Chapter 1
The Crystal Empire.
It had happened so quickly that Amber Waves could hardly believe it. One powerful blast from the Crystal Heart and the long nightmare was over. All around her, fellow crystal ponies cheered the destruction of King Sombra as his body and his corrupt crystals encasing the tower had been blown up and swept away.
This had been a moment none had dared hope for. They had all been slaves just a few hours ago. Then they had witnessed the titanic battle between their tyrant and the celestial sisters who ruled Equestria in the south. The next thing the crystal ponies knew, six Equestrian mares were walking around asking them about how they had protected the Empire in the past.
Amber decided not to care how this had all happened. The important thing was they were free, so the purple crystal pony joined the rest in the cheering. No longer did they need to fear the brutal regime of King Sombra. No longer would they be worked to death in the mines or the fields.
As the cheering subsided a bit, the crystal ponies gathered below the balcony to hear what their new princess had to say. Amber grunted a little as the crowd enclosed around her. She had never liked ponies getting too close, but at the moment she let it slide. They were happy and she was happy. She could get her solitude once the festivities were over.
“I can’t quite hear her. Can you hear what she’s saying?” her brother Rubinstein asked. The purple Crystal stallion stretched his neck to try and see more clearly.
“Does it matter? We’re free, Rubinstein!” Amber said and grabbed her brother in a tight hug.
“Good point,” the stallion chuckled and hugged his sister back, her crystalline coat just a slightly lighter shade of purple.
“I was so scared, I just couldn’t help it. I tried to run. I didn’t want to meet them again,” Amber said with a sigh as she remembered her attempt to escape when King Sombra invaded. All she had done was run right into her tyrant.
“Them… wait,” Rubinstein frowned. “I only saw King Sombra.”
Amber frowned and looked at her brother with a puzzled expression. Now that she thought about it, only King Sombra had emerged from the smoke. Heck, he hadn’t even smiled or gloated like she had fully expected him to. No, he had just given her a brief glance before rising up above them all and started to look around.
“You don’t think he’s still around,” the mare whispered and looked through the crowd. “Rubinstein, you woke up in the castle. Did you see him?”
Now it was her brother’s turn to frown as he thought it over. Not wanting to spoil the cheers others were having, the siblings made their way out of the crowd of crystal ponies who still listened enthralled, to the new Princess.
“I was too busy running away when he rose up. Do you recall him saying anything?” Rubinstein said as they departed the crowd and walked a few feet away.
“I was kind of frozen in fear being so close to him,” Amber retorted between her teeth and gave her brother a glare who smiled uneasily. “But I think I heard him calling his name.”
The two crystal ponies looked back at the gathering near them. They couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, then again seeing this large cheerful gathering in the Crystal Empire was probably the most out-of-the ordinary sight they had ever seen.
“You don’t think he escaped the blast? Would the blast even hurt him if he wasn’t actively attacking?” Rubinstein wondered and started to look nervous.
“Maybe we should approach the princess about this,” Amber whispered and started to look nervously around. “He’s as powerful as his father, isn’t he?”
“I wouldn’t say that, but he was certainly learning.” Rubinstein cringed as some awful memories came back to him. “We should find Emerald, just in case, and quickly.”
Amber nodded and the two hastily made their way back to the crowd. It was starting to disperse as in celebration of the defeat, the princess had decreed they would continue the Crystal Fair. It was well received by the populace. Amber and Rubinstein grew more and more worried as they couldn’t find the crystal pony they were after.
“Maybe she’s still in the castle,” Amber wondered.
“No I found her in his room and took her out with me but… I wasn’t exactly in a state to follow her. She wandered off,” Rubinstein said and continued to look around.
“We’ll find her, don’t worry,” his sister assured him.
“We’ll find her, don’t worry.”
A scowling face watched the two purple crystal ponies from an alley. The blue eyes of the pony followed their every move as they searched around fruitlessly near the courtyard of the palace before heading off further into the city. Once they were gone from sight, the unicorn glanced back. Standing behind him was a green crystal pony who kept her head bowed.
“Are you going to betray me and my father, Emerald? Just like your siblings and the other slaves have done, openly welcoming these usurpers who have murdered your king?!” he hissed at her.
“No… of course not, my lord,” she whispered and didn’t dare to look at the dark gray unicorn in front of her. For some reason he hadn’t received a crystalline coat like her when the Crystal Heart had spread out its magic. His red horn looked cracked, as if something had damaged it.
“Prince Temor?” Emerald looked up when she heard nothing more from the pony. The unicorn had resumed looking back towards the tall crystal tower.
Temor ignored her and continued to stare at the home he had grown up in. He was disgusted by the change - it was too bright and shining. It filled him with even more contempt towards the ponies who had just murdered the one pony he cared about, his father.
The prince grit his teeth. Despite all their preparations for the inevitable attack from Equestria, they had still lost. King Sombra had informed him that if he was defeated, the Empire would be put in stasis until he could return. That had happened and when Temor woke up he was supposed to make ready for his father’s return.
Instead, he had to see two unknown ponies arrive in the Empire and block Sombra’s entry with a shield. Temor knew he could not fight an alicorn alone. He was not powerful enough, so he had hidden away in the castle and hoped against hope that his father had some contingency plan for this.
Then those six mares had arrived and the purple unicorn had begun searching the tower for the Crystal Heart. Temor had been too late to stop her, and as he rushed out to try and warn his father, he was too late again. He saw King Sombra rise up on his dark crystal as the dragon fell from the top of the palace, then when the alicorn was thrown by the white unicorn to grab both the dragon and the heart.
Temor could only watch as the heart was then activated and its powerful blast shattered his father and blew him away. The prince didn’t know why he survived - he had been thrown away by the blast and the next thing he knew, he was being dragged into an alley by Emerald. The only damage to his person was the cracked horn.
Why did the heart kill my father, but not me? he thought and turned his attention back to Emerald. And why did she save me?
“So you aren’t glad that your people are now free of my father? That he is now gone? Why have you dragged me in here? To finish what the Crystal Heart started?” he growled at the mare.
“No, never. My lord, believe me, I serve you and your father,” the mare said and gulped. The other pony’s eyes had started to turn green and red and his blonde mane and tail had begun to flow despite there being no wind.
Temor cringed when feeling pain in his head. The mane stopped flowing and his eyes turned blue again. It was clear the Crystal Heart had done enough damage to him that tapping into his dark magic reserves hurt him. The most telling sign had been that the purple mist hadn’t even started producing from the corners of his eyes.
That means I can’t enter her mind, see what she is really thinking, or maybe this is sincerity. Does she really feel this way? He continued to regard the mare critically.
“Why are you so eager to help me, Emerald?” Temor asked finally and started to fix his black cape. He also began examining his other attire - the iron hoofguards accented with gold and his iron chest plate with the golden engravings and the dark purple thunderbolt. He was only missing his helmet, but it was inside the palace. The prince wondered if he should risk retrieving it.
“You are my prince and your father is my king,” Emerald simply said.
Sounds sincere enough, Temor thought and turned to look at the tower. He frowned when seeing the usurpers and the six mares walk away from the palace and take the main road. It looked like their heading was the train station.
This is a perfect opportunity to head into the palace and get some equipment I need, he thought and smiled deviously. In fact, this is a perfect way to test her loyalty.
“Emerald, I want you to go into the palace, find my room and get my helmet. There are also a few books in the library I want you to find and some items from my father’s laboratory,” he said and looked at Emerald. He smiled wider when she nodded without hesitation. After telling her what books he needed and what items she was supposed to grab, the green Crystal Mare rushed out of the alley and towards the tower.
The fools are still celebrating and it doesn’t look like they have established any guards yet. She should be fine. Of course if she is false, I’ll never see any of these items and I must be ready to run for it. He glanced around but could not see any signs of any guards.
Fear not father, your death shall not be permanent. I know you have ensured it wouldn’t be. I just need to find your horn. Temor’s smile turned sinister.
Ponyville.
“Well I’m glad that’s over with,” Twilight Sparkle said as she and Spike entered the Golden Oaks Library. The unicorn proceeded to take off her saddlebags and put things away.
“Told you there was nothing to worry about,” Spike said with a cheeky grin as he walked past her, heading to the kitchen.
Twilight shook her head with a smile, not going to dignify the dragon’s remark with a response. She knew her assistant tended to see things in a lighter way once the crisis was over, thus not always taking them as seriously as he might have during it.
Instead, she decided to pick a good book to sit down and read. Now that she had completed the test and assisted with protecting the Crystal Empire, the unicorn felt she had earned her break. However, she didn’t look at any of the books in on the shelves, instead she took out the one that had been in her saddlebag.
It was a history book the unicorn had grabbed from the Crystal Empire library. She had assured the librarian that she would return it, but the old crystal pony had been so grateful that she and her friends had helped them against King Sombra that she gave it to Twilight. Flattered by the gesture and unable to resist owning a book no one had read in over one thousand years, the unicorn had accepted.
Let’s hope this one comes with fewer ripped pages, Twilight thought as she got comfortable in a corner-seat. The book was similar to the one she had found first that had helped them set up the crystal fair. The difference, the mare had noticed, was that this one covered the first few years of Sombra’s reign.
Twilight figured that some brave crystal pony had dared document those years, since she was later told that the rest had not really been written, or if anything had it was in the Royal Library in the castle. The unicorn made a mental note to inquire about it to her brother and Cadance once she was done with this book.
Just because his rule was tyrannical, it was still part of history and should be studied, if only so that we can learn how not to act towards our fellow ponies. Twilight thought as she started on the first page, detailing when the Crystal Empire was founded so long ago by the first Crystal Queen. Fascinating, the Empire was founded around the Crystal Heart.
As more she read, the unicorn actually felt sadder. From what she had seen and was now reading, the Crystal Empire sounded like such a happy place, full of life, joy and color. She just couldn’t understand why somepony would brutally conquer it and subjugate its citizens. She finally reached the part where Sombra came in and cringed when reading how he murdered Princess Amore after infiltrating her ranks, slowly mind-controlling the entire castle staff before striking.
Now I’m glad we blew him up. He was a monster, Twilight thought, feeling more contempt towards the king.
It was difficult to read the next few pages. Whoever wrote it told about nothing but pain, suffering and humiliation. How some were worked to death in the mines, while others slaved away in the fields to produce food. There were collaborators everywhere - crystal ponies who were not mind-controlled, but worked with Sombra freely, either due to fear or actually of their own free will. Then she read an entry that puzzled her.
“I saw the prince as Sombra held him high up from the balcony in his magic, announcing that this was our future ruler. Who was he? He looked young...6-7 winters maybe? The King said his name was Temor and one day he would rule us once he was gone.”
“It was difficult to see, but the colt looked terrified. Maybe due to the height he was held up, I suppose. My biggest thought, though, was where had he come from? It’s not been 6-7 years since King Sombra took over. Has he just picked a child at random to take his place?”
“Sombra had a son?” Twilight said aloud and arched her brow. She hadn’t met anyone in the Crystal Empire with that moniker.
Then again, there were moments in the castle that I felt like I was being watched, the unicorn frowned in heavy thought now.
She continued to read, but whoever wrote those final chapters had clearly not had access to King Sombra himself or the castle. So that one entry was all she had on the apparent prince. Celestia as well had not mentioned any prince, but that was inconclusive. Her mentor had clearly been more focused on briefing the unicorn on what she needed to do in helping Shining and Cadence find a way to protect the Empire.
Maybe he died later down the line, Twilight thought. That wasn’t unlikely. Mortality rates were much higher back then.
From the kitchen she heard the distinct sound of Spike burping loudly. Twilight sighed and shook her head, it amazed her sometimes how the dragon would unashamed burp loudly and proudly after gobbling down food.
What she didn’t expect was Spike coming running out with a scroll in his hand. It appeared the burp had actually been a message from Celestia, not due to stomach gas. The dragon nearly tumbled on his run, but managed to get all the way to where Twilight sat to give her the sealed paper.
“Message from the princess,” he announced, then quickly wiped a smear of butter that was on his face, grinning innocently.
Twilight blinked then saw that small portion of the scroll had butter on it. The message had come when he was still in the middle of his meal. The unicorn shook her head again, but used her magic to accept the paper and opened it.
“Dear Twilight Sparkle.
It occurred to me that I failed to mention to you about somepony you might have encountered already in the Crystal Empire. You made no mention of him, so I didn’t think much of it, but after some thought and consulting with Luna, I need to ask you if you either saw or heard anypony mention a pony named Prince Temor.
Your teacher.
Princess Celestia.”
Twilight gasped, let go of the letter and glanced at the history book. Spike grabbed the unfurled scroll and read through it. Once he was done he looked skeptically at the unicorn.
“Prince Temor? We didn’t meet anypony with that name,” he said, pretty much confirming what Twilight already thought. She was raking her brain if she might have actually met this Temor, but the unicorn was pretty sure she would remember meeting a prince.
“Spike, take a letter,” she said quietly. The dragon didn’t even hesitate. One zip later he was ready with a quill and a fresh scroll.
“Dear Princess Celestia, I understand if this Prince Temor might have slipped your mind. We had a crisis on our hoof and we had to hurry in order to protect the Crystal Empire from King Sombra. However, neither Spike nor I met any Prince Temor. I think I can safely assume that none of my friends, or my brother and Cadence met a pony by that name or they would have mentioned it. Is it important that we know of this prince? Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,” she dictated, Spike diligently writing down every word.
One puff of magic dragon fire breath later the letter was gone. Now they could only wait and see if Celestia would respond. This gave Twilight time to consider though, since her teacher knew of this Prince Temor, it was clearly not a secret that Sombra had a son. However, not many today probably knew due to the Crystal Empire having been vanished for so long.
Now Twilight really regretted not going to the Royal Library to get a more detailed book on King Sombra’s reign. It might have answered many of the questions popping into her head right now.
Spike opened his mouth wanting to say something, but suddenly made a face and burped, sprouting a green flame that turned instantly into a sealed scroll. Twilight was quick to grab the scroll and began reading through it.
“My dearest Twilight Sparkle.
You must come to Canterlot at once.
Your teacher.
Princess Celestia.”
Twilight blinked at the urgency in letter. She wordlessly showed it to Spike.
“Looks like we unpacked too soon,” the dragon remarked after he was done reading.
End Chapter 1