THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE
ISAAC SHIVERED SLIGHTLY AS THE TRAIN ROLLED DOWN THE TRACKS, THE snow outside falling heavily. Even his jacket and the heat of the train car couldn't keep him from feeling the cold.
"This Crystal Empire is all the way up north?" he asked. "God, this place must be pretty damn cold."
"Why are you shivering?" Twilight asked. "You're wearing a jacket."
"Doesn't mean I'm still not cold," Isaac replied. "But it's not like the six of you have anything to worry about, what with your fur coats. Not to mention Rarity with that scarf."
"Well, you didn't expect me to come unprepared, did you?" Rarity asked as she tied a pink and white scarf around her neck.
"Yeah, that'll keep you nice and warm in a blizzard," Doris said. She looked out a window. "How far out is this empire?"
"We should be there in about three hours," Twilight replied. "Trust me, you guys, you'll love the Crystal Empire."
"Yeah, you said the same thing about Apploosa, and look what happened," Isaac said. He shivered again. "Why'd they have to build this place so far up north?"
"Nopony really knows," Twilight said. "But I guess that's why King Sombra took it over a thousand years ago; the Empire's seclusion meant there wouldn't be any outside interference."
"Wait, what?" Goku asked.
"Oh, we never told you about that," Twilight said. "Do you want the long version or the short version?"
"Give us the short version and get it over with," Vegeta said as he leaned against a nearby wall, his arms crossed. "It's not like it really matters to us anyway."
"Well, King Sombra was an evil unicorn king who took over the Crystal Empire a thousand years ago," Twilight said. "Luna and Celestia managed to defeat him, but just barely - they could only turn him into a shadow form and banish him into the arctic ice. But he managed to get out about a year ago; that's where we come in. Celestia asked us to help my brother and his wife Cadance bring some light to the Empire to keep Sombra out. Long story short, we did just that, resulting in the death of King Sombra."
Vegeta started laughing. "You six, killing a king? That I find hard to believe."
"Why?" Isaac asked.
"Well, we didn't actually kill him," Twilight said. "It was the light of the Crystal Ponies powering the Crystal Heart that caused him to blow up."
"I still find it unlikely," Vegeta hissed.
"Okay, let's back up a little bit," Doris said. "Twilight, did you say your brother is in the Crystal Empire?"
"Yes. Why?"
"You've said anything about having a brother," Doris replied.
"Now that I think about it, she's right," Isaac said. "You'd think you would have mentioned that before."
Twilight just smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. Still, I wish I would have had time to tell him we were coming. This is really going to surprise him and Princess Cadance."
"If he's married to a princess, then doesn't that technically make him a prince?" Isaac asked.
"I guess so," Twilight replied. "Though he's still Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard as well."
The conductor opened the door. "Gather your belongings, everypony. We'll be arriving at the Crystal Empire in five minutes."
"Good thing we didn't pack a lot," Applejack said. "Once we get off the train, we got about another mile to walk before we get to the Empire."
A few minutes later, the train pulled into a station. The doors opened, and they all got off, stretching their legs after the long ride from Apploosa.
The first thing Isaac noticed was the temperature. Despite the frigid arcitc weather just a few miles away, it was surprisingly warm here. The sky was a clear blue, not a single cloud was present, and there wasn't a drop of snow on the green grass. He could see tall crystaline spires about a a mile away, just over a series of gently rolling hills. The air was fresh, even moreso than the air in Ponyville.
"Why isn't it snowing here?" Goku asked. "Do the pegasi control the weather here too?"
"Of course they do," Rainbow Dash replied. "It's just magic that keeps the arctic winds out of the Empire."
"Magic. Why am I not surprised?" Vegeta asked. He started walking. "Well, let's get this over with. The sooner we find this Dragon Ball, the better."
###############################################
It was one thing to see the crystalline spires off in the distance, but to see them this close, not to mention the crystalline city - it was beautiful. The sunlight glistened off of every crystal surface, reflections being cast all around. Even the ponies seemed to be made out of cyrstal, no doubt the reason they were called Crystal Ponies. There was a tall building in the center of the city, a crystal palace standing high above all other structures in the city, ending in a point that seemed to touch the clear blue sky. There was an archway under the palace, and in the center of the archway was a crystalline heart set between two crystal pillars - one coming up out of the floor, the other from the roof.
"Wow," he breathed. "This place, it's, it's..."
"It's gorgeous," Doris said. "And so sparkly."
"You know, when you guys said 'Crystal Empire', I was expecting them to worship some large crystal, not the entire city to be made of crystal," Isaac said. "This totally trumps what I had in mind."
Twilight began hurridly walking towards the palace, her pace quickening to a trot. "Come on, you guys."
"Twilight, wait up!" Isaac called after her. "What's the rush?"
"She hasn't seen her brother or Cadance since we were last here," Rarity replied.
They hurried after Twilight, catching up to her as she neared the entrance to the palace. She pushed the doors open and galloped inside. Her hooves echoed through the crystal halls as she galloped through the castle, up a set of stairs, ending at another set of doors. She took a moment to catch her breath, even as the others finally joined her.
"You're in...quite a hurry...aren't you?" Isaac breathed.
Twilight took another deep breath. "Sorry. I guess I'm just really anxious to see them after so long." She raised a hoof and pushed the doors open. "Hello? Cadance? Shining Armor?"
They'd entered into a long room, the floor adorned with a long red carpet, much like the throne room back at Canterlot. The arched windows were open, allowing for a full view of the city. The carpet ended at a crystal throne, with two ponies standing next to it - a powder-pink alicorn, with multi-colored hair - yellow, pink, and purple - and her Cutie Mark was a crystalline heart; the other pony was a regal white unicorn, tall and proud, with blue hair and a Cutie Mark of a large red shield.
"Shining Armor! Princess Cadance!" Twilight galloped over to the other ponies. She and the female alicorn began dancing around each other.
"Sunshine, sunshine, lady bugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake."
Vegeta rolled his eyes. What the hell was that? he thought with a groan.
"Wish you would have told us beforehand that you were coming," the male unicorn said.
"Sorry, BBBFF," Twilight replied. "It was kind of a last minute thing." She turned to the others. "Come on in, guys. Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, I'd like you to meet our new human friends - Isaac, Doris, Vegeta, and Goku. Guys, this is Princess Cadance and my big brother Shining Armor. Listen, I have a question. Do either of you know where we can find a magical wishing stone called a Dragon Ball?"
"Dragon Ball?" Cadance asked. "What is that?"
"Didn't you hear her?" Vegeta asked. "She said it's a wishing stone."
"Whoa, easy Vegeta," Goku said. "You'll have to excuse my buddy here. It was a long trip. He's kind of cranky."
"How many times do I have to tell you, Kakarot - we are not buddies," Vegeta growled.
Isaac reached into his pocket and took out a Dragon Ball. He held it out for Shining Armor and Cadance to see. "This is a Dragon Ball. We've already got five; just need two more."
"Huh. I see," Shining Armor said. "And you said they can grant wishes?"
Isaac put the Dragon Ball back into his pocket. "Just one. And that's all we need. One wish."
"Putting that aside," Doris said as she walked over to a window. "This place is so beautiful. Forget about the Dragon Balls; I want to see more of this gorgeous city." She turned to Cadance and Shining Armor. "You two rule over all of this?"
"Yes we do," Cadance replied. "If you'd like, we could give you a tour."
"That'd be awesome, Princess," Doris said. "Thank you."
Vegeta let out an angry moan. "We don't have time for that. We need to find that sixth Dragon Ball."
"Take it easy, Vegeta," Rainbow Dash said. "A little walkaround would be nice. Besides, it was a pretty long train ride. We really need to stretch our legs."
"And find a restaurant," Goku added. "I'm starving."
Rainbow Dash put a hoof over her eyes. "Goku, you just ate on the train! Not even an hour ago! You can't be hungry again!"
"Train food isn't that good," Goku replied. Rainbow Dash just groaned in response.
Shining Armor couldn't help but chuckle. "We'd be glad to show your human friends around the Crystal Empire, Twily. Come on."
############################################
Isaac knelt down next to a small flower garden. He gently ran his hand over the flower's petals. They felt smooth, so smooth that for a moment, he wasn't even sure if it was a flower, until he caught the sweet scent of nectar flowing out of the bulb.
"Even the plants here are crystalline," he said. "Plants, roads, houses, ponies - no wonder they call this place the Crystal Empire."
"It's been like this for the past year," Cadance said. "After the defeat of King Sombra."
"Yeah, Twilight and the other ponies told us about that," Doris said. She looked around at the city. "I still can't believe how beautiful this place is."
"Yeah, I know," Isaac replied. "Even before everything went to hell, you never saw a place like this."
"What do you mean by that?" Shining Armor asked.
"It's a long story," Isaac said. "And I don't feel like going into it."
Vegeta let out a low moan. "Can we just get this over with? We've got a Dragon Ball to find."
Twilight rolled her eyes. Vegeta had been like this ever since they began the tour of the Crystal Empire, and even earlier than that - almost as soon as they had left Apploosa. Despite everyone's best attempts to calm him down, he just seemed to get angrier and angrier. Maybe he was slowly letting out some pent-up aggression - after all, it had been nearly a week since his last battle, since he destroyed Discord. She'd even noticed a hint of jealousy in his eyes whenever he looked at Applejack, since she had fought Billy the Foal.
"Vegeta, can't you just relax for a little while?" she asked. "You've been like this ever since we left Apploosa."
"Well excuse me if I just want to find the Dragon Ball," Vegeta snapped. He crossed his arms and turned away from them.
Shining Armor lowered his head towards Twilight. "That human's got a bit of a temper, doesn't he?"
"You should have seen him fight Discord," Twilight replied.
They continued walking down the street. Twilight noticed the Crystal Ponies were staring at them, their eyes fixated on the four humans. She could hear some of the ponies whispering about the humans, no doubt wondering exactly what sorts of creatures they were.
Makes sense, she thought. They haven't seen humans before. She looked back at the humans. "Oh, I just remembered - I've got to show you guys the library. Trust me, it makes the one in Canterlot look small."
"Why would we want to go to a library?" Goku asked. "It's not like we can eat the books, you know."
Twilight put a hoof against her face. "No, Goku. Pony feathers, are you still hungry?"
"Well, yeah, I am."
Cadance chuckled. "Sounds like someone's got a bit of an appetite."
"A bit of an appetite?" Vegeta repeated. "This clown's always hungry. I've seen him eat fifty helpings at once, and not even ten minutes later, complain that he was starving." He scoffed. "It's disgusting."
Isaac heard and felt his stomach start to rumble. "Well, truth be told, I'm getting kind of hungry myself."
"Yeah, same here," Doris said. "You guys want to stop for some lunch?"
##########################################
There were hundreds - no, thousands - no, millions of books in this library, all of them occupying shelves that stretched up to the roof, nearly a hundred feet above their heads. There were tall crystal pillars in the center of the library, and the shelves themselves were made out of crystal. Sunlight shone in through a skylight, casting a reflective glow throughout the room and bathing the building in a warm light. Their footsteps - and hoofsteps - echoed off of the floor, the walls, the roof, making just the front room of the Crystal Empire Library seem bigger than it really was. Isaac could see his reflection in the walls and floor and roof, and the room was so long that it seemed to go on forever.
Even though it was her second time being in this library, Twilight let out a little squeal of excitement when the doors opened. She was running from shelf to shelf, using her magic to take books off and levitating them above her head as she went.
"Egghead," Rainbow Dash whispered. She noticed Doris glaring at her. "What? You heard her fangirl squeal when we got here."
Twilight was now levitating thirty books over her head with her magic. "Ooh, so many books to read. So much I want to learn!"
"We don't exactly have the time for that, Twilight," Applejack said. "I know we're just looking around, but we still have to keep an eye out for that Dragon Ball, remember?"
Twilight smiled sheepishly, her cheeks turning red. "Oh, right. Guess I sort of forgot, hehe."
Vegeta facepalmed. "God damn it. Okay, that's it. If anyone needs me, I'll be looking for that Dragon Ball myself." He turned and left the library with a growl.
"Sheesh, he didn't have to get all huffy like that," Goku said.
"But I think he's right," Isaac replied. He turned to Cadance and Shining Armor. "It's a beautiful city, but we really do have to keep looking for that stone."
"I understand," Cadance said.
"We'd be glad to help if you want," Shining Armor added.
"Thanks."
They left the library - Twilight reluctantly putting the books back onto their respective shelves, being extra careful to put them back in their proper order. The sun was already starting to set, the sky's blue hue slowly being overtaken with a rich purple and orange.
"It looks like we've only got about an hour and a half to look before Princess Luna fully brings out the moon," Isaac said. "Think that's enough time?"
"Not to check the whole city, but enough time to look through this neighborhood," Doris said. "Wanna meet back at the palace later?"
"Sure." He took a Dragon Ball out of his pocket and handed it to Doris. "Just be careful, huh? Don't want to end up in another Diamond Dog situation."
"You just keep telling yourself that, Isaac," Doris snarked, a smile crossing her face.
Isaac mentally kicked himself as he remembered just how stupid he'd been that day, their second day in Equestria, showing the Dragon Ball to that Diamond Dog, who had run off with it. Granted, he'd gotten it back - and had found a second Dragon Ball in the process - but it was still a stupid move on his part.
He pushed the though aside as he walked up to the first how he saw.