My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship

by Danieru

53. The lost Empire - Part 1

Author's Note:

We officially arrived at Season 3!
I hope you are all ready for it!
Because I sure am!
This season will be a little more story-driven than the second one, despite being shorter.

Also, if you haven't already, please make sure to read "My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship - Diary of the Storm Wings" since it is supposed to be read between Season 2 and 3.

Please consider leaving a review under this chapter to let me know what you think about it.
I am always happy to see your opinion on this story.
Also, let me know what you think about the Season 3 cover that I made for this story(Which will soon be uploaded on my Deviantart page as well)

See you all in the next chapter ^^.

Reading Order:

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship Season 1 + 2(Chapter 1 - 53)

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship - Diary of The Storm Wings

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship Season 3(Chapter 54 - 65)

Star Twinkle and Steel Hammer took a little walk through Ponyville. Both of them were talking about some casual stuff until Steel Hammer asked a certain question that caused Star Twinkle to narrow his eyes.
“So Star Twinkle...any new adventures to tell me about?”

“What do you mean?” Star Twinkle asked confused.

“Well, since you started to spend time with your new friends, you seem to run into one crazy adventure after another on a daily basis. I mean what about that wedding?” Steel Hammer asked.

This was not untrue. Star Twinkle actually figured that out a long time ago and remembered how much it bothered him back then. By now he pretty much accepted these changes but there were still moments where he wished that things could go back to his “normal and boring” life.

“I wouldn't call them all crazy. And it's not every day,” Star Twinkle corrected. “I mean today looks pretty normal doesn't it?”

But as soon as he spoke out those words, something that resembled a small earthquake, made the two ponies stagger a little. The next thing that got both of their attention was seeing the Golden Oak Library literally jump into the air for a few seconds, before it landed down on the ground again, causing another small Earthquake.

The two Earth Ponies had no idea what that was about but as soon as things settled down, Steel Hammer smiled in a pretty “I told you” way at Star Twinkle.

“Okay, I'll admit...that was pretty weird...” Star Twinkle said before he walked straight to the library. “I'll better check out what this was all about,” he added, leaving Steel Hammer behind who continued to smile.

“Don't forget to tell me about your adventure when you are back!” Steel Hammer shouted after Star Twinkle while waving him goodbye with a smile on his face. Star Twinkle didn't even bother to reply to that and continued his way towards the library.

He opened the door and entered the library. To his surprise, all of his friends were standing near the entrance as well. They noticed how Star Twinkle was entering the room and greeted him but all Star Twinkle wanted to know now was what just happened.
“So I was just walking around Ponyville and noticed how this library was jumping straight into the air...mind to explain what that was all about?” He asked a little casually despite the situation.

The instant where he looked around the room, he saw how Twilight was throwing some random stuff across the room in order to find something. She seemed really stressed and ran across the room in a panic, making Star Twinkle wonder what caused this behavior.

Eventually, someone stepped up. “It's just Twilight going all nuts because of some kind of test,” Spike explained as he walked over to the group, clearly annoyed by Twilight's behavior.

“What kind of test?” Star Twinkle asked.

“We don't know,” Applejack informed.

“That's what Twilight is going all fuzzy about,” Pinkie Pie added.

Star Twinkle still didn't understand. When it comes to something like this Twilight was usually very confident, even if it was unclear what it was about. But things became more clear after Fluttershy mentioned one more detail.

“Well, it is the princess who is asking for the test...”

“Oh, I see...” Star Twinkle replied, fully understanding the situation now.

“What do you mean with that?” Twilight asked confused after she suddenly appeared next to Star Twinkle.

But before Star Twinkle could reply, Rarity took it upon her to explain. “Don't be offended now but, every time when it comes to Princess Celestia you kinda...”

“Go crazy?” Rainbow Dash guessed.

“I was actually about to say overreact...” Rarity corrected, making her version sound a little friendlier.

It was obvious that Twilight didn't like to hear that. “That's not true!” She protested.

To that, Star Twinkle felt the need to join in as well. “Actually...” He started, causing Twilight to turn her attention towards him now. “Yeah, I have to agree to that. I mean the last time you thought she would send you back to Magic Kindergarten because you forgot to write a letter,” Star Twinkle reminded her, to which the others agreed to as well.

“But this is totally different!” Twilight exclaimed a little angrily. “I am Princess Celestia's student! If I fail this test then I not only prove that I am a bad student but I also bring shame about Princess Celestia!” She explained in her frustration, making it sound like as if there was more at stake as there actually was.

There was no point on talking with Twilight like this. As usual, she told herself that it was much worse than it actually was. The only thing that everypony could do right now was to give her some moral support so the group decided to accompany Twilight to Canterlot.

At the train station in Canterlot...

Despite the Changeling attack which took place a little while ago, Canterlot looked already fine again. The damage that was done was already repaired and there were no more attacks after Shining Armor's and Princess Cadance's wedding, making it safe to walk through Canterlot again.

The group took the train as usual and arrived at the train station of Canterlot. With quills and paper inside of her saddlebag, Twilight rushed towards the castle as soon as the train doors opened. The group didn't even have a chance to say anything, let alone wishing her good luck. She obviously wanted to be on time for the test. Star Twinkle and the others just exited the train a saw Twilight running off to the distance.

“That was to be expected...” Star Twinkle thought as he watched Twilight running towards the castle.

"Look! She is so excited for the test that she is running towards the castle!" Pinkie Pie said, completely missing how Twilight really felt about this test.

"I'm sure she will be fine, right?" Fluttershy asked a little hesitantly.

"Of course, she will..." Star Twinkle replied annoyed. "She always worries too much and in the end, everything turns out fine," he said, judging from previous situations.

The others could not accompany her while she was doing this test, making them wonder how to spend time in the meantime. In the end, they all decided to meet at the train station again, once Twilight's test was over.
Star Twinkle and Spike both waited in front of the castle until Twilight would come out.

“So...what kind of test do you think Princess Celestia got for Twilight?” Spike asked out of worry.

“I dunno...probably something about magic or friendship...or how friendship is magic...” Star Twinkle could only guess.

Somehow, those words didn't make Spike feel much better. “But...You also think that she will pass, right?” Spike asked, trying to get a better answer out of Star Twinkle.

“How should I know?” Star Twinkle thought. He tried to believe in Twilight but he also had to keep realistic. He had no idea how a test of Princess Celestia would look like, to begin with. Star Twinkle noticed how he was stared at from Spike because he didn't give an answer. “I'm sure she will be okay...” he finally replied in order to calm Spike down.

It wasn't much longer until Twilight finally stepped out of the door again. Spike instantly rushed towards her and asked her how her test went.

“That was fast! Let me guess, you got a perfect score?” He asked, making it look like as if he was never worried, to begin with.

However, Twilight didn't reply and only had a frown on her face, making both of them worry.

“How did it go?” Star Twinkle asked, now feeling a little worried too.

“Looks like I wasn't prepared for this kind of test...” She replied while not removing her frown on her face.

“What do you mean?” Star Twinkle asked.

“Princess Celestia wants me to protect the Crystal Empire,” Twilight replied while keeping her head down.

Both Star Twinkle and Spike didn't know what to think about that term and looked at each other confused. With something like “empire” in the name, you would think that it was something big that you should now about but both of them never heard of it.

Twilight explained that the Crystal Empire was gone for a thousand years which caused it to be forgotten by even those who knew about it. The reason why it was gone was that it was cursed by a Unicorn named King Sombra. King Sombra enslaved the ponies of the Crystal Empire and took over it so Princess Celestia and Princess Luna put an end to his reign and banished him. That is when he put the curse on the Crystal Empire, making it vanish.

Now with the return of the Crystal Empire, Princess Celestia sent out Cadance and Shinning Armor to protect the ponies there. Twilight, as well as her friends, were supposed to aid them as well.

“Wow...” Star Twinkle replied after listening to Twilight's explanation of her task. “She wants you to save an entire empire?” Star Twinkle said in disbelieve.

Spike then poked him in the sides and pointed at Twilight who had her head lowered towards the ground, referring that this was the last thing she wanted to hear and that she was most likely aware of that herself.

“I mean, don't worry! It'll be fine!” He then corrected very forcefully.

But Twilight was well aware of how impossible this test seemed and wouldn't have reacted otherwise, even if Star Twinkle meant those words. "It's okay, Star Twinkle...I know that what Princess Celestia asked of me is impossible. I mean how am I supposed to save an entire empire?" She said in a very frustrated tone in her voice.

While Star Twinkle didn't know what the princess was planning herself, he did believe that she wasn't asking Twilight to do it without a good reason. “I don't think that Princess Celestia would send you to the Crystal Empire if she wasn't sure that you could do it,” Star Twinkle said while in his head he tried to believe that this had to be the reason.

“But what if I fail?” Twilight replied with her eyes almost beginning to tear up because of the fear to let Princess Celestia down.

“Don't worry! You are not going alone after all. I mean, we defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord, saving all of Equestria in the process,” he reminded which gave him some motivation as well. “Protecting an empire should be no problem by now,” he added with confidence.

Star Twinkle's confidence seemed to have rubbed off on Twilight who now felt a little better.
“You know what? You are right!” She replied finally removing her frown. “Princess Celestia believed that I won't fail either and I will not let her down!” Twilight said with her confidence rising again.

It was good for Star Twinkle to see Twilight happy again. However, this test began to worry him now. He did believe in his own words from before about saving Equestria and that an empire shouldn't be considered to be much harder to save. If Princess Celestia believed that Twilight and her friends should be enough then all he could do is to accept that. It was not up for him to decide.

The three returned to the train station of Canterlot, where the rest of their friends already waited for them. Not knowing about the current situation, they quickly asked how Twilight's test went.

“Twilight! Did you pass?” Applejack quickly asked after she hugged Twilight in comfort.

“Are we gonna celebrate your awesomeness with Princess Celestia?” Pinkie Pie asked before she fired her party cannon, causing confetti to fly out of it. But the confetti flew right back after Twilight said that this had to wait.

Twilight then announced that they will all go to the Crystal Empire. Naturally, they were all confused to hear that so she explained everything to them as well. They all understood and were ready to help her with her task of course.

The Crystal Empire was located in the north of Equestria. The best way to get to it was to take the train again. The more the train got to the north, less grass could be seen from outside of the window. Instead, there was just snow. There were worlds apart from how much snow it was compared to what Star Twinkle saw before. The only thing that could be seen after exiting the train was the color white. And as if that wasn't bad enough, a heavy snowstorm was raging, making it hard to see anything.

The group slowly walked outside of the train. Some of them were having a hard time getting used to the snowstorm and protected their faces in order to see something. Needless to say, it was also very cold which might have been also a reason why it made them feel a little uncomfortable.

“Ha! And you all made fun of me for packing so many scarves,” Rarity said as she walked outside of the train, wearing one of her scarves with a smile on her face. For some reason, she had those with her even when they went to Canterlot.

Shortly after, Spike came out of the train with a pile of bags on his back which was all of Rarity's stuff. “I didn't say a word,” he said, obeying Rarity as usual.

Shortly after the group's arrival, Shining Armor was walking up to them, wearing a mask and a scarf that would protect his eyes from the storm. “Twilight! You made it!” He shouted to get the attention of everypony and hugging his little sister. “We'd better get moving. There are things out here we really don't want to run into after dark,” he advised, starting to worry everypony.

The group looked at each other out of worry. “What kind of things?” Fluttershy asked out of fear.

“Let's just say the Empire... isn't the only thing that's returned,” Shining Armor informed with a paranoid facial expression.

They all began to follow Shining Armor, who was leading them towards the Crystal Empire. To imagine that there would be something in this vast snowfield was beyond Star Twinkle's imagination.

“Something keeps trying to get in! We think it's the unicorn king who originally cursed the place,” Shining Armor explained.

Of course, things couldn't be easy for once, Star Twinkle thought. Protecting the Empire was probably hard enough but additionally dealing with a pony that took Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to defeat was just unnecessary. All the more reason to reach the empire before it could come to that.

“But Princess Celestia said I was being sent here to find a way to protect the Empire! If King Sombra can't get in, then it must already be protected,” Twilight pointed out.

But before Shining Armor could reply, a loud howl could be heard in the distance, sending shivers down on the group.

“Th-That's one of the things, isn't it?” Fluttershy said, being the first one to show fear in the group.

Shining Armor quickly advised that they should head for the Crystal Empire as fast as they could before they could get in some serious danger. However, there was already something appearing right behind the group. A big black shadow emerged from the ground and tried to get the group. In the middle of this shadow, two light green eyes could be seen, with some purple shadows on the sides of it.

The group's first idea was to run away from this giant shadow. Fortunately, they were able to outrun it but it was still right behind them. While running away, everypony could see a light blue barrier in the distance which was most likely the Crystal Empire. They all quickly went through it and were now outside of this snowfield and found themselves on a plain grass field.

All of them were pretty exhausted and had to catch their breaths for a second. Thankfully, the shadow of King Sombra didn't seem to get into this barrier.

Star Twinkle took a look around and noticed that somepony was missing from the group. “Where is Shining Armor?” Star Twinkle asked.

Twilight noticed just now that her brother was not with her had a concerned look on her face. But before she could even grow worried, Shining Armor came jumping through the barrier as well. He must have bought the others some time in order to escape and faced King Sombra.

“Oh, no! Shining Armor, your horn!” Twilight said as she quickly rushed to her brother's side.

Shining Armor didn't seem hurt at first but there were some black crystals scattered around his horn that prevented him from using his magic. He didn't seem to be bothered by it, however, especially since there was an important business to take care of.

Everypony was ready to move on again and took a moment to take a first look at the Crystal Empire. The first thing that everypony noticed was the big light blue castle in the middle. Then there were those houses which were all shaped like crystals that came out of the ground.

“Well, now it's obvious why it's called Crystal Empire,” Star Twinkle said as he inspected his surroundings.

While Star Twinkle was looking at all this a little more unimpressed, Rarity was stunned. “It's gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous! There are no words!” She said in admiration.

“Focus, Rarity,” Applejack said. “We're here to help Twilight, not admire the scenery,” she reminded, making Rarity snap out a little.

“Eh, I don't see what the big deal is. Just looks like another old castle to me,” Rainbow Dash said who was seemed to be the least impressed by all this.

“Another old...! Have you lost your mind? Look at the magni–“ Rarity replied, not being able to comprehend what Rainbow Dash just said.

But when everypony saw how stressed Rarity was about it, they laughed, making her realize that it was just a joke from Rainbow Dash. Rarity took it with good humor and followed the group inside of the castle which was located in the very middle of the town.

From the inside, the castle looked almost exactly like the castle in Canterlot only shinier due to the crystals. In the main hall of the castle, there was a throne where Princess Cadance was sitting on. For some reason, she was looking a little exhausted. But once she saw Twilight approaching her, she seemed fine.

Both of them walked up to each other in excitement and performed their little dance again. Star Twinkle didn't exactly know what this was about back then and that didn't change now.
“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” They both said in unison while they did their little ritual.

“That is adorable...” Star Twinkle thought, admitting that seeing two full grown mares do something like this was kinda cute.

They both laughed after this but Princess Cadance's face was colored in pain once more. “One of these days we need to get together when the fate of Equestria isn't hanging in the balance,” she said almost jokingly.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked immediately out of worry after realizing how much in pain Cadance was.

Shining Armor walked up to Cadance. “Cadance has been able to use her magic to spread love and light. That seems to be what is protecting it. But she hasn't slept, barely eats. I want to help her, but my protection spell has been countered by King Sombra,” Shining Armor explained while he hinted at his now useless horn.

Star Twinkle did just now realize that Princess Cadance's horn was constantly glowing, indicating that she was keeping up that blue barrier around the Crystal Empire the whole time.

“It's alright Shining Armor, I'm fine,” Princess Cadance assured, although it was hard to believe judging from her facial expression.

But Shining Armor had to point out the fact, that Princess Cadance was not alright and explained that time was getting short now. ”She can't go on like this forever, and if her magic were to fade... Well, you saw what's out there waiting for that to happen,”

“That's why we're here,” Twilight said, confidently.

Twilight was quickly backed up by her friends, who were ready to help as well. May it be because of Princess Celestia's test or not, Star Twinkle also felt obligated to help those two out. It was not like he could leave now anyway with this Unicorn King out there.

Shining Armor explained that he and Cadance didn't have much chance to gather any information from the Crystal Ponies. According to them, they should at least be somepony who could help them with their task.

“A research paper!” Twilight suddenly exclaimed, confusing her brother in the process. “That must be part of my test – to gather information from the Crystal Ponies and deliver it to you! This is gonna be great! I love research papers!” Twilight cheerfully explained, still seeing all of this as part of her test, rather than a dangerous situation that had to be taken care of.

“Yeah, who doesn't?” Rainbow Dash sarcastically added, which could have been come from Star Twinkle as well.

Twilight assured her brother that she would take of the situation and that he wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. Star Twinkle didn't know where Twilight got this sudden confidence from. He didn't know if she was trying to be strong in front of everypony or if she actually felt confident to do this "saving the empire" task. Whatever it was, it felt refreshing.

Twilight's first suggestion was to gather information from the Crystal Ponies to find out if there was a way to protect the empire without Princess Cadance having to perform her spell. For that, the group split up and talked to everypony they could find.

Star Twinkle spoke with several ponies but the result was always the same. Every pony he asked, had problems to remember anything before the empire was cursed. Also, every time when Star Twinkle brought King Sombra up, their faces were colored in pain, as if it hurt to even think about him.

Once he realized that talking with anypony was useless, Star Twinkle regrouped with his friends to see if they found out anything. Some of them were already waiting beneath the place under the castle.

“I got nothing so far,” Rainbow Dash said in defeat as she landed in front of everypony.

For some reason, Rarity seemed to have spaced out a little and snapped out in surprise it after Rainbow Dash's words “Oh, me neither,” she said almost non-caring.

Fluttershy walked up to the group with a cautious expression on her face. She stood next to Star Twinkle and pulled down a zipper from her head to her hooves and revealed herself to be Pinkie Pie. “My cover has been blown. I repeat, my cover has been blown!” She said in a serious tone right into Star Twinkle's face, who could only stand there in confusion.

“How did you even...” was the only thing he could say after witnessing whatever just happened.

“Ooookay,” Twilight said, grabbing the attention of her friends again.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was approaching the group and stepped over the “costume” that Pinkie Pie was wearing before. Needless to say, she didn't know what to think of that and got confused.

It looks like nopony was able to get some information out of theses ponies. They all realized that everypony seemed to suffer some kind of amnesia that might be connected to the curse that King Sombra put on the empire. However, Applejack brought up a library that some of the ponies mentioned. This instantly got Twilight's attention. “A library? Well, why didn't you say so?!” She said in excitement.

“Uh... thought I just did,” Applejack replied, being slightly confused by Twilight's reaction.

Since it was the only clue, Everypony made their way to the library. Twilight was obviously the most excited one in the group. It was actually understandable for once. The library had probably knowledge about things that were long forgotten since it was over thousand years old.

They quickly found the library and soon as Twilight entered it, she was blown away by how big it was compared to her own library in Ponyville. “I just... I don't even know what to... There are no words,” she said impressed as she looked over the giant hall which was filled with probably hundreds of bookshelves.

An elderly librarian mare was walking up to the group as soon as she noticed them. “May I help you?” She asked, offering her help.

Twilight walked up to her. “Yes. We're looking for a book,” she asked

The obvious answer of the librarian was: ”We have plenty of those,”

“You do. You really do,” Twilight replied while she was spinning around, overlooking the library again in awe.

Since this conversation went nowhere, Star Twinkle decided to take care of the talking. “We need a history book or a book that can tell us how the Empire protected itself before,” Star Twinkle asked.

The librarian took a moment to think and rubbed her chin while in deep thoughts. “History, history... Ah, yes,” she said happily, indicating that she might remember.

However, instead of continuing, the mare kept smiling at the group, making this conversation feel a little awkward.

Eventually, Star Twinkle broke the awkward silence. “Aaaand...Where can we find it?”

This seemed to confuse the librarian. ”I... I can't seem to remember. I'm not sure I actually work here,” she then replied really confused, causing Rainbow Dash groan in annoyance, which could also have been Star Twinkle at this very moment.

This left the seven ponies no other choice but to look for the book themselves. Considering that this was a really huge library, it was really not easy to find one specific book. Everypony was looking separately for the book to speed up the search.

Star Twinkle was not looking forward to this but he did look at every book as well. Eventually, he was bombarded by some books that came down flying towards him. The reason they fell down was because Rainbow Dash was passing them with a ladder that she was standing on. Star Twinkle wasn't hit by any of the books but he got rather annoyed by this little action.

“Careful!” He shouted at her while waving his hoof angrily.

Suddenly, another book fell down and this time, he was hit by it. “Ouch!” He said before he rubbed his head because of this. He looked over to the book that fell down and now laid next to him. The fall caused the book to be open, making it unknown what the title might be.

“Wouldn't it be funny if this was the book that we were looking for?” Star Twinkle amusingly said to himself while he approached the book. Of course, since Rainbow Dash dropped it, the book was most likely not worth checking but the words that he managed to read on one of the sites kept him a little interested.

“The four knights of the Princess?” He instantly saw as his eyes wandered across the page that was wide open in front of him. “A book about Princess Celestia's Royal Guards?” He guessed.

Even though he had to keep looking for a book about the Crystal Empire, his curiosity was grabbed. He never heard that Princess Celestia had four knights at her side beside the Royal Guards so he picked up the book and read out some words.

“The four knights of the princess.
Once, there were four knights who served under the princess who ruled over Equestria...
Those knights who possessed the power of the three races were said to serve Equestria from the very beginning it was founded...
Their strength was only surpassed by their loyalty and devotion that they showed towards their princess and her subjects...
Their names were...”

“Huh?” Star Twinkle stopped after he realized something off. “Their names are missing?”

For some reason the names of the four Knights were blanked out, making Star Twinkle wonder.
“If somepony didn't want anypony to know about those knights then why didn't they just removed the whole site instead of removing their names? How is that even possible?” He wondered, trying to figure out an answer.
“Furthermore, it is said they served under the princess but...the Crystal Empire was gone because Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stopped King Sombra. So that means it was before Princess Luna turned into Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia ruled over Equestria alone...
So are those knights referred to as Princess Luna's knights? The book doesn't give any information about this...”
Star Twinkle began to get really into this story and started to come up with some theories, but Twilight had found a book and reminded him to the task that he was there for. He blamed himself for getting distracted and ignored the book to get back to saving the Crystal Empire.

Star Twinkle and the rest of his friends walked up to Twilight, who was reading through the book to check if there was something that can protect the Crystal Empire. After she went through the book in some incredible speed, she explained its content to her friends.

“According to this book, there is something called A Crystal Faire. It was established by their first queen and became their most important tradition. The Faire was held every year to renew the spirit of love and unity in the empire so they could protect it from harm,” she explained.

“And what exactly is that Crystal Faire?” Applejack asked, speaking out what everypony was basically thinking at the moment.

From what Twilight explained in great detail, this Crystal Faire sounded like some kind of feast. It would feature a jousting tournament, sweets made out of crystal berries, a petting zoo, a crystal flugelhorn and many other things.

“So if we do all those things, then all those ponies love will return, then Crystal Empire will be safe again?” Star Twinkle asked after listening to Twilight's explanation.

“It should be,” Twilight replied. “It's the only chance we have right now!” She added confidently.

Everypony agreed that it was better than doing nothing so they quickly got to work in order to set this Crystal Faire together.

Later...

It took some time and work to get everything ready but only a little time later, the Crystal Empire was decorated colorfully and featured almost everything from the book. Twilight overlooked everything before they opened The Crystal Faire for everypony.
“It looks amazing! I don't know how I could've done this without you! One last check to make sure everything is in place, and then the festivities can begin!” She said as she was excited for everything to turn for the better from now on.

“What's this thing for?” Applejack pointed out as she was poking some kind of heart that laid on a crystal, placed directly under the castle.

“The last page of the book mentioned a Crystal Heart as the faire's centerpiece, so I used my magic to cut one out of a crystal block,” Twilight explained.

“Are we all ready then?” Star Twinkle asked, after being relieved that the work was over for now.

“Yes, let's get to the castle and announce the Crystal Faire to everypony,” Twilight replied, again very confidently.

Twilight, Shining Armor, and Cadance were walking towards the balcony of the castle with Star Twinkle and Pinkie Pie being next to them while blowing a flugelhorn each in order to grab the attention of the crystal ponies. When they both blew into their horns, a rather painfully loud sounding tone came out of the horn which made Star Twinkle's head hurt a little.

After that, Twilight attempted to announce the start of the Crystal Faire but Pinkie Pie blew into her horn again out of fun, startling Twilight a little. Star Twinkle then took her horn away to let her know that she should stop, making her grin a little embarrassed.

After that little interruption, Twilight then began to announce the Crystal Faire. “Ahem. Hear ye, hear ye! Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor do cordially invite you to attend the Crystal Faire!” She shouted across the Crystal Empire.

The Crystal Ponies attention was quickly grabbed by this and they seemed excited about it. In fact, there was a change happening to them. Their coats and manes became shinier as if there were made out of crystals itself. Star Twinkle, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie looked down from the balcony and noticed the change as well, making it seem like as if their plan worked. The rest of their friends also did a good job of taking care of everypony but the three ponies saw how Rainbow Dash was trying a little too hard to make the Crystal Ponies happy.

“I think, I will go down and try to hold her back a little,” Star Twinkle suggested.

“Good idea,” Twilight replied.

Star Twinkle made his way through the castle and walked up to Rainbow Dash so that she would not scare off the ponies, instead of making them feel comfortable. When he came across Rainbow Dash, he noticed how she looked almost proud to have shoved all the information and things into everypony.

“You know, you don't have to rub all those things into everyponies face. I mean, they'll eventually remember everything about this Crystal Faire anyway,” Star Twinkle explained.

“I know, I just wanted to make sure that they do it fast!” She replied, making Star Twinkle not even feel surprised.

Two ponies were walking past Star Twinkle and Rainbow Dash, and the two couldn't help but overhear the conversation that they had on their way.
“Seeing all of this, I feel like I'm starting to remember. Remember things from before the king,” one of them said.

“Me too,” the other one replied.

They both gasped and turned into shiny like most of the other ponies tight now.
“The Crystal Heart!” They both said in unison.

“Do you think they really have it?” One of them asked excitedly.

“Of course we have it!” Rainbow Dash immediately answered, making Star Twinkle's little scolding from before looking like it didn't even affect her. “Can't have a Crystal Faire without the Crystal Heart, right?” She added.

“Of course you can't,” Another pony joined in which turned out to be the librarian from before.
“The whole purpose of the Crystal Faire is to lift the spirits of the Crystal Ponies, so the light within them can power the Crystal Heart so that the Empire can be protected!” Her appearance turned to a crystallized form as well. ”I do work at the library!” She added happily.

This little information confused Star Twinkle and Rainbow Dash since Twilight didn't mention anything like that.
“What was that about powering the heart?” Star Twinkle asked a little nervously.

“I just can't believe you found it. King Sombra said he'd hidden it away where we would never see it again! I only hope it will still be as powerful after all these years...!” She said excitedly before she left to attend the Crystal Faire as well.

The Crystal Heart that the librarian talked about, definitely sounded a lot more different than the hear that Twilight made. From what they gathered is that it wasn't the Crystal Faire but rather the Crystal Heart that would ultimately protect the empire from danger. However, there was only that fake Crystal Heart that Twilight made out of crystals which most likely didn't possess any power at all.

Realizing that, Star Twinkle looked over to Rainbow Dash.
“I go and tell, Twilight, you need to make sure that nopony finds out about the Crystal Heart!” Star Twinkle said in a serious tone in his voice.

In any other situation, Rainbow Dash would feel annoyed to be ordered around like this by Star Twinkle but since she noticed the serious expression of Star Twinkle and being aware of the situation as well, she saluted and quickly got to work. She flew up in the air, grabbed a flag from the castle and covered the Crystal Heart with it. Meanwhile, Star Twinkle made his way to Twilight again who was inside of the castle with Shining Armor and Cadance.

“Hey, Star Twinkle! Is everything going well down there?” She asked, well spirited and clearly not aware of the situation.

“We need the Crystal Heart!” Star Twinkle almost shouted at her in a panic.

Twilight was not sure why Star Twinkle was behaving like that and narrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “What do you mean? I made one, remember?” She replied.

“No! We need the real one! The Crystal Heart is the reason why the Empire could protect itself but King Sombra has hidden it!” Star Twinkle explained while panicking a little.

Star Twinkle's sudden behavior, caused Twilight to take a look at the book again. “I didn't know it was an actual relic! The book didn't mention anything about the Crystal Ponies powering the Heart!” She said before she arrived at the last page where she found a ripped out site of the book.
“There was a page missing... How did I not notice?!” She said in shock after this realization.

Shining Armor and Cadance were both standing next to them and overheard the conversation and got worried themselves.

“It's alright, Twilight,” Cadance assured. However, seconds later she was falling unconscious into Shining Armor's legs who was shocked by it and looked over to Twilight in frustration.

“Twily...” He said, not knowing what to do at this point.

Princess Cadance was too weak to keep her spell up any longer and the barrier around the Crystal Empire broke down. This was exactly what King Sombra was waiting for. There was a growl in the distance, which most likely came from him. The moment when the barrier vanished the dark cloud around the empire came closer and was about to engulf every bit of it. And with no barrier or the Crystal Heart to protect it, there was little to nothing left what the group could do.

“What do we do now?” Star Twinkle asked in a panic towards Twilight, however, she didn't answer and looked in fear and worry towards the dark cloud that was approaching the empire.

Star Twinkle turned his head towards the cloud as well and could only imagine what would happen next to the Crystal Empire.

To be continued...