performed the spell, removing both ponies from sight.
“Where do we go?” he asked.
“I’ve no idea. Why was your sister coming to the castle?”
Polaris remembered now and uttered the pony’s name through gritted teeth. “Sombra…” It hadn’t occurred to him until now just what he could do. He was here, right inside the castle. He could end it before it even began. His teeth were clenched in anger. He wanted to find this pony. He could very easily find this pony, the pony that was responsible for the deaths of his friends and family, the one who took his sister away from him.
“I know what you’re thinking,” said Starswirl. “But you can’t.”
“Oh, but I can,” replied Polaris, his breathing now slightly heavier. “I can very easily. I could kill him right now, and then he’ll never get the chance to take my family from me. He’s already gotten my father and the other founders. It stops there.”
“Polaris, you can’t do that. It’s not part of the established timeline. We are here only to observe. I could have easily done this without you. I brought you along out of courtesy.”
“Courtesy? You needed me to land at the right time.”
“Not necessarily. I could have chosen a random point before this event and waited. You told me everything I needed to look for, after all.”
“So then what are we going to do after we’re done observing? How are we going to fix this?”
“I’m still working on that. Now, where is…ah!”
Equina had just walked into the castle.
“Follow her,” Starswirl whispered to Polaris.
Quietly, the two ponies walked behind Equina as she made her way up the steps at the rear of the entrance hall and turned right. There was a hallway in the front and more stairs to the right leading above the entrance hall. She went up these as well. They were now on the second floor, walking in the direction of the front doors. There was a balcony overlooking the ground below with a table and chairs set up. A pony was sitting on one side of the table. His mane and tail were black, his coat gray.
“There he is…” said Polaris with a growl.
“Don’t,” replied Starswirl.
Equina walked over to the table and sat down, smiling at Sombra. On the table were a few sandwiches and some water. Sombra poured two glasses for them.
“That water…it looks funny,” said Polaris.
“Yes, it’s got a slightly pink tint to it,” Starswirl agreed.
“I wonder…”
Polaris began to recall all the research he had done, including books he had found on potions. He glanced up, noticing that Equina was now resting her hoof on Sombra’s. She took a sip of the water.
“Don’t!” yelled Polaris.
“Shut up, you idiot!” hissed Starswirl.
Equina and Sombra both looked at the spot where the ponies were standing. Polaris removed his invisibility spell and ran over to the balcony.
“What did you put in the water?!” he yelled at Sombra.
“Polaris, what are you doing here?” asked Equina. “Get away from him! We’re just eating!”
“Look at the water, sis! It’s pink. Why is it pink?”
“It’s just for flavoring, right? Right?” she looked at Sombra now. “Sombra?”
Sombra sighed. His eyes were closed. “This was going to be so simple. All I wanted was your love, Equina.”
His eyes flashed green as he opened them. He picked up Polaris with his magic and threw him onto the floor.
“And I’m going to have it.”
“No!” yelled Polaris.
“If you interfere, I will see to it that everypony in this Empire suffers!”
“I don’t care! That’s my sister!”
Sombra gave him a dark look.
“So be it. And you!” He cast a spell at Starswirl, removing his invisibility. “Don’t try anything.”
Sombra began powering up his horn. The tip glowed red as it grew brighter and brighter. Soon his whole horn was engulfed in a red aura.
“Hmmm, I think half the population should do. What do you think?”
“No!” yelled Equina.
It was too late. Sombra fired off the spell.
It rocketed out in all directions, spreading across the Empire.
“You lunatic! What have you done?!” yelled Polaris.
“Quiet, or it’ll be the other half next.”
Polaris closed his mouth as a realization hit him. His mother. She might still be alive. He turned to Starswirl. “We have to go,” he said.
“You two aren’t going anywhere. Especially you,” Sombra said, casting a glance at Starswirl, who was now almost right next to Polaris. “If you move again, you’re next.”
“Don’t you do anything to them.” Equina had stood up now, her horn glowing bright.
“I don’t think so, my dear,” said Sombra. Quickly, he grabbed a cup of water, and fired a spell at Equina, paralyzing her. “Drink up.”
He forced the liquid into her mouth and down her throat.
“What was that? What did you just give her?”
“Oh, it’s just a simple potion I cooked up, intended to make both drinkers fall in love with each other.” He released the spell.
“Now, my dear Equina, how are you feeling?”
Equina looked up at him, her eyes glazed over. She opened her mouth to speak. “I…I love you…King Sombra.”
“NO!” screamed Polaris. He lunged at Sombra but was thrown back, landing right in front of Starswirl.
“I warned you what would happen if you interfered again. I guess you got lucky the first time, but now you won’t be. Prepare to die.”
“Equina!” yelled Polaris. “Equina, please!”
“Stop yelling, boy. She doesn’t care! Now, let’s see…”
He began charging up the same spell again.
“You just had to open your mouth, didn’t you?” said Starswirl quietly.
The spell fired off, once again spreading in all directions. Sombra glanced over at the two ponies.
“What?! How are you still alive?”
At that moment, Equina threw herself at Sombra. While he had been charging his spell, she had grabbed a second glass of water and now had him pinned, holding his mouth open, her black mane blowing wildly in the wind.
“Whatever you put in that potion…” she said with a fire in her dark blue eyes. “You’d better hope it isn’t deadly.”
With that, she forced the drink down his throat and sat back on the floor, her pupils dilated.
“It’s time to go,” said Starswirl.
The wind picked up as he grabbed hold of Polaris. With a sickening lurch, the two ponies were thrown forward, landing face down on the ground, in the backyard of Polaris’s home.
“Wh…where are we now?”
Starswirl looked around. “The better question…is when are we?”
Polaris now began looking around as well. This was not a Crystal Empire he was familiar with. All around there were dark crystals growing out of the ground. Small fires raged uncontrolled in the streets. The tower castle, once shining and bright, was now dark and sinister. All around were ponies wearing shackles, and at the center of the Empire was a giant wheel going all around the castle. Ponies were in chains, attached to the wheel, turning it. As Polaris and Starswirl ran out into the street, Polaris looked underneath the tower and cast a spell to enhance his vision. The Crystal Heart was missing.
? ? ?
“Psst! Hey! Wake up!”
The pony tiredly rolled over on his side and slowly opened his eyes. In the darkness of the room, he could see a white pegasus with a yellow mane standing next to his bed.
“Wha…” he said as he sat up, rubbing his eyes. He turned to look at her. “Oh my God. Who are you? What are you doing in…hang on.” He looked around the bedroom. “Where am I?”
“My name is Surprise!” she said. “And right now you’re inside a house.”
“Inside a…oh, very funny. Where exactly is the house?” As he began to wake up more, he was able to fully realize just what was going on. There was a talking pony standing next to his bed. He was inside a room he had never been in before, and…he moved the bed sheets…he was a pony as well.
“How…how am I…how are you…what is going on here?”
“I can explain later, but right now we need to-”
“Look at this! I’ve got wings! I’m a pegasus! I…I…who am I?”
Surprise looked at him with some concern. “She never said it would be this bad.”
“Who said what? How am I here…wherever this place even is? How am I a pony? I’m not supposed to be a pony! I’m supposed to be a human!” He stood up now and ran over to the open window in a panic.
“Hey, hey, hey! Stop! I’m supposed to bring you to-”
“The only place I want to go is back home.”
Surprise frowned. “Well, you are home…sort of.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s…well…I can’t explain it. But just trust me, there’s somepony who wants to meet you, and I’m supposed to bring you to her.”
“Can she fix this?”
“Absolutely!” Surprise said with a smile. “Don’t worry! She’ll explain everything once we get there.”
“You know…you remind me of some…pony. Heh, that’s a little strange to say. I’m not really used to it.”
“Really? Who?”
“Do you know a mare by the name of Pinkie Pie?”
Surprise gasped. “You know Pinkie Pie?”
“Well, not really. I just know who she is, that’s all.”
Surprise nodded. “I bet. Anyway, we should leave. My friend is expecting us.”
“Wait, you still haven’t told me where I am.”
“Well, follow me, and you’ll find out!” Surprise said with a smile. She walked over to the bedroom door and opened it. There was a hallway outside.
The pony sighed. “Alright. Things can’t get much weirder, I guess. Where are we going?”
“Downstairs.”
“Down…alright then.”
Surprise led the pony out of the bedroom. The hallway had other doors in it, no doubt leading to other bedrooms, except for the one all the way at the end.
“This is the staircase,” Surprise said as they approached it.
“This…is this a hotel?” the pony asked. The staircase certainly made it seem that way.
“Um…kind of. It’s…you’ll find out.”
She led him down the stairs and through the door at the bottom, but there wasn’t a hallway on the other side of this door. It opened into a giant room, and the pony guessed it was the only room that comprised the first floor. It looked almost like a giant office. There were a hand-(hoof?)-ful of ponies all sitting at desks covered in paper and other office supplies. At the back of the room was a giant blank chalkboard.
The pony was now more confused than ever. He turned to Surprise.
“Please,” he said. “I don’t know who you are, who I am, where I am, or what this place is. What’s going on?”
“I’ll take it from here, Surprise.” A new voice now came from their left. The pony turned, and his eyes widened in shock, for he knew who this pony was…probably.
Standing in front of him was a white alicorn with blue eyes and a chestnut brown mane and tail. At first he couldn’t believe it, but upon seeing her cutie mark, a quill, he knew it couldn’t be anypony else.
“Hello,” she said. “My name is Lauren Faust.”