The Crown of Demons

by KillerRobotQuote

Chapter II - Gestation

"Did you know that the witch-woman Jenka once had a brother?

His name was Ballos.

Like his sister, he wielded powers far beyond those of mortals..."

Quote slowly opened his eyes and stared at the crystalline ceiling that greeted him. It took him a moment to realize that he had never seen it before. Quote began to panic, thinking that he was suffering from amnesia yet again. He whipped his head around, taking in the room. He was lying in a bed in a room made entirely of crystal. There was no way he could forget entering a place like this. He shut his eyes and tried to remember the names of the people he cared about.

Momorin.

Itoh.

Professor Booster.

Kazuma.

Sue.

King.

Toroko.

Curly Brace.

Quote breathed a sigh of relief and allowed his body to relax. His memory was intact. He hadn't forgotten anything. Since he didn't know where he was, he must not have been awake when he was brought here. Having calmed himself down, Quote decided that the best thing to do would be to get up and take a look around. However, as he tried to sit up, a shooting pain in his abdomen put an abrupt end to those plans and he collapsed back in bed. So he was recovering. He must have taken some pretty serious damage to be in that much pain. Quote sighed. He probably wouldn't be moving for a little bit. He knew from experience how quickly his body recovered, so it couldn't be very long. Wherever he was, Quote took comfort in the fact that at least he probably wasn't in danger. Resting in bed in an unfamiliar place? Whoever had found him could have killed him if they wished, that much he knew, but they seemed to be taking care of him instead.

Quote closed his eyes and prepared himself for what he was about to do next. With a start, he put all of his effort into seating himself upright. Quote ignored the pain that shot through his torso as he raised himself until he was sitting up and leaning forward, then placed his hands on the mattress to support himself. From this new position, he slowly slid himself backward until he was propped against the head of the bed frame.

From this new position, Quote could see that he was in a bedroom of some kind. For the most part, it was rather standard. There was a writing desk next to the bed with and a quill with parchment on top. Oddly enough, both the bed frame and the desk were made of crystal, just like the room. Across the room, there was a window, through which Quote could see the setting of the evening sun. To his right, he saw a closet, though he couldn't see inside.

Quote didn't have time to look at anything further as he saw someone approaching through the archway at the end of the room to his left.

"Well, hello there," she said. "I see that you're awake and can even move a bit. That's a relief. How are you feeling?"

Quote just stared at her. "Woman" was not the right word to describe her. Actually, "human" wasn't even the right word. Not even close. It was definitely female; he could tell by the voice, its mannerisms, and it's general appearance. But that's where the familiarity ended. For as long as he could remember (which, admittedly, was rather limited), Quote had never seen anything quite like her. He gazed upon the figure of a horse, a bit smaller than average, that looked back at him with curiosity and a little bit of concern. Her coat, rather than the typical brown or gray, was a bright pink. Her mane and tail matched, both containing a mix of yellow, magenta, and violet. Atop her mane, she wore a small golden tiara with a diamond-shaped gem embedded in the front and a round gem resting atop the center point. She wore a golden necklace and, strangely enough, even seemed to be wearing shoes. They looked nothing like typical iron horseshoes, as they appeared to be decorative golden jewelry that covered the entire hoof and traveled up her legs a tiny bit.

Most distracting of all, however, was the long pink horn poking through the top of her mane and the set of wings folded neatly against the mare's back. The wings had a slight violet hue on their tips. Those two features were completely out of place on a small horse. It wasn't the strangest thing Quote had ever seen, but it was pretty close.

The mare's face turned into an uncomfortable frown as Quote continued to stare at her intensely. "Is something the matter?" she asked. "Are you okay?" Her expression turned to that of realization when a thought crossed her mind. "Oh. You don't know what I'm saying, do you?"

Quote snapped out of his trance and chuckled slightly. "No, no, I understand you just fine," he reassured her. "I'm just trying to make sense of all of this."

The mare visibly relaxed when she realized that he could communicate with her. "Oh, that's a relief," she stated with a smile. "If you're confused about anything, I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have. But first, please, tell me, how are you feeling? That was quite a fall you took."

Quote's expression became quizzical. "Fall? I fell?"

The mare nodded. "You seemed to just fall out thin air and crashed through the roof of somepony's house. Thankfully, nopony was hurt, though we're not sure how you appeared there to begin with..." the mare's voice trailed off. "Anyway, if you don't mind me asking, how in Equestria did you survive? Anypony falling from that height would have at least been severely injured, yet you seem to be doing all right."

Quote didn't respond to this. He had returned to inspecting the room from his position in the bed, trying to take it all in. So he had fallen out of thin air into a strange place? How did that happen?

Several questions began forming in his mind at once. Finally, he asked, "Where am I, exactly?"

The mare looked slightly agitated that her question had been ignored, but answered him anyway. "This is the guest bedroom, but we're using it as an infirmary for you while you're recovering."

Quote shook his head. "No, I already got that. I mean this place," he said while gesturing to the area around him. "What is this? Where am I?"

The mare's eyes widened slightly with understanding. "This is the Crystal Palace. You're in the Crystal Empire."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A young white unicorn stallion in gold armor raced to the carriage holding the beige pegasus stallion in silver armor. "Sir, Lieutenant Rivet, sir," he gasped. "Squad C has already made contact with the creature and Squad D has been dispatched as a precautionary measure, sir."

Lieutenant Rivet nodded. "Good work. Let's hope it comes quietly. Dismissed."

The guard nodded and left in a hurry. The beige pegasus sighed as he leaned back in his seat. Things had gone from peaceful to chaotic in just half an hour. Though he could only speculate for other cities, he hoped they were faring better than Canterlot was at that moment. The ponies were frantic when the black clouds had appeared, but the panic then was nothing compared to when the floating Island had arrived. In a matter of minutes, the Royal Guard had received numerous messages begging, demanding, and even a few threatening them to go up to the Island and take care of it.

Not that the Royal Guard knew what to do. When the suggestion that they go investigate the island was brought before the princesses, Princess Celestia immediately vetoed the decision. Rivet was then given instructions to "protect Canterlot from further harm, foreign or domestic." The princess sure had a strange way of instructing him to keep the citizens in line.

Almost the moment after that exchange had ended, a whole new issue came up: there was a report that something was seen falling from the sky and had crashed into a store. Sure enough, when Rivet stood on the balcony of the castle, he could see a pillar of dust and debris rising from a shop in Sector C of Canterlot. If the Guard didn't take care of the matter immediately and more ponies got wind of things falling from the sky, then not even the princesses themselves would be able to stop the full-blown riot that would surely follow.

Rivet sighed again. Of all times for Captain Shining Armor to take a leave of absence, it had to be during one of the biggest large-scale panics in recent history. As a result, Rivet found himself as the Royal Guard's commanding officer for the time being. Rivet wasn't certain that even his Captain would know what to do in this situation, but at least Shining Armor would handle it with more confidence than he was doing right now. Hell, the Captain could probably even calm the citizens down while he was at it.

Rivet was snapped out of his musings when he saw a group of six ponies come into view. He stepped out of the carriage to address the approaching group of Royal Guards directly. Rivet could immediately tell that this group consisted of two squads. A squad was composed of three ponies: one earth, one pegasus, and one unicorn. One of those three was a Sergeant who was assigned Squad Leader. The Sergeants' armor was similar to that of the Guards', being gold with a plume crest on the helmet which hid the guard's mane. However, rather than the standard colors of white or blue, a Sergeant's plume was red.

The group consisted of two Sergeants and four Guards. Rivet recognized the crimson earth pony as the leader of Squad C and identified the brown pegasus as the leader of Squad D.

The most eye-catching thing about the group, however, was not the guards; it was the body of the alien creature that levitated above them. Shrouded in the glow of unicorn magic by two Guards, it hovered about two meters in the air until the two unicorns unceremoniously tossed it to the ground at Rivet's hooves.

The crimson pony stepped forward. "Sir, Lieutenant, sir," he spoke. "Squads C and D have apprehended the creature, sir."

Rivet waved a hoof dismissively. "At ease, Sergeant Dex, just tell me what happened."

Dex visibly relaxed, but remained attentive. "Well, Lieutenant, my squad reached the damaged building first, and after forcibly removing Suri Polomare from her store, we found her in the middle of the wreckage." he said, pointing to the creature before them.

"Her?" Rivet asked.

"Affirmative sir. It appears to be female."

Rivet took a closer look at the mysterious creature. It certainly was strange-looking. Instead of fur, it seemed to have pure white skin. It had no tail, but it did have a long, beautiful, golden mane. Instead of ears, it had strange green disks on the sides of its head. Although it had four limbs, the two front legs had claws instead of hooves. Even the claws were strange: although it had digits like a griffon's talons or a dragon's claws, they didn't appear sharp at all.

Interestingly, it appeared to be wearing clothing, albeit very dirty and torn. The red pants were in tatters, and the small top wasn't much better. The shoes it wore were strange, as they appeared to be made of cloth and rubber, rather than iron or any other type of metal. Its eyes were closed and it lay there, motionless.

Despite having never seen anything like it before, Rivet could recognize its distinctly feminine figure. "Seems that way," he muttered, nodding. He looked back at the ponies who had apprehended her and noticed that nopony appeared to be exhausted or injured. "So then, there was no struggle? She came quietly? Then why is she unconscious?"

Sergeant Dex shook his head. "Negative, sir. She was unconscious upon arrival and hasn't woken up since."

Rivet was taken aback. "Upon arrival? That's... strange."

Dex raised an eyebrow. "Is it? Falling from the sky and crashing into a building would certainly cause injury. Why is that strange?"

Rivet was silent for a moment before finally responding. "Never mind," he dismissed. "Was she armed?"

Dex paused. "I... I believe so."

Rivet's head tilted in confusion. "What do you mean you believe so? Explain yourself."

Dex gestured to the pegasus from his squad and the earth pony from the other. They both came forward, opening their saddlebags. The pegasus pulled a long, slender, metal instrument from one bag. The entire thing was painted bright red. There were extensions on one end that appeared to be a handle of some sort. A device with three glowing triangles was attached on one side. It appeared to be made for the instrument, but as an additional part. On the opposite end of the shaft, there was a circular opening. From the other bag, a much shorter, but similarly-shaped, metal instrument was produced, this one a metallic blue color. He placed both on the ground before him.

The earth pony's saddlebag was slumped on one side, evidently from an uneven distribution of weight. He removed a strange green contraption from the bag and placed it next to the red and blue instruments. It was also made of metal, but it appeared to be two rectangular tubes connected to each other along their length, but with a short gap between them, giving it a boxy appearance. The tubes had circular openings in the bottom. On the sides were small metal flaps that appeared to be tiny wings, though Rivet couldn't see how they would move. And on the back, the box was completely flat, as the tubes were flush against the surface. There were three straps - two crossing each other, making an "X" shape, and one going horizontally below them - that were loose and undone.

"This is all of the equipment she was carrying," Dex stated. "Although we're not sure what these two are, we believe them to be weapons." He pointed to the red and blue devices. "As for the box, it was found strapped to her back. We have no idea what it does."

Rivet stared at the bizarre devices in contemplative fascination. They had to be tools of some kind, but their design was so unusual, they couldn't have possibly come from Equestria. Besides, the creature that was with them now certainly wasn't.

Rivet picked up the red device. After inspecting it closely, he noticed that the shaft seemed to have a hollow groove on the inside that appeared to travel the entire length, almost to the handle. The only thing he could think of that was even remotely designed that way was a cannon. Rivet tried to hold the device by the handle and saw that, when positioned a certain way, the notches on the top at the front and back lined up, aligning the shaft along with them.

Was it a method of aiming? He could see how it certainly might be. If something were to come out of the shaft, it would travel in a straight line to the point indicated by the notches. What if he was right when he compared the design to a cannon? What if this thing could propel a projectile in the same way that a cannon could? With its size and ability to easily aim...

"Lieutenant?"

The voice snapped Rivet out of his thoughts. "Yes, Sergeant?"

"What do you propose we do?" Dex asked tentatively. "Should we report this to the princesses?"

Rivet placed the mini cannon on the ground, shaking his head. "No. Well, correction: yes, but we can't." He was met with confused stares by all of the guards. "After Princess Celestia put me in charge of the city, she made it clear that she will not be hearing from anyone for the rest of the day." Rivet glanced around to make sure nopony else was around. "Listen to me," he addressed the guards, lowering his voice. "This is for your ears only: the princess sent a summons to the six users of the Elements of Harmony. Whatever's going on with that island," he said, pointing to the ominous floating landmass several kilometers outside Canterlot, "has her spooked. Seeing as she's calling the Elements into use, she's definitely planning something. Since this is top-secret, she won't permit being distracted by anything else until after she meets with them."

The group was silent as they let the new information sink in. For the time being, they were cut off from the princess. Whatever the Island was, it had captured the full attention of the ruler of the nation. That had to be a bad sign.

Voicing the concerns of everypony there, Dex spoke up. "Then, what does that mean for us?"

Rivet sighed, a troubled look splayed across his face. "It means we're on our own. And we have a decision to make."

Dex gave a slow nod in understanding. He then stood at full attention as he addressed his commanding officer. "Sir, Lieutenant, sir. How do you wish to proceed with the creature, sir?"

Rivet thought for a moment before replying. "Before that, Dex, there is something I would like to ask you."

"Sir, anything, sir."

Rivet rolled his eyes at the unnecessary display of formality, but said nothing. "Sergeant Dex. What do you make of our visitor's arrival?" he asked, pointing to the creature.

"Sir..." Dex paused, trying to find the words to say. "Sir, the Sergeant is deeply bothered by the timing of the creature's arrival, sir."

"In what way?" Rivet asked. "Speak your mind."

"Sir, the Sergeant has never believed in coincidences, and believes that all things happen for a reason, sir."

"And? Where are you going with this?"

"Sir, the Sergeant does not believe that it is a coincidence that the creature appeared minutes after the arrival of the Island, and feels that the two are directly related, sir."

Rivet grinned, impressed. "Excellent. It seems we are on the same page." Rivet removed his helmet, freeing his brown mane from its confines, and placed it on the ground next to him. "The creature is of unknown origin and must be treated with caution. Dex, I want you to lock her in one of the dungeon's cells. Provide food and water; she may need sustenance when she wakes up. Furthermore, I want you and one other guard stationed at her cell at all times. When she wakes up, send a messenger to report to me immediately. You are not to interact with her in any way. The only exception will be if she attempts to escape, in which case, use of force is authorized."

"Sir, yes, sir," Dex saluted.

"One of you will go with him," Rivet said, addressing the other five guards that comprised the rest of the two squads. "The rest of you, return to your respective Sectors. Continue scouting the city and keep the civilians in check. Get to it."

"Sir, yes, sir," they responded in unison. The unicorn from Squad D lifted the creature with his magic and followed Dex to the dungeons. The four remaining guards turned and walked back toward the city. Rivet found himself alone with the three mysterious contraptions laying on the ground.

Rivet kept his composure as he excitedly picked up the devices and placed them on his back. "Now, let's see - oof! - how these things work."

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Dear Twilight Sparkle,

As I'm sure you are well aware by now, Equestria has been graced by the presence of a floating island. I regret to inform you that this is a very serious matter that requires immediate attention.

Please try to keep this under wraps from everypony except your friends, as their presence will be required here in Canterlot, as well as yours. In addition, I will require the Elements of Harmony. Please bring them with you.

I have arranged for three pegasus carriages to pick up you and your friends. I will explain what is happening in further detail when you arrive.

~ Princess Celestia

Twilight scanned the letter for the fifth time, as though doing so would make the cryptic message make more sense. All Twilight could tell was that the kingdom was dealing with something big, and the princess needed her help. Whatever was happening, it was definitely urgent.

Twilight gazed at the two carriages that flew next to her. Rainbow and Applejack were in one, and Pinkie and Fluttershy were in the other. Rarity sat right next to her. Spike wanted to come too, but Twilight wouldn't allow it. She told him to wait for their return and take care of the library until then. Spike was reluctant, but finally caved in. Though she wouldn't admit it, Twilight had a bad feeling about what was to come.

Despite the roaring of the wind in their ears as they flew towards Canterlot in the pegasus-drawn carriages that the Princess provided, Pinkie's chipper voice could be heard by all. "Ohmygosh so who do you think is on the island do you think it's a bunch of cute little bunny people because I know Fluttershy would get along with them and what was with those funny clouds earlier they were huge and dark and why wasn't it raining everyone knows that dark clouds mean rain and did you see the red lightning it was so cool it was all like BWOOSH and then all of a sudden BOOM the island was right there and *GASP* I've never thrown a party on a floating island before and if I haven't thrown a party on one before that means no one's ever thrown a party on one before so after I throw a surprise party on the island for the little bunny people that may or may not be there..."

Twilight smiled as her pink friend continued her incessant rambling. She certainly knew how to lighten the mood, regardless of the situation.

"Twilight, dearie," Rarity cooed. "There's no point in getting so worked up over whatever this is. Princess Celestia asked for us to come here before you even wrote to her, so I'm sure she knows what's happening."

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash spoke up. "Don't be such a worrywart on top of being an egghead."

Says the one who confided in me not twenty minutes ago, Twilight thought, but kept silent. "But that's what concerns me," she said. "I think she does know what that island is. It'd be one thing if she wanted to speak to me about it privately, but she summoned all six of us and the Elements of Harmony. When have we ever used the Elements outside of defending Equestria from its greatest threats?"

Twilight was met with silence. Pinkie had stopped mid-ramble at the unsettling thought. Twilight had even gotten the attention of the chariot drivers whose focus immediately returned to Canterlot in the distance when she saw their backward glances.

Applejack broke the persistent silence by clearing her throat. "Well, regardless, Rarity was right; there ain't no sense in worrying 'bout it, 'specially since there's nothing we can do 'bout it right now. Let's just let the princess fill us in when we get there, 'kay?"

"Besides," Rainbow Dash boasted. "I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle."

"We'll be there with you, Twilight," Fluttershy said. Twilight almost didn't hear it over the wind, but nodded in appreciation at her words.

"You're right, girls. We'll just take it one step at a time."

One of Twilight's carriage drivers spoke up. "Princess. We will be arriving at Canterlot Castle shortly."

"Thank you," Twilight replied. The rest of the ride passed in relative silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quote massaged his forehead as he tried to wrap his mind around what he had just been told. "So let's see if I understand this right: I'm in the Crystal Empire, a land just north of Equestria, and this whole world is made up of talking ponies, griffons, and other creatures," he summarized. "On the flip side, you've never heard of the Surface or humans."

"And is that what you are? A human?"

Quote regarded the pink pony with fascination, but also a tiny bit of apprehension. She had been kind to him so far and had not given him any reason to fear her, but he wasn't sure he was ready to trust her just yet. Still, the more he though about it, there wasn't really any way she could use this information against him. There wasn't any harm in letting her know the truth.

"No. I'm an armed scout robot."

The pony could not hide her surprise. "A robot?"

Quote chuckled. "Deja vu."

"Actually," the pony murmured. "That would make sense. You were too heavy for the medics to carry, so they had to rely on unicorns to levitate you. And once they actually got you to the hospital, they didn't know how to treat you, so they brought you here. They said your body was rigid and metallic. I didn't quite believe them at first." A blush suddenly made its way to her cheeks. "Um, may I...?"

Quote looked at her, puzzled, until he noticed that she was staring at his arm. One of her hooves was raised as though she was about to reach out. His eyes widened with understanding and he held out his arm. "Yeah, go ahead," he said.

The pony reached for Quote's arm slowly until she made contact near his elbow. She then gently brushed her hoof along his arm to the wrist and then back again. She lightly tapped his forearm, making a faint ting. "Incredible," she whispered in awe. "It's like your whole body is made out of armor."

A thought suddenly occurred to him. "The name's Quote, by the way," he said.

That made the mare extremely flustered. "Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness, where are my manners?" Her face was bright red and she stomped around erratically, trying to regain her composure. Once she did, she took a deep breath. "I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Please feel free to call me Cadence. I am the princess of the Crystal Empire."

Quote nodded. "I figured as much."

"R-really?"

"Well, you walked in dressed like royalty. When you said this was an empire, I figured you must be the empress, or whoever is in charge." Something got Quote's attention and he glanced down at himself. "Oh, it looks like I've recovered."

"What?" Cadence asked. "Already?"

"Yeah, I heal quickly." Quote swiveled his body so that he was sitting on the side of the bed with his feet on the floor and threw his covers off. The moment the air hit his body, he realized something felt wrong.

"P-princess Cadence?" Quote asked, embarrassment creeping into his voice.

"Yes, Quote?"

"Where are my clothes?"

The princess regarded him calmly without a trace of embarrassment. "Oh, they're being washed right now. The medics removed them so that they could operate on you, although in the end, they couldn't do anything. They were terribly dirty and torn, so we're going to clean and patch them up for you."

"Well, thank you," Quote replied, covering himself once again with the blanket. "I really do appreciate it. But do you have something else I could wear in the meantime?"

"Oh?" Cadence asked, curious. "Is it customary to wear clothing where you're from?"

Quote grinned sheepishly. "All the time."

"Interesting," Cadence mused. "Mistletoe," she called out. A mare, shorter than the princess, appeared in the doorway. Much like the castle around them, she appeared to be made entirely of crystals. Quote wasn't sure how that was possible, but she definitely seemed to be alive. She was partially translucent, and light seemed to gleam off of her at every angle. She was dark green and had a beautiful red mane and tail.

"Yes, your highness?" Mistletoe asked meekly.

Cadence smiled warmly to the mare. "I've already told you, there's no need for the formalities. Would you be a dear and fetch a robe for our guest?"

Mistletoe nodded. "Certainly. Right away, your highness." The mare turned and exited the room as she set about her task.

Cadence shook her head, smiling. "That mare. Always polite to a fault." She returned her gaze to Quote. "If you already feel well enough to move, then once Mistletoe returns, would you like a tour of the castle?"

Quote nodded. "If you don't mind, I'd like that."

"Certainly," Cadence replied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Curly Brace's eyes slowly opened as they tried to adjust to the poor lighting. Wherever she was, it was murky and dark, and the fact that her whole body was sore didn't help the matter. She groaned as she forced herself to sit up, using the wall as support.

"She's awake!"

"What?"

"The creature's awake!"

Curly snapped to attention when she heard the voices. Looking around, she saw that she was in a stone room of some kind. The far wall, however, was a heavy metal gate with a large padlock. A soft glow was coming from beyond the gate, presumably from torches. Immediately behind the gate, she saw the figures of two ponies wearing gold armor. They each held a spear in their hooves and were looking directly at her.

"Wh-where...?" Curly stuttered.

"She can talk?!" the first guard uttered in shock.

"Focus!" the second guard snapped. "You know your orders. Express!" he called. "Go get the Lieutenant."

The sound of a door slamming in the distance echoed through the stone corridors. Curly looked over her room again. All she saw was two bowls, one with water and the other with fruit, and a plate of bread placed near the gate door. None of her equipment was anywhere to be found.

"Please," Curly managed to say. "Can you tell me where I am?"

The guards said nothing and turned their backs to her. They wouldn't even take a passive glance behind themselves to look at her. Curly sighed. She didn't feel well enough to move, so even if her weapons were here, she wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. Curly decided to use this time to close her eyes and rest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight called. "Oh! And Princess Luna!"

Twilight and her friends had entered the Royal Throne Room. The door had been guarded by an unusually large number of guards, yet there were none to be found in the room itself. Only the two princesses of the kingdom awaited them at their thrones.

"Twilight! I'm glad you and your friends made it safely. We have much to discuss." Princess Celestia looked at each pony that had entered. "I take it you've brought the Elements with you?"

"Of course, Princess." Each of the six of them proceeded to show their respective Element of Harmony.

Princess Celestia breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. From now on, we cannot leave them unattended at any point."

"Sister, if I may," Princess Luna interjected, "I believe that I speak for everypony in this room when I ask if you could finally please tell us what this is all about."

Twilight nodded. "Yes, please, princess. What was with those clouds? What is that floating island doing here? Is the kingdom in danger?"

Celestia closed her eyes for a moment, gathering her thoughts. Finally, she let out a sigh. There was great sadness in her voice as she spoke.

"Halda has returned."

Author's Note:

This story takes place between the events of Equestria Girls and the Season Four Premier. (Although this being an Alternate Universe fic means it's possible that the events of Season Four never happened at all. However, assume Seasons 1-3 and the movie are still canon) Therefore, the Elements of Harmony still exist.

Comments

[bonejar69]

IT'S ALIVE!! On a more serious note, it's good to see you add another chapter after such a long wait and, might I say, it was well worth the wait. This was a great chapter that revealed much and added a few new questions. Here's hoping that you continue with this story. It has loads of potential

[KillerRobotQuote]

4818590 Glad you enjoyed it. I'm hoping to update it more regularly, though it probably won't be a rigid schedule.