The Equestria Chronicles: Journey Through The Crystal Mountains

by Slippin_Sweetie

The First (Of Many) Stops

The engine hissed as the train wheels squealed, screeching as the click of gears and metallic machinery slowed the locomotive to a complete stop. There was a long hissing as if the train itself was letting out a sigh.

The conductor climbed aboard their train car before ceremoniously announcing, "We have arrived at the Crystal Empire, your highness. Princess Cadance and Shining Armor have prepared a chariot for the castle." informed the conductor, bowing his head.

"Thank you, sir." Twilight gave the stallion a friendly smile. She appreciated the gesture, although she missed being able to walk through a city or town without being accosted.

Spike quickly dug out an oversized newspaper from Twilight's saddlebag before raising the paper in an attempt to hide from the excitable Crystal Ponies. The attention was lovely but now was not the time.

As the group trotted onto the station platform, they gasped as they beheld the stunning chariot of what else? Crystal. Beautiful, dazzling crystal. Rarity and Spike both gawked at the sight of it. One was attempting not to fawn over the masterpiece, and the other was attempting not to take a bite out of it.

The coachpony took his hat off and bowed at the mares and Spike before he opened the carriage door for each of them to climb inside. As the girls and Spike all climbed aboard, with the flick of his reins, the coachpony, and his stallions were off to the Crystal Castle.

Spike practically laid on the floor as he desperately hoped no pony else saw him.

"Dude, I don't think anypony saw you." Rainbow Dash snorted, looking down at the drake who splayed against the chariot floor. Her wings twitched, feeling almost itchy in the confined space. She could fly faster than these stallions could trot.

"Come on, Spike, sit down. We're headed towards the castle anyway; they will notice us." Twilight smiled good-naturedly, tapping a hoof to the seat beside her, "Might as well get comfy."

Spike slowly climbed next to Twilight as he flicked his newspaper open and hesitantly peered from the top of the paper toward the bustling city streets as the dozens of ponies trotted to and fro from the local marketplace.

Some even took an interest in the immaculate, sparkling chariot as they trotted closer, forcing the young drake to take cover behind his thin paper shield, "I'm just trying to make things move as smoothly as possible, and I don't think a crowd of ponies wanting my autograph will make things easier on any of us."

"I understand; just try not to put too much pressure on yourself, okay?" she chided softly, "Also, Spike, I hate to break it to you, but not many dragons travel to the Crystal Empire, so you stick out like a sore hoof either way," Twilight replied, in a matter-of-fact tone, although with a spark of amusement in her gaze.

Spike let out a defeated sigh before inevitably accepting his fate, folding up the newspaper neatly in his lap, "If that's the case, I better just lead the crowds away from you guys so you can go around the city easier."

"Well, I didn't say you had to do *that*, but... thanks, Spike." Twilight gave the young drake a soft smile, patting him on the head.

Glancing out the window, Twilight couldn't help but feel excited to see her sister-in-law and her brother again. It seemed like a nasty habit; they only met up when the fate of Equestria was in the balance. She just hoped that they might have some clue of what they'd face ahead.

"Ooh, ooh, do you think we have time to grab some food for the road?! I know we already packed, but their crystal candy is to DIE for!" Pinkie Pie quickly snapped Twilight out of her thoughts by nearly shouting in her ear. The lavender alicorn winced, rubbing her right ear to stop the tinnitus. "Almost as good as my sister's rock candy!"

"Pinkie... now probably isn't the time... I mean..." smoothing down her mane gently, Fluttershy glanced at the group, "U-Unless, all of you want to."

Applejack rolled her eyes at Pinkie Pie as she once again attempted to tip her non-existent hat; she'd quietly muttered something that caught the attention of Rarity.

Rarity would shriek at the top of her lungs as she turned to Applejack, "You don't mean!?"

Applejack looked up as she raised her brow at the screaming mare, "Rarity, I barely said a word. How'd you even hear that over Pinkie's yelling?"

"When it comes to a fashion problem, I always have an eye (in this case, ear) for my friends. Girls, did you hear what Applejack said?"

Spike slowly looked over, still cringing, "I didn't hear anything over you and Pinkie's screaming."

"Applejack is considering updating her look!" exclaimed Rarity.

"Now, hold on, it was just me missing my old hat," insisted Applejack as she raised her front hooves defensively, "I never meant to uh… rile you up, Rarity."

"Nonsense, for whatever time we have here in the Crystal Empire is surely enough time to get you the perfect hat; I'm thinking of updating your look, something modern and bold."

"Well…" sighed Applejack, "I was considering upgrading my hat to a ten gallon."

Rarity rolled her eyes before letting out a shallow sigh, "Of course you did."

"A ten-gallon hat?!" Pinkie shot up, looking over at Applejack in awe, "Wow, AJ, you have to have a really strong neck for a hat that heavy!"

Applejack smirked at Pinkie Pie as she leaned back in her seat, "Won't be no trouble for me."

"Pinkie, sometimes I swear you're doing that on purpose," The lavender alicorn cocked a brow, glancing over at the party pony, who simply shrugged and began humming to herself.

"You'll look tacky, but I suppose looking tacky isn't a health condition….yet," Rarity smirked.

"Are you girls sure you want to go and do this right now? We're headed to a nation that hasn't been seen in over a thousand years. Are we sure we have time for this?" Twilight replied, taking out a worn textbook on Yakyakistan once more, speed-reading through several sections, "I just want to ensure we know what we're getting into when we're out there. I don't want anypony getting hurt because we were distracted."

"Aw, c'mon, Twilight, if anything bad happens, we can take it! It's not like we haven't saved Equestria, like, a bunch of times already." The prismatic pegasus smirked, puffing out her chest. "Just try to relax a little, okay?"

The alicorn sighed, her bangs flying up from the force of her breath before she sat back against her seat. Tucking her book away, she turned to the pegasus, "Just try to take this at least a little seriously, Rainbow."

"What?! I'm, like, super serious. It's my middle name." she shot back.

"I thought it was 'Danger'! Rainbow, were you lying about your middle name?!" Pinkie gasped indignantly.

"What-- no, Pinkie... it's a joke."

"Whatever you say, Ms. Rainbow, SOMETHING Dash!"

Turning toward Rarity and Applejack, Twilight sighed but ultimately nodded. "I suppose we're going to be here for a bit, so I guess there's no harm in looking around. Let's just meet back at the castle, alright?"

"Sounds good to me!" Pinkie chirped.

"All right!" Dash pumped a hoof in the air, nearly jumping from her seat.

"Umm... okay," Fluttershy whispered.

"Okay, but the real question is... what are you gonna put in your ten-gallon hat AJ? Oooh, apple cider?!" Pinkie began again, making Twilight groan.

"Alright, let's all meet back at the castle," Rarity would quickly pound the carriage's ceiling, "Coachy, my good stallion! Please stop the carriage!"

The Coachpony quickly tugged the reins of the stallions before rapidly opening the door for the ponies, "Er, will one of you still go to the Castle for Cadance and Shining Armor?" he'd look to Twilight for instruction, "Your highness?"

Twilight nodded towards the coachpony, giving the stallion a friendly smile, "Yes, I am still heading to the castle; my friends will just be taking some time for themselves," she turned toward the rest of her friends and gave them a soft look, "Do the rest of you want some time in the city?"

"I just wanna grab some crystal candy, and I'll zip right back to the castle, Pinkie Promise!" the mare stuck her hoof to her eye, smiling brightly.

Rainbow Dash quickly squeezed past her and out the door, grateful to spread her wings and soar into the air, "Don't worry, I'm just gonna stretch, and I'll be there in a jiffy. It was just getting too crowded– You guys go ahead," The blue mare didn't even wait for a reply, already high in the sky.

"Uh… later?" Twilight rolled her eyes and huffed.

"In a while, crocodile!" Pinkie replied before jumping off into a seemingly random direction. Having expected that, Twilight didn't even bother to react with anything other than a smile on her lips. Turning, she caught Fluttershy's gaze, the poor mare nearly hiding behind her long pink mane to avoid the question.

"Um... I think I'll stick with you, for now, Twilight," The yellow pegasus smiled softly, "If you don't mind."

"Of course not, Fluttershy. I wouldn't force you to go out by yourself," Twilight replied understandingly. The yellow pegasus was getting better with her fears, but it was still a process.

Rarity practically dragged Applejack out of the carriage as she excitedly indulged in all of the hypothetical headwear Applejack could have, "How about a feather in your hat? Or maybe a different color, black, maybe with a red brim?"

"Feathers? Colored brims? You're talkin' nonsense," grumbled Applejack as she was pulled from the chariot, dreading what the fashion mare might force her into.

The two mares would walk off before turning around to face Twilight, "We won't be too long; it's just one little touch-up." insisted Rarity.

"So she says," huffed Applejack, "We'll be back before we're needed, I can promise you that, Twilight."

The two quickly departed, leaving only Spike, Twilight, and Fluttershy. The young dragon sighed before stepping out of the carriage and raising his arms to stretch seconds later; a wave of adoring fans intercepted him, "I'll try to get back!" cried the drake, literally being dragged away by the herd.

Twilight, biting her lip in amusement at the sight, gave him a little wave before turning to the coachpony. "We may continue; thank you for your patience, sir."

The coachpony tipped his hat to the princess before shutting the door and climbing atop the carriage, flicking the reins once more, "Next Stop: Crystal Castle!"

Comments

[Deergenerate]

Ok, chapter two so far. I love the character interactions between everyone. They are honestly really close to how they act in the show. I'm loving it.

Something I am most certainly guilty of is kinda side lining the main 6 in favor of Spike, Twilight and other side characters, which is probably something I should avoid and try to fix. To see someone who manages to perfectly manage all 6 of them and have them act so close to their canon selves is honestly pretty inspiring lol

[Yoshifan30]

Well so far this is an easy visit so far and it looks like everybody really want to check out the Crystal Empire after it came back which I've always wanted to check out more and Rarity really wants to help Applejack to give her a new look since she gave her hat to Apple Bloom and the others really want to check it out and Spike really is popular here to the crystal ponies which that's pretty awesome well Twilight and Fluttershy are on the way to talk with Shining Armor and Cadence I wonder what they're going to talk about