Camaraderie is Sorcery

by FireOfTheNorth

Chapter 3:2 - Return of the Crystal Empire, Part the Second

Author's Note:

Translations

Chapter 3:2 – Return of the Crystal Empire, Part the Second

Darkness began to close around the Crystal City as Sombra moved closer, trying to choke the last beacon of light in the North. Some of the crystal ponies noticed the change in the sky, but the advance of the Shadow King was hidden from them by the buildings and walls of the city, not to mention all the temporary structures and decorations the Brave Companions had erected for the Crystal Faire. They didn’t see what those in the Crystal Castle did—the reconstitution of Sombra’s head atop a column of shadow, glaring maliciously at the city.

Cadence regained consciousness with a start and looked around in horror at her fallen shield. Directed by her voice, the alicorn reconstructed her barrier, walls of glowing blue rising to form a dome above the city again. Sombra’s advance had forced her to constrict the area under her protection, though, and this shield stretched barely beyond the walls of the Crystal City, leaving the fields and hamlets outside of it to the mercy of Sombra and his storms. Cadence shuddered as Sombra beat against the wall of magic, trying to force his way in.

“We need the Crystal Heart,” Shining Armor said as he held his wife, “I have to find it!”

“No, Shining, you need to stay here with Cadence; she needs you,” Twilight Sparkle said, “I will find the Crystal Heart.”

“I’ll get the others,” Rainbow Dash said, preparing to dash throughout the Crystal City for the Brave Companions.

“No, I alone will search for the Heart,” Twilight said, “I need the rest of you to keep the Crystal Faire going.”

“What?” Rainbow said incredulously, “With the Crystal City under attack and with Cadence’s magic ready to fail at any moment, you want to keep the party going?”

“Yes; the purpose of the Crystal Faire is to focus the spirits of the crystal ponies into the Crystal Heart. If they find out that Sombra is just outside the city, trying to take over again, then their spirits will be cowed, and their joy will plummet. Whether I find the Crystal Heart or not will not matter, because they will not be able to contribute the power it needs in order to protect them.”

“Got it. Keep the Crystal Faire going and the crystal ponies’ spirits high,” Rainbow Dash said before zipping away.

“Twily, by careful,” Shining Armor said to Twilight as she left the balcony.

“I will,” the sorceress promised.

***

“Twilight!” Spike called later as he ran toward Twilight, “I’m going with you.”

At the moment, the sorceress was beneath the Crystal Castle, examining the crystal heart she’d found in the castle’s treasury, confirming that it indeed was not the Crystal Heart she was looking for. It was a possibility that she’d simply stumbled upon it, since it had by no means been in a place easily accessible to the common subjects of the North. The hoard had even been guarded by a magical lock that she’d had to counter, so only another mage, like King Sombra, would have been able to find it. Her latest inspection of the gemstone, however, turned up no clearer information than her first. It was a massive gem, but no more; it could be used either as proof of wealth or an aid for a sorceress in a ritual, but not for something as complex as the protection of the Crystal City and the whole of the North. Though impressive, this was not one of the artifacts created by Nostracom the Wise, the second pony to achieve alicornhood and the only stallion to do so.

“You cannot help me, Spike,” Twilight said, checking that there were no crystal ponies within earshot before she continued, “I must find the Crystal Heart myself. This is part of the test that Celestia has set before me; I must succeed alone.”

“I know that,” Spike said, having certainly heard it enough already to have it pounded into his head, “I’m still coming along. I promise I won’t lift a claw to help.”

“Not a claw,” Twilight reiterated before allowing the dragonling to climb onto her back, “Come on, Spike. It may not have been in the treasury, but I still think that it is likely King Sombra hid the Crystal Heart somewhere in the castle. While he reigned here, he could count on nopony being brave enough to enter.”

The sorceress and her page trotted off and entered the Crystal Castle, leaving Applejack and Rainbow Dash alone with the fake Crystal Heart, still concealed beneath a banner. While the farmer simply stood by the covered pedestal and tried to direct the crystal ponies away to other parts of the faire, Rainbow Dash was walking a tight patrol circuit, glaring at anypony who dared get too close.

“Um, Rainbow Dash,” Applejack said in a hushed voice, tapping the Hunter on her shoulder, “Aren’t we t’ act like nothin’s th’ matter so th’ crystal ponies can enjoy th’ faire in peace?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash said before partially drawing her sword while staring down an approaching crystal pony, sending her scampering off back the way she’d come.

“Why don’t y’ let me take care o’ keepin’ th’ crystal ponies away from th’ fake crystal heart,” Applejack whispered, “Y’ go on an’ get th’ joust started?”

“How?” the Hunter asked, “We don’t have any knights, and you know the mêlée is more my style anyway.”

“Maybe some o’ th’ crystal ponies have remembered how t’ joust,” Applejack suggested, “If not, improvise.”

“Well, okay,” Rainbow said, taking off and letting Applejack handle the curious residents of the city.

After a while, Applejack began to question her decision to send Rainbow Dash away. Whether the Hunter’s aggressive approach had been more effective or whether more ponies were just remembering the Crystal Heart, more and more seemed drawn to the space beneath the Crystal Castle. Applejack was beginning to feel quite put out by their curiosity as she had to continually rebuff their advances and attempts to sneak a peek at the Crystal Heart.

“How are y’ enjoyin’ th’ faire?” Applejack asked one as she stood between her and the covered pedestal.

“‘Tis wonderful!” the crystal pony gushed while trying to see around Applejack to discern the false Crystal Heart’s shape beneath the banner, “It seems an eternity hath passed since the last Crystal Faire.”

“I’m glad y’re enjoyin’ y’self. Keep y’r spirits up so that th’ Crystal Heart can be imbued with it when th’ time is right,” Applejack said as she tried to guide the pony away.

“I would so like to see the Crystal Heart before the ceremony,” the crystal pony persisted, “It hath been so long.”

“I hear y’, but that’ll have t’ wait,” Applejack said as she continued to lead her farther from the castle, “Why don’t y’ get y’self some crystal nectar? It must’ve been an eternity since y’ had any.”

“Yes, now that thou dost mention it,” the crystal pony said as she trotted away to find one of the stands where the unique liquor of the North was offered, and Applejack sighed gratefully.

“Y’ look like y’ could use somethin’ t’ put th’ flesh back on y’r bones,” Applejack said as she ran up to stop another crystal pony from lifting the banner to peer at the false heart beneath.
Y’ can find food that way. Don’t want t’ show up t’ th’ ceremony half-starved, do y’?”

“Well, it hath been a thousand years,” the stallion admitted, brightening before trotting off.

“A jousting match is about t’ begin on th’ western lawn!” Applejack called out as multiple ponies trotted toward her from multiple directions, causing them to stop as she caught their attention, “Don’t want t’ miss that!”

The crystal ponies all headed in the direction she’d wanted them to, leaving her alone with the false Crystal Heart for a moment. Applejack looked up at the Crystal Castle looming overhead. Hurry, Twi’. I don’t know how long I can keep them away!

***

Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle was searching the Crystal Castle from top to bottom, Spike trying to keep up. It was the most likely place for King Sombra to have hidden the relic, yet she could find no trace of it. It occurred to her that the smartest place for him to have hidden it would have been far away, perhaps beneath distant Mount Everhoof, but if Sombra had possessed the Crystal Heart, then the battle would already be over. Whoever controlled the Crystal Heart controlled the Crystal City and, by extension, all of the North. No, it had to be here somewhere, but where?

The sorceress again searched the castle’s treasury, even poking around to see if there were any secret passages hidden by magic, but all she found were ancient coins, artifacts, weapons, and portraits. Nothing resembling the Crystal Heart, besides the gemstone she’d already taken from here, existed. She scoured the castle, checking empty rooms, but the keep appeared stripped bare of everything except for what Cadence, Shining Armor, and the guards who’d come with them had brought. She thought she might have found something when she discovered Sombra’s laboratory, but while there were plenty of interesting things for a sorceress like her, there was no Crystal Heart.

“It must be here somewhere!” Twilight said in frustration as she wound up in the throne room for the dozenth time, “Majia nipyei pon’i, kaya se re ost’r’i Ye!^[1]”

It was a newer spell that Twilight had been learning during the relatively uneventful interim between finding the last shard of Discord’s soul and Celestia’s test that would allow her to visibly see the spells cast by other sorceresses. It had helped her out earlier in breaking the enchantment on the castle’s treasury and when determining that the crystal heart below the castle was not the artifact she was searching for, but it was mostly for convenience. Being able to see spells with one’s eyes was an incredibly useful skill; though a Source as powerful as Twilight could sense all but the most minor enchantments instinctively anyway, it still helped to visualize them.

She hadn’t cast it in the throne room before due to the fact that the chamber was permeated with the magic Cadence had been using to keep the Crystal City under her protection, but now, as frustrated as she was, she decided to give it a try anyway. As she suspected, it became difficult to see anything as soon as she cast the spell. She squinted at the massive column of interwoven threads of light that rose from the chair the alicorn had set up in front of the room’s thrones, reaching up to the shield that covered the city. With that blinding light in the throne room, it was difficult to make out anything else.

Twilight was prepared to release the spell and try some other spell when she realized that there was something in front of the column of light. Thin threads of darkness were woven around the throne room, clearly revealed by Twilight’s spell but unlike anything she’d seen before. It brought to mind the diagrams she’d found in the Crystal Archives, and upon further inspection, it matched them precisely. All the threads eventually found their end at the crystal atop one of the thrones at the head of the room. If this was a magical lock, as she suspected, then the key would be inserted there.

She thought back to the diagrams, trying to puzzle out how to undo the lock. Releasing her spell, she allowed her vision to return to normal, blinking rapidly to clear the spots, before reaching out toward the crystal throne with her magic. She was still unable to sense the magical lock, but as she reached out toward the crystal atop the throne, she could feel something knotted there. It was something dim, pulsating, and twisting with a power beyond anything she’d felt before, and she let herself be drawn in. Twilight Sparkle was unprepared as the spell she was probing snapped back, but she managed to react quickly enough that the trap did not catch her. What’s more, she now understood how to unlock the enchantment. She felt the dimness she’d sensed around the spell trickle within her as she reached out again toward the throne, twisting around but under control. With it, she cast her own enchantment over the magical lock, and the two merged so that the matrix of mystical energy rearranged itself.

“Twilight, are you okay?!” Spike asked worriedly, having seen none of what Twilight had but having witnessed her eyes glow with a dark power and purple mist drifting away from the edges as she unlocked the enchantment.

“I am fine, Spike,” she replied, having no idea what her dragon page had just seen, “What is more, I think I have found where King Sombra hid the Crystal Heart.”

She gestured behind Spike, where a pit had opened in the floor of the throne room. The throne to which the magical lock had been anchored had turned to obsidian, as had a widening swath of the stairs leading down from it and out into the throne room. The transformation stopped where a perfectly square hole had appeared in the center of the room. Twilight Sparkle and Spike approached the hole and gazed down. The sides were dark obsidian, a staircase made of the same black material spiraling down into inky blackness. Well, at least once King Sombra had picked a theme, he stuck to it.

“Are we really going down there?” Spike asked hesitantly.

“I will go,” Twilight said, casting a spell to affix a light to the end of her horn, “You stay here for the moment.”

The sorceress began to descend the stairs into the darkness, soon having only the light of her own magic to illuminate her surroundings. Down and down and down the stairs went, deeper and deeper. She suddenly realized that she’d dropped below what should have been possible long ago, given that the throne room of the Crystal Castle was positioned above the empty space under the castle. There was some wizardry at work here, either to lead Twilight through a portal to somewhere else in the North or into a pocket dimension; she suspected the latter by how the stairs seemed to go on and on without end. She looked up after she’d been descending for what seemed like an eternity and could see only a small square of light above her.

“Spike!” she called, magically projecting her voice and cringing when it echoed off the walls of the shaft.

“Yes?” the reply returned faintly.

“How do things look outside?” Twilight called back.

“Not good!” Spike replied several minutes later after popping out of the throne room to check on things, “Cadence’s magic is fading, and the city walls are beginning to darken like this pit!”

It certainly sounded like Cadence’s magic was failing, if Sombra was able to darken the city’s walls without collapsing her shield. The situation was more desperate than ever, and Twilight hurried her descent. She continued to pick up her pace as the stairs continued on and on downward without end. At this rate, I’ll come out in the Zebrikaanian Empire before I find the Crystal Heart! The corner of the sorceress’s robe caught on the edge of a stair, and she went plummeting over the edge. She furiously incanted and her descent slowed, bringing her to a stop just above the bottom of the pit. So, there is a bottom after all.

“Twilight, are you okay?” Spike called down worriedly, his voice even fainter than before.

“I am fine, Spike!” Twilight called back up at the pinprick of light.

Twilight trotted around the edges of the pit’s bottom until she found a door set into the wall. It looked just like a normal door, wooden and barred iron, except that there was no handle or hinges. There was small, dark crystal set into the stone over it, however, and this time Twilight recognized the magic bound to it instantly. Repeating what she’d done to unlock the pit, Twilight laid a dark pattern of magic over the lock anchored to the crystal. Handle and hinges appeared on the door, and Twilight joyously pulled it open and darted through.

The sorceress skidded to a halt as she found herself standing in the throne room of Cant’r Laht Castle. Looking behind her, she saw a door mounted to nothing slam shut and then vanish. Had the door been a trap that transported her here? She needed to get back to the Crystal City immediately; she tried to open a portal, only to find that it was impossible. Could Sombra’s magic be blocking portals somehow?

“Celestia!” Twilight called as her mentor entered the throne room and galloped toward her.

“Twilight, what are you doing here?” Celestia asked, completely bewildered.

“I stepped through a door, and it took me here! I need to get back to the Crystal City and find the Crystal Heart!” Twilight said as Celestia stared at her with wide, disbelieving eyes.

“It’s too late for that, Twilight,” Celestia said, “The Crystal Heart and the Crystal City were both lost six years ago. It was assumed that you perished with Cadence, Shining Armor, and all of your friends.”

Twilight sat back on her haunches, completely floored by this news. Six years? The door was trapped, but it was even worse than I thought. I was sent forward six years into the future. The Crystal City is gone. Cadence and Shining Armor, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkamena, Rarity, and Spike … all dead. This is like a nightmare.

“Sombra has spread his darkness over all Equestria; only Cant’r Laht still stands,” Celestia said, and Twilight realized that her mentor was wearing an enchanted set of dragon scale armor, prepared for physical as well as sorcerous battle. “I must go.”

“The city is burning,” Twilight realized as she saw that the light streaming in through the throne room’s windows came not from the sun, but from fire.

“Cant’r Laht has already burned,” Celestia said, stunning Twilight again, “Ingrirtireth was not pleased with the death of his son. I must go, Twilight—if you truly are who you seem and are not another of the Shadow King’s apparitions here to torment me.”

Twilight collapsed in on herself in despair as Cant’r Laht burned and Sombra brought the last city in Equestria to resist him under his hoof. It was all her fault. She’d failed the test that Celestia had set before her, and now the consequences had manifested. All of Equestria had fallen to Sombra, starting with her friends and loved ones. It’s all my fault.

***

“Twilight,” Spike’s voice came faintly but urgently after what seemed like an eternity spent lying on the floor of Cant’r Laht Castle while the city burned around her, “Twilight.”

But it couldn’t truly be Spike’s voice she was hearing. Spike had perished in the Crystal City years ago when it had fallen to Sombra. Twilight had left him alone in the Crystal Castle’s throne room while she searched for the Crystal Heart. Had he followed her into the pit to search and had the castle collapse around him, or had he stood with Cadence and Shining Armor when Sombra finished them off? Either way, his death had drawn the ire of Dragonlord Ingrirtireth, and Cant’r Laht had burned as a result. Unless he’d somehow passed through the door to the future the same way that Twilight had? If he was here now, he was still as doomed as Twilight and the rest of Equestria, but at least she might have the opportunity to see him, the dragonling she’d raised up from an egg, one last time

“Twilight!” his voice grew louder and more urgent.

When the sorceress opened her eyes, she was stunned to see that she was not in Cant’r Laht at all, but sitting in the pit beneath the Crystal Castle. The door that stood before her was still closed, without handle or hinge. Between her and that cursed wooden edifice, however, stood Spike, letting go of Twilight now that he’d shaken her back to reality. A torch he’d lit with his fire breath to illuminate his way down the stairs lay nearby on the floor.

“Twilight, are you okay?” Spike asked worriedly. “I waited, but you weren’t answering me, so I followed you down, and I know I wasn’t supposed to help you, but you were gone for so long and you were just staring at the wall and crying, and I didn’t know what to do!”

“It is okay, Spike,” Twilight promised her page as she pulled him close, cutting off his frantic tumble of words, “You were right to come down after me.”

Twilight Sparkle glared over Spike at the door before her. King Sombra had cunningly trapped it, causing her to fall into despair and convincing her that she’d already lost the battle. If Spike hadn’t come after her and shaken her free of the illusion, then she’d have been lost. Sombra had been clever to trap the door with the same lock that had opened the way here in the first place, but Twilight would not fall for that again now that she was free.

She motioned for Spike to stand aside before summoning her strength and striking the door with a beam of pure, white magical energy. The door’s planks splintered into bits while the ironwork melted and twisted away. Above the door, the dark crystal set there shattered into pieces that tinkled as they fell to the floor. With the cursed door obliterated, another was now visible behind it, a normal door with handle and hinges. Cautious of another trap, Twilight pushed the door open and stepped through.

The sorceress blinked her eyes against the brightness as she walked into a cavern of light. She was more convinced than ever that she was within a pocket dimension as the brightness surrounded her from all sides with no sign of walls, ground, or sky. The doorway she’d come through was part of the only feature in the world, a massive cylindrical column of crystal surrounded by spiraling stairs that stretched up and disappeared into the light, just as the previous set of stairs had disappeared into darkness.

“Is the Crystal Heart in there?” Spike asked.

“No,” Twilight replied as she craned her neck, “Just more stairs. Maybe you should stay by my side this time.”

Delighted, Spike skipped through the doorway and followed Twilight Sparkle as she began to ascend the radiant staircase.

***

The sky flickered worryingly as Cadence desperately tried to keep the shield up around the city and thunder sounded through it, drumbeats that would signal the city’s doom. Outside the Crystal City, Sombra continued to take shape, his head fully formed atop a column of shadow now, gradually shrinking to the size it had been when he’d walked Equus as a pony. As the shadow began to congeal behind him, great black wings flapped a terrifying beat. He had pierced Cadence’s shield, though it had taken the sacrifice of his horn in order to get a bit of himself within the protective shell. No matter, for now it was regrown, and the crimson spine glowed as he poured his malice into his spells. The walls that encircled the city were now obsidian and would prove no barrier to his entry. Gradually, he darkened the outer buildings and streets of his once-home, transforming it back as it was during his last days on the throne. There were no crystal ponies under his grasp yet, but their time would come as he constricted his grip on the Crystal City.

The crystal ponies were beginning to take note of the thunder, but none had yet discerned its true meaning and the danger they were in. The Crystal Faire was still in full swing, operating even more smoothly than when it had begun. Some of the crystal ponies had remembered enough of their past that they took up places doing the work that the Brave Companions had been stretched thin to cover. Good thing, too, with four of the six indisposed. Twilight Sparkle was searching for the Crystal Heart, Applejack was guarding the stand-in for that artifact, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were both at the jousting grounds.

Rainbow Dash had failed to find any knights for the joust, so she’d had to commandeer Fluttershy to fill in as her opponent. Neither of the pegasi were particularly well-suited for the event or comfortable in the armor that adorned them, but the crystal ponies who packed the stands didn’t seem to care. Somepony blew a fanfare, and the two old friends charged each other. Fluttershy locked up in fright before they collided, and Rainbow Dash easily knocked her down. As the crystal ponies cheered, the Hunter trotted over to her fallen opponent.

“Come on, Fluttershy, we have to keep going,” Rainbow said, glancing worriedly at the flickering sky.

“Couldn’t somepony else take my place?” the druidess whimpered.

“There isn’t anypony else,” Rainbow Dash said, “The survival of the North relies on us keeping the crystal ponies distracted. We just have to bear it.”

“Excuse me,” somepony said, and Rainbow Dash turned to see a small group of crystal ponies approaching her, led by a young stallion with a ridiculously curled moustache, “I was told that thou wert the one to speak to about being added to the jousting lists. ‘Tis not too late, is it?”

“Of course not,” Rainbow Dash answered these not-as-amnesiac knights enthusiastically.

***

Twilight had thought it frustrating when the stairs leading down into the earth had seemed to go on forever, but these going up were much worse. During her life in Cant’r Laht Castle, Twilight Sparkle had become accustomed to the rigors of climbing stairs to get around, but she’d already climbed many times higher than she’d ever had to reach her chambers there. She wasn’t Rainbow Dash or Applejack, who had a much higher resilience when it came to physical activity; she was a Cant’r Laht—or Ponieville—sorceress. Her mind was in far better shape than her body, and it showed. She was panting heavily and practically dragging herself up the stairs, only forcing herself to go on because if she stopped, she might not begin climbing again.

“What if this … is another trick?” Spike panted from her back, having only recently climbed on after he reached his own limits.

Twilight had to admit the possibility. Many things were possible in a pocket universe. However, there was no obvious way to break through if it was a trick. An endless staircase could only be possible if chaos magic were involved (and she was certain that she wouldn’t miss that, after this last excruciating year) or the stairs were cleverly disguised so that they repeated themselves. An illusion like that could be overcome by moving more quickly than the repeat could be refreshed, and she half-expected that the same had been true of the pit she’d climbed down, allowing her to break the loop by falling off the stairs. There would be no rapid ascension here to undo the trick, though. Unless …

“Spike, hold on tight,” Twilight Sparkle told her page, and he obediently wrapped his arms around her neck.

If this was a pocket dimension that King Sombra had altered in order to create an endless staircase, then perhaps she could make some modifications herself to her own advantage. Reaching out, she found the laws of reality pliable in a way they weren’t in the universe where most ponies lived. That was because this universe was much, much smaller than reality. It was almost trivial for the sorceress to reach out and twist.

Gravity reversed, and Twilight and Spike fell to the underside of the stairs that had formally been above them. They slid along the smooth surface until their speed overcame the strength Twilight had to hold them to the crystal, and they flew off the edge. The sorceress and the dragon plummeted upward through the bright void, the crystal column and flight after flight of stairs rushing along beside them.

***

Cadence’s magic was fading more quickly. Like unholy tendrils, the dark transformations that Sombra brought spread throughout the Crystal City. Crystal ponies ran, terrified, for the center of the city as they realized what was going on. That drumming thunder sounded like laughter now, the mad cackling of the Shadow King they’d hoped and prayed never to see or even hear mention of again. The faire began to break down as more and more abandoned the festivities and rushed to the one place they felt safe, where the Crystal Heart awaited them beneath the castle.

Applejack was struggling to keep the crowds back now. She was unable to distract them anymore, especially as they sky became consistently overcast and a cold wind blew through the streets. The farmer had resorted to simply telling them to stay back and be patient for the end of the faire, which many in the crowd loudly expressed should come immediately.

“What are we going to do?” Rarity whispered to Applejack after sneaking through the crowd to lend her beleaguered friend some assistance.

“I just don’t know,” Applejack admitted, “Whate’er we can, I s’pose. Th’ crystal ponies have t’ be ready t’ imbue th’ Heart wi’ their spirits when Twi’ returns, so they can’t suspect it’s not here afore then.”

“I hope Twilight gets here soon,” Pinkamena said nervously as she joined the other two, “Cadence doesn’t seem to be doing very well.”

As Rarity turned to reply to the bard, one of the desperate crystal ponies shoved against her, trying to get closer to the Crystal Heart. She stumbled and managed to recover herself, but not before knocking into Pinkamena, who wasn’t prepared. As the bard went down, she fell against the dais upon which the false Crystal Heart was set, tipping it over. Applejack rushed to right it, but it was too late. The gemstone Twilight had found in the castle’s treasury fell off the dais, out from under the banner concealing it, and slid across the ground, eventually coming to rest at the hooves of the startled crowd of crystal ponies.

“This is nay the Crystal Heart,” a stallion said breathlessly, the color seeming to visibly drain from his coat.

Worried murmurs and cries of despair arose from the crowd as the word spread.

“Of course not,” Rarity said, searching for an appropriate excuse that would quell the crowd’s fears, “It’s just a standalone while the real Crystal Heart is …”

“On its way!” Applejack blurted out during Rarity’s hesitation.

“I was going to say being prepared for the ceremony,” Rarity whispered to her friend as the crowd responded unfavorably to the idea that the Crystal Heart had been “on its way” all day.

Panic began to spread through the crowd. The crystal ponies could see the signs of Sombra’s return so clearly now, and the only hope they had to cling to, the Crystal Heart, seemed to have vanished. They felt betrayed, and not without justification. Mass hysteria broke out, and demands to speak to Lady mi Amore Cadenza were voiced. The Brave Companions tried to control the downward spiral, but it was dangerously late for that.

***

“Twilight!” Spike called out, recognizing the patch of whiteness rushing toward them as what it was, not just more of the glow that suffused this place, but a solid surface.

Twilight slowed them to a halt before they splattered against the crystal, managing to set them down gently. She trotted over to the column and stairs before returning gravity to normal and ascending the last few steps. In front of her, hovering in midair, was the Crystal Heart. At least, the luminous turquoise gemstone that slowly spun as it levitated appeared to be the Crystal Heart. It could be just another trick left by King Sombra.

“Twilight, look!” Spike called, having walked in the opposite direction.

The two of them were standing within a hollow spire formed by a ring of pillars that converged above them and allowed one to look out over the Crystal City between the gaps. They had to be atop the Crystal Castle, though it was physically impossible for them to reach it, given the path they’d taken. Twilight would bet that if Cadence or Rainbow Dash had flown up here to get the Crystal Heart, they wouldn’t have found it. King Sombra had been a powerful mage to devise such a hiding place, but Twilight Sparkle had outdone him.

What Spike had been drawing Twilight’s attention to was what was happening outside the spire. Cadence’s shield was fading fast and the Crystal City was rapidly darkening, overcome by Sombra’s magic. She could see his shape moving in the distance, tendrils of shadow now slipping into the city itself and veining their way toward the castle. Whether this Crystal Heart was the real one or not didn’t matter. If it wasn’t, they were doomed, but there was no time left to search for the genuine gem. Twilight Sparkle ran toward where the Heart hovered.

As soon as the sorceress touched the Crystal Heart, it flew away from her, and obsidian crystals grew rapidly in a circle around her hooves. They quickly closed over her, trapping her in darkness. She tried to blast her way out with magic, to teleport, to open a portal, but nothing worked. Sombra had laid one last trap for her, and she’d fallen for it.

“Twilight!” Spike’s voice came muffled from outside, “Twilight?”

“I am here, Spike!” Twilight shouted, and her page ceased his yelling, “Where is the Crystal Heart?”

“It’s out here,” Spike replied, “It’s just lying on the floor. I don’t think it’s trapped anymore.”

Twilight couldn’t see any way out of this. She’d been so eager to get the Crystal Heart, so sure that victory was within her grasp, that she’d thrown herself into a trap. Celestia had been clear, she had to be the one to save the North—but how was she supposed to do so from within this cage? She wasn’t, she realized. There were more important things.

“Spike?” she called.

“Yes, Twilight?” he replied as he rapped against Twilight’s prison, searching for a weakness.

“Take the Crystal Heart to Cadence!” Twilight said, “The crystal ponies have to power it before it is too late!”

“But, Twilight, I thought that you had to do this? Celestia’s test?” Spike objected.

“Forget the test!” Twilight yelled, “Go!”

The sorceress couldn’t see or hear it, but Spike picked up the Crystal Heart and started to leave before hesitating and turning back. He couldn’t just leave Twilight here, could he? But neither could he let the Crystal City fall. He would return, he resolved, as soon as he’d given the Crystal Heart to Cadence. The way they’d come wouldn’t do, so Spike began to climb down the exterior of the castle, Crystal Heart shoved into his satchel and trying not to look down at the drop that would surely kill him were he to fall.

***

Cadence struggled to keep the shield up, but her reserves were scraping their limits. She’d sacrificed her own health to keep the defenses going as long as possible, but she could go on no longer. The last of her magic slipped away, leaving her empty, and the shield collapsed completely. Snow blew into the faces of the terrified crystal ponies as they tried to run for safety, not having any idea where might be safe. Shadows flooded into the streets, snuffing out the light of the Crystal City. King Sombra himself glided up the southern thoroughfare, decapitating the guards who tried to bar his way with a slash of shadow. A red cloak was affixed to his midnight form now, trailing out impossibly behind him.

The Brave Companions looked down at the chaos from the main balcony of the Crystal Castle with Shining Armor and a drained Cadence. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had saved the other three from the irate crowd of crystal ponies and brought them up here. They tried to assure the crowd below that their salvation would be at hand any moment, but it seemed a hollow promise. Twilight had vanished, and unless she reappeared with the Crystal Heart in the next minute, all would be lost.

“Up there!” Rarity called as she spotted Spike clambering down the steep side of the Crystal Castle.

The dragonling slipped and slid down part of the castle before leaping to one of the spires that jutted up from it. He barely made it and pulled himself up, huffing and puffing, before realizing that the ponies below were calling up to him.

“I have the Crystal Heart!” he called out to them and produced the relic, which glowed brilliantly.

It caught the eyes of the crystal ponies, but also of King Sombra.

“Crystal Heart!” he yelled in a booming, gravelly voice, “That! Art! Mine!”

Allowing himself to shift back toward his umbral form, Sombra darted forward, leaving an oily black trail behind him that writhed and drew in the crystal ponies he passed. Dark crystals darted forward and made their way up the side of the castle, nearly impaling Spike. Jumping out of the way, he teetered and fell from his perch, plummeting through the air. Rainbow Dash shot up into the air toward him to catch the dragonling before he splattered.

Crystal ponies were thrown aside as Sombra also shot up into the air on a spire of tainted crystal, shadows billowing around him as he took on fully solid form. He was a unicorn stallion again, dark of coat and mane. Silvery armor covered the ancient resurrected warlock, matched by a cruel crown upon his brow. His tongue ran across sharpened teeth as he hungrily anticipated his victory and fire blazed in his eyes, from which flowed long trails of purple smoke. A red cloak billowed behind him, framing two shadowy appendages to replace his lost wings. Celestia would pay dearly for taking those from him!

Sombra and Rainbow Dash raced for Spike, but the Hunter was clearly set to reach him first. Crystals shot through the air and caused Dash to swerve, but one struck her in the wing. She fell with a gasp of pain but was thankfully caught by Fluttershy. Now there was nothing to stop Sombra as he closed in on the Crystal Heart. Once he had corrupted it again, his power would be unmatched, and all of Equestria would kneel to the Shadow King.

A pink blur shot across Sombra’s vision, and the Crystal Heart and dragonling had vanished. Cadence was gliding more than flying, with little strength to do the latter, but her husband had thrown her true, allowing her to catch Spike and the precious artifact before Sombra could reach him. She swung around while Sombra searched for her and banked over the crystal ponies before making a slightly inglorious landing beneath the castle.

“The day is not lost, not if you have the strength and will within you to defend yourselves!” Cadence called out to the awed crystal ponies, “The Crystal Heart has returned! It is up to you to ensure that the terror of King Sombra does not!”

A wave of solidarity and calm seemed to pass through the crowd, screams of terror giving way to calls of defiance against Sombra. Never again would the Crystal Ponies allow a tyrant to rule over them. The Crystal Heart reminded them that they had the power to decide that. One by one, they bowed before the Crystal Heart, their coats practically glowing as the Heart’s magic manifested itself. Their decision and commitment to defy Sombra imbued the Crystal Heart with that same spirit, and the crystal grew brilliant until it was blinding. All of the attacks that Sombra could throw at it were rebuffed; it was too late to corrupt the Heart. The crystal ponies were also under its protection, leaving the Shadow King surrounded and impotent. As the light of the Crystal Heart and its magic spread out, King Sombra’s essence was shredded, leaving not a trace of corporeal or umbral form.

The Crystal Heart did its work from where it now hovered directly beneath the center of the Crystal Castle, projecting its power outward. The Crystal City returned to its ancient appearance, the dark corrupted buildings of Sombra replaced by something even better than what the newcomers had come to know. The buildings shimmered and shone as if they were made of crystal instead of stone and wood, and so did their occupants. The crystal ponies’ flesh transformed. Not only were their coats colorful and radiant again, but they appeared to be made of gems as well. Even Cadence, Shining Armor, the Brave Companions, and the few surviving guards from Cant’r Laht were transformed, their appearances just as crystalline as those of the city’s permanent residents. All the darkness and corruption of the Shadow King was washed away, including the prison holding Twilight Sparkle, and she looked out in wonder upon the transformed city.

From the Crystal City, the magic of the Crystal Heart continued to spread. All across the North, the darkness brought by King Sombra was banished. So too were the storms repelled, truly clearing the skies across all the land. Snow and shadow gave way to a warm and brilliant day. The fields that covered the North were in poor shape after a thousand years of neglect, but the magic of the Crystal Heart that seeped into the soil ensured that there would be a bountiful harvest this year.

As the light faded and the Crystal Heart’s light dimmed to a comforting glow, Cadence was surprised to see that the crystal ponies were still bowed down toward the Crystal Heart.

“Long live Empress mi Amore Cadenza!” somepony shouted, and the call went up as the crystal ponies hailed Cadence as their new leader. Ah, so it wasn’t the Crystal Heart they were bowing to.

***

Within the span of a week, Twilight Sparkle found herself nervously pacing in front of the entrance to Cant’r Laht Castle’s great hall for a second time. The Crystal City and the North had been saved; but in the end, Twilight hadn’t been the one to do it, and she wasn’t sure what to expect from Celestia. Hopefully her mentor would be lenient since she had managed to find the Crystal Heart, even if it had been with Spike’s help.

She had been putting this moment off by staying in the North when she could have easily returned to Cant’r Laht immediately after the crystal ponies were saved. Instead, she and the Brave Companions stuck around to help Cadence start managing the new realm she’d acquired. While the ponies of the Crystal City were ready to crown her as the next empress of the Crystal Empire immediately, the ponies of the North outside of the capital—although grateful for her defeat of King Sombra—were not so enthusiastic to set up this interloper in such a position. Cadence herself had no desire to become empress either, and she had plenty of excuses that let her seek a compromise and wheedle out of being immediately coronated. One of those problems was that King Sombra had banished all clergy of the Church of One from the North, so there was nopony that she considered fit to crown her, and she put off any talk of coronation until after High Priestess Rubius appointed a new archbishop to occupy the Crystal City’s abandoned cathedral. There was also the matter that the Crystal Empire no longer existed, nor had it even existed at the time the North had been lost. While the crystal ponies felt great disdain for King Sombra, he had legally turned the Crystal Empire into the Kingdom of the North, so they had to acknowledge that Cadence couldn’t be crowned empress, as well as the loss of much of the empire’s territory. She didn’t have any desire to be crowned as queen either, which would place her equal to or above—nopony knew for sure where regent lay in the hierarchy of titles—Celestia and Luna. For now, she settled for the title Steward of the North and swore allegiance to the Kingdom of Cant’r Laht. Celestia was fond of creating new titles of late, so she’d await the appointment of an official rank from her former teacher and make do for now. At the very least, it seemed to mollify the crystal ponies who wanted to crown her immediately and those who were unsure alike.

There was much to do in the North as its subjects tried to pick up their lives where they’d abruptly been cut off over a thousand years earlier. Help was needed from those who were accustomed to life in the 4^th Age, but with everypony’s memories now fully restored, it wasn’t long before competent administrators from the 3^rd Age were able to take over from the Brave Companions. Cadence didn’t need them anymore, and there were no more excuses for Twilight to stay.

After writing a letter to Celestia to let her know she would soon be arriving, she and the Brave Companions departed the Crystal City. Most of the city’s residents were still aglow and crystalline, matching the streets and buildings of the Crystal City, but the Brave Companions had returned to normal. The phenomenon had fascinated Twilight Sparkle, an apparent side effect of the Crystal Heart that had been a bit unnerving, especially as the effect slowly faded from the foreigners’ bodies over the course of a few days. When she’d asked the crystal ponies about it, they’d had plenty to share. When the Crystal Heart’s power was renewed, everypony in the city was affected, but the effect was only permanent for those who’d been born here, and it only manifested itself a short distance from the Crystal City. Twilight could have stayed to examine the Crystal Heart more, but the time for excuses and postponing meeting with Celestia was over.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Raven said just like before as she stepped through the great hall’s doors, “Regent Celestia is ready to see you now.”

Nervously, Twilight Sparkle entered the great hall, where Celestia once again was looking at the tapestries that hung along the walls of the chamber.

“Celestia,” Twilight addressed her mentor as she approached the ancient alicorn.

“Equestria is safe from Sombra’s evil, and the North will be well cared for by Cadence,” Celestia stated positively.

“I … I was not the one to save the North,” Twilight admitted, “That honor belongs to Spike and Cadence. I was unable to protect the Crystal City and the North as you told me.”

“Hmm,” Celestia said, “As I understand it, this was not for lack of trying. You did everything you could to secure the Crystal Heart, but when you were trapped, you were not certain that you would be able to escape in time. You entrusted the Heart to another so that it could be brought to the crystal ponies without delay. That decision may have taken the Crystal Heart and the ultimate salvation of the North away from you, but I do not see it as a failure.”

Celestia raised her student’s chin with a hoof, turning her downcast eyes up to her own. Twilight thought that Celestia looked happy rather than cross with her for her failure to pass the test given to her. Unless …

“You weren’t willing to risk letting the North and all of Equestria fall because I told you that you must be the one to succeed in the end. You were willing to suffer failure as my apprentice and perhaps even death at the hooves of Sombra, if only you could save the crystal ponies,” Celestia said proudly, “Many sorceresses of Cant’r Laht desire your position as my personal protégé, but you have proved that you have one of the most important things they lack. In the sense of what I told you about your test, you have failed; but it is far better that I have an apprentice who understands what it means to sacrifice herself for a greater good than one who thinks only of herself and her own advancement.”

“Does that mean …?” Twilight asked hopefully.

“Yes, Twilight, you passed my testing,” Celestia said, “You are truly my most faithful apprentice and deserve all of the trust I have placed in you.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Twilight exclaimed joyously, nearly jumping up and down before composing herself, “What does this mean about my future as your apprentice?”

“We can discuss that more later,” Celestia said with a tender smile, “For today, go to your friends, return to Ponieville, and enjoy a respite.”

Twilight Sparkle bowed to her regent and mentor before hurrying out of the great hall. Her friends were waiting anxiously for her outside the castle, and she couldn’t wait to give them the good news. After she left, Luna entered the hall and joined her sister.

“She is the one, sister,” Celestia said confidently.

“Will she be ready in time?” Luna asked.

“She must be,” Celestia replied. Congratulations on passing the test, my most faithful apprentice. There are many more tests to come.

Comments

[TasermonsPartner]

This was a good take on the Crystal Empire episode. I liked your more realistic reaction of the Crystal ponies, and how Sombra nearly took over, as well as Cadence's position in it all.

Hmm, I wonder if the ponies will still view Spike as the Empire's hero, as they did in the show? They didn't really show it here, but then again, the show didn't either, until later episodes, and sometimes it takes awhile for hero worship to be built up. And the Empire needs its heres to boost morale, afterall.

It could also be another way for Spike to learn about dragon culture from Cadence.

“Cant’r Laht has already burned,” Celestia said, stunning Twilight again, “Ingrirtireth was not pleased with the death of his son. I must go, Twilight—if you truly are who you seem and are not another of the Shadow King’s apparitions here to torment me.”

Huh, I know that this is just from Twilight's perspective, and based on her fears, but I got the impression that the Dragon Lord didn't really care much about his son at all, and, in fact, Spike is essentially a permanent ward of Twilight now, given that he gave up Cadence without asking for Celestia to return Spike in exchange (even if he knew the Cadence he "returned" was fake). Plus, Spike could've died in the invasion anyway.

Still, it's not like he wouldn't mind using the excuse to burn the city down anyway, I guess.

And the fear sequence you used here was much more intriguing than the show one! The whole time-skip and having the others all die was really creative, I think. Though, I do wonder if Twilight wouldn't try to go out and face Sombra with Celestia anyway, even if she knew they would lose.

Heh, on a small side-not, I almost wish that we could've seen the joust with curly mustache pony! 😉