Disharmony's Parallel

by Xutiepops

The Crystal Empire

Apple Bloom looked up at her friends with wide eyes, the pony on her tail gripping with more than just his teeth to hold on. "I-I can't hold on!" She screamed at their worried eyes, trying to hold onto their hooves as much as she could.

Sweetie Belle watched the pony's wide grin on her friends tail, her friends wide eyes, and could feel her friends weakening grip. She winced as she used her magic to grab the knife out of Scootaloo's satchel and hung it over Apple Bloom's tail. "I'm sorry Apple Bloom!" She cried as she sliced through her friend's beautiful tail, the guard screaming as he fell along the tracks.

They easily pulled Apple Bloom onto the train without the extra weight, all falling back onto the platform. Scootaloo grinned and stuck her tongue out at the Controlling she could see in the distance, who resorted to growling and kicking the snow in defeat as she dropped back down with a crunch! She huffed, "We don't need to worry about some foals. They can't get back in the same way they came."

Apple Bloom looked up at her friends with a wide smile, pouncing on them in a hug with laughs. "I can't believe we did it! We're headin' to the Empire! Just like we planned!" She exclaimed, standing up with a huge smile. "We're gonna see our sisters again!"

The three cheered for what seemed like forever. The plan was done, the roaring train they were riding on was their evidence. All they had to do was ride the train north for a few hours and they were done.

They walked inside the train's last cart, smiling at the open space, the most of the boxes at the very front. They decided to walk further along the train, picking a cart with open sides, the red cart full of boxes as they opened the door, a roaring snow storm greeting them. Sweetie Belle smiled at the long expanse of just snow they were looking at. A blizzard roared over open land covered in white, the dark night sky meeting their gaze.

She looked to Apple Bloom, who couldn't keep a smile off her face as she stared up at the moon. "Sorry about your tail," Sweetie Belle said, looking off into the snow to keep from having to meet Apple Bloom's gaze.

"Are you kiddin' me?" Apple Bloom asked happily, shoving her muzzle against Sweetie Belle's. "I get to see my sister again! I could care less 'bout my tail!"

Scootaloo smiled too as she walked back into the cart, sitting down and wrapping her tail around her hind legs. "We should get comfy, it's a bit of a trip. Think it was three hours last time?"

The two nodded and squeezed into the space that, instead of seeing it as cramped, was cozy to them. "We're really gonna see them again, huh?" Scootaloo asked, as she looked off at the night that looked almost bright in the snow.

"Yeah," Sweetie Belle said softly, also looking out at the snow storm that raged around them. "I get to see Rarity's dresses again."

"I get to see Rainbow's stunts again," Scootaloo cheered.

"I get to see Apple Jack again," Apple Bloom said quietly before turning to her friends. "And it's not just them, it's everypony! Spike, the princesses, and Starlight!" She exclaimed.

A comfortable silence hung over them for a while before Sweetie Belle spoke. "We need a new name!"

"What?" Scootaloo asked.

"We need a new name!" She repeated before cowering into herself. "I mean, since we aren't really Cutie Mark Crusaders anymore." The others nodded as silence washed over them, the three sitting in thought as the storm roared.

Apple Bloom didn't get an idea until she started seeing the sillouhette of The Crystal Empire in the distance. She smiled, "The Harmony Crusaders."

---

"Twilight," a mysterious yet familiar voice called. "Twilight! Where are you!" The mare called desparetely.

Twilight realized it was her voice, calling for herself. Her calls were answered as a mirrored version of herself walked before her, red eyes bright. "Twilight," she said again, looking up at the purple alicorn.

"I'm here," the copy-cat spoke, picking herself up off the ground slightly with her wings, flying in front of Twilight and putting a hoof under her chin, picking up her head. "I'm always here for you."

The mare lowered herself before her, huge purple wings spreading out and wrapping around her. "I'll always be here... as long as..."

"As long as what?" Twilight called, her eyes filling with tears and a smile of disbelief on her face. "I'll do anything."

The copy-cat smiled, leaning down and kissing her on her forehead. "As long as you... promise me we loved each other in a different set of worlds."

Twilight jumped at the familiar words, tears spilling down her face as she looked up at the alicorn, a new, wide grin spread across her face, pointed teeth making up the grin as her red eyes shined brightly.

"I promise!" Twilight yelled, shooting up in her bed in a cold sweat, her breaths heavy as she looked around, tears springing to her eyes.

She sighed as she saw the crystalized room, looking down and seeing the smooth fabric sprawled over her, the light purple mocking her. She scoffed as she threw it off of her, laying back with a scowl at the ceiling. Her wings stretched out painfully, having grown over the many years. The crystalized ceiling sparkled back at her hateful gaze, just like the rest of the castle.

Every time she had visited the Empire, the constant sparkling was something she could never get used to. She got used to it four and a half years ago. It disgusted her, it reminded her of magic and her old castle, but there was a sense of unfamiliarity and mysteriousness in it.

She rolled over onto her side, glancing out the window at the morning sun shining down on a prosperous and happy city. She got up, stepping off of the bed and on to the freezing floors, shivering as she pulled her blanket back on her, walking over to the door and looking down on the sparkling town.

She sighed and sat down under the window, staring at the floor that only sparkled back at her like the ceiling. She'd been having the same nightmare for a few nights now, not that she didn't always have nightmares about that horrendous look-alike of hers from another dimension, but this was the first stream of nights that shared the same nightmare.

She was thankful Princess Luna had given up keeping ponies dreams safe, otherwise she'd know of her betrayal, the forever turmoil her heart went through when she slept. She stood up and started towards the door, not wanting to stare at anymore sparkling surfaces for too long.

The halls only sparkled back at her as she walked down them, though she was thankful she now stood farther away from them, though not much farther, she had only grown a few inches in the years. She was nowhere close to her height as an alicorn.

She looked up at two huge crystal doors, the triangles that made up the gems all caught the light in different ways. Crystal was a beautiful thing, an amalgamation of gems frozen together, but Twilight had learned to dislike it, it was a reminder of her failure, a reminder of what she couldn't do, and a reminder of what she hasn't done.

She held her head as she pushed open the doors, seeing all of her friends sitting at a huge, blue crystal dining table, all decorated with delicacies of the Empire they had grown accustom too. The floor mirrored the ceiling, blue crystal stretching cross the even ground and uneven, domed ceiling. Crystalized chandeliers hung down, holding candles of warm, smile fire. Large, open windows sat on the north wall, letting in the rising sun and lighting up the room. Paintings decorated the other wall, at the other end of the room held a similar set of doors to the ones Twilight was standing in front of.

She smiled slightly, hope blooming in her heart as she watched her friends. Pinkie Pie was listening to Rarity ramble as she bet on who would win in Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash's hoof wrestle. Fluttershy smiled and clapped, cheering on the two quietly as the two princesses looked over the group with motherly smiles.

Starlight looked at everyone with wide eyes, Spike doing the same next to her as their food sat half-eaten in front of them. Twilight walked over and took a seat next to Starlight, smiling at the mare's confused stare. "What's wrong, Starlight?" She asked happily, Starlight looking over at her completely.

"I just-- I don't understand," Starlight started, looking back at the rest before slowly turning to Twilight with the same accusatory look in her eyes. "You're doing it, too."

"Doing what?" Twilight asked, smiling softly despite how much she really didn't want to be smiling. The crystals still looked at her and reminded her of too many things she didn't want to be reminded of. Her heart ached with the memories, the entire castle they lived in was a haunting sense of failure. She didn't want to be smiling at all, she didn't want to be having breakfast, she wanted to be in her room with her thoughts.

But her friends smiles encouraged her to be happy, to be happy for them. "N-never mind," Starlight's voice brought her out of her thinking, she looked at her and saw the worried smile, but a smile at the very least.

Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash's hoof wrestle fell apart abruptly, Rainbow Dash's hoof falling on the table as Apple Jack pulled hers away, upturned eyebrows pointed down at the table as her green eyes sparkled. "What the hell?" Rainbow Dash asked angrily, growling at Apple Jack's depressed stare.

"Are you okay, Apple Jack?" Fluttershy asked, bringing even more attention to what had happened. Pinkie Pie and Rarity cautiously stopped their discussion, worried stares on Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash.

Silence hung over the table, everyponies stare on Apple Jack, matching her depressed stare with their worried ones. Rainbow Dash slammed a hoof on the table, standing up in her chair and furiously looking down at Apple Jack. "What are you doing?" She asked angrily.

Apple Jack didn't look up at her. "What the heck are we doin'? Havin' fun, hoof wrestlin'," she cursed, looking up at Rainbow Dash with fury in her emerald eyes, worried silence watched them. She snapped her head back down, furrowing her eyebrows and baring her teeth. "We don't deserve it, and we never will," Apple Jack spat.

Rainbow Dash tried to fight back, opening her mouth only to close it. She growled as she sat back down, crossing her arms. "We don't wanna do it anyhow," Apple Jack said quietly, looking up at everyones worried stares. "We ain't over it, we won't ever be. Why act like it? We ain't got nopony to prove it to."

Everypony tried to fight her stare, tried to tell themselves she was wrong. All failed and looked down, letting her words sink in and the brutal truth that came with it. For weeks now they had woken up and tried to act okay, tried to act like things were better, but they couldn't carry it over to the dining hall where they first saw the others in the morning. This was the first morning they had made it to the dining hall, and they all thought it would last, no matter the horrible emotions swirling around in them.

The crystals around them sparkled brighter, the room chilled over and when they breathed they swore they could see it. The crystals judged them for their actions, they always had. After losing, no, after giving up their kingdom, they had fled to another.

Everypony pushed their breakfast away from them, once again unable to finish it with the disgust they all felt for themselves.

As Fluttershy sighed, they heard a flash. They all looked upwards and saw Discord with a scowl, his mismatched hands on his hips as he lowered himself onto the table. "Oh, for Celestia! And I thought you bunch were making progress," he cursed, giving everyone but Fluttershy a dirty look.

Celestia was the first to fight his bickering. "Discord, haven't I told you to stay away?" She growled, hate seeping into her voice as she fought his glare. "You have no idea what we, especially these girls, are going through."

Discord snapped and appeared next to her with a bored look, wrapping his arm around her and looking at the other as if he just did his nails. "Actually, I sort of do, Celestia," he said, her name sopped with the same hate she gave him. He spoke as she pushed him away, gliding like an ice puck that was gently pushed. "I was there, remember!" He said with a dramatic move of his hands. He snapped and appeared upright again. "I watched as we lost Equestria, Celestia."

Before Celestia could rip his head off, the other doors opened, everyones attentions jumping to that direction. Princess Cadence walked in with a smile, a young Flurry Heart running in past her and sliding across the floor with a giggle. Cadence narrowed her eyes on Discord, "Celestia is right, you need to leave them alone."

She ignored Discord rolling his eyes. "Let them heal, they aren't going to jump back from a lost war," she said cautiously, hoping not to say too many emotionally triggering words.

"It's been five years!" He exclaimed, making everypony at the dining table wince.

"I-I'm sorry, Discord," Fluttershy said sheepishly, his stare calming her as he stared. He sighed and looked away, a pain seeping into his eyes. "I think it's just... a bit harder for us. We had a, um, b-bit more connections to Equestria than you did."

Rainbow Dash shot up into the sky from her seat. "Oh, come on! Don't apologize to him!" She fought, telling her sheepish friend and making her cower. "He wouldn't care even if he knew everypony in Equestria!" She spat, narrowing her eyes on him, he did the same in return with a scowl.

"He's just trying to make us feel better," Fluttershy explained.

"How? By making us seem stupid for feeling bad about leaving Equestria in the hooves of those... those monsters?" Rainbow Dash cursed, growling at Discord, all of her words were directed at Discord, but they affected everyone in the room. She slowly fell back into her seat, silence hanging over the room like the chandeliers once again.

Discord snapped, leaving without a word. Fluttershy reached for where he was, but backed into her seat and staring up at where he stood. She pushed her seat away from the table, and getting up, mumbling about going to find him as she walked past Cadence, leaving the room.

Luna and Celestia pushed their seats away from the table as well, walking towards Flurry Heart. The foal flew up and landing on Luna's back, a slight smile coming to her face. They walked to Cadence, "Maybe we should get back to training Flurry Heart to use her magic." Cadence looked up at her with wide eyes before nodding, walking out with the two.

One by one, everyone left, besides Twilight. She got up and moved to the windows, staring down at the crystalized town that sparkled in success, the success of defeating an evil that had kept the city trapped for years. She sighed, if only she could've saved Equestria.

And her mistakes now affected the wonderful city she helped save. Shining Armor, her brother and the prince, now had to stand daily by the northern front with a line of guards. And it was all because she couldn't protect Equestria. Tears filled her eyes as she saw the line of guards, standing just within the borders of the Empire to keep out of the snowstorm.

She looked away, turning towards the door with upturned eyebrows and a frown. She couldn't bare to see her mistake reach all the way into her brother's life. And whenever she thought of how she affected him, she thought of her parents, stuck in the capital of that horrific version of Equestria. And they had to watch as a look-alike of their daughter led them into the ground.

She shook her head, trying to rid herself of those thoughts as she started her morning walk throughout the castle. Her walk usually lasted until dinner, but today she wondered if any pony would be there.

She looked up at the walls, staring at the paintings and not the crystal. She smiled sadly to herself, she didn't even recognize the paintings, she barely knew where she was in the castle. She had always spent her time staring at the ground and just turning corners, she didn't know where anything was. The only route she knew completely was from her room to the dining hall.

She hung her head, staring down at the ground when she heard something crash. Alert filled her mind as she ran in the direction of her, tears pricking at her eyes in fear her look-alike had already torn through the Empire's guard and made it into the castle.

She turned a corner, adrenaline filling her as she heard another crash, running into a room full of grey armor suits, some gold. She paused at the sight, Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack covered in scuffs and panting, growling and sneering at the other.

"What's going on!?" She asked, the two's eyes darting to her with a softness that wasn't directed at the other. The two shot each other a dirty glare that weakened into that same softness before the tension in their bodies left and they sighed.

"We don't wanna sit around no more," Apple Jack started, looking around at all the armor they knocked down with a depression in her eyes. She sighed and sat down, rubbing the back of her neck. "We're tired of being sad all the time. We wanna do something."

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash added confidently. She also looked around at the pointless destruction they caused and sighed as well. "We were too weak last time, we wanted to get stronger."

Twilight shook her head. "You really think that'll work?" She asked without thinking, after realizing what she said, she jumped. "I-I mean--"

"No, we get it," Apple Jack said, glancing up at her with a small smile. They didn't say anymore, and after awhile of silence, Twilight left, wanting to continue her daily routine of walking aimlessly throughout the castle.

She continued down unfamiliar terrain, trying to keep from thinking about how they failed their country. She walked for a long time, turning corners, walking up and down stairs, walking into rooms only to walk back out. If she looked up, she could occasionally see a crystalized chandelier threaten to fall on her and judge her for her actions.

She came across the library, a hallway she was familiar with. She smiled, hoping to find a book she hadn't read to distract her. She quickly found that walking with her thoughts wasn't the best idea, only because her past threatened to consume her.

She was shocked to see Pinkie Pie with her muzzle stuck in a book, books stacked up on every side of her. Twilight raised an eyebrow as she leaned over Pinkie Pie's shoulder, seeing information about military strategy. "Um, Pinkie?" She asked, jumping away when the mare jumped herself, wide eyes on her as her chest heaved.

Pinkie Pie giggled when she noticed it was Twilight. "Jeez, Twily! You scared me!" She laughed, falling into her chair with a smile and leaning back against the table. Pinkie Pie knocked a hoof against her head as she giggled. "Guess I got like you and got too sucked up in that book!"

Twilight blinked, Pinkie Pie even admitted she was reading. Twilight leaned forward, taking in the large amounts of books on the table behind Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, why are you reading?"

Pinkie Pie erupted into giggles again. "Oh, that!" She said with a wave of her hoof as she continued laughing. "I thought if I got smarter I could come up with a super awesome plan to take back Equestria," she explained all with a happy, optimistic confidence.

It didn't take very long before that confidence waved and she sat down, a sad smile on her face. "It's kinda stupid, huh? I mean, I don't think many plans can get up past that magic wall and into the Canterlot Castle quietly."

Twilight looked at her sadly, her friend was trying so hard, and even understood the risks now. She sighed before walking over to Pinkie Pie and putting a hoof on her shoulder. Pinkie Pie looked up at her with wide eyes. "It's not stupid. Maybe... maybe you can find a way." She smiled at that hope that sparked in Pinkie's eyes. "Maybe I could help later, I haven't read much on... military strategy," she continued.

Pinkie Pie smiled sadly. "I know you're lying, Twily," she said, her smile comforting Twilight and her eyes making Twilight feel awful. "It's okay, thanks for trying to cheer me up, but," she continued as she turned around, looking down at her book. "I know you don't think we can do it, but I do! Sort of... not really."

"But I'll keep trying!" She fought. "I'll keep trying to believe in us," Pinkie said reassuringly, putting her hoof on Twilight's shoulder this time. "I'll be optimistic for the both of us," she said with a wink.

Twilight smiled up at her and nodded before moving away and out of the room without a word. As much as she wanted to be happy, she couldn't. Now she only had to try harder to not think of Equestria, but hope did spark in her heart, at least a little bit as she walked, Pinkie Pie's words ringing in her head.

She continued walking, on a new journey to find something to distract her from the looming problem looking back at her in the crystals. She sighed, maybe Rarity could ramble about something to keep her attention. Now, as she walked, she looked into the rooms, searching for Rarity.

She eventually found the unicorn with mascara running down her face, sobbing over lumps of fabric sitting in front of her. Her magic covered the expanse of the fabrics, lifting them up off the ground, her magic also encased a needle and thread, but the second she sewed she started crying so bad she couldn't keep a straight line with the thread.

Twilight ran in after her. "Rarity, what's wrong?" She asked frantically, looking at every part of Rarity to see if there was any real injury or any signs of pain. The only thing she saw was Rarity's dramatic crying which lessened at Twilight's question.

"Oh, Twilight!" She said as if she was just waiting for someone to ask. "It's awful! I thought today I could surely make a dress," she pouted as she moved the multi-colored, multi-textured abomination over to a pile of other abominations that seemed ready to topple over. "But I can't!" She said before falling on her front and moving her hooves over her eyes, crying even louder and uglier than before.

Twilight looked at the tall pile of dresses, outfits, and even just pieces of fabric that made up her 'failure' pile. And as Twilight looked at some of them, she agreed. "You haven't been able to make dresses?" Twilight asked.

"I-I don't know what it is!" Rarity cried, sitting up and sending her hooves into the air. "I've tried everything and I just can't make a dress!" She stomped her hooves down, the failure pile of dresses shifting as she continued explaining with theatric movements, most of which concluded with her slamming her hooves down.

"Uh, Rarity?" Twilight interrupted her, pointing at the tall pile of 'clothes' becoming unstable as it wavered.

"What?" Rarity asked, sitting her hooves back on the ground a bit harder than gentle. She followed Twilight's hoof and stared up at the clothes pile as it started falling on them like a wave. "Run!" She cried as she started running out of the room with Twilight.

The pile caught them before they could get away, horrible stitch after horrible design filling the room and drowning the in it. Rarity climbed to the top of the pile and gasped, staring down at the clothes with her mouth agape. "Disgusting! I'm surrounded by my own horrid failures!" She cried as she shut her eyes, looking up at the ceiling to get further away from the failed dresses.

Twilight teleported above the pile, pulling Rarity out of it with her. Rarity peaked down at the new floor and tears started to well in her eyes. She burst out in her ugly crying again as she fell down, grabbing some of the clothes and hugging them as they caught her tears. "Oh, I'm so sorry you're all so ugly!" She cried.

Twilight wanted a distraction, but one that didn't include her friends loud crying or her friends favorite hobby being reduced to a hideous replacement for crystal tiled floors. She mumbled an apology before dashing out, wanting away from that situation as quickly as possible.

She looked back at the room, wondering why Spike wasn't helping her and considering if that was Rarity's problem. She bumped into something, falling backwards and groaning at the pain of hard, crystal floors. She looked up at Fluttershy offering her a hoof. "Oh! I'm so sorry, Twilight, I-I was kind of distracted."

As Fluttershy helped her up, the only word she heard was 'distracted'. She smiled as she looked at the mare, not noticing the emotion in her kind eyes. "Distracted? By what?" She asked eagerly.

Fluttershy cowered into her mane. "Oh, well, um, um..." she started before sighing and standing up straight. She cowered back into herself at Twilight's intense stare. "I, um, just... the Empire doesn't really have a, um, royal garden, so I was just, um, wishing there were some animals I could take care of and talk to."

Twilight's shoulders dropped. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said after she realized what Fluttershy said. "Oh, wow, I'm really sorry." She only remembered the ludicrous amount of animals Fluttershy had to leave behind, once again reminding her that they left Equestria behind.

"Oh, it's okay!" Fluttershy reassured her with a genuine smile. "I was also looking for Discord, have you seen him?" She asked confidently. Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes as she shook her head. Fluttershy nodded and continued on. "Well, have a good day."

"You too," Twilight said as she continued walking, more determined to find something to distract herself. She ran through the limited amount of things she could do in the castle and quickly remembered Flurry Heart. If she wasn't with Luna and Celestia, she'd be free to play with! And if she was with Luna and Celestia, she could always help.

Twilight smiled as she walked and tried to find her way to the throne room, or Flurry Heart's room. She quickly found the filly wasn't in the throne room and started to wrack her brain about where Flurry Heart's room was as she walked. She heard a huge burst of magic and saw a larger than normal doorway up the hall. She smiled as she trotted there, seeing the gemstone design that surrounded the door.

She looked inside and saw Celestia and Luna covered in scuffs, both out of breath as they looked up at Flurry Heart who was walking on the ceiling. Celestia sighed, "Is there any point to teach her how to use alicorn magic other than keeping her from creating problems?"

"Sure there is!" Flurry Heart shouted from the ceiling. Twilight almost drooled at the sight of her pink room, most of the crystal as covered by something pink. A pink bed, a pink rug, pink paintings on the wall. It looked like heaven. "I wanna learn how to use cool magic like you too!" She fell down onto the ground.

"Momma says you two raise the sun and the moon!" Flurry Heart beamed.

Celestia and Luna smiled sadly and Twilight winced from her position in the hallway. "That was a bit ago, we don't raise the sun and moon anymore," Luna said softly to the filly, a motherly smile on her face.

"Then who does?" Flurry Heart questioned, the two alicorns winced before sighing.

"A monster raises the sun and moon now," Celestia explained, looking outside a window and sneering at her beloved sun she used to raise every morning and lower every night. "And it amazes me that she can."

Flurry Heart raised an eyebrow at the two, worry on her face at the seriousness that took over the two. Luna looked down at her. "We'll teach you how to use your magic to its full capability, maybe then you can let me retire and raise and lower the moon for me," Luna joked, the filly laughing up at her and smiling wide at the proposition.

Twilight watched for a little while longer, watching as they smiled and joked whenever Flurry Heart looked, but stared away in sorrow whenever she wasn't. Twilight got up and walked away, deciding those two needed the distraction more than she did.

Twilight finally decided some fresh air might do her some good as she started her journey outside, deciding every staircase down was a step in the right direction. When she randomly found her way outside, she found Spike sitting in front of the Crystal Heart, his new wings spread out.

She raised an eyebrow as she walked over, wondering why he wasn't inside the castle. "Spike?" She asked, approaching him and glancing out at the bustling town that seemed full of sunshine despite the gloom that roamed inside it's castle.

Spike looked back at her momentarily before looking forward again and slouching. "Oh, hey Twilight," he mumbled. She walked next to him and sat down, looking at the Crystal Heart and regretting her decision.

"What are you doing? There's more things you can do than sitting her all day," she said, wondering why he looked so... depressed. Sure, they were all upset, but he seemed more upset than the others.

He looked up at the Heart with wide eyes. "Just trying to relive my accomplishments."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, remembering that Spike was a super star in the Empire. Though as she looked out at the town, he seemed to have lost his fame. She looked down at him, now that she thought about it, she never really saw him in the castle throughout the day. Did he spend all his time out here?

"I saved the Crystal Empire twice," he said as if it broke his heart. She didn't understand, but she smiled, he had saved the Empire twice. She didn't know what he meant, but before she could question him, he spoke again. "But I couldn't save Equestria once."

Twilight shook her head. "You've saved Equestria before, you've been there with us when we did," Twilight tried to convince him, tried to make him feel better. He looked up at her with wide eyes, and those told her she couldn't.

He looked back at the Heart. "But I couldn't save it this time," he said sadly, eyes shaking as if he was looking at every different edge of the Heart. Twilight sighed as she stood up, knowing she couldn't do anything.

"Do you know where Starlight is?" She asked, hoping he didn't. If he didn't, she could force him to go search for her with her, getting him away from the Crystal Heart seemed like a good idea.

"Studying something with Sunburst at his place," Spike said numbly. Twilight jumped at the lack of emotion, she didn't know the last time she saw him this depressed back in Equestria.

Twilight fumbled for something to think of, something to get him away from this horrible reminder. She came up empty as even his wings sagged with his shoulders. She sighed, turning to walk back inside the castle, it was obvious being outside was a bust.

As she walked down familiar and unfamiliar halls, she looked out the window and saw the early sunset peering in. She smiled slightly, at least that meant she could go to sleep soon. But as she looked back outside, she noticed the line of guards again. She didn't know if she wanted to experience another nightmare, but at least she wouldn't be wracking her mind about what she could do.

She heard a flash as something stopped her. She sighed and looked up, seeing Discord floating over her with an unamused look on his face, holding her horn as a way to keep her from moving. He snapped again and appeared in front of her. "Fluttershy was looking for you," she muttered, thankful she didn't care enough to be furious with him like Celestia.

"Oh, I know, even after all these years she's the only one who treats me like a friend," he hissed at her before crossing his arms. He raised an eyebrow as she walked past him, ignoring him entirely. He snapped and appeared in front of her again, keeping her from moving as she looked up at him. "When will you, of all ponies, stop being so depressed?"

She shrugged. And she wondered why he asked when he growled and drug a claw down his face. "Oh, come on! How are we supposed to take Equestria back when," he started dramatically before he snapped and appeared next to her, an arm tossed around her shoulder as he floated over the ground at her height. He pointed at her horn and her crown appeared on her head. "The leader here is too sad to want to do anything."

"Discord," she started calmly as she pushed him away, raising a hoof to take her crown off her head. She stared down at the familiar six pointed star on top surrounded by gold designs. She sighed and dropped it as she continued walking. "We can't take back Equestria, I know that. So, I stopped trying."

He growled as he picked up her crown. He sneered as he spoke, eyes narrowed on her. "No, you just don't want to try." She didn't feel any guilt as she heard a flash again, assuming he left. She continued walking the halls until she came across the dining hall again, looking up and realizing she forgot they had dinner at all.

She wasn't hungry, but she wasn't feeling much of anything either. She assumed it couldn't be a bad idea to at least try and eat. Her eyes lit up slightly as she thought about seeing her friends again for the day. As much as she wasn't her old self, she still loved her friends like her old self.

She smiled as she pushed open the doors, ready to see Flurry Heart hanging from a chandelier and everypony too distracted with that to be depressed.

She opened the doors to silence, no pony was there. Her heart ached as she walked over to the table, knowing what this was. Some plates of food were eaten and some weren't, some chairs were pulled out and some weren't. If everypony was too... lost in their minds or too busy with emotions, they'd only eat if nopony else was there. It was strange how most of them had that thought process on the same nights.

She shook her head as she walked to the other side of the room, ready to head to her crystal room with its crystal judgment that didn't even help her sleep. She hoped, prayed she'd run into somepony on the familiar trek.

She didn't.

The idea of sleep was even more devastating, it didn't come, everyponies words ringing in her head. Pinkie Pie's, Rainbow Dash's, and Apple Jack's want to be better, in the idea that they could take back Equestria. Fluttershy's missing home, Rarity's inability to do what she loves, Spike's disappointment in himself. And it was all concluded with Discord's desparate attempt to help her believe, to push her to want to create some type of plan. All with her saying it wasn't possible.

Tears filled her eyes as she looked up at the dark crystals of the roof, the night sky outside was calm. And as she shut her eyes, she knew this would be just another day in the Empire. Another day from home, another day with the haunting memories of her failure, another day of those empty emotions filling her to the brim.

She sighed, she had given up on praying for something to change, for something to happen on these 'another days'. She knew nothing would happen, and she wondered if she'd remember this same moment when she was laying in this same bed ten years later.

"Twilight!" Pinkie Pie screamed as she jumped on her bed. "Shining's got good news! He says the Cutie Mark Crusaders are here!" Her smile was so wide, her hair was so bouncy, and she looked like her brightest colors, even in the dark.

Twilight shook her head as she sat up, rubbing her head and wondering if her nightmares were just starting to get worse. "What?" She asked as she heard Rarity's scream of joy from across the castle.