This is the 3rd chapter. I don't own the series of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
Crystal Empire Part 2
My Little Pony, My Little Pony
Ahhhh
My Little Pony
I use to wonder what friendship could be
My Little Pony
Until you all share this magic with me
Big adventure,
Tons of fun,
A beautiful heart,
Faithful and strong,
Sharing kindness
It's an easy feat
And magic makes it all complete
You all have my little ponies
Do you know all your my best friends?
The Crystal Empire is slowly starting to get covered by shadows as they are approaching the town of the empire. King Sombra emerges out of the lightless expanse and he stops with only his head exposed and rears up with a low growling chuckle.
Back at the Crystal Empire castle of the balcony, the Elemental Masters, Twilight, Mario, Rainbow Dash, Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, Storm Hawk, Comet, and Daylight saw King Sombra and they all got worried looks.
"The Empire is under attack!" Shining Armor said, helping his wife get back on her hooves.
"You gotta have some power that can off Sombra, right?" Daylight asks her aunt.
"I don't know...but I can try." Princess Cadence grunts as Shining Armor gives her a quick nuzzle.
It got Princess Cadence in shape to fire up her horn again, re-establishing the forcefield she used to protect the kingdom. King Sombra, standing just outside the perimeter, utters a popeyed grunt of puzzlement and charges. The rising edge of the field slices off the tip of his horn, causing him to roar in pain. As the peaceful blue sky reappears, the severed fragment lands just inside the field and Princess Cadence totters on her hooves, braced by Shining Armor. The tips sinks into the ground in a small boil of purple and green magic.
"How long can she hold on?" Comet asks.
"Not too much longer is all I can say." Shining Armor replied to his nephew.
Comet then turns to his sister and his mother with serious look.
"We need to find the Crystal Heart and get it to the Crystal ponies before it's too late." Comet said.
"And we will." Twilights replied with a nod as Shining Armor walks up to them.
"I'll come with you two." Shining Armor said.
"No, you stay here with Cadence. She needs you, Shining Armor." Twilight said as Princess Cadence leans next to her husband, losing her balance while struggling. "Mario, Comet, and Daylight will retrieve the heart."
"Those kids, why?" Shining Armor asks, worried about them.
"They've been into a bad situations before, like with Discord, Lord Garmadon, Orochimaru, Kabuto, Oni, the Serpentine, and Queen Chrysalis." Mario reminded them. "We thought we can bring them with us."
Shining Armor nods with an understanding since their safety comes first and because of their experience with them. Mario narrowed his eyes before he turned to his friends.
"You guys think you can give Cadence assistance while we find the Crystal Heart?" Mario asked with determined look.
"You can count on us, bud!" Kai replied back to his friend with confident smirk along with his friends.
"Are you sure those kids can handle this?" Shining Armor questions as Twilight, Mario, Comet, and Daylight look at each other with determined smiles.
"You have nothing to worry about when they're with us." Twilight assures.
"And we can help them get the Crystal Heart and save the empire." Comet adds. "You can count it!"
All four of them gallop off with Rainbow Dash and Storm Hawk following them into the castle.
"Let's do this!" Rainbow Dash said.
"I've been trying to figure out how Mario and I meant to pass Celestia's test." Twilight told them.
"Should we really by worrying about that right now, sweetie?" Mario asked. "We've got more at stake than passing the test at the moment!"
"Test is an understatement, but this is more than a serious situation that involves trying to find the Crystal Heart!" Comet adds.
"I'm just saying, but you're right, retrieving the Crystal Heart must be it." Twilight said, turned to face Rainbow Dash and Storm Hawk who's overhearing with a confident smile on their faces. "But there is something else you two can do."
"Name it." Rainbow Dash and Storm Hawk replied.
"You and the rest of our friends have to keep the Faire going." Twilight instructed.
"What?" Rainbow Dash said in shock. "With that thing moving into the Empire?"
"The whole purpose of the Crystal Faire is to lift the spirits of the Crystal Ponies, so they can activate the Crystal Heart." Twilight explains, while they continued to make their way out of the palace.
"And for the non-geeks?" Storm Hawk inquires which Rainbow Dash snickered while Twilight glares.
"Basically, happiness and positivity of the Crystal Ponies kept King Sombra at bay." Comet clarifies.
"Also, if they find out King Sombra is coming back, then they won't have any power that we'll need to power the Crystal Heart." Daylight adds. "Which is why we need you to stall and entertain them."
Outside of the castle near the center of the town, Applejack and Apple Shine were still monitoring the fake Crystal Heart that Twilight and Comet put together and they partially uncovered it, but quickly whips the cloth back into place as a passing mare eyes it. Twilight, Mario, Comet, Daylight, Rainbow Dash, and Storm Hawk then exits the castle and stop.
"It won't matter if we find the Crystal Heart. They won't be able to make it work." Twilight explains. "You have to keep them happy here at the Faire."
"Keep the Faire going and the Crystal Ponies' spirits high. Done and done!" Rainbow said as she summarized while she and her son gave them a salute and flies off.
Shining Armor then calls down to the four of them at the balcony.
"Twily, Mario, Comet, Daylight, be careful!" Shining Armor.
"We will." Twilight replied.
"We'll be back with the Crystal Heart!" Comet said.
"Where should we start?" Daylight asks, but turns back to the tower. "Hmm..."
"Daylight, what's wrong?" Mario asks.
"I've been wondering, that if King Sombra hid the Crystal Heart inside of the castle." Daylight said. "I mean, would it make sense that he hides it inside somewhere that tall."
Twilight, Mario, and Comet glances at each other, but felt like she's on to something.
"I think you're on to something, sweetie." Twilight said with a smile.
"It makes sense because something that tall is a dead giveaway." Comet states. "What we wanna know is why wouldn't anypony find it?"
"Because he would've been counting on the fact that nopony would dare come looking for it." Twilight explains. "They'd have been too afraid to even try. However, thanks to Daylight's quick thinking, we know now that he's been hiding it in the castle and we're going to find it."
"Um, Mom, you might wanna re-think it. It's more like all the way to the top." Daylight points out, points at the top of the castle. "I can sense some faint magic up there."
"Same here." Comet agrees. "It must've happen when we got here."
"Hm, it's probably because both of your magics are advancing." Twilight states. "But we'll look into it later, let's go."
Twilight, Mario, Comet, and Daylight then gallops inside of the castle while Shining Armor and Princess Cadence trade a concerned glare.
King Sombra's horn which was at the entrance of the Crystal Empire falls into the ground and it continues to bubble with his magic, and within seconds a diseased gray crystal starts to sprout up as his soft growl is heard.
Meanwhile, the Crystal Ponies were continuing to enjoy the Faire as they were all gaining their original forms by doing activities such as ring tossing at crystals, eating crystal on the cob, and Rarity, Kronk, Spike, Flora Heart, and Golden Charm could be seen monitoring a stand that involved weaving some hay into some accessories such as bowls and other containers. As the vessel that she just created is levitated into full view of the onlookers, they come to life and eagerly move toward the counter. Caught slightly off guard from that, Rarity sidesteps to one end of the stand to get in the clear, just in time for Rainbow Dash and Storm Hawk to swing down and cup a hoof to her ear. Rainbow Dash then informs her, which made Rarity let out a worried 'Huh?!' which caught the attention of the other ponies that were at them standing, including Spike. Rainbow Dash and Storm Hawk then slowly flies away.
"I...just found out they're offering face painting for the little ones." Rarity informed the Crystal Ponies with a nervous laugh.
The news gets their customers happy again, and they head off toward this new attraction while Spike starts to back up. Now, Rarity whispers into Spike's ear behind a hoof.
"Uh-huh. We can do that." Spike replied, but then his own eyes bugged out when he heard the rest. "Twilight, Mario, Comet, and Daylight are doing what?!"
Spike immediately rushes off to catch up to Twilight, Mario, Comet, and Daylight. The Crystal Ponies at the weaving stand just gave puzzled looks at him rushing off and Rarity, Kronk, and Golden Charm tries their best to play off.
"They...really...love to get their faces painted." Rarity said, laughed nervously.
"Yeah, um...they really do..." Kronk adds with a nervous smile which Golden Charm chuckled nervously.
While the Elemental Masters help Rainbow Dash and Storm Hawk warn the others, Rainbow Dash zips up to a stand stocked with crystal flugelhorns and holds one up.
"Who wants a flugelhorn?!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
"I want a flugelhorn!" Pinkie Pie called out, much to her annoyance.
"Who else wants a flugelhorn!" Rainbow Dash shouted again, ignoring Pinkie Pie.
"I want a flugelhorn!" Pinkie Pie screams and threw a fit.
Skylar, who took notice, rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"You've already tried that! You're not doing it again, so quit your whining and get back to work!" Skylar said sternly, causing Pinkie Pie to flinch in surprise before she smiled sheepishly.
"Okay. Maybe I'll try another instrument that isn't right for me." Pinkie Pie said as she zipped away to get back to work and Skylar watched her unamusingly.
"I wonder how are they putting up with her." Skylar remarked.
Meanwhile inside of the castle, Twilight, Mario, Comet, and Daylight were searching all around the castle for the Crystal Heart, but no matter where they were looking there were no signs. Comet and Daylight then notices a hawk spirit is flying somewhere as the two foals follow it, which it got Twilight and Mario's attention as they follow the hawk.
"Where is it taking us?" Comet asks.
"I'm not sure, but we're about to find out." Twilight answered as the hawk spirit led them to the throne room. "A throne room? Why here?"
Suddenly, Comet began to grunt as his eyes went white and started to have visions. The visions showing him King Sombra took the Crystal Heart after turning the Queen into a dark crystal and shattered her, scattering the dark crystal all over in Equestria and causing a unicorn mare to flee from her home. Then, it shows King Sombra uses his dark magic to fire a beam into the pinnacle crystal. The darkness is enveloping the throne in a long shadow that stretches out, covers the board swath of floor, leaving a network of cracks and disintegrating one patch to expose a long spiral staircase that descends into the depths. As the visions has reached to an end, Comet lets out a grunt as he wobbles down, causing Twilight to catch.
"Comet! Are you alright?!" Twilight said with worry.
"Sort of...I'm seeing visions of King Sombra..." Comet groans in pain, rubbing his head.
"What do you see?" Mario asks.
"Wait!" The voice of Spike called out as they turned to see him running up to the four of them. "I'm coming with you four!"
"You can't. Mario and I have to retrieve the Crystal Heart by ourselves." Twilight said.
"I know. I promise I won't lift a claw to help you four." Spike said.
Twilight, Mario, Comet, and Daylight looked at each other with concerned looks and back at Spike, who crosses his arms to show that he promised. They sighed as they decided to let him join.
"Not a claw, Spike." Twilight said, then turns to her son. "Now, Comet, what do you see?"
"I'm seeing King Sombra took the Crystal Heart and turning the Queen into a dark crystal, then shattered her and scattering the shards all over." Comet explains. "Then, he went to the throne room, using dark magic to open the path below us. And if I'm right, the path will lead us to the tower."
Twilight, Mario, Daylight, and Spike widen their eyes in shock. Then, Twilight began to realize.
"Comet, you found our first clue into finding the Heart! It's right here!" Twilight said, then turns to the throne. "Look at the crystals at the throne!"
Mario, Comet, and Daylight did just that and looks hard at it before catching onto what Twilight was talking about.
"You're right, those crystals match the same ones that Princess Celestia showed us!" Mario exclaims as Daylight and Twilight hugs Comet, felt proud of the colt.
It was then Mario and Twilight remembered what Princess Celestia have told the two of her students.
"If the Empire is filled with hope and love, things are reflected across all of Equestria. If hatred and fear take hold..."
"Of course!" Twilight said.
"I get it!" Mario adds.
"Aargh! What?" Spike said with a pant. "Did you find it?"
"No! Because this isn't King Sombra's castle." Twilight answered.
"Well, isn't this where he lived when he was in power?" Spike asked, puzzled.
"Not exactly, Spike. It didn't look like this." Mario explains. "The empire were seeing right now is full of radiant and beautiful crystals, but when King Sombra took over, the crystals were dark and rigid."
"But didn't King Sombra use dark magic to turn this empire to something similar as Saruman's tower from Lord of the Rings movie?" Daylight questions.
"Some like that, though we'll have to inform Princess Celestia about it." Twilight answered with a ponder, but changes the subject. "Anyway, are you ready, Mario?"
"As always." Mario replied.
When Twilight and Mario walks up near the throne, they start up their horns effortless as always and then it glows began to darken as they concentrate harder and harder. With sweat running down their faces and their teeth clenched so tightly that they might shatter out of their mouths, the aura finally goes black and takes on the green-purple hues of King Sombra's spells. Wisps of purple smoke issue from their squeezed-shut eyelids as they finally lets one rip into the pinnacle crystal of the throne. It goes dark, enveloping the throne in a long shadow that stretches Twilight, Mario, Spike, Comet, and Daylight. It covers a board swath of floor, leaving a network of cracks and disintegrating one patch to expose a long spiral staircase that descends into the depths.
"Whoa!" Spike said, looked at the new passage. "When did you learn to do that?"
"That was a little trick Celestia taught us." Twilight answered, making Comet and Daylight worried.
"But, was that dark magic?" Daylight asks.
"No, we were using that by disguising out magic to look like King Sombra's, we were able to use our own magic to expose his illusion." Mario explains as both Comet and Daylight sighed with relief.
Spike peeks down the staircase and the looks of how far it was, gave him a loud, scared gulp. Twilight, Mario, Comet, and Daylight then starts to trot down the steps with her horn glowing to illuminate their way down. It takes Spike a few seconds and one very audible shudder to even get ready to descend, however it's disturbed once Twilight peeks her head back out for a second.
"You stay here." Twilight told him.
"If you insist." Spike shudders as Twilight, Mario, Comet, and Daylight heads down.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash, Storm Hawk, Applejack, Cole, and Apple Shine were standing guard on trying to get the ponies that wanted to inspect the heart away from the fake one. However, Rainbow Dash took her guarding skills a bit too far as she glares hard from side to side. Applejack, Cole, Storm Hawk, and Apple Shine looks confused after her, only to get bumped aside when Rainbow Dash lands alongside the country pony. Looking around the area, she spots an approaching stallion and gets in his face.
"What are you lookin' at?!" Rainbow Dash demands when the stallion got scared from that direct and sudden glare, immediately backs off as she crossed her fore-hooves. "That's what I thought!"
Applejack then yanks her tail back towards her with a nervous look while Storm Hawk flew in front of her mother.
"Uh, Mom?" Storm Hawk said nervously. "We're supposed to play cool and act like nothing's wrong."
"Exactly!" Rainbow Dash agrees.
Her next move is to plant her legs wide and snarl at a couple of nearby mares, spooking them into clearing out. Cole then taps a hoof on her shoulder.
"What he means is, maybe you should let us keep the Crystal Ponies away from the Crystal Heart while you show off your jousting skills." Cole clarifies in a hush tone.
"Huh. Seeing my awesomeness does have a way of putting ponies into a pretty good mood." Rainbow Dash said as she takes off, waved by Applejack.
"Thanks, Cole." Applejack thanked him, wiped her brow in relief.
"Anytime, Applepie." Cole said with a warm smile.
Applejack chuckled as they shared a loving nuzzle with each other while Apple Shine smiles and Storm Hawk just flies off to catch up with his mother.
Meanwhile, there was a small petting zoo that's monitored by Fluttershy, Winter Breeze, and Shenran as the ponies that were around, beaming at the ewes that were jumping and bleating. Fluttershy knocks the gate closed with a shepherd's crook and smiles at the ponies admiring the zoo before she gets surprised from Rainbow Dash shoving up against her rump to bulldoze her along.
"Come on, Knight Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash said, making Fluttershy drop the shepherd's crook.
"Huh?!" Fluttershy said, puzzled.
"It's showtime!" Rainbow Dash replied as the two are going to try entertaining the ponies.
It was a few minutes later that both Shenran and Winter Breeze arrived, carrying a large sack for the ewe to feed.
"Thanks for the help, Shenran." Winter Breeze thanked him. "I don't think I'll be able to do it on my own."
"No problem, it's what friends are for." Shenran replied with a smile. "I got the food for the ewes, Fluttershy. Fluttershy?"
"Mom?" Winter Breeze called her. "Where could she be?"
"Um, look low..." Storm Hawk said nervously, flying at the two.
Both Shenran and Winter Breeze noticed a feather on the ground, which made him growl. Aside from Mario, Fluttershy had also confided with him about her negative feelings over Rainbow Dash. While he knew they had settled things and he had befriended Rainbow Dash over the short time he had spent with her, but Fluttershy did mention that Rainbow Dash was still very pushy with her which he didn't like it at all.
"What are you forcing my girl this time, Rainbow Dash?" Shenran muttered sternly before he, Winter Breeze, and Storm Hawk flew off to find them.
While back outside of the castle, Applejack, Apple Shine, and Cole still stood guard with the fake Crystal Heart. A mare named Autumn Gem approaches them.
"How are ya feelin'?" Apple Shine asks, trying to make a casual conversation with her. "Havin' a good time?"
"The best I've had in over a thousand years!" Autumn Gem replied happily.
She tries to get a clear view of the Crystal Heart and Cole adjusts his head and body to keep her from getting a clear view of the sculpture.
"Well, that's good!" Cole answered. "Gotta renew that spirit of love and unity if you're gonna power up the Crystal Heart, right?"
"I sure would like to see it before the ceremony." Autumn said as she tried to look around Cole, but Applejack and Apple Shine blocked her again. "It's been such a long time."
Applejack then gets an idea to divert her from the Heart by fanning herself with her hat.
"Oh, I hear ya, but, uh...Phew! Gettin' a little toasty out here." Applejack said as Cole and Apple Shine plays along by fanning themselves. "Bet you'd like to cool off with a little Crystal Empire nectar!"
Autumn Gem ventures off toward a stand that Applejack pointed, but while she focused on that, a downcast stallion starts to get a bit too close for comfort. When he nudges at the edge of the covering, Apple Shine dives across to pull it down.
"Uh, you tried the Crystal Empire fritters yet?" Apple Shine suggested. "Made from a traditional Crystl Empire recipe! You're gonna love 'em!"
Apple Shine holds up a bowl of the said treats as the stallion brightens up from the aroma of how it smelled. Apple Shine then glances over her shoulder to see yet another mare coming from behind. Apple Shine throws the bowl, luring the stallion away before Cole gets the mares attention.
"Uh, I hear there's a jousting match about to start!" Cole said loudly. "You don't wanna miss that!"
With the mare well on her way, Cole backs off with a reassuring grin and Applejack was starting to get worried.
"Come on, y'all...these Crystal Ponies are more curious than a cat!" Applejack pleaded in a hush tone.
Meanwhile, the four ponies continued to head down the stairs, but it looked to be a long journey down than they thought.
"Geez, how far could he go down?" Comet asks, annoyed. "I know there should be an entrance down there, but this is ridiculous."
"He must've really hidden that Crystal Heart far down." Daylight adds, also annoyed.
"Yeah, hey Comet, Daylight, can you two call your animal spirits and see how low the staircase goes?" Twilight suggests.
"Well, guess we can try..." Comet said as he and Daylight calls out the owl spirit, using the eye vision to see how far the stairs go until they saw the end. "Way down..."
"...like 20 stories down..." Daylight adds.
It got both Twilight and Mario worried from that as they were so high up on the staircase.
"Spike?" Twilight called out.
"Yeah?" The voice of Spike replied.
"Can you see outside?" Twilight asked.
Spike hurries to one of the many windows and pulls himself up to its sill as the sky slickers between blue and wintry gray. King Sombra's growling visage glares at the castle from just beyond the border, and his deep, rumbling voice carries a sinister hiss.
"Yesss...Crystalsss..." King Sombra whispers with a hiss.
The tip of his horn, whose shadows spread to the two pillars flanking the road and start to turn them black from the base up. Spike gets shocked from that.
"It's not good!" Spike warned them. "Cadence's magic must be fading faster than before!"
"But that's impossible!" Mario shouted. "Cadence's barrier should've lasted much longer!"
"Her magic only lasted in days, remember? She won't hold it much longer!" Daylight remarked.
"She's right, now c'mon!" Twilight said.
And with that, Twilight, Mario, Comet, and Daylight throw their legs into a high gear, but one step crumbles beneath her hoof and she trips to fall down the center of the staircase, causing her to scream in panic.
"Mom/Twilight!?" Comet, Daylight, and Mario caried out.
Mario jumped onto the tower floor and caught Twilight in his fore-hooves as he held her in a bride's position.
"Mom?!" Comet called out when he and his sister made down the stairs, catching up with Mario and Twilight.
"Are you okay?" Daylight asks with worry.
"Yes, thanks to Mario." Twilight answered, gets down and hugs her kids.
"Are you guys okay?" The voice of Spike called out.
"We're fine!" Mario called back.
"Now we found the floor, where do we go from here?" Daylight questions as they look around the area before Twilight spots the door set into the wall.
"Right there!" Twilight said with a smile.
She then uses her magic to swing the heavy ring that serves as a handle. Instead of opening, though, the door whips itself to another side of the wall, surprising the four. Mario decides to try to move the door on the ring as well and it had the same reaction as it moves to a new location once again, which made Twilight, Mario, Comet, and Daylight confused.
"Of course, a door right out in the open wouldn't be that easy." Mario said with a sigh.
Comet and Daylight is starting to ponder, wonder how did the door move until the spirits warned them. Twilight then jumps toward the door, but it moved once again, causing her to face plant into the wall.
"Stop moving!" Twilight shouted as both Comet and Daylight decided to try glowing their horns and fires their magic at the large gem set at the peak of the door's arched frame and it swings open, exposing a blinding white light beyond and a spectrum of colors over the colors.
"Did you and your sister fired your magic at the gem?" Twilight asks, turned to her kids.
"We did, but this is normal magic." Daylight replied. "The spirits warned us about using Sombra's magic, and now we have a pretty good idea why."
"Care to tell us?" Mario suggests.
"We think what happened with the throne upstairs maybe the opposite of what we need. When you use the dark magic on the throne, it revealed a secret staircase since King Sombra's throne didn't look like it at the time." Comet explains.
"This cave looks exactly what King Sombra would've wanted, meaning that using the dark magic will only make it worse." Daylight adds. "And it's not only that, the door will also reveal your worst fears if using dark magic."
Twilight and Mario then widens their eyes, realizing why both Comet and Daylight used their normal magic to reveal the entrance. Then, they looked up and saw Spike running down the stairs in a fast pace until he reached the bottom to where they were.
"Spike! I thought I told you to stay up there!" Twilight berates him.
"I couldn't help myself!" Spike remarked. "You four were conversing so much down here and the stuff that you kept saying while you were down here making me both worried and curious!"
"Well, thanks to these two, we were able to figure where the Crystal Heart leads." Mario said, turns to the entrance.
A ledge somewhere on the exterior of the castle, at the base of a spiral staircase that winds its way around the main structure. Comet and Daylight opens the door, looks around before looking up and they then gives a wry smile.
"What's in there?" Spike asks curiously.
"A panda's worst enemy...Stairs. Lots and lots of stairs." Comet and Daylight answered.
Twilight and Mario couldn't help but chuckle as they come out through the door to see what they're talking about and they just give the exact same forced smile. She then looks over to Spike, who also comes out of the door. Comet and Daylight then looks up and noticed the bottom of the stairs as they thought of an idea.
"Mom, we've got an idea!" Daylight said with a smile.
"Really?" Twilight said.
Daylight then whispered to her mother's ear, telling her of the plan which Twilight looks at the bottom stairs, began to like the idea.
"Daylight, you and your brother are on to something." Twilight said, then turns to Mario. "Mario..."
She then whispered to Mario, who smirked.
"I've been wanted to try it out!" Mario replied eagerly. "Let's do it!"
Twilight then grabs Spike with her magic and places him on her back. Then, Twilight, Mario, Comet, and Daylight made the sounds of exertion as they made their horns glow. Suddenly, the four ponies and Spike were lifted into the air, turned over upside down and then began to slide down the underside of the stairs.
"Whoa. Whoaa! Yaaaah!" Twilight called out excitedly.
"This is amazing!" Comet and Daylight shouts.
"Yeeeeaaaaahh, baaaabyyyy!" Mario shouted excitedly as well as the four ponies enjoyed their ride down their own makeshift slide.
Back with Shining Armor and Princess Cadence on the balcony of the empire, her forelegs buckle under the strain, but she does her best to keep her spell going in the face of rumbling thunder and King Sombra's disembodied, diabolical chuckle. A flicker and the sky has gone dark so King Sombra can raise his head for a full laugh while the severed tip of his horn regenerates itself. The dark gray sky gives way to the unwholesome yellow-brown, and the shadows cast by the two roadside pillars extend across the countryside in parallel, purple-tipped trails.
At another location, a crowd of ponies at a small stadium were cheering as Rainbow Dash has put on some armor with a lance strapped to her flank. She lets out a cocky smirk, she is at one end of the competition field, standing to her right of the long, low fence that splits it along its along its length. Fluttershy then enters with the same amount of armor and as she walks up, she was voicing a couple of shuddery moans as the lance carries her almost up to vertical and down again.
The crowd's enthusiastic reaction stops Pinkie Pie in mid-silliness, and the sudden blue-to-brown hiccup in the sky does little to calm her unease. Grabbing up the flugelhorn lying beside her, she blows a fanfare and Rainbow Dash charges down the field. Sheran, Winter Breeze, and Storm Hawk arrived.
"Where in Equestria are those two?" Shenran said.
"Over there!" Storm Hawk said, points at the two ponies.
Shenran and Winter Breeze then tilted their heads and gasped when they saw Fluttershy, who timidly gallops ahead, keeping the wall to her right, and freezes with a shriek just before Rainbow Dash's lance tip makes contact. When Rainbow Dash strikes her, Fluttershy could be seen screaming and her lance following separate arcs through the air above the tents before she crashes down, making Shenran heart drop.
"Fluttershy/Mom!" Shenran and Winter Breeze cried out and headed over to her as the Crystal Ponies cheered while Rainbow Dash takes all the glory.
"Bravo, Knight Rainbow Dash!"
Rainbow Dash then goes up and smirks at Fluttershy who's fallen on a haystack.
"I-Isn't there...somepony else who could...take over the jousting demonstration with you?" Fluttershy asked nervously, causing Rainbow Dash to scoff.
"The fate of an empire rests on us showing these ponies a good time." Rainbow Dash remarked indignantly. "But, y'know, if that isn't important to you..."
The attempted psych-out has the effect of causing Fluttershy to sob quietly.
"Not cool, Rainbow!" Shenran said angrily. "What gives you the right to force Fluttershy to do something like this? I may not have known her as long as you have, but I know that she doesn't like doing these kinds of sporting event!"
"And you gotta remember, Mom doesn't like to be on a spotlight like last time!" Winter Breeze adds angrily.
"Well, we're kind of pressed for time!" Rainbow Dash protested. "Sometimes a pony has to be taken out of their comfort zone!"
"Maybe so, but that doesn't give you the right to force her out of her comfort zone, either!" Shenran retorted sternly. "Jousting is very dangerous and with the way you slammed into her could've caused a serious injury! And I'm not gonna stand here and let you do that to her again!"
"Shenran!" Fluttershy said as she raised her voice slightly.
Shenran looked back to see Fluttershy giving him a pleading look to stop fighting as he released a harsh breath.
"Sorry, Fluttershy." Shenran said before looking at Rainbow Dash. "I don't want to see you get hurt, especially by somepony who appears to be using you to inflate your ego!"
"Okay, okay." Rainbow Dash said, sighed loudly as she looked at Fluttershy. "I'll take it easy on you next time."
Fluttershy smiled before Rainbow Dash said something next.
"But not too easy!" Rainbow Dash continued, causing Fluttershy's eyes shrink to terrified points on these last four words. "I've got a reputation to maintain!"
However, neither of the ponies noticed the buildings behind them turning to jagged, dark gray crystal under King Sombra's influence. Shenran stopped Fluttershy.
"Forget it!" Shenran said. "I'll be the one jousting you this time!"
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes before she smirked.
"Fine!" Rainbow Dash snapped as she got into Shenran's face. "If you wanna be with my best friend, you're gonna have to go through me!"
"I don't need your approval to be with Fluttershy!" Shenran remarked indignantly.
"Then put your bits where your muzzle is, soldier boy!" Rainbow Dash taunted as Shenran glared.
"Don't think just cause you're a girl I'm gonna take it easy on you!" Shenran warned her.
"Bring it on!" Rainbow Dash challenged, but...
It proved Rainbow Dash wrong when Sheran strikes her and send her flying right into the pile of hay. The Crystal Ponies cheered as Shenran calmly waved at the crowd and took a bow.
"WAY TO GO SHENRAN! WOOOO!" Fluttershy cheered which it got his and Winter Breeze's attention.
"Oh, come on!" Rainbow Dash complained. "It took me forever to get Fluttershy to cheer like that for me!"
Storm Hawk then helped his mother up while Fluttershy flew over the top of him.
"Oh...sorry, Rainbow." Fluttershy said. "It's only because I love him."
Fluttershy froze as her face went deep red. Shenran and Winter Breeze were stunned as they looked at her, causing Fluttershy to give a light squeak as she tilted her head away. Shenran lifted a fore-hoof so they were looking eye to eye. Fluttershy was crying as she bit her lower lip.
"I...I'm so sorry..." Fluttershy sobbed. "I...it just slipped out...and I..."
"I love you too." Shenran said with a gentle smile.
That made Fluttershy giggle as Shenran dried her tears with a fore-hoof, then shared a kiss. Rainbow Dash then turned away from the sight and crossed her fore-legs with a pout. She felt jealous, so jealous that Fluttershy found herself a special somepony and she felt alone.
Meanwhile at the weaving stand, the stallion notices the spread of King Sombra's magic to a nearby building and reverts to his old listless self, but Rarity turns his head away from it and holds up a woven-hay scroll case to lift his spirits back up again. She, Kronk, and Golden Charm works at blinding speed to keep the ponies distracted as the dark influence continues to advance. As soon as they finished up their next item, it's struck from her grip by one of the several bolting ponies. She reaches under the counter of the craft stand, but can find nothing but a few loose strands and a flexible drinking straw. They grimaces at the sudden drying up of the raw materials.
At the town square, a few ponies have gathered around the covered fake Crystal Heart. Applejack, Cole, and Apple Shine had their hooves full, keeping the inquisitive group at bay. Rarity, Kronk, and Golden Charm, who pushes Flora Heart in a baby stroller, trots up through them.
"Excuse me, pardon me." Rarity said nervously as she, Kronk, and Golden Charm zips up to Applejack, Cole, and Apple Shine. "I am running out of weaving materials for the traditional crafts booth! I just made a hat out of three pieces of hay and a drinking straw! I made it work, but still!"
"We gotta do everything we can to keep this thing goin'." Applejack said. "The Princess isn't lookin' so good."
They look worriedly up at the balcony as the sky was fading in and out once again. Princess Cadence was getting exhausted by the minute as Shining Armor cradles her, while the Elemental Masters were still trying to help her.
"I can't imagine her magic is gonna last much longer." Cole points out, tried to remain optimistic. "It's gonna be fine. These ponies are gonna power up the Crystal Heart when the time comes, and we won't be needing her magic anyway."
"I sure hope that time comes soon!" The voice of Pinkie Pie said when they saw her and Rose Lotus, who plays her tambouring juggling flugelhorns on top of a beach ball. "Even we can't keep this party going forever!"
"And the dark crystals are spreading fast! We don't have much time!" Rose Lotus adds.
Pinkie Pie then suddenly loses her balance as she topples off the beach ball with a shriek, and one horn lands on her head while the others clatter to the ground. The ball goes airborne and bounces off the covered sculpture, knocking the cloth loose to flutter in the breeze. They stare in wide-eyed shock as it falls away and the substitute Crystal Heart tumbles to the pavement, knocked free of its pedestal. It lands in front of the dumbfounded ponies.
"You idiot!" Cole and Golden Charm said with a glare as Pinkie Pie laughed nervously, realizing her mistake.
"This isn't the Crystal Heart." Crystal Beau said.
"Oh, of course it isn't." Rarity said as she laughed nervously while Applejack, Cole, Kronk, and the foals smiled nervously. "The real one is-"
"On its way!" Applejack, Apple Shine, and Cole blurted out.
"I was going to say 'being polished' to buy us some more time?" Rarity retorted in a hush tone.
"Oops." Applejack said as they put on some sheepishly smiles on their faces, surrounded by an angry Crystal Ponies.
The ponies watch the sky hiccup, accompanied by King Sombra's grating chuckle and the Crystal Ponies flee in panic.
"Crystal Heart..." King Sombra said in a whispered tone.
Meanwhile, Twilight, Mario, Comet, and Daylight were having the time of their lives, enjoying themselves while Spike hung onto her for dear life.
"Whooooohahaha!" Twilight and Mario cried out happily.
"This is amazing, Mom! We might be able to get the Crystal Heart in no time!" Comet said.
"Well, it turns out we were prepared for this!" Twilight told her son.
She, Mario, Comet, and Daylight laughed as they reached the end of the slide. They flipped themselves and Spike right side up again as they landed on the floor below with a hard thud. Mario, Comet, and Daylight regained their focus and chuckled.
"Wow, that was fun." Mario said with a chuckle as Twilight giggled.
"You kids alright?" Twilight asks as she stood up.
"Super-duper, Mom." Daylight answered with a chuckle.
"Let's do that again!" Comet said.
Once they recovered, they look and saw a small and shiny object that was sky blue and in the shape of a heart. It was the relic that they're looking for this entire time, Crystal Heart.
"Is that...the Crystal Heart?" Comet said in awe.
"It is." Mario answered when Spike gestures for Twilight to go and retrieve the relic. "Okay, first we need to figure if...Twilight, NO!"
But it was too late when Twilight touches a hoof to the starburst, its background goes black and begins to pulse with light as the alarm went off.
"Oh no, it's a trap!" Daylight said in panic.
Outside of the Crystal Empire, King Sombra senses this alarm as he lifts his head, surprised, and starts a spell going with a growl.
Up on the top of the tower, the floor responds by sending up a ring of high, jagged black stone spikes to fence Twilight in, and the Crystal Heart is flung up and over them when she tries to jump for it. Comet catches the Crystal Heart and Spike, Mario, and Daylight stays where they were with worried look. King Sombra's mocking laughter grinds the air as Twilight's eyes flick back and forth across her prison.
"Mom, are you okay?" Daylight called her mother.
"I'm fine." Twilight replied. "But where's the Crystal Heart?"
"With me, I caught it when it flung in the air." Comet answered.
Twilight then uses her magic to try and teleport out of the black crystal prison, but as soon as she made it out, King Sombra's dark magic pulled her back into her prison.
"Twilight, that crystal is harder than a diamond!" Mario warned her uneasiness.
"This is all my fault." Twilight said sadly, tried to push her way out. "How could I have been so foolish? I was just so eager to get it! Then when I saw what was going on outside, I..."
"Mom, it wasn't your fault! Neither of us knew this would happen!" Daylight shouts.
"She's right, sweetie. You were desperate to get it." Mario adds.
"We still have the Crystal Heart." Comet told his mother. "We'll bring it to Aunt Cadence!"
"WHAT?!" Mario exclaims in shock.
"Okay, but hurry and be careful." Twilight said. "King Sombra is already attacking the Crystal Empire and it won't be enough time for me to escape."
And with that, Comet levitates the Crystal Heart as he and his sister dives over the edge to land on another platform on the tower and deadly sharp facets lace up through the patch where they were standing. Mario and Spike begins to follow them, helping the foals out. The dark crystals quickly grow at crazy angles to fill nearly cubic inch of the elevated observation post, even tearing through part of the roof.
Down below at the balcony of the castle, the other ponies and the Elemental Masters stood along with Princess Cadence and Shining Armor trying their best to reassure the Crystal Ponies as assorted noises of panic are heard from the crowd.
"Now, don't y'all worry your pretty, little Crystal heads!" Applejack said as she and Rarity waved at them. "The real Crystal Heart will be here any second!"
"I don't know if they believe you..." Cole pointed out in a hushed tone.
"Don't know if I believe me." Applejack remarked honestly.
Princess Cadence struggles to keep her spell going with one last spasm, but the final flecks of magic waft away from her horn and the blue sky takes itself apart in no time flat. Behind it are the sick yellow-brown hue and rolling shadows of King Sombra's onslaught. Down in the square, ponies stare wordlessly at the quick charge.
"He's back! I can't take it!" Sapphire Joy shrieked.
She gallops away with a cry, but runs headfirst into a menacing black rock formation and looks up to see King Sombra snarling and glaring down at her from a cleft of it. She drops onto her belly.
"King Sombra...!" Sapphire Joy said.
King Sombra then rises to show his entire head to all of the Crystal Ponies.
"My Crystal slaves..." King Sombra said evilly.
The Elemental Masters then growled and ready for a fight.
"We can't win this fight, not after what happen to Shining Armor." Morro warned them sternly.
Back at the near top of the castle, Spike, Mario, Comet, and Daylight were trying to find a way down. Spike spit some fire as he tried to avoid the ever increasing number of the black crystals as Mario grabbed him and he and the two foals held on the ledge. Spike held on to Mario, who jumped toward a tall structure with a narrow and twisted path along with Comet and Daylight.
"Hey! Up here!" Spike called out.
"We got it!" Mario, Comet, and Daylight called them which it got their attention.
"Spike?" Rarity called out as Applejack and Pinkie Pie looked up.
"Comet? Daylight?!" Storm Hawk called out as well.
"Is that what I think it is?" Lloyd said as Fluttershy put a fore-hoof to her mouth in shock.
Shining Armor looked up as well as the rest of the group looked worried.
"We got the Crystal Heart!" Spike called out loudly which King Sombra sees this and gets an angry look.
"That is mine!" King Sombra said as he pours himself into the ground, creating a huge black splotch that begins to work its way toward the castle, more lethal crystal hazards popping up along the path.
As they wait and watches tensely, Mario, Spike, Comet, and Daylight hurries down the winding, uneven flight that used to be the spiral staircase. King Sombra's rising growl accompanies a long fissure that snakes through the square, along with the spikes that erupt along its course as his head forms from the shadows the point of one of these. Mario throws out some kunai while both Comet and Daylight fires the spirit arrows, but he deflects them easily. However, it causes them to lose their balance and the Crystal Heart as they began to fall.
"Spikey-wikey!" Rarity cried out.
"Mario!" The Elemental Masters cried out as well as the rest of the group cringed.
"Comet! Daylight! No!" Shining Armor cried out, watching them falling.
He then thought of an idea as he puts his wife on his back. Princess Cadence's eyelids flutter opens long enough for the falling Crystal Heart to reflect in her pupils, and notices her niece and nephew falling which it got her worried and determined to catch them. She then spreads her wings to full extension, while King Sombra's shadowy form finally becomes normal for everypony to see again.
Spike, Mario, Comet, and Daylight free-falls after the Crystal Heart and King Sombra runs his tongue over his fangs, anticipating a good meal of the mineral, dragon, or the ponies. Comet and Daylight were able to use their magic to grab hold of the Crystal Heart. Shining Armor stands up on his hind legs and hoists a newly resolute Princess Cadence overhead in his forelegs, and hurls off the balcony with all his strength. King Sombra's feral smile widens a bit, carried even closer to a midair grab, but before he can lay a hoof on his target, Mario teleports himself while Princess Cadence flashes across and collides with Spike, Comet, Daylight, and the Crystal Heart, much to his dismay.
The impact has left Spike sitting on her back while Princess Cadence holding onto Comet and Daylight with her fore-legs, and the Crystal Heart sails just in front of them thanks to her magic. Her horn is energized again, and her low pass over the crowd prompts more than a few murmurs.
"Behold! The Crystal Princess!"
Princess Cadence lands squarely on top of the fake heart, shattering it and both Comet and Daylight landed on the ground.
"The Crystal Heart has returned." Princess Cadence informed them. "Use the light and love within you to ensure that King Sombra does not."
Princess Cadence sends the Crystal Heart flying across the square to stop above the center of the giant snowflake set into the pavement, which starts to glow. A stalactite and stalagmite materialize here as well, so that the Crystal Heart ends up suspended between their points. One after another, the dull-colored Crystal ponies take on their crystal appearances they manifested, and they bow to Princess Cadence as a blue-white glow spreads under their hooves.
"What?" King Sombra said in shock. "No...No! Stop!"
The energy in the roads that the Crystal Ponies put in run throughout the empire. The energy retracts into the Crystal Heart, which becomes a stationary spinning blur and throws a wave of light over the crowd. As the ponies stands up, Princess Cadence, Spike, Comet, and Daylight take on an appearance similar to theirs, followed by the Mane 7, the Elemental Masters, Shenran, and the foals on the balcony.
Far above, the radiance shatters the impenetrable forest of black crystal jags that has overgrown the observation deck, restoring its normal colors. A newly crystalline Twilight is left suspended above the floor starburst. She settles down onto it and looks herself over wonderingly, while Mario teleported behind her which it got her attention. Mario and Twilight then shared a loving embrace.
"Oh Twilight." Mario said as they broke the hug, mesmerized by her appearance. "You are a beautiful crystal pony."
"Well, you're a handsome crystal pony yourself." Twilight said with a giggle, shared a quick kiss and smile with each other.
King Sombra can do nothing but roar in fury and anguish once it reaches his perch, obliterating both it and him in one mighty flash. The lightless murk retreats to the outer edge of the empire's territory, and the castle comes alive with a brilliant glow and discharges a beam into the diseased brown sky. This blast is enough to restore the tranquil blue and sent multicolored streamers of light snaking in all directions, similar to aurora borealis.
The phenomenon is visible as far as Ponyville and Canterlot as Princess Celestia and Princess Luna look far out at the light snow. Princess Celestia smiles gently and inclines her head towards an uneasy Princess Luna, who returns both the smile and the gesture so that their horns cross.
The Crystal Empire now completely free of King Sombra's taint and has the energy still pouring up from the castle. Princess Cadence lands on the balcony with Spike, Comet, and Daylight hopping off her back before Shining Armor races over to wrap her up in a huge hug, and she waves to the cheering ponies gathered in the square below. Spike, Comet, and Daylight flicks their eyes upward for a moment to see Twilight and Mario looking down at them.
"Good job, Spike." Twilight said softly. "You too, Mario. And same to my kids."
Few hours later, the entire Crystal Empire had fully revived and rehabilitated streets with plenty of ponies going happily about their business. The aurora lights still radiate in all directions from the castle's pinnacle. The Mane 8 and the 7 foals with their normal appearance along with Shining Armor and Princess Cadence were then seen on their way out through the snow around the empire.
"I do so wish it was permanent." Rarity said, lamenting over the fact the crystal transformation was only temporary. "Did you see how my mane just absolutely sparkled?"
"Aye, you said it like dozens of times already." Golden Charm groans in annoyance. "Would you please stop mentioning it? It's making my ears bleed."
"Tell me about it." Comet, Daylight, and Storm Hawk agrees in annoyance.
"But I can't help it! It's just wishful thinking." Rarity complains.
"But...good things are better when they're a 'rarity'." Applejack said, giving her a wink and Rarity couldn't help but laugh at the joke. "But just to Mario and don't get into trouble next time when you face punishment from him, Rarity. Okay?"
Rarity winced before she smiled nervously. Shenran and Fluttershy then shared a tender hug with each other.
"Until we meet again." Shenran said sweetly as he held her fore-hooves. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Fluttershy said in a same tone and smiled. "I'll come back soon and I'll keep writing to you."
"I'll do the same." Shenran said as he kissed her cheek, making her giggle before they reluctantly separated.
Shenran tried to be strong, but he couldn't help letting a small tear escaped his eye. Cole and Applejack hugged each other tenderly.
"I'll be seeing you soon, sugarplum." Cole said sweetly as they shared a loving kiss.
"Same to you, sugarcube." Applejack replied back, smiled sweetly before she went to the train.
Shining Armor and Princess Cadence were walking alongside with Twilight, Mario, Comet, and Daylight as they arrived at the train station. Both Mario and Twilight were worried.
"You two really had us worried back there." Princess Cadence scolds the two foals. "It was reckless, what if something happened to you if King Sombra ever caught you two?!"
Both Comet and Daylight looked away, feeling guilty for making their aunt, uncle, and their friends worried. Of course, Princess Cadence is planning to give them an earful after walking them outside the Crystal Empire.
"Just don't ever do that to us again!" Princess Cadence said, then hugs them. "We thought we'd lose you both, and I won't forgive myself if that happens."
"Cadence, I'm sure they get it." Mario assures her. "You and I both know there's bound to happen."
"Maybe so, but I am still worried of their safety if it happens again." Princess Cadence said sternly, but Shining Armor places a hoof on her shoulder. "I may be a princess, but I'm still an aunt to my two little treasures."
"Everything's going to be okay." Shining Armor assures them. "You four gotta stop saving my rump like this. It's starting to get embarrassing."
Shining Armor was only teasing as Twilight sheepishly looked away while Mario, Comet, and Daylight playfully rolled their eyes.
"It wasn't me who saved you in the end." Twilight reminded her brother. "It was Spike, Mario, Comet, and Daylight."
"We didn't have a choice." Mario added.
"If we know Aunt Celestia, I'm sure she'll understand." Comet told them which made Twilight shocked.
"W-What did you call her?" Twilight asks.
"Aunt Celestia?" Comet answered, confused. "Why?"
"I told Comet and Daylight about it." Princess Cadence said.
"And besides, it's just a test." Shining Armor said.
"That's what we said." Daylight remarked as she and Comet chuckled, earned a playful glare from Twilight.
"Oh, really?" Twilight said, using her magic to throw snowballs at her children as she laughed.
Daylight and Comet glared at their mother, but glance each other with a smirk as they conjure a snowball and throws it right at Twilight square in the face, laughing. It got their attention, watching Twilight, Mario, Comet, and Daylight throwing snowballs at each other as they started to laugh. Shining Armor and Princess Cadence couldn't help but chuckle a bit, but the snowballs hit them right in the face as Comet and Daylight cringes.
"Oh yeah?" Shining Armor said with a playful smirk, wiping the snow off. "Two can play that game."
"You four are asking for it." Princess Cadence adds with smirk as she uses her magic to conjure snowballs.
"Uh oh!" Comet and Daylight said, widens her eyes.
"Take cover!" Mario shouts as they conjure a wall of snow to block the snowballs while throwing snowballs.
They're cheering on both sides while watching. Poor Spike was able to avoid the snowballs while Comet got hit in the face by a snowball and Daylight throws the snowball right at Mario.
"Bullseye!" Daylight shouts cheerfully while Comet shakes off the snowball.
"No outside force can stop us now!" Shining Armor states with a smirk, but earned a snowball in the face.
Twilight and Mario threw the snowball right at the two kids, but they're able to quickly dodge and throw the snowballs right back at them.
"You kids should give up! Do that and we'll show you mercy!" Princess Cadence suggests with a playful smirk.
"Never!" Comet cried out as he and his sister fires a couple of snowballs at the four adult ponies.
Rainbow Dash, Storm Hawk, Applejack, Apple Shine, and Pinkie Pie couldn't help but laugh. Both Comet and Daylight then conjure up a bigger snowball as he threw at their family, but Twilight conjures a barrier as it buried them. It got both Comet and Daylight worried, hoping they didn't go overboard as they rush to the snowball, hoping their alright. Then, Princess Cadence and Twilight merged out of the snowball and lunged at Comet and Daylight.
"Got you." Princess Cadence said as she and Twilight started tickling the two foals.
Mario and Shining Armor merged out of the snowball while they're watching Princess Cadence and Twilight tickling the foals.
"Hey...No fair!" Comet laughed as Princess Cadence and Twilight continued tickling their ribs.
"Cootchie-cootchie-coo!" Twilight exclaimed cutely as she continued to tickle Daylight, who couldn't stop laughing.
"It seems they're ticklish." Shining Armor said with a chuckle.
"Mom! Aunt Cadence! St-Stop! Please! Stop!" Daylight said while laughing.
"What's that? You want me to keep going?" Princess Cadence asks, now tickling their hooves with her feathers.
"No! No! Stop!" Comet giggled.
"Okay, that's enough. Let them breathe." Mario said, decided to stop them.
Princess Cadence and Twilight then giggled as they stop tickling them and hugging them.
"But, are you sure she'll understand?" Twilight asks, feeling uneasy. "I doubt that she would even let alone let us retake it."
"We're sure." Comet replied. "Aunt Celestia is definitely understanding...but we still hope you two pass in some way.
At the Canterlot royal palace, Twilight and Mario had gone in to meet with Princess Celestia once more and outside, Spike paces in front of the ground-floor entrance, Rainbow Dash and Storm Hawk hovers at the bottom of the balcony stairs, Applejack and Pinkie Pie sit together on the grass with the latter biting her front hooves as the former tries to comfort her, the foals were waiting hopefully Twilight and Mario pass the test, and Fluttershy and Kronk keeps an eye on Rarity, who fainted. Spike then starts to hyperventilate at the immense worry that he was feeling.
"Keep it together, buddy...gotta stay strong...for Twilight...for Mario..." Spike said.
Inside of the castle, Princess Celestia is seen looking out of the window at the distant aurora.
"It's beautiful." Princess Celestia remarked at the sight.
"I wish it had been me and Mario who ultimately made it so." Twilight said. "But it wasn't. He did it with Spike, Comet, and Daylight."
"Twilight, as I understand it." Princess Celestia said with a smile, approaching the two ponies. "Spike, Mario, Comet, and Daylight brought Princess Cadence the Crystal Heart because you weren't sure how quickly you could find a way to escape the tower. Neither of you were willing to risk the future of the citizens of the Crystal Empire in an effort to guarantee your own."
Both of them then look to see a mural of Mario, Spike, Comet, and Daylight throwing the Crystal Heart up to Princess Cadence, who hovers surrounded by the silhouettes of several ponies.
"Far better that I have two students who understands the meaning of self-sacrifice than one only looks out for their own best interests." Princess Celestia continued as both Twilight and Mario looked at each other, surprised before they get huge smiles.
"Does this mean?" Twilight asked anxiously.
Spike was still outside hyperventilating as he still paces back and forth worriedly.
"They're totally gonna lose it!" Spike said as he breathed heavily. "Keep it together, buddy...you gotta stay strong...for Twilight and Mario...!"
One of the double doors swings open, pushed by a violet hoof, and catches him dead in the face. The rest of the ponies are too stunned to say a word as Twilight and Mario stood for a second before they jump out ecstatic.
"We passed!" Mario and Twilight announced.
Everypony cheers as Spike, Comet, Daylight, and Apple Shine hugs both Twilight and Mario in complete happiness and the ponies go and up and give a group hug. After the excitement, Rarity starts a musical number.
Rarity (Sings):
You were prepared to do your best
Had what it takes to pass the test
All those doubts you can dismiss
Turns out you were
The Mane 6 and the 6 foals (Sings):
Prepared for this!
As they all walk off, Applejack lays a foreleg over Twilight's shoulder.
Applejack and Apple Shine (Sings):
You clearly have just what it takes
Pinkie Pie is then seen balancing on stilts alongside Applejack and Apple Shine while Rose Lotus walked alongside with them.
Pinkie Pie and Rose Lotus (Sings):
To pass a test with such high stakes
Fluttershy and Winter Breeze flew over to the group from the right.
Fluttershy and Winter Breeze (Sings):
We knew for sure you would prevail
Rainbow Dash hovered above, reclined lazily on a cloud and Storm Hawk flies above her.
Rainbow Dash and Storm Hawk (Sings):
Since when does Twilight or Mario ever fails?
They all march out of Canterlot single file with Applejack leading the way and Twilight and Mario at the back as the other ponies sing together. They were then seen walking in a V-shape with Twilight and Mario in the middle.
The Mane 6 and 6 foals (Sings):
All these doubts that you can dismiss
Trust yourself and you cannot dismiss
Applejack, Apple Shine, Pinkie Pie, Rose Lotus, Rarity, Kronk, Golden Charm, and Comet (Sings):
Turns out you were
Mario (Sings):
Turns out I was
Rainbow Dash, Storm Hawk, Fluttershy, Winter Breeze, Spike, and Daylight (Sings):
Turns out you were
Twilight (Sings):
Turns out I was
Rarity (Sings):
Turns out you were
The Mane 6 and the 6 foals (Sings):
Prepared for this
They were then seen leaving on a train with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna watching. After a short glance at her sister, Princess Luna conjures up a book with a pattern of stars and swirling lines on its cover, and both nod in an unspoken agreement before turning to watch the train again.
Mario, Twilight, Comet, Daylight, and Spike were then seen on the train on their way home.
"Yeah, I knew everything was going to be fine." Spike said with a nervous laugh, then sighs and lays down in exhaustion.
Twilight and Mario just exchanged smirks with each other and then a loving nose nuzzle. They're just glad the test is over and their love for each other had grown stronger.
Unknown to them, Lord Garmadon was watching everything of what happened. He narrowed his eyes a bit before smirked.
"Well, that may be true." Lord Garmadon said with a sinister smirk as he got up from his throne and walked down the stairs before he stopped in the middle of the room. "But the real challenge will be more intensified for those two little ponies."
"My Lord." Kabuto said, approaching Lord Garmadon and bowed him in respect, presented the broken black crystal. "We have found one of King Sombra's black crystal."
"Excellent." Lord Garmadon said, commended him as he took the dark crystal and her it. "With King Sombra's magic crystal, I'll use it to Twilight's children and use dark magic on him to fully possess those kids and taking the Crystal Heart. But first, we need to find the Serpentine Staff and we will use the Great Devourer as the last resort."
That's for the 3rd chapter.