Pinkamena Diane Pie stood waving her hoof at Rainbow Dash, who was now headed off to the Wonderbolts Academy. It had been two weeks since the pegasus had gotten her new prosthetic wing, and she could now fly well enough for simple travel, with little irritation around the prosthetic.
She stood there with the wind blowing through her pink hair. "I hope she doesn't forget to write," she said to herself, turning back toward Ponyville.
As she walked back to Ponyville, she thought of all the times she'd seen her friend defy what was normal, pushing the limits of what it meant to be a pegasus. Pinkamena approached Sugarcube Corner as she normally did. At first, the Cakes were shocked that the party pony Pinkie Pie was not so vibrant anymore, but they had become accustomed to her new appearance.
Princess Cadance met her at the door of the sweets shop. "Oh, Pinkie Pie. I was hoping to find you."
"Hey, Cadance. What's up?"
"I heard your family are rock farmers?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"Good," the princess replied. "I need you to bring me to them. We need to tell them what's happened."
"Okay," Pinkamena agreed, and they caught the next train out of Ponyville that was headed south to Appleloosa, then walked west across the plain and across the Saddle River (which starts at Saddle Lake in Ponyville and runs through the Ghastly Gorge. The rock farm is just south of the Gorge).
Along the way, Pinkamena asked her why they were going to the rock farm. "Princess Celestia asked me to find out if they would be valuable assets to the fight. She wants to know their strength and abilities."
"Limestone would probably jump at the chance to fight," the pink pony replied. "And Ma and Pa might want to stay on the farm, even if they're willing."
It was just as Pinkamena had implied: Ma and Pa Pie were indeed willing to help, but weren't willing to leave the farm. Limestone Pie was eager to help in the cause, and didn't even give it a second thought. Pinkamena's sister Marble was shy, and while she supported the cause, she would not be a very good soldier, so she stayed on the rock farm with Ma and Pa. Maud and Pinkamena were the strongest of the girls, so they were also recruited to the war effort.
Ma, Pa, and Marble Pie stood at the gate and waved them off as the four of them returned to Appleloosa, and caught the next train north, toward Ponyville. They continued past Ponyville and through to the Canterlot train station, where members of the Royal Guard were waiting. They escorted the four mares to Princess Luna, who was watching over Canterlot as Celestia was at the front lines, defending Equestria.
"Welcome, Limestone Pie and Maud Pie. I would rather have met you in more favorable times, but there is nothing that can be done about that," Luna stated, and the Pie sisters (minus Pinkamena) bowed to the princess. "Arise. Did Princess Cadance tell you why we have summoned you?"
"Cuz we can fight!" Limestone shouted, her light gray mane swaying as she took an aggressive stance.
"To put it bluntly, yes," the blue alicorn responded. We have heard of your family's strength from farming rocks your whole life. We sent Princess Cadance to bring you here to measure it."
The two princess led them along a rocky path that was cut into Canterlot Mountain, toward the eastern edge of it. "This mountain consists of a mixture of igneous rocks, including andesite, granite, and rhyolite," Maud said flatly. "This used to be a volcano until all the magma either drained or hardened." She turned to Princess Luna. "What is the test?"
Luna explained as they approached a relatively small chunk of the mountain, "We will start with this. I imagine you dug the quarries and tunnels yourselves?" The Pie sisters all nodded. "We would like to know how fast you are able to tunnel through this portion of the mountain. Don't worry, there is enough room on the other side so you will not fall."
The three earth ponies lined up in front of the rocky mound and prepared to dig. Luna had flown to the other side. On her signal, all three earth ponies dug into the rock. Maud and Pinkie punched the rock in front of them with their hooves, pulverizing chunks that they scooped away with their hind legs as they proceeded forward. Limestone was more direct with her punches, grunting and yelling as she progressed, but didn't pay much attention to the debris she had accumulated.
Maud was the first to break through to the other side, a full two seconds before her sisters. Pinkamena was next to break through, followed closely by Limestone. Limestone had a few scrapes on her head from pieces that fell on her. Her hole was the largest of the three.
For the next test, Luna simply said, "Now, recover from a fall," and she picked them up with her magical aura.
"Hey, put me down!" Limestone shouted
Luna paused for just a moment. Remembering her design ideas for the Castle of the Two Sisters, she smiled deviously. "As you wish, Limestone Pie." She released her magic, and the earth ponies dropped. They tumbled down the side of the mountain. All three were able to right themselves; Maud and Pinkamena slowed their descent by digging their hooves into the rock, and Limestone, angered, did so by trying to run back up the mountain.
Luna glided down and watched them as they descended, taking mental notes from each test to tell Celestia at a later point. The final test (for now, at least) was to see how they would clear the debris that had gathered at the bottom. Limestone beat her sisters in this test, sending a rock as big as herself flying over the Foal Mountains.
<>--<>--<>--<>--<>
Once the princess and the Royal Guard had retreated those three weeks ago, King Sombra lowered the crystals that surrounded the city, and his army of crystal ponies swarmed the remainder of the Royal Guard that had been appointed, capturing them. They, too, were stripped of their armor and sent to the dungeons.
Sombra walked the streets of his empire, along with Crystal Arrow and Rock Candy. Our forces are small, Crystal Arrow. I do not want to intervene every single battle, especially when my empire grows, he told them.
"Agreed, my King." Crystal Arrow added. "And as your empire grows, the ponies that we capture will fill our dungeons, faster than we can build new ones."
Rock Candy was silent as he pondered both situations. He was a smart pony, and his intelligence was valuable to King Sombra. He paused in the street. "I think," he began, "I may have a solution to both of these issues."
The other two stopped and turned back to look at him, puzzled looks on their faces. "What do you mean?" asked Crystal Arrow.
The purple stallion drew figures in the dirt as he explained. "My King, you said our forces are small in number. Crystal Arrow, you said our dungeons would overflow before too long. We have a deficit of bodies on one side of things, and a surplus of them on the other." The other two stallions started to understand. "My King, can you apply a spell to an object?"
Of course.
"Here is what I propose: we build helmets to put on our prisoners, with a mind-control spell applied to them. We'll have to tweak the spell to do exactly what we need it to do, of course."
"Sounds simple enough," Crystal Arrow said.
Sombra looked up from the drawings on the ground, and set his gaze upon the aging pegasus. How soon can you build something?
"Well," he thought, putting a hoof up to his chin, "we could start trying it with the helmets we salvaged from the Royal Guard; that shouldn't take long, but once we figure out the parameters of the spell, we may need to mass-produce helmets to maximize efficiency, and that will take some time."
For now, do as you suggested, Sombra ordered. But remember, Rock Candy, not to cross me
"Of course not, my King," the pegasus replied. He wouldn't dream of it, but the crystal king made sure to end most conversations this way.
King Sombra left the two ponies to their tasks as he made his way back to the castle. He climbed the staircase all the way up to the top tower, the same tower he had hidden the Crystal Heart a thousand years ago. He had now hidden the Heart elsewhere in the castle, due to a certain pony's nosy prying. He activated the center circle with his magic, which opened up to another large spiral staircase.
At the bottom of the staircase sat a single prison cell. The only two prisoners were the aforementioned prying purple pony and her little purple dragon. Since there was no bed or cot in the cell, they both laid on the dirt floor. The floor, however, had a thin layer of straw scattered upon it. Twilight Sparkle looked up when she heard the footsteps. "There was another battle last night, wasn't there?"
Yes there was, he answered her, and once more, the results did not favor your friends. Sombra sauntered in front of the iron bars, gloating. How did you know that, from all the way down here?
"If you haven't noticed, there's really nothing to do in here," she explained. "We've spent the last few weeks in silence, and when it's this quiet, your ears start picking up on things that are smaller or farther away."
Sombra returned to his confident mood and walked right up to the iron bars. I see, he said. Let me know if you hear anything from your precious princesses, foalish mare! He laughed as he turned and went back up the stairs.
"Could you at least bring me a book or something?" She shouted after him.
NO!
Twilight sighed.
Spike waited to speak until King Sombra was completely out of range. "Well, that didn't work."
The purple unicorn looked at her dragon assistant. "It's the only idea we've got. If we can't get a book and send a message to Celestia, that's it. We'll be prisoners forever."
"But Twilight," Spike interjected, "you're gonna rip it up."
"I know," she replied. "I don't want to do it, but we don't have any scrolls or quills with us, and any book will work." They sat in silence for a while. At this point, there wasn't much to discuss other than memories, but after weeks of listening to sounds of distant battle and the hollowness of the dungeon, Twilight sighed again. "I'm sorry," she said.
Spike's eyes widened. He looked from side to side before resting his eyes on Twilight. "Say what?"
"You were right there," she continued. "The Crystal Heart was right next to you, and I... I've been thinking about it this whole time, and I feel terrible." She lay down on the ground and put her head on her hooves. Tears filled up her eyes.
Spike walked up to her and hugged her neck.
<>--<>--<>--<>--<>
After another day of testing the earth ponies on other things that Celestia had suggested, Luna looked north and saw her sister returning from battle. The alicorns met at the Canterlot Lofty Observation Platform, where they had stood lookout during Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding. "How goes the fight, dear sister?"
"King Sombra's crystals are corrupting more of Equestria each day," Princess Celestia replied flatly. "For the most part, the Royal Guard have been able to keep it to a minimum."
"But..." Luna encouraged.
Celestia sighed. "But we are still losing Royal Guard members. The loss is still small, but we cannot recruit ponies fast enough." At this, she turned away from her sister and sat on the balcony. Her eyes began to fill with tears.
Luna put a hoof on her sister's shoulder. "I know you still blame yourself for Twilight Sparkle's capture. Whether or not you are indeed at fault, the past is in the past. We need to focus on the present, and we have a war to fight." Celestia looked at Luna. "We will rescue her, Celie."
Princess Celestia stood and wiped the tears from her eyes. The two sisters raised the moon and lowered the sun, casting night over the entire land. Once the sun and moon had been placed, the white alicorn once again turned to her sister. "Did you train the Pie family as I directed?"
"All three of them will be valuable assets to the war effort," Luna started. "Although, through the testing, I've concluded they do not need much further training at all."
Celestia nodded. "Good luck, Luna," she said. The blue alicorn flew down to where her batponies were waiting with her chariot. She stepped in her chariot and directed her squadron of batponies northward. Celestia watched her sister disappear into the night, and turned toward the door. She walked to the throne room, where the Pie sisters were waiting.
As she walked, Shining Armor approached her, followed by Princess Cadance. "Princess Celestia!" he blurted. Princess Celestia stopped and turned to the Captain.
"Ah, Shining Armor. Have you rested well?"
"Not well enough," Cadance interrupted. Shining Armor slowed his gait and his wife caught up to them. "He only sleeps a few hours. Most of the night, he's trying to rid his horn of the crystals, or working out." Celestia now noticed the dark circles that hung under the stallion's eyes.
"I need to get these crystals off, Princess," he explained, "but so far nothing's helped."
Celestia saw that the newlyweds were tired. When Cadance wrapped a hoof around her husband, Celestia heard a small crack. She'd heard that sound before; it was unmistakably the sound of Sombra's crystals. She studied his horn and had an idea. "Shining Armor, your love for Princess Cadance attracted the changelings to Canterlot." The couple looked at the white alicorn with confused, yet trusting, expressions. "Princess Cadance, your unique power of love kept Sombra at bay for days on end, and only faltered when you were too tired to cast the spell anymore."
Cadance spoke. "Are you saying our love can fix his horn?"
Celestia paused. "I don't know for sure, but there is no doubt the two of you have the purest love I've ever seen in Equestria." She directed the two to follow her. "King Sombra's magic is powered by fear and anger, and deterred by love and hope. That's why your shield worked so well, Princess Cadance. It's possible that the love that you share is enough to begin the process of removing the crystals from your horn."
Princess Cadance and Shining Armor thanked the princess and walked away.
Celestia continued to the doors of the throne room, where her subjects were waiting. A unicorn guard stood posted on each side of the doors, prepared to open them. She closed her eyes and exhaled, then applied an aura of authority. She nodded, and the guards threw open the doors. Some guards began to blow a fanfare on their trumpets to accompany her entrance. Citizens of Canterlot and Ponyville filled the hall on either side of the center rug, with a single line of armored guards separating the two halves of the room. Celestia approached the end of the throne room, where the Pie sisters stood in fresh tactical gear.
The white alicorn turned. "Citizens of Equestria, my fellow ponies," she addressed them, "Although the war against King Sombra has only begun, he is a great threat to Equestria. He has captured many of our soldiers, and is no doubt exploring ways to grow his forces. The crystal ponies that remain within the Crystal Empire have chosen to fight for him, rather than endure another reign of slavery under his iron hoof. We will need every resource we can gather. Which is why," she continued, "we are gathered here today to recognize Miss Limestone Pie, Miss Maud Pie, and Miss Pinkie Pie. As earth ponies, they do not seem to have any magic of their own; however, earth ponies are more closely attuned to the land than any other species. As rock farmers, they have gained certain skills and abilities that will be vital to the war effort."
She turned her head and nodded to another unicorn, who took a moment in front of each sister, pinning a patch featuring the insignia of Equestria on their sleeves. Everypony on the platform turned to face the audience. "Equestria, please give a hoof to the newly appointed Equestrian Special Operations - Team One!" A thunderous applause rose from the ponies in the audience as the earth ponies walked down the aisle and exited the hall, the unicorn guards closing the doors behind them.