Special 3: Journey to the North
In the streets of Maretime Bay, Izzy, Hitch, Pipp, Zipp, Misty and Sunny raced down through the town towards the Brighthouse. Pipp flew over the Pippsqueaks who waved to her as she stopped for a quick selfie before zipping off again.
Zipp was doing airstrikes through the sky and zoomed past Windy making her spin like a top while she yelped. Misty bobbed and weaved through the crowd while Izzy jumped around happily. Hitch was doing some insane parkour while Sparky held onto him enjoying the ride.
Sunny was skating across town but saw Posey walking by with a smoothie, "Coming through!" Sunny called as Posey turned and saw the orange pony coming.
"Ah, no, no, no!" Posey pleaded as she ducked down with a yell of panic while covering her head, expecting a crash. Instead Sunny just jumped over her, and, once she realized she was safe, Posey wiped her brow in relief.
At the Crystal Brighthouse, Twilight and Sunset were looking at the map to where Allura's lair was at from the last time they faced her thanks to Izzy's obliviousness as they looked at the picture of Allura and Twitch as they gave a serious look. "Are you sure we should strike now, Sunset?" Twilight asked her old friend.
"The last time we left a villain without completely defeating them, our Cutie Marks were taken and all the magic as well by an angry power hungry fire Alicorn, Twilight." Sunset reminded her with a brow. "I prefer to not repeat the Opaline thing."
"Okay, fair enough." Twilight said in understanding. "Still, from what we saw, Allura isn't exactly a push over."
"She mind controlled the entire village of Starlight Ridge and took over, tried to find the Nova Charm, mind controlled our friends, and nearly froze Izzy in a snow globe when she kept coming into the lair." Sunset pointed out with a brow. "On top of having the power to change the climate of an entire beach cave. So yeah, she's not exactly a push over." She added.
"And I think it's safe to assume she's not satisfied with just a cave," Twilight said, "She wants to freeze all of Equestria."
"Which is why we have to stop her here and now before she gets any stronger," Sunset stated, knowing after dealing with two different Opalines, Allura would definitely find some way of increasing her power. "So far, we were lucky that the Nova Charm broke into seven pieces, or else she would've invaded the other worlds."
Suddenly the sound of the door opening was heard and the two turned to see the Mane 6 trying to squeeze through the door, grunting and talking over each other while they were stuck, "Hey move!" Zipp ordered.
"You move!" Pipp told her sister.
"Ow, I think you're crushing a leg!" Misty called.
"That's my leg!" Hitch retorted.
"Just give me a little room!" Sunny grunted, trying to squeeze out.
"Hey look, I'm stuck!" Izzy said with a smile while raising a hoof before they all leaned forward, "Uh oh," they all said before falling to the ground on top each other while Sparky sat on top while clapping his hands and laughing.
"And these are the little ponies destined to save the world," Sunset said with a sigh and slight smile.
"Me and the girls weren't perfect at first either." Twilight reminded her with a smile. "They brought back magic, stabilized it and made Earth Pony Magic, and beat Opaline, twice, and then Allura. And also, you and the Rainbooms weren't as skilled either at first." She said with a smirk.
"Touche." Sunset said with a shrug.
Sunny then stood up and shook her head, "Sunset, Twilight, you called?" Sunny asked.
"You said it was about Allura?" Hitch said as he and the other girls stood up too.
"Is she attacking?" Zipp questioned.
"Is she gone?" Pipp added.
"What does she want?" Misty asked.
"Is she still mad at me?" Izzy asked with a sheepish smile.
"Okay, ponies, calm down." Sunset said with her hooves raised as the others stopped talking.
"Allura's not attacking. But did find out she's made a move." Twilight stated, which surprised the group.
"When I went to check out the Boardtrot this Morning, I found that the lock was broken off," Sunset said as she held up the broken frozen pieces of the lock Hitch used to close the Boardtrot's gates.
"Hey! She ruined my lock!" Hitch exclaimed with a look as Sunny held him back.
"Wait, Allura broke into the Boardtrot?" Sunny asked in confusion, "Why?"
"You think she took the pieces of the Nova Charm?" Zipp questioned with a suspicious look.
"No. We checked our stands and the Nova Charm shards are still there." Twilight said to them, which confused them even more.
"And we did see that some of the rides and stands were functional." Sunset said while rubbing her head in wonder. "It was like they were having fun at the Boardtrot instead of sabotaging or taking the Charm's shards."
"Wait, Allura and Twitch were having fun at the Boardtrot?" Pipp questioned in confusion, as were the others. "I never took Allura as a having fun type."
"Allura, no after our last run in with her, but Twitch, maybe?" Twilight said with a shrug. "I honestly don't know, that bunny is like Fluttershy's pet Angel, more twisted."
"But that's besides the point," Sunset said, getting back on topic, "What this means is that Allura is getting a lot bolder if she manages to sneak past us and into the Boardtrot, we need to do something now before she tries anything else." She said seriously.
"Wait, we're going after Allura?" Misty asked in surprise.
"Yeah, when we dealt with Opaline, we waited too long for her to make the first move." Sunset said with a serious look. "Which resulted in our Cutie Marks getting taken, Spike and the other dragons mind controlled and magic gone, forever."
"Which is why, thanks to Izzy's accidental discovery of her lair, we have a shot of stopping her." Twilight said while giving Izzy a smile, who giggled in response.
"But we don't even know what Allura is after now that the Nova Charm is in pieces," Sunny reminded them. "Or why she never even tried to take the shards in the first place."
"When has that stopped us?" Sunset questioned. "I mean, Twilight and I faced many villains in our time without knowing their endgame directly, which we found out in the end and stopped them in the middle of a fight."
"It's true. We do." Twilight nodded.
"Okay, okay, point made but are you sure you need us?" Hitch asked, gesturing to the six of them, "I mean, you and Twilight managed to send Allura packing twice, the rest of us just got whammied by her."
"If it wasn't for Spike or the other Auroracorns helping us at the time, we would've been whammied too, Hitch." Sunset pointed out. "Besides, we will actually need back up." She said with a frown.
"She's right, we've all seen that Allura isn't like Opaline, she's vicious." Twilight told them.
"Sneaky," Misty added.
"Cunning," Zipp continued.
"And grouchy, don't forget grouchy." Pipp said with her hoof raised.
"And a bit nasty from when we last saw her." Izzy said with a shiver. "Especially when trying to be friends."
Sunset put a wing over Izzy, "It wasn't your fault Izzy. You were trying to help Allura become a better pony, err, winged-snow-leopard?" She said, realizing they really need to find out what Allura was. "Allura's just not worthy of your friendship," She assured, which made Izzy feel better.
"But the point is, we can't just keep letting her hide in the cave of Maretime Bay's beach or running around in the shadows." Twilight said to them. "Especially since we found out she's not working alone,"
"Well, yeah, she's got Twitch," Pipp reminded like it was obvious.
"No, Pipp." Sunset spoke up. "When we fought her back in Canterlot, she mentioned that she was working with someone, a he, and it's not Twitch. He's just her sidekick, remember?"
"Oohh, right," Pipp realized.
"But Allura and Twitch were the only ones in Starlight Ridge." Sunny pointed out.
"Sunny, when you just go to a new place, you don't just think that someone or somethings lived beyond their lands?" Sunset questioned with a brow. "Like Equestria, Starlight Ridge was a big place."
"Good point," Sunny said sheepishly.
"Well if that's true and Allura is working with someone else, why wasn't he there with her when she was enslaving the Auroracorns?" Zipp questioned in thought.
"We don't know. But we're gonna find out, if we capture Allura we can find out everything about her plans." Twilight said with a determined look.
"Sounds like a plan." Zipp said with a smirk.
"We already have Discord, Spike, and the other dragons on standby." Sunset said as she went up to the window and showed Spike, Discord and the other dragons flying close by as she opened the window. "You ready to protect Maretime Bay if things go south, you guys?!" She called out to them.
"You can count on us!" Spike saluted.
"We will fight for Equestria!" Discord called while in his knight armor.
"How did we miss them?" Misty questioned in wonder.
"Eh, Discord has a way of hiding them." Twilight said with a smirk. "We made contact with them in case something might go bad if we face Allura. And if it does, they're the last line of defense."
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Zipp said flying up, "Let's go kick some Kitty Cat Tail!" She declared.
"I think you mean snow leopard, Zipp." Hitch corrected with a smile.
"Whatever." Zipp said with rolled eyes as they giggled.
"Let's go get this snow cat." Sunset said with a smirk as the Mane 8 and Sparky rushed off.
The Mane 8 soon came to the beach as they stopped at a corner, "This is it ponies," Sunset whispered, in case Allura was listening, "Allura's cave is just around here."
"Now remember the plan," Twilight said, "First Sparky will use his fire to get rid of the ice wall, then Hitch will keep Twitch busy while Misty and Izzy distract Allura on the ground and Zipp, Pipp and Sunny will draw her ice powers from the air. Once we've got her boxed in or exhausted, Sunset and I will use our magic to contain her."
"But what about her ice magic?" Sunny asked as Sunset brought up a collar device.
"Remember the Society uses these collars to keep the anomalies from using their powers like how Sonic used on Grogar last time." Sunset reminded her with a smirk. "And it's thanks to them, I kept a couple for myself for emergencies. Once Twi and I have Allura pinned, I just slap this on her neck and consider the kitty thawed." She quipped.
"Heheh, good one." Hitch said with a chuckle.
"Remember, surprise is key. We can't give Allura any chance to use her mind control powers," Twilight as they all nodded, "Okay, on three everypony." She said as they all took ready positions, "One, two-"
"Wait, do we go on three or on go?" Pipp suddenly asked as they all stumbled in disbelief.
"Pipp!" They all said while giving her a look, which she gave a sheepish look.
"Three! Who said anything about 'go'?!" Twilight asked with a look.
"I do sometimes." Izzy said with her hoof raised with a cheerful smile before the others groaned.
"Oh Celestia… let's just try this again." Sunset groaned. "Okay, on three. One… two…" She counted as they got into ready stances. "Three!" She called out as Hitch brought Sparky out as they all charged towards Allura's lair.
Only to stop in confusion when they saw the ice wall blocking the entrance to Allura's cave was already gone. "What the hay?" Pipp questioned. "Did Allura forget to lock the door or something?"
"Maybe the heat melted it?" Misty suggested.
"If it did then the whole cave would've melted," Sunset reminded her as they walked in and saw many ice still intact while loose fruit baskets, while frozen in ice, were lying around.
Some of the fruit was even made into statues resembling the Mane 8, which were frozen over, "Weird," Zipp said with a brow.
"Not as weird from how Opaline used to do, but weird that I'm now included." Misty said with a weirded out look.
"Well, she certainly made a good sculpture of us with the fruit I gave her." Izzy said cheerfully.
"Don't go thinking you can still be crafting buddies with her, Iz," Sunset warned, knowing what the unicorn was thinking.
"Heheh, sorry." Izzy said with giggles as Zipp flew around.
"The ice here is still fresh." Zipp said as she put on her vizor and looked around. "Allura must've just left."
"Figures, once she knew we found her lair, she moved," Sunset said, mentally kicking herself for not realizing Allura would've moved out after they found her lair.
"Oh, she could be anywhere now," Sunny said in worry.
"Check around her lair. There might be some clues on where she went." Twilight said to them.
"She's right. Look for anything. Claw marks, a map, anything that might give us a clue where Allura went." Hitch said as they all then searched around the cave.
Sparky then noticed something in the corner of the cave and picked it up. He saw it was a book with the image of a snowflake on it. Sparky gasped with sparkles in his eyes before babbling happily, he then rushed over to Sunny with the book, and pulled on her tail to get her attention.
"What is it, Sparky?" Sunny asked with a fond smile at Sparky as he held up the book as Sunny's eyes widened. "You found a clue? Good job, Sparkaroonie!" She said as she took the book and nuzzled the baby dragon, who giggled at the affection. "Guys! Sparky found something!" She called to the others as they turned to her as she held up the book.
"A book?" Misty said in confusion.
"Huh, who knew Allura liked to read?" Pipp commented.
"Wait, that kinda looks like one of the books from Canterlot," Zipp realized, recognizing the texture.
Twilight then saw the Snowflake emblem on it and gasped, "That, Symbol," She said in realization.
"You mean the snowflake?" Hitch said in confusion. "That looked like the book based on Starlight Ridge or Wishinstine." He commented.
"Uh, Hitch." Sunset spoke up with a brow. "Back in our time, we didn't have Wishintine or even knew that Starlight Ridge existed." She pointed out.
"Oh, right." Hitch said, seeing her point.
"If it's not either of those, then what is it?" Izzy wondered, scratching her head.
"The Crystal Empire," Twilight muttered as she placed her hoof on the book gently while stroking the symbol.
"The Crystal Empire." Sunset said in shock.
"As in, the mysterious crystal kingdom that was once ruled by your sister-in-law and brother when Dragon Lord Spike returned the Crystal Heart?" Sunny asked in a bit of excitement.
"Yes, yes that's the one!" Twilight said with a smile before gasping in realization, "So this is what Allura was up to all this time. She's been trying to find the Crystal Empire."
"I thought that place was just on old maretales." Hitch said in confusion.
"Uh, hey, Sheriff, so was everything else from Ancient Equestria until we were proven wrong by two ancient heroes right here." Zipp said while gesturing to Twilight and Sunset.
"Right," Hitch said sheepishly.
"But wait, my dad's research said that the Crystal Empire vanished when Magic disappeared from Equestria." Sunny reminded them. "Even with the old maps, there were no signs of the Crystal Empire before the division."
Twilight kept flipping through the pages before her eyes widened at what she saw. "But I think Allura might have directions to it." She said in worry.
"What makes you say that?" Pipp asked Twilight as Twilight turned the book around to show a couple of pages torn out.
"The map section of the book is missing." Twilight revealed in worry. "Allura must've torn out."
"Wait, why would she tear out an outdated map to an ancient place?" Hitch asked as Twilight then pointed to a spot of Equestria that was close to the ocean.
"Because the layouts from Maretime Bay, as well as Bridlewood and Zephyr Heights remained the same!" Twilight cried out in panic.
"W-Wait. What?!" Sunny cried out as she quickly took out her father's book and to the map section before she connected it to the remains of the map that was still there before she found a match. "T-They… They match up!" She realized.
"It's just next to the Crystal Mountains." Sunset noted in worry. "I guess even after generations, the layouts remain the same."
"But wait, Crystal Mountains?" Pipp asked in interset. "I could mine some crystals for Mane Melody."
"Sis, now's not the time." Zipp said with a look. "I guess since Canterlot and Fluttershy's old cottage has survived, barely, it makes sense the Crystal Empire would still be around."
"Um, and not to push the panic alarm but my dad's research also said that the Crystal Empire was said to have the greatest concentration of magic in Equestria along with one of the most magical artifacts known to a pony," Sunny said nervously as the others got worried.
"You mean, as powerful as the Unity Crystals?" Misty asked nervously.
"Maybe even more powerful than them and the Nova Charm combined," Sunset stated.
"If Allura gets that much power, there's no telling what she'll do." Zipp said in worry.
"She could plunge all of Equestria into an Entire Winter and control the minds of everypony!" Twilight feared as she visualized Allura sitting on a crystal throne in a winterly landscape, with mind controlled ponies serving her while she petted Twitch sinisterly.
This made the Mane 8 gulped in fear while Sparky whimpered as Hitch and Sunny held him to comfort the baby dragon before Sunset shook her head to snap out of her trance. "We gotta follow Allura and stop her." Sunset declared with a serious look.
"But how? She could be miles away from us." Hitch said to her.
"And uh, also, we don't have a complete map." Pipp added.
"Oh, if only we knew a tracking spell that could scan Allura's book and make a trail for us to follow after her." Izzy said in despair.
Twilight and Sunset perked up when they heard Izzy say that and facehooved themselves. "Oh sweet Celestia." Twilight muttered.
"How did we forget that?" Sunset questioned, mentally kicking herself.
This made Sunny's eyes widened in realization. "Wait, there's actually a spell for tracking?!" She asked in wonders, as the others were surprised.
"Uh, yes," Sunset said with a sheepish grin.
"You mean you could've used that to track down Allura this whole time?!" Pipp exclaimed in disbelief.
"Hey, give us a break!" Twilight countered. "We didn't have any objects or means to track her after finding out Allura was close by!"
"Plus, doesn't Misty's spellbook have that kinda spell as well since it knows much about magic?" Sunset questioned while gesturing to Misty, who gave a sheepish look.
"I… haven't gotten that far yet." Misty said with a sheepish chuckle.
"Okay, okay, let's not argue." Zipp spoke up, breaking the attention. "So, can you use your tracking spells to track Allura down?" She asked the two Alicorns.
"With this book, we can since it was the last thing she touched." Sunset nodded as she turned to Twilight. "Twilight, we might need to work together on this. Because I haven't done the tracking spell in a long time."
Twilight nodded as the two powered up their magic, focusing their magic as they wrapped it around the book as it spun around before straightening up and leaving a trail of purplish blue energy. The others looked awed at seeing the trail before it faded as Sunset and Twilight looked at the book with proud smiles.
"We got her." Twilight said proudly.
"To the Marestream Ponies and bundle up," Sunset said with a smirk, "We're heading to the Frozen North."
Somewhere in Equestria at a snowy plains in a raging blizzard, Allura and Twitch were flying over the area while holding the map as Twitch babbled to Allura. "Yes, Twitch. This place is beautiful." Allura said with a smirk. "Makes me wonder why we haven't gone north to begin with. Guess I wanted to keep a close eye on those ponies to even bother moving." She said as she kept looking at the map.
Allura then landed on the snow as she looked closely at the map. "Mmm, according to the map, this Crystal Empire should be ahead." She said as she looked around but the wind and snow swirled around them. "Mmm, this blizzard might be a problem though, but that's an easy fix." She said as she then closed her eyes and then opened them as they glowed and then she gave a loud roar, which echoed for miles as the blizzard started to clear up. "That's better." She said with a smirk as Twitch muttered with a smirk.
"Right, now to get what I came for," Allura said as she continued her way through the frozen land.
Back in Maretime Bay, the Mane 8 are backing supplies and things they need for the trip into the Marestream while Sunny, Twilight, and Sunset are talking with Spike, the dragons, and Discord. "Okay, while we were hoping we would capture Allura, we can't just leave Maretime Bay or the other hometowns unguarded, especially the Unity Crystals." Sunny said to them.
"Not unlike what happened with Opaline when we first went to the Dragonlands." Sunset added as she turned to Spike in Discord. "Which is why we want you two and the other dragons to keep guard of our home while we're gone."
"You sure you don't want me to come along?" Spike asked them, "I'm kind of a big deal in the Crystal Empire."
"Yeah, centuries ago, Spike." Twilight reminded him with a smirk. "If ponies from this time have forgotten about our times, I'm pretty sure the Crystal Empire follows the same principle like how Maretime Bay freaked out at seeing you and the other dragons during Opaline's attack."
"Good point." Spike said with a small chuckle.
"Besides, we need you here to make sure Discord keeps out of trouble if he tries any pranks." Twilight added in amusement, which the two shared a laugh.
"The Marestream's all warmed up," Zipp said, coming out from the Marestream.
"Okay, we'll be out of range since we don't know what conditions the Crystal Empire would be unlike Canterlot, so be sure to protect our homes, okay." Sunny said to them.
"Don't worry. Maretime Bay, Bridlewood, and Zephyr Heights are protected by their guardian angels." Discord said with a smirk.
"Yeah, you can count on us." Luxxe said with a smile.
"Especially since we are friends." Blaize said with a smirk.
"Good." Sunset said with a smile as she, Sunny, and Twilight entered the Marestream as Twilight poke her head out.
"Well, see you soon!" Twilight waved, which Spike returned as Sunset went to the wheels.
"Stand back, Zipp. Thanks to that tracking spell, only Twilight and I know the way." Sunset said.
"Then how come Twilight can't drive?" Zipp questioned.
"Uh, Zipp, ancient Equestria, no technology, no Marestream." Sunset reminded her with a brow.
"Oh, right." Zipp said sheepishly as Sunset then pressed the button that extended the wings of the Marestream.
"And away we go!" Sunset called as the Marestream took off while Discord, Spike, and the other dragons watched them go.
"They certainly know when to go on adventures." Discord commented.
"Some things never change, Discord." Spike added as the two shared a laugh.
A bit later, the Marestream flew across the sky with Sunset at the wheel while the rest fo the Mane 8 was doing something to pass the time, Misty and Izzy were making some items, Pipp was looking at her phone, Zipp was looking at the book about the Crystal Empire, while Sunny and Hitch was playing with Sparky while Twilight was next to Sunset at the cockpit.
As they flew closer to the north, Twilight's mind drew back to the time before Opaline, when she was still ruler of Equestria and her old friends were beside her. She remembered the time when Spike saved the Crystal Empire by placing the Crystal Heart back, her time with her brother and sister-in-law, and during those times was with her favorite niece, Flurry Heart while also saving the Empire from King Sombra and defeating him twice as she gave a concerned look.
Sunset noticed this as she turned to Twilight. "Hey, Twilight, you okay?" She asked.
"Y-Yeah, I was just, remembering," Twilight said as she looked back to see Hitch, Sunny and Sparky playing, seeing her brother, sister-in-law and niece in their place.
Sunset saw this as she sighed. "You're thinking about your family, aren't you?" She asked, knowing what Twilight was thinking about as she sometimes felt the same way.
"It's just… With how Equestria is, I wouldn't be surprised if our old friends are still around other than Spike and Discord." Twilight said with a frown. "But Pinkie and the girls, Celestia, Luna…Shining and my parents." She whimpered out as she put a hoof to her face.
Sunset frowned as she then put the Marestream on autopilot as she walked up to her friend and gave her a comforting hug. "I know. I feel the same way with my friends and family." She said as Twilight sobbed a bit. "There's not a day goes by that I wish I could go back to the way Equestria used to be, but we know that we cannot change the past or live in it forever, as we must improve and move on for the future. To keep moving for those who aren't with us. It's how I felt when I first came back to Equestria to visit you. But to see it in a state where there's no magic and the ponies divided, it felt like I was lost and alone, not fitting in a place of something I'm unfamiliar with, that I wanted it to end and go back to how things used to be."
Twilight wiped some tears away before she looked at Sunset. "Yeah. While I was brought back, you were hurt more when you saw our home, not what it used to be before Opaline." She said with a frown, completely forgetting that Sunset felt more pain then she did. "Our lives always have a way of complete mysteries and adventures, don't they?"
"More so even in CHS, Twilight." Sunset said with a giggle, which Twilight returned.
"Still, I wish at least another part of home that I wish was still intact." Twilight said with a sigh. "But in this era of Equestria, I doubt it."
Sunset thought for a moment, needing to find a way to make Twilight feel better before she remembered the Harmony Chest she recovered from Opaline's old lair as she gave a smile. 'Maybe there is.' She thought to herself with a smile.
But then, the Marestream started to make beeping sounds, which got everypony's attention as the Marestream shook a bit. "Whoa! Turbulence!" She called while keeping the Marestream steady.
"What's happening?" Hitch asked in concern as he held Sparky.
"Nothing bad." Sunset said as she got the Marestream steady. "Just hit a sky bump. And…" She stopped when she saw snow hitting them. "Snow?"
"We must be getting close to the Frozen North." Twilight realized as the snow increased.
"Whoa, and apparently it's a blizzard going on here." Sunset said as she was having trouble seeing. "I can't see anything up here." She said before she then steer the Marestream down. "I'm setting her down." She said as the Marestream flew down to land on a snow field.
As the door opened, the Mane 8, wearing their snow gear, stepped out, "O.M.P, look at all that snow." Pipp said as she brought her phone.
"It's a bit different from the snow spell during Wishiehoof, that's for sure." Izzy commented while giggled as she made a snowangel. "And so much fun!"
"But pretty cold." Izzy said as she picked up some snow. "Mmm, so this is what it feels like in a cold snow." She commented.
"And completely freezing." Hitch said as he held Sparky close while shivering a bit.
"That's the Frozen North for you." Twilight said. "It's colder that even the Pegasi back in the old days couldn't control the weather."
"I read about it, but to be here, it's unexpected." Sunny said in awed. "I never imagined it was so, vast."
"Brr!" Sunset shivered. "And I thought the snow spell during Wishday was freezing." She commented before turning to Twilight, "So which way is the Empire?" She asked.
Twilight looked around before she noticed a rock spire, "I recognize that spire, it was close to where the train station use to be, the Empire is just a few miles ahead," She noted as she walked ahead, "Come on, there things out here you don't wanna bump into after dark," She told her friend.
Misty gulped, "What kind of things?" She asked as Twilight stopped.
"You don't want to know. But let's just say that the first time I was here with my friends, the Empire wasn't the only ancient force that was out here." Twilight said seriously before continuing on.
"Better do as the princess say, ponies." Zipp said with an uneasy look as they continue on through the snowy blizzard as they followed Twilight, leaving the Marestream behind.
As they continued on, the Blizzard grew stronger, so much so it almost blinded the Mane 8, "It's so dark, I can't see a thing!" Pipp called out while placing a wing in front of her face. "And all this snow is gonna ruin my coat!"
"Do you think Allura sent this Blizzard to stop us?!" Sunny asked as she held Sparky with her, as she used her mane like a blanket.
"Not sure!" Twilight answered. "The Weather out here has always been unpredictable!"
"What do you mean?!" Hitch asked.
"She meant that it's like everyday weather back home!" Sunset answered. "Back then Ponies could control the weather, but this far north, the Blizzards have minds of their own!"
"I really should look into how the weather, Sun and Moon can control themselves when we get back!" Twilight commented.
"Any sign of Allura?!" Zipp asked, getting back to the topic at hoof.
"It's hard to tell! Give us a sec!" Sunset called out as she and Twilight used their magic to try and track Allura before they picked up the trail. "She went this way!"
"Come on, this way!" Twilight said as they all walked further to Allura's trail.
With Allura, she and Twitch continued through the storm as the snow-leopard took a deep breath. "Ah, I love the smell of blizzards in the morning." Allura said with a smile before her ears perked up. "Hmm? What's this?" She muttered as Twitch muttered in confusion. "Quiet, Twitch." She said as she turned her direction.
Allura smelled the air as she felt a familiar scent that made her eyes widened. "No, it can't be." She muttered as she aimed her ears as she heard voices in the distance.
"Are we there yet?" Izzy asked cheerfully.
"Not yet, Izzy." Sunny said tiredly.
"Just like we weren't the last 5 minutes ago." Zipp moaned.
"Just keep trekking guys, every second we waste, Allura gets closer to the empire." Sunset told them.
Allura then growled in frustration, "They followed me here?!" She questioned as she groaned. "Don't they ever quit?!"
"I thought you would've learned that they don't after your constant failures," Alterro said snidely in Allura's head.
"Not now, Alterro!" Allura snapped back as she shook her head. "I can still win this. I just need to slow those ponies down." She said before she then looked at the snow around her as she gave a smirk. "And perhaps this can get them off our backs." She said as she then focused her magic as her eyes glowed as she stomped her paws down along with giving a roar.
Back with the Mane 8, they heard the echo of Allura's roar and stopped for a moment, "What was that?" Misty said in fear.
"I know that roar." Sunny said in dread. "Allura."
"She's close." Sunset said seriously. "Stand your guard, ponies. We don't know what she'll throw at us."
"Uh, but we can't see her." Hitch said nervously before the ground started shaking. "Uh, quick question, does this place also give out earthquakes?"
Twilight felt uneasy about this. "That's no earthquake." She muttered before they saw ice shards popping out from the ground and heading towards them. "Icequake!"
"Take cover!" Zipp yelled out as the Mane 8 quickly moved out of the way to avoid the ice shards as it headed to their spot. But when Zipp tried to fly up, the wind got stronger as she was hit by heavy snow as she fell to the snowy floor. "W-What the?! Did the storm somehow get stronger?!"
"Allura's magic! It must be!" Sunset told her as ice pillars sprouted out of the ground, "We're on her playing field! She must be able to do a lot more here in the frozen north!"
"Um, I don't remember all this happening on Starlight Ridge!" Pipp stated, dodging the flying ice shards.
"Apparently, she hasn't shown all of her tricks since we last saw her in her lair!" Twilight called before she used her magic to shatter the ice.
"Looks like it!" Izzy screamed before she used her magic to levitate herself up to avoid some ice shards.
"We can't let her beat us to the Crystal Empire!" Sunny called out as she stomped her hoof down to grow some vines to block some ice, which ripped apart on contact before she narrowly avoided the vines. "She's trying to slow us down!"
"Well, she's doing a great job!" Hitch cried out as he narrowly avoided the vines as he had trouble dodging each other while using his Earth Pony magic to lift himself up to avoid the ice shards. "Why does this leopard get harder to fight, every single time we meet her?!"
"Sunny's right! Forget these ice tricks, we have to move!" Twilight shouted as she then used her magic to bring everyone close to her. "Hang on!" She called as she and the others floated up, which made Misty and Hitch yelp in startled while the others gave surprise yelps as Twilight then formed a shield around them.
"Whoa! What happened?!" Zipp asked in wonders.
"A little protection spell I learned a few years back during my time as ruler of Equestria." Twilight explained. "We can get through Allura's traps without getting harmed, but I'm not sure how long it will last." She said in worry before an ice shard nearly hit them, which they yelped as it made Twilight's shield crack a bit. "And we should really get moving!"
"Move!" Sunset said as they started running, skidding to a stop and turning as they dodged an ice pillar and kept running.
"Did I mention how much I hate ice?!" Hitch cried out.
"I do!" Misty cried out.
"This is no time to panic!" Zipp snapped. "We just need to outrun them!"
"We need to get to cover!" Sunny shouted.
"Is there even such a thing in this snowy wasteland?!" Pipp screamed as she barely managed to avoid the icicles.
"Twilight! Is there a place we should take shelter out here?!" Sunset cried out, using her magic to blast away some ice shards.
"I don't know! It's been a while since I've been here!" Twilight screamed in anxiety.
"How about that cave?" Izzy calmly said as she pointed to a cave that was close by. "Will it be safe for us?"
"Good eye, Izzy!" Sunny cheered with a smile. "Everpony, into the cave!" She called as the Mane 8 ran or flew as fast as they could before they quickly entered the cave right as the ice shards went past them.
"Yes! We did it! We're safe!" Pipp cheered with her hooves in the air while signing in relief. "Phew, that was a rush." She said while wiping a brow.
"And scary." Misty said while shivering a bit in fear as Izzy comforted her with a hug.
"Seriously, is Allura getting stronger or what?" Hitch asked while Sunny and Sparky gave him a comforting hug.
"She definitely didn't show all her powers." Zipp commented while Sunset and Twilight stood guard for any more ice shards that would appear, but so far nothing.
"Okay, the coast is clear." Sunset said with a serious look. "We must be out of Allura's range if her magic stopped."
"But now we're way behind her in finding the Crystal Empire," Sunny said with a frown.
"Actually, we may be behind, but I believe Allura just gave a path to her." Twilight said with a smirk as she eyed the ice shards.
"What do you mean, Twilight?" Izzy asked in confusion.
"Well, from what we've seen, Allura's magic usually leaves a path that leads back to her after she uses them." Twilight said with a thoughtful look. "So if we follow these ice shards to where Allura first used her magic…"
"We can find Allura!" Misty finished.
"And the Crystal Empire!" Sunset added with a smile.
"Exactly! Let's get moving, ponies." Twilight told her friends.
"Let's move." Sunny said with a smirk as the Mane 8 went out of the cave and followed where the ice shards sprouted as they followed the path to where Allura is.
With Allura and Twitch, they have been walking through the snow fields for a while, with the blizzard dying down a bit as Allura eyed the map before she gave a confused look. "Strange. It said this Crystal Empire should be right here. But I still don't see it." She said as Twitch muttered to her in confusion. "Yes, I am reading the map right. I can see it perfectly, Twitch." She said with a brow.
As she walked around, Allura placed her paw on a certain spot and felt something hard beneath the snow. Letting out a curious hum, she moved the snow away to reveal a crystal plate, "Crystal?" Allura said in confusion before she looked forward and saw the large snow hills, the largest having an icy peak at the top, "Wait a minute," She said, narrowing her eyes, and holding up some spyglass as she took a closer look at the icy peak before it showed a balcony. "A castle?" She muttered before the blizzard cleared out, revealing it to be the Crystal Palace, the center royal castle of the Crystal Empire. "This is the Crystal Empire." She muttered in shock.
The Crystal Empire looks like it was partly buried in show, not as a shining kingdom as it once was as Allura then went up to one of the snowy hills while some of the building roofs peaked out, the path piled in show, and the Crystal Palace peaked out like a sore thumb, using her roar to clear out the snow to showed a crystal building as she and Twitch looked in shock while giving a humm.
"Hmm. It would seem these ponies were similar to Starlight Ridge." Allura said with a thoughtful look. "But it's completely deserted. Like a ghost town. It's perfect." She said with a smirk as Twitch gave a chuckle. "You said it, Twitch. Wish we could've done something to the ponies. But right now, let's see if the palace of this kingdom has what we need." She said with a smirk as she and Twitch flew towards the Crystal Palace.
Back with the Mane 8, the storm had finally died down as they followed the ice shards Allura left from her surprise attack. "At least this storm has lightened up." Hitch said optimistically.
"But how much farther to the Empire, because we've been walking for hours." Pipp complained as she rubbed her hooves. "I think my hooficure is frozen solid." She whined.
"It's hard to tell from the distance we took, Pipp." Zipp said to her sister. "So suck it up."
They kept on following the ice shards before they came to a stop, which she frowned. "Looks like Allura used her powers here." Twilight said in thought.
"Well, that's great." Hitch said with a groan. "Now we lost the trail."
"I don't think so, Hitch." Sunny said to her coltfriend as she saw the footprint. "Look, tracks. Allura must've gone on foot from here."
"Hey, I see something sparkly in the distance!" Izzy said cheerfully.
"Wait, sparkly?" Sunset repeated as she and the others looked ahead and saw a spark shining in the distance. "I think I know what that sparkle is."
"And I think I know too, Sunset." Twilight said with a smile. "I believe we found the Crystal Empire."
"Come on!" Sunny cheered as they raced towards the sparkle.
They ran as fast as they could through the snow as they followed the sparkle, but once they were closed, they all stopped as they gasped in shock at what they saw. What they saw was the Crystal Empire and the conditions it was in.
"Whoa." Zipp muttered.
"This is the Crystal Empire?" Misty asked in shock.
"I expect it to be more beautiful from what you told me." Pipp said to Twilight and Sunny.
"It's… not supposed to be like this." Twilight said while shaking her head.
"We saw Canterlot, Twi," Sunset recalled, "I think it's obvious that this place has gone to the dogs too."
"No. I-I get that. But this much snow, there wasn't supposed to be this much near the Empire's border." Twilight stammered. "W-Where are the Crystal Ponies, and what happened to…" She stopped as her eyes widened. "The Crystal Heart." She muttered as she flew towards the Crystal Palace.
"Twilight, wait up!" Sunset called out as she and the others rushed after Twilight, but then Sunset tripped on something as she fell over and landed on the snow with a groan. "Oof!"
"Sunset!" Sunny cried in worry as she and the others rushed up to her. "Are you okay?" She asked.
Sunset got up and shook the snow off her. "I'm fine. Just trip on something." She assured them.
"On what? There's piles of snow." Zipp pointed out.
"I don't know. But it felt like I tripped on…?" Sunset trailed off as she realized something. "A head?" She asked in dread.
"Wait, what do you mean a head?" Misty asked nervously.
"Hang on a sec." Sunset said as she went back to the spot she tripped on and felt something hard in the snow as she used her magic to melt the snow away. Once she melted through, her eyes widened as she gave a gasp at what she saw as she stepped back a bit. "Oh no…"
"What? What is it?" Hitch asked as he and the others rushed to her. "What do you see?" He asked again as Sunset simply pointed down, and what they saw, completely shocked them to the bone.
"O.M.P." Pipp muttered in complete shock as she took a picture of it with her phone.
Twilight flew towards the Crystal Palace as fast as her wings could as she went up to the center of the place as she looked around, searching for the Crystal Heart as she searched aimlessly and then saw the spire the Crystal Heart should be. "It's gone. The Crystal Heart is gone." She muttered in complete shock. "That's why there's so much snow here." She muttered as she looked around at the barren empire covered in snow. "Without the Crystal Heart, there's no barrier protecting the kingdom."
"Twilight! Twilight!" Sunset cried out as Twilight turned and saw the rest of the Mane 8 rushing towards her frantically. "Twilight! You will not believe what we saw!"
"What's wrong?" Twilight asked in concern.
"You'll have to see it to believe it." Hitch said with a frightened frown.
"And in this case." Sunset said as she used her horn to melt some of the snow surrounding them. "You're gonna believe it." She added with a frown.
Twilight watched as the snow melted away, revealing a crystal statue of a pony and she gasped in horror, seeing it was a Crystal Pony that had turned into a crystal statue while in a horror position. "T-Thats…" She muttered as she looked around and saw more Crystal Ponies turn into crystal statues. "Those are…" She then saw more Crystal Ponies as crystal statues while some were buried in the snow. "Those are the Crystal Ponies…" She muttered in complete dread.
"What happened to them?" Sunny asked in worry as Izzy poked a statue.
"No idea, Sunny." Sunset said in dread. "But based on what we're seeing, and the position they are in, they have turned into crystal statues."
"Cause magic disappeared?" Zipp wondered.
"It's likely," Sunset shrugged, "Without enough light or love to sustain the Empire, everypony in the Empire must've gone into this crystalized hibernation."
"Wait a sec," Hitch said, getting a thought, "Everypony?" he asked in dread.
"Then that would mean that-" Misty tried to say before Twilight's eyes widened.
"Oh no, Flurry!" Twilight said as she then rushed through one of the palace's entrances.
"Twilight! Wait!" Sunset cried out as the rest of the Mane 8 followed after her as they entered the palace.
Twilight ran through the hallways, seeing that the palace's structure haven't changed in generations as she was familiar with the structure as she ran as fast as she could until she reached the throne room doors as she then used her magic to bust it open as she entered the throne room, and then she gasped at what she saw as tears began to form as her friends came up behind her as their eyes widened.
What they saw was an Alicorn standing in ready with her wings spread and her horn pointed forward, looking proud, but she was trapped in her crystal statue state while in the middle of the throne room, but that wasn't all that shocked the Mane 8. But for Twilight, she recognized the Alicorn.
"Another Alicorn?" Sunny said in awed at what she saw.
"Okay, so that makes five Alicorns that we know in a row." Zipp said as she recorded the moments on her phone for information.
Sunset walked next to Twilight, who had a heartbroken expression, "Twi, is that…" She trailed off in worry.
"My… My niece. Flurry Heart." Twilight muttered while struggling to keep her tears back as she slowly walked up to her crystalized niece. She placed a hoof to her cheek, remembering how soft and warm her fur was but now it was just cold, hard crystal. Twilight let out a weep and immediately hugged Flurry while tears streamed down her cheeks, "Oh Flurry, I'm so sorry." She wept.
The others before they gave sympathetic looks towards Twilight after seeing her cry for her niece. Sunset then walked up to Twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder as Twilight turned to her with sad eyes and squiggling frown. "Twilight, I promise." Sunset said softly. "Whatever it takes, we will free Flurry and the others."
"And that's a true promise. Hoof to heart." Sunny said she and the others placed their hooves together as they turned to Twilight a smile. "We'll make sure we find a way to free the ponies and your niece, and we won't stop until we do."
"Is it even possible to free her and the others?" Twilight asked softly.
"From what we've experienced, anything is possible." Zipp said with a smirk.
"Maybe we can save the Empire the way saved it did before," Pipp suggested.
"How did you save it last time?" Misty questioned.
"Don't look at me. I wasn't there. Remember?" Sunset said with her hooves raised. "Twilight, how did you and Spike save the Empire the first time around?"
"The Crystal Heart," Twilight answered.
"The what now?" Hitch tilted his head.
Twilight shook her head, "It might be easier if I show you," Twilight said walking to the door, "Come on, Castle Library isn't too far from here." She said as they followed her out.
In the Crystal Library, Allura was searching through the many aisles and book cases for something on what she needed, "Ugh, and I thought trying to find a certain star was difficult! At least then I had simpletons doing the leg work." Allura complained as she kept searching through the shelves as Twitch grumbled in complaining. "You said it, Twitch. Seriously, Why would anypony need this many books? Do they even have anything on other Nova Charms?" She questioned.
"Ugh, this is gonna take me forever to even find even a hint on Nova Charms." Allura complained as she tossed a scroll away and dropped a book.
"I know exactly what we're looking for!" Twilight voice declared as the two perked up.
"Oh, come on! Them again?!" Allura questioned as Twitch groaned before Allura got an idea. "Wait. Let's hide." She whispered as she and Twitch hid behind some shelves.
Twitch muttered in confusion, "Trust me, despite Ponies being so annoying, they have a habit of doing impossible things," Allura told her sidekick with a sinister smirk, "Meaning, if we watch and listen we might learn something." She said as Twitch then babbled with a sinister smirk as they slinked back into the shadows.
Soon, the Mane 8 entered the library as Twilight smiled at the sight while the others, including Sunset, looked in awe at the amount. "Sweet Celestia." Sunset muttered.
"So many historical books!" Sunny cheered in pure excitement.
"And I thought the Zephyr Heights Royal Library was big." Zipp commented to her sister, who nodded in agreement.
"This place is like Ginormous!" Pipp exclaimed, gesturing to the library, "How are we gonna learn something about the Crystal Heart in all this?!"
"Don't worry, I had this place memorized, so I know where 19.26% of the time the Book on the History of the Crystal Empire is kept." Twilight said with a smile, "With the eight of us together, We'll find it before tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?!" Hitch asked in complete stunned, as were Zipp, Pipp, and Misty while Sunset sighed.
"Should've known you would say that, Twilight." Sunset sighed, getting a sense of deja vu.
"I read the books here before, we can do it faster." Twilight said with a smirk.
"Well, we better get searching," Sunny said as they split up to search for the book while Allura and Twitch watched them.
Sunny peaked through the slots of the bookshelves to see if she could find something but found nothing as she sighed and continued on. Hitch then saw a book at the very top of one shelf and then with a determined expression he rushed off and came back with a ladder which he struggled a bit to keep stable but eventually he got and climbed up and reached for the book. Until Sparky, who was walking by, pulled out one book and then sneezed from the dust in it, blowing fire on Hitch's ladder, turning into a balloon ladder.
"Oh no!" Hitch feared as he felt the balloon ladder leaning backwards as he panicked and tried to lean it forward, regaining its balance, "Phew, that was close," He said with relief before he saw the ladder leaning on a sharp crystal, "No, wait! That's not-" He was cut off when the balloon ladder popped and he was in the air with a dreaded expression, "FAIR!" He yelled before he crashed to the floor with a pile of books on top of him while Sparky poked his father figure in confusion.
"Hitch, stop messing around!" Sunset said with a look as she passed by. "We still need to find the answers we need. No time for a break."
Hitch groaned while his eyes spun as Sparky kept poking him. "Aye, aye, captain." He muttered as Sparky giggled as he hugged Hitch's head.
With Misty, she was already a ton of books stacks around her as she sighed. "Opaline never had this many books in her castle. I didn't realize there was another library with this many." She muttered with a yawn.
Pipp was checking through the shelves before pulling out one book to look, not seeing Allura was hiding behind it with an anxious look. Luckily for her, the princess didn't notice as she checked the cover, "The Crystal Faire? Oooh, now that sounds glamtacular." She said as she blew some dust on the cover off, and unintentionally towards Allura.
Allura got some of the dust in her nose as her face crinkled, getting a tickle on the inside, "Ah…ah…" She started before Twitch quickly plugged her nose to keep her from sneezing while they ducked down.
"Oh, that. Yeah, the Crystal Empire used to have that every year to keep the positivity and have fun so the Crystal Heart can recharge its magic, giving it a little boost." Twilight explained while having tons of books around her. "After that, everypony in the empire gets a crystal shine to their coat and their manes in completely new styles." She added as Pipp gave a gasp and her eyes sparkled.
"O.M.P! We're so gonna get that Crystal Heart back!" Pipp said excitedly.
"If we find it." Zipp said while reading a book before tossing it away. "Seriously, how hard is it to find a simple crystal shape like a heart?"
"Very." Twilight answered casually. "I have to go through three obstacles to find the Crystal Heart the first time."
"Well, unless somepony finds a clue on how to reverse this stupid crystal statue effect and find the Crystal Heart, I'm about to pass out from reading soon." Sunset said while boredly looking at a book.
"Hey, would a book that says 'Lore of the Empire' count as a clue?" Izzy asked, holding a black and gold book up.
This got everypony's attention as they rushed up to her as Twilight picked up the book and flipped through the pages until she found a certain page. "'The Fall of Friendship'," She then gasped in realization, "This was when everything in Equestria was falling apart." She explained to the others.
"From when Opaline divided all ponykind?" Sunny asked in surprise.
"Yes," Twilight nodded as she put the book down so they all could see it, "It explains how the Crystal Empire was affected by it,"
"Well, let's see if it said anything about crystal statues." Sunset said as Twilight nodded as she flipped through the pages as she began to read while Allura and Twitch hid behind the bookshelf and listened.
'In the wake of disharmony, ponykind and all the creatures of Equestria have been driven further apart because of their differences. The Princess of Friendship and Ruler of Equestria, Twilight Sparkle, tried and keep friendship and harmony alive when she contained all of Equestria's magic into three crystals, but it only worked till the division happened. The balance of harmony and chaos was disrupted and Equestria suffered. The other creatures of Equestria retreated to their own kingdom to care for their own, one by one Equestria's greatest cities fell. Even the light of our beautiful Empire began to fade and flicker as we tried to keep our magic stable, but then once the magic has completely faded, left with no choice, the Princess of Love used her magic to suspend us into crystalline hibernation and hid our beloved Heart until the Balance was restored and the light and Love of Equestria shined once more. May the spark between two hearts, ignite the light of the empire to reveal it.''
Twilight finished reading as the Mane 8 looked at the book in complete stunned silence as they were shocked and stunned by what they just learned about the Empire's fate. "Wow… That's… one sad story there." Izzy commented.
"To think one pony could do, all this," Sunny said while looking around at the empty library.
"Opaline…" Sunset growled, knowing who was truly responsible, since they all know who did it. "That no good fire Alicorn hippie." She grumbled.
"Well at least she got what she deserved," Zipp said with frown, "Stuck in a tree in her now totally destroyed lair." She said with a smirk while Allura listened with attention.
"There's no way she could've survived that, right?" Pipp said hopefully.
"Without her magic and being inside a tree, I doubt it." Misty said to them. "Even Opaline couldn't have survived that."
"Let's hope so, I've had enough of that maniac to last me a lifetime," Sunset complained while rubbing her head. "And seeing her counterparts from different dimensions was enough of a headache. Seriously, every Opaline across dimensions is the same."
Allura heard this as she gave a surprised look. "That Alicorn can travel between dimensions?" She whispered in shock as Twitch babbled in surprise before she smirked, "Interesting," She said.
"Yeah, agreed." Sunny said, after that multiversal crisis they had with a variant of Opaline sometime ago, they had enough of Opaline for a while. "But maybe, this book might've given us the answer we need to revive the Empire."
"The books said that Cadance put everyone in the empire into hibernation and hid the Crystal Heart, just like the Unity Crystals," Twilight recalled in thought, "If we can find the heart and return it to its pedestal, everything should be restored."
"But where is the heart?" Zipp questioned.
Twilight thought for a moment before remembering when she first found the heart, "Well, when I first found the Crystal Heart it was at the top of the Crystal tower," She recalled, "I had used some of King Sombra's dark magic to get to it though."
"Dark magic?" Sunny repeated in surprise.
"Wait, Twilight, you used dark magic before?" Sunset asked, equally surprised to know that Twilight did dark magic almost like her human counterpart as the rest of the Mane 8 were surprised by this.
"Dark Magic stems from a pony's negative emotions; their anger, greed, hatred, fear and envy, granting them very powerful abilities," Twilight explained as she focused and then her magic turned green and purple while her eyes were the same, and the others looked at her in awe and slight intimidation.
"Whoa." Zipp said hushly while Sunny looked at the dark magic in awe.
"Gotta say, never thought I'd see you of all ponies use dark magic," Sunset said to Twilight as she stopped using the dark magic and let out a breath.
"King Sombra was a master of the Dark Arts, doing things mind controlling ponies, creating crystal prisons, even trapping you in your greatest fear." Twilight recalled the dark unicorn's abilities.
"My dad read that King Sombra was actually the villain who came closest to defeating you and your friends himself." Sunny recalled with frightened frown, "Is that true?" She asked.
Twilight frowned and looked down, remembering her battle with Sombra vividly and how he destroyed the Elements of Harmony and the Tree of Harmony, "Yes. After he destroyed the Elements, he took control of all our friends, conquered Canterlot and even managed to get the drop on Discord, It was probably one of the scariest moments in my life," She said with a hoof to her chest as she could almost hear Sombra's haunting laugh.
Allura and Twitch's listens to this as she gave an evil smirk. "Oh, so this King Sombra nearly defeated the alicorn and her friends, huh?" She asked with a smirk. "Now that sounds useful."
"Okay, that guy sounds way worse than Opaline." Zipp said with a frightened frown.
"Even Opaline wasn't that much evil compared to him." Misty said with a shiver.
"But wait, I thought you said the Crystal Heart blasted Sombra away," Hitch said in confusion, "He shouldn't have come back from that, right?"
"Oh, he shouldn't have." Twilight said with a nod before she frowned. "That was until Discord brought him back with some sort of spell that restored him and thanks to his tricks and power, he nearly succeeded."
"Wait! Discord brought Sombra back?!" Pipp exclaimed in shock.
"Yup, with a symbol just like this," Twilight said, using her magic to create a circle with an 'M' inside it. "And wouldn't be surprised if he used Dark Magic to get it to work." She said dully as Allura heard it all and smirked.
"Why would Discord do that?!" Sunny exclaimed.
"Apparently, when I was announced that I would be crowned as ruler of Equestria to take Luna and Celestia's place, he thought he would give me a bit of confidence by bringing back the worst enemies of Equestria my friends and I have faced by disguising himself as Grogar." Twilight explained with a frown while looking away.
"Oh so that's what you meant," Sunny recalled their fight with Grogar when Twilight mentioned Discord disguised himself as him.
"Yeah, like the variant of the real Grogar we've faced not so long ago with your counterpart and Sonic." Sunset said with a tired look. "Which, compared to Discord, was the real deal and he was much worse. Which explains why Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow followed him at first before finding out his disguise."
"You don't know the half of it," Twilight said with a look before getting back to the problem at hoof, "Regardless, if the Heart is hidden then maybe we can find a clue to where it was last hidden."
"What makes you say that?" Hitch asked.
"Call it a hunch," Twilight said with a determined smile, "Come on, I know how to get to the top." She said as they raced out of the Library.
Once they were gone Allura and Twitch stepped out of their hiding place as they looked at the book with smirks. "So, that symbol and dark magic are what brought this King Sombra back?" She asked with a sinister smirk. "It might not have been the information on Nova Charms, but this is another thing I've been searching for a while now."
Twitch babble eagerly, telling Allura to do it now but the leopard patted his head, "Patience Twitch. The symbol I can do but unfortunately, Dark Magic isn't something I can use. I'll need another source." She said in thought before remembering, "Wait, that Purple Alicorn mentioned that the Crystals here can absorb magic, and that Dark magic comes when Ponies get angry." She recalled with a smirk.
Twitch babbled, "Yes exactly, if I can get one of those alicorns angry enough to use dark magic and get it in a crystal, it just might work," Allura confirmed with a gleeful look. "And I know just the one to use," She said with a sinister chuckle.
Soon, the Mane 8 were outside the palace before they followed Twilight as they then saw a flight of stairs that goes all the way to the top of the castle. "Okay, that's a lot of stairs." Hitch said uneasily.
"Don't worry, I have a short cut," Twilight said as she guided them under the stairs, "You might wanna brace yourselves," She warned as her horn glowed.
"Um, Twi?" Sunset started as the glow engulfed them all, "What are you do-IIINNGG?!" She yelled as they were suddenly flipped onto the under belly of the stairs and started sliding down, or rather up.
Soon, the rest of the Mane 8 were screaming at first before they started laughing, while Hitch held onto Sparky tight as he only kept screaming in panic while the baby dragon laughed and cheered. "Whoa-hoho! This is awesome!" Zipp cheered as she skidded down while doing some tricks. "What kind of spell was that, Twilight?!"
"It was a gravity spell I learned before my first mission to the Crystal Empire with Spike and my friends!" Twilight cheered with a smile. "All I can say is, I was preparing for this!" She said, while doing a jump.
"You know, half of us could just fly up!" Misty screamed with a bit of a laugh.
"But this is so much fun!" Izzy cheered.
"I wish I could live stream this!" Pipp cheered.
"Wish I've learned that spell when I was a filly!" Sunset called with laughs.
"And this is like skating on a Roller Coaster!" Sunny cheered as they all laughed before they made it to the top as Twilight spell wore off once they made it to the top as they were put rightside up before crashing to the ground as they gave a groan.
"Oh, forgot about the landing," Twilight groaned as she and the girls sat up.
"Everyone okay?" Sunset asked as the other girls nodded and muttered in acknowledgement.
"Good thing we landed something," Zipp said with a smile.
They then heard a groan and looked down to see they were sitting on top of Hitch, "YYAHH!" The 7 mares yelled in surprise and quickly got off of Hitch.
"Oh my glitter, we are so sorry!" Pipp cringed with a frown.
"Hitch, speak to me," Sunny said in concern, flipping her coltfriend over, "Are you alright?" She asked.
"Just a…knock on the old…Raccoon-a-scope." Hitch answered with his eyes crossed as he twitched for a second.
"Hitch?" Sunny asked again with a brow as Hitch got up with Sparky on his back.
"No need to painter. I'm as donkey-faced as ever." Hitch said with a goofy smile as he moved around as Sunny quickly held Sparky.
"Uh, maybe you should sit down for a minute or two." Sunny said with a cringed look as the others looked at Hitch awkwardly as his hooves were flinging around.
"Flibby-gibbet, Ma'am. I'm as chucks opposed as the next hay burger." Hitch said before he flopped into the floor.
The girls all snickered at the goofy sheriff, "Oh, this is so going in the blackmail folder," Zipp chuckled while taking a video.
"I think we landed on his head too hard." Sunset said with a cringed look.
"Ooh, ooh, don't worry I know how to fix him," Izzy said as she pulled out a wooden hammer and held it over Hitch with an insane grin.
"Izzy! No!" The other girls cried out as Sunny took the hammer away from Izzy.
"We are not hitting my coltfriend in the head with a hammer!" Sunny exclaimed.
"Where did you even get that idea?" Twilight questioned with a brow.
"What, I saw it in a cartoon once," Izzy shrugged.
"Izzy, we are not in a cartoon!" Zipp stated with a look.
"Besides, I know another much safer way to fix Hitch up," Pipp said with a smirk before leaning close to Sunny, "A little, muzzle to muzzle, you could say," She hinted.
Sunny gave a slight blush and a small smile from that. "Okay, you are naughty, Pipp." She said as Pipp gave a smirk with a shrug as she walked up to Hitch, who was in the center of the tower and held his cheeks. "Time to wake up, Sheriff." She said as she gave Hitch a kiss on the lips.
"Aww~" Pipp, Misty, and Izzy cooed with sparkly eyes while Zipp gagged and covered Sparky's eyes to make him avoid seeing the kiss while Sunset and Twilight gave amused smiles.
"Pipp just wanted to see Sunny and Hitch kiss again, right?" Twilight asked with a smirk.
"Eh, I would've suggested the same thing for those two." Sunny said with a smirk.
Suddenly the pillars around them lit up as they shimmered with magic, "Um, what's happening?" Zipp said in confusion.
"I, don't know," Twilight said, just as confused as the light from the pillars flowed down to the circle at the center of the floor, where Hitch and Sunny were standing as it glowed pink and they two levitated with magic glowing around them.
Sunny broke the kiss and Hitch snapped out of it as they noticed the magic around them. They were surprised before they looked at each other and smiled, "I'm the pony of the law. Coolest dragon dad you know. My cutie mark comes to life, and my kindness overflows!" Hitch recited holding onto Sunny.
"I'm all three pony kinds wrapped up into one. My cutie mark comes to life with hope bright at the sun!" Sunny declared as she entered her alicorn form as hers and Hitch's cutie marks came together and the two sweethearts put their heads together.
For a moment, Twilight saw a white unicorn and pink Alicorn in Sunny and Hitch's place, before a beam of light shot out from them, bouncing off the crystal tips of the castle before streaming across the empire, hitting the roofs of crystal houses.
The rest of the Mane 8 looked in awed as they saw the magic flowing through the Empire, in the pattern of a snowflake before making its way to the palace as it went up to the top of where their position before coming together above Hitch and Sunny before making a heart shape before a flash of light appeared, blinding them before it faded before they saw the Crystal Heart that was seen before them.
The Mane 8 looked in awe as the Crystal Heart floated down and landed on the hooves of Sunny and Hitch's as they all looked at it. "Whoa." Misty muttered in awed.
"Now that was a bright sparkle." Izzy said cheerfully.
Pipp squealed with her phone out, "That was more romantic than I ever thought it would be!" She said in a high pitched tone with her eyes sparkling.
"Is that…" Zipp started, pointing to the heart in Sunny and Hitch's forelegs.
"The Crystal Heart." Sunset muttered in awed as they looked at the heart. "Whoa. I never really had a chance to see it before."
"But how?" Hitch wondered in awe.
"How did it just appear?" Sunny wondered as well.
"It was your love," The couple turned to Twilight who had a bright smile, "Long ago, it was the love my brother, Shining Armor and Princess Cadance had for each other to free Canterlot from Queen Chrysalis, it was the love of the Crystal Ponies that banished King Sombra. And now, just as the book said, the bond between two hearts would reveal the Crystal Heart." She said with a proud tone.
"Heh, guess your love for each other is much stronger than we thought." Sunset said with a chuckle.
Hitch and Sunny looked at each other with blushing smiles before Sparky jumped between their forelegs, "Mama, Papa," He said happily.
"Aww~." The Mane 8 all said with a smile as Sunny and Hitch nuzzled Sparky with their foreheads as the baby dragon giggled before Twilight picked up the Crystal Heart and looked at it longly.
"So, what do we do now?" Sunset asked her old friend.
Twilight was about to answer before suddenly, whooshing up from the stairway and landing across from them was Allura, "Now, you give that Heart!" Allura said with a smirk.
"Allura?!" Sunny asked in shock as she and the rest of the Mane 8 gasped at seeing her.
Allura then charged up her magic and gave an icy roar that knocked them clear off the tower while the heart flew out of Twilight's grip.
"The Heart!" Twilight yelled in panic as Allura flew down towards it, "No!" She yelled.
Sunny gasped and then frowned, "Twilight, Sunset! You save the others and get the heart!" She told her fellow Alicorns, "I'll distract Allura!"
"What?! Sunny, you can't take her alone!" Sunset told her little sister figure.
"Don't worry, Sunset. I'm never alone." Sunny assured as she reactivated her Alicorn magic with a determined look. "Now go!" She called as she flew towards Allura, ramming into her as they twirled away from the Empire.
"Sunny!" Sunset cried out as she watched Sunny go.
"Sunset! She's right! Our friends are important! Let's go!" Twilight said as she flew down towards their friends as Sunset sighed, knowing that they were right as she flew down after Twilight.
The two alicorns then used their magic to catch their friends and put them gently on the ground, "Phew, thanks girls," Hitch said in relief.
"This is why, I like to stay on the ground," Misty said while trembling in fear.
"But it was thrilling!" Izzy cheered with a smile.
"Wait?! What about Allura?!" Zipp asked in panic.
"Don't worry, Sunny is after her." Twilight assured them.
"Wait?! Sunny went after Allura alone?!" Hitch cried out in huge panic. "SUNNY!" He cried in anxiety.
"Nice one, Twi." Sunset said with a dull look, which Twilight gave a sheepish chuckle.
"Wait, where's the heart?" Pipp said, looking around.
"There it is!" Izzy said, pointing to the heart on the ground, "Don't worry, I got-" Just before she could pick up, Twitch whizzed past her and snatched it, "Hey!" She said in surprise.
Twitch looked to the ponies, blowing a raspberry and shook his tail at them as he hopped away with the heart, "Bunny Bandit!" Zipp called out.
"After that Angel rip off!" Twilight screamed as the ponies chased after Twitch.
With Allura and Sunny, they crash landed at the edge of the Empire, Allura stood up and shook the snow off her fur while Sunny rubbed her head, "Ugh, that looked a lot more glamorous in my head," Sunny moaned.
"You foolish pony," Allura mocked as Sunny turned to her, "You think you can face alone?" She questioned.
"You caught me off guard back at Canterlot, but this time, I'm ready for you." Sunny said with determination as she prepared her horn and wings. "I've picked up a few tricks since last time."
"Oh yeah? And like what?" Allura mocked with a smirk.
"This." Sunny said as she suddenly vanished from Allura's sight.
"W-What?! Where did she-" Allura was cut off when Sunny appeared behind her and delivered a kick that knocked her back.
"A teleportation spell. A trick Twilight taught me." Sunny said with a smirk.
"Clever. But not clever enough." Allura said with a glare as her eyes glowed and she stomped her paws down, creating some ice shards that attacked towards Sunny, who took to the air to avoid them.
Allura then took flight and roared while Sunny gave a battle cry as they charged at each other with their magic.
Back in the Empire, Twitch ran with the Crystal Heart in his paws and the Mane 7 behind him, "Get back here, you little-!" Sunset demanded as they rounded a corner.
"Stop! Thief!" Hitch yelled with a glare as they each tried to grab him, but Twitch was faster and smaller as he managed to avoid them as they either crashed into the floor or bumping into each other.
"Slippery little bunny!" Zipp yelled with a glare.
"Don't let him get away!" Misty called out.
"Hold still, little cutie!" Izzy cried out.
"Give me that Heart!" Pipp ordered.
Twitch chuckled as he kept hopping around. "Okay, that is one tricky bunny to catch." Sunset said while out of breath.
"Alright, chasing him around all willy nilly is working," Twilight stated before smirking, "So we need to be smart."
"How?" Zipp asked.
"Whenever Angel tried to get out of his bath, the girls and I had a surefire plan to catch up, listen closely," Twilight said as they huddled close and she started whispering her plan to them, "Everypony got it?" She asked.
The others all nodded and muttered in understanding. "Okay, ponies, go!" Sunset called as they all separated and went off into separate directions.
Twitch kept holding the Crystal Heart as he tried to make his escape with a chuckle, but then Zipp landed in front of him. "Not so fast, little guy." Zipp said with a smirk, which Twitch skidded to a stop and went off to another direction.
Twitch kept running before Pipp landed in front of him next with a smirk. "Nope. Not gonna go this way." She mocked as Twitch yelped and started frantically looking around and went off to another direction.
But then, Izzy appeared with some carrots. "Want some carrots?" She asked cheerfully as Twitch gave a yell and went off to another direction. "Oh, guess he wasn't hungry." She said before she ate some carrots.
Twitch was then blocked by Misty next. "Sorry, hippity-hoppity. You're not allowed to go this way." She quipped as Twitch groaned in frustration as he ran to another direction.
But then Sparky and Hitch appeared with sunglasses. "Sorry, but you're stealing a powerful artifact from ponylaw." Hitch said with a smirk as Sparky babbled in agreement.
Twitch started to panic as he was about to turn around, but then he bumped into a couple of hooves as he fell to the ground and dropped the Crystal Heart as he looked up and saw Twilight and Sunset blocking him and giving him smirks. "Going somewhere?" Sunset questioned as Twilight picked up the Crystal Heart while the others circled Twitch, blocking his escape.
"We'll be taking this." Twilight smirked.
"And as for you," Hitch said, picking up Twitch while giving him a sinister grin, "Izzy, Bunny ballista please," He requested.
"Sure can do, Hitchy-poo." Izzy said with a smile as she gave Hitch an item that looked like a slingshot.
Twitch was then loaded into the Slingshot, with a helmet as Sparky pulled it back, "Mission control, this your captain speaking." Sunset said like a pilot, "We are ready for launch on your command."
"Copy captain." Twilight said with a smirk. "Commander Sparky, you're clear for launch." She said as Sparky babbled with a smirk while Twitch gave a nervous look.
"3… 2… 1…" Sunset counted down as Twitch sweated in fear. "Launch!" She called as Sparky let go of Twitch, which caused the bunny to go flying across the Empire with a yell as he vanished from sight as the group all shared amusing laughs. "Who knew you had a darkside, Hitch." She said before she realized what she said. "Uh, well, more tame darkside then when Misty's necklace showed, but still."
"Sometimes the balista's only way to keep critters in line," Hitch shrugged, "Never had to actually fire one out of it though."
"But, hey, at least we got the Crystal Heart," Pipp said as Twilight held up, "Now we just need to wait for Sunny and then we can Crystal it up around here!"
"We better go check on her." Sunset suggested as they rushed to where Sunny was fighting Allura.
Back on the snow field, Sunny skidded across the snow firing a magic laser from her horn at Allura but the leopard created an ice wall, blocking it before stomping her paws down, causing it to release an ice wave towards Sunny. Sunny gasped and flew upwards before Allura launched ice shards at her which the mare dodged.
"Stop flying!" Allura growled, chasing after Sunny.
"Stop freezing!" Sunny shot back before she fired a magic laser at Allura but she blocked it with her wing, "What the-?!"
"Is that all you got?" Allura smirked, "I should've expected as much from an Earth Pony. The weakest of all ponies," She mocked.
"Earth Ponies are as strong as Unicorns or Pegasi!" Sunny retorted with a glare, "And I'm not just an Earth Pony, I'm an alicorn!" She stated as she charged at Allura but she dodged and grabbed Sunny by the mane, "Ooh, the mane!" She winced before Allura threw her to the ground.
"Ha! I suppose Sunset Shimmer and the Purple Alicorn didn't teach you well enough," Allura taunted as she landed across from Sunny, "And while they parade as the true heroes of the realm you remain in their shadow, the fake alicorn," She sneered circling around Sunny.
"F-Fake Alicorn?" Sunny repeated in confusion as Allura laughed.
"Oh, please. I've seen how you summoned your 'wings and horn'. They're not even real." Allura taunted with a smirk. "Sunset and that purple alicorn can at least give me a challenge when they attack my lair to free your cheery unicorn friend."
"Y-You don't know anything about me!" Sunny told her, while feeling hurt by Allura's words.
"Don't I?" Allura asked leaning close to Sunny as she continued to circle her, "I've learned quite a good deal about you ponies during my time around your Maretime Bay," She said while looking up, "Sunny Starscout, a sweet, innocent little filly, trying to play hero to make her dear old daddy proud of her," She recounted while giving a laugh.
"Don't you talk about him!" Sunny warned with her wings out, feeling her anger rise.
Allura put a paw to her chin, "Hmm, you're right. From what you talk about him, a pony who does nothing but live in the past isn't worth the breath," She mocked as Sunny glared at her, "I can't imagine you would've gotten this so-called 'Alicorn magic' from him. Let me guess, it's from Mommy's side of the family, isn't it?" She questioned.
Sunny's glare intensified. "Allura, watch your mouth!" She threatened.
"Ooh, looks like I touched a nerve." Allura said with a vile smirk, "I can see all over your face, your mommy never cared about you and abandoned you. Perhaps she knew you were weak and she didn't think an imposter like you was worth raising to carry on her legacy. So she left you with a disillusioned weakling of a father who wasted his life chasing a time long forgotten." She sneered as Sunny's anger grew stronger as she panted in rage.
"Don't you dare talk smack my family, Allura!" Sunny threatened as Allura gave a laugh.
"Face it, Starscout! There's nothing you can do to stop me!" Allura called with a smirk as she secretly reached for something with her tail. "Compare to Sunset Shimmer, you are weak!"
"I. AM. NOT. WEAK!" Sunny roared as her horn glowed bright as it changed from yellow to purple and green as her eyes turned green with purple smog flowing out from them while her rainbow colors in her hair changed to black, green and purple.
Allura gave a victorious smirk just as Sunny released a powerful blast of dark magic right at her, Allura pulled out a crystal and aimed it at the blast as it absorbed the power into itself.
Not too far away, the Mane 7 saw bolts of dark magic flowing into the sky and skidded to a halt, "Um, what is that?" Misty said nervously.
"Wait, I know that kind of power." Twilight said in worry. "Sunny…"
"Come on! We gotta go now!" Sunset said as they ran faster to where Sunny was.
With Sunny, she continued to fire at Allura, pouring more and more dark magic into the Crystal. And though Allura was pushed back she held firm. Eventually Sunny ran out of strength, falling out of her alicorn form and fell to the ground.
Allura straightened up and looked at the crystal charged with Dark magic, "Finally." She smirked before taking flight and went off to find Twitch.
Sunny then woke up, her colors returning as she moaned in exhaustion, and saw Allura flying off while rubbing her head. "Wha, what happened?" She asked herself while rubbing her head.
"Sunny!" Sunny turned and saw her friends coming towards her as they crowded around her. "Are you okay?" Hitch asked in concern.
"What took you guys so long?! Allura almost had me back there!" Sunny stated with a frown as they were taken aback by her tone.
"Whoa, easy, Sunny." Pipp said with her wings raised. "We were having trouble catching her sidekick to get the Crystal Heart back."
"Also, you flew off after Allura without backup." Sunset pointed out with a look.
"Maybe because I thought I could do better than the legend who ran from home could!" Sunny snapped back as the other gasped in shock.
Sunset looked especially hurt by the comment, "Sunny," Sunset said with a frown.
Sunny realized what she said and shook her head and gave a guilty expression, "I-I, I'm sorry, Sunset. I don't know where that came from." She apologized.
"Sunny, did you use dark magic on Allura?" Twilight questioned with a frown. "I recognized that power anywhere."
"Y-Yes," Sunny answered shamefully, "I let Allura get to me. She saying all these nasty things about me not being a real alicorn, calling my dad weak and that my mom abandoned us. I was so angry and I, I lost control of magic." She said in regret.
The rest of the Mane 8 looked at Sunny in sympathy. "Oh, bringing parents into it." Zipp said with a look.
"That's low, even for Allura," Pipp said with a frown.
"Sunny, we can understand why you did it, but there's also another problem when using dark magic." Sunset said with a concerned frown. "It's addictive."
"Addictive?" Sunny repeated.
"Sunny, when you used Dark Magic how did you feel?" Twilight asked as Sunny thought for a moment.
"Well, when I sent all that magic right at Allura, I felt strong, like something I didn't know was holding me back was gone. I felt…good," Sunny recalled.
"Sunny, while dark magic can be used for some solutions, use it too much, you start losing sight of who you are." Twilight said to her. "I only used it once to open a path way to Sombra's lair to the Crystal Heart, and I tried to use it the second time to get an enchanting door to open, but it didn't work out well."
"And using that kind of magic can make you more aggressive. Less merciful." Sunset said with a concerned frown. "I learned that the hard way when I was consumed by corruption. And look what happened with Opaline as well when she let power go to her head."
"Opaline never understood real magic," Sunny reminded Sunset.
"But back then, she wasn't that crazy when I was a filly." Misty said to her. "Trust me, when I saw her get in touch with Dragon Fire the first time, it was like she became a totally different pony."
"And you do understand how real magic works, Sunny, it's why you were able to bring It back," Hitch told Sunny, "But if you continue to use Dark Magic, you'll betray everything your parents believed in." He said as Sunny looked down in sadness as she looked away in shame.
Sunset then placed her wings over Sunny. "Sunny, promise us you won't use dark magic." She said to her. "You can't let it take away the real you. Please, don't use it again."
"Trust me, one of my unicorn friends, Trixie, used to have a corrupted necklace, but it turned her evil." Twilight said with a frown. "Dark magic isn't something you can just control or use all the time. Which is why I only ever used it once, and never used it again. So please, don't ever use it, Sunny. For us."
Sunny looked at her friends for a moment, seeing their concerns as she took a breath. "Okay. I promise I won't use it again." She promised.
"We'll teach you how to have proper control of your magic to avoid using dark magic, Sunny. We won't lose you to the darkness." Sunset said with a small smile. "Besides, Allura doesn't know anything about you. You're every bit the Alicorn than me and Twilight are."
Sunny gave a small smile as she gave Sunset a hug, which she yelped as she giggled and wrapped her wings around Sunny as everypony else then brought into a group hug around Sunny. "Thank you, everpony. You're the best friends I could ever have." Sunny said with a small tear of joy.
"Now that that's taken care of, let's head back to the Empire and put the heart back." Twilight suggested as they all nodded in agreement and trekked back to the Empire.
As they walked, Sunny's mind remembered the power she felt from the Dark Magic and she remembered Opaline's words during their final confrontation at her lair. "You want power too. It's what all Alicorns want. I've watched you, you've reawakened all the magic in Equestria, and look at you. You got more of it than any of your friends." Opaline's voice spoke up in Sunny's head. "Tell me little pony, what is knowledge? It's power!"
Sunny shook her head to stop thinking about Opaline as she took a breather. "I don't believe you. I said it myself. I only wanted to protect my friends and unity." She said to herself before she looked unsure, "But am I strong enough to do that?" She wondered to herself.
In a craggy cold cave, Allura and Twitch regroup. Twitch rubbed his side while babbling in anger while shaking his fist. "I know, Twitch. I know. Those ponies are a nuisance." Allura said to her sidekick before smirking. "But, at least we know that Sunset Shimmer can travel across worlds without the Nova Charm." She added.
Twitch then gave a small smile and a nod, knowing that is true as Allura then took out the crystal filled with Sunny's dark magic while also making a drawing of the symbol Twilight showed on how Sombra was brought back. "And with King Sombra's help, we'll get it too." Allura said as she placed the crystal on the symbol and waited for a moment but nothing happened, "Why is nothing happening?" She asked with a frown.
Twitch walked up to the symbol and started tapping it to see if it would react, but nothing happened as he babbled with a confused shrug.
Allura growled. "After all that, nothing?! To think I listened to those ponies that this was the way to summon King Sombra!" She yelled as she smashed the crystal containing the dark energy into pieces.
But after breaking the crystal, it grew a darker version underneath the symbol as it glowed. Which shocked Allura and Twitch as they saw dark black cloud come out and then started to grow as the two backed away a bit as they looked and saw it taken pony form while green eyes with purple smoke and a red curved horn appeared before it faded as it gave a sinister chuckle as an ash gray unicorn, as tall as Allura, with a jet black mane, blood red eyes, armor and a crown appeared as he then howled with with laughter.
Twitch yelped and hid behind Allura while actually taking a couple steps back, practically feeling the power in the Unicorn, "Uh, uh, a-a-are you…?" Allura trailed off with uncharacteristic fear.
The unicorn simply smirked. "Yes. I am… King Sombra." He said with an evil tone in his voice as Allura and Twitch realized that their plan worked, way too well then their account, but they brought Sombra back. Sombra then looked around, "Where am I? What year is it?" He questioned.
Allura and Twitch looked at each other uncertainly. "Uh… no pony kept track of your era anymore." Allura said a bit uneasy before she took a deep breath. "But long enough after generations."
"Really?" King Sombra questioned as he leaned towards Allura, who leaned back a bit as he inspected her. "You aren't like any other creatures of Equestria I've encountered." He noted as Allura felt a bit uncomfortable.
"That's probably because I'm not from Equestria," Allura told him.
Sombra arched a brow, "Hmm, I have heard rumors of there being other realms beyond Equestria but I never believed them," He commented, "What is your name, creature?"
Mustering up her courage, Allura stood tall, "I am Allura. And I brought you back to help me find a rare crystal called the Nova Charm, and get revenge on a group of meddling ponies." She growled.
"And I care for vendetta, why?" Sombra questioned as he turned to leave.
"You will if I say the right words," Allura said to him.
"Pah and what words would those be?" Sombra scoffed.
Allura then smirked, "Twilight Sparkle." She revealed.
This made Sombra stop in his tracks as his eyes widened at the name of the very pony who defeated him. "Not possible." He muttered. "She and her friends are dust."
"Well, not all of them." Allura said with a smirk as Twitch watched as Allura walked towards Sombra with a sly smirk. "She has a new group of friends, and three of them are her old friends who defeat you. Does Spike, Discord and Sunset Shimmer ring any bells with you?" She questioned as she circled Sombra.
Sombra looked at her with a look as she circled him. "I do not know of this Sunset Shimmer character. But this Spike and Discord, I know very well." He said to her, "But, Celestia and Luna, the other Elements of Harmony, do they still live?"
"Oh, I've read the history books." Allura said while looking at her paws. "Those ponies are long gone. It's just those four from your time that remain. And well, of course you."
Sombra then looked away, "So, the real source of Twilight Sparkle's power is gone, along with anypony she knew." He said lowly, "Finally, I can finish what I started so long ago…but."
"But what?" Allura asked him.
"I made the mistake of assuming I had enemies beaten and it cost me dearly." Sombra answered, turning to Allura, "I can ill afford to make that mistake a second time. So perhaps I should heed Grogar's earlier advice."
"Grogar?" Allura questioned with a brow.
"The First Emperor of Equestria, the Father of Monsters, dethroned by Gusty the Great," Sombra explained to her, "He brought together myself and three other enemies of Twilight Sparkle, believing our combined power could defeat her but I rejected his offer, giving into my pride." He said before smirking to Allura, "But you, I see much of myself in you Allura. Tell me, do you enjoy taking the hearts and minds of those beneath you?" He asked.
"Why yes." Allura said with a smirk and a nod. "I used to love doing it back in the realm where I came from. Until those ponies took it all away from me." She said with a look.
"Ah yes, I think our interests align," Sombra smirked, "I believe you and I will work well together, Allura. But first, tell me everything you know of this Nova Charm, Sunset Shimmer, and these new friends of Twilight Sparkle," He told the Leopard.
Allura gave a smirk, as did Twitch, seeing that they finally have an ally and partner against their common enemies.
Back at the Crystal Empire, they are at the center of the kingdom as they were underneath the castle while Twilight was holding the Crystal Heart in her magic. "Well, are you ponies ready for this?" Twilight asked her friends with a smile.
"Ready as we'll ever be." Sunset nodded.
"Bring it." Zipp said with a smirk as the others nodded.
"Go on, Twilight. I believe this is your moment." Sunny said with a small smile.
Twilight smiled at them as she looked at the spire the Crystal Heart should be in. "Here we go." She said as she placed the Crystal Heart back in its original place, which then started glowing as it sparkled up. "Everypony, prepare to become Crystal Ponies."
"Wait, what?" Hitch asked before the Crystal Heart then gave off a huge burst of magic, which expanded across the entire Crystal Empire that melted all the snow away, freeing the kingdom from the buried snow, clearing the skies from the clouds and turning the Mane 8 to Crystal Ponies as they looked at their new forms and mane styles.
"Eeee! Oh my glitter, I'm stunning!" Pipp squealed in pure excitement as she took many selfies of herself with her phone with giggles. "This is way better than our Starlight Ridge look!"
"Whoa!" Misty looked at herself. "And I thought our crystal forms at Starlight Ridge were amazing."
"This sparkles to a whole other level!" Izzy cheered with pure excitement.
"Okay I gotta admit, this is pretty rocking," Zipp admitted as she looked at herself.
"Wow. I didn't think the Empire would do this to us." Sunny said with a smile as she turned towards Hitch and Sparky, in their crystal forms as she gave a light blush. "And you look pretty sharp, Hitch."
"And you look beautiful Sunny," Hitch complimented as Sunny brushed some of her hair back.
"So this is what being a Crystal Pony feels like." Sunset said with a smile while looking at herself. "Wow."
"Yeah, you get used to it after getting it twice." Twilight said with a small smirk before something else caught her eyes. "Ponies, look!" She pointed ahead as the Mane 8 then saw the crystal statues breaking apart as the shards then fell off, which freed the Crystal Ponies inside as they groaned and felt a little disoriented as they rubbed their heads.
"The Crystal Ponies are returning to normal!" Zipp called in amazement.
"They're breaking free from their hibernation!" Misty added with a wide smile.
"The spell is broken!" Sunny cheered.
Twilight beamed brightly as she saw the Crystal Ponies return to normal and gathered at the base of the castle, muttering and talking in surprise at their freedom and the sight of Twilight. "Is that Princess Twilight Sparkle." One of the Crystal Ponies spoke up.
"She freed us."
"Why is she so young?"
"Is Spike the Brave and Glorious still around?"
"She helped bring back the heart's magic."
"Who are those ponies?
"Is that an Alicorn?"
"I never saw them before?"
"Whoa, guys. We're practically celebrities now!" Izzy said cheerfully.
"Heh, now this is a different reaction from when we went to Starlight Ridge." Zipp commented with a smirk.
"Oh, my Pipsqueaks are gonna hit the roof when they see this," Pipp said, holding up her phone.
As Twilight looked at the crowd she heard a familiar sweet voice, "Aunty?" The mare's voice spoke up, which made Twilight perk up with her eyes widened as she turned and saw the crowd behind her moving aside to reveal a familiar Alicorn, her niece, Flurry Heart, alive and normal again like the rest of the Crystal Ponies.
Twilight slowly turned to her as her friends noticed it as they made room for her, knowing this was a family thing. "F-Flurry?" She muttered.
Flurry then moved up to her aunt, noting she was much shorter than she remembered. Fearful this was a trick, she had a way to prove it was her, "Sunshine, Sunshine," She started, doing a prance.
Twilight remembered this as she smiled and the two Alicorns got down and covered their eyes. "Ladybugs awake." They then sat up and clapped each other's hooves and then shook their tails to each other. "Clap your hooves and do a little shake." They chanted as they smiled at one another before they gave each other warm hugs.
"I-It really is you." Flurry said with tears coming out of her eyes. "I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you too, sweetheart." Twilight said with tears of joy coming out as well.
The rest of the Mane 8 smiled at the sight while Zipp gave a weirded out expression. "Uh, while I'm happy with the reunion, what was that?" She asked in confusion about the greeting they did.
"Oh, Twilight told me that was the greeting she and her sister-in-law used to do when they saw each other." Sunset said with a chuckle. "And looks like it's a genetic thing for them."
Sunny giggled. "Just like our secret hoofshake, Hitch." She said with a smirk.
Hitch gave a chuckle. "I suppose that's true." He said.
Twilight and Flurry pulled away as Twilight looked at her niece, "Y-you're so big," She joked.
Flurry giggled. "And you're so small." She joked back as she noticed Twilight's appearance. "You're just like what I saw you when I was a filly. What's with the classics? Feeling a bit too big to be Celestia's height?"
Twilight just laughed, "You always had your dad's sense of humor," She said in amusement.
"And you're still the same aunty. Heheh." Flurry chuckled.
"It's good to have you back, Flurry." Twilight said with a smile. "Allow me to introduce to my new friends who helped restore the Empire and you." She said as she gestured to the rest of her friends.
Flurry said the rest of the Mane 8 as she walked up to them, while also noticing Sunset. "A new Alicorn? And new friends?" She asked.
"S-Sorry. But, it's an honor to meet you, your majesty." Sunny said with pure excitement as she tried to keep herself from squealing.
"Nice to know we're not the only royalties anymore." Zipp said with a smirk as Pipp nodded.
"I am so posting that." Pipp said as she took a picture of Flurry, who flinched from the flash.
"What was that? A camera?" Flurry asked in confusion.
"Uh, not exactly." Twilight said with a sheepish look. "Flurry, there's so much you need to catch up on." She said as Flurry looked at her aunt in confusion about what she meant.
Later that evening, the Crystal Empire threw a grand celebration for its returns. All ponykinds were there, along with the dragons and Discord. The ponies talked among themselves, chatting, laughing and playing games, while the Earth Ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi showed the Crystal Ponies all the new devices and features of the new Equestria.
Meanwhile, the Mane 8, along with Comet, Queen Haven and Alphabittle were chatting with Flurry Heart, "Princess Flurry Heart, on behalf of Zephyr Heights, I Queen Haven welcome you back to Equestria," Queen Haven said while giving a bow.
"Thank you, Queen Haven." Flurry said while giving a bow in return. "I must be honest, I didn't expect Equestria to change so much since my kingdom last saw it."
"That's alright dear. Sunset had trouble as well until we helped her adjust." Haven assured her with a smile.
"Be grateful you weren't around when the ponies were divided." Alphabittle said with a chuckle. "Trust me, it was a rough time."
"It's true." Sunset said with a shrug. "I was lost and confused at first until I met my friends."
"When my aunt first told me about the division, I had trouble believing it after seeing how well Ponykind is going." Flurry said as she turned to the crowd of ponies having a good time.
"It worked out well." Sunny said with a smile as Comet walked up to Flurry Heart.
"I am so honored to meet an Alicorn who runs a similar hometown to Starlight Ridge." Comet said with an exciting smile. "Believe me, I thought the Auroracorns were the only crystal related ponies, but after seeing your kingdom and subjects, it's incredible." He said as he held up a cup of hot chocolate. "Coco?" He offered.
Flurry accepted the hot coco as she took a sip of it, which made her smile. "Wow. This is the greatest coco I've ever tasted." She commented.
"That's Comet's speciality with drinks!" Izzy cheerfully said with a smile.
"I bet mom and dad would've liked this too," Flurry said with a sad smile.
Twilight then placed a wing over her niece. "I know they would've, sweetie. I know they would've." She said with a soft smile, which Flurry returned.
"Hey, where's Spike?" Sunny asked, wondering where the Dragon lord was.
"Spike is being… mobbed right now." Twilight said with a look as Flurry giggled as they turned and saw Spike being crowded by a bunch of Crystal Ponies, happy to see their hero returned and amazed at how big he was.
"Now, now, don't push ponies. There's plenty of Spike the Brave and Glorious to go around," Spike told them with a smile as the Crystal Ponies cheered for 'Spike the Brave and Glorious'.
"Wow. You ponies weren't kidding that Spike was that famous here." Hitch commented in surprise.
"And here I thought he grew out of the hero shtick," Twilight said in slight annoyance.
"Let him have his fun, Twi." Sunset said with a smile. "He obviously missed the fame unlike the rest of Equestria who doesn't remember him."
"Well, after what you ponies have done today, I know the Crystal Empire will forever be in your debt," Flurry told the Mane 8.
"Thank you princess," Sunny said before remembering something, "Also, I've been meaning to ask but during the Division, the other creatures left Equestria to their own kingdom right?"
"They did," Flurry nodded. "Though some of them moved to new territory during the chaos."
"You wouldn't happen to know where those new territories would be?" Sunny asked her.
Flurry tapped her chin, "I think my parents kept records of where the other creatures could be. But the records are huge and my memory ain't what it used to be after being in a crystal hibernation for so many moons." She said while rubbing her head.
"With the Crystal Empire returned, I know we can encourage the other creatures to return to Equestria and make the Magic of Friendship stronger than ever," Sunny told her.
Flurry gave a small giggle. "You are just like my aunt, dear Sunny. No wonder you accomplished so much and gained your Alicorn status." She said, which made Sunny blushed a bit from the compliment. "Though if you're looking to bring creatures back, the closest kingdom from here is Yakyakastan, though I don't know if the Yaks still live up there after all this time."
"Still it's a good place to start and at least find out where they went." Sunny assured with a smile.
"Though word of advice, Sunny, Yaks are stubborn and a bit of a smash first ask questions later." Twilight said with a cringed look. "And trust me, they smashed my old castle with just a simple greeting."
"Can't be worse than going through a Dragon Lavarinth," Sunset commented.
"The yaks nearly declared war if they weren't satisfied, Sunset." Twilight said with a dull look as Flurry giggled, having been told of that story.
"Oh please, War, Shmar," Sunset waved off before she noticed Twilight's dull expression, which made her realize. "Wait, you're serious? Wow, you really must've offended them," She laughed a bit.
"More than you would think." Twilight said with a brow as they all shared a laugh as Twilight joined in as well.
Little did they know however, that three very unfriendly creatures watched their celebration from the cliff tops outside the Empire. "Oh, great. Now there's four Alicorns to deal with." Allura muttered in irritation.
"Princess Flurry Heart. Daughter of Princess Cadance, the last Ruler of the Crystal Empire," Sombra explained to her, "But don't worry, she'll be too busy catering to her subjects at every whim to care about us."
"You seemed unconcerned about this." Allura noted.
"I've been through this before. And don't worry. They may know about you, but they don't know about me. Which is why, when they least expect it, they'll be in for a deep surprise." Sombra said with a smirk as she looked at Sunset Shimmer. "That is Sunset Shimmer, the one who returned Twilight Sparkle, correct?" He asked.
"And the one who can travel across worlds, yes," Allura confirmed, "All this time I thought the Nova Charm was the only way to travel between realms, but to think one little pony is able to use it all on her own," She said as she stared hard at Sunset who was laughing with Twilight.
"Mmm, Alicorns usually have their own unique abilities. I know from experience." Sombra said while still keeping an eye on Sunset. "And one Alicorn capable of bringing back the dead, I am impressed by her skills."
"Though, you shouldn't drop your guard around that one either," Allura warned, gesturing to Sunny, "Trust me, for a fake Alicorn, she does indeed have power."
"Yes. The Earth Pony with the ability to summon her Alicorn form at will, intriguing." Sombra said while rubbing his chin. "And I can sense that she has a taste of Dark Magic,"
"So?" Allura asked with a brow while Twitch looked just as confused.
"The Power of Dark Magic is irresistible, once you've had that first taste you're never satisfied," Sombra explained with a smirk as he looked at Sunny, "All it takes is one pony out of the equation, and their Magic of Friendship is useless."
"Are you saying we try and turn Starscout into our side?" Allura questioned with a brow. "That's impossible for a pony like her to even consider it."
Sombra gave a chuckle as he turned to Allura. "Oh, Allura, my dear Snow Leopard." He said as he lifted his hoof and placed it under Allura's chin. "Even the purest of hearts can be tainted by a single drop of venom. Young Sunny has experienced Dark Magic once, she's going to want to feel that sensation again."
"And with every time she uses it, the more it will corrupt her," Allura realized what Sombra was saying as Twitch babbled in understanding, "So all we have to do is give her a reason to use it."
"Yes. And once she uses it enough, she'll learn the true power of magic." Sombra said with a smirk. "Let them have their victory. From this day forward, they will know true suffering." He finished, which he then starts his signature evil laughter, which Allura and Twitch joined in as the three villains plot to turn one of their enemies against her own.
End of Special 3.