My vision was blurred by white snow constantly heaved at me. There I trotted forcefully up the massive mountain enduring fierce winds that wouldn't let up. To make matters worse, dark clouds only made it tougher to keep up where I was. I would've sworn that I saw a shade of green traveling up a cloud. I looked back down the mountain, and while it was still was pretty tough to see, I caught a glimpse of one of the tops of the Towers in Canterlot. There was no stopping now I thought, for only haunting memories of the past need to be forgotten.

I turned around and stopped to see that what I thought was the peak was up ahead. Across the horizon, I could see a circle of blue light enveloping the darkness like some sort of dome. The general did say that there was an empire there once a long time ago, but it felt a lot like an old pony's tale so I had disregarded it

My attention was misguided, as suddenly the dome of blue light blew off and a shadowy figure emerged. I could faintly see a bright sparkle of blue light erupting from that place. Another figure had taken hold of the light and it started to brighten. In fact, the whole empire was getting brighter and then sending out a gigantic wave of blue out in every direction
Including my direction…...


The shimmering aurora of the castle sparked in the sky, as the Crystal Empire showed its marvelous glory of the revival of the city. The city was finally free of the curse of Sombra and for once there was peace restored to the mysterious empire in the frozen north.

Meanwhile, Shining armor and cadence were trotting over with Twilight and her friends to the train station. It had been a short, but eventful stay for them as they had to keep up the Crystal Empire's state of love with the Crystal Fair.

Shining Armor looked over to Twilight, noticing she had been pretty quiet lately after all events had unfolded. Looking to open conversation, he trotted up to Twilight. "You've got to stop saving my rump lately" he said knowingly "It's starting to get embarassing."

Twilight smiled, but turned her head down, suddenly frowning.

"It wasn't me who saved you in the end, it was Spike." said Twilight, depressed from the events that occurred. Shining was aware that she was being tested by Princess Celestia, for she had seen sent here on a mission.

"It just a test" he said encouragingly, shrugging his shoulders "Maybe she'll let you retake it." They had just reached the train station and the train would leave in a few minutes. Twilight dejectedly tilted her head down even more than before, commenting "I don't think she'll make me retake it."

After Cadance and Shining Armor said their goodbyes to the Mane Six, they looked up at the clock. "Twilight sure can worry too much about the little things" Cadance said smiling, observing the conversation Shining had with Twilight

"That's our Twiley" Shining Armor said laughingly "Never changes doesn't she" This caused Cadance to smirk suspiciously "Oh don't worry, she will someday." Shining looked at her confused, shaken back by her emotion. "What are you trying to imply"

"Oh nothing Shining. Anyway, don't you have to get ready to welcome the new guards soon"

Shining looked back at the train tracks, seeing an empty track "They are going to come in an hour and that doesn't answer my q-" Shining turned around and Cadance was high up in the sky going toward the Crystal Palace. "Talk to you later babe."

"Buck, she always knows how to get out of situations doesn't she?" Shining Armor thought to himself, now having to wait an hour with nothing to do. A few minutes past by and Shining was getting bored. Seeing the Crystal Mountains in the distance looked much prettier than it did when under Sombra's curse. Shining figured he might as well take in the scenery with a nice walk.

There was still some snow on the outskirts of the city, as Shining trudged through the sludge lodged into the grass. The Frozen North was always considered to be frozen, but legend had it that the Crystal Empire's love compressed itself in the city enough to stretch to the mountain line, making one side of the mountain have a completely different climate. Or that's how Shining perceived it in the book Twilight and her friends had found.

Shining looked at his watch and wondered when he should head back. He was almost at the base of the mountains and stopped for a moment. His eyes were not fixated up at the majesty of the mountain, but farther away, where he could see a lone figure collapsed on a pile of snow.

Shining quickly sprung into action and went on to the scene. From what he could tell it was a pegasus, with camping gear on him. He had an orange coat with a blue mane. He was unconscious and it was obvious to Shining that he was severely wounded and would have to seek medical attention quickly. He must have had a bad fall from the mountain. Shining had heard nopony had journeyed past it before

Realizing this, he quit his rationale of who this pony was, picked him up on his back and started carrying all the way back to the empire. This pegasus stallion was heavy along with the stuff he was carrying, causing Shining to run slower.


The Train arrived at the train station and the recruits all got in a horizontal line in front of their Lieutenant, Silver Wing. Silver Wing seemed puzzled, as Shining Armor had told him a few days ago when he went to get the recruits that he would greet them and direct them into the empire.

"Alright, listen up fellow EUP guards, our leader is not here at the moment and to maintain structural unity and trust for the Prince, we must stay here until he arrives, is that understood?"

They all yelled "Understood Silver."

However, Silver Wing didn't quite hear the strength of voice of one of them. "Private Jet, am I understood." Now at full attention he now yelled "understood, Lieutenant. "

"Thank you.. and what in the blazes are you looking at Private Blaze Burner?"

"The Prince has arrived sir" Blaze yelled out "He seems to be carrying something heavy" Silver Wing looked behind himself and there was Shining Armor carrying a pegasus pony through the snow.

Silver Wing quickly turned around and addressed his subjects with worry "Go." The EUP guard rushed onto the scene, surrounding Shining.

"Thank goodness" Shining thought "My back was aching"

Quickly, Blaze asked"Are you okay? Do you need any help?"

"Yes" Shining said smiling, while maintaining the weight on his back "Get this pony to the castle immediately. Send him to the infirmary." The guards colllected the pegasus and flew him to the castle.

Silver Wing approached Shining with a slight smirk on his face "So, I see nothing has from my absence. You're still caught up in chaos." Shining smiled, acknowledging it had been a long few days "I guess its part of creating a new empire, just takes a long time to adjust."

Shining and Silver Wing left the train platform and started on the way to the empire itself.

"Whoever climbed that mountain under those conditions has a lot of guts" Shining thought to himself. It was certainly going to be something that he would be worth noting in the coming days. In the next days, he would be judging the guards on if they fit in with the love and unity of the Crystal Empire.


A/N: My first story is underway. I'll try to update when I get time on my hands