Option 2

by James Fire

The Return

So, preparing to make the portal back to Equestria, I draw on the power of the Crystal Heart, cause the raw energy makes it much easier.

Discord chooses that moment to pop in, but he thankfully stays quiet, knowing that I need to concentrate to keep this stable. He waits patiently for the time it takes for me to open the portal. Once it is open, I turn around, planning to beckon Twilight, and see him.

"Discord, why am I not surprised?"

He pouts. "You know me too well, and we only met a few days ago."

"C'mon through. I need to return this," holding up the Heart, "and Cadance and Shining Armour are probably very worried about Flurry Heart. Unless you led them there?"

"I did not. And yes, they are worried. They have most of Equestria looking for her."

Twilight's eyes widen in surprise, and I mentally smack myself for forgetting something so simple.

We all get through the portal and come out into my workroom on top of the mountain. I run out, and into the main area, where Alyr is playing with Flurry Heart.

"Welcome back Aurthur. I have fed the foal multiple times since you left."

"Uh, what did you feed her?"

"I requested pony milk from home." A long silence follows this.

Twilight breaks the silence. "Well, she seems to be fine, so I guess there must be some similarities at least."

"Well, as long as she is playing, she must be fine." I grab Flurry with my aura, and place her on my back. "Well then, let's get to the Crystal Empire. I am sure they want their prize jewels back. Discord, if you please?"

Discord snaps his talons, and we appear in the throne room.

Cadance is sitting on her throne, with Shining Armour standing beside her. We appeared near the main doors, at the back of the crowd. Good rulers, still receiving petitions even when their own child is missing. Granted, they know that I put her somewhere safe, but still.

Seeing Discord pop into the room, they call off the current petitioner, interrupting him mid-sentence. "Discord. What brings you here. Is that Mana Spark with you? Does he have Flurry?"

I push through the crowd, silently cursing Discord for putting us at the back. "Yes Cadance, I have brought your foal back. I am sorry for how long it took. I had to take Twilight home with me, to heal her. And, here is the Crystal Heart. I hope your city has not fallen yet?" A guard takes the Heart, and gallops away.

She glares at me, "It is barely hanging on. We have all the unicorns in the city powering a shield that protects us from the worst of the cold and snow, but with this back, we will have no need of that. I hope you can compensate the unicorns for this, as they seem to be near exhaustion, as well as mana overload."

"Of course. I can provide enough mana to speed along their recovery. Just have them all assemble in a large space, like this room."

We all disperse to our duties. The ponies that were in the crowd heading out to the shield, to tell the unicorns that they could stop. I prepared for the largest mana transfer I have ever done, pulling out my crystal to draw on. Cadance and Shining Armour took Flurry elsewhere in the castle, to spend some time with her after two days of not seeing her. And I can't blame them for it. Even royals need to spend time with their children.

As the unicorns pile in, or are carried, I wait patiently, just below the throne. Let them take from that what they will. Once they are all in, I place a special shield designed to block any and all mana from leaving the room, but allows mana in. I then flood the room with mana, and direct it into every unicorn in the room. A few minutes later, I am done, spent and mostly drained. My mana crystal is completely empty, and I will be several days in recovering my initial mana levels.

Pulling down the shield, I wave all the unicorns out, and just lay there, exhausted. Well, not quite. If I needed to, I could still teleport to my workroom, but I really don't want to. Cadance walks in later, and offers a room for me to rest in. I want to study the Heart in more detail, and say as much to her.

"Sure. We don't fully understand it, and it's not like you can destroy it. Or would want to." I nod, and follow her through the castle to a room. "You can sleep here. When you wake up, you can ask one of the guards to take you to the kitchen. You can either make something yourself, or have a chef do it."

I walk into the room, and look around. Looks pretty standard. Crystal walls, crystal ceiling, a crystal bed with what is presumably a rather comfy mattress. I slip into the bed, and immediately determine that it is not what I am used to. Rather than being a metal frame or some sort, covered with cloth, and then stuffed with feathers or some sort, it does not have a frame. It seems to instead be a very spongy and soft material, bound into the shape of a mattress.

It molded itself to my body perfectly, feeling like I was floating. It was the most comfortable place I had been in, and I had tested the most high tech stuff my world had to offer. I was going to have to ask about it in the morning. Maybe I could use it at home.

Author's Note:

No matter what, the next chapter will be last. It may be a bit longer than what you are used to from me because of this.

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