Camaraderie is Sorcery

by FireOfTheNorth

Chapter 3:1 - Return of the Crystal Empire, Part the First

Chapter 3:1 – Return of the Crystal Empire, Part the First

Celestia and Luna gazed out over the Equestry Valley, seated side by side atop one of Cant’r Laht Castle’s spires. Celestia had witnessed that view for nearly a thousand years, until it had no meaning for her other than the lines that her mind drew across the land to mark the borders between realms. But Luna had not known it, and through her, Celestia was able to appreciate the vista rolled out before Cant’r Laht with fresh eyes. Luna had not seen Equestria for a thousand years and had spent more than a year after her return cooped up in the castle or Cant’r Laht Cathedral, not able to share her appreciation of the natural world with Celestia.

Luna has always been the one who marveled at the wonders of the world and brought joy to me, the cynic. That was so long ago, when we were young and full of life. Look at us now; two ancient beings whose time has long passed. How long do you have left, dear sister? Your imprisonment in the moon has protected you from the years that have ravaged me, but the effects of Nightmare Moon may have been just as damaging. Oh, to be young fillies again, without kingdoms to rule or the heavens to keep on turning. It wasn’t all good, of course. There was Discord and the treachery of the world he built, and the two of us were all alone. No, best to look ahead, to whatever future’s left for us.

Absentmindedly, Celestia’s eyes turned to the south. The Equestry River below glittered in the sun, winding its way through the countryside like a ribbon. Past where it came alongside the Everfree Forest, within which lurked monsters and Celestia and Luna’s old home, it would meet Ponieville. Celestia might have been able to see the village if she cast a spell, but she had no desire to do that. After her ordeal fighting Queen Chrysalis several months earlier, trying to use any kind of sorcery at all made her feel dreadfully ill and feeble. Somewhere down there is our future, Luna. We just have to guide things along and stay around until then.

“When will you return?” Celestia asked her sister, picking up the thread of their conversation which had unraveled as they admired the lands over which they were now regents.

“I knowest not, mine sister,” Luna replied, “I knowest not how many Children of the Night still dwell ‘cross Equestria. They doth know me as Mother of the Lost, and in that they art in some ways aright. For they art lost in their blasphemous worship of Nightmare Moon, and ‘tis mine duty to see them corrected and lead them to the truth. Fear not, mine sister, I shalt return in time for the night festival.”

Ever since last year’s night festival, Luna had been spending much of her time traveling across Equestria and seeking out the Children of the Night, always in the company of the four immortal captains who’d followed her in her rebellion and oftentimes in the guise of Nightmare Moon. Celestia had heard that she’d requested of the priestesses of the Church of One that this act as penance for her sins as Nightmare Moon, but that didn’t concern Celestia. Her sister was much happier now than she’d been after her return or during the last years of their reign together as queens, and she spent much less time cloistered in prayer and contemplation (though still much more than her sister). Luna had responsibilities as Regent of Equestria just as Celestia did, and she did not try to shirk them. A rapping sounded on the tower’s door and a very bat-like pony stepped out a second later.

“Pardon me, your royal highnesses,” Marvo said with a bow, “I was told to inform thee that Chancellor Midwinter is awaiting thee below.”

“Thank thee, Marvo, we shalt be down in a moment,” Luna promised the stallion who’d once led an army to help her overthrow the pony sitting next to her.

“Oh, Chancellor Midwinter,” Celestia groaned, “I should give the Lodge a piece of my mind for saddling us with so tedious a chancellor.”

“We needst make a few compromises for Equestria’s betterment,” Luna said as she continued to stare out over the Equestry Valley, her mane swaying contrary to the wind.

Concessions had been required in some situations to acquire the agreement of Celestia’s vassals to bring the Kingdom of Cant’r Laht into being. One of these was that the kingdom’s monarch (or monarchs) had to accept the guidance of a council. Celestia and Luna had been allowed to fill most of the positions with ponies of their choosing, but a few of them were selected by their subjects. One of these was the kingdom’s chancellor, which the Lodge of Sorceresses had claimed the right to appoint—from among their own ranks, of course. Count Midwinter of House Heles was a dreadful bore of a chancellor who went on and on with his advice, much of it contradictory as he tried to hedge every bet and please every interested party, and Celestia and Luna were required by law to listen to him. Celestia suspected that he’d been chosen just to slow them down and keep them from having time to get anything else done.

“Best get this over with,” Celestia sighed as she stood, and her sister followed her lead.

Together, the sisters stepped back into Cant’r Laht Castle to attend to their royal duties. As they entered the tower, Celestia involuntarily looked up, spotting Luna’s immortal followers perched among the ceiling arches. Her captains followed her as faithfully as they had when she’d been plotting Nightmare Moon’s Rebellion, but now they were simply bodyguards and were never separated from her long. Celestia had been dubious about trusting them at first, but they seemed no threat to her, having been set right by Luna. Evidently, that had been enough to overcome the grudge they surely felt for having been imprisoned by her for centuries in this very castle’s dungeons.

As Celestia and Luna prepared to descend, the door at the base of the stairs suddenly burst open and a mare came huffing and puffing up. Raven, Celestia’s page, appeared before them and gave a breathless bow. Her dress and mane were quite out of sorts from her apparent gallop from the one of the lowest points of the castle to the highest, and her countenance was reddened from exertion.

“Your royal highnesses,” Raven panted when she managed to regain her breath enough to force the words out, “I have news … from the outpost in the Frozen North. One of the … guards … has traveled … all the way here!”

“What news?” Celestia asked at the same time as Luna said, “Regain thy breath afore continuing.”

“The Frozen North is … frozen no more,” Raven said, waving off Luna’s suggestion, “The snow is melting … revealing fields and … villages with ponies still living in them! The guards … have accompanied Lady mi Amore Cadenza … to a crystal city!”

“Couldst it be?” Luna asked hollowly, all the blood appearing to have drained from her face, and she inclined her head to face Celestia, “Didst though knowest?”

“I suspected that the North might one day return after our army reappeared,” Celestia said as she glanced up at Luna’s bodyguards, who were still motionless but were attentively listening. “That is why, for years, I supported an outpost far outside my borders. That preparation seems to have paid off.”

“Dost thou thinkest … he hast returned as well?” Luna asked.

“Perhaps,” Celestia replied, “But he has died once already; in what form might he return? He is no longer the stallion you once loved.”

“I knowest that. After over a thousand years, what couldst remain but Sombra,” Luna said drearily, “Still, I … I knowest not if I couldst face him again.”

“Cadence is there already. There is no reason for us to intervene unless the situation grows more dire,” Celestia assured her sister, “It is no longer our place.”

Cadence cannot face the mad Shadow King on her own, though. My most faithful apprentice, you will face many tests if you are to become the mare I know you are capable of becoming. This will have to be one of them.

“Raven, fetch me quill, ink, parchment, and the dragonfire potions,” Celestia ordered, and the still-breathless page hopped to her task.

***

Twilight Sparkle sat in Golden Oaks’ laboratory, the glass removed from all the knotted window frames and curtains pulled aside to deal with the heat that was afflicting Ponieville. Spike thought it was quite pleasant to lay outside and let the sun bake him until mere contact with his scales could burn a pony, but the sorceress who’d been born and raised in the mountain city of Cant’r Laht didn’t feel the same way. Perhaps she could pop into Cant’r Laht for a visit and escape the dreadful heat, but what reason could she justifiably find for doing so?

Stacks of unread correspondence lay piled up on one of her study’s bookshelves. After concluding that she’d fallen out of practice when dealing with Cant’r Laht politics, she’d decided to have news of maneuverings in the newly minted kingdom’s castle sent to her so that she could keep up. She hadn’t expected it to be quite so substantial, though she should have, given how Celestia had changed everything with her and Luna’s coronations and completely reorganize her dominions.

Part of the reason Twilight hadn’t been able to stay abreast of the goings-on in Cant’r Laht was that she kept getting distracted by other things. Not some dire emergency to save all of Equestria, thank goodness. She’d waited anxiously during the summer solstice, spent in Cant’r Laht with her friends after watching Celestia raise the sun from the Cant’r Laht Commons, for some ancient evil that she’d never heard of to reappear … but nothing had happened. The solstice had come and gone with no catastrophe, and many relatively uneventful weeks had since passed in Ponieville.

Not completely uneventfully, of course. Last week, a spotted wyvern had attacked from the Everfree Forest. Rainbow Dash had managed to slay it and collect a handsome reward from Mayor Mare, but not before it had completely demolished a section of the palisade surrounding the town. Mayor Mare had taken the opportunity to announce her plans to build a true wall of stone, with towers and gatehouses, around Ponieville and a fair deal of the surrounding countryside. The scope was optimistic, and perhaps actually not overzealous. In the last two years, word that a sorceress was living in the town again—and not just any sorceress, but Celestia’s personal protégé —as well as tales of the Brave Companions had drawn quite a few ponies to Ponieville, and no small number of new homes had been erected outside Ponieville’s palisade.

No, the things that distracted Twilight Sparkle from keeping up on Cant’r Laht politics were her friends and whatever they might be up to, along with her other studies. At the moment, she was fixated on something she’d noticed in the lost histories of the Equestrian diarchy that Golden Oak had collected. In more than one source, she’d found mention of a “War with the Shadow King in the North” but couldn’t find much more information on such a conflict. Mentions were sparse and without details, as if it had been covered up or remained purposefully unacknowledged even before Nightmare Moon’s Rebellion had led to the repression of all mentions of Luna. By all accounts, this would have been odd, since the ancient Kingdom of Equestria seemed to have won the war. Why would it be a secret? Celestia would know, but would it be proper to just ask her about her life from over a thousand years ago? However, even if she doesn’t answer, it would give me a chance to visit Cant’r Laht … Spike, of course, chose that moment to burst into the laboratory, letter in claw.

“Letter from … Celestia,” he huffed as Twilight Sparkle took the correspondence from him, the little dragon having run across Ponieville in order to deliver it.

A note had emerged with the letter from Spike’s fiery breath, ordering him to deliver the message to Twilight urgently. He’d been outside of town, practicing his fire-breathing and observing as Mayor Mare’s courtiers marked where the new town wall would go and argued with the farmers whose fields they were tramping through, when the message had arrived. He’d heeded Celestia’s orders and come straight here, ducking under a wagon parked in the village’s gate in order to save time. He wouldn’t be able to pull that off much longer; he’d bent over almost double but his spines had still scraped against the cart’s bottom, earning some angry shouts from its owner as he hurried on to Golden Oak’s laboratory.

Twilight Sparkle examined the letter; it was from Celestia, without a doubt. For one, it had her seal affixed to it—her new seal, not the one her mentor had used for years. The ancient sorceress’s likeness now wore a circlet upon her brow, and the sun and moon that had once flanked her had been reduced to only the heavenly body of the daytime. The titles that ringed the seal’s edge had likewise been both enhanced and reduced: Celestia, Regent of Cant’r Laht, Matron of Sorceresses in Cant’r Laht, Guardian of the Sun, and Protector of Ponieville and Appleoosa. For another, the letter was addressed to My most faithful apprentice. Twilight Sparkle pried up the wax seal and unfolded it while Spike caught his breath.

“My most faithful apprentice, Twilight Sparkle,” the sorceress read aloud, “You must come with all haste to Cant’r Laht. You are to be tested!?”

The sorceress allowed the letter to fall to the floor. Tested?

***

Twilight paced nervously in front of the doors to Cant’r Laht Castle’s great hall. ‘Come with all haste,’ but then I have to wait? Celestia has never done anything like this before. What is she doing? How am I to be tested? Did I not come quickly enough? Despite the urgency of Celestia’s message, she hadn’t immediately come to Cant’r Laht. Mention of being tested had unnerved her, and she’d fretted over what it was that Celestia might be testing her on. She gathered all the notes she’d ever made, only to realize that many of her notes were still filed away in her old Cant’r Laht chambers. So, she had been forced to return to her old home, and she couldn’t even pop into her old rooms to brush up because Celestia would know the moment she arrived. Even now she was running through topics in her head. For her own sanity, she’d convinced herself that the test had to be magical in nature; surely her mentor had summoned her here to test her skills with sorcery, both what Celestia had taught her and what she’d learned on her own. Why the urgency, then? No, Twilight, concentrate! Elemental manipulation, conjuration, enchanting, transmutation, warding, summoning, runic binding, scrying, Hearthfire spells, synthesis—.

The sudden opening of the doors cut Twilight’s mental list short. Out of the great hall strode Luna’s guards; Twilight (and most of the castle’s servants, judging by how they scampered away at the first sight) would never get used to their unnatural appearance. Leathery wings and slit pupils outwardly denoted them as other, but there were other reasons that they troubled the sorceresses of Cant’r Laht. The four of them were each over a thousand years old, and most of them had not a hint of magical potential. After Celestia and Luna, they were the oldest living ponies in all of Equus, but they hadn’t ever cast the spell on themselves that slowed aging or achieved alicornhood. According to Luna, they were the way they were because they’d made a pact with a demon, but most of Cant’r Laht’s magical elite, including Twilight, doubted that. The almost-bat-ponies were no help in the matter; they wouldn’t dare contradict their mistress.

Luna herself made an appearance next, her constellation-filled mane waving in a non-existent wind. Celestia’s sister looked incredibly troubled, her over a thousand-year-old yet youthful face lined with worry. Were they talking about my test? A thought struck Twilight. What if this test isn’t about sorcery at all? What if it’s about current affairs in Cant’r Laht or the kingdom? I should have read those dispatches instead of getting distracted reading about a long-forgotten war!

“Twilight Sparkle,” Raven said, appearing in the doorway, and Twilight nearly jumped out of her robes, “Regent Celestia is ready to see you now.”

Twilight trotted into the great hall, giving her thanks to Celestia’s page, who ordered the more natural guards to close to doors as soon as she was through. Is this a royal audience? Twilight hadn’t considered how formal she ought to be at this meeting, which Celestia had decided to hold in the castle’s great hall. That possibility seemed remote once she saw that Celestia was not seated upon her throne at the head of the room, which now had a twin for her sister. Instead, the ancient sorceress was standing halfway down the hall, admiring a tapestry on the wall. It depicted the events of several months earlier when Queen Chrysalis and her changeling army had been repelled from Cant’r Laht in a dramatic fashion.

“Celestia, you wished to speak with me,” Twilight said after she cleared her throat to get her mentor’s attention.

“Yes, my most faithful apprentice,” Celestia replied, turning away from the tapestry to face her student.

“I am prepared to be tested,” Twilight said, “What is the subject? Sorcery, history, alchemy, law, … current affairs?”

“It is not that kind of test, Twilight,” Celestia said with a shake of her head, “Have you ever, in your studies, encountered anything about the War with the Shadow King in the North?”

“I … yes, actually,” Twilight said, taken aback, “But no more than mentions. Information on it is even rarer than records about Luna. Before she returned, that is.”

“Yes, and again it is of my doing,” Celestia said morosely as she led Twilight toward the head of the great hall, “Tens of thousands perished to gain Vanhuv’r, no great prize at the time.”

That would explain why a victorious war had been hushed up; the cost had been too great to accept. How much else has Celestia hidden? If I spend all my life looking into hidden records, will I ever truly know all that went on in the Third Age?

“Over a thousand years ago, the Crystal Empire ruled the North—and Vanhoover. When the mad King Sombra took over and oppressed the empire’s subjects, they came to Luna and me. They entreated us to come to their aid and free them from Sombra’s evil,” Celestia explained. “We succeeded in vanquishing him, but we underestimated the power at his disposal. On his death, he cast a curse upon the North that caused every pony and town within it to vanish, and the landscape to be covered in never-ending blizzard.”

“The Frozen North,” Twilight said.

“Indeed,” Celestia replied, “Only, it is now unfrozen. All that was before the war has returned, it seems … including the great jewel of the North, the Crystal City. A land that has been sundered from Equestria for a millennium has suddenly returned, and its reintegration into our present will not come easily. Furthermore, if the North has returned, then I fear that King Sombra may return in some form as well. Twilight Sparkle, I need you to travel to the North and protect the Crystal City if the mad Shadow King’s evil has returned.”

“Me?” Twilight said, “How am I supposed to defend against something that banished the North for a thousand years? You and Luna defeated him before, can you not do so again?”

“No, Twilight, we must stay here in Cant’r Laht and attend to our new obligations,” Celestia said, thinking of that and so much more that needed doing, “This is your test, but you will not be alone. Cadence and Shining Armor are already in the Crystal City, and you will want to bring your comrades in Ponieville along, I am sure.”

“Yes, I understand, Celestia,” Twilight said. We faced Nightmare Moon and Discord … practically twice for the latter. We can handle this together. And Cadence will be there as well, just like when we faced Queen Chrysalis. Only, we nearly failed there. “But what if I fail?” Twilight asked.

“You won’t,” Celestia said as she took a seat on her throne.

“But what if—.”

“You won’t,” Celestia said more firmly, “I have great faith in you, my most faithful apprentice. But, Twilight, this is your test. In the end, you must be the one who protects the Crystal City and the North. Do you understand?”

“I understand.”

“Good,” Celestia said, “Gather the Brave Companions and make your way to the North. I will let Cadence know you will be joining her.”

Twilight Sparkle left Cant’r Laht Castle’s great hall, feeling woefully unprepared during the entire long walk past pillars and tapestries to the door through which she’d entered. But, Celestia had faith in her; that had to count for something. She also couldn’t forget that Celestia saw this as a test, apparently even more so than the other trials Twilight had been through in the past two years if she saw reason to label it as a test. Twilight Sparkle had never failed one of Celestia’s exams before, and she would not do so now. Only, she wasn’t sure just how she was supposed to protect a lost kingdom from an ancient evil, even with the Brave Companions, Cadence, and her brother. When vanquishing Discord and Nightmare Moon, they’d had the Elements of Harmony, but Celestia had made no mention of the powerful relics that were currently entombed in the Cant’r Laht treasury. Perhaps she was meant to succeed without them, and that was part of the test. If so, that was exactly what Twilight Sparkle would do, even if the prospect seemed unfavorable. She would not let Celestia, her mentor, down.

***

Celestia had said that the Frozen North was no longer frozen, but that wasn’t quite the impression Twilight got when she scouted out where she would be traveling in the North. Her scrying did show a land that was no longer completely covered in dark storm clouds and blizzards so fierce that one couldn’t see their own hooves in front of their face, but there was still some considerable weather hanging over the North. The blizzards were not gone entirely, and storm clouds moved in great patches across the North, constricting in its center. That had to be where the Crystal City was, but Twilight was unable to scry the city itself with her sorcery. She did manage to locate the place where she and her friends were to meet the Cant’r Laht ponies already in the North.

Spike assembled the Brave Companions as soon as Twilight Sparkle returned to Ponieville via portal. Not for the first time, Twilight was amazed by and grateful for how willing they were to drop everything and help her with her test. She remembered Celestia’s words, though; it had to be her that ultimately protected the North. Still, she would not turn aside any of her friends. After sharing with them what their quest would be, they hurried to gather supplies (particularly winter attire) while Twilight and Spike did the same.

Under the summer sun of Poniville, the coat, cloaks, and wraps were unbearable, but they were grateful for them as soon as Twilight Sparkle opened a portal to the North. Snow blew out into the square in front of Golden Oak’s laboratory, startling the small crowd of curious ponies who’d assembled to watch the Brave Companions. Once they were convinced it wasn’t the White Procession opening portals to freeze the town out, their worry was lessened enough that they could gossip with each other and propose where the Brave Companions might be going. This discussion continued long after the eight ponies—Ream and Baldavin had insisted on fulfilling their duties and accompanying Twilight—and dragon had stepped through the portal and it had snapped shut behind them.

The meeting point that Twilight had transported them to was an old stone watchtower. And it was an old watchtower; over a thousand years old judging by the style, but remarkably well-preserved, as if it had been built only a few decades earlier. Around it were some buildings—an inn, a tavern, a cartwright’s shop—also of aged but well-preserved creation. Twilight would love to investigate them, but first she needed to go to the Crystal City and ensure that the group was warm. It wasn’t bone-numbingly cold, as the Frozen North was supposed to be, but it was freezing out and snow was coming down heavily. The layer that had already settled crunched underhoof as the Brave Companions trotted around and examined their new surroundings.

“Twily!” a familiar voice called out as Shining Armor and an unfamiliar guard trotted out of the watchtower, “You made it!”

“Of course we did,” Twilight said as she ran up to greet her brother before dubiously eyeing their surroundings, “This isn’t the Crystal City, is it?”

“No, just one of the surrounding hamlets. The Crystal City isn’t far, though. We should get moving before it gets dark,” Shining Armor said as he peered around at the blowing snow surrounding the watchtower, “There’s something out there in the snow.”

“L-like what?” Fluttershy asked.

“Somethin’ evil, somethin’ powerful,” the guard accompanying Shining Armor said, “We’ve only e’er seen it from afar … or seen th’ aftermath of its comin’. Ponies disappearin’, towns destroyed. It’s not natural.”

“All the towns and ponies of the old Crystal Empire have returned, but they may not be the only thing that’s reappeared,” Shining Armor said as he looked at Twilight knowingly.

“King Sombra?” the sorceress asked.

“Cadence thinks so,” Shining Armor said, “All the more reason we should get to the safety of the Crystal City before we’re trapped out here for the night.”

The guard, whose name was Sven, was clearly happy not to stay at the watchtower a second longer and began to the lead the way northward. Shining Armor and the Brave Companions followed, with Rainbow Dash, Ream, and Baldavin keeping their eyes peeled for trouble; that is, when they weren’t busy blinking away snowflakes. The snow seemed determine to blow directly into their faces no matter which way they turned their heads, and eventually the newcomers grew as resigned to it as the two ponies who’d been here longer. It was difficult to see far through the driving snow, but there were enough discernable landmarks (mostly ancient buildings or walls) that Sven and Shining Armor could guide them confidently forward. Twilight Sparkle trotted up alongside her brother, trying in vain to shake off the snow caked to her books and robes along the way.

“I thought the Frozen North was not frozen any longer,” Twilight said, nearly shouting to be heard over the howling wind.

“It wasn’t,” Shining Armor replied, “The storms have only just returned. Believe me, this is nothing compared to what was here before. Still, the snow has to be the work of Sombra. Cadence tells me he was a powerful warlock before he was overthrown, so it’s unsurprising he’d return once his curse was broken.”

Celestia had said much the same, which was probably because that was how Cadence had gotten her information as well. Quite recently, Cadence had managed to locate a working megascope for communication with Celestia, which was how she’d relayed where Twilight should meet Shining Armor and Sven. Surely Celestia had given Cadence the same update that she’d given Twilight about the vanished Crystal Empire and the meaning of its return. Cadence would be expecting the Brave Companions—and for Twilight Sparkle to prove herself by protecting the North from the returned Shadow King.

“You mentioned the Crystal City being safe,” Twilight said as a thought occurred to her, “It that is true, then why was I sent to help protect it from King Sombra?”

Shining Armor opened his mouth to answer, but whatever he was going to say was drowned out by a roar muffled by the snow. Lightning flashed behind part of the sky while other parts seemed to darken.

“Was that the something?” Fluttershy asked nervously, and Sven to seemed to be unnerved, turning around in circles while he tried to draw back the crossbow at his side.

“The Crystal City isn’t far!” Shining Armor shouted, “We need to run!”

The long shadows cast by a nearby mill suddenly began to darken and thicken, drawing shade from all directions as they grew and began to rear up from the ground. The party of ponies galloped away from the growing shadows, jumping over more that flitted across the ground as the umbral creature continued to grow. All were casting frequent glances behind them as the shadows gave chase, towering up and forming an almost head-like mass at the top of the billowing cloud of darkness. Two eyes opened with red irises and green sclera in the black pillar, purple smoke billowing out from the edges. A growl came from the shadowy mass as it followed the ponies, with noises such as screams occasionally emanating from it when other figures appeared momentarily in the inky blackness, struggling to break free.

“There’s the Crystal City!” Shining Armor called out as a blue glow appeared ahead.

The former captain of the Cant’r Laht guard pulled Sven aside, and they spun around to face the shadow monster pursuing the group. It had been gaining on them and would have reached them before they made it to the Crystal City, but now it pulled up short to loom over the two ponies. Sven fired his crossbow at the umbra, and as the bolt sailed into the shadow, it exploded in a blast of fire that dispelled the congealed darkness momentarily. Shining Armor began to chant some words, and a magic circle appeared in the air in front of him, centered around his horn.

“Go!” he ordered Twilight as he noticed that she’d hung back, “Get to the Crystal City!”

Twilight Sparkle didn’t want to leave her brother here alone to face what was probably King Sombra returned, especially when she had more skill in sorcery than he did, but she had no idea what it would take to vanquish such a foe. The only reason that Shining Armor was hanging back in the first place was to protect her and her friends, so she complied. There were howls and yells behind her, but Shining Armor was still there when she looked back, so the sorceress pressed on. The blue glow was coming from a wall of magical light that curved slightly as it rose and receded on either side, suggesting a dome. In many ways, it was quite similar to the spell that Shining Armor had used to surround Cant’r Laht in the days leading up to the changeling attack, except that this shield was visible.

A tingling ran through Twilight’s body as she passed through the shield, and she nearly tripped on a stone as she made it through. It took her a moment to realize that she was standing in snow no longer and was intolerably warm, both from the recent run and from the fact that the temperature was now nearly as hot as it had been in Ponieville. Around her, the others were taking off their winter attire, and Twilight did a quick inventory to make sure they’d all made it through the shield. Only Shining Armor and Sven were missing, and her brother passed through the magical barrier only a few minutes later.

“Shining! Your head!” she exclaimed as she saw the dark crystals embedded in his skull to the right of his horn.

“I’m okay,” Shining Armor said as he unwrapped his scarf and used it to wipe away the blood running into his eyes from the wound, “I think. I managed to drive it off, but it got Sven and … I don’t think I can do any more sorcery until this is seen to.”

As Twilight examined the crystals further, she spotted shards of dimeritium within them. When she tried to probe at them with her magic, the energy she expended seemed to fall into a bottomless pit, never to be seen again. The crystals weren’t embedded too deeply into his skull—thankfully not enough to cause brain damage—but the dimeritium in them seemed to go all the way down. That close to his brain, it was no wonder he was unable to do any sorcery.

Pinkamena’s oohs and aahs dragged Twilight’s attention away from her brother’s injury and to their destination. A nearby road led to the Crystal City, which, along with a great swath of surrounding countryside, was wholly contained within the shield that provided a pleasantly blue sky overhead, blocking out the blizzard entirely. The Crystal City itself was a spectacle to behold. A solid wall ringed the city, crystalline in appearance though duller than it ought to have been had it truly been constructed from crystal. Several buildings of similar material poked over the wall, but the most prominent one was the castle in the center of the city, a massive structure with four towers at the corners supporting a central spire reaching toward the heavens.

Shining Armor led the way toward the city, past fields and houses. Most of the fields were empty, but there were also a few signs of recent attempts to plant crops that hadn’t grown here in a thousand years. The homes they passed were likewise a mix of abandonment and recent activity. Some were missing windows and their doors hung open, while others were locked up but had been cared for. Everything had an eerie sense over it, as if the ponies who lived here both existed and didn’t at the same time.

“Where is everypony?” Rainbow Dash asked as they trotted down an empty street within the city proper.

“The locals appear hesitant to leave their homes,” Shining Armor explained, “It must be very strange for them to suddenly appear a thousand years from the lives they once led, and they need some time to come to terms with it.”

Glimpses of the locals were few and far between as they trotted deeper into the Crystal City. Occasionally, a curious foal or suspicious mare could be seen peering out from a cracked door or window, but they always disappeared before the Brave Companions made it to their home. Shining Armor led them to the very center of the city, where the Crystal Castle towered up. This was the place where he, Cadence, and the guards from the post at the southern edge of the North had taken up residence. Cadence was waiting for them in the castle’s throne room, seated in a chair at the bottom of the steps leading up to two monstrous crystal thrones.

“Cadence!” Twilight exclaimed as she spotted her.

“Twilight,” Cadence replied as she rose from her throne and rushed to embrace her fellow sorceress.

She was happy to see Twilight but didn’t appear as energetic as she might have. Her movements were lethargic, and dark bags hung under her eyes. The alicorn seemed to hum with magic as she sustained the shield that covered the Crystal City.

“Twilight, one of these days we must get together simply to do so, not because of a quest in which the future of Equestria hangs in the balance,” Cadence said lightheartedly.

“Is it that bad?” Twilight asked.

“Sombra’s power is growing, spreading across the North. I’ve been able to hold it back here, for now,” Cadence said as she gestured to represent the dome surrounding the city, “But it’s meant having to abandon the rest of the North. The attacks are becoming more frequent. There is something that King Sombra wants, I think. If he gets it …”

All of Equestria might fall under his rule. Except, Celestia and Luna would never allow that to happen, would they? They beat him before. Of course, last time they ‘won,’ Sombra banished the North for over a thousand years. What might he take away this time?

“Cadence and I have been able to repel the chill and darkness sweeping over the rest of the North, but now I can help with that no longer,” Shining Armor said as she looked up at where the crystals were embedded in his skull, buried beneath the bloody scarf he’d tied around his head as a makeshift bandage, “Cadence has been doing more than her fair share already, but now she’ll need to bear it all alone.”

“It’s okay, dear,” Cadence said softly, “I’m an alicorn; I can handle it. I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not fine,” Shining Armor insisted before addressing Twilight Sparkle and the Brave Companions, “She was barely sleeping before, and now she’ll have to do without sleep entirely. She’s barely eating. She’s exhausted. She can’t go on like this forever. If the spell protecting the city fails … well, you saw what’s out there.”

“That is why Celestia sent me,” Twilight said, trying to put on a brave front.

“Why she sent all o’ us,” Applejack said as she trotted up and clapped a hoof on the sorceress’s shoulder, reminding her that she wasn’t alone. With the Brave Companions at her side, she would surely succeed.

“The Crystal Empire was supposedly once protected against all attacks by the Crystal City, but we haven’t been able to figure out how or by what,” Shining Armor said, “I’d bet that if it is a ‘what,’ then that’s what Sombra is trying to find . The crystal ponies must know something.”

“Crystal ponies?” Rarity asked expectantly.

“It’s not as impressive as you think,” Shining Armor said, “It’s what the locals call themselves. Like I said earlier, they’re hesitant to leave their homes, but they may be the best chance to find a way to protect the Crystal City and perhaps the whole of the North. I need to stay with Cadence, but maybe you will have better luck asking them than we have.”

“It’s nearly nightfall,” Cadence said, “You should get some rest before canvasing the entirety of the city.”

“Not a chance. If you cannot sleep until the Crystal City is safe, then neither will we,” Twilight replied, and her friends, thankfully, voiced their agreement.

***

It was fortunate that the crystal ponies didn’t seem to be sleeping either. They didn’t seem put out when the Brave Companions went door to door asking them questions; then again, the crystal ponies didn’t seem completely capable in expressing emotion of any kind. The most one got out of them was a shudder or a moment of terrified staring, and their speech was laborious and monotone. It matched their appearance—their coats and manes were dull, just like their city—and it was eerie.

“Are you absolutely certain you do not remember anything?” Twilight asked one as she stood on her doorstep.

“I am sorry,” the mare replied, “If I could help thee, then I would. I can nay remember mine life afore King Sombra came to power,, and I wish not to remember his reign.”

It was the same as with all the others that Twilight had spoken to. None of the crystal ponies seemed to remember anything before Sombra’s reign, and they all shared revulsion for his rule. Is this a part of Sombra’s curse, or some way of coping with the disappearance of their realm?

“Hast it truly been a thousand years since our vanishing?” the crystal pony asked.

“Yes,” Twilight answered.

“It felt longer,” the crystal pony said softly and shuddered, squeezing her eyes shut.

“You can remember the time you were gone?” Twilight Sparkle asked. This was something none of the others had said.

“I … I wish not to think of it,” the crystal pony replied, shuddering to herself once more.

“If you do remember anything useful, please let me or my friends know, or take it to the castle,” Twilight told her. Best not to press her too hard to remember things that the pony seemed to wish to repress. Besides, knowing about the time after Sombra had won wouldn’t help her figure out how to defeat him.

“Of course,” the crystal pony said quietly as she retreated back into her home.

“Maybe the others are having a better time,” Spike suggested, stifling a yawn.

Twilight would have to hope that they were, for she had been unable to get any more information from any other of the crystal ponies. The sorceress didn’t give up at her task, though, and doggedly went from one residence to the next asking questions of the occupants until the time came for the Brave Companions to rendezvous. Unfortunately, it seemed that the crystal ponies’ inability to remember their past was universal, as was their unshakable lack of emotion. Even Rainbow Dash’s rather forceful questioning was unable to jostle anything free or elicit a response.

“Sorry, Twi’, but I didn’t have any luck either,” Applejack reported as she joined the group while they were bemoaning their own failures to gather any useful information, “It seems nopony can recall anythin’! Anythin’ about how th’ city is s’posed t’ be protected, that is. I had one tellin’ me all about th’ sights o’ th’ Crystal City: th’ castle, th’ cathedral, th’ archives, th’ imperial mausoleum—”

“What was that?” Twilight asked excitedly.

“Th’ mausoleum? Y’ think one o’ th’ emperors was buried with what we’re lookin’ for?” Applejack asked.

“No—well, maybe—I meant the archives! Surely there must be records there somewhere about how the Crystal City protected itself in the past!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Well, I s’pose so,” Applejack said thoughtfully.

“Come on, everypony, it is time to do some research!” Twilight said, elated at the prospect of digging through ancient tomes that had been lost for over a thousand years.

***

Twilight was speechless for the first several minutes after they entered the Crystal Archives. These, archives, located near the castle and with a convenient underground link to it, put even Cant’r Laht’s archives to shame with their sheer immensity. Aboveground, the stone structure took up about the same space as a Cant’r Laht manor house for a minor noble family, but it stretched underground several times its height above, spreading out as it did. Shelves lined with books and codices and walls of cubbies packed with scrolls stretched out in every direction. Twilight Sparkle took a deep breath, savoring the aroma of ancient parchment.

“Might I help thee?” an elderly crystal pony asked as she wandered out from among the stacks, an archivist if the sorceress had ever seen one.

“We are looking for a book, or even several,” Twilight said as she continued to marvel at the collection. Lost for over a thousand years! What treasures might me hidden away here?

“Well, we do have plenty,” the archivist droned.

“Yes, you do,” Twilight cooed, turning in place to take in the bevy of books at her disposal.

“We’re lookin’ for any books that might tell us how th’ Crystal City used t’ defend itself,” Applejack said when her throat-clearing failed to break Twilight out of her euphoria.

“Maybe something on the city’s history?” Fluttershy suggested meekly, and Rainbow Dash nodded her agreement.

“History, let me see,” the crystal pony pondered as she tapped a hoof against her muzzle thoughtfully, “History, history …”

“Where might we find a book on the Crystal City’s history?” Twilight Sparkle prompted the crystal pony when she seemed to have trailed off in thought.

“I … I can nay remember,” she replied as she clapped a hoof to her forehead, “‘Tis the oddest thing, I cannot even remember if I am meant to be here.”

“Hopeless,” Rainbow Dash said in exasperation as the maybe-archivist wandered off, looking at her surroundings suspiciously.

“Maybe not,” Twilight Sparkle said, “There still may be something in the archives. We will just have to search ourselves.”

The Brave Companions got to work, which was when they realized how daunting the task was that they’d saddled themselves with. There were hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of tomes and scrolls in the archives. Searching through them all to find the few bits of information that they needed would be impossible, even if all seven of them had years to comb through the stacks. Neither was there a good way to find where they should even be looking. Organization was unclear, and after a while, Twilight had to assume the ancient archivists that had worked here had simply remembered where everything was. It was a pity none of them could remember a thing now.

Instead of heading right to a history section, sampling books and scrolls from each section to determine what that section might contain. It didn’t help that many of them were written in archaic languages that even Twilight didn’t know; she was also the only pony who could read the Language of the Horns and the only one besides Spike who could read High Equestrian (and he’d been neglecting his lessons). This meant that any document not written in Low Equestrian, and even some that were written in a particularly old dialect of it, went to her to look over. Still, they kept at it through the rest of the night and the following day, doggedly working their way through the archives searching for something, anything, that might help in defending the Crystal City and the North. Some of them, especially young Spike, spent some stints napping in order to rest before pressing on, but not Twilight. She’d promised Cadence that she wouldn’t sleep until her sister-in-law was also able to do so, and she intended to keep that promise. A few times, Ream or Baldavin appeared with food before returning to patrol with the guards who’d accompanied Cadence here from the Cant’r Laht outpost in the North. They looked worried whenever they did, which only pressed Twilight to work harder.

It was difficult for the sorceress to have to discard lost knowledge simply because it wasn’t the kind they were looking for, but she had to if they were going to save the city and the North. She saw snippets of all kinds of lost history about the 3^rd Age, and even some manuscripts about the 2^nd Age, when Discord had reigned over Equestria. She peeked at methods for sorcery that she’d never considered and learned the names of great sorceresses she’d never heard of. Ancient agricultural and building techniques passed under her eyes, but she had to cast them aside. When Rainbow Dash discovered a sealed chamber and knocked the wall down into it, Twilight thought they might actually find something useful, but all she discovered were sorcerous diagrams for some kind of arcane lock that used a type of magic she’d never seen before. It certainly wasn’t anything that she could use to protect the Crystal City, so she moved on. When some chronicles of the Crystal Empire were discovered, she thought that maybe they were getting closer, but the chronicles seemed only to cover the imperial family’s actions and held little information on whatever mystical force had once protected the empire, though there were mentions of it. As the hours stretched on and countless candles burned to stubs within the archive’s lanterns, Twilight began to feel that this was a hopeless task. And then …

“This is it,” she said to herself disbelievingly after skimming through far too many texts, “‘… and with the will of every pony focused, the Crystal Empire is protected and kept prosperous for another year.’ This is it!”

***

Twilight Sparkle had found the answer somewhere she hadn’t been expecting, a book entitled Traditions of the Crystal Empire written by a traveler from outside the empire who’d written down all the local customs throughout the realm, including the one that protected the Crystal City and the entire realm by extension. The section where she’d found the passage that had excited her was on the Crystal Faire, a festival held annually to “renew the protection and prosperity of all realms governed from the Crystal City.” The author had been meticulous in recording everything that he’d observed and learned during the Crystal Faire he’d attended, and Twilight was sure that she would be able to recreate the faire and the ceremonies accompanying it. The one thing the author of Traditions of the Crystal Empire hadn’t recorded was exactly how the ceremonies had protected the empire, but he hadn’t been a sorcerer and probably wouldn’t have understood it even if somepony with magical knowledge had explained it to him. It seemed fairly straightforward, and Twilight expected that the Crystal City itself had been enchanted long ago to protect itself; it just needed some participation from its residents in order to renew that protection.

Shining Armor and Cadence were overjoyed to learn that Twilight had found a possible solution, and she set to work immediately preparing the first Crystal Faire that would be held in over a thousand years. It brought a smile to her face when she realized that organizing a celebration was exactly how she’d first met her friends and that they would be here to organize another with her. A full day had passed now since the Brave Companions had arrived in the Crystal City, and they worked all through the night to prepare the faire for the next day, coopting the help of Ream, Baldavin, and the remaining guards from the now-southern outpost to put things together.

The Crystal Faire would serve a dual purpose, if everything went off as Twilight hoped. Not only would the celebration and ceremonies renew the defense of the Crystal City and hopefully vanquish Sombra entirely, it would also remind the crystal ponies of their past. It didn’t need to be a full recovery—just enough that they would be able to do their part that Traditions of the Crystal Empire had specified and focus their wills to activate the protective spells. Everything had to be perfect, and everypony had a part to play for things to be ready in time.

Rainbow Dash, with no clouds to clear due to Cadence’s shield, had taken it upon herself to oversee the organization of the more militaristic aspects of the festival. It seemed, like with any modern tournament, the crystal ponies had included jousting and the mêlée in their entertainment. Just where they were supposed to find knights to compete in the former, Twilight had no idea, but they were prepared in case a few remembered who they were and decided to compete.

Rarity put herself in charge of the decorations for the faire, raiding several material shops for their ancient fabrics. She followed the descriptions given in Traditions of the Crystal Empire precisely, including the descriptions that the author had given for the imperial banners that had flown from the castle’s balconies. Twilight wasn’t sure just how contemporary the crystal ponies would find such banners, which tended to change over time, but through references to earlier traditions, she had been able to establish that her guiding tome must have been written in the 5^th century of the 3^rd Age or later, which couldn’t be off more than a century from when the Crystal Empire had vanished. This was what they had to work with, and it would have to be close enough.

Applejack took command of the food for the Crystal Faire, and even managed to get a few of the crystal ponies to help her out with the baking and preparation. They still seemed distant from reality, though they seemed to enjoy having something to do, even if Applejack had to remind them what they were doing from time to time. One of the guards from the Northern outpost, a burly fellow named Otto, helped Applejack with the harvesting of fruit from vineyards and orchards outside the Crystal City that had apparently sprung up only in the last few days and the transportation of grains and flour from the stores throughout the city.

Fluttershy enlisted the help of the local creatures, which mostly consisted of wildlife that had wandered out of the Crystal Mountains before fleeing to the sanctuary of the Crystal City when Sombra’s blizzards began to close in. A few of the crystal ponies poked their heads out of their homes to wonder at what was happening when rabbits scampered along the streets with sleighs of decorations and supplies and birds flew around marking which houses had occupants. Fluttershy also sought to form some of the songbirds into a choir as she had for the summer solstice ceremony two years prior, but there wasn’t enough time to teach them more than a few tunes.

Pinkamena made her own contributions to the music scene, trying to recreate some of the songs that had once been sung at the Crystal Faire. They were preserved in Traditions of the Crystal Empire as well as another fortunate find from the Crystal Archives, but only in words. Pinkamena had to figure out how to sing them on her own. With very little knowledge of how songs had been performed a thousand years ago, there was no telling if she was recreating them correctly; at least the words would be right, and they sounded passable. Hopefully that would be enough to awaken the crystal ponies’ memory.

Twilight Sparkle oversaw it all, confirming that everything was just as it had been before King Sombra, or near enough to make little difference. She hurried around the city, helping wherever she could and warily watching the sky as Cadence’s magic fluctuated. By dawn, everything was in place, and she was satisfied that only the crystal ponies of old could have done a better job of putting on the faire.

“Thank you everypony for all your work,” Twilight said to the Brave Companions and the guards who’d been involved in putting the Crystal Faire together, after she’d done one last check to make sure everything was ready, “I think the faire is ready to begin!”

“What’s this, then?” Applejack asked, gesturing to the heart-shaped gem that sat atop a pedestal beneath the Crystal Castle.

“The manuscript mentions a Crystal Heart as the centerpiece of the faire,” Twilight said as she flipped through Traditions of the Crystal Empire, “I found this in the castle’s treasury; it must be what the book was referring to.”

“It is quite a treasure,” Rarity said, admiring it.

“Yes, though just a gem as far as I can tell. I thought that perhaps it might be a part of the ceremonies to protect the city, but it appears to simply be a symbol, a Crystal Heart for a Crystal City,” Twilight said, looking at the hevaens as dark clouds momentarily flickered into view before disappearing behind the false dawn sky, “Let us begin the Crystal Faire.”

Twilight Sparkle and Spike ascended into the Crystal Castle while the others spread throughout the city, knocking on doors as they went to get the attention of the crystal ponies within. Shortly after Twilight’s ascension, she reappeared on the castle’s main balcony that overlooked the city to the south. Along with her came Spike and an exhausted Cadence supported by Shining Armor. Spike held Twilight’s notes copied from Traditions of the Crystal Empire in front of the alicorn as she approached the end of the balcony.

“Subjects of the Crystal City and the North!” Cadence announced to the city, her voice amplified magically by Twilight so that everypony could hear her, “I, the Lady mi Amore Cadenza, and Lord Shining Armor invite you to partake in the Crystal Faire! Come, be merry, for today is an important day of celebration!”

Upon hearing the Crystal Faire mentioned, the crystal ponies began to leave their homes and wander the streets, looking at the decorations. They came slowly at first, unsure of what they were doing, but soon began to come more quickly, more surely. Throughout the Crystal City, the Brave Companions beckoned the crystal ponies onward and heard quite a bit of murmured wonderings as the ancient inhabitants tried to piece together what they remembered and recall what they didn’t. It seemed that many of them were not quite as drab and dull as they’d appeared earlier, either. It was as if the very idea of the Crystal Faire had sparked something in them, lifting their spirits and repairing their memories.

Of course, with only a few ponies in charge of the entirety of the faire, it was nothing like the Crystal Faires of old, but it seemed to be enough. The crystal ponies talked to each other more and more as they traveled through the Crystal City partaking in the festivities. The terror they felt toward King Sombra was dispelled by happier memories of times of peace and prosperity. Gradually, the Crystal Faire came to life and the crowds visibly brightened, once-dull coats now as vivid as those who hadn’t suffered a thousand years of banishment. If the Brave Companions hadn’t been so busy keeping the faire running, they might have noticed that a few words were repeated more and more by the crowds of crystal ponies: Crystal Heart.

“Could it be true? Dost thou thinkest that they truly have the Crystal Heart?” one crystal pony asked her friend as they trotted down one of the Crystal City’s six main thoroughfares.

“Of course we have it,” Rainbow Dash assured them, inserting herself into their conversation and giving them a start, “What would the Crystal Faire be without the Crystal Heart?”

“Twould be pointless,” the same elderly mare who’d greeted the Brave Companions in the Crystal Archives inserted herself into the conversation now, speaking methodically as if she were remembering her own words as she said them, her coat brightening perceptibly with every word she said. “The entire purpose of the Crystal Faire is to lift the spirits of the crystal ponies in order for their joy to be channeled into the Crystal Heart, allowing it to protect the Crystal City and its lands for another year! I do work in the Crystal Archives!”

“What was that about the Crystal Heart protecting the city?” Rainbow Dash asked, worried that Twilight may have made a mistake in her assumptions.

“Twas a gift given to the Crystal City long ago by the alicorn Nostracom the Wise. He didst make many magical artifacts, thou knowest, but the crystal ponies have always treasured the Crystal Heart as his greatest work. ‘Tis a powerful artifact that can channel and magnify the will of the crystal ponies—at the conclusion of the Crystal Faire—to spread protection and prosperity across all lands ruled by the Crystal City,” the archivist explained, “I can nay believe that thou didst manage to find the Crystal Heart. After corrupting the Crystal Heart and bending it to his will, King Sombra hid it and swore that we wouldst never see it again! Bless thee for recovering it, that our safety may be assured once again!”

As soon as the crystal ponies trotted away, chatting happily about the times when the Crystal Heart had protected them, Rainbow Dash took off into the air and darted to the Crystal Castle. No crystal ponies seemed to have centered into the space beneath the castle yet, and Rainbow Dash pulled down one of the banners hanging from a surrounding building before swooping to cover the pedestal with its crystal heart.

“What are you doing?” Twilight Sparkle asked, standing next to the now-concealed heart.

“We may have a problem,” Rainbow Dash said, and explained everything she’d learned to the sorceress.

***

“I had no idea that the Crystal Heart was an actual magical artifact,” Twilight explained the issue to Cadence and Shining Armor a few minutes later on the Crystal Castle’s balcony, “Traditions of the Crystal Empire never mentioned anything about it being a relic, but it never explained exactly how the empire was once protected either. I should not have relied on a single source! I should have looked for more details to be sure everything was correct before beginning the faire! I made a mistake! How could I have missed this!”

“It will be okay, Twilight. You’re exhausted, it’s no wonder you made a mistake. When was the last time you slept?” an incredibly fatigued Cadence asked, right before collapsing against Shining Armor and closing her eyes.

“Twily …” Shining Armor said worriedly as he and his sister both felt Cadence’s magic fail.

The pristine blue sky overhead gave way to dark, roiling storm clouds. Beyond the circle of Cadence’s protection, the fields of snow became visible as well, along with smoke and shadow that moved on its own against the wind toward the Crystal City. Blazing eyes appeared in the black mass, an outcropping of which congealed into the shape of a stallion’s head, complete with a mouth of sharp teeth and a crimson horn in the center of its forehead. King Sombra looked out over the only part of his former realm in which he hadn’t yet returned to power, now unprotected, and advanced.

Comments

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

Aaaand here we go..........

[TasermonsPartner]

A very quick-paced chapter. Mostly true to the original episode, though I did like how the crystal ponies' general discombobulation is described in greater detail here and is a more valid excuse as to why/how Cadence and Shining were able to "claim" leadership over a kingdom that wasn't theirs (read: more valid, but still not entirely valid. I still find it odd that the crystal ponies would just accept two completely unknown foreigners as their leaders of-the-cuff; maybe if Celestia, whom they actually know, endorses the move, they might be abit more agreeable, but still...)

A few times, Ream or Baldavin appeared with food before returning to patrol with the guards who’d accompanied Cadence here from the Cant’r Laht outpost in the North. They looked worried whenever they did, which only pressed Twilight to work harder.

Ah, I was wondering what had happened to them, since they went through the portal, but then weren't mentioned at all during the fleeing, the fighting against Sombra, meeting Cadence, or at any point thereafter.