“Empress Rarity!” cried a voice both familiar and welcomed.
Turning fully, Rarity smiled at the frantic, featureless form as it galloped towards her, but her smile soon vanished when she realized the Crystal Heart wasn’t slowing down.
“I missed you too darling but, we don’t… What are you d—” Rarity was cut off with an “oomph” as the Crystal Heart tackled her as only a mental projection of the quasi-sentient emotional engine of an entire country could, and the two ponies went down in a flurry of hooves, grumbles, and giggles.
“Thank the Maker!” cheered the avatar with a squeak as it inadvertently pinned the Empress to the damp stone ground with its bear hug. “I am so happy to see you!”
“As am I, but could you jus—”
“I mean, I thought it was going to end in disaster with the return of the Great Corrupter Sombra, the Tragic Betrayer.”
“It was clo—”
“But then Princess Luna found me a— Oh! Rarity Belle, Princess Luna is here! In your mind!”
“I know, I saw her too,” said Rarity with a false chuckle as she struggled to get out of the Crystal Heart’s vice-like grip. “Darling, could you maybe—”
“Yes?” asked the Crystal Heart with a stark grin and a tilt of its head.
“Get off me?”
The Crystal Heart clambered off of her mechanically, after which Rarity sagged to the ground.
“Apologies,” said the avatar as it regained some of its composure. “I’m a bit of a happy heart at the moment. To say that it has been an emotional roller toaster would be an understatement.”
“Coaster,” said Rarity as she stood up. “Roller coaster.”
“No thanks, I’ve had enough excitement for today.”
“...It’s fine.” Rarity released a world-weary sigh, then used the Crystal Heart’s smooth reflective coat as a mirror to adjust her mane. “I've had quite the adventure today, too. For instance, did you know that our third core there wasn’t a Windigo core? That was Sombra’s core the entire time!”
The Crystal Heart nodded its head. “Mmhmm, I know.”
“Yes, and… wait.” Rarity stopped curling her coiffure mid coif and looked the Crystal Heart square in the eye. “You know? What exactly do you mean by that?”
“I mean I knew it was King Sombra,” said the Crystal Heart, staring back at Rarity like a goldfish.
“For how long?”
With the crisp clinking of crystal, the avatar brought its hoof to its chin in contemplation. “Maybe a few decades?”
Rarity said nothing at first, opting instead to simply stare intensely at the Crystal Heart, as if willing it to explode into many tiny, absentminded pieces instead of a great big lummoxy one. “And you neglected to tell me this sooner… why?
“I thought you knew,” said the Heart with a blink. “I mean, Windigos don’t even have cores. Oh, and because King Sombra wouldn’t let me tell you.”
“Oh my stars, you poor thing,” said Rarity as gave a comforting pat on the Crystal Heart’s shoulder. “What did he do to you?”
“Mmm? Oh, nothing,” replied the Crystal Heart as it stared at her. “He just told me not to tell you.”
Rarity dropped her hoof and shot daggers back at the other pony. “And you listened to him?! Just like that?!”
“Well, he did say please… eventually. Okay, so he didn’t say please, but I knew he meant to say that. Probably. Also I—”
Rarity held up a hoof to silence the Crystal Heart before she did something everypony trapped in her head along with her would regret. Instead, she opted to move the conversation along. “My whole being trapped in here. My forgetting of myself. It was his doing, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” replied the Crystal Heart. “He freed himself during your outburst at that awful ambassador and channelled the energy back into your cores until the feedback knocked you out. I tried to stop him, but—”
“But he said please?” asked Rarity, hoping she was wrong.
“Well, he didn’t say please, per se, but I could tell he meant it,” said the Crystal Heart with a nod.
“Lovely,” said Rarity as she stared daggers at the magical being that shared her mind. “Say, could you do something for me darling?”
Again, the Crystal Heart nodded.
“The next time Sombra ‘says please,’” growled Rarity through her air quotes gesture, “would you kindly tell him to go fu—”
The Crystal Heart moved to interrupt, but was stopped when a knock occurred from behind. Rarity turned around, and found herself puzzled at the unexpected appearance of a door. Puzzled, but pleased nonetheless. After all, it wasn’t like her to ‘lose her cool’ as it were. Whomever had knocked on her new cave door just saved her a modicum of face.
Rarity took a deep breath to cool her boiling blood before calling out “Who is it?” in her best sing-song voice.
“Uh…” came the flat response.
The door, wrapped in soft blue light, swung open into the stone chamber, allowing the grim gray lighting of the sky above to pour into their small stoney space.
“Applejack? What ar—”
“Y'all done in here?” asked Applejack as she came trotting in out of the pouring rain.
Each hoof fall was accompanied by a sour squish of sorts. Rarity looked down, her thin smile growing thinner, as she watched with some annoyance as Applejack managed to track in a field’s worth of mud. A set of monogrammed towels appeared next to the sopping wet farmpony as Rarity set about doing a fair bit of mopping. Applejack flashed a quizzical eyebrow as the towel wiped away a dirty splotch on her cheek.
“Really?” asked Applejack.
“Really,” answered Rarity.
Applejack took a moment to look around the room, before letting out a sigh. “It’s a cave.”
“It’s my cave,” Rarity shot back, putting a bit more magical elbow grease than was necessary into the action.
Applejack nodded, conceding the point to Rarity. “So I—”
Rarity interrupted her with a series of tutting noises. “Not yet. I’m not done.”
A silent moment passed. And another. Then a third started, but was punctuated by some sort of far off explosion.
“Rarity!” shouted Applejack, taking the towel in hoof and holding it to the stone floor.
Blue magic tugged at it a couple of times before it went limp and Rarity sighed in mock defeat.
“All done? Sombra and Luna are dukin’ it out on the surface.”
The Crystal Heart looked over at the Empress and smiled. “I like this pony.”
Rarity shot the avatar a glare before addressing her old friend. “Applejack, thank you for all of your help,” she said while giving the slightly muddy mental construct a hug.
“Good luck, Rares. I know ya can do it.” Applejack replied with a squeeze of her own. “Guess I don’t have a lotta time left here, so uh… you know. Don’t work too hard. Take care’a yerself. And ya know… Maybe cut back on the drinkin’?”
Rarity pulled back with a pout. Applejack answered back with a motherly scowl and a raised eyebrow.
Their silent standoff continued for another moment before Rarity generously acquiesced with a put-upon sigh. “Oh, very well. Starting next week.”
Applejack said nothing, but her eyebrow arched just a bit higher.
“Tomorrow?” Rarity begged.
Next came a squint on Applejack’s part.
The last of Rarity’s resistance broke and she gave a little stomp. “Oh, alright fine. I’ll cut back.”
Applejack relaxed her stance and smiled as the color began to seep out of her coat. “Good on ya, Rarity. Remember, the truth will put more hurt on that ol’ Sombra than any fancy talk.”
Rarity nodded with a trembling lip, and Applejack tipped her hat one last time as she faded out of existence, leaving her alone with the Crystal Heart.
A far off blast shook the stone floor of their small cavern. “You two were… close?” asked the Heart.
“She was...” Rarity paused to take a gulp of air, struggling to contain her feelings as she looked at the spot where the construct had stood. It was like losing her all over again, except Rainbow Dash wasn’t here to go insane with grief. “She was a very dear friend.”
“I’m sorry,” said the Heart in an approximation of sympathy. “When she passed away, I—” There was a sudden flash of golden light in its eyes and its head jerked towards the surface. “Princess Luna requires our assistance,” stated the Heart bluntly.
Rarity smiled sadly at the Crystal Heart’s avatar. It was a construct of a much grander scale of magic than she could otherwise access on her own. Enough magic to grant Rarity functional immortality. Whoever or whatever made the Heart created it to facilitate both defense and the emotions of love, peace, and joy to all of crystal pony kind. It was kind, generous and, often, surprisingly gentle.
But it was in no way whatsoever subtle, and conversations with it were usually unfocused affairs.
Rarity rolled her neck this way and that while fixing her mane with a burst of magic. “Where are they?”
The wooden door that appeared with Applejack opened once more out into the rain. The Heart walked through the opening, still focusing its eyes off to some unseen point. Rarity trotted after it.
From out here, in the awful mud and dreary rain, Rarity could tell that they were back on the island. Above them, the same old storm raged. The wind howled and pushed against the island, snapping many trees as if they were nothing. Lightning flashed in the sky, accompanied a hoofful of heartbeats later by the deafening boom of thunder.
“We need to stop this!” yelled Rarity over the wind. The Crystal Heart nodded in agreement as heavy drops of rain plinked off of its featureless muzzle.
“You know, Guardian of the North,” started the Crystal Heart, on a more somber note than Rarity was expecting. “When I was in that cage, it was a strange sensation. Numbing. Dark. Alone.”
Rarity reached out a hoof and waggled it towards herself. “Mmhmm, numbing. I’m absolutely frigid out here in this ghastly rain.”
The avatar cocked its head for a moment before returning to center and continuing. “No. Not like this. It was terrible.” The avatar’s voice cracked and strained as it remembered what was almost both its, and the Crystal Empire’s end. “When the Windigos tried to—”
A warm golden glow to its right stopped the avatar’s train of thought, and the sight of Rarity, gilded as the sun, brought a smile to its face.
“But it wasn’t the end,” said a shimmering Rarity as she reached out a golden hoof to tap the avatar on the chest. “And neither is this.” Immediately, that golden glow was shared between the two of them, and in the blink of an eye the two became one and disappeared.
* * *
Rarity was falling. She recalled for a brief moment when she had first entered this grand pact with the Crystal Heart. She was falling then too. Even then, as it was now, the fall was exhilarating.
She couldn’t help but giggle at the feeling.
A broad grin was plastered across her face from ear to ear as her free fall continued, unabated by cloud or rain. She was beginning to understand why some ponies like Rainbow Dash had devoted their lives, in some way or another, to flying. There was a sort of freedom in losing control.
Rarity experienced a rush of endorphins that prickled up and down from her cheeks to the tip of her tail. She did a little spin, or at least she tried to, though she couldn’t help but feel a tinge of jealousy to those that could naturally do this with their wings and their aerodynamics.
Her armor shone with the golden power of the Crystal Heart, it having merged into her once more. It was a strange sensation, almost like feeling each movement twice. It was one that she didn’t realize she missed until it was back. Together, moving as one, sharing the same body, they were easily the brightest light in this dingy sky.
She caught a glimpse of the island below between the clouds and the frenzied wind that batted against her angled visor. It looked better, lusher even, as her golden light spilled through the clouds and dazzled the once sodden surface. Beyond the island, in all directions, was a calming sea. It was a long way from serene, but whatever changes were taking place, whatever influence she had here, it was for the better.
Indeed, everything looked on the mend. Except for the raging tempest at the center of the island. It still held the cancer of the rust colored, cracked earth.
Rarity felt the pull of the Crystal Heart’s attention towards the cankerous center, and she angled herself towards it. It was there she needed to be. She manipulated her armor, creating a rudimentary sort of wing as she did. Opening a flap here, closing another there. Pulling her hooves to her barrel to streamline her profile to better glide to her target.
The clouds swirling about her lashed out with smokey gray tendrils, but she smashed through them with ease. Ice formed beneath her hooves as she streaked forward, forming a sled of sorts.
She continued to cut into the angry cloud, and felt her sled jerk as some unexpected thickness smashed into the underside. It fought back, but only for a moment did it slow her down. Eventually she broke through the cloud layer, and the whole of her mental island was bathed in golden light.
And pinned to the underside of her icey sled was one very angry King Sombra.
The King roared and fired blast after magical blast into the Empress, but each shot bounced harmlessly off of her.
With a wry smirk, Rarity afforded him her attention. “You have no power here.”
“What are you?!” he roared, his eyes shrinking to pinpricks.
“A seamstress,” said Rarity as the sled continued its rapid descent. “I am the Element of Generosity, I am the Heart of the Crystal Empire, the Guardian of the North, and rightful monarch to the Crystal Throne.”
Sombra looked over his shoulder at the ground a mere dozen or so feet below, before looking back up at the glowing immortal that had him pinned to the bottom of her icey conveyance. Then, with assured finality, she stated, “I am your Empress.”
Rarity slammed him into the ground, in the center of the runed circle that was the gateway to her cores. The ice sled under her shattered completely on the impact, but she didn’t move. She didn’t flinch. And neither had she allowed Sombra to wriggle out of her grasp, as he was still pinned under her hooves.
Sombra let out a broken groan as he looked up at the armored figure standing above him, radiating with power and glory.
“You’ve failed, Sombra,” said Rarity. “You are no King. Not anymore. You are nothing.”
Sombra chuckled the best he could with Rarity’s hooves pinning his chest down. “You think me easily beaten?” he asked as inky smoke began to pour out of fissures and cracks that formed in his skin. “You think you are safe from me?”
The former King tried to let out another string of laughs, but it soon turned into a fit of coughing as the smoke that had started to coil around Rarity’s neck was suddenly siphoned just over her shoulder.
She heard the sound of wings flapping and glanced behind her, to the left. There, Luna landed daintily and blinked away her slitted irises. The smokey tendrils pooled harmlessly around her hooves and she offered Rarity a slight nod.
“My power is absolute,” said Rarity, returning her gaze to the broken stallion beneath her hooves.
“Bah,” Sombra spat back, “my will is dominion. Go ahead and do it, seamstress,” he snarled at her. “Kill me, and I’ll just come back stronger, better, more powerful. I’m ready.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow at his bold statement. Part of her wanted to grant his request. He’d been a stain on her country’s history long enough; surely the bonds of Tartarus could keep him from plaguing the world again. But there was that note of confidence in his voice that she knew she should not overlook.
“You may have been a part of me, but I am no monster. Death will not be your reward today. I have a different fate in mind for you.”
The runes beneath Sombra pulsed with magic before flaring to life with a thrum of energy. In an instant, the three of them disappeared.
* * *
And reappeared back inside Rarity’s Core chamber. Sombra could tell from the look on his glowing foe’s face, that she could feel two of the three cores’ power just beyond them, straining away at their arcane bindings. He was dismayed to see that they were in such harmony. He was enraged with jealousy at the power of the two cores fighting against his own.
Power that was almost his.
A gasp from Princess Luna tore his attention away from the three cores to above and behind him. Still on his back beneath the unshakable hooves of the one who would take away all he had strived for, he looked back in time to see a golden sash snake its way towards him. It and a eleven others wormed their way out of a glowing doorway.
Curiously, he pondered the origin of this doorway. He’d spent many a decade locked away in this place, and he’d never seen it before. The only door into this place that he was aware of was the one that once contained hi—
“No. NO! I will not be held, Empress!” he half begged her.
But Rarity held fast. He could see the determination in her eyes, and he knew that this battle was lost to him.
“Not by you, not by her, not by anyone!” he sputtered on with threats he knew to be empty. His magic was long spent, and anything he had left would be soaked up by that wretched Princess.
Still he tried, all the same. Tendrils of smoke lurched from the shadows and thumped exhaustedly into the stone floor before they arched up and lashed out towards the insufferable mare who had bested him.
As he expected, they never even reached her.
“The power in this place is mine,” said Rarity as magic swirled around her. Loudly, and with some fanfare, the tendrils popped and sizzled into glittery nothingness. “I am, and forever will be, in control here.”
He roared back as defiantly as he could, but he found that he was a little hoarse, what with all the day’s shouting and villainous laughter.
The golden sash wrapped around his flailing left forehoof, and the warmth of it burned away at his darkness. It was terrible, the emotions it kindled within him. Generosity. Hope. Joy. He hated all of them.
His struggle against the golden fabric that entangled him was fruitless, and his evil heart sank as it pulled him towards the glowing doorway beyond the core chamber.
As it dragged him, he watched as the metal shards of lock and chain that once held the door in place began to assemble around him.
Sombra knew that his new prison was being rebuilt.
“No place can hold me, Rarity! No power can keep me from what is rightfully mine!”
Rarity said nothing. She said nothing, and his loss was somehow the worse for it. Her horn flared brightly again and the magic bonds replied in kind, dragging the former King further into the dark depths.
Sombra watched as his hated adversaries grew farther and farther away. He watched as the door began to knit itself back together. He watched as the last century of planning and healing crumbled into dust, along with the future that would never be.
“Rarity!?” he called out to her. The magic sash that gripped him and kept him stuck to the ground tightened, but the door’s repair faltered but just for a moment.
He could barely make her out through the healing material of the glowing door, but he knew she would hear him out.
“Your enemies hide in plain sight, Rarity. Watch the Southern borders.”
He watched her fluster and frown before turning her attention from the door and looking at him through the closing cracks. He watched her slump in frustration, but she looked to him with what he thought was piqued interest, though she masked it in a voice of annoyance. “Anything else?”
He smiled a wicked smile and nodded. “Burn the dead.”
And then the door fused shut.
* * *
“That should keep him in there,” said Luna as she walked up next to Rarity, nodding to the obsidian lock on the otherwise golden door. A door that was also covered in what must have been miles of bolt and chain.
“That lock is sealed by a spell that only myself and my sister know; he will not break free again.”
“Fantastic,” replied Rarity flatly. “I need a drink.”
Luna frowned and looked over at the rather grumpy Crystal Empress who shared her gaze for a brief moment. A moment filled with warring emotions that flashed across Rarity’s face.
“I think you’ve been drinking too much, Rarity,” said Luna. “To imbibe so frequently, ‘tis not good for you.”
“Oh, ’tis it not?” spat Rarity as she circled on the formerly missing monarch. “I can grow new livers any time I want. But do you know what doesn’t grow back?” she asked, willing away her armor and trotting up to within a hair's breadth from Luna’s muzzle. “What really hurts to be without?”
“Rarity, I care abou—”
“Why are you here, Luna?” asked Rarity angrily as her golden glow began to fade.
The magic in Rarity’s three cores pulsed as one and all the repaired rune lines glowed a fiery red. Some voices, as distant as they were urgent, called out to each other. Luna knew them to be the voices of Dr. Groans, Commander Onyx, and other ponies watching over the sleeping form of their Empress.
Rarity stumbled forward suddenly, and the Crystal Heart’s avatar stepped out of her, like a pony stepping out of a pair of pants, though its hoof remained stuck to the Empress for another moment before they separated fully.
The Crystal Heart stood up and, silently, nodded to Luna before trotting over to its own core and pretending to tinker with it.
A distant clicking sound echoed throughout the stone chamber, to which the runes in the room all flashed at once before calming down. Luna watched as the cracks in one of the nearby pillars instantly mended themselves.
She didn’t have much time. “I came to help you,” said Luna. “I am the Keeper of Dreams, after all. You were in danger, and I was wor—”
“Help? I don’t remember needing your help,” accused Rarity as she dismissed Luna’s offered hoof to stand up again. “After all these years. All these long years... What made you think that I needed the help of somepony who just up and abandons her responsibilities?”
Clearly, Rarity was in a bad mood, and Luna couldn’t help but grin at Rarity’s indignant pouting. “Well, there was that one time with the owlbear.”
“One owlbear? There were dozens!”
“There were three of them.”
“Alright, there were three of them, but the manticore caught me off guard!” snapped Rarity. “And you. You were nowhere to be… What are you laughing about?!”
Luna stifled her snickering and smiled as a wave of nostalgia washed over her. She stared thoughtfully at her hooves, choosing to say nothing as Rarity broke the silence between them with a soft mutter.
“I thought… I thought you were trapped in some Tartarus forsaken place, or… or worse. Do you have any idea what that did to me? What it’s done to Twilight and Cadence?”
Luna’s smile fell from her face, and she cleared her throat before answering the charge leveled against her. “Rarity, you are dear to me,” she said, locking eyes with the unicorn. I’m sorry that so much time has passed without a word from me. Truly, I am. But as for why I’m here, I can honestly say that I came to help you. Not to harm you, or—”
“Melt half of me into a puddle?”
Luna fought against the cruel up turn that her trembling lip threatened to take. “Did she really do that?”
Rarity nodded. “She did, I… Are you laughing?”
“Mmm,” said Luna, composing herself as best she could. “No. N-not at all. 'Twould be a terrible thing for a friend to do.”
“Ha, ‘friend’. One only needs to live a few centuries to find out how meaningless and self-serving that term is,” said Rarity as she glanced back at Luna before walking past her and over to the dais at the center of her three cores.
“Meaningless?” balked Luna, wondering for a moment if they put the right pony behind the locked door. “I wouldn’t believe that from you for a second. It was your friendship that saved Equestria countless times.”
“No,” replied Rarity with melancholy in her voice.
Luna felt the ground beneath her hooves shift and the cold seep into her coat. The sound of those far off voices sounded louder than before. More urgent. Rarity was still in a fragile state of mind, and the fate of those in the throne room with her sleeping body, as well as the fate of Rarity’s crystal ponies, required a delicate touch.
“It was Twilight’s friendship,” said Rarity. "It was her belief in all of us. It was always Twilight’s brilliant plans that saved Equestria. Everything was Twilight’s.”
Luna walked forward, slowly, approaching her as a pony might approach a cliff face. She smiled broadly before leaning in and resting her chin across the smaller pony’s head, just above the horn. “This is not Twilight’s,” she said softly. “This is yours. And the Crystal Empire is yours.”
Luna pulled away, smiling at the tears that threatened to pool in Rarity’s eyes. “But jealousy? Jealousy was never yours.”
Briefly, imperceptibly, Rarity smiled herself before turning away. “I was never supposed to do this,” she said, stinging bitterness clinging to her words. “I was supposed to open a few stores, enjoy my life, and leave a lasting legacy in the world of fashion. Not… not this. This is alicorn work.”
Luna cocked her head, feeling her flowing ethereal mane mingle with Rarity’s perfect locks. She frowned. “Are you sure? You’ve risen the Empire into a new age. You've expanded its borders, and poverty is almost non-existent in your realm because of your kind and generous heart.”
“We have the highest rising deficit out of every nation for the fifth year in a row,” Rarity bleakly replied. “I’ve bankrupted the Empire twice in as many centuries, we’re unable to defend our borders from Diamond Dog raids, and our schools have fallen behind Equestria’s.”
“So, you’ve hit a few snags, but at least you know what’s wrong, so you can fix it.”
Rarity shrugged the remark away, but Luna could tell she was getting through to her. “Rarity, if this wasn’t to be your fate, then it wouldn’t have come to pass. If you proved to be ill-suited, We would’ve stepped in. But you?” Luna took a step back and looked Rarity in the eyes. “You are doing great; that I honestly believe.”
“But why?” asked Rarity as she stepped forward, resting her head against Luna’s slender neck.
Luna chuckled and nuzzled the unicorn under her wing. “Because that’s what Honorary Big Sisters do.”
They shared a silent moment. Silent except for the Crystal Heart accidentally dropping its core and sheepishly placing it back at the apex of its pedestal.
“Where are you now?” asked Rarity, her breath tickling Luna’s coat.
“Right now? I’m with you.”
Rarity giggled and took a step back. “No, I mean in the waking world. Where are yo—”
The sky above Rarity and Luna cracked and a bright light shone through, along with the familiar beeping of an EKG.
“Luna?!” shouted Rarity, her ears pinned back to the top of her head. “What is this? What’s happening?!”
“You’re waking up, Rarity,” said Luna with a sad smile. “It was good to see you again. I wish we could spend more time together, bu”
“No! Don’t leave so soon!” begged Rarity. “If you can, come visit me! Please, I-I don’t know what I’m doing! I—”
“Until next time, Empress,” said Luna as she spread her wings, the light starting to dissolve everything around the two. “You’ll do good. I know you will, my little pony."
* * *
Warmth was the first thing Rarity noticed as she returned to her body. Next came the sensation of breathing, and then the tingly feeling of her once numb body.
“Doctors! She’s stabilizing!” shouted a voice from somewhere above her. Rarity’s ears twitched in response to the pounding of hooves as they got closer. Medical was called? How long was I ou—
“What’s going on?” demanded a gruff voice. Rarity experimentally twitched her hooves and legs one at a time as the mare that she assumed was the team’s Charge Nurse gave her report.
The Empress tried to open her eyes, but couldn’t make out anything beyond blurred shapes, and opted to leave them shut. She felt something unusual around her muzzle and tried to reach out and brush it off, but a strong hoof stopped her, putting her leg back down.
“We’ll have you up and out in a moment, Your Highness,” said the gruff voice attached to the hoof. “Finish your report, Nurse.”
“We just applied the oxygen, then ran another magic output test, and suddenly everything lit up! We’re having improved readings across the board. I think… I think she’s better.”
Rarity could now identify the thing on her face as some sort of breathing mask, but she didn’t know what the sticky little things stuck all over her body were. Soon enough, she could feel something clamped to her horn and some other things wrapped snuggly around one of her legs.
“Empress! Are you awake? Can you hear me?” called out a new, gentle voice from beside her. “How are you feeling?”
“D-did somepony get the number of that wagon?” muttered Rarity as she felt the aches in her body returning back to her. She heard the ponies around her offer up a light chuckle at her semi-lucid attempt at humor.
Rarity slowly opened her eyes a second time, only to have the blurry blob of Lady Merry Sapphire’s face just inches away from her own. Blurry as she was, the excitement was clear in her seneschal’s eyes.
Rarity stifled a scream with a rather sharp and painful breath.
“Hi!”
“Sapphire, darling,” squeaked the Empress. “We’re definitely going to have a talk about personal space.”
“Personal space? But I—” The smudged form of Merry Sapphire was forcefully yanked away from the Empress, only to be replaced by the vague outline of Commander Onyx.
“Rarity, are you okay? What happened?”
Rarity winced, but whispered all the same. “That’s Empress Rarity, darling. We are in public after all.”
Sheepishly, but in an adorable sort of way, he nodded and mumbled an apology. She patted his hoof and smiled back at him. “I’ll be fine, Onyx,” replied Rarity. “I’ll tell you about… it all, later.”
“It?”
“Yes. It.”
“Alright…” said Onyx as he picked up on her hesitation. “You need to rest. We’ll cancel the rest of the day’s activities, have you taken back up to your room an—”
“Yes, I agree with this,” said Dr Groans, pushing Onyx out of the way. “We need to run tests, and examinations; figure out what happ—”
“You want to do WHAT?” said Onyx as he pushed the doctor back. “No. She’s going to be resting for the rest of the day, not cooped up in some lab!”
“We have to figure out wha—”
“Wait!” Sapphire pushed herself between the two stallions. “We can’t do any of this! We have so much to do! There’s the parade! Important birthday meetings! The party! The Schedule!”
“Buck the schedule,“ snapped Onyx.
“WHAT!” squawked Sapphire.
“Exactly, her health, Commander,” interrupted Groans. “Which is what trained medical professionals are for.”
“Really, Groans? Do we have any of those around?” asked Onyx as he butted his head against Groans’. “Because I can’t seem to find them.”
“Oh, so he’s blind and stupid!”
“I’M GOING TO BREAK OFF YOUR HORN, AND SHOVE IT UP HIS—”
“Enough!” shouted a still weakened Rarity.
Her eye twitched as she watched the ponies in front of her, shamed into silence by her outburst. And yet they still stared daggers at each other like warring foals on the playground. This sort of behavior was highly unlike her ponies. Indeed, she could see some of the medical staff around her bore similar expressions of annoyance and hostility.
What would…? Rarity allowed her train of thought to chug off into the distance as she caught sight of the veritable forest of dark crystals that filled the inside of her throne room.
Of course.
Rarity closed her eyes and reached out with her magic. The first thing she did was flood the room with it, imagining the way it was supposed to look.
A faint rumbling sound emanated around the room, growing stronger until the room itself shook slightly. Rarity heard gasps, which she took as confirmation that her spell was working. The black crystal shards were sinking back into the ground, and by the will of its Empress, the room was fixing itself. Soon, she felt things return to normal as the dark feelings emanating from the crystals dissipated.
The next thing she did was reach out and gently touch every pony in the room, calming them down.
“Now listen,” said Rarity as she opened her eyes again and sat up with the help of the medical team around her. “You’re all right, so we’ll have to reach a compromise. Doctor Groans, I will let you take up to an hour and a half of my time to complete whatever checkups you can to the best of your abilities, and I will personally speak to Princess Twilight Sparkle this evening about obtaining her medical notes on me for you to review. Then we will have a later date set for a full physical.”
Groans gave the Empress a bow and quickly set about directing his medical teams.
“Sapphire, Onyx?” The two ponies stepped in front of Rarity and bowed. Sapphire’s ears were folded back in embarrassment and Onyx stood with the practiced neutral expression of a guard.
“I expect better of you two—”
“Empress, I— we—”
“—but we’ll discuss it later,” said Rarity, cutting off further protest. “There are still things to do today, but I can’t attend all of them, and…”
“And?” asked Sapphire.
“... I might need some help walking.”
“Walking?” asked Onyx, a flash of concern in his eyes.
“Yes, I can’t seem to move my hooves very well,” replied Rarity.
Nearby, Doctor Groans nodded as he scribbled down some instructions for an orderly. “For unicorns, magic expenditure is related to physical exertion. The more magic a unicorn uses, the more exhausted they get.”
Rarity smiled at the explanation and continued. “And I’ve used a great deal of magic today. I need time to restore my magic reserves and gain my strength back. Until then, I need somepony to help me get from place to place. But at the same time, I’m afraid I can’t do anything about the cold I exude. Any suggestions?”
“We could use the Platinum Crown set,” offered Sapphire.
“The Platinum set?” asked Onyx with a frown.
“Oh, good choice. The cape is thick enough that the cold shouldn’t leach through if I have to lean on somepony for help, and besides…” Rarity trailed off as she looked down at the armored greaves of her Crystal Regalia, the set that resembled Sombra’s in so many ways. “I think I’d prefer a change right now.”
“As you wish,” said Onyx with a bow as he stepped away to send a runner for her chosen outfit.
“Sapphire?”
“M-my Lady?”
“I need you to cancel the rest of today’s meetings. Tell them all I’ve had too much fun today, and that I’ll just have to meet with them on another day,” said Rarity as a nurse moved to remove the metal clamp from her horn. “That should work for most of them, but for the persistent, take their concerns and tell them that I will personally address them within the week.”
“Yes, my Lady,” Sapphire said with a bow and left the hall at a quick trot, just as Onyx returned to take her spot at the Empress’ side.
Rarity let out a sigh and looked at Onyx. “Commander.”
“Ma’am, are you sure you’re going to be okay?” he asked as he met her eyes.
Rarity frowned. “No. No I’m not.”
“What would you have me do?” he asked.
“First, just… be here for me. Oh, and remove that dreadful Palace lockdown, would you? This is going to be a party for goodness sake. Let’s get everything back to normal. Second, alcohol. I don't care what it is, just… bring me the bottle.”
* * *
A lone figure, hooded and hurried, galloped through the otherwise empty halls of the locked down Crystal Palace. Anypony left in the halls of the Imperial Palace, whether they be guards or servants, quickly scurried out of his way, as if the very jaws of Tartarus were opening just behind him.
And they were.
Ambassador Blueblood was… Well, he was many things, but right now he was more than a little annoyed as he used his magic to press the ice bag against his horn.
His head was killing him, and although he knew he had a nasty case of frostburn to address, most of the pain that came from that dreadful, couthless, alicorn pretender Rarity cracking his shield as if it was nothing. He knew the Empress was purported to be strong, even rivalling that of the Goddess of Magic herself in some cases. He had prepared for it.
Or at least he thought he did, but Sweet Auntie Celestia, he didn’t prepare for the sheer… raw, uncontrollable power she unleashed. His only solace came in knowing that it was just that. Uncontrollable.
However, he couldn’t have argued against the results of his plan. While he hadn’t hoped to incur the wrath of one of the world’s immortals, it had allowed him to gauge her strength. More importantly, it let him be witness to the continued weakening of the bridge between Twilight and Rarity.
He caught a mare out of the corner of his eye: a tan pegasus with a black mane. Her name was Sandy Gale, or Gale Sands, or some common name like that. She’d caught sight of him and broke into a run to catch up with the fast pace he was setting.
She was one of the last ponies he wanted to talk to today.
“I’d consider today a success,” he said as she caught up with him.
“You really shouldn’t have provoked her like that. Without those lines secure, we'll have no way of halting any cry for help.”
“Oh, shut up, will you?” hissed Blueblood as he turned the corner and started down toward the stables. This blasted palace had too many halls, and he swore vengeance against the simpleton who decided to design the layout like this. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”
“Yes, Mi’Lord,” she said mockingly as she kept close to him. “But still, it would be unwise to further push her wrath.”
“As I already said, I know exactly what I’m doing,” said Blueblood. He kept the anger out of his voice with some effort. Even though she wasn’t quite on the level of pawn as that idiotic Ambassador Emerald Shine, game pieces should never question their Master. A frown crossed his face as he looked over at the thing that he regarded as more of a rook or bishop. “Aren’t you supposed to be a unicorn and not a pegasus?”
The mare huffed in response. A flash of green light later and her wings were gone, replaced with a horn on her head. “Better?”
Blueblood rolled his eyes in response. This was clearly a time of work, not idle play. He’d have to request more diligent minions from the Queen next time.
“You should count your lives that nopony was in the hall to see that,” said Blueblood as they continued. “Tell me, are your agents in place?”
“Yes, my Lord,” replied Sandy. “We have sectors one through three covered and secured, waiting to move on to four through six. We’re ready to advance on your mark.”
Blueblood despised these unsavory creatures, but they did the job well. “Excellent. I need to make more calculations before the next phase can commence.”
“More time?” she asked. “My Lord, forgive my hesitation, but the Queen won't stand for another one of your delays.”
“Then she will lose everything unless we play the game as I see fit,” replied Blueblood. Maybe he needed to have a little talk about ‘pieces and their masters’ with her after all. “Equestria is getting closer and closer to discovering the Hives, and I can only keep them distracted for so long. A new development has occurred and it will require my full attention; something the war will need to wait for.”
“Which is what? Upgrading your life insurance?” Blueblood shot Sandy a glare that robbed her of any feelings of confidence she might’ve had before.
“How droll. And here I thought your kind lacked humor. But, no, it is something much more pressing. Something that will need to be evaluated and hopefully used,” said Blueblood. He smiled wickedly, savoring what would come as he launched into a little game. “It has come to my attention that the Empress was attacked several months ago, resulting in injuries that took her weeks to recover.”
Sandy frowned in concentration. Blueblood could tell she was trying to place some of the pieces and decided to let her figure it out.
“We haven’t heard anything about this,” she said slowly. “So, that means the Palace is either embarrassed by the failed assassination attempt and trying to keep it secret, or… it’s unsure of what happened?”
“Good guesses,” he said with a nod of approval. “But sadly, incorrect. Try again.”
Sandy kept silent for a while, something that Blueblood thanked the Sun, Moon, and even the plants for. He needed to think. He had a meeting with the Princess, whose train should be here by now, or at least close. She had a few things to do before she met with the Crystal Offensive Administration Council. He could mention nothing about the Poison Pill Bill, but that arrogant mule of an Empress was more than likely t—
“She’s trying to locate the attacker,” spoke up Sandy, interrupting the Blueblood’s train of thoughts.
“Better, but not yet. The Empress can’t match her attacker’s power.”
Sandy let out a sigh of frustration and shook her head in defeat. “Then why not kill her where she was? What purpose is there to wound an enemy instead of eliminate them?”
Blueblood let out his trademark chuckle. “Perhaps the attacker was out to prove a point? To establish that she was the one in control? That she wasn’t a pony to be messed with? I’m sorry, but you’re guesses were all wrong.”
Sandy groaned as they rounded the stable. “So, who was it, already?!”
“The attacker was none other than Princess Twilight’s former mentor, Princess Celestia.”
Sandy stopped, frozen in place, her pupils shrinking to pin points. “The Sun Goddess lives?”
“Yes,” said Blueblood, as he paused in step and turned on the now panicked mare.
“I fail to see how this is good news," she said as she trotted back and forth. "If she’s still in the Empire, we can't move another inch. The entire operation will be halted, we'll have to start over, years of planning, and then the Queen sh—"
"Silence," commanded Blueblood, interrupting her frantic pacing. "As I said, this bears further investigation. The Empress somehow figured out how to find her. I need time to verify this and confirm the Sisters’ activities. This is the most that has ever been uttered of them in over a century. I hear tell that Rarity left her mark on Celestia as well."
“This is suppose to be comforting?" balked Sandy as they continued toward the stable’s massive wooden doors. "We've supposed them gone, even dead!”
“The Empress has kept this to herself and a hoofful of trusted advisors,” replied Blueblood as the two walked through the doorway that lead into the Imperial Stables. “She hasn’t told Twilight, who was at one time beside herself with desperation to find them. You’d think they had a stack of overdue library books.”
“You plan to use this as another wedge?” Sandy asked him, uncertainty filling her voice.
“Indeed. This is quite the card that has fallen into my, I mean, our laps,” said Blueblood. "It must be played with skill if the greatest effect is to be made."
Blueblood’s magical aura gripped the massive wooden door by the hinges and tore it from the wall, sending it flying behind him back into the hated hallway. Half a moment later, the pair stopped in front of his own carriage.
In his opinion, it was a masterpiece of craftsmareship, speaking of centuries of devotion and pride of the Blueblood name. The exterior was sleek and black with elegantly crafted friezes of blue silver mined in the Minotaur homelands. Pulling the carriage was a six pony team, each of the pale grey stallions wearing matching robes and armor coloration. Their muzzles were fixed ahead, a certain lifelessness in their eyes. Blueblood had... collected them over the years.
Sandy refused to look at the stallions, shaking her head when Blueblood offered her a ride. He grinned as he hopped into the carriage and poked his own hooded face out the window. “Tell your other agents that the operation has been delayed. Nopony is to move without my explicit command. Oh, and no unscheduled feeding, either. The last thing I need is reports of missing ponies and curious eyes looking about."
Sandy nodded, mumbling something resembling a ‘yes’ before vanishing in a wisp of green smoke.
"To the embassy," said Blueblood with a dismissive wave as he leaned back into his seat. He felt the carriage lurch forward and begin its smooth, steady ride to the Equestrian Embassy. He gave a dark chuckle as he levitated a glass full of a red liquid to him and drank deeply from it. The metallic taste lingered only momentarily on his tongue.