Written by Brandon Nell, Micah Shires, and Blake Hawkins
Chapter 1: The Crystal Empire - Part 1
Two days after Spike woke up from his coma from being cured of his werepony curse, things were going rather well in Canterlot. Celestia and Luna were tending to business inside the castle with decrees and laws. They were suddenly interrupted when the throne room doors were forced open and a competent pony guard ran inside. This one was an earth pony who looked similar to Shining Armor, but, with amber eyes.
“I’ve urgent news from Northern Equestria, your highness!” he said, clearly alarmed.
“What is it, Vanguard?” Celestia said.
“I regret to inform you that…” the guard, named Vanguard, said grimly as he removed his helmet. “It has returned. And with it… him.”
Celestia became concerned and suspicious as she inquired, “By ‘it,’ do you mean the Crystal Empire?”
“Yes, your highness,” Vanguard confirmed. “The information comes from Sergeant Maelstrom, our most competent Pegasus guard.”
“Understood,” Princess Celestia nodded grimly. “Have Shining Armor and Princess Cadance been made aware of this?”
“As soon as Maelstrom confirmed his report,” Vanguard nodded.
“Then,” Celestia said. “There is only one thing for this.” Celestia then levitated a quill and a scroll and wrote upon it. “My faithful student, Twilight. You and your friends must come to Canterlot as soon as possible. It is of utmost urgency.” For the princess knew that if indeed that empire in the north was finally coming back, something else was also coming back. Or rather someone. And if he wasn't stopped, Equestria would be in grave danger once again.
A short time after Twilight and the other guardians got Princess Celestia’s letter, Twilight was scrambling throughout the Golden Oak Library gathering supplies to take up to Canterlot.
“Uh, mom,” Spike said. “This is starting to feel very familiar.”
“Yes,” Twilight said. “But, when the Princess reports somepony to appear before her, they have to be ready for anything. In my case, she could have a test ready for me.”
“That’s the thing that I find weird, though,” Spike said. “You’ve basically been taking an independent study for over two years at this point and she hasn’t really given you a test in that time.”
Twilight stopped scrambling around the room and listened to Spike’s words with careful consideration.
“You know,” Twilight said. “You might be right. And besides, if it was actually a test, since she’s still my teacher, I’m sure she would have told me that.”
“Besides,” Spike said. “We’ve already packed everything but the kitchen sink.”
“We’ll still have to be ready for anything,” Twilight said. She then began to unload, making sure only more essential items are available to save the two from carrying too much weight. While searching, she found a bowling ball. “I must have put that in there by mistake. Sorry, Spike.” She continued looking and found a watermelon. “Been meaning to cut that up in case any one of us were hungry.” As she kept searching, she found more items like a phonograph, a sombrero, an umbrella, a rubber shark the size of a real one, a toolbox, a carton of eggs, some ketchup, a small tub of green slime*, a tennis racquet, and even a fire extinguisher. Twilight sweatdropped embarrassedly. “Okay, maybe I do need to work on focusing more on the positive and less on worrying.”
“With all the stuff ya packed, ah’d peg ya fer Rarity,” Applejack said.
“Looks more like stuff I would pack for the next yard sale,” Pinkie added.
“Twilight,” Fluttershy said gently. “We know you’re feeling overwhelmed, especially since we don’t really know why Princess Celestia summoned us. But, we’ll be going to Canterlot with you and we’ll help you with anything that comes up, whether it’s good or scary.”
Twilight took a moment to absorb her friends’ words.
“Thank you,” Twilight said calmly. “Maybe you’re right. Once we do go to Canterlot, we’ll learn why Princess Celestia summoned us and we’ll work our way up from there.”
Miles away in Canterlot, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were gazing up at a newly erected stained glass window depicting the end result of the invasion during the royal wedding. Shining Armor and Princess Cadence uniting in love to drive the Changelings away was now depicted for all to see.
“Are you certain you do not want me to go as well?” Princess Luna asked.
Princess Celestia nodded her head. "We don't even know if Sombra is back yet. There's no reason to cause a panic. With any luck, Shining Armor and Cadence will have already secured the empire to ensure Sombra can't take it back. And Twilight and her friends shall be traveling north soon to aid them."
“The Empire’s magic is powerful,” Luna added. “It cannot fall again, sister. Sterling may have predicted it would return, but, she also foretold that Sombra would return with it. It took the combined power of all four of us to defeat him last time and we didn’t have the Elements of Harmony back then.”
“I trust that the Guardians will succeed,” Princess Celestia said. “When they do, I will know that Twilight is that much closer to being ready. Trust me, little sister. We need to have faith that they will succeed where we could not and find a more permanent solution. At best, if we battled Sombra, with or without Sterling and Gold Lily to help, it would only yield the same outcome as last time should we prevail. And you're still not completely back to full strength, perhaps you may never fully regain the powers you had before your banishment.”
Princess Luna couldn’t help but sigh. “Perhaps you are correct, sister. While I would be honorbound to help in any way I could, I can understand that I can only do so much. I just hate feeling so useless. Bad enough I was completely incapacitated during the invasion of Canterlot. Even you at least tried to fight off the lead attacker despite holding back.”
Celestia draped a wing over her younger sister. "You're not useless, Luna. A wise pony knows the importance of choosing her battles carefully. We must remain here as back up should the worst case scenario occur."
“And what of Twilight?” Luna asked. “Do you truly believe she’s up to the task?”
Celestia nodded. “A part of me feels responsible for Sunset’s disappearance,” she said. “I feel that I wasn’t as attentive to her as I should’ve been. I don’t wish to make that mistake again.**”
At that moment, Spike and the Guardians of Harmony entered the throne room.
“You wanted to see us?” Spike said.
“Yes,” Princess Celestia said. “I have an important yet urgent task for you all. It is in regards to the Crystal Empire.”
The guardians’ expressions were those of confusion.
“The what?” Rainbow asked.
“I can understand your confusion,” Princess Celestia said. “Very few knew that it even existed at all. Even my own knowledge on the kingdom is limited. But, what I do know about it is that it and its citizens contain powerful magic.”
Princess Celestia then held up a magic crystal with her levitation magic. She then shimmered a cascade of light upon it, casting an image of the Crystal Empire in its glory. The ponies and the dragon looked on with amazement.
“Two years before my sister and I triumphed over Discord,” Celestia said. “The Crystal Empire was ruled by Princess Amore, the Princess of Love.”
“Indeed,” Celestia said. “Her magic was tied to both the earth and light elements of nature. She ruled the empire with a wise and just heart.”
Celestia focused their attention on the citizens of the Crystal Empire, aptly named the Crystal Ponies.
“I’m certain you’ve noticed that a large portion of the Crystal Empire are earth ponies with shiny, gradient manes and tails and typically polygonal eye reflections,” she said. “They are known as Crystal Ponies.”
“Crystal Ponies,” Fluttershy repeated softly.
“Yes,” Celestia said. “Their bodies were created from a merging of pony flesh and living crystal.”
Spike raised his hand politely.
“Yes, Spike?” Celestia acknowledged.
“With the little bit of knowledge that you do have on the Crystal Empire and its ponies,” he began. “Do you happen to know anything about their relationship with dragons? If any?”
“As far as I know,” Celestia said. “Crystal ponies are among the few pony types to harbor no fear of dragons. I’m certain you’re aware of what happens when you eat magically active gems.”
“Oh, I’m well aware,” Spike said sheepishly.
“That concept applies to Crystal Ponies as well due to their own magic,” Celestia said.
“But, earth ponies can’t use magic,” Rainbow said. Then, she remembered Pinkie and Applejack’s respective gifts. “Well, not to the extent of unicorns.”
“This is true,” Celestia said. “But, earth ponies themselves are not without their own form of magic. They have greater physical strength, stamina, and durability than either pegasi or unicorns.”
“Wow,” Applejack said, astounded. “They sound like mighty important pony folk. So, how come their history ain’t as rich as other ponies in Equestria?”
“The Crystal Ponies mostly kept to themselves,” Celestia explained. “I’ve interacted with Princess Amore on occasional royal summits and she rarely discussed the history and culture of the empire as a whole. Of course, King Sombra didn’t help the situation, either.”
“King Sombra?” Twilight asked.
“My dearest student,” Celestia said. “I’m certain you’ve been led to believe that curses and hexes are fictitious superstitions.” Twilight nodded. “I’m going to tell you right now that that was a lie.”
Twilight gasped in surprise. “Why would you lie to me like that?!”
“Because I make it a point to only teach dark magic to my more advanced students,” Celestia said. “It wouldn’t do the peace of Equestria much good to teach dark magic to younger students, now would it?***”
Twilight took a moment to consider this and she knew that the princess was right.
“Nightmare Moon used dark magic,” Luna said. “That alone should be proof to validate my sister’s claims.”
“This practice of hiding the true existence of dark magic came about because of King Sombra,” Celestia said. “I’m certain Luna has told you of the existence of Shadowbolts.”
“She has,” Spike confirmed. “Back during Nightmare Night.”
“Shadowbolts are but one race of what is known as Shadow Ponies,” Celestia said. “Their unicorn equivalent is the umbrums.”
“Umbrums, you say?” Rarity asked.
“Yes,” Celestia said. “They were unicorns with a natural affinity for dark magic that became corrupted from using it too often.”
The Crystal projected an image of King Sombra. His coat is a dark gray in color, his mane and tail were black as night, and his horn was not only curved and smooth, but, had a sharp, burning red tip on it. His sclera glowed an unsettling green color while his irises were a piercing red with dark scarlet pupils. He wore intricate metallic gauntlets and wore a red cloak with a white fur trim. His mane and tail flowed much like Celestia and Luna’s did. But, what stuck out the most was that when he flashed a wicked grin, he possessed sharp teeth with two visible fangs.
“He’s scary,” Fluttershy quivered.
“His ambition to learn dark magic awakened his umbrum nature and his continued overuse of it corrupted his heart, erasing whatever morals he once had,” Celestia said. “With his new power, he overthrew Princess Amore, sealing her into the form of a black crystal statue.”
The others gasped with horror as the projection showed what had happened.
“Unsatisfied with this,” Celestia said. “Sombra shattered the statue and scattered the fragments all over the world.”
“That’s terrible!” Rainbow exclaimed.
“For added tragedy,” Celestia said. “Sombra was one of Amore’s two best magic students.”
“That is tragic,” Spike said, clearly appalled by Sombra’s actions.
“With Amore out of the way, Sombra began enslaving the Crystal Ponies,” Celestia said. “Equestria would have been doomed were it not for the intervention of Amore’s other best student.”
“And, who’s that?” Pinkie asked.
“A unicorn Crystal Pony named Radiant Hope,” Celestia said as the crystal displayed this mare. She had a grayish heliotrope coat, pale light grayish blue mane and tail, and moderate arctic blue eyes. Though she wore a brown unassuming cloak, her Cutie Mark depicted a gold caduceus. “Radiant Hope was a foalhood friend of Sombra’s before his corruption as they bonded over similar backgrounds.”
“So,” Fluttershy asked. “What did she do to help?”
“After witnessing what her classmate had done,” Celestia said. “Radiant Hope fled the empire and made her way to the royal summit happening at the time in Amore’s stead to make us aware of what was happening.”
“That is a brave thing of her to do,” Twilight said.
The crystal then projected Celestia, Luna, and two other alicorns arriving in the Empire. One had a deep purple coat, the same shade as the gemstones on Celestia’s jewelry. Her long flowing mane had streaks of sky blue, sunshine yellow, and deep red while her tail had the same deep red with a streak of darker purple. Her eyes were a piercing sapphire blue and her Cutie Mark was a diamond inside a flower. The other had a sunshine yellow coat, sky blue eyes, bold purple and aqua blue streaks in her mane and tail and unusual purple jewelry. Her Cutie Mark depicted two hearts within two pairs of rings, those within a spiky ring. Together, all four alicorns used their magic on King Sombra.
“It took the combined effort of myself, Luna, Sterling, and Gold Lily to overthrow Sombra, strip him of his corporeal form, turn him into shadow, and banish him beneath the ice of the Frozen North that surrounds the Crystal Empire. However, Sombra made sure our victory was hollow.”
“H-how?” Fluttershy quivered.
“He put a curse upon the empire,” Celestia said. “A curse that caused it to vanish into thin air. Until now. For your convenience, this next part will be translated into modern Ponish.”
In the projection, the four alicorns looked around, flabbergasted that the entire empire disappeared. Though, the deep purple one wore an expression of expectant disappointment.
“What is it, Sterling?” the projection of Gold Lily asked.
“Lately,” the Sterling projection said. “Celestia’s solutions for problems have been either banishment or sealing. Sometimes, both. This does not inspire my confidence in her ability to lead a monarchy.”
Gold Lily nodded lowly and quietly. The Celestia projection, however, scoffed. “Both solutions have never failed once,” she said. “Besides, it’s far more merciful than the death penalty.”
“True enough,” Sterling conceded. “But, you fail to take into account the anguish you cause the families and friends of those you banish or seal. This causes them to resent you and view you as no better than the threats you deal with. One of these days, you’ll have to banish one close to you.”
“That will never happen,” the projected sun princess said defiantly. “The closest one to me is Luna and she’s perfectly content with her role of raising and lowering the moon and monitoring the dream realm, aren’t you, Luna?”
The projection of Luna didn’t answer right away.
This caused the present Princess Celestia to sigh, lowly. “Little did I realize how right Sterling was.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I was such an arrogant fool.”
The princess of the moon comforted her sister.
The projection of Gold Lily, clearly the peacekeeper of them, intervened. “Now, now, sister, cousin,” she said. “Suppose ponies saw us bickering like foals over a loaf of bread. How do you think that would reflect on us?”
“I suppose not very well,” Sterling said, backing down. “You may be younger than myself and Celestia, but, with your gentle guidance, you could’ve fooled me.”
“Come,” Luna said. “We must return home.”
As they headed back, Gold Lily found her voice. “Sterling, with your clairvoyance, will the Crystal Empire ever return?”
Sterling’s irises began shimmering like the stars in the night sky. “Yes,” she said. “But, with it will come Sombra. And neither you nor I will be available to help Celestia or Luna that time.”
The projection Celestia simply rolled her eyes, clearly not believing the last part.
Present day Celestia sighed sadly again. “Again, Sterling was right,” she said. “I was blinded by my youthful pride and thought I knew better. Don’t make the same mistake I did.”
The guardians and Spike held their heads respectfully as a way to pay their respects for Sterling and Gold Lily. In this silence, they made an unspoken vow to heed Celestia’s advice. Though they knew neither Sterling nor Gold Lily were dead, being sired alicorns, they felt they should acknowledge their help in making Celestia the ruler they knew now.
“When the Crystal Empire is filled with hope and love, those are reflected all across Equestria,” Celestia said. Princess Celestia cast a shimmer of light magic on the crystal and the Crystal Empire projection glistened with a brilliant radiance. “But, if hatred and fear take hold…” Her magic aura became black and engulfed in a vivid violet haze and light brilliant green edges as she projected another magic beam at the crystal. When this magic hit the crystal it turned it completely black and several other black crystals sprang up around it and started to grow. The others backed away, careful not to get impaled by accident. Fortunately, Celestia was able to shatter the black crystals with her regular magic. Though, she staggered slightly afterwards. “Apologies. I must be very careful with using even a small amount of dark magic.”
“So,” Twilight said. “How can we help?”
"Now that you see what dark magic is capable of and why it's imperative that the Crystal Empire be protected," Celestia explained. "I fear that, with the empire returning at long last, it's only a matter of time before King Sombra will try to claim it back if he has not already. Which is why I need your help, Twilight. You and your friends must find a way to ensure its protection forever."
“Whoa,” Twilight said softly. “That is a big responsibility for all seven of us to handle.”
“Nine of you,” Celestia added. “Shining Armor and Princess Cadance are also there. Successfully find a way to be rid of Sombra permanently and you’ll prove you’re ready for the advanced studies.”
Twilight was captivated by this news. She took a deep breath and then, with a determined nod and look on her face, she said, “Yes, your highness. We won’t let the Crystal Ponies or you down.”
“Luna and I will remain here for the time being,” Celestia said.
“You’re not going to help us?” Rainbow said.
“Only if necessary,” Celestia said. “Should things turn out to be worse than I had fear, contact us immediately! Do not try to engage King Sombra on your own, Twilight! He is far too dangerous for you and your friends to combat, with or without the Elements of Harmony. As you saw, the combined efforts of four sired alicorns resulted in a temporary at best solution.”
“Ain’t sure exactly how we’re goin’ ta do that,” Applejack said. “But, with all o’ us workin’ together, we should be able ta figure somethin’ out.”
"I hope so, too, but, let's not risk the empire over such a possibility if we don't have to," Celestia instructed. "I know you'll make me proud, Twilight. And once you have succeeded in this task, I know you'll be ready to move on to the next level of your studies." As she led the Guardians out of the throne room, she advised, "Remember, Twilight, in the end, it must be you and you alone who ultimately assists Princess Cadance and Shining Armor in doing whatever needs to be done to protect the empire."
“Wait, what?” Rainbow said. “Twilight has to help Cadance and Shining alone?”
“We should still be there for Twilight,” Rarity said. “As Twilight mentioned, this is an incredible responsibility and we should be there for her.”
“But, if Twilight’s supposed to do it alone, what’s the point in all of us going?” Rainbow asked. “I can’t be the only one thinking that.”
“You’re going with her to make sure she doesn’t make the problem worse with her anxieties****,” Celestia said. “Need I remind you of what happened when you ignored her anxieties?”
Rainbow, hearing this, hung her head lowly. “No, you don’t.”
“It’ll be a cold day in Tartarus before ah let somethin’ like that happen again,” Applejack said.
“And after being banished to the caves beneath Canterlot during Shining Armor and Cadance’s wedding,” Fluttershy said. “We definitely should be there for her. Even if just for moral support, something we should’ve given her when she needed it all those months ago.”
“Excellent,” Princess Celestia said, sensing the sincerity in Twilight’s friends’ words. “You must go at once. Though, Twilight, you must pack warm clothes and carry more than one thermos of hot cocoa for Spike. Northern Equestria is one of the coldest areas of Equestria.”
“Way ahead of you there,” Spike said. “Before we went to the train station, my mom packed everything but the kitchen sink.”
Twilight blushed sheepishly. “I’m still working on trying to overcome my own nerves and over-preparedness.”
“But, this preparedness can come in handy,” Princess Celestia nodded. “If you know exactly what to prepare for. Now, go forth and we wish you the best of luck.”
“And Twilight,” Luna said, reminding the guardians she was still there.
“Yes, Luna?” Twilight said.
“Spike and I have developed quite a bond through both our therapy sessions and my dragon-sitting him,” Luna said. "So, promise me that you'll keep him safe on your quest. You say he's your son, so, protect him as you would any member of your family. If any harm befalls him because you weren't there to stop it, I'll never forgive you."
“I can assure you that I won’t let any harm befall him,” Twilight said. “Emotional or otherwise.”
“See that you don’t,” Luna said. “And to all of you, do not take dark magic lightly. It will tolerate none of your foolery.”
“We Pinkie Promise we’ll be extra careful,” Pinkie said. Though she still sounded light-hearted, she had an air of seriousness to her.
“Vanguard,” Luna called.
The guard in question came to her call. “Yes, princess?”
“Escort this group to the train station,” Luna said.
“Yes, princess,” Vanguard saluted. He then escorted the seven to the train station.
“Royal guards besides Shining and Flash have names?” Rainbow said on the way to the station.
“Why wouldn’t they have names?” Rarity asked.
“We’ve been around quite a few royal guards over the years,” Rainbow said. “And apart from Flash and Shining, we’ve literally never heard any of them be addressed by a name.”
“Had you asked them what their names were?” Fluttershy asked.
“You’ve seen how they are with small-talk,” Rainbow said. “What do you think?”
“I’m one of the few cloned guards who has a name,” Vanguard said. “Since I’ve been given details that prevent me from having a prejudice against Spike, I earned my name. Well, that and overall competence.”
Rainbow considered this. “Hmm,” she said. “You got me there. Though, one thing bugs me. How can any of you be told apart?”
“We have subtle knicks and scratches in our armor in the shape of numbers unique to each one of us,” Vanguard explained. “In my case, my number is 616.”
“Intriguing,” Rarity said. “Although, Vanguard does suit you nicely.”
“What about cloned guards without names?” Fluttershy asked.
“They’re individually referred to by their number,” Vanguard said. “Cloned guards that didn’t have their intelligence bred out of them are few and far between.”
“Ah see,” Applejack said. “Though, why breed the smarts out in the first place?”
“So they’re not smart enough to turn on the acting princess,” Vanguard said.
“Ah guess that’s a good point,” Applejack said. “But, there’s still some things that need ta be worked on.”
They soon reached the station and boarded the train.
At last, the train slowed to a halt at a small outpost that lay seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Nothing but snow whipped up by fierce winds as far as the eye could see.
“Brr!” Rainbow shivered. “I may be used to cooler climates up in Cloudsdale, but, this is somehow colder!”
Rarity magicked on winter clothes for the entire party.
“Thanks, Rarity,” Applejack said gratefully.
“You’re a real lifesaver,” Fluttershy said politely. “How are you doing, Spike?”
“Honestly,” Spike said. “I feel like it’s a spring day in Ponyville.”
“Really?” Fluttershy replied. “Hmm, I wonder if it’s because of Mina or Jinshu’s teachings.”
“Let’s save that for another time,” Twilight said.
“Right,” Rainbow saluted. “We have an empire to help and a shadow king to permanently keep away. Hopefully, we can actually save Equestria a third time.”
At that moment, a stallion walked up to the train station. He wore a lot of thick gray scarves and a pair of goggles that allowed him to see through the snow. He was accompanied by another, slightly smaller one also in goggles and a coat. The guardians could recognize their coat colors.
“Shining Armor!” Twilight said. “Flash!”
The stallions confirmed their identities by removing their goggles.
“Seems Princess Celestia miscalculated slightly,” Rarity said. “There’s going to be ten of us.”
“Actually,” Flash said. “I asked the princess not to mention me at the briefing. I wanted to surprise you.”
“You certainly did just that,” Rarity said.
“Regardless,” Shining Armor said. “We’re glad you all could make it. Princess Cadance is in the Empire and we’ve been asked to escort you there safely. The Empire isn’t the only thing that returned.”
“Oh, no…” Twilight said.
“I put a force-field around the empire,” Shining said. “But, it won’t hold forever and I think Sombra knows it.”
Suddenly, the yellow and bright blue feather-like markings on Flash’s coat came to life and began flapping as a bird with a head resembling that of an eagle and wings resembling lightning bolts climbed off his back and hovered up a bit while making distressed squawks.
“Whoa!” Spike exclaimed. “Is that a thunderbird?!”
“Yes,” Flash said, a tone of concern in his voice. “And he senses danger!”
The thunderbird squawked at what was distressing him as a dark fog began to emerge.
“Sombra!” Shining said.
“Wh-what do we do?!” Fluttershy quivered.
Flash boldly faced the fog. “Alright, Joules,” he said to the thunderbird. “Ready?”
The thunderbird nodded and spread his wings as wide as he could manage. The thunderbird, known as Joules, released a brilliant flash of lightning from his eyes that irritated Sombra’s vision. The bird then flapped his wings, creating a tornado that dispersed the fog accompanied by the sound of a thunderclap.
“Well done, you two!” Shining Armor called from the wind. “Now follow us, before he pulls himself together!” The guardians could see the fog quickly reforming.
They ran as fast as they could, fighting against the intense force of the wind. Just outside the border of the empire, they spotted a dragon that wasn’t moving.
“Oh, the poor thing,” Fluttershy said softly. “We better help them.”
The dragon appeared to have green scales, horns that pointed back, six black lines on his face similar to a tiger's, and piercing icy blue eyes. His spines appeared to have been moving like a red and orange flame. His wings had a darker green membrane. The dragon was covered in scars, especially over his left eye where it appeared to be worse than the others, but, luckily the eye was not damaged. He was also wearing a white Jockeypan-style sleeveless tunic, a gray hooded vest with dark gray trim, and a compass on a cord that hung on his neck. He also appeared to look like he was charging something as shown by the two tuning fork shaped swords and the look of fury on his face.*****
“I’ll hold Sombra off,” Shining Armor said. “Get the dragon to safety!”
The guardians did their best to help this dragon. Applejack carried him on her back. All the while, Shining Armor bravely faced the fog as it took on the form of King Sombra’s face, flashing a sadistic grin.
"You may not fear me yet, Shining Armor,” he said in a deep voice, “But, I will make you fear me and I will make you suffer. Taking you down will serve as a warning to others.”
“I won’t back down,” Shining Armor declared. “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep the citizens, my family, and my friends safe!”
The seven ponies, Joules, and Spike managed to reach the safety of the empire with the new dragon thanks to Shining's sacrifice, quickly taking in the sights of an empire that was truly a beauty beyond comparison. It displayed no sign of being affected by the blistering cold of the surrounding frozen wilderness and crystal structures in beautiful, sparkling colors could be seen for miles around. Small wonder anypony would want to claim it all for themselves.
“Wow~!” Rarity gasped. “It was beautiful from Princess Celestia’s display, but, it’s even more beautiful in pony.”
“And surprisingly warm,” Rainbow said, removing her winter garb.
Suddenly, the new dragon started to move. “--MAKE YOU PAY FOR YOUR–” he started saying before he stopped himself and took note of his surroundings. “What manner of sorcery is this?”
“To make a long story short,” Spike said. “Sombra banished the Crystal Empire for over one thousand years.”
The dragon was surprised by this. “Sombra was already vanquished and made the victory of those who did it pyrrhic?”
“Unfortunately so,” Twilight said. “Now, would you care to explain who you are?”
The dragon made his swords disappear before he assumed a quadrupedal stance. “Ah, sorry about that. My name is Astral, full name Astral Flare. I am a citizen of the Crystal Empire. I was about to go avenge my friend when there was a bright light. Next thing I knew, I was amongst all of you.”
“A dragon being a citizen of the Crystal Empire?” Rarity asked.
“I was found as an egg by the Crystal Guard and raised by Princess Amore herself,” Astral said, “And before you ask, no, I am not a prince. I was more of a ward.”
“Did you know anything about dragons growing up?” Spike asked.
“Actually just a little about each group. Do they still have their central library?” Astral asked.
“Dragons have a library?” Spike asked with genuine confusion.
“Yes,” Astral answered. “A lot of dragon knowledge was contained. At least copies of the original manuscripts.”
“Well, we don’t know the answer to that,” Spike said.
“Anyway,” Astral said. “What brings you all here? None of you are Crystal Ponies. Did you come to help?”
“We’re here to find a way to permanently rid the empire of Sombra,” Twilight said.
“Unfortunately, I don't know one,” Astral said. “I was never told how the shield functioned. I wasn't allowed to know yet.”
“Wait,” Rainbow said. “The empire has its own shield function?”
“Didn't you notice the wall of light that you had to go through to get here?” Astral asked, confused. He then looked and saw a much different magical force field at the border than the one he remembered.
“This looks like Princess Cadance’s work,” Twilight noted. “She must’ve learned Shining’s force field spell so she could maintain it in his absence.”
“Is she a pink alicorn?” Astral inquired as he looked to the distance. “Because she hasn’t left the castle.”
“You can see that far away?” Twilight asked as she mentally measured the distance between where they were and the castle in the center of the empire.
Just then, who should come stumbling into the safety of the empire but Shining Armor himself? He only made it a few steps in before he collapsed, however, prompting a series of gasps from the others.
“Uncle Shining Armor!” gasped Spike. He rushed to the stallion with Twilight. Astral showed visible confusion.
“Uncle?” he asked.
“I hatched him from his egg,” Twilight confirmed. “And Shining Armor is my brother. Ergo, Uncle.” She then noticed several clumps of small, black crystals had gathered at the base of Shining Armor’s horn. She gasped. “What did Sombra do to you?!”
Shining tried to light up his horn, but, all he got was a series of sparks and ominous crackles from the crystals. “He’s nullified my magic,” he said. "Cadance is going to faint when she sees me like this. And after I promised her I'd come back safe and sound, too."
“We better get you inside the castle,” Twilight said. “As long as Sombra can’t get in, we’ll do what we can to make sure you’re safe and we’ll figure out how we can help. Flash, if you wouldn’t mind leading us there.”
“Right away,” Flash said. “Come on, Joules.”
Joules flew to catch up with Flash. It was evident that this thunderbird was loyal and obedient. This evidently made Astral rather curious.
“How very odd,” he said. “I’ve read that thunderbirds are notorious pranksters by nature. How is it obeying you?”
“Back when I was a colt,” Flash said. “I found Joules as a chick. He was starving and injured. So, I took him in, nursed him back to health, and he’s been a loyal pet ever since.”
“That's amazing,” Astral said with stars in his eyes. “Few have the patience or courage to domesticate such a force of nature. So, should we head to the castle now? I'm sure that you would like to see this Princess Cadance.”
“You’re pretty much the only one here who hasn’t met her,” Spike said. “The rest of us met her before the empire reappeared.”
“I should warn you that she's not quite herself," Shining cautioned as all set off for the crystal castle. "Especially since she was told that the empire is supposed to be hers to rule over."
“I hope she’s alright,” Fluttershy said.
In the throne room of the crystal castle, Cadance was sitting upon her throne and feeling quite miserable. It was easy to spot the bags underneath her eyes. My kingdom for a cup of coffee. Who cares if Aunt Celestia says it's not good for me? she thought to herself.
Suddenly, the throne room doors burst open. Twilight stepped inside the throne room, glad to see her favorite foal-sitter slash sister-in-law. The two performed their greeting ritual.
“Sunshine, sunshine Ladybugs awake Clap your hooves And do a little shake”
The two giggled the way old friends would until Cadance suddenly felt a sharp twinge that brought her out of her laughing fit. This brought the bags under her eyes to Twilight’s attention.
“Shining Armor had said that you wouldn’t be quite yourself,” Twilight said. “Are you alright?”
“I’m not used to using combat magic,” Cadance said. “It’s a bit draining for me.” Astral carefully looked Cadance over.
“Hmm,” he said. “You vaguely resemble Princess Amore. It seems her husband and heir managed to flee after all.”
“You must be Astral Flare,” Cadance said with a slight rasp in her voice. “We read about you in the archives. It’s good to know that you were able to return as well as the Crystal Empire.”
“I only regret failing to stop Sombra when he overthrew Princess Amore,” Astral said.
“You weren’t to blame for what happened in the past,” Shining Armor said as he stepped in. “It’s just in Sombra’s umbrum nature.”
“So,” Applejack said. “How can we help?”
Shining seemed to smile. "We could definitely use your help, time is running out for all of us! I’ve been teaching her to use my force field spell so we’d have a backup in case of emergencies. That's a problem, though, because she's also been using her magic to spread love and light to keep the empire going. Between that and the magic lessons, she hasn't slept and barely eats or drinks, let alone goes to the bathroom. And now that my magic's been cut off by Sombra..." He trailed off in regret, unable to bring himself to say anything further.
“I'll try to keep Sombra busy while all of you find a way to get the shield up and running,” Astral said with determination as he bowed. “Princess, you have my swords. I'll do my best to rectify my mistakes from a millennium ago. I swear on my honor as a member of the Crystal Guard.”’
“We can believe that, Astral,” Shining Armor said. “While you were frozen, we saw you holding swords, so, we can tell you can fight.”
“I was an aspiring battle mage in my time,” Astral said.
“That should help us,” Shining Armor said. Though, with his head slightly lowered. “Though with Cadance spreading light and love and Flash and myself out keeping the entrance of the Crystal Empire guarded out in the arctic, we haven't been able to get any information from the Crystal Ponies on how it can be protected without Cadance’s magic.”
“I can help there,” Astral said. “I’ve spent my life around the Crystal Ponies and know much about their culture, customs, and history. The first place we need to start is with the library. It would take too much time and we don’t have to explain everything. This is our best bet on getting you information about it all. We can even find a way to protect the empire without either of you needing to use magic.”
“Thank you, Astral,” Twilight said gratefully. “Please, lead the way to the library.”
Astral led the way to the library. On their way, they noticed the Crystal Ponies. But, they weren’t as radiant as they were in the projection Princess Celestia sold them. Rather, they looked dull, sad, and literally lacked any luster.
“By Amore,” Astral said. “It’s worse than I thought.”
“It just feels like something’s missing,” one Crystal Pony said in a soft raspy voice.
“I know,” responded another. “It looks the same, but, it doesn’t feel the same.”
“Autumn Gem, Fleur De Verre,” Astral said. “Don’t give into despair! That only empowers Sombra.”
Soon, they arrived at the Crystal Library. Twilight gasped as soon as they walked inside. It was much larger than her Golden Oak Library home and much more grand than Canterlot City’s Library. They looked over the library from the entrance when an older Crystal Pony mare walked up to them. Though dull in color, she had a light blue violetish gray coat, a pale light grayish rose mane and tail, and a pair of moderate mulberry eyes, slightly magnified by a pair of glasses resting on the bridge of her muzzle. Her Cutie Mark was an unfurled scroll that glistened.
“Amethyst,” Astral said. “You of all Crystal Ponies must remember the reign of Amore.”
The mare, named Amethyst Maresbury, looked at Astral, adjusting her glasses slightly.
“Amore?” she asked in a slightly raspy voice. “I think I’ve heard that name somewhere before… or I might have read about it in one of these books.”
“Please,” Astral pleaded. “She was the ruler before Sombra overthrew her. Please remember!”
“I’m sorry,” Amethyst said after taking some time to think. “But, I’m afraid I don’t remember. Although, you might find something in one of these books. There should be a history section over there… or was it over there?”
“What of your five assistants?” Astral said. “Lemon Zest, Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet, Indigo Zap, and Sunny Flare?”
“Those names do sound vaguely familiar,” Amethyst said. “And, you said they were my assistants?”
“Astral,” Spike said. “It’s clear she doesn't remember too much right now. Let’s just give her more time to think while we look for the right book.”
“We’re running out of time,” Astral said. “Amethyst may not remember things very well, but, I do. Follow me.”
Astral Flare led Spike and the ponies to a large bookshelf. Once there, they saw five Crystal Pony mares searching the books. Two were earthponies, two were pegasi, and one was a unicorn. Unlike Crystal Ponies they met thus far, they retained the radiance of the ponies in the projection at Canterlot. Spike approached one of them.
“Excuse me?” he said politely. “Are you Amethyst’s assistants?”
“Yes, we are,” said the bespectacled earth Crystal Pony. “From your appearances, I can deduce that you are not native to the Crystal Empire.”
“We’re not,” Twilight said. “Princess Celestia sent us to help.”
“Why didn’t she just come herself?” asked a pegasus accessorized with lightning bolt earrings.
“It’s kind o’ a long story,” Applejack said. “One we don’t really have a lot o’ time ta tell right now. We’re lookin’ fer anythin’ that’ll help us learn more ‘bout the Crystal Empire.”
“Well, you’ve come to the right place,” said the unicorn Crystal Pony. “When Sombra took over, we formed something of a resistance against him. We call ourselves the Crystal 5.”
“Is this resistance why you retained your radiance?” Rarity asked.
“We kept our radiance because we held onto our hope,” said the other earth pony. “We stayed here in the history section so we wouldn’t lose our pre-Sombra memories.”
“That’s wonderful,” Fluttershy said. “So, if it’s not too much trouble, would you mind helping us find a way to protect the Crystal Empire without relying too heavily on Princess Cadance’s magic?”
“Could it be that Amore’s heir survived?” asked the bespectacled mare.
“Cadance was promised to rule the Crystal Empire,” Twilight said. “So, it might be the case. Though, it’s unlikely that she’s a direct descendant of Amore. She was born a pegasus before becoming an alicorn. Not only that, but, the empire disappeared nearly 1,000 years before she or any of us besides Astral were born.”
“1,000 years?” asked the unicorn. “But, from our perspective, it was a single night.”
“Regardless,” Pinkie said. “Cadance is here to rule the Crystal Empire now and we’re here to figure out how to help it. So, we all have to do what we can.”
“So, can thou help us?” Rainbow asked.
“You’re clearly not royalty,” the other pegasus Crystal Pony said. “So, don’t bother with royal tongue.”
“But, regardless,” the bespectacled earth pony crystal mare said. “We’ll help. Incidentally, my name is Sugarcoat.”
“Name’s Indigo Zap!” smirked the pegasus Crystal Pony with the earring.
“Sunny Flare,” said the unicorn.
“I’m Lemon Zest,” said the other earth pony.
“I’m Sour Sweet,” said the other pegasus Crystal Pony.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Twilight said.
After introductions, the Crystal 5 led the Guardians of Harmony through the library. Soon, they were on the search for the right book to help.
“You know,” Rainbow said to Spike. “I’m a little surprised.”
“Why?” Spike asked.
“Well,” Rainbow said. “We’re in an empire made entirely of crystal and you’re not eating everything in sight.”
Spike was indignant. “That’s not cool, Rainbow. Just because I’m a dragon and I like to eat gems, that doesn't mean I’m a homewrecker or an out of control glutton. Besides, do you eat any of the hay off of other ponies’ homes because you eat hay?”
“And who are you to assume that everything in the empire is made of crystal?!” Sour Sweet rudely snapped before backing down. “I am so sorry about that. That was rude and uncalled for.”
“Actually, it was called for,” Rainbow said. “I’m sorry, Spike. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Uh, is Sour Sweet okay?” Twilight asked.
“She has a tendency to alternate between being rude and kind,” Astral said.
“Oh, so, she’s bipolar,” Twilight surmised.
“Is that what they call it these days?” Sour Sweet said.
Fluttershy nodded. They soon arrived at a particularly large bookshelf.
“I got this,” Lemon Zest said. She closed her eyes and concentrated as her body seemed to glow and a floating staircase made of crystals leading to higher shelves materialized before her. Her new friends were amazed with what they saw.
“How’d you do that?!” Rainbow asked.
“All Crystal Ponies have earth and light-elemental magic,” Sugarcoat said. “We use our earth magic to materialize crystal constructs out of thin air.”
So, Twilight walked upon the staircase to look up at the books on the higher shelves. She quickly found one that caught her attention.
“The History of the Crystal Empire,” Twilight smiled. “This could help us!”
Sugarcoat used her own magic to make a large, round table made of crystal.
“Don’t think ah’ll ever get used ta earth ponies usin’ magic like that,” Applejack said.
Twilight cautiously stepped down from the crystal stairs, levitating the book onto the table. She opened it and glanced through its pages, since Twilight had an innate talent for speed-reading.
“Perfect!” Twilight said. “This is the lead we’ve been looking for! Let’s get this to Shining Armor and Cadance right away!”
Some time later, back at the Crystal Castle, Twilight and Spike were explaining what they had learned to Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. She even read it aloud to the royal couple upon presenting the book to them.
“A Crystal Faire,” Twilight said. “According to this book, it was established by their first queen and became their most important tradition. It says here that, 'The Faire was held every year to renew the spirit of love and unity in the empire so they could help protect it from any harm.'"
“This is wonderful,” Cadence smiled, albeit weakly. “We knew you and your friends would find something.”
“And we have five Crystal Ponies that can help make sure we get it right,” Twilight said.
“Excellent, Twily,” Shining Armor smiled. “You better prepare. I’ll stay here and look after Cadance.”
Twilight nodded. “Come on, Spike!”
“Right behind you,” Spike said.
So, the two returned to their friends, both old and new. It was clear that they had a lot of work to do and everyone was motivated to make sure their jobs were done well.
“Ooh, I’m so excited for a Crystal Faire!” Lemon Zest said.
“It says here they liked jousting,” Twilight said.
“I can help with that,” Indigo said. “You’re looking at the pony who’s been the jousting champion for four years running.”
“Maybe I can face off against you,” Rainbow said.
“Okay, but, you’ll need protective armor,” Indigo said. “We Crystal Ponies aren’t as fragile as regular ponies.” As if to prove it, Indigo tapped a hoof against her head, making the dinging sound of a crystal being struck with each tap.
“Whoa,” Rainbow said. “Armor it is.”
“It also says here that they flew a majestic flag,” Twilight continued.
“I helped design the flag every year,” Sunny Flare said.
“Perhaps I can be of assistance,” Rarity said. “I’m a seamstress back in Ponyville.”
“Oh, are you now?” Sunny said with interest.
“Indeed I am,” Rarity smiled.
“I can help with the crystal berry sweets,” Lemon Zest said.
“Maybe ah can help with that,” Applejack said. “Ah bake a bushel o’ apple pies n’ fritters, so ah can help ya make some tasty viddles.”
“I can help round up the animals for the petting zoo,” Sugarcoat offered.
“I can help you, Sugarcoat,” Fluttershy said. “I’m a Critter Whisperer, so, I can make sure they’re comfortable.”
“Excellent,” Sugarcoat said. “Two Critter Whisperers are better than one.”
Fluttershy gasped happily. Up until that moment, she had never met another Critter Whisperer aside from Granny Smith.
“A crystal flugelhorn?!” Pinkie said, looking in the book. “I got to play one of those!”
“Hold up there,” Lemon Zest said. “Save one for me.”
“We’ll also have to learn the Crystal Kingdom Anthem,” Twilight said. “Hopefully we can learn it in less than a day.”
“Those of us who lived here know it by heart,” Astral said.
With all of this information available, everyone got on with their assignments and helped to set up a grand Crystal Fair. The Crystal 5 used their magic to create the various stands out of crystal. Pinkie and Astral set up balloons and banners.
“Hey, Astral?” Pinkie asked. “I’ve been wondering what color your fire breath is.”
“I don’t have fire breath,” Astral said.
“You don’t?” Pinkie asked.
“No,” Astral said. “I was born without a fire sac.”
“Wow,” Pinkie said, somewhat astounded.
“If it weren’t for my being cured of my werepony curse, I wouldn’t have magic to compensate,” Astral said.
“You were a werepony, too?” Pinkie asked.
“The very first one,” Astral said. “Wait, too?”
“It happened to Spike a few days ago,” Pinkie said. “Long story short, he’s cured now.”
“Interesting,” Astral said. “Perhaps he gained some pony magic as well.”
“Maybe, but, we hadn’t seen anything yet,” Pinkie said.
Soon, the preparations were ready. Twilight then walked up to the Crystal 5 with the book open.
“There’s one last matter near the end of the book,” Twilight said. “What’s this Crystal Heart?”
“Only the centerpiece of the entire fair,” Sunny said. “However, Sombra hid it away after overthrowing Amore.”
“What?!” Twilight said. “It’s an actual relic?!”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Sugarcoat asked. “The whole purpose of the Crystal Fair is to lift the spirits of the Crystal Ponies so that the light magic within them can power the Crystal Heart so the empire can be protected. Didn’t you see that in the book?”
“I thought I had, but-” Twilight said, looking into the book once more. However, when she turned the last page, she saw the remains of a page that had been torn out. “There’s a page missing!”
The Crystal 5 looked and saw that this was the case.
“This must be Sombra’s doing!” Sunny said.
“And without any way of knowing where he hid the Crystal Heart,” Twilight began before turning her attention towards the entrance of the Crystal Empire. The Crystal 5 did likewise.
“Whatever’s protecting the Crystal Empire now won’t last forever,” Indigo Zap said. “Come on, girls! We have to protect our home!”
“Spike and I are coming with you,” Twilight said.
“No,” Indigo said. “We’ve seen what Sombra’s capable of. You report this to Shining Armor and Cadance. We’ll tell your friends to buy some time while we do the same.”
“Alright, but, be careful,” Twilight said. She levitated Spike onto her back and galloped into the castle. She was holding the book with her magic.
Soon, Twilight had filled the royal couple in.
“This is terrible!” Shining Armor said.
“I don’t know how you’re going to find the Crystal Heart,” Cadance said weakly. “But, I hope you can figure something out.” Suddenly, the princess collapsed in exhaustion.
Shining Armor held Princess Cadance in his forehooves. Twilight and Spike were both worried.
At the border, the Crystal 5 saw the sky glitch out. They knew at once what it meant.
“King Sombra…” they collectively said dismally.
At that moment, Sombra broke through and saw the Crystal 5 standing defiantly before him.
“Get out of my way, little ponies,” Sombra said. “Lest I should hold you as my new slaves!”
The defiant mares focused their magic as they began shining.
“We’re not letting you take over again!” Indigo said. “We’ll use our light to hold you off!”
“The Crystal Ponies mean the world to us,” Sour Sweet said sweetly, before saying sourly. “And we’re not going to let you ruin it!”
“We’re doing this in honor of Princess Amore,” Sunny declared.
“So,” King Sombra said haughtily. “You will suffer the same fate she did!” He was about to blast them, only for his blast to be intercepted by a magical force field around the mares. “What?!”
Astral was revealed with both his swords drawn. “I won’t let you enslave any of the Crystal Ponies again!”
“Ah,” Sombra said. “Astral Flare. It seems my curse upon you has been broken. No matter. I will let my golems deal with you.”
From the fog emerged bulky, bipedal creatures made of black crystals with piercing red orbs for eyes.
“For as long as I stand,” Astral Flare pledged as he began to attack the golems. “I won’t let those cretins stop me!” His icy blue eyes turned a warm orange. “For the Crystal Empire!” he shouted.
Back at the Crystal Castle, Twilight feared that things would ultimately end poorly and she didn’t know what to do.
Written by Brandon Nell, Micah Shires, and Blake Hawkins
Chapter 2: The Crystal Empire - Part 2
Twilight had been in bleak situations before, but, they paled in comparison to the situation she’d been dealing with for the past day. She was witnessing new friends in a new location facing off against a shadowy umbrum unicorn named Sombra.
It all started when Princess Celestia received word of the Crystal Empire returning, calling Twilight and her friends to Canterlot immediately.
“The Crystal Empire has returned,” Princess Celestia summarized. “With it, King Sombra.”
After the situation was explained and Celestia stated that in the end, Twilight alone must aid in Shining Armor and Princess Cadance liberating the Crystal Empire, the Guardians of Harmony took the train to the Frozen North. They were met by Shining Armor and Flash Sentry as well as Flash’s pet thunderbird, Joules. After the three fended off against Sombra’s vaporous form, they led the guardians towards the entrance and encountered a dragon.
Inside the empire’s castle, they saw Cadance in an exhausted condition. “I’m not used to using combat magic,” Cadance said. “It’s a bit draining for me.”
With the help of both old and new friends, the guardians have come to learn more of the Crystal Empire and their efforts to protect it without Cadance’s magic. In their research, they met local Crystal Ponies who hadn’t lost their luster. They told our heroes of the Crystal Faire. “Ooh, I’m so excited for a Crystal Faire!” Lemon Zest, one of the new friends, said.
Near completion of the preparations, Twilight came upon an entry explaining a powerful artifact known as the Crystal Heart. She quickly learned how essential it was and discovered that part of the information on it was ripped out of the book.
At that moment, the threat of King Sombra loomed. Twilight’s new friends bravely faced Sombra to buy her time.
After Twilight and explained what happened, Cadance’s body finally collapsed with exhaustion. The situation was the darkest Twilight had faced yet.
Even as Sombra was rapidly closing in, Spike seemed to get an idea on what to do. "I'm writing to the princesses! They must be informed of this!"
“It won’t make a difference, Spike,” Twilight said. “It would take too long for the message to get to them and for them to show up. They wouldn’t get here in time to save anypony. My friends and I will just have to try and fend him off on our own.”
“But, what about Princess Celestia’s order not to engage him?” Spike asked.
“The safety of the Crystal Ponies should be what matters, Spike,” Twilight said. “Besides, under the circumstances, I'm sure she'd understand that we had no choice. We've come too far to just let him take back the empire. Even without the Elements of Harmony, the girls and I will find a way to win."
“I have a better idea,” Cadance’s voice rang out. “This is my empire, therefore it's my duty to protect it!" With a great deal of struggling she was able to develop a replica of her husband's signature shield spell and just in time, too.
At the borders, Astral and the Crystal 5 were battling Sombra and his golems when suddenly, the vaporous tyrant was pushed back, screaming and howling in pain as he made contact with the newly erected barrier.
“Ah!” Sombra howled. He looked down and noticed that the top of his curved horn was cut off and burying itself deep into the ground before either Astral or the Crystal 5 had a chance to notice. “I must admit,” he said to the six before him. “You’ve put up a good fight, but, all you’ve managed to do is frustrate me.” He then looked at one of the surviving golems still within the barrier. “And turn one of my golems inside out.”
“There’s more to that if you come around here again!” Indigo snapped.
“This is merely a delay,” Sombra said. “This barrier wasn’t made by the Crystal Heart, so, it can only keep me out temporarily. It won’t last forever. It’ll fail eventually. And when it does, I'll be waiting! You can't keep me locked out forever!" And then, his shadowy form retreated for the time being.
Lemon Zest gazed on at his remnants with an angered face and blew a small raspberry.
“Did any of you notice that the top of his horn was missing?” Sunny Flare asked.
“Yeah, I did,” Sugarcoat said. “Likely due to that magical surge we felt from the Princess’ magic.”
“This doesn’t bode well,” Sunny said. “If even the tiniest fragment of Sombra is within the empire’s borders, it could spell disaster for all involved.”
“You five go ahead and report this to the princess,” Astral said as he made his swords disappear and went into a quadrupedal stance. “I'll stay here and look for his horn.”
“We’re counting on you, Astral,” Indigo said as she and the other mares made their way to the castle.
At the castle, the Crystal 5 had finished their report.
“The surge of magic did, unfortunately, tear off the tip of Sombra’s horn,” Sugarcoat said. “We’re not sure where it landed as we didn’t get a good enough look.”
“But, Astral’s out there keeping an eye out for it,” Lemon Zest added.
"Thanks to you," Cadance smiled back before adopting a more serious tone. "But, Sombra's right, we haven't shut him out completely. We need to find where he hid the real Crystal Heart and fast! We'll probably have to call off the fair to conduct a search."
“No, Cadance,” Twilight protested. “You and Shining Armor can’t afford to turn this place upside down. The fair must go on, the Crystal Ponies should still believe we have the real Crystal Heart. It’ll be important to keep their spirits up when we do eventually have the real artifact. After all, it’s your empire now. It would be a good idea to interact with your subjects.”
"But, what about you, Twily?" Shining Armor questioned his sister. "What will you do?"
“I can handle the search,” Twilight said. “When I find it, I’ll bring it to you. In the meantime, please work with my friends and keep the fair going.” She then gestured to the Crystal 5. “That goes for you, too. Try making a convincing replica until I find the real one.”
“It’s going to be tricky considering it’s a special artifact,” Sour Sweet said snarkily, then, in a sweeter tone, she said. “But, we’ll try our best anyway~”
“We’ll do our best, Twilight,” Cadance promised. “But, be careful. There's no telling what sort of security measures King Sombra will have set up for the Crystal Heart should you find it.”
“I will be careful,” Twilight promised. She then trotted off to begin the search.
“Wait for me, mom!” Spike said as he followed her.
The Crystal 5 were confused. “‘Mom?’” Indigo said.
“I hatched his egg,” Twilight said as briefly and concisely as possible, briefly sticking her head back in to do so before hurrying off.
“Well, you heard her,” Sunny said. “We’ve got a job to do.”
The Crystal 5 discreetly discussed recent developments with the other Guardians of Harmony, making sure the more high-spirited Crystal Ponies didn’t hear.
“Oh, my,” Fluttershy said. “Well, it won’t be easy, but, we’ll do our best.”
Spike soon made it to Twilight, breathing heavily. Once he got control of his breath, he spoke. “Mom,” he said. “I have to ask: Are you out of your mind?! You don't even know where to begin looking for the Crystal Heart!"
“I appreciate your concern, Spike,” Twilight said. “But, everything is under control. You can stay with me, but, please try not to touch anything. Princess Celestia did say that I had to be the one to help Shining Armor and Princess Cadance to ensure everypony’s protection.”
Spike was undeterred. “But, mom,” he said. “Don't you think that maybe the real test from Princess Celestia here is to see if you'll follow every order she gives to the letter, no matter what?" He was quick to point out, "She's not perfect. She can make mistakes. We both saw how she was in that projection. Heck, you and the others have been, at the very least, trying to correcting her mistakes since you became the Guardians of Harmony. Nightmare Moon, Discord, and even Chrysalis! And the Guardians didn’t even succeed with her!"
Twilight didn’t say anything until Spike was done speaking. She then took a moment to process his words. Even now, the Guardians were trying to correct Celestia’s mistake by finding a permanent solution to the Sombra problem that four sired alicorns couldn’t.
“You’re right, Spike,” Twilight said. “You’re right about everything.” Then, a thought occurred to her. "Well, she didn't really elaborate on what she meant by 'helping,' so, I guess you tagging along won't break any of the rules or cause me to fail."
“There you go,” Spike said. “If the way she acted in that projection is an indication, we should reevaluate your incredibly high opinion on Celestia.”
“That would have to be for another time,” Twilight said. “Right now, we need to find the Crystal Heart. Still, I don't want you to touch anything unless I say otherwise. Sombra's sure to have the Crystal Heart well protected, and I promised Princess Luna I wouldn't let anything happen to you. You're my son, after all."
“I know, Mom,” Spike said with a smile. “I was right next to you.” His smile faltered. “But, where do we even begin? Asking Sombra where he hid it would be stupid on so many levels.”
“Right,” Twilight said. “In order to find it, I need to start thinking like Sombra. There’s only one place I can think of where he would keep something so important. It would have to be in a place where he would ensure nopony could think to find it or dare to look.” She looked towards the Crystal Castle.
“The castle is so big,” Spike noted. “We wouldn’t know where to start.”
“We’re going to have to start looking, Spike,” Twilight said. “Once the barrier goes down, there’ll be no stopping Sombra. I just hope our friends and the Crystal 5 can keep the fair going.”
“Knowing our friends,” Spike said. “They will. I hope you’re right about the location of the heart. If it’s not in the castle, it could be anywhere in the Crystal Empire.”
So, Twilight allowed Spike onto her back and she ran into the castle.
The Crystal Fair was still ongoing, but, it was quickly becoming a problem when various Crystal Ponies wanted to stop by to see the Crystal Heart for themselves.
Rainbow flew up to one of the Crystal Ponies’ faces intimidatingly. “What are you lookin’ at?!” This intimidated the Crystal Pony, who backed away in fright as a result. “That’s what I thought.”
Rainbow was struck in the back of the head with a hard object she quickly learned to be a disgruntled Indigo Zap’s right forehoof.
“Listen, Dash,” Indigo said. “We get what you’re trying to do, but, that’s no reason to scare the Crystal Ponies. We’re supposed to be raising their spirits, not traumatizing them.”
Rainbow sheepishly put her right forehoof behind her head. “Right, sorry. I tend to go a little overboard with these things.”
“If that’s a little overboard,” Indigo sneered. “I’d hate to see when you really go overboard.”
“Okay, genius,” Rainbow said. “How else am I supposed to keep them from finding out about the heart?”
Indigo wasn’t intimidated. "I'll stay here with Applejack and help divert ponies as needed. You should go straight to the arena to show off your jousting skills."
Rainbow’s disgruntled attitude suddenly changed to one of determination. “Okay, I like the sound of that idea way better. You really are a genius!” As quick as a wink, Rainbow flew in the direction of the arena. Once there, she saw Shining Armor preparing for a joust.
“Hey, Rainbow,” he said. “Care to go a few rounds against me in the tournament? I could use a little refresher in combat. I can’t use my magic for the time being.”
Rainbow’s grin grew. “You’re on!”
Meanwhile, other Crystal Ponies began to come by, ones not interested in the jousting match. “Having a good time?” Indigo asked. “If not, don’t hesitate to let me know and I’ll relay it to the princess and her husband.”
“I’m feeling the best I’ve felt since…” one Crystal Pony started. “I can’t remember when! This is the best time I’ve ever had!”
“That’s good to hear, Autumn Gem,” Indigo said.
“I would love to see the Crystal Heart, though, before the ceremony,” Autumn said. “It’s been a long time since anypony has laid eyes on it.”
Applejack was getting nervous.
“There are a lot of other activities to try,” Cadance said, coming to Applejack’s aid. “There are plenty of rare foods to try and even a jousting match that my husband is participating in.”
Applejack watched the whole thing unfold as she thought to herself. Come on, Twilight... hurry it up, will ya?! These here Crystal Ponies’re more curious’n a cat! Don't know how long the rest o’ us can keep 'em away.
Back in the castle, Twilight was searching through every possible nook and cranny. Unfortunately, nothing stood out or gave any indicator as to where the Crystal Heart could possibly be.
“It's got to be here somewhere," Twilight protested with annoyance. "Where is it?!"
“Believe me, Mom,” Spike said. “If I did know where it was, I would tell you. Sombra must have been desperate to keep the Crystal Heart hidden.”
“From what the Crystal 5 told us,” Twilight said. “Just being near the Crystal Heart would make him sick and weak, so, he couldn’t be holding onto it himself.” As she continued to search, she remembered something that Princess Celestia told her and her friends. “Wait a minute… if I want to thwart Sombra, I’ll have to think like him!”
Spike gulped. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“It’s not what you think, Spike,” Twilight reassured her drake son. “I won’t be speaking to him directly, but, I need to remember that things in the Crystal Empire were different when he reigned. This is Queen Amore’s castle, not Sombra’s.”
“But, we can’t ask Queen Amore,” Spike said. “She was turned into a crystal statue and shattered with the fragments being scattered across Equestria.”
“What I mean is,” Twilight clarified. “Sombra must have altered the throne room in a way only he could. That way, he could hide the Crystal Heart in a place where only he could get to it. And the only way to find it is to use dark magic.”
“But, you haven’t learned any dark magic spells,” Spike said.
“Good thing I can figure spells out after seeing them in action,” Twilight said. “You better stand back. I’m not taking any chances.”
Spike cautiously stood back. He was worried for his pony mother’s safety. Then, with a large effort of concentration, Twilight’s deep magenta magical aura became black engulfed in a vivid violet haze with light brilliant green edges. And to make matters worse, Spike could see her clearly straining as she aimed a beam of the powerful magic at the crystal atop the throne.
In Twilight’s mind, she could feel dark thoughts starting to seep in. And to make matters worse, she soon heard the familiar voice of King Sombra starting to taunt her. "Well well, the prized protege of Princess Celestia. Finally getting a taste of dark magic, I see. It hurts, doesn't it? It's like no pain you've ever felt before."
“Get out of my mind, Sombra!” Twilight roared and growled in defiance. She was unaware that the conversation was being heard, though thankfully, only by Spike.
“I only wish to make a deal with you to ease your suffering,” the greedy king said. "Give into the darkness. Let it consume you as it did me, let it burn away anything and everything else. Once your heart is as black as mine you'll feel so much better, because you'll be incapable of ever feeling anything ever again."
“I will never become like you, Sombra!” Twilight snapped. “You won’t corrupt me! I’ve sharpened my mental barriers!”
"They will do you little good in the end," the umbrum cackled in a deep voice. "Still, I can't maintain this link between us for long. I must concentrate my powers into fully restoring my physical presence. After all, that pesky princess' barrier is going to run out before long, even sooner than that pathetic husband of hers from whom she copied the spell."
“You leave my brother out of this!” Twilight snapped again. “Don’t even think about harming him or my sister-in-law!”
“Ah, so, they’re your family,” Sombra said in surprise. “Good. That will make their destruction all the more satisfying. Talk to you again soon, Twilight. You'll have to use a lot more dark magic than what you're currently using to stop me. And if you're already struggling now, I can only imagine how hard the rest of the trials will be." Just like that, his voice faded away.
Twilight opened her eyes and shook her head to clear her thoughts. She now stood in front of a large spiral staircase that led down into a dark cave that had not been there a moment ago. “Spike, this looks dangerous. Stay here while I go down to see where this goes. If it’s safe for you to come down, I’ll call you. Remember, not a claw until I tell you, okay?”
Spike gave a salute to show he understood.
Unable to tell how deep the staircase was, Twilight picked up a loose piece of crystal and dropped it. She listened for a possible sound when it hit the ground, but, it took a long time for the crystal to hit the bottom. When it did, it was very faint. With that, she started down carefully. Since the staircase didn’t have any rails, she had to be really careful with how she tread. “Spike,” she called. “Can you hear me?”
“Barely,” Spike replied. “What do you need?”
"Is everything okay outside? I haven't looked in a while." Twilight instructed.
Spike peered out the window with his emerald green eyes. He could see the barrier flickering on and off. When it did fade down, the surrounding area outside took on a dark red hue that made everything seem ominous and troubling. It was even possible to hear the sound of thunder crashing as King Sombra’s voice was speaking through the dark crystals that were sprouting up like weeds.
Spike hurried to the staircase entrance. “It’s not looking good, mom,” he said. “Cadance’s magic is fading fast! I’d say we have an hour before it fails completely!”
“Oh, dear,” Twilight said dismally. “If you don’t hear from me by then, you’ll have to get the Princesses involved. I just hope it doesn’t come to that.” She continued down the stairs, only to misjudge her step and tumbled down the whole flight. She managed to illuminate her horn, cascading the room in a soft magenta light. “Ow…”
“Are you okay, mom?” Spike called from above.
“Been better, but, nonetheless okay,” Twilight called. She then found a door. She then called up. “Stay where you are, Spike! I’ve got something to check out!”
However, as Twilight got closer, the door moved itself further back. She tried this a few more times, but, the results were the same. Losing her patience, Twilight used the same dark magic spell she used before and fired a beam at the door, causing it to stop. “You stay right there!” The door then creaked open and a blinding flash could be seen. “I think I found a lead, Spike!” she called. “This must be where the Crystal Heart is!” She then ran through the door. Or at least, she thought she ran through the door.
Once the flash faded, Twilight discovered that she was no longer in the dark cave beneath the castle throne. Instead, she found herself back in… of all places… the Canterlot Castle throne room. Twilight looked around in confusion. In fact, any resemblance of the door that brought her there was no longer in sight. “Huh?” she said quizzically. “Canterlot? How did I end up here? What’s going on?”
She then bumped into Princess Celestia. “What are you doing here?” the sun princess asked in a very stern voice. “I thought I sent you on an important assignment.”
“Princess Celestia,” Twilight gasped in surprise, thrown for a loop at her mentor’s vocal tone. “I don't know how, I swear! I was in the Crystal Empire when I opened this door and-”
Celestia interrupted coldly. “I don’t have time for your excuses. You have disobeyed my instructions.” She turned her back. “You must go.”
“Go?” Twilight asked, blinking dismally in confuison. “Go where?”
“It makes no difference to me,” Celestia said. “You failed my test. I hoped you would do better than Sunset Shimmer as a student, but, you’re as much a failure as she was.*”
Twilight gasped in shock and horror. “What?! But, I don’t understand! How could I have failed? I didn’t do anything wrong! I don’t even know how I ended up back here!”
"I told you I didn't want to hear your excuses, Twilight,” Celestia snorted. “You disappointed me. So now, not only will you not move on to the next level of your studies and begin advanced lessons, you won't continue your studies at all! Your time as my student has come to an end."
“I…” Twilight stammered. “Y-you can’t do this! You never said anything about me no longer being your student if I failed!”
"Oh, didn't I? I thought you already knew since you made it a habit to know everything," Celestia replied as she trotted away, refusing to look her former student in the eyes. "Get out of my sight, Twilight!" And just like that, she disappeared.
Twilight was still shaken up from what she had heard. She couldn’t understand why Celestia was acting like this towards her. At that moment, she saw a stained glass window depicting King Sombra overpowering and conquering the Crystal Empire. The image of this reduced Twilight to tears. “No… no, it can’t be… no! NO!”
Suddenly, in the distance, Twilight became aware of a familiar voice calling out to her. It was faint at first, but, it slowly grew louder. “Mom? Mom! Moooom!” the voice called. Twilight realized that it was Spike. His voice broke her out of her apparent trance and she shook off the dark magic feeling once more. She found herself back in the cave in front of the door.
“Spike?” Twilight said, turning to see him running down the stairway.
Spike wasted no time embracing his unicorn mother.
“Thank goodness you’re okay,” he said happily before he said in an apologetic tone. “I know you told me to stay up there, but, you weren’t answering my calls. I got worried and came down to check on you when I heard you crying. What are you looking at that’s troubling you?” He turned his attention to the open door that wasn’t really an entrance. “It’s just a wall. Why would-” But, as Spike peered into it, the crystal adornment on the doorframe flashed with dark magic, causing an illusion to unfold before Spike that only he could see as his eyes glowed a sickly green. “Ponyville? How did we get back- Mom, how did you- No! Please! I don’t want to go! You can’t send me away! I thought I meant something to you! Please, don’t make me go!”
Realizing what was happening, Twilight quickly shut the door, cutting off the spell it was casting on Spike. “Looks like my hunch on traps was right,” she said. “This elusive door is powered by King Sombra's dark magic. He must've enchanted it to show one's worst fears. For me, it was failing the test. And for you... well, we just witnessed it for ourselves."
“We were back in Ponyville,” Spike sniffled with tears running down his face. “You told me you didn’t need me anymore, so, you were going to send me away.” The little dragon started to sob. “After you brought me into the world and everything I did for you over the years, you were going to send me away!”
Twilight’s heart ached in sympathy as she looked upon her devastated little dragon. The mere sight of him in pain alone was hard for her. Knowing that she was tied to it was heartbreaking for her. She hugged the little drake into her barrel. Her hugs weren’t as tight as Pinkie’s, but, they were still soft and comforting.
“I promise I'll never let that fear come to pass,” she said gently. “I’m never going to send you away no matter what. You will always have a special place in my heart and next to me. If there comes a day where you’re too big for the library, I’ll still stay with you because I can’t imagine living anywhere without you.”**
Hearing Twilight’s words made Spike feel much better, even without Twilight having to rub his left face cheek. “Thank you,” he said softly. “I needed to hear that. But, if that door is supposed to be here, how do we get inside if it’s a dead end?”
The unicorn smiled. "By countering Sombra's dark magic with my own magic. A magic powered by light and love. A magic I'm reminded of just by having you near me." And that's exactly what sort of magic she used on the crystal above the door, breaking the spell and allowing the door to swing open. There was no blinding flash of light this time and both pony and dragon took that as a sign that it was safe to proceed.
“More stairs,” Spike said as he saw what was inside. “I’m sensing a theme here.”
“So am I,” Twilight nodded in agreement. “But, I think it’ll be better for both of us if we stick together from here on out. I left you alone when a threat to Equestria was on the loose before and I won’t do it again. Now, we'd better hurry and find the Crystal Heart before it's too late!"
As Twilight and Spike searched for the Crystal Heart (with none of the empire any wiser to the hardships they were enduring), the Jousting tournament was finally underway. The excitement kept the Crystal Ponies engaged. The Crystal 5 were the only Crystal Ponies aware of the barrier flickering.
“This is getting really bad,” Lemon Zest said.
“Oh, I hope Twilight is okay,” Sour Sweet said in her sweet tone. Then, in her sour tone, she said. “She better find it soon!”
Pinkie Pie, now decked out from head to hooves in a green jester's outfit, blew into a flugelhorn. "Attention, fillies and gentlecolts!" she declared afterward. "Thank you for your patience. We're ready to start the jousting tournament! In this corner: Knight Rainbow Dash!" A spotlight shown on one end of the arena, showing Rainbow Dash in her jousting outfit. "And in this corner: your prince, Shining Armor!" Another spotlight showed Shining in his jousting outfit, which also fortunately obscured the dark crystals surrounding his horn. The crowd cheered wildly as Pinkie announced. “Jousters, ready your lances! Get ready and… go!”
Rainbow charged forward at lightning speed. She aimed her lance at Shining Armor’s mid-section with the intent of knocking him down. She knew he couldn't use his magic to adjust his lance’s position. Even if he could, it would be an unfair advantage. She learned this from practice matches with Indigo. This is going to be an easy knockout, she thought to herself with a confident smirk.
However, Shining Armor just continued trotting at his leisurely pace until at the last second, he charged forward. Unprepared for this burst of speed, Rainbow was knocked over instead.
“And the first point goes to Knight Shining Armor!” Pinkie announced. “First one to three points wins the match and then moves onto the next match! The not-victor takes over as the jester. Okay, jousters, back to your stations. Prepare for your next faceoff.”
Flash, who was in the audience alongside Cadance and Joules, snickered as Shining approached Rainbow, helping her to her hooves. “You gave yourself away charging ahead like that,” he instructed the mare. “In the royal guard, we consider that behavior reckless. And you just saw where recklessness will get you.”
“Yeah, sure,” Rainbow said, dusting herself off. “I won’t make that same mistake again. You won’t beat me again!”
Wow, Shining said internally. Applejack wasn’t wrong about Rainbow’s attitude. “With that attitude, you don’t stand a chance,” he replied. "Twilight tells me you've been trying to get into the Wonderbolts. Well, if you want to have any shot with them you're going to have to learn to think with your head, not with your hooves."
“Hey, enough chit-chat!” Pinkie called. She was ready to blow into the flugelhorn to start the next match. “I can’t keep this party going forever. We have to keep the entertainment going. So, you better get back out there and give these ponies a good time!”
“Oh, don’t worry, Pinkie,” Rainbow said. “I’ll give them some entertainment and then some when I come back from an early defeat and win this whole tournament!”
Indigo, who was among the other participants in the tournament next to Fluttershy, could hardly believe what she was hearing. “Is she seriously that stupid?!” she asked the demure pegasus.
“Um,” Fluttershy said, trying to be polite. “She does have her moments.”
Indigo could only groan in annoyance. “Please tell me she’s not the best example of schools these days.”
“Sure, she isn’t perfect,” Fluttershy said. “But, she has proved to raise our spirits if we’re ever in trouble.”
“From what I’ve seen so far,” Indigo said. “You’ll have to forgive me if I’m skeptical.”
Meanwhile, Rarity trotted up to Applejack with bad news. “I am running out of weaving materials for the traditional crafts booth! I just made a hat out of three pieces of hay and a drinkable straw. I made it work, but, still. At this point, I don’t know how long we’re going to keep the fair going.”
Sunny stepped up. “And I can’t keep making stuff out of crystals,” she said.
“Even the petting zoo isn’t getting much attention,” Lemon Zest reported. “The barrier’s not holding up well. It looks like it could fail at any time.”
Cadence came trotting over, forcing a smile as it was clear she was struggling to maintain her composure. "It may be time to consider a Plan B. The only thing we have left to keep the Crystal Ponies interested is the jousting tournament. But, if the barrier fails soon, even that won't be enough."
Just then, some Crystal Pony called out. “Where’s the Crystal Heart?”
Thinking quickly, Sugarcoat subtly concentrated her magic to make the replica appear.
“I know this isn’t really an honest means,” Sugarcoat whispered to Applejack. “But, we still have to keep the Crystal Ponies secured until the real Crystal Heart is found. The alternative is having them panic. Do you honestly want that?”
Applejack shook her head no. Just then, an overly excited Crystal Pony stallion tripped and hit the fake, knocking it over before the crowd of Crystal Ponies.
“The heart,” said a Crystal Pony, losing his luster. “It’s a fake.”
“Ooh, that clumsy Gallic!” Sour Sweet said bitterly.
“Please, do not be alarmed,” Cadance said, attempting to calm the crowd. “The true Crystal Heart is-”
Applejack quickly interrupted. "-A-already on its way!" And she gave a nervous chuckle.
“Probably should have said, ‘being polished,’ to buy us more time,” Rarity whispered.
Sugarcoat pulled Applejack aside to whisper to her. “We’re in trouble enough for lying. We don’t need more lies to make it worse.”
“Didn’t ya tell me moments ago ‘bout this?!” Applejack asked in a low voice. “Besides, ah know ya don’t know me, but, if ah did lie, ah woulda gagged with an upset stomach.”
Sugarcoat simply rolled her eyes. “Look, at this point, the best we can do is try to contain the fallout now that everypony knows we don't have the real Crystal Heart. With a little luck, Twilight and Spike will find it soon."
At the borders of the empire, Astral was smashing dark crystals with his swords. Though, his efforts were making little difference as the crystals were growing faster than he could smash them.
“Just give up, dragon,” Sombra said wickedly. “You’re running yourself down to the ground. You cannot stop my efforts!”
“I failed to stop you once,” Astral said between breaths. “I won’t let it happen again!”
“And just like that, you played right into my hooves,” Sombra said. “With you preoccupied here, the empire doesn’t have its strongest guard.”
Astral knew that Sombra was trying to get him to let his guard down. He knew he couldn't give up. “I know what you’re trying to do, Sombra,” he said. “That’s why I made my own force fields around us.”
Sombra noticed some of his crystals were unable to grow past the barrier Astral created. “What is this?!”
“I’ll keep defending the empire to my last breath!” Astral said. However, no sooner had he said that than his eyes went back to their normal icy blue and he passed out. His barrier faded.
“Just as I thought,” Sombra said. “You used too much energy raising a barrier in your combat state. You played into my hooves again.”
Back with Twilight and Spike, they were still venturing up the tall stairway, but, Twilight was running low on breath.
“You know,” Spike said. “Something occurred to me. “What if this is just another one of Sombra's traps he set up with his dark magic? Think about it: A passage beneath the throne room only accessible by dark magic, a door that leads to your worst fears. Why not add stairs that lead to nowhere on top of it at all? It's so evil nopony would ever think of it."
Once Twilight had a chance to catch her breath, she thought for a moment. She then brightened up. “There’s only one thing I can think of that would thwart his trap. Spike, grab onto me and whatever you do, don’t open your eyes and don’t let go!”
Spike reluctantly obeyed. “W-what are you going to do, mom?”
Twilight didn’t answer as she concentrated a magic aura around herself and Spike. They suddenly found themselves upside down and sliding upwards on the underside of the stairwell. Realizing what was going on, Spike clenched his eyes tight.
“I had studied gravity spells,” Twilight said as she excitedly slid. “I had a feeling this would be helpful and it was!” At last they reached the bottom, or rather the top, as Twilight returned gravity to normal. “You can open your eyes now.”
“I think I’m going to keep them closed for a little bit if it’s all the same,” Spike said nervously, still processing what happened as Twilight levitated him down to the floor.
The two found themselves in a tall tower. There before them was the Crystal Heart in all its glory. Twilight was captivated by its shimmering glory. Without thinking, she walked forward and held it in her forehooves. Unfortunately, touching it triggered an alarm set by Sombra. “Fool!” his voice said. “Did you think I would leave the Crystal Heart unprotected?”
Hearing Sombra’s voice caused Spike to pop his eyes wide open with surprise. Several huge crystals grew around Twilight, one launched the Crystal Heart out of Twilight’s forehooves towards Spike. Twilight was trapped. She looked around for the magical artifact. “Where’s the Crystal-”
“It’s over here!” Spike called. “It rolled over to me!”
Meanwhile, Twilight groaned and lamented aloud. "How could I have been so foolish?! I should've known it was a trap! It was so obvious! But, I was so eager to get it. And now..." She trailed off, watching as the protective barrier began to fail completely.
“You have to get out of there, Mom!” Spike called. “There’s no point writing to the princesses and you’ll fail the test! I don’t know what Sombra’s going to do to you for trying to take back the Crystal Heart! Please, Mom. You’ve got to have a plan! You have to!”
But, Twilight shook her head. “There’s no plan, Spike,” she said before a thought occurred to her. “Spike, keep the Crystal Heart safe and take it to Princess Cadance! There may not be enough time for me to escape, let alone deliver the Crystal Heart.”
“Me?!” Spike said as he grabbed the Crystal Heart. “But, I’ll mess up for sure!”
“Don’t doubt yourself now, Spike,” Twilight said. “I’ve seen your courage several times. You risked your life to literally grab Nightmare Moon by the horn so we’d have a chance to purify her. You’re the only one I can trust right now. Don’t worry about me. I’ll think of something.”
Spike, hearing his pony mother’s genuine words, suddenly became determined. “Okay.” And with that, he went to a nearby window to find a way down.
Be brave, Spike, Twilight said internally. For both of us.
Outside, things had gone from bad to worse as the looming threat of Sombra was ever approaching. “Come back to me, my crystal slaves!” he said in a tone barely above a whisper.
The Crystal 5 refused to let their fear get the better of them. “You’re no king of ours, Sombra!” Indigo said.
“You may say that now,” Sombra teased as he picked up Astral’s still unconscious body with shadow tendrils. “But, give me the time and I’ll show you that I am the king that you deserve!” He then threw Astral at the Crystal 5. “Besides, the only way to stop me is with the Crystal Heart and you will never find it!”
“Think again, Sombra!” a familiar voice called out.
The Crystal 5, Flash, Cadance, Shining Armor, the rest of the empire, and the remaining guardians turned their attention upwards where the voice came from.
“Spikey-Wikey?!” Rarity gasped in alarm. “What are you doing up there?! Where’s Twilight?!
“There’s no time to explain,” Spike called. “I got the Crystal Heart!” At that moment, Spike realized he was at the top of one of the castle’s spires and froze in fear briefly before carefully trying to make his way down. However, he lost his grip and fell, screaming all the way.
“Spike!” Shining Armor called out. Princess Cadance, who was weakly on Shining Armor’s back, spread her wings.
“Honey,” she said. “Throw me. I’ll catch Spike and the Crystal Heart.”
Shining nodded in understanding and did as she said. As Cadance glided upwards towards Spike and the Crystal Heart, the magic from the artifact was able to instantly restore her well-being and her magic. She grabbed onto Spike, allowing him to rest on her back while she flew down with the heart in her magical aura. The little dragon held on tight while clenching his eyes shut. The crowd of Crystal Ponies, the Crystal 5, Flash, and the Guardians gasped with amazement. Princess Cadance then landed on the ground, shattering the fake Crystal Heart while her Crystal Heart Cutie Mark glistened brilliantly.
“NO!” Sombra said.
“King Sombra is invading,” Princess Cadance said sternly. “We cannot let that happen. Use the light and love within you to ensure that he never gets the chance to!”
The Crystal Ponies obeyed and kneeled before they began to glow like the Crystal Heart. The light magic then began to be absorbed into the Crystal Heart, which began to spin rapidly. It cascaded a brilliant light that caused all around it to glow like crystal.
“No! Stop!” Sombra demanded. “Bow before me! Your king demands it!”
“It’s like I said,” Indigo retorted. “You are no king of ours and you will never be!”
The light from the Crystal Heart struck Sombra, who screamed in agony as his vaporous form seemed to burn. He then turned into his solid form, which melted into a dark blob that melted into nothing while trying in vain to escape.*** The light from the Crystal Empire also destroyed the remnants of Sombra’s magic, including the trap that was around Twilight. All the while, even non-Crystal Ponies and dragons began to glow brightly. Twilight looked down from the window to see a large crowd of Crystal Ponies praising Spike and Princess Cadance.
Good job, Spike, Twilight thought. Mama’s so proud.
The light from the Crystal Heart also brought Astral Flare out of his weakened state.
During the celebration, the Guardians, Flash, Joules, the Royal Couple, Spike, Astral, and the Crystal 5 were gathered.
“Let’s hope you’ll be ready for when Sombra comes back,” Twilight said.
“Oh, that won’t happen,” Sugarcoat said. “He’s dead.”
“Even so,” Sunny Flair said. “We can help out around here for other reasons. We haven’t seen all of our neighbors in such a long time, but, now we can use what we’ve learned to help out.”
“I’m sorry,” Rainbow said. “Did you say that he’s dead?!”
“Yes,” Sugarcoat said directly. “You act as if you’ve never killed before.”
“WE HAVEN’T!” the guardians said in unison.
“Oh,” Lemon said plainly.
“Well, look on the bright side,” Flash said.
“How can there possibly be a bright side to this?!” Pinkie said.
“You were told to find a permanent solution to the Sombra problem,” Flash said. “And you did. No amount of magic can bring him back now.****”
“That’s…” Pinkie started, before taking a moment to think about it. “That’s actually a really good point. Huh… maybe there is a bright sight to this.”
“Believe me, I know how it feels,” Shining Armor said. “In my time as a royal guard, I’ve taken a few lives myself.”
“All the same,” Rarity said. “This is going to take some time to process.”
“Considering the type of pony Sombra was,” Sugarcoat said. “Literally none of the Crystal Ponies are going to complain about his death.”
“Indeed,” Astral said. “And I’m certainly not going to, either.”
“You’ve saved more lives than you’ll ever have to take,” Shining said.
“That’s true,” Twilight smiled before giving her big brother a hug. “Thank you for understanding.”
Astral turned his attention to Spike. “So, you were a were-pony, too?”
“Yeah,” Spike said directly. “It felt painful changing between pony and dragon. Though it did give me a great bonding moment with Rarity, I couldn’t bare through that pain and I chose to be a dragon again. She, Mom, Shining Armor, Celestia, Luna, and Cadance worked their magic on me. I almost didn’t make it, but, thanks to Rarity, I did.”
“I was the first were-pony,” Astral said.
“Whoa,” Spike said.
“As a side effect of the curing,” Astral said. “I’m able to use pony magic.”
“That’s cool,” Spike said. “Even after enduring the pain of transforming you felt, of course.”
“I wish to take you as a magic student,” Astral said. “As well as teach you how to harness your combat instincts.”
“I appreciate the offer,” Spike said. “But, I didn’t develop any magic after my transformation. Besides, my home is in Ponyville and it’s a long trip between here and there.”
“Very well,” Astral said. “But, if you ever find yourself using magic, do not hesitate to let me know.”
Meanwhile, Rarity was chatting with Sunny Flare. “Those crystal creation spells are simply magnificent,” she said before whispering to her. “Could you teach me that?”
“I can try,” Sunny said. “But, I can’t promise anything. You need at least partial Crystal Pony blood to be able to use that kind of magic at all.”
“So, that’s a no,” Rarity said sadly.
“It might be more possible than you think,” Sunny said. “You look a lot like a unicorn Crystal Pony named Sparkler.*****”
Rarity recognized the name. “Sparkler? My parents told me she was one of our ancestors. Though, how would she have been one of my ancestors if the Crystal Empire had been gone for over one thousand years?”
“That doesn’t sound as far-fetched as you think,” Sunny said. “Sparkler moved to another kingdom a year before Sombra took over.”
“So,” Rarity said. “There is a chance I can learn what you know.”
“Yes,” Sunny said. “Though, with so many generations of non-Crystal Pony ancestors, you’ll have to work harder.”
“I understand,” Rarity said. “So, knowing this, once I do learn more, I’ll have to use this magic for practical purposes.”
Meanwhile, Twilight had a thought on her mind.
I am so proud of Spike’s efforts, Twilight thought to herself. But, if Princess Celestia finds out that I wasn’t responsible for helping the Crystal Empire…
Shining took notice of Twilight’s deep thought. “I know that look,” he said. “Something on your mind, Twily?”
“You,” Shining Armor said in confusion. “Disobey Princess Celestia? How?”
“She told me not to engage with Sombra,” Twilight said. “And I ended up drawing myself and my friends into battle with him. Sure, it wasn’t direct, but, that’s besides the point. Not only that, but, I didn’t end up being the only one to help you and Cadance save the Empire.”
“Twilight,” Shining Armor said in a stern yet kind voice. “What mattered was that the Crystal Empire and its ponies were safe from Sombra’s wrath. Once you and your friends explain the story, I know she’ll understand why these things were done.” He then gave a somewhat disgruntled follow-up. “Besides, if she wanted all her subjects blindly following her orders to the letter no matter what, she wouldn’t be trying to phase out the clone guards, now, would she?”
Twilight took a moment to consider this. “You know, that is a really good point.”
“Besides,” Shining said. “Spike was bringing the Crystal Heart to Cadance because you told him to, right?”
“Well…” Twilight began. “Yes.”
“So, you did have a hoof in it,” Shining said. “Even if it wasn’t direct.”
“That’s true,” Twilight said. “Still, I am proud of Spike’s efforts. With that, he was given such well-deserved admiration from the Crystal Ponies.”
“We both know how hard it was for Spike growing up back home,” Shining said.
“Right,” Twilight said.
“I’d say that earning the admiration of an entire pony society makes up for that,” Shining said.
“You’re right,” Twilight said, beginning to feel better. “I just wish there was a way to make him an actual Element of Harmony.”
“It’s a nice thought,” Shining said. “But, look what he’s accomplished without one.”
“Hey, that’s true,” Twilight said.
“He won the admiration of an entire pony society,” Shining said. “And he didn’t need an Element of Harmony to do it. Thoughtful as giving him an actual element is, at this point, it’d be too much too soon.”
“I see,” Twilight nodded. “By the way, will there be a royal guard here?”
“Well,” he replied. “One advantage to Cadance now being in charge of the Crystal Empire is that I can hoof-pick my own guard candidates here and make sure they are PROPERLY trained. Oh, I'm not going to delude myself into thinking they're going to be a match for the god-tier baddies you and your friends come across - it will be years before even the best trained guards can realistically think they're ready for that sort of stuff. But, they will at least be competent enough to be able to handle NORMAL criminals as well as make their judgements based on individual character instead of on species.”******
“Will Astral be on the guard?” Twilight asked.
“After his efforts to keep the empire safe, yes,” Shining Armor smiled. “Besides, he knows the Crystal Guard better than I do.”
“That’s understandable,” Twilight nodded.
“Will I be accepted, captain?” Flash asked.
“Of course,” Shining Armor smiled. Then, he remembered the amount of incompetent guards in Canterlot. “On second thought… maybe wait until we hire more competent guards back in Canterlot first.”
“But, you have a responsibility to the Crystal Empire now,” Flash said. “You can’t be in both places at once.”
“Well,” he said. “I definitely see a lot of potential in getting to train the Crystal Ponies and learn from the mistakes made with MOST of the Equestrian Guard. However, while I appreciate your help here, Flash, I'm afraid Equestria can't afford to lose BOTH of us long term, given that you are among the few competent guards besides me. Therefore, as my last official act as Captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard before joining Cadance in ruling the Crystal Empire, I hereby promote you to Lieutenant and wish you luck in training the new crop of Guards."*******
“Thank you, sir,” Flash said in surprised gratitude.
Soon, the guardians, Spike, Joules, and Flash were making their way to the train to Canterlot. They'd reverted to normal by then.
“It’s too bad the Crystal look is temporary to non-Crystal Empire natives,” Rarity said sadly. “Did you see the way my mane shimmered?”
“But,” Applejack said. “Good things’re better when they’re a rarity.”
Rarity, hearing this, giggled happily at Applejack’s kind words. During the train ride, Twilight was rather quiet. Spike was the first to notice.
“Mom,” he said. “Are you okay?”
“I just hope that Princess Celestia doesn’t discontinue my studies or label me as a failure like Sunset Shimmer,” Twilight said.
“What?” he said. “I can understand why, given what happened before, but, that doesn’t sound like anything Princess Celestia would do these days. Besides, when would she have called Sunset a failure directly?”
“Well, remember that door that showed whoever opened it their worst fears?” Twilight said.
“Say no more,” Spike said with an uncomfortable shiver. “But, just like you reassured me that my worst fear wouldn’t come to pass, once Princess Celestia hears what we endured, there’s a chance that she’ll reassure you that your worst fear won't come to pass.”
“What’s this ‘bout Sunset Shimmer?” Applejack asked.
“Sorry,” Twilight said. “I was telling Spike about my worries. When he and I were looking for the Crystal Heart, I came across a door that leads to your worst nightmare. When I opened it, I saw that I was back in Canterlot and Princess Celestia told me that I not only failed the test and am no longer continuing my studies with her, but, she told me I was also a failure like Sunset Shimmer.”
“That doesn’t sound right,” Fluttershy said. “Sure, she used to solve problems by sealing, banishing, or both, but, she’s not that pony anymore.”
“And any time she brought up Sunset Shimmer around us,” Rarity said. “She gave the impression that she thought very highly of her.”
“Yeah,” Pinkie said. “So, I don’t think Celestia would have even thought about calling Sunset a failure. And you either, for that matter, because you’re not one.”
“We may not know Sunset Shimmer personally or what happened to her,” Rainbow said. “And we probably never will********, but, if Princess Celestia thinks so highly of her, that’s good enough for me. She doesn’t just throw praise around.”
Twilight, hearing her friends comforting words, began to feel better. “Thank you, Spike. Thank you, everypony.”
The group returned to Canterlot the next morning and Twilight was soon left alone for an audience of one with Princess Celestia. Surprisingly, the sun princess seemed to take the news of the mission's unexpected developments quite well, especially since a new stained glass window commemorated the final outcome: Spike delivering the Crystal Heart to Princess Cadence and King Sombra being destroyed. "It's beautiful. This will make a fine addition to the other displays here in the throne room," Princess Celestia spoke up.
“It is, indeed,” Twilight said. “And I’m very proud of Spike’s efforts and the admiration he got from the Crystal Ponies. Still, I wish it was ultimately me who saved the day as you wished. I’m sorry you had to find out this way and that I didn’t contact you or Princess Luna.”
“While Luna and I would have appreciated some contact to let us know what was going on,” Celestia said. “If I understand correctly, you sent Spike to deliver the Crystal Heart to Cadance because you were uncertain how quickly you could escape the tower or Sombra’s trap. You were unwilling to risk the future of the Crystal Empire in an effort to guarantee your own. You were even willing to disobey my orders, even if you misinterpreted them, if it meant the empire would be saved.”
“Misinterpreted?” Twilight asked.
“Your friends weren’t there solely to boost your morale,” Celestia said. “Finding a permanent solution to the Sombra problem was something even a sired alicorn couldn’t do alone. Did you honestly think I expected you to accomplish it by yourself when you didn’t even know the Crystal Empire existed until two days ago?”
Twilight took this information in for a moment. Spike was right before, she thought to herself. And it seems he’s right again. “The real test was if I’d follow your orders to the letter no matter what?” she asked aloud.
“In a way,” Princess Celestia said. “The real test was making sure that a problem is solved with what you have, who you have with you, and with what you learn about. You not only succeeded in that regard, but, showed that you understand the importance of self-sacrifice instead of only looking out for your own self-interest.”
“So, I’m not a failure like Sunset Shimmer?” Twilight asked.
Celestia was taken aback by this. “Sunset Shimmer wasn’t a failure,” Celestia said. “If anything, I feel I failed her. Was this idea from the worst fear doorway you told me of?”
“Yes,” Twilight said. “I know it sounds ridiculous when you were singing her praises any time you brought her up around us, but, I don’t know what happened to her.”
“Alas, I don’t, either,” Celestia said. “But, I can’t help but feel partially responsible for it.”
Twilight walked up to Princess Celestia and gave her a comforting nuzzle. The sun princess was touched by her student’s empathy.
“I cannot worry about her now,” Celestia said after a moment. “Now, I have your future studies with advanced magic to look forward to. For the time being, after you and your friends’ endeavors, you must rest.”
“Out of curiosity,” Twilight said. “Will there be studies on dark magic?”
“Yes,” Celestia said.
“After this experience,” Twilight said. “I’m not really in a rush to explore its more intricate facets.”
“I understand,” Celestia nodded sympathetically. “All the same, your future’s looking bright.”
Twilight was doing her best to keep her composure, but, inside, she was jubilant. At that moment, Luna came trotting in with the still lifeless Canis on her back.
“Indeed it is,” she said. “And I'm pleased to hear that my favorite dragon finally got a chance to be the big hero he always dreamed of being. You should be proud of yourself for raising such an excellent son, Twilight. He's definitely in good hooves with you."
“Thank you,” Twilight said respectfully to both princesses. “I’m definitely impressed with how much he’s grown during this adventure.” She wiped a lone tear from her eye.
“We all are,” Luna smiled. “I’m certain you’re aware of the promise you made me.”
“Yes, I am,” Twilight said.
“Well,” Luna said. “The other guardians informed me that he fell off one of the spires of the Crystal Castle.”
“He WHAT?!” Twilight said in shock.
“Though,” Luna said. “Cadance ensured that he was swooped up before he ever had a chance to hit the ground. Because of this and the fact that you were trapped at the time, I will overlook it this one time.” She then made a very stern expression. “But, don’t make this a habit.”
“That is a promise I will definitely keep, your highness,” Twilight said.
Twilight then returned to Spike and the other guardians.
“Did it go well?” Pinkie asked.
“Better than well,” Twilight said. “I passed! And I have all of you to thank for it!” She then made a stern face. “But, why didn’t you tell me Spike fell off one of the castle’s spires?”
“Would you believe we felt you had enough to worry about without knowing that?” Rarity asked nervously.
Twilight’s stern expression gradually softened. “Very well,” she said. “But, the next time Spike’s in danger and the rest of you know about it while I don’t, I expect you to actually try and do something about it. Understand?”
The guardians made approving replies.
“Especially you, Rainbow,” Twilight said. “You’d think that as the best flier on the team and the one most likely to risk your life to save others, you would’ve thought to try saving him first.”
“I did think to save him,” Rainbow said. “But, I realized that it’d be difficult to rescue him and hold the Crystal Heart, which he let go of while he was falling, at the same time. I don’t have magic to carry the Crystal Heart with.”
“Even if Rainbow was able to catch it,” Pinkie said. “Shining Armor already threw Cadance to catch Spike.”
“Come on, girls, don’t argue,” Spike said. “My mom passed her test thanks to you. Let’s leave it at that.”
“Yer right, Spike,” Applejack said. “Ya always know how ta keep the peace ‘tween us. N’ on top o’ that, yer a real hero, too.”
On the way back to the train, Rainbow found her voice. “Am I the only one who’s noticed that we’re starting to suck as Guardians?”
“Hey,” Spike said. “You girls did what you could, though. That doesn’t mean you girls suck.”
“Our track record tells another story,” Rainbow said. “Ever since we became Guardians of Harmony, there've been four threats to Equestria and we’ve only managed to beat the first two. Shining Armor and Cadance beat Chrysalis and with Sombra, we had to rely on Spike to save the day.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Spike said indignantly. “Is it because I’m younger than all of you and I don’t actually have an Element of Harmony that my efforts shouldn’t be recognized? Is that it?!”
Rainbow realized her mistake. “No,” Rainbow said with a sigh. “That’s not what I’m saying. I’m sorry. I guess I was just jealous. But, that shouldn’t stop me from celebrating your achievements.”
Spike pulled Rainbow to face him. “So,” he said. “Is your position as a Guardian of Harmony more important than doing the right thing?”
“No, it’s not,” Rainbow said. “And it’s not as important as my friendship with you, either.”
“At the Crystal Empire,” Applejack said. “Y’all were a greater Guardian o’ Harmony’n all o’ us. Ya may not have a real Element o’ Harmony, but, after winnin’ the admiration o’ the whole Crystal Empire, ya coulda fooled me.”
“Indeed,” Rarity said sweetly to the drake. “And we are ever so proud of you.” Then, sternly, she turned to Rainbow and added. “Aren’t we, Rainbow?”
“Yes,” Rainbow said. “We’re really proud of you. And from here on out, I’m going to celebrate any non-Guardians’ efforts to save the day.”
“Thank you,” Spike said, letting go of Rainbow.
“I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut,” Rainbow said.
So, the friends took the train back to Ponyville. Celestia and Luna watched from the Castle tower. As they watched the friends depart, Celestia materialized a peculiar looking book with a cover consisting of stars in a swirling pattern. She gave a knowing nod to her lunar sister, knowing that this would spell big things for Twilight in the future. But, what was this book? Only Celestia knew for the time being.
Four days after Spike and the Guardians of Harmony returned to Ponyville from Canterlot after the Crystal Empire mission, Twilight was given the first of the more advanced spell lessons from Celestia.
Spike had placed a red delicious apple on a nearby cafe table and he made his way next to Twilight. She looked over the scroll she was given, then looked at the apple on the table. She took a deep breath.
“Okay,” she said softly. “My transfiguration lesson begins.” She then illuminated her horn, but, just as the magenta magic aura enveloped the apple, she felt a sudden jolt of pressure from an uninvited guest.
“Hi, Twilight, what are you doing?!” squeaked the voice happily. This caused Twilight to aim the spell at a different target.
“I was practicing a new transfiguration spell by turning an apple into an orange,” Twilight explained. “But, I was interrupted when you suddenly hugged me. What are you doing?”
“I just wanted to give a friend a hug,” Pinkie said. “Because hugs are so fun.”
“I do appreciate the gesture,” Twilight said. “But, you should be more careful with who you give your hugs to and the speed at which you do them. With my magic growing more powerful, it could have been dangerous.”
“Besides,” Spike said. “There’s a time and place for that kind of stuff. This was neither the time nor the place.”
“Sorry, Twilight,” Pinkie apologized. “Sorry, Spike. Maybe I’ll find somepony else to have fun with and I’ll be more careful with who I hug. Keep up the good work on your magic lessons. Before I go, what’d that spell hit, anyway?”
Twilight, Spike, and Pinkie looked in the direction of where the magic surge was fired. At a nearby tree, an orange with the wings of a blue jay could be seen.
“That answers that question,” Twilight said. “Luckily, Princess Celestia included a counter spell in the scroll for such a problem.”
“I’ll let you get to it,” Pinkie said before skipping away.
“See you later, Pinkie,” Spike called. He then turned his attention back to Twilight. “Ready to try again, Mom?”
“Indeed, Spike,” she answered.
As Pinkie skipped along, thinking about who to have fun with, she inadvertently bumped into Rarity.
“Oops!” Pinkie squeaked. “So sorry, Rarity! I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
“That’s good,” Pinkie smiled. “Are you in the mood to do something fun together?”
“I’m afraid that we’ll have different definitions of fun here,” Rarity said. “I’ll be designing an ensemble by myself and, nothing against you, but, your fashion sense is nil.*”
“That’s okay,” Pinkie said. “I’ll see if I can find somepony else to spend some fun time with. Can't wait to see what you make, though.” She then proceeded on her merry way.
She then met up with Rainbow, who was grunting hard at a stubborn patch of cloud that was out of place on the ground. “What’s going on, Rainbow?”
“Taking care of this cloud,” Rainbow said. “It got too heavy and if I don’t lighten it up, this area can end up foggy. As you know, pegasi can’t touch fog.”
“Hey, maybe I can help with that,” Pinkie said. “Then, after that, we can have some fun together.”
“Not for nothing, Pinkie,” Rainbow said. “But, if a pegasus can’t touch fog, what makes you think an earth pony can?”
“Who said anything about touching it?” Pinkie said before running rapidly in circles around the cloud.
This caused some of the extra mass in the foggy cloud to disperse and it drifted upwards through Rainbow. The pegasus could hardly believe what had just happened.
“Hey, how did you-” Rainbow stammered before shaking her head rapidly. “You know, I don’t think I should ask. The answer would probably confuse me more.”
“I’m honestly surprised you didn’t think of it yourself,” Pinkie said. “I mean, don’t pegasi fly around in circles really fast every year to get water to Cloudsdale?”
“Pinkie,” Rainbow said sternly. “Do you want to have fun with me or just critique how I do my responsibilities?”
“Sorry,” Pinkie said. “What do you have in mind?”
“Good question,” Rainbow said. “Tell you what. I’ll think about it and then I’ll get back to you, okay?”
“Sounds good to me,” Pinkie said.
She then hopped along to Sweet Apple Acres to see what Applejack was doing. The farm mare was hauling a cartload of hay and straw.
“Howdy, Pinkie,” Applejack said. “How’s it hangin’?”
“It’s hanging fine, AJ,” she said. “Getting ready to feed the livestock?”
“Ta quote mah brother,” Applejack said. “Eeyup.”
“Neato,” Pinkie smiled. “Want to do something fun after that?”
“Ah’d like ta, Pinkie,” Applejack said. “But, ah got plenty o’ chores ta do. Openin’ n’ closin’ the gate ta the pig pen, squawkin’ like a chicken, danglin’ food over the pig pen, the list goes on.**”
“That is a lot to do,” Pinkie said. “Hopefully you’ll be able to have some fun after all of that. In the meantime, I’m going to see what Fluttershy’s up to. Keep up the good work with all of that.” She dashed off.
With the timid pegasus, she and some of her animal friends are having a picnic. She wasn’t expecting Pinkie to come, much less so fast. The pink mare, getting tired from running from one mare to another, took deep inhales.
“Hey, Fluttershy,” Pinkie gasped. “Are you… busy… or having fun…?”
“Uh… not at the moment,” Fluttershy said.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Pinkie swooned. “Because looking for somepony to have fun with is exhausting…” The pink mare collapsed backwards from exhaustion.
The pink party pony eventually came to and found herself resting on a sofa while butterflies gently fluttered all around her. One even landed on her nose, tickling it slightly.
“Hello, little fella,” Pinkie giggled. “All of you little fellas.”
“Feeling better, Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked.
“Loads better,” Pinkie smiled. “Thanks, Fluttershy. Your butterfly therapy sessions really do a world of good.”
“Unfortunately, there’s some ponies who get scared looking at the butterfly faces sometimes,” Fluttershy lamented.***
“I guess it’s all in the eye of the pony looking at the butterfly,” Pinkie said. “These butterflies look pretty cute to me. Of course, I mostly look at the wings.”
“They are nice indeed,” Fluttershy remarked.
At that moment, Rainbow walked up to Pinkie. She had finished the rest of her cloudwork for the day.
“Hey, Pinkie,” she smiled. “I’ve been looking for you. I thought of something we could do to hang out.”
“What is it?!” Pinkie asked eagerly.
“I thought we could hit the swimming hole with that old wooden swing hanging on the tree tomorrow,” Rainbow said. “We could swim and catch a few rays there.”
“Ah also thought o’ somethin’ we could do,” Applejack said.
“You do?” Pinkie asked eagerly. “What is it?”
“Well,” Applejack said. “‘Member that new barn we put up after… the Smarty Pants incident?”
“Oh, yeah,” Pinkie said. “So, what about it?”
“Me n’ mah family’ll be renovatin’ it from top ta bottom,” Applejack said. “It may not fit yer definition o’ fun, but, it’s somethin’ we can do tagether.”
“That does sound like fun, though,” Pinkie smiled. “And I’m glad you thought of me, AJ. I used to live on a rock farm.”
“Quick question, though,” Fluttershy said, considering. “Which one do you want to spend time with?”
“I can do both, can’t I?” Pinkie said. “It’s not like Applejack’s barn renovations are happening the same day as my time with Rainbow or anything.”
“Actually,” Applejack said. “It’s tamorrah.”
“Hey,” Rainbow said in a good-natured way. “It’s no biggie. Whichever you choose is okay with me, Pinkie. I mean, can you imagine a world where Twilight alone got two tickets to the gala and all of us tried making her choose which of us got the extra ticket while she’s trying to get something to eat? That’d make us like the worst friends ever.****”
“Where would ya get a silly idea like that?” Applejack asked. “We all helped beat Nightmare Moon. It’d be mighty odd if only Twilight got two tickets, seein’ as she couldn’ta done it without us.”
But, Pinkie wasn’t fully listening. She was too distraught with the idea of having to choose between two of her closest friends. “This is a problem…” she said.
“Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked. “Are you alright? Do you need more time with the butterflies?”
“I need to think this over!” Pinkie said suddenly and she took off in a blur of pink.
The next day, Twilight was practicing the spell again.
“Alright,” Twilight said, taking a deep breath. “Let’s try this again.”
Suddenly, there was a pink blur. Twilight, seeing this, canceled out her magic before she could launch another accidental magic surge.
“Pinkie?” Spike asked. “What are you up to this time?”
“Don't mind me,” Pinkie said. “I'm just timing myself to see how fast I can go back and forth between the swimming hole and Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Why?” Twilight asked. “Is it for a personal project or something?”
"I'm trying to see if I can get the time down so that I can be at the swimming hole when Rainbow jumps off the swing, make it to Sweet Apple Acres to see the renovations start, and then make it back to the swimming hole in time for Rainbow to land,” Pinkie explained. “That way, I won't be missing too much of anything either way."
“Pinkie,” Spike said. “We know that you run pretty fast, but, you don’t exactly have Rainbow’s speed. It’s cool that you want to spend time with both of your friends, but, it would be safer for your physical and mental health to choose one pony to hang out with. I’m sure whoever you choose, the other pony will understand.”
“But, what if they do extra favors for me to make me choose them?!” Pinkie asked.
“Why would they do that?” Spike asked. “These are your friends we’re talking about, not a bunch of moochers.”
“Pinkie,” Twilight said. “Your friends will always give you an opportunity to have fun. To even think about being with both of them without having to choose, you would have to be in two places at once. I’m not using the time travel spell again.”
That caught Pinkie’s attention. “That’s it!” Pinkie said happily. “Thanks, Twilight! Thanks, Spike! You two are geniuses!” She dashed off.
“Where do you think she’s off to?” Spike asked.
“Knowing Pinkie,” Twilight answered. “I can only imagine.”
Pinkie was making her way through the Everfree Forest.
“Seems like hardly anypony has been here in ages,” Pinkie said to herself. “I hardly think Zecora’s been around here. I hope I’m remembering Granny Pie’s rhymes correctly. ‘Where the brambles are thickest, there you will find a pond beyond the most twisted of vines.’ So, it looks like I’m in the right place.” Pinkie looked around noticing the thick vines and brambles. Suddenly, as she reached a clearing, she tumbled down a deep hole. “Oof!” She got up, dusting herself off. She then looked around and saw the very thing she was searching for. “The Mirror Pool!” Her voice echoed off of the walls of the hole. “Boy, I really need to stop talking to myself… but, if this works right, then I’ll probably still be talking to myself.” The party pony stepped up to the edge of the pool and gazed into its reflective surface. “And into her own reflection she shared, yearning for one whose reflection she shared, and solemnly sweared not to be scared of the prospect of being doubly-mared!” And with that, she slowly stepped into the pool until her entire body was submerged. She stepped out of the pool, followed by an exact duplicate of herself. “It worked!” she cheered.
“Hey, this place looks fun,” the Pinkie duplicate said happily. “Is there more fun?”
“I know where there’s lots of fun, me,” Pinkie said, trying to get her duplicate’s attention. “I’ll go hang out with Rainbow while you go to Sweet Apple Acres and help with the renovations.”
“I don’t know where that is,” the duplicate said without dropping her happy expression.
“That’s easy,” Pinkie said, pointing in the direction of the barn. “It’s that-a-way. You’ll know when you find it when you see a lot of apple trees and/or an earth pony mare with an orange coat, a blonde mane and tail, and a brown cowpony hat.”
“What do apple trees look like?” the duplicate asked, still smiling.
“Oh, hang on,” Pinkie said, drawing on the ground with her hoof. “Something like this, only this part is green, this part is brown, and these parts are red. Okie dokie?” The duplicate nodded, making the sound of a rattle. “Great! Now go out there and have fun! Make sure to tell me all about it when they’re done.”
The clone Pinkie walked along, looking for Sweet Apple Acres, not recognizing the apple trees right in front of her. She saw Ash pulling a cart. “Excuse me,” she said.
“Oh, hey, Pinkie,” Ash said. “What do you need?”
“Where can I find apple trees?” the clone asked without losing her smile.
Ash was confused. “Uh, you’re looking at quite a few right now,” he said. “You see them pretty much everyday.”
“Yippee!” the clone cheered. “I made it to Sweet Apple Acres!” She then looked over Ash. “Though, you don’t look anything like that mare that I told me about.”
Ash grew more confused. “Pinkie, I’m Ash, a calf bull. You should know that by now.”
“I should?” the Pinkie clone asked, blinking obliviously.
Ash could tell that “Pinkie” was being pretty dense. “Look, how about I lead you to Applejack?”
“Gee, thanks,” the Pinkie clone said. “You’re the bestest calf bull ever!”
They hadn’t gotten far when Fluttershy spotted the clone.
“Oh, hello, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said politely. “You’re looking much better.”
The Pinkie clone finally dropped her smile as she struggled to recognize Fluttershy. “Hi… uh…”
“Fluttershy,” Ash whispered to the clone.
“I knew that,” the clone said. “So, what are you doing?”
“Well, I decided to have a tea party,” Fluttershy said. “You can join if you want.”
“A tea party?” The clone said enthusiastically. “That sounds like fun! Oh, but, what about Applejohn? Ash was supposed to be leading me to her.”
“Applejack,” Ash corrected.
“And her, too,” the clone said, growing distressed. “Oh, what to choose, what to choose? Can’t decide… can’t breathe… walls closing in!”
Fluttershy and Ash were perplexed.
“We’re outside…” Fluttershy said gently.
“Pinkie” shrieked and dashed off towards the real Pinkie, leaving the two to stare at each other in bewilderment.
“I know the bar’s set pretty high,” Ash said. “But, was Pinkie acting weirder than usual?”
“Um,” Fluttershy replied. “A little. She didn’t seem to remember names too well.”
Meanwhile, the real Pinkie made her way to the swimming hole and found Rainbow in a foldable chair, reading a Daring Do book. The chillaxing pegasus looked up from her page section to see her friend.
“Hey, Pinkie,” Rainbow smiled. “Glad you could make it.”
“Reading and swimming?” Pinkie said. “That could lead to you drowning because the book fell in your mouth.”
“I’m not going to swallow my book,” Rainbow said. “How would I even fit the whole thing in my mouth? And on top of that, I’m not even going to hit the water. Cloudwork was tougher than usual today, so today’s all about chilling out at a calm locale.”
“So, I came here for nothing?” Pinkie said, slightly disappointed.
“No way,” Rainbow said. “I like having you around. You can still swim if you want. You don’t even have to worry about being quiet since that’s a tall order for you anyway. You’d be amazed how much I tune out when reading.”
“Oh, good,” Pinkie smiled. “This is great news. And you chose a great locale to hang out in.” Pinkie then made her way onto the swing and swung towards the lake. “Whee~!” She splashed in. She came back up. “The water’s perfect.”
“Good to hear,” Rainbow said while reading. “You know, I wasn’t sure if you’d help Applejack with her renovations since it doesn’t really fit your definition of fun.”
“It did a little bit,” Pinkie said. “But, that’s not to say that she isn’t getting the help with her renovations. Besides, I am there.” She chuckled coyly to herself at this remark.
Rainbow rolled her eyes in amusement before saying, “Sure. Next, you’ll be saying that Twilight’ll turn Fluttershy into a thestral after pressuring her to use the Stare so she can use a spell to starve a bunch of living creatures.*****”
“No, really,” Pinkie said. “You see, there’s this legend that my Granny Pie told me of a magical pond that makes duplicates of whoever looks into it. It actually works! So I sent that duplicate to help Applejack while I came to hang out with you here.”
Rainbow was less amused. “Look, Pinkie, I know that I’m not the sharpest knife, but, I wasn’t born yesterday. You don’t have to make stuff up.”
“But, I’m not~” Pinkie said earnestly. “Why would you think I am?”
“Well, there’s the fact that your version of how Equestria was made has Songbird Serenade and ogres in it,” Rainbow said flatly.
“But, I’m really serious about this,” Pinkie said. She then heard a rustling in a nearby bush. Pinkie turned her attention to see her duplicate looking nervously. “Oh, but, could you give me a second? Looks like I need to have a discussion with myself. Please excuse me.” She swam out to meet her duplicate. Rainbow briefly saw the duplicate.
“And me,” the duplicate said, leading the original Pinkie to an out of the way spot to chat.
“Did I hit my head or something?” Rainbow asked herself.
With Pinkie and the duplicate, the original Pinkie was curious. “So, how were the renovations?”
“I didn’t get to them,” the clone said.
“What?” Pinkie asked. “What happened?”
“A pony with wings said she was throwing a tea party before I even got to Applejo,” the clone explained.
“Applejack,” Pinkie corrected. “And it sounds like Fluttershy is the one having the tea party. I can see why now, though.”
“I couldn’t choose between them!” the clone said.
“Don’t worry,” Pinkie said, comforting the clone. “I know just the answer we need. I should’ve seen this coming. I have so many friends that something like this was bound to come up eventually. Two Pinkies won’t be enough.”
So, the two Pinkies returned to the Mirror Pool. The original had taught the clone the rhyming incantation she was to say.
“And solemnly sweared not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly-mared!” The two Pinkies said in unison. The reflections of the pool materialized into two new Pinkies.
“Ooh!” the first clone said. “Double usses!”
“Only now,” Pinkie said. “It’s quadruple usses. Now, neither of us has to worry about missing any fun.” The two new clones heard the last word and twitched in excitement.
“Did you say, ‘fun?!’” the second clone asked eagerly.
“I love fun!” the third clone bounced. “Where’s the fun?”
“Oh, you just need to—” the original started before the two new clones and the first original clone turned to the pool.
“Solemnly sweared, not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly-mared,” they all said in unison. All three of them pulled out their duplicates. For those keeping track, that’s seven Pinkies in total counting the original.
“Okay, that’s enough,” the original Pinkie said before the clones from the second onwards kept making more. Even the first clone grew a bit nervous.
“Not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly-mared,” the five said. Five more clones emerged from the pool, making twelve Pinkies in total.
The original Pinkie grew frantic. “Stop!” she said, but, aside from the first one, the clones refused to obey.
“Oh, dear,” the first clone said nervously. “If this keeps up, all of Ponyville will be flooded with Pinkies!”
The newer clones kept chanting “Fun!” repeatedly. The original Pinkie then rolled her eyes and pulled a metal whistle from her mane. She blew into it and the sound echoed off the walls of the hole. This immediately caught the clones’ attention. “Fun!” one said.
“Okay, Pinkies,” Original Pinkie said. “If we all want to go out to Ponyville and have some fun, we’re going to have to be good Pinkies to our friends.” Against her better judgment, she led the clones to town.
The Pinkie clones followed eagerly. Although, the first clone seemed hesitant. Once they were out of the forest, the original stopped. “Stop!” she said.
The clones stopped to listen to their leader.
“Between the bunch of us, we should have every nook and cranny of Ponyville covered,” she said. “However, I noticed that most of you don’t have the knowledge I have, so, I’m going to give you a pop quiz. Anypony who answers wrong goes back to the Mirror Pool. Got it?”
“Okie-dokie-loki,” the Pinkie clones, minus the first clone, chimed in.
I have a bad feeling about this, the first Pinkie clone thought to herself.
The original Pinkie made sure to educate the clones on Rainbow, Applejack, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Spike as well as the general layout of Ponyville.
“Excellent work, Pinkies,” the original Pinkie smiled. “You’re all certified Pinkie Pies. Now, all of you go. Fan out to your assigned positions and observe everything fun that occurs, then report it back to me as soon as possible. Ready, set, go!"
The Pinkies set off to their assigned positions in a rush without hesitation. The first clone dawdled slowly. It was at that point that the original Pinkie came to a horrific realization.
“Oh, no,” she said as an aside. Suddenly, one of Celestia’s cloned pegasus guards landed beside her with a chariot containing Vanguard and one of the cloned unicorn guards. The knicks and scratches on the pegasus’ armor vaguely made out 161 while the ones on the unicorn vaguely made out 42.
“The resurgence happened here,” the unicorn guard said to the others.
“R-resurgence?” Pinkie asked nervously.
“The Mirror Pool’s been used even though it’s supposed to be sealed off,” Vanguard explained.
“I didn’t have any trouble accessing it,” Pinkie said. “I fell through like one of those branch-covered hole traps.”
“Well,” the unicorn said. “That’s what we get for having the less competent clones seal it off.”
“No argument, Javelin,” Vanguard said before turning to Pinkie. “How many clones did you make?”
“Uh…” Pinkie began nervously. “It started as one, then three, then six, then ten, then twenty, so… twenty?”
“Were any of them clones of a clone?” Javelin asked.
“A lot of them were,” Pinkie admitted.
“This is a bad situation,” Vanguard said. “Clones tend to be intellectually inferior to their genetic templates. This is also the case with clones of clones.”
Little did they realize that the original clone was also listening in.
“With each successive generation,” Javelin said. “The personalities of clones boil down to one character trait and nothing else.”
“So,” Pinkie said. “If they just follow my love of fun, that’s all they’ll know?”
“Worse,” the pegasus said. “The idea of fun you have becomes so diluted, they look for it in literally everything, causing damage without any regard for others.”
Pinkie gasped at this. “Oh, no… what have I done?!”
The clones rapidly descended on Ponyville, hellbent on seeking out “fun” no matter what.
The first of the victims was an unsuspecting Rainbow. As she got to the end of her book, one of the Pinkies tickled Rainbow’s muzzle with her tail.
Rainbow sneezed and saw all the clones. “What the Tartarus?!”
The Pinkie clones were all over the place. Some were swimming in the pond, others were playing on the shore. All repeatedly chanting “Fun!”
“I guess Pinkie was serious about that Mirror Pool thing…” she muttered to herself.
The real Pinkie was on her way that very moment.
“Rainbow, you have to help me-!” Pinkie called. One look showed she was too late as some clones crushed Rainbow’s chair by jumping on it.
“Hey!” Rainbow yelled and growled as she tried fighting them off with her parasol. “No more clones! I can’t take it!” But, her words fell on deaf ears.
“Oh, no…” the original Pinkie said sadly. She then thought of Applejack. “The renovations!” She then bolted off to Sweet Apple Acres.
At Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack, Big McIntosh, Caramel, and some visiting members of the Apple Family were raising a barn wall for the new addition with pulleys.
“Good work, y’all,” Applejack cheered.
“You too, honeycrisp,” Caramel complimented. “But, it’s not over yet.”
“Of course it’s not over,” one of the Pinkie clones said excitedly. “Because the fun is just beginning!”
They all saw an overwhelming number of Pinkies.
“What in the name o’ Gene Trotry****** is goin’ on here?!” Applejack exclaimed.
The clones simply stampeded while chanting “Fun!” over and over again.
“Pinkie!” Caramel tried to call. “How’d you get over there? And over there, and over there, and- everywhere?!”
The ropes were no longer gripped, causing the wall to fall.
“Pinkies!” Applejack yelled. “Y’all get out o' here now!”
The clones didn’t listen. They continued to make a mess of things. The original Pinkie came to see that she was already too late.
Applejack immediately lost patience. “If Ah see ‘nother Pinkie causin’ trouble ‘round here, ah can’t be held be ‘sponsible fer what ah do!”
The clones ignored her and headed off.
“Oh, no,” the original Pinkie said. “I’m really causing trouble.”
The out of control Pinkies became a huge problem. So huge, in fact, that the citizens turned to Mayor Mare.
“Everypony,” Mayor Mare said, trying to calm the crowd. “I know this is a stressful situation, but, you all must calm down!”
“Calm down?!” Rarity said. “A hurricane of Pinkie Pies came storming through my boutique! The chaos they caused could rival Discord’s!”
“And they overcrowded my tea party,” Fluttershy said. “I didn’t have enough food for the critters’ hungry tummies.”
“They’re destroying the town!” the voice of Ice Cube said in the crowd. “Buck those Pinkie Pies!”
"Not now, Ice Cube," said a disgruntled Rainbowshine.
“Everypony, please!” Mayor Mare said. “Getting angry about all of these clones is not going to solve anything! As you’ve all said, they look exactly alike, making it impossible to tell who’s who or who did what. Asking them which is real wouldn’t accomplish anything, either.”
Twilight raised her hoof politely. “Pardon me, Mayor. The Golden Oak Library has a book about all sorts of magical locations in Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. If I can look through that, I’m certain I can find a solution as to how to take the Pinkie clones.”
“Very well,” Mayor Mare said. “Go look posthaste.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Twilight said as she ran to the Golden Oak Library.
There, she and Spike searched through the aforementioned book. It was a collection of Starswirl the Bearded's many advanced studies. Everything he ever felt good enough to write down was in that very book.
“There it is,” Spike said, pointing to a particular page. “Rainbow said Pinkie called it the Mirror Pool.”
“Thank you, my son,” Twilight said. Twilight and Spike read through the passage. “It says here that the Mirror Pool was used to make copies of the Royal Guards before the advent of alchemy. It copies ponies down to the smallest detail excluding personal memories, but, with each copy, a part of the personality is lost.”
“That explains why the clones of the royal guards are so incompetent,” Spike added. “And why these Pinkie Pies are so one-note. But, that doesn’t really tell us how to solve the problem.”
Twilight looked through the book. She then gasped. “This page describes a spell that I can use to send the clones back to where they came from!”
“I’m guessing there’s a catch,” Spike said.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Twilight said. “The spell can’t distinguish the clones from the original. If I use it on the original Pinkie by mistake, it won’t send her to the Mirror Pool, but, it could do something far worse. The notes don’t mention what it is because Starswirl never tested the spell.”
“What?!” Spike said. “If he never tested it, why’d he even write about it?!*******”
“I don’t know,” Twilight said. “It does give ponies studying magic more of a challenge, that’s for sure.”
“You’d think the pony that taught Celestia everything she knows about magic would be smart enough to test something like that so those learning it don’t botch it!” Spike ranted.********
“This does make the risk of sending the Pinkie clones back even more complicated,” Twilight said. “And more importantly, we need to find some way to distinguish the real Pinkie from the others.”
“Oh, like that’ll be easy,” Spike said sarcastically.
“There must be a way,” Twilight said. “If the clones aren’t as intelligent as the original, there has to be things that the real Pinkie would know that the clones don’t.”
“But, if we ask them all one at a time,” Spike said. “That’ll take too long.” He then gestured to a window where the clones were stampeding. “And it’s clear Ponyville doesn’t have that kind of time.”
“So,” Twilight said. “We’ll have to figure out a way to test them while they’re together. But, how?”
Meanwhile, the original Pinkie saw the clones run rampant across the town.
“Oh, this is all my fault,” she said sadly. “If I had just chosen who I wanted to spend time with, none of this would be happening. Everypony will be sick of me and I’ll have to move away. But, now, even I can’t tell who’s who anymore. Some Guardian of Harmony I turned out to be.”
The first clone was also feeling low. As she walked sadly along, she saw some baker ponies, who weren’t Mr. and Mrs. Cake, hauling a boxful of cake decorations. She secretly took some that looked like wings and left Ponyville.
“I’m not going to be involved in this chaos anymore,” she said sadly before heading off. “I don’t want to live a life to just be somepony else’s reflection. I should live my own life and discover my own meaning of things. This clone problem is bad enough without me. I’ll leave them with one less Pinkie Pie to worry about.”
By now, Ponyville had begun to resemble a ghost town more than anything. Doors had been locked tight and windows had been shut. None dared venture outside while the Pinkie Pies ran amok. Yet, Twilight and Spike were trying to find the real Pinkie. Several minutes went by and they had nothing to show for it.
“Mom,” Spike said. “I’m starting to think that this is completely pointless.”
“We can’t give up, Spike,” Twilight said. “After all, you never gave up on me during the Smarty Pants incident.”
“It’s true,” the real Pinkie said from afar. “And your friends really learned an important lesson after that.”
This caught Spike’s attention as he turned to see the original Pinkie, who, unlike the others, wasn’t bouncy and hyperactive. “Wait,” Spike said. “That one’s not acting like the others. Maybe she’s the real one.”
Twilight shook her head. "Or it could just be a defective clone. If you keep making copies, sooner or later one is bound to end up being bad." And she also added. "It could also be that she's one of the earlier clones, and she's just acting this way to throw us off. The real Pinkie Pie rarely sits still for long."
“I wouldn’t be too sure,” Spike said. “She agreed with you when you mentioned the Smarty Pants incident. That happened before all of this. So, none of the clones could possibly remember that and I highly doubt the real one would bring it up to the clones.”*********
Twilight considered this. “By Celestia, you're right, Spike! Though, how can we be completely sure?”
“I know this’ll probably be pointless,” Spike said. “But, I’m going to ask her if she’s the real Pinkie.”
“You can try,” Twilight said.
Spike walked up to the sad Pinkie. “Are you the real Pinkie? You’re not acting like the others.”
“I’m too sad to act like the others,” Pinkie said sadly. “And at this point, I don’t know if I am the real Pinkie or not. I could be the real Pinkie who feels too guilty for putting so much misery on her friends and home, or I could just be a defective clone acting like I did when I thought everypony was ignoring my parties because they didn’t like me.”
Twilight heard this and was beginning to piece together that this might be the real Pinkie. “Could you say that again?”
“Which part,” Pinkie asked. “The ‘guilty I put my friends in misery’ part or the ‘acting like I did when I thought everypony was ignoring my parties because they didn’t like me’ part?”
“You’re proving you are the real Pinkie!” Twilight said. “Only the real Pinkie would remember that time she thought we didn’t like her. Unless she told one of the smarter clones about it, which isn’t likely.”
“I would have remembered if I did teach them that,” Pinkie said. “But, how are we going to prove that to the whole town?”
“Well,” Spike said. “We can ask something only the real Pinkie would know. But, if we do it one at a time, the original could get mixed with the clones again.”
“That would be confusing,” Pinkie said. “But, if you really are looking for the real Pinkie, the real Pinkie would do just about anything to make sure her friends were really happy again. Like a test on the most boring thing imaginable.”
That gave Twilight an idea.
“That’s it!” Twilight said. “I’ll have to ask Applejack to round up all of the Pinkies and Mayor Mare for permission to use Town Hall. Come on, Spike. I have a plan!” Spike climbed onto her back before she addressed Pinkie. “If you see the other Pinkies, tell them to gather inside Town Hall and say that it’s a party.” She then dashed off.
Pinkie realized that this meant Twilight was setting up a test to get rid of the clones. “That’s brilliant! And if I pass, I can be with my friends again!” She then gasped. “But, what if I don’t pass? I could be separated from my friends forever! Or worse!” She banged her head against the table. “Stupid magic mirror water! Why did I ever think this was a good idea?!”
Soon, Applejack, Big McIntosh, and Caramel were rounding up all of the Pinkie clones and corralling them inside Town Hall.
“I doubt I’ll be able to forget this,” Caramel said.
Soon, the Town Hall was filled with Pinkies. The other Guardians, sans the original Pinkie and Rainbow, were standing on the stage.
“Welcome, Pinkies,” Twilight said, speaking into a microphone. “Please have a seat and make yourselves comfortable.”
At that moment, Rainbow came in with a rather downtrodden Pinkie. “I got one more, Twilight. I found this one drawing frowny faces on the ground. She wasn’t bouncy or hyper.”
“Have her sit with the others, please,” Twilight said. “We all know how foolish it is to make assumptions.”
Rainbow set the original Pinkie in an open spot among the others.
“Are you sure about this?” Rainbow asked. “I think it’s a safe bet she’s the real one. Uncertainty and untested spells don’t mix.”
“We can’t take any chances,” Twilight said. She then spoke into the microphone. “Now, Pinkies, you have all been brought in here to take a test. Don’t worry, it’s not the type that needs pencils or paper.”
“So,” said one of the Pinkie clones. “What kind of test is it? More importantly, what’s a test?”
“That one’s definitely a clone,” Rainbow said to Applejack, who nodded in agreement.
“Curtain, please,” Twilight said to Spike.
Spike tugged on the pulley rope to unfurl the stage curtains. This revealed a backstage with Rarity and Fluttershy applying a fresh thick coat of purplish-blue paint to a propped-up wall.
“Thank you,” Twilight said before turning her attention to the Pinkies. “The test will be watching paint dry!” The Pinkies all groaned before Twilight warned, "If any of you look away for any reason, you have exactly one minute to stop what you're doing and look back at the wall. If you're still looking away after the minute is up, you'll be blasted. Do I make myself clear?"
The Pinkies reluctantly agreed.
“Okay,” Twilight said. “Ready… go!”
The Pinkies focused their attention on the wall prop and the paint drying upon it.
“This should be interesting,” Spike said.
About 5 minutes passed by and the Pinkies were still staring at the wall. Some of them sweated, others fidgeted from sitting in one place for so long.
“This is lasting longer than I thought it would,” Rainbow said. “Kind of impressive considering Pinkie’s usual attention span.”
“But, who knows how long it’ll last?” Applejack asked.
At last, some of the Pinkies caved into their boredom.
“Oh, hey, look at the birdie!” one Pinkie clone said, looking out of a nearby window.
Several other Pinkie clones looked as well, forgetting Twilight’s warning.
“Some of them aren’t looking back at the wall,” Spike pointed out.
After a full minute the Pinkies that diverted their attention hadn’t looked back. Twilight used that opportunity to blast the distracted Pinkies. Though the spell was previously untested, Twilight’s growing skills made the spell succeed. The blasted clones inflated like balloons before turning into wisps of magic that floated away.
“It worked,” Spike smiled.
Despite the display, other Pinkies continued to get distracted, look away, and do various things as well. This caused Twilight to use the spell to send the distracted clones away if they didn’t look back within a minute. Repeated use of the spell meant she had to stop occasionally to cool her horn down. Soon, it was down to two Pinkies. One was staring diligently at the wall while the other sweated nervously as she looked upon it.
Rainbow, having lost her patience, groaned at how long it was taking.
“I can’t take it anymore!” Rainbow growled. Then, pointing in a different direction, she said. “Somepony’s making balloon animals!”
One of the Pinkies fell for the distraction.
“What? Where?” she said, looking away from the wall. She then stood up, looking around for a nonexistent pony making imaginary balloon animals. All too soon, her window of opportunity expired and she was blasted.
“Okay, Pinkie,” Spike said, walking up to the one true Pinkie. “You can look away now. The test is over.”
“But,” Pinkie said. “What if I’m not the original Pinkie?”
“Well, do you remember when you taught us to giggle at the ghosties?” Spike asked. “And hypocritically hid in fear from Zecora just because she was different from you even though you welcomed me just fine despite the fact that I’m a dragon?”
“Of course I do,” Pinkie said. “You taught me and my friends a lot that day and now Zecora’s one of my bestest friends.”
“Then, you are the real Pinkie,” Spike said. “That proves it. The clones didn’t exist until today, making it impossible for them to have such memories unless you told them about it, which I highly doubt you’d be so open about with clones who just came into existence.”
“And on top of that,” Twilight said. “You were the only one who focused on the wall while all of the others got distracted.”
“I had to,” Pinkie said, wiping tears of joy from her eyes. “I couldn’t leave my friends… but, after today… I am going to have to choose who I’ll spend my time with. That’s very difficult for me. That’s why I made those clones, so I wouldn’t have to choose.”
“Well, we didn’t know choosing between friends was so hard for you,” Rainbow said. “If you had so much trouble choosing, you could’ve just asked one of us to reschedule our plans to spend time together.”
“I think I will try working on that,” Pinkie said. “But, first, the entrance to the Mirror Pool needs to be properly sealed off.”
“Since you used it,” Twilight said. “You would know where it is.”
“Right,” Pinkie said. “Are Vanguard, Javelin, and that pegasus guard still here?”
“Right behind you,” Vanguard’s voice said.
“And my name is Maelstrom,” the Pegasus guard said.
“Oh, good,” Pinkie smiled. “Not just because I now know your name, but, also good that you guys are still here. We could use your strength. Follow me.”
Pinkie led them to the entrance to the Mirror Pool.
“There it is,” Javelin said, careful not to step inside. “Vanguard, move that boulder over the entrance.”
“Right,” Vanguard said, pushing the boulder that Javelin pointed at. Despite being roughly the same size as most of the guards, he proved to be quite strong as he managed to move the boulder, which was at least twice as big as himself. Though, from the grunts he made, it still took a bit of effort.
Soon, with the boulder, the entrance to the Mirror Pool was properly sealed off by Javelin.
“There,” Javelin said. “The boulder’s been enchanted with a spell to make whoever touches it forget what they were doing. I’m the only one capable of disabling it.”
“Thank you, sirs,” Pinkie saluted.
“We better report back to Canterlot,” Maelstrom said.
“Right,” Vanguard said. “Take care, all.”
After the guards left, repairs to Ponyville began. Once citizens of Ponyville saw that there was only one Pinkie who was helping to repair Ponyville, they decided to come out of their homes and pitch in.
“Spike,” Pinkie said. “Can you help me write a friendship lesson?”
“Of course, Pinkie,” Spike smiled. He readied a scroll and a quill. “Okay, go for it.”
And, after going to her room at Sugarcube Corner, this was the lesson Spike wrote:
“Dear Princess Celestia, It’s great to have fun, but, it’s even better to have great friends. Having a lot of friends means that you sometimes have to make choices as to who you’ll spend time with, especially if they both have cool plans. But, that’s okay. Good friends will always give you a lot of opportunities to hang out, even if it means having to reschedule something. So, even if you’re ‘missing out,’ it’s never for long. Respectfully yours, The one and only Pinkie Pie”
After finishing the letter, Spike rolled it up and sent it away.
“Thanks, Spike,” Pinkie smiled. She then led him downstairs, where the other Guardians were.
“Hi, Pinkie,” Twilight said. “Now that everything in Ponyville is back in order, we were thinking we should celebrate. So, do you have some ideas on what you’d like to do?”
“After today’s experience,” Pinkie said. “I just want to rest. I didn’t realize how annoying I was.”
“Pinkie,” Fluttershy said. “We don’t think you’re annoying. A lot of the clones had a one-track mind, while you’re multifaceted.”
“And while you can be a bit much sometimes,” Rainbow said before Applejack nudged her. “Oof! What I mean is that you’re an amazing friend with some things to work out. But, hey, who doesn’t?”
“Yeah,” Applejack said. “Nopony’s perfect.”
“Anypony who says otherwise is living a lie,” Rarity said.
Pinkie smiled at this. “Thanks, everypony,” she said. “I knew I could count on all of you.” And shortly afterwards, she collapsed on the floor and fell asleep.
“That looks like my kind of fun,” Fluttershy said softly. “Though, we should probably take her back up to her room so she can be comfy.”
Spike started helping lift Pinkie, struggling to do so. “She’s a lot heavier than she looks,” Spike said softly. “Though, considering her eating habits, I’m not surprised.”
“Not that we don’t appreciate yer efforts, Spike,” Applejack said. “But, why don’t ya let one o’ us help ya?”
“That’d be appreciated, thanks,” Spike said.
So, Applejack and Spike both helped to get the slumbering pink pony up to her bedroom, careful not to wake her up. After placing Pinkie on her bed, Spike pushed his spine back into alignment.
“How ‘bout we get ya a warm compressor fer yer back,” Applejack asked.
“Sure, thanks,” Spike said.
Applejack allowed Spike onto her back and she carefully walked him back downstairs to meet with the others, leaving their sleeping friend.
What happened to the clone that got away, you ask? That’s a story for another day.
