This is the tale that follows a young filly through her life in the Crystal Empire.
Scarlett Twinkle was born during the reign of King Sombra, the evil dictator that ruled over the Crystal Empire for many years. Forced into slavery as a filly, her life feels like its ending before it even has really begun. When King Sombra is banished and the Crystal Empire vanishes, Scarlett is thrown into a kind of hyper sleep, like all of the crystal ponies were. When the Crystal Empire pops back up after 1000 years, it's as if none of the ponies aged. This is the story about how Scarlett Twinkle grew up in a world that wanted to tear her down.
"Time to get up, sweetheart." A small filly laying on the cold ground in a shaky hut opened her violet eyes at the sound of a soft voice calling to her. She struggled to get to her hooves, her limbs crying out in pain from overuse. A concerned face peered from the doorway that led outside the terrible home. As the filly walked outside, the light from the rising sun reflected off the once beautiful crystals shone light on her coat, bringing a nice glow to her pinkish-red fur and mixed pink, peach, and light yellow wavy mane.
"Hurry up, we have to go." The stern, yet tired voice came from the filly's father. His name was Blaze and his was a big unicorn. Orange coat with spiky yellow and red hair, he was quite a sight to see. Standing next to him was Sparkle, a young looking mare with dull pink fur and a purple wavy mane. Both had chains around their necks, as did their daughter, the young filly who was coming out of their abode named Scarlett Twinkle.
The chains were beginning to glow and started tugging on their necks. Poor Scarlett fell over from the tugging, her face scraping on crystal road. Sparkle helped her daughter up, then Blaze led them all towards the castle. Everypony with chains around their neck, pulling them to the castle. Everyone looked weary and broken.
A single file line was set up outside a shack that was built out of the scary dark crystal that the ruler of the Crystal Empire, King Sombra, could create with his magic. Every family would step up to the shack and check in with the unicorn there. All of King Sombra's guard was made up of members of their own community that thought, "Well we can't fight him, so let's join him." They all turned cruel when they became members of the guard.
"State your names."
"Blaze, Sparkle, and Scarlett Twinkle."
"Ah yes, the troublemaker family. For your last act of aggression over our great ruler, you and your family are assigned to the West Fields behind the castle." Blaze opened his mouth to protest, but after glancing down at his daughter, he gulped and shut it, saying his words with a glare. The chain around their necks was connected to several other ponies who had been waiting off to the side and led them past the castle.
The area that they were being led to was one of the toughest crystal mines in the entire Crystal Empire and anyone who pissed off the King got sent to mine in this field. Blaze was notorious for acting out whenever something went wrong for his family or any of the ponies he knew and now his only daughter was being punished along side him.
"Get to work, slaves!" Another unicorn shouted, cracking the whip he had been carrying around. Every pony on the chain was given a pick-ax and were hauled into a hole that led into the ground. It was dimly lit and Scarlett whimpered. She was scared of the dark. "Shut up!" The unicorn yelled at her, whipping her. The whip left a decent sized cut on her right leg and she let out a cry. Blaze began to use his magic, but the unicorn whipped his as well. "Now get up and get to work!"
Sparkle helped Sacrlett get up and made sure her husband was okay before turning to the wall they had to start digging into. It was hard work and in no time everypony digging into the wall grew tired. Poor Scarlett was trying not to put any weight on her injured leg, but that became hard, since she had to use every ounce of strength to even move the pick-ax.
The day went by so slowly that Scarlett thought they were down in the hole for days. It was only when the ceiling above them began to shake that brought Scarlett back into the real world. The guards around them looked confused and sent a pegasus to go up and check on the situation. Moments later, she came darting down the hole, screaming about the two princess' had come to fight King Sombra. All the guards went back out the hole and the ponies in chains followed.
The sky was bright, as if the sun was 1000 times brighter than normal. Scarlett had to shield her eyes from the light and Sparkle picked the filly up and set her on her back. One of the guards came back and picked out all the unicorns in the group.
"You're coming with us to help King Sombra! All unicorns will use their magic on King Sombra to help him defeat those stupid alicorns." Blaze, being a unicorn, was also selected to go.
"I will not help that tyrant! The sisters will defeat him!" Blaze cried, using his magic to break the chains on everyone's necks. Ponies scattered, Sparkle and Scarlett among them. Sparkle turned back when she realized her husband wasn't following. "Go! I'll hold off these traitors!" A magic battle between him and the unicorn with the whip began, forcing Sparkle and Scarlett to leave.
They raced through the streets, running along with the other crystal ponies who were racing away from the violently shaking castle. Massive blasts of magic erupted from the place, sending crystal flying down on the fleeing ponies. Sparkle, with Scarlett on her back, dodged and weaved through the falling debris, trying to get away and save her daughter. She could feel the blood from her cut from the whip on her back and knew she had to get her somewhere to get help.
A loud cry made everything stop and the ground began shaking much more violently, causing cracks in the ground to begin opening up. Sparkle didn't stop running and saw the old clinic used to treat ponies before King Sombra came into power. Just as she was about to burst through the door, magic, King Sombra's magic, surrounded her and Scarlett. In fact, it surrounded everything. Scarlett cried out in fear as everything was plunged into darkness.
Darkness was all that was around Scarlett. No noise, no light, nothing to signify that she was even alive. She felt as if she had been asleep for such a long time, longer than she had ever slept.
And then there was light. So bright, it burned her eyes. Surely she must be dead, since no one talked about a light that bright besides the one you supposedly saw when you died. But then it began to dim down and she heard the voice of her mother moaning. When she could finally see without blinding light blocking her vision, she noticed that she was in the Crystal Empire. She looked to her side and saw Sparkle laying on the ground next to her, seeming to just be waking up.
"Mama, what happened?"
"I-I don't know...are we in the Crystal Empire?" Sparkle got to her hooves and put a hoof to her head to try and stop the spinning. Everything looked the same, yet something felt different. Both Sparkle and Scarlett turned to the castle and were astonished to see it completely intact. That's when she noticed Scarlett's leg. It was still cut and bleeding. "Come on darling, we need to get you to the clinic."
The clinic was empty except for an old looking unicorn who also looked like he had just woken up.
"Hello Doctor. My daughter has a cut on her leg that needs to be treat."
"Well everypony has injuries these days and the King isn't so kind to give me very many resources, but I can see what I can do for her." He led them back into a dusty room and helped her onto a bed. He examined Scarlett's leg then went over to the cabinet to grab some disinfectant and bandages. "This might sting little filly." He cleaned the cut and wrapped it up, all the while Scarlett held back her whimpers. He patted her on the head when he was done. "Now that's a strong girl."
Scarlett got off the table and followed Sparkle to the front.
"I don't have anything to give you...." Sparkle started, but the doctor held his hoof up.
"Now don't you worry about it. It's a real shame bringing children into something as dangerous as mining." The doctor sighed, ushering them out of the clinic. "What I am worried about, though, is what in the hay just happened. I was just cleaning some old beakers when suddenly it went dark! Then here I am, waking up on the floor!"
"That's weird, since the same thing happened to us just before we got here!" Sparkle exclaimed. Scarlett nodded her head in agreement. That's why she felt so groggy and why she thought the light was so bright. Why did she and her mother and the doctor apparently fall asleep so suddenly? The concerned voices of other ponies began to fill the air, some complaining about the light and others questioning why they fell asleep. Then, another question began popping up.
"What happened with the Sister Princess' and King Sombra?" All eyes were on the castle. It looked like there hadn't been a battle at all.
"What's that in the sky!?" Some ponies began to cower in fear, thinking it was King Sombra, but the ones who were brave enough, or perhaps just curious, to continue looking into the sky. It looked like three pegasi were heading down for the main courtyard in front of the castle. Sparkle and Scarlett were among the ones brave enough to follow them to the courtyard.
When they arrived, though, they were very surprised to find that instead of three pegasi, it was the Sister Princess' and another alicorn they had never seen before. Everyone was still scared and said not a word as they looked over them.
"Why do you all cower? Seeing us instead of your cruel ruler should be a great sign." Said Celestia. The way she spoke was weird and different from what some of the ponies remembered. Still, no one said a word, some even raced off when King Sombra was mentioned.
"We bring you some good news! Does thou not want to hear it?" Said Luna. She talked liked they remembered.
"But first, I should tell you that the Crystal Empire has been....missing for 1000 years. We don't know what happened, but King Sombra was defeated and then the entire Crystal Empire just vanished." Some ponies shouted and thought that the claims were lies, yet others were silent and seemed to be thinking. Maybe it was true, everypony did just randomly fall asleep. The princess' kept talking.
"It may take sometime to adjust to the fact that the Crystal Empire was gone for 1000 years, but it's back now and you will no longer have to fear King Sombra, for he is gone." Celestia opened her left wing, gesturing to the pink alicorn on her left. She looked kind and had a cutiemark in the shape of the Crystal Heart, a prized possession of the crystal ponies, but King Sombra had taken it when he came into power and hid it away, sapping most of the crystal ponies strength and spirit.
"This is Princess Cadance, the rightful ruler of the Crystal Empire, is here now to take over the duties as the Crystal Empire's princess." The ponies didn't rejoice as the princess' expected, but instead seemed to hear something. Over the howling of the wind that surrounded the wintery mountains around the Crystal Empire, a low rumble could be heard.
"Look! It's King Sombra!" Somepony shouted out. Panic began to spread and ponies began running in all directions. Celestia and Luna opened their wings, but Cadence was the first to react. Cast a spell, a huge bubble appeared and surrounded the entire Crystal Empire. Outside, in the winter winds, a shadow darted towards the empire. It was indeed King Sombra, but he seemed to be a shadow with no real form.
That's when the ordeal with King Sombra and The Elements of Harmony came about and Scarlett Twinkle's world was flipped.
For days, Scarlett and her mother hid in their home, fearful that King Sombra would break through the shield that their new princess had put up. Several ponies from a town far away came and had tried to ask around for information, but nopony was really willing to talk ill about King Sombra. Also, many ponies memories were starting to vanish only to be replaced with images of King Sombra's anger and magic.
When they came to Scarlett's house, Sparkle wanted to help, but the same thing began happening to her. Every time she tried to think about some information on King Sombra, fear would flood her mind and she would get a major headache. Scarlett, on the other hoof, did not have this happen to her, but being to young to really understand what had been going on with King Sombra, she wasn't much help.
Scarlett got antsy from being locked in her home for several days, but Sparkle was too fearful now, too scared that King Sombra would be back and take her baby away. After they had woken up and all the drama with the Sombra shadow, Sparkle and Scarlett had gone to look for Blaze. They searched and searched for him, but they couldn't find him. Even when asking around, still Blaze was no where to be found, as were any of the ponies who had made up King Sombra's royal guard. Eventually, they had to give up and accept that he didn't come back with the rest of them from wherever they went for 1000 years.
One day, while Sparkle was sleeping, Scarlett snuck out of the house, desperate to stretch her legs outside. When she got out there, though, she was surprised to find the streets had been decorated and there were stalls filled with an assortment of random things. She was speechless as she began to walk the streets. Several other curious crystal ponies had also begun to explore and they soon found out that this was a festival.
"Scarlett! Scarlett Twinkle, where are you?!" Scarlett stopped and turned to see Sparkle running around frantically.
"I'm over here mother, don't worry." She shouted, getting Sparkle's attention. Sparkle came trotting up, a scowl on her face.
"Why did you sneak off from the house like that? You never know when King Sombra will..."
"Mother look around you! Doesn't this all seem interesting instead?" Scarlett waved her hooves around. Sparkle took a look around and her eyes widened.
"This looks like a Crystal Festival! They stopped having them when King Sombra came into power!" She began to look around, going from stall to stall. Scarlett followed along, enjoying everything that was going on. Delicious food, fun crafts, and a hilarious jester, Scarlett had never had this much fun in her entire life.
"Ladies and Gentlecolts! The joust will be starting in 5 minutes! Please make your way to the stands if you wish to watch!" Sparkle was basically a little kid at these words and begged her child to come with her to watch.
"Jousting is a great sport! Such strength and agility! You will love it!" Scarlett agreed reluctantly leaving the petting pen with cute fluffy ewes. They took their seats in the front row and waited excitedly. Scarlett noticed it first, but all of the crystal ponies' coats were shining like they used to. A roar from the crowd signified that the jousters had come out and were getting ready to go.
A bright blue pegasus with rainbow colored hair and a light yellow one with long pink hair were one opposite sides of the fence, holding their jousting sticks at the ready. The yellow pegasus looked unsure, but a whistle blew and the blue one took off. The yellow did as well, but not as fast and when they connected, she was blasted way over the bleachers. Ponies were cheering and stomping their hooves on the bleachers while the blue pegasus bowed.
"I'm gonna go get something to eat, mama." Sparkle only nodded as she continued cheering. The yellow pegasus was back and getting ready for another joust. Scarlett got up and moved past several ponies before coming to the edge of the bleachers. She jumped down and trotted back over to the stall with crystal berry pies. When she got there, though, she found several other ponies who were disappointed to find that there were no more.
Saddened a little, Scarlett moved on, wandering around some more. She went to the courtyard in front of the crystal castle where a pedestal was standing under a sheet. An orange earth pony was hanging around it, obviously not a crystal pony since her coat did not shine like theirs did. She had three apples as her cutiemark and she wore a strange hat that Scarlett had never seen before in her life.
What she was really curious about was what was under the sheet. It seemed to be some sort of statue or crystal positioned at the top of the pedestal. She went up the the orange pony, determined to figure out what she was hiding.
"Hey there lil' filly! You enjoyin' the festival so far?" The pony asked when she noticed Scarlett sneaking up on her. She moved in between the pedestal and Scarlett, blocking it from her view.
"Oh yes. It has been the most exciting day of my life, ma'am. What's under that sheet?"
"A-ah, this sheet? Don't you worry 'bout that. It will be revealed soon, I promise." Her eyes betrayed her to Scarlett and she wasn't convinced.
"I won't tell anyone if you let me have a little peek." She begged, putting on the best puppy-dog face she could image. The orange pony laughed.
"Now you look like my little sister back at home when she wants somethin'. Don't worry.....?"
"Scarlett Twinkle."
"Ah Scarlett Twinkle, cute name for a cute filly! Don't worry Scarlett, you will be the first to know what's under here when we reveal it, alright? Now run along little filly! Enjoy yourself." She shooed her away and Scarlett had no choice but to go. She walked with her head down, trying to figure out what could be under that sheet.
It was then that she felt a shudder in the ground. She looked up at the sky which looked clear and nice, but she new better. It was an illusion made by the shield around them, but as she stared at the sky, it faltered, showing the real terrain around the empire. It flickered for a moment, then went down completely. Scarlett felt fear race down her spine as she saw the shadow of King Sombra.
He raced in, his dark crystal popping up in the shadows wake. As he moved, his body formed into a solid pony shape and he was racing towards the tallest tower on the castle. Ponies were running in fear, but Scarlett's gaze was fixed on the castle. Up at the top, she swore she could see a small figure jumping down the evil crystals popping up. King Sombra noticed it as well and darted towards it. On the balcony below the tower, she saw the princess and a white stallion with a blue mane grabbed the princess and launch her towards the figure and King Sombra.
Her wings spread out and she flew so fast that even King Sombra had to stop. She grabbed the figure, who Scarlett saw was now holding a crystal and flew down to the courtyard. Scarlett was shocked to see that it was a little dragon holding a crystal shaped like a heart. The sheet had been pulled off the pedestal and a stone that was cut like a heart sat on top. The princess knocked it off and the dragon stuck the crystal one on it. The crystal ponies that were around it began bowing and Scarlett ran up and did the same, not that she knew why.
The crystal began to spin and suddenly a burst of powerful magic was released from the crystal. Scarlett watched as it hit King Sombra and his body was shattered and vanished along with his dark crystals. All the ponies began cheering and Scarlett joined in. It looked like King Sombra wouldn't be coming back!
"Scarlett! Oh please, where are you?!" Once again, Sparkle was crying out for her daughter. Scarlett ran to her mother, launching herself at her.
"Oh mother it was amazing! A little dragon had this crystal and when he put it on that pedestal, and then everypony bowed then a burst of magic popped out of the heart and bam! King Sombra was annihilated!" Sparkle looked over to the courtyard and saw the crystal heart spinning.
"Oh my gosh. That's the Crystal Heart! It's what protects the Crystal Empire from dangers! When King Sombra came around, he hid it away from us! We used festivals to power the heart with good feelings! Oh, I am so glad they found it!" Sparkle explained. Scarlett's eyes twinkled as she listened to her mothers. Everypony's coat was shinning brighter than she had ever seen them shine before.
This was the beginning of a new life for Scarlett Twinkle and Sparkle.
After things had settled down in the Crystal Empire, the old schoolhouse was reopened and a stallion from Canterlot was hired to educate the children in the Crystal Empire. Sadly, there were only four of them; Scarlett Twinkle, Marble, Winternight, and Frost Fury. None of them had ever personally met before being brought together in the school house and now they had to learn and grow in a world where they were over 1000 years old.
"Now that everypony is here, let us begin the lesson." Teacher Green Thorn began, using his magic to point the pointer against the chalk board. Written on the board was the word 'cutiemark.' Of course, Scarlett and the other children knew what that was, though none of them had one.
"Can anypony tell me what a cutiemark is?" Marble's hoof went into the air at the speed of light. He was the smartest of the Crystal children, always the first to answer the questions. He also was the quickest learner, picking up the new way of speaking quickly and dying to learn more about what had gone on during the years the empire was gone.
"A cutiemark is the mark that appears on a pony's flank when he or she discovers their true talent." He said proudly. Scarlett rolled her eyes and remained quiet.
"Very good, Marble! Yes, that is what a cutiemark is. Some say that it holds a pony's destiny in it's clutches." He was trying to creep them out, but the only reaction he got was a yawn from Frost Fury. Clearing his throat, he picked up a piece of chalk and began writing on the board.
"Well then, as you may have noticed, no one cutiemark completely matches another. Some may be very similar, but they are always different."
"So it's kind of like a hoofprint?" Winternight asked.
"Yes! Precisely!" Green Thorn smiled. Winternight was the more quiet, brooding type of mare and hardly ever spoke up in class. Scarlett herself was a little shocked.
"What does that have to do with anything. We already know all of this stuff." Frost Fury whined. His wings unfolded and re-folded impatiently. "If you're only going to bore us with things we know, I'm gonna go back to my flying practice."
"Wait now, just a minute there. You didn't let me finish my statement." Frost grumbled and sat back down. "Now see, everypony has a different cutiemark, so what brings them together? What makes ponies of different species, different back rounds come together and become friends? Start families?"
None of the children had an answer to any of these questions. Marble didn't even raise his hoof, looking a little horrified that he didn't know. Green Thorn laughed, but not in a chastising way.
"It's friendship, my little ponies. The need for relationships, both platonic and romantic, is what truly connects all of us. We find similar interests, personalities, you name it, it could probably be a factor in any number of friendships." Scarlett's mind was having a tough time wrapping around this, as were the other children.
"Relationships? What are those?" Marble asked. Green Thorn was surprised, but looking at the shining coats of the children reminded him of where he was. They were raised to only know fear and pain. The only love they knew had to come from their parents.
"Well, that's a tough thing to explain. Relationships are formed by interests and emotions; good ones, not bad like with which King Sombra used to enslave you poor things." Memories from those days bubbled up in Scarlett's mind and she forced them away.
"So I have read in a book that there is an emotion called 'love.' What is that?" Marble asked. Green Thorn looked uncomfortable, but answered anyways.
"Love is something you can feel for material things and living things. Example, your parents love all of you. You are their children and they would do anything to protect you. That is love; it is warm and makes you feel as if you could do anything. That's the best I can explain it." Scarlett thought about his description of love and her mother's face popped into her mind. Se got a warm, fuzzy feeling that began to flood through her body.
"I think I understand. I love my mother too." She said. The other children nodded, all voicing their affection for their parents. Green Thorn smiled softly and put the chalk down.
"That's good! Now that ends today's lesson. You all go home for the day and be here bright and early tomorrow morning! We are going to reviews our subtracting skills!" Everypony groaned as they exited the school house. Scarlett trotted next to Marble while Winternight and Frost Fury both flew.
"This love, I am going to have to do more research on it!" Marble declared, racing away from the group towards the local library.
"Typical Marble. If he keeps sticking his nose into books, he will turn into a book!" Frost Fury laughed. Winternight eyed him and he shut up real quick. Being twins, it was as if they could read each other's mind and whatever Winternight said, it scared Frost.
"Do you both want to play today? My mom told me she would be late at the doctor office today since they are reorganizing the files." Scarlett asked, pointing to the playground made of crystals in the distance. When King Sombra was defeated a second time, Princess Cadance had created the playground to entertain the four children.
"We have to go home and practice flying above the clouds today." Frost said proudly, throwing his chest out a little. Winternight nodded, not saying anything. Scarlett's tail drooped and she sighed.
"Oh alright. Have fun." The twins flew off, leaving Scarlett alone. "Go do flying practice....again." She said to no one as she slunk over to the playground. She went and sat on one of the swings, swaying back and forth slowly. She seemed to always be alone. When things had settled down, her mom, Sparkle, had gone into a sort of depression. The full reality that Blaze was gone had hit her hard and she didn't take it well. Using her talent of writing, she got a job as the file keeper at the doctor office. Scarlett was left home alone for long periods of time as Sparkle devoted all of her energy into her work, sometimes forgetting about her daughter back at home.
On nights when she wasn't working late at the office, she was making sure Scarlett didn't leave her sight. It was as if she was so scared that if she blinked, Scarlett would disappear like Blaze. It was weird, the obsession. Scarlett wondered why she even had a job and went to work for so long if she was scared Scarlett would disappear.
Sighing again, Scarlett left the playground and headed home. She would have to start thinking about what to make herself for dinner, since she would be spending the evening alone. Again.
