The Return of the Empire

Chapters

Chapter I – Celestia’s Concern (Prologue)
Chapter II – Interrupted Celebrations.
Chapter III – A Promise to a God
Chapter IV – Reunion of Friends

Chapter I – Celestia’s Concern (Prologue)

Chapter I – Celestia’s Concern (Prologue)

A group of soldiers trudged through the snow in a two line formation with one at the front, they had been marching for a good hour or so on a routine patrol in the frozen north between Equestria and the long since gone Crystal Empire. Nothing was left here save for a few towns that had become a part of the Equestrian Kingdom many years ago, the snow whipped around the legs of the soldiers as it blew harshly at them, chilling them to the bone despite their magical enchanted under layer of clothing that did its best to fill them with warmth.

“Damn its freezing!” One of them cried loudly over the wind so he could be heard.

“Quit your whining Private.” Another snapped back.

“But sir, why are we doing this stupid patrol anyway? There’s nothing here save for snow, snow and guess what? MORE snow.”

The stallion in front sighed and stopped raising his hoof up signalling for the others to stop as well; as they did he turned round and prodded the chest of the Private who had spoken.

“Because Private, Princess Celestia herself requested this patrol and it doesn’t matter where you are on the border of our Kingdom danger still lurks there, and as for why you are here personally, you were caught sleeping on duty!” He barked.

The others in the patrol snickered as the Private grumbled to himself, the lead soldier turned back around and began to move, signalling the others to follow suit. They carried on marching for a few more minutes before a different soldier could just make out what seemed to be an approaching snow storm.

“Sergeant! I think there’s a snow storm approaching!” she called out.

The leader stopped and looked back, seeing the soldier pointing to her right he followed the direction and squinted his eyes, sure enough there was an approaching snow storm. He let out a disgruntled sigh.

“This is why I hate the north…” He muttered to himself. “Alright, take positions!”

At his command, the patrol huddled close together and the three unicorns in the group cast a simple shield spell around the group. They waited as the storm came closer and closer and soon was billowing all around them blocking their view of anything, this didn’t worry them as they were carrying an enchanted compass that was specifically enchanted to navigate the harshness of the North’s cold weather. The sergeant tapped the compass to his chest armour to make sure the arrow was working, satisfied that the compass was working; he and his group began to proceed on their original pathway the shield keeping the snow storm from battering them about.

As they carried on, the sergeant noticed something was off as the snow storm began to darken around them. He raised his hoof up and once again stopped the small patrol that looked at him in confusion.

“Sir?” One of them asked?

“Something doesn’t feel right…” He muttered in reply.

Suddenly the shield began to crack as red eyes began to form in the storm as the storm itself become as black as night, before they could react the shield shattered and the shadows enveloped them, silencing their screams of horror as soon as they left their mouths. When the snowstorm began to fade into nothing more than normal weather, there was nothing left of the patrol except for a dozen hoof prints in the snow.

Twilight Sparkle slowly made her way down the main streets of Canterlot, her head lowered slightly as her mind was lost in thought as she went over everything in her head, trying to figure out the best way to tell the other girls what she had learned. Remarkably, she managed not to bump into any of the other passers-by as she walked.

‘I think it’ll be best if I get Pinkie Pie to gather everyone for the sleepover, no pony can say no to her when it comes to something like that.’ She thought with a chuckle. ‘And whilst she’s doing that, I’ll go and talk to Fluttershy and discuss how we can both tell the others, and then tomorrow the Princess can fill them in on anything else they need to know.’

She concluded to herself that the idea was the best one to go with she looked up at the clock on the clock tower in the city centre and realised that the next train to Ponyville was due to leave soonish. Muttering to herself she raced through the streets again avoiding anyone as she went.

Twilight muttered in annoyance when she heard the whistle of a train nearby as she turned the corner onto the street where the train station was, quickly running into the main building and onto the platform she came to a screeching halt and panted, looking down the platform to see the train slowly making its way into the station. She let out a relived sigh and smiled as the train slowly pulled into the station and came to a halt, composing herself she got into the carriage after letting the passengers already on board get off and made her way to a seat.

Taking out her journal she used for her studies out of her side bag as well as an ink pot and quill, she placed them on the table in front of her and looked out of the window to watch the ponies rush to and from the building and train.

Twilight lurched forwards as the train jolted and began to pull out of the station, deciding to do some note taking, she opened the journal and levitated the quill over to where she had left off. She had been jotting down a number of things to do relating to the Revelations tome, among the many things were a bunch of questions she was dying to get the answers to. She had received a lot of answers from Fluttershy when she spoke to Twilight in confidence about Grendel and she had not stopped thanking her for asking Grendel the questions, but there was some questions she still needed answering, ones that only Grendel or Turil could answer.

Before she left, the Princess has told her that Turil had promised to return to Equestria if ever Malaskaar and Sombra returned, this got Twilight asking about Grendel returning as well and Celestia said she wasn’t sure if he would to but it was a possibility. This was the answer that had sent Twilight’s mind into overdrive with questions she wanted to ask them, but she kept her mouth shut and didn’t tell Celestia she wanted to but she could sense that Celestia already knew Twilight wanted to do that. She had compiled the list before she had left to return to Ponyville, the top question being.

‘How does magic work in Cyrium?’

She had a basic understanding from what Fluttershy had already told her, but she wasn’t one hundred per cent happy with the answer. As the train rumbled down the track, she took a break and looked out of the window to watch the fields go past and felt her eyes grow heavy. It was somewhat peaceful to her to just watch the world go by as the train quietly rumbled along the track, she smiled to herself as she closed her eyes and yawned, it dawning on her that during the time she had begun reading ‘Revelations’ she hadn’t actually slept and was now feeling the tiredness creep over her.

‘I think I’ll have a nap before arriving back home…I feel exhausted.’ She thought with a yawn.

She closed her journal and levitated it back into her bag along with the ink pot and the quill; she then settled herself warmly into the cushion of the seat and leant her head against the window before yawning once more and slowly drifting off to sleep.

Twilight awoke with a startled yelp as she felt the train jolt again, blinking her eyes rapidly she realised the train had come to a stop. Sighing with a smile she gathered her things before getting the feeling she was being watched, she looked to the window and let out a startled scream at what she saw and flailed, falling onto the floor of the carriage.

Gasping for air and holding her chest, she glared at the image of Pinkie Pie who had her face pressed tightly against the glass of the carriage, a crazy but happy grin on her face as she peered into the carriage. Twilight made her way off and was immediately scooped into a crushing bear hug by Pinkie, coughing as her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

“OHMYGOSHTWILIGHTIMISSEDYOUSOMUCH!” She said in one sentence.

“CAN’T…BREATHE!” Twilight chocked.

“Oops.” Pinkie giggled letting her go. “Sorry.”

Twilight gasped for breath giving Pinkie a glare, she caught her breath and smiled to her friend, they began to walk out of the station and down the streets talking to one another about the previous day with Pinkie doing most of the talking.

“So where are the others?” She asked them.

“Well Rainbow Dash has weather duty today, Applejack is out in the orchards collecting apples for the apple pies for the celebration, Rarity is busy making more decorations for tomorrow and Fluttershy is out by the edge of the forest helping out some animals.” Pinkie replied.

“Ah I see.” Twilight replied. “Pinkie…can I ask you a favour?”

“You want me to go to the others and tell them to come over for a sleepover at the library because you and Fluttershy have an uber awesome super-secret you want to tell us?” Pinkie replied.

“Yes…how…how in Equestria did you know that?” Twilight asked.

“Just a hunch.” Pinkie replied with a giggle.

Twilight was about to press it further but just let out a frustrated groan and shook her head, it was Pinkie after all and she couldn’t be bothered to try and get any kind of logical answer out of the Pink mare.

“Well think you can do that for me? I’ll tell Fluttershy myself seeing as I need to talk to her now anyway.”

“Okie Dokie Artichokey.” Pinkie saluted before zipping off to tell the others.

“One day I’ll understand how she works…maybe.” Twilight muttered as she began to head off to meet with Fluttershy.

As she walked through the town she walked past the ponies setting up all of the decorations for the harvest festival, which took place once a year in a different town or city around Equestria which the Princesses would attend. It was one of Twilight’s favourite holidays as it was a signifier that autumn was soon coming, a season she enjoyed very much.

Twilight walked past several stalls and tables that were being set up, she spotted Applebloom and Big Mac setting up a table that she knew Applejack would be manning tomorrow and gave them a friendly wave which they returned, next to them was a table that was currently bare but she knew it would be where the Cakes would be, selling their sugary treats for the festival goers. Twilight was looking forward to assisting Mayor Mare with the pre-celebratory inspection and smiled to herself, not wanting to waste any more time she quickened her pace as she headed over the bridge that led towards Fluttershy’s home.

Fluttershy hummed to herself happily as she fed a small family of squirrels some nuts, she smiled at them as they happily picked up as many as they could before retreating to the small hole in a nearby tree where they lived. She turned her attention to some birds that were sitting on some branches watching her and she picked some seed form her basket and chucked it on the floor for them, the birds fluttered down gently and began to peck at the seed.

“Eat up everyone, there’s plenty for all.” She said with a smile.

She picked a second basket that contained some chicken feed, Fluttershy flapped her wings gently humming again as she flew over to her chickens who clucked happily waiting to be fed. As she tossed the feed onto the ground for them she heard the sound of somepony calling for her, she looked behind her to see Twilight approaching with a smile. Fluttershy placed the empty basket of chicken feed on the ground and flew over to her friend.

“Oh hello Twilight, I didn’t know you were back from Canterlot.” Fluttershy said giving her a soft hug.

“I just got back Fluttershy; I see your animals are looking happy.” Twilight replied hugging her back

“Oh yes, they are just having some lunch.” She smiled as she looked over the animals eating away.

“Anyway Fluttershy, can we go inside I kinda need to talk to you.” Twilight asked her.

“Of course Twilight, would you like some tea as well?” She asked.

“That would be lovely, thank you.” Twilight smiled to her.

The two walked up to Fluttershy’s house and entered it; Twilight took a seat on Fluttershy’s sofa as Fluttershy went into the kitchen to turn on the kettle. She soon returned as Twilight heard the sounds of the kettle rumbling and Fluttershy took a seat in a small armchair next to the sofa.

“So what’s up Twilight?” She asked.

“Well…I’m having the girls over for a sleepover tonight, which of course you’re invited to.” Twilight said.

“Oh that sounds wonderful.” Fluttershy replied.

“The thing is…you know what you told me? About Grendel Emeric?”

“Yes.” Fluttershy nodded.

“And that I’ve been going to the Canterlot Archives to try and find out anything else about humans and Cyrium?” Twilight said.

“Yes.” She nodded again.

“Well…did you know they’ve been here before?” Twilight asked.

“Yes I do, Mister Grendel mentioned a friend of his came here before but...he didn’t go into that much detail and I thought it was best not to press him on it.”

“Well, his friend’s name was Turil Tailclaw.” Twilight began and levitated out her journal. “He came to Equestria a thousand years ago.”

Twilight began to tell Fluttershy everything she had learned about Turil and Cyrium, whilst downplaying some of the more serious elements such as the death of Krustallos and that the elements failed to destroy Malaskaar on their own and they had also gone over the plan for that evening about telling the other girls.

The other girls didn’t know the full story of how Fluttershy got out of the forest, she had told them that a woodland creature helped her get out and they had been reluctant to believe her, thinking that she was possibly hiding something but soon gave up asking. So their plan was for Twilight to confirm about the real events of Fluttershy’s rescue then add about her trip to the archive, and follow it up with reassuring the girls that the Princess would be willing to answer any questions they had, they knew it was going to be a long night.

“And that’s the idea, that sound ok to you Fluttershy?” Twilight asked her.

“Mhm, it makes sense that the others should know…although I’m a little scared about King Sombra and this Malaskaar returning.” She admitted.

“Don’t worry; we’ll have the elements on our side.” Twilight said.

Truthfully, she knew what happened last time from the tome about how the Elements had little effect on Malaskaar himself, she just prayed the Princess was wrong about their return. The two finished their tea and decided to head on over back to the library and meet up with the others, Fluttershy promising her animals that she would come back later that day to give them all their dinners.

As they made their way back to the library, they passed once again past all of the townsfolk who were nearly finished with the basic preparations for the following day’s celebration and couldn’t help but feel happy about the occasion. Upon entering the library they were greeted by the others who were waiting for them, all with their sleeping equipment and they immediately began to chat amongst each other as they would normally do at their sleepovers.

Soon enough the rest of the day began to fade into evening and the girls had all gathered on the floor of the library each in their own sleeping bags, around them was an array of snacks and drinks courtesy of Pinkie. As they continued to talk Twilight looked to Fluttershy who nodded back, it was time.

“Girls.” Twilight started. “Me and Fluttershy…have something we need to tell you.”

“What’s that sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

“Oh! Oh! Oh!” Pinkie said waving her hoof madly. “Pick me I know I know!”

“Pinkie please settle down.” Rarity said. “Give the poor mare a chance to speak.”

“Thanks Rarity…well…where do I begin?”

Celestia walked down the dark hallways, the only light being the moonlight that shone through the palace windows and the torches that were lit along the hallway. As she walked by herself hearing nothing but the sound of her hooves on the floor, she let her mind drift into deep thought.

‘Maybe they won’t return yet…maybe…maybe Varlos’s spell still holds.’ She thought to herself. ‘But I doubt it…’

Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt the presence of Luna beside her; she looked up to see her sister looking at her with concern.

“Tia are you alright? You seem troubled.” She asked her.

“It’s just…I fear that Varlos’s spell is weakening.” She replied.

“But…but how can you tell?” Luna asked with more concern in her voice.

“I didn’t tell Twilight this but…the nightmares I had back then, the ones with the dark voice of J’skaar…they’ve returned to my dreams.”

Luna’s eyes widened as she shook her head.

“No…I’m the master of the night and everyponies dreams, even yours Tia but I have not sensed any distress from your dreams.”

“I’m not lying Lu-Lu…” Celestia said walking over to a window.

“I’m not saying you’re not sister, I’m just making sure that you are absolutely certain that these nightmares are not just old ones resurfacing.” Luna replied.

“There not…the voice says something different then the last time…”

As the moon shone down over the land of Equestria, Celestia whimpered as she curled tighter into her duvet, her mane was a mess and she was covered in a sweat as she writhed about her breathing rapid. Her eyes were darting about under her eyelids as her nightmare worsened by the second.

‘Where am I?’ She thought to herself.

She was walking down a long hallway of dark grey and the shadows were darker than a normal pitch black, she came to an abrupt stop in front of two large doors. She stared at them intensively for a few moments, wondering why they looked so familiar to her before it dawned don her just exactly why they did. She started to turn around to run but let out a noiseless scream at what she saw.

Standing in front of her was a tall bipedal creature covered completely in shadows, save for two glaring red dots around its face. She backed up against the doors and fell to the ground in a crash as they suddenly opened; the creature began to advance towards her slowly a low rumble that formed into a dark laugh leaving it.

“S-Stay back!” Celestia cried.

“I told you before Witch…” The creature spoke with a low growling voice.

It raised its arm up and Celestia felt her neck tighten and was forcibly thrown towards it, it wrapped its fingers around her neck and brought her face to its.

“This world will burn…my servants are free of their curse and will soon enough take what is mine…not even your precious human allies can save you this time…”

Luna stood there unable to think of what to say to Celestia, if the voice in her nightmare was to be believed then Sombra and Malaskaar had indeed broken free and Varlos’s spell had broken, she leant in and gave her a reassuring nuzzle to her cheek and offered a small smile.

“It might just be old memories twisting themselves in your sub conscious playing tricks on you.”

“Perhaps you are right Lu-Lu…” Celestia sighed. “But I’m still concerned; I have yet to hear from a scout patrol I sent near where the capital once was.”

“Do you want me to send another scroll asking for an update? It is my time in court now.”

“If you can please Lu-Lu…If I am right on this though…I’m going to summon them back.

“You mean…” Luna gasped, her lips forming into a small smile

“Yes Lu-Lu…even if it turns out to be nothing I still want to be ready, and they are the only two people that can help us if King Sombra and Malaskaar are back.”

Author's Note

[Edited version to come.] Any errors feel free to let me know.

Chapter II – Interrupted Celebrations.

The Return of the Empire

Chapter II – Interrupted Celebrations.

The winds of the North blew harshly across the white barren landscape, snow falling from the clouds much quicker than normal. A stallion franticly flapped his wings as he flew across the sky, battling against the wind as it tried to force him to land. His armour was covered in dents and dried blood as was his body, cuts covering the majority of his body where the armour was not covering him. His mane blew about in the wind behind him, his helmet long since gone and forgotten along with his weapon.

The stallion winced as the cold wind stung against his face and struggled to keep his wings going, taking a nervous glance behind him he let out a fearful cry and forced his wings to flap harder as the snow storm began to catch up to him, the storm darkening as it did. Suddenly without warning the snow storm vanished, the stallion saw this and immediately fell to the ground with a thump, his wings giving out to exhaustion as he lay there and panted, trying to get his breath back.

“Got to….make it….back…to…Whitewall.” He panted.

Slowly standing up to his hooves despite the winds harsh blowing, protesting at his actions and trying to force him back down. The Stallion pressed on, slowly trudging through the snow as the wind picked up, squinting his eyes he could just barely make out the silhouette of what appeared to be a wall. This gave him hope, praying to the Princess that it was Whitewall that he could see.

The stallion had been part of a second scout patrol squad that had been sent out several hours before the Captain of the Whitewall guard received a scroll from Princess Luna requesting an update on the patrol Princess Celestia had ordered, the captain had replied that the patrol had not yet returned and was waiting for word from a second patrol she had sent out to see if they could find the first, simply saying the first patrol might of gotten lost as it did happen from time to time. But this was not the case.

The second patrol had been swallowed up by a sudden snow storm that had shadow creatures waiting inside, within seconds the whole squad had been killed leaving on the one stallion as a survivor, having fled the second the screaming started. The stallion wasn’t a coward for not staying; he was trying to get back to Whitewall to alert the others to what was happening and had been chased the whole length by the shadow snow storm. He had been wounded several times when the storm had almost caught up to him, which had forced him to fly faster.

He smiled weakly to himself as he trudged along but it was short lived as he heard the wind pick up once more and turned around, his eyes widened seeing the storm once more bearing down on him and he tried to move faster, his wings refused to listen to him and dangled limply by his side.

“Come on, COME ON!” He cried out.

Within seconds the storm has reached him, a black tendril shot out and wrapped itself around his hind leg and dragged him into the storm, screaming as it did before completely vanishing and leaving no trace of the scout.

A mare wearing golden armour paced back in forth in a small office, sitting on the desk was her helmet as well as a pile of papers and other kinds of documents. She stopped by the window and looked out of it again with a sigh and frowned slightly, she had sent the second patrol out to find the first one several hours before the scroll from Princess Luna came and it was getting darker, causing her to start to worry.

Normally she wouldn’t send patrols out without knowing beforehand what the weather was like and the weather around Whitewall was usually very calm, and when major snow storms happened there would be clear signs that alerted the soldiers to its approach. But today and the day before hand the weather had been completely normal and no snow storms had been detected by unicorn magic which they sometimes used to trace the storms before they arrived, though the unicorns had been sensing a change in the natural energy flow, a strange feeling like a different kind of magical energy was filling the air.

Looking away from the window she let out a groan of frustration, she donned her helmet on again and headed out of her office. As she walked down the hallways of the barracks, soldiers would salute her as she walked by and she came to a stop outside of a room where reports from other guard barracks around Equestria would be received and delivered to and from. The room was fairly small, it had three desks each with a pony behind it and a box sat on each desk on a corner. These boxes where enchanted with two slots, one for sending messages and one for receiving them.

“Have either of the scouts groups reported in yet?” She asked the mare behind one of the desks.

“Not yet Captain.” She replied sorting out messages.

The captain cursed under her breath, walking over to the wall of the room which had a map of the local area on it she looked over it carefully, rubbing a hoof on her chin.

‘Something doesn’t feel right…’ She thought to herself.

“Scribble Wing.” She said.

“Yes ma’am?” The same mare replied.

“Can you take down a scroll for me please, address it to Princess Luna and mark it as urgent.”

“Of course Captain Silver Hoof.” Scribble Wing replied levitating a blank scroll and quill.

“Princess Luna, I’ve yet to receive any communication from either the first or second patrols I’ve sent out on your request. However the some of the unicorns have stated feeling a change in the natural energy flow, as a pegasi I can’t confirm or deny it but I thought it was worth mentioning that to you.

I still think that the patrols are out there possibly lost due to a snow storm or something and I will alert you to when they arrive, apart from that there is nothing left to report.

Captain Silver Hoof, Whitewall.”

“Understood Captain.” Scribble Wing said.

She finished the scroll and placed it in the out tray and it vanished in a puff of smoke, Silver Hoof was glad she didn’t need to always be to formal with the Princess, after all the Princess was good friends with two of her ancestors, Silver Wing and Steel Hoof.

“I’m heading to the town hall; let me know if either patrol gets back or something develops.” She said.

“Will do ma’am.” Scribble Wing replied.

‘Let’s just hope my gut is wrong about this…’ Silver Hoof thought to herself as she left the building.

“So you guys know when Fluttershy got lost in the Everfree forest right?”

“How can we forget that dreadful day?” Rarity said with a frown.

“Sure as hay ain’t gunna leave my memory anytime soon…” Applejack said softly.

Rainbow and Pinkie remained quiet; the day that Fluttershy got lost was a day they would rather forget. It had been a hard few days for them worrying if Fluttershy was ok but they were so relieved when she returned.

“Well…it’s best if I let Fluttershy tell you this part.” Twilight said.

“Uhm…ok well…you know how you all asked me how I got back?” Fluttershy began.

The girls nodded as they listened, Fluttershy had told them that one of the animals she looked after had helped her get back home, and the girls had been somewhat suspicious of this answer especially Applejack and Twilight. Applejack because she could pretty much accurately guess if a pony was lying or not and Twilight because of what she had caught a glimpse of that day, a strange tall cloaked figure that disappeared back into the forest.

“Well…I kinda lied to you all about it…I’m sorry.” She squeaked.

“Whoa wait a minute…you lied to us?” Rainbow asked.

“I know I’m so sorry.” Fluttershy whimpered.

“Easy Rainbow.” Applejack said as Twilight stroked Fluttershy’s back.

“W-well…I was rescued by a human called Mister Grendel.”

“Wait a second, so when you were talking about the animal Grendel.” Rarity started. “You were in fact referring to this…human?”

“Yes.”

“What in the hay is a human?” Applejack asked confused.

“They’re bipedal, like diamond dogs but kinda resemble a tall shaven monkey.” Twilight replied.

“I see…hey now hold on a second, how do YOU know what a human is Twi?” Applejack asked raising her eyebrow.

“Because I told her…I was curious to know if humans had been in Equestria before and Twilight seemed the right pony to ask.” Fluttershy replied. “Please don’t be mad at her.”

“Sugarcube I ain’t mad, I’m just getting mah head around everything.” Applejack replied.

“Neither am I.” Rainbow said.

“How can I ever be made at you Fluttershy? That would be so mean!” Pinkie added.

“Carry on darling.” Rarity finished.

“Well…after he rescued me, Twilight said she wanted to find out more about his race and said she would try to find something in the Royal Archives for us.”

“So that’s why you were making regular trips there the past two years.” Rainbow said.

“Yes, and the last time I went I found something out that is amazing.” Twilight grinned. “If not worrying.” Twilight looked a little worried at the last part.

“What do you mean Twilight?” Rarity asked her.

“Well…you guys know about King Sombra right?”

“Uh…yeah, yeah totally.” Rainbow said.

“You don’t do you Rainbow.” Twilight said in a flat tone.

“Well course I do…but just remind me.”

Rarity rolled her eyes as Applejack and Pinkie stifled a giggle.

“Ok, well he was the ruler of the Crystal Empire a thousand years ago but became obsessed with power and crystals and eventually became a terrible cruel ruler who enslaved his own subjects, he was stopped though by the Princesses and the Elements of harmony.”

The girls listened as Twilight continued.

“But before he was truly vanquished he placed a curse on the capital, banishing it away along with himself and vowing to return one day.”

“Well shoot we all know that story, don’t we Rainbow?” Applejack smirked at Rainbow who glared back.

“Indeed, we all learned about it in school.” Rarity added in.

“Even though those lessons were SUPER boring!” Pinkie said with a dramatic roll of her eyes.

“Well…did you know it’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

The others looked at her and blinked, somewhat confused by her question.

“What do you mean wrong?” Rainbow asked her.

Twilight looked to Fluttershy who couldn’t help but giggle softly.

“It’s a long story…” Twilight chuckled.

Luna sat on her throne as she overlooked several documents floating in front of her; she gave a bored huff as she scanned them. They were the same old documents she would receive on a nightly basis, noble’s requests something that always bored her as they would usually would just be about raising that particular nobles status in the courts. There were other requests that came from the lower classes such as small shop owners or farmers which she tended to pay more attention to because their needs, least in her eyes, were slightly more worthy of her time and effort.

Her horn glowed brightly as two of the forms suddenly had her Royal mark of approval on them; she smiled and nodded to herself before using her magic to write the word unapproved on the forms that were sent to her from nobles.

“Night Light?” She called out.

“Yes your highness?” A small stallion wearing large glasses approached the throne.

“Please take these forms to the sorting office if you will.” She asked him.

“Of course your majesty.” Night Light bowed.

He took the documents in his own magic aura and headed out of the room leaving Luna by herself once more, she let out a contented sigh, happy to be alone for a moment when she was interrupted by a scroll appearing in front of her in a puff of smoke. She took it in her magic curiously and noticed the seal was of the Whitewall guard and she quickly opened it, scanning over the scroll carefully she bit her lip in worry.

‘I should tell Celestia about this…’ She thought. ‘But I’ll wait till morning, that way she will be able to focus her full attention on it.’

She placed the scroll beside her as the doors to the throne room opened and several guards entered, being followed by several nobles. Luna sighed before nodding to them as they bowed to her.

“Ok everypony, the night court is now in session.” Luna said.

“And that’s what actually happened…” Twilight finished.

Everyone sat there looking at her with their mouths agape and their eyes wide, completely unsure as to how to completely process everything Twilight had just told them. She had told them everything she had found out about the Crystal war and the involvement of the humans as well as the two Gods, she then explained how the fact no one in Equestria remembered the true version of the events because of Turil’s last request.

Fluttershy then explained completely in detail what she had told Twilight about Grendel Emeric, every now and again apologising to her friends, and how he had been in Equestria for twenty years, protecting everypony from the corrupted wooden familiar Raven. Twilight then finished by telling the girls about how King Sombra and Malaskaar might return one day possibly within their life time, meaning that Turil and Grendel would return as well, and that if they needed any questions answering they would have to ask the Princess herself. The room was completely silent, even Spike who had wondered down during their talk to get a snack had heard the entire story and couldn’t believe his ears.

“I had a major twitch today…but I’d never guess it was because of that!” Pinkie finally said breaking the silence.

“Your…not just pulling our legs guys right?” Rainbow asked.

“There not…” Applejack said. “They’re telling the truth.”

“Oh…my…” Rarity murmured as she swayed, slightly light headed.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys.” Fluttershy quietly said.

“Flutters quit apologising, you haven’t don’t anything wrong.” Rainbow said rolling her eyes.

“I must admit though…it IS quite a lot to get my head round.” Rarity admitted.

“I know, and again I’m sorry we didn’t tell you any of this.” Twilight said.

“So what happens now?” Applejack asked.

“Well…tomorrow the Princess is going to be here for the celebration, she said she would talk to you girls about everything afterwards. So if you have any questions that would be the best time to ask them.” Twilight replied.

Applejack nodded and left it at that, it was getting late and the girls were all beginning to feel tired. After sending Spike back to bed they all settled into their sleeping bags and said good night to one another, all looking forward to the celebration the next day.

“This is indeed troubling…” Celestia said with a sigh.

“Does it mean that…your nightmares are telling the truth?” Luna asked her.

The two were walking side by side heading through the palace to where the chariots lay waiting for them in order to take them to Ponyville, they were being accompanied by Princess Cadence and Shining Armour and much to their annoyance, Prince Blueblood, knowing full well he was coming along just to make his own self-image better.

Luna had personally come to Celestia’s bedroom as soon as possible in the early hours of the morning with the scroll she had received the night before hand, and apologising for not giving it to her as soon as she had received it. Celestia forgave her and smiled before reading it, as she finished her smile had gone and was replaced with a look of deep concern. The two had then gone to have breakfast and began to discuss the possibilities for what the scroll meant, trying their best to come up with any theory that didn’t lead to the return of King Sombra and Malaskaar.

Sadly though they couldn’t think of anything, and after receiving the scroll Celestia had to admit that for a while now she had felt something different in the magical energy of Equestria but until now hadn’t really thought much about it.

“I think they are Lu-Lu…” Celestia replied.

“Then what do we do? Do we tell our subjects what is going on? Or do we wait and see?”

“I think its best that we summon our friends back to Equestria at least.” Celestia began. “And even so, they will have to return to help us when the time comes so we might as well reveal them to our subjects now to let them get used to them.”

Luna let out a happy squeal before blushing and coughing as Celestia giggled, they continued walking down the hallways before coming to an exit that led to the chariots. Cadence and Shining were already their waiting for them and smiled when they saw the sisters coming, waving to them as they did.

As they got into the chariots they waited for what seemed like hours until Blueblood finally showed himself, he was shouting at a handful of servants that were rushing behind him all looking tired and worn out.

“Blueblood…why do you have all these servants with you?” Celestia asked him.

“Because Aunty, I need to always look my best if I’m going to be around these…peasants, and they’re re there in order to make that happen.” He replied with a sniff.

Cadence placed a hoof on Shining’s shoulder as he gritted his teeth, he didn’t like Blueblood referring to the ponies that lived in Ponyville or any place as peasants, especially the town where his little sister lived.

“Oh for the love of…” Celestia muttered. “Just get in the chariot Blueblood please; we’re late enough as it is.

Blueblood huffed as he got into the chariot behind Celestia’s followed by his servants; the chariots then took off and began to make their way towards Ponyville. Celestia closes her eyes and began to think of the best way to tell her subjects about the Crystal Empire, as well as King Sombra, Malaskaar, Turil and Grendel.

The sun shone brightly down on Ponyville and everywhere you looked there was movement, everypony was busy with their own individual tasks and no one was left out. Mayor Mare and Twilight were walking side by side inspecting each of the stalls and tables that were set up to make sure everything was perfect. Berry Punch along with Apple Cider were in charge of dealing with the drinks, Mr and Mrs Cake along with Pinkie were in charge of the sweets and pastries, Applejack and her family were also helping with catering with their own apple related treats such as pies and fritters.
Pinkie was also helping Rarity and several other ponies that were in charge of setting up the decorations for the event around the town, up in the sky above the town the pegasi weather team led by Rainbow Dash were hard at work clearing the last of the clouds out of the sky.

Satisfied that the stalls and weather were in order, the two headed back to the town centre in order to make sure that the stage that had been set up for the Princess was in working order and safe, on the stage were several seats as well as a podium that had the emblem of Celestia and Luna on it. Twilight watched over the town with a smile on her face, letting the Mayor do her checks. The thought of meeting the two human’s still racing in her mind as well as the others, she was brought out of her thoughts by the sounds of fanfare and looked up into the sky.

The town cheered as the three chariots landed in the square and the three Princesses and Prince stepped out, Twilight rushed to Celestia and the two shared a quick embrace before she noticed Cadence and Shining and ran up to them, giving them a hug as the three laughed. Blueblood sneered at the scene and walked to the stage with his head held up and took a seat on one of the chairs.

After the initial greetings form the Mayor were done, Celestia thanked her for such a warm welcome and she, Luna and Cadence took to the stage. Shining and the guards that had accompanied them took positions around the Royals ready for anything of the unexpected. As Celestia reached the podium, she waited for the crowd of ponies to fully gather and settle down. She cleared her throat and smiled, looking down on them before speaking.

“My loyal subjects, we thank you all for such a warm welcome and it gives me great pleasure to announce that this year’s harvest celebration has officially begun!”

The crowd stomped their hooves in applause as they cheered her, she smiled back down on them but frowned slightly.

‘I guess now is the best time to tell them.’ She thought to herself.

“But before we begin.” She said interrupting the applause, confusing the crowd. “I have something I must tell you which is of the upmost importance.”

The crowd noticed her serious expression and began to murmur to one another in confusion, Twilight and her friends frowned at this, knowing what Celestia was going to say. Celestia raised her hoof up to silence them as she carried on.

But before she could carry on, Celestia was interrupted by low hum from behind the crowd that caused everyone to turn around to see what was going on. The humming was suddenly followed by a blinding flash of white light; everyone cried out in shock and shielded their eyes from the light. As soon as the light had appeared it suddenly vanished, trying to get used to the natural light again. As they blinked they all gasped at what they saw, their eyes widening in shock and fear.
Standing in the middle of the square with their backs to them were two bipedal creatures, each one wearing robes of sorts, one was brown and the other dark green. The two creatures looked around before one of them let out a joyful sounding laugh.

“We’re back…we’re truly back.” The one wearing the brown robes said with a chuckle.

“Five hundred years it’s been…” The other one replied.

“Always trying to one up me aren’t you?” The first one chuckled.

“Well you were here only a year ago, I had to wait five hundred years for this day!” The second one grumbled.

“STAY WHERE YOU ARE!” Shining suddenly shouted.

Within seconds the guards snapped themselves out of their shocked states and began to ready their weapons, at the sound of the cry the two creatures turned around to see who was shouting. The ponies gasped seeing two hoods over the heads of the creatures, as the creatures lowered their hoods Shining had seen enough, he wasn’t sure what on Equestria these creatures were but he was willing to protect the Princesses with his life. But before he could say anything to his guards, a mare’s voice cried out in pure joy.

“MISTER GRENDEL!”

Shining looked to see a blur of yellow and pink race out of the crowd at a speed that rivalled that of Rainbow Dash and tackle the creature wearing the brown robes, everyone watched stunned and shocked as Fluttershy, the usually shy and timid mare, began to cry happily, laughing and hugging tightly to the creature. The creature chuckled happily as it held the mare tightly to its chest in a warm hug, a smile on its face.

“It’s good to see you again Miss Fluttershy, my dear friend.” Grendel chuckled as Fluttershy nuzzled into his cheek.

Author's Note

[Edited version to come.] Any errors feel free to let me know.

Chapter III – A Promise to a God

The Return of the Empire

Chapter III – A promise to a God

“No no no Galaria.” Grendel sighed in frustration. “You’re supposed to cast the spell whilst channelling your magic through your fingers. Not channel, then cast.”

Grendel rubbed his head as he stood in front of the young elven girl, she was currently staring forwards with wide, slow, blinking eyes and her entire face was covered in black powder as a small pillar of smoke drifted from her face upwards. The girl had been trying to perform a simple alteration spell to cast a small ball of illuminated energy in her hands, a spell used by mages in dark places but had gotten the combination wrong and it had exploded in her face. She and Grendel were in a fairly large room that had several other people in it varying in their races, the majority of them were human save for a couple of elves and a Dragore or Dragon folk as some called them. They tittered amongst themselves as Galaria wiped her face off, muttering to herself.

“Sorry Elder Emeric…” She muttered.

“It’s alright child.” Grendel sighed placing a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. “You’ll get the hang of it one day.”

She smiled up at him as he smiled back at her, Grendel glance up to the door of the training room and saw a smirking figure leaning on the frame.

“Ok class, that’s enough for now. I want you to go and do private practice before seeing Elder Rilusou for his lessons.” He saw two of the boys, both human, grin to one another. “And I mean reading you two, no magic!”

The two young lads groaned in annoyance as the class dispersed, Grendel walked over to the figure and the two began to walk down the hallway.

“So ‘Elder’ Emeric, how’s the class going?”

“Oh shut it Turil.” Grendel grumbled.

“Oh come now, It’s a high honour to achieve the rank of Elder.” Turil teased.

“You know they only gave me the bloody title as an excuse to keep me in the temple where they can keep an eye on me.” Grendel muttered.

“Well…you did disappear for ten years, to a world I specifically remember asking you NOT to try and go to.” Turil replied back.

“I know Turil I know…but could you blame me?” Grendel asked.

The two walked past several other people of different ages and races, all dressed in robes of various colours. The hallway was littered with large hanging tapestries that displayed various events and people in Cyrium’s history, one in particular had the image of Varlos, the God of Magic teaching the first humans how to use magic, the first Elder council. On the floor in the middle of the hallway was a continuous red carpet with gold trimmings that stayed perfectly flat against the ground. The two also passed by people, who weren’t mages, some wore armour that resembled different Kingdoms as well as generic armour whilst others wore simple clothing.

Two hundred years ago the Temple had decided to allow outsiders who weren’t mage students, such as scholars, sell swords and the common man, to enter the Temple in order to use its vast library of books, tomes and maps. Most people would usually go to the Royal University in the capital of the Altori Empire, Salasen, but the Temple’s library vastly outshone any known library in all of Cyrium.

“I mean, you know how wondrous and peaceful Equestria is…” Grendel sighed.

“Aye that I do.” Turil smiled before prodding Grendel in the chest. “Which is why I wanted it to remain a secret.”

“I know I know…how many times do I have to apologise for that?” Grendel grumbled.

“And what the hell were you thinking when you created Raven? I still can’t believe you forgot to cast a spell to prevent it from being corrupted.”

“Stop reminding me.” Grendel replied.

Turil sighed and shook his head, plopped his arm around Grendel’s shoulder and chuckled softly.

“Your five years older than I am…but sometimes I feel like I’m the more mature one.” He chuckled.

“Oh mature is it? So all those pranks you played with Luna were you being mature then?” Grendel smirked.

“Hey I was ninety five back then, still young by all accounts.” Turil said in a defensive tone.

“Uhuh sure it is.” Grendel laughed.

The two laughed as they continued down the hallway, passing more mages as they exited the building and into the Temple gardens. They enjoyed coming here due to the vast size of it, everywhere you looked was filled to brim with exotic plant life from all over Cyrium. The Elders had placed an enchantment on the small garden which made it the size of a vast forest within a small area, filled with everything from basic wildlife, waterfalls, rivers and cliff sides.

Many mages would wander the gardens for hours at a time, allowing their thoughts to drift as they basked in the peacefulness and serenity the gardens brought. Turil spent much of his time here when he returned from his time in Equestria, being the only place he knew in Cyrium that held any kind of close resemblance to the peaceful serenity he felt when he was in Equestria.

Grendel also spent much of his time here when he returned; after being made to appear in front of the Elder council to explain why he had simply vanished for the past ten years Grendel had to lie as the council were suspicious he may have gone over to J’skaar’s side and became one of his followers. Grendel simply said he had travelled the known world. After much debate the council had given up and Ballarus had suggested they make him an Elder at the temple to train the younger mages, that way they would be able to keep an eye on him just in case he was in fact working for the other side, which was completely nonsense to Grendel but he begrudgingly accepted the offer.

The two spent an hour walking in the gardens before they came to the spot they both enjoyed; it was a small cliff edge that overlooked a large lake that had four rivers flowing into it. They took a seat on the edge of the cliff and pulled out their smoking pipes, after placing some thistlesung leaf into each pipe they lit them and popped them into their mouths.

“You know.” Grendel said as he blew out a smoke ring. “I’m tired of this.”

“Tired of what?” Turil asked.

“This.” Grendel replied with a sweep of his hand, indicating the area. “Of everything in Cyrium.”

Turil blew out a smoke ring that formed into a square as Grendel carried on talking.

“The constant bickering of nations, the wars, the Black Knights, the Templars, the Order of shadows…just everything.” Grendel sighed.

“I know what you mean…it does tend to get rather tiring after so many years.” Turil agreed.

“Sometimes I wonder if returning from Equestria was a good idea…when I was there it felt just…so peaceful. Even with the dangerous animals in the Everfree as well as dealing with Raven, I never once lost that feeling of true serenity that their world had.”

“Where are you going with this Grendel?” Turil asked, catching onto something in Grendel’s voice.

“Are you telling me that in the past five hundred years, you’ve never wanted to ONCE go back there yourself?” Grendel asked him.

“Of course I have…you know why I didn’t though.” Turil replied as he inhaled from his pipe.

“What’s the harm in it? They know us on that side, well, the Princesses and Fluttershy know.” Grendel asked.

“I…I don’t know Grendel.” Turil started. “I promised I’d return if Malaskaar and King Sombra returned but…I don’t want to cause any problems for them.”

“Turil…you know you wouldn’t cause them problems, when you came back all you would talk about to me was your time there and how much you loved it. I distinctly remember you saying you had left leaving Princess Luna one down on your little prank war, and she still needed to get you back.” Grendel Chuckled.

Turil chuckled along with him as they went silent for a moment and stared over the edge, Turil let his mind wander in thought as he went over what Grendel said. He longed to return to Equestria and see his friends, he gathered by now that Ink Quill would have passed away and he would like to visit his grave, to say one final goodbye to his old friend. As his mind wandered he couldn’t help but start to think the idea of returning to be a good one, but the only problem is how they could do it, they couldn’t just go into the void as that would alert the Gods to their actions and he had promised Varlos not to return until the time was ready.

They remained in silence for a bit longer; Grendel noticing that Turil was in deep thought and figured he was giving it a think over. As the two smoked and looked over the Cliffside, the wind picked up softly blowing around them, giving each of them slight chills down their spines. A low hum filled the air and the two pulled out two orbs from their side bags and held them up, inside the orb was the face of their old Master, Ballarus.

“Grendel, Turil. The council wants to see you immediately.” Ballarus said in his gruff old voice.

“What for?” Grendel asked.

“They wouldn’t say, just that it’s urgent.” Ballarus replied before vanishing.

“Better go see what the old buggers want.” Turil grumbled.

The two stood up and began to make their way back through the gardens and into the Temple building.

Varlos walked through a long hallway that was his home, a vast temple that nearly resembled the one in Cyrium. All around him were spectral shades of mages that wandered around the halls, much like they would have done in their mortal lives. He smiled as he was greeted by several of them as they walked past, this was the place his followers went when they passed away in the mortal realm.

It was the perfect place for a mage to go, a library that had ever bit of knowledge they craved, hundreds of areas for practicing magic and the added bonus of immortality in the afterlife. No one was superior here and Varlos treated them all as his equals, as he wandered through the Temple he felt something stir within him. He stopped in his tracks and looked up to the ceiling in thought.

"Something doesn’t feel right…” He muttered.

Varlos suddenly vanished from the Temple and reappeared in a vast whiteness, the void, he quickly walked in a straight line and as he did the area warped around him. He came to a stop as a swirling portal appeared in front of him and he looked inside and gritted his teeth.

“No…not now!” He growled.

He could see the void that surrounding Equestria from the portal and inside it the gateway that lead to Equestria itself with the shield he placed over it a thousand years ago, it was severally cracked and damaged and shadows were leaking in. Varlos cursed internally and stepped through the void of Cyrium and into the void of Equestria and began to chant, determined to drive the shadows back.

Varlos suddenly cried out as a blast of energy slammed into him and sent him hurtling through the air before crashing and tumbling into a heap on the floor, grunting as he stood up he looked around trying to find where the blast had come from. He cried out again as a second blast struck him from behind sending him into the ground, shakily getting to his feet he quickly side stepped and avoided the third blast as a laugh echoed around in the void.

“You’re getting slow my old friend…”

“J’skaar…” Varlos growled.

“Ah I’m delighted that you remember my name…’brother’…” J’skaar hissed.

“You’re not my brother J’skaar, not anymore. I know what you’re trying to do and I will not allow you to destroy their world!” Varlos shouted at him

“Oh but It’s too late…I’ve been slowly removing the layers of your pathetic spell for the past two year’s brother…I’ve already started returning that fool Sombra to his world and soon my servant will be free…and there is nothing you or your precious followers can do about it.”

“You were defeated before, you will be defeated again. I won’t let you get away with this!” Varlos said as his hands burst into white flames.

“Then by all means…try and stop me.” J’skaar chuckled back

Grendel and Turil struggled not to let out a bored yawn; they were sitting on a large round table along with the entire Elder council as well as several high ranking Masters. The ‘urgent’ thing they had been asked to attend was simply a meeting about the policy of allowing outsiders into the Temple to study, a debate that had been going on since it was introduced. As the two listened to the sides argue about why it was a bad idea and why it was good they decided to let their minds wander.

They both let their memories flow back to when they were in Equestria, Turil thought about his time in Whitewall with the Princesses and Ink Quill, as well as the other residents of the town. He smiled to himself as he remembered the pranks he and Luna got up to with one another and had to stop himself form chuckling as he remembered on prank in particular, it was late at night and the two had snuck into Celestia’s bed room and carefully using a mane changing spell had died her mane bright yellow. Although the two had to spend the majority of the following day running away from an enraged Celestia, it was worth it.

Grendel let his mind drift to the thoughts of him and Fluttershy, he sighed fondly as he thought about the tea they had shared the days leading up to his departure. He had decided to stay in Equestria for a few days but in secret and spent the evenings with Fluttershy just talking to one another about everything, he would smile as she talked for seemingly hours about her job in Ponyville and her animals and he never grew tired of it. He also remembered meeting a rabbit called Angel who at first distrusted the human and tried everything he could to evict him, but Grendel managed to convince Angel he was a good person and Angel actually grew to accept him.

“Gentlemen this debate is getting us nowhere, again.” Ballarus sighed as he stood up. “I say we call this meeting over for now and return to our duties.”

“I agree.” An old elven mage said. “I need to see where my blasted apprentice has gone off to this time anyway."

“Damon causing problems again?” Another mage chuckled.

The elven mage glared at him before storming off, cursing to himself about how the boy would turn into a skeleton from the lack of food because of how bad his memory seemed was.

“That boy will be the death of him, but that’s a story for another time.” The mage chuckled.

As the group dispersed slowly, Grendel and Turil walked over to Ballarus looking somewhat annoyed.

“So why the hell were we asked to sit in on this?” Turil asked.

“Don’t you get lippy with me boy.” Ballarus muttered. “I was just doing as the Elders asked.”

Grendel rolled his eyes as the two bickered, something that wasn’t new to him. The day progressed like it normally would and it was slow and uneventful, though for the majority of it Turil couldn’t get the possibility of returning to Equestria out of his head. As the day progressed to night and the twin moons of Cyrium rose into the sky, Turil and Grendel returned to their quarters.

As they sat in two chairs, Grendel reading a book and Turil gazing out of the window, Turil shifted in his seat.

“I’ve been thinking…” He started.

“About what I said earlier?” Grendel asked.

“Yeah…how would we do it?” Turil said.

“Well the way I went there, I used a San-gar stone. From what I learned it has a fifty-fifty chance of not passing us directly through the void.” Grendel Replied.

“Where would we get one? They’re rare.”

“I know that Ballarus has one.” Grendel shrugged. “Saw it a few years ago in his office.

Turil nodded, it was a risk as it could alert the Gods that something mortal is moving through the void plans. But he had already made his mind up by then, turning to Grendel and giving him a smirk.

“Let’s do it.”

As the Temple slept, with some mages and travellers still roaming the vast halls, Turil and Grendel silently made their way through the building. Tucked safely in Turil’s bag was the San-gar stone, glowing a dim blue light. They had decided to perform the spell in the gardens as far away as possible, as they made their way through the Temple Turil stopped outside of two large doors and looked up at them.

“Something wrong?” Grendel asked.

“There’s something I want to do first, come on.” Turil replied.

The two entered the room which was the room that had the shrine to Varlos in it, they slowly approached the shrine and they both dropped to one knee, lowering their heads.

“My Lord Varlos…I know I promised not to return to Equestria until the time is ready but…I have to, I need to see them again.” Turil began.

“We’re tired of this world and the troubles it has and…we just want to live with peace of mind. We ask for your forgiveness Lord.” Grendel ended.

No sooner has they finished they felt a tingling feeling run over their body and they stood up, only to vanish without a trace.

Grendel was the first to open his eyes, groaning as he stood up and held his head. He looked around and noticed he was in the Temple although it felt different, he also saw Turil by his feet and he gave him a nudge, receiving a groan from him.
Turil rose to his feet and looked around, rubbing his head. The room they were in was identical to the Temple back in Cyrium but was missing the shrine.

“Where are we?” Turil asked.

“I’m not sure…”

“You are in my home.” A booming voice said.

They turned round to see Varlos standing in front of him; he was covered in blood and was visibly worn out, gripping a staff that was holding him up.

“My Lord!” Turil cried. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine." Varlos replied. “But that’s beside the point; I brought you here for a reason.”

Grendel and Turil listened to him, concerned for his well-being as they never had seen a God covered in blood before or looking as worn out as he did.

“Equestria is in danger; J’skaar broke my spell and forced me back into our void after I tried to stop him. He has gotten stronger since our last encounter.” Varlos sighed.

“What!?” The two mages shouted.

“We need to go now!” Grendel said to Turil who nodded

“Which is why I brought you here, I’m sending you back to Equestria. I cannot as you know fully intervene in their world but I can send you to…promise me, promise me you will do everything in your power to prevent Malaskaar and King Sombra from fulfilling J’skaar’s demand.”

“Of course my Lord, we promise.” Turil replied, as both of them bowed.

“Then go my children, the time has come…”

Varlos raised his free hand and it shone brightly, Turil and Grendel closed their eyes as they vanished form the room leaving Varlos by himself.

As they re-opened their eyes, the saw that they were no longer in Varlos’s presence. Rather they were in a small looking town that neither of them had seen before, but the change in magical energy around them confirmed where they were.

“We’re back…we’re truly back.” Grendel said with a chuckle.

“Five hundred years it’s been…” Turil replied.

“Always trying to one up me aren’t you?” Grendel chuckled.

“Well you were here only a year ago, I had to wait five hundred years for this day!” Turil grumbled.

“STAY WHERE YOU ARE!” A voice behind them suddenly shouted.

They both turned round to see a large group of ponies, staring at them with a mixture of shock and fear. Lowering their hoods to try and look less intimidating, Grendel spotted in the crowd a familiar face and couldn’t help but smile.

“MISTER GRENDEL!” Fluttershy cried.

Author's Note

[Edited version to come.] Feel free to let me know of any errors.

Chapter IV – Reunion of Friends

The Return of the Empire

Chapter IV – Reunion of Friends

Silver Hoof couldn’t believe her eyes, no pony could. She along with most of the Whitewall townsfolk had been doing their normal routines and the lunch rush was about to happen in the town square then a loud hum was heard over the town; they had rushed to the wall to see what was causing it and were shocked at what they saw. Looking to the north, the weather was clear as day. That in itself was unusual, but what was truly unbelievably was that just in the distance, they could make see the tip of a tall tower, coloured in white and light blue. Silver Hoof had read about that building only in history books as did the rest of the town, they knew exactly what it was.

It was the palace of the old Crystal Empire capital.

The townsfolk began to murmur to one another as they stared at the distant building in confusion and awe, the snow began to fall again and soon the building vanished from visible view. Silver Hoof stepped down the stairs that led back into the town and bit her lip trying to think what exactly was going on, she looked up to see Scribble Wing approaching her.

“Scribble Wing!” Silver Hoof said quickly walking over to her.

“Y-yes ma’am?” She replied startled, having not noticed the captain.

“I need you to write an urgent scroll to the Princess, top priority.”

“Right away ma’am!” Scribble Wing replied as they headed back inside the barracks.

The Empire had returned.

The crowd of ponies in Ponyville just stood there staring, unable to even begin to comprehend just what exactly was going on. Fluttershy was in the arms of one of the creatures and wasn’t showing any signs of fear, rather she was happy and laughing as was the creature. Even Pinkie was staring with her mouth open, for once in her life being completely thrown off her guard.

“My dear friend it’s been too long.” Grendel said softly, some tears in his eye.

“It has Mister Grendel…” Fluttershy replied nuzzling his cheek, sniffing as her tears kept flowing. “I’ve missed you so much….”

“I've missed you too Miss Fluttershy…” Grendel smiled and stroked her mane softly.

“Oh that’s right!” Fluttershy gasped “You need to come and meet my friends!”

Grendel chuckled as Fluttershy fluttered out of his arms and picked the corner of his cloak up with her hoof and gently tugged him in the direction where Twilight and the others were standing, watching with open mouths.

“Girls, this is Mister Grendel.” Fluttershy smiled up at him. “Mister Grendel, these are my friends. Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Rainbow Dash.” She said as she pointed to each of them.

“Delighted to meet you all.” Grendel replied with a bow.

“What…but….huh?” Rainbow said in confusion.

“Land sakes…so you are real…” Applejack whispered.

“Oh…my…” Rarity said feeling faint.

“OHMYGOSHIT’SSONICETOMEETYOU!” Pinkie suddenly shouted breaking into a goofy grin.

“I can’t believe it…you really are real.” Twilight said with a grin that began to grow more and more as she offered him a hoof to shake.

Grendel chuckled again as he knelt down and shook Twilight’s hoof as Fluttershy watched with a smile on her face, the crowd of ponies simply stared at the spectacle. Their eyes going From the Elements and the creature called Grendel to the other who stood where he had appeared, his arms crossed.

Turil smiled softly as he watched the display before gazing over the crowd, he could see the mixed feelings of fear and curiosity and surprise. As he looked over he could of sworn one unicorn in particular, a mint coloured one was looking at him with the biggest grin he had ever seen, her eyes seemingly sparkling as she stared at him. He raised an eyebrow as the unicorn turned to a mare beside her with a blue and pink mane that snapped out of her shocked stare and sighed before handing the unicorn a bag of what he assumed was bits.

He looked over the crowd and finally his eyes set upon Celestia’s stare, she looked at him with wide eyes. Turil walked over to her slowly, wearing the most stern and serious of faces, past the parting ponies until he came face to face with her. Celestia met his glare with her own serious, stern expression and Shining Armour began to sweat with panic unsure as to what to do, on one hoof the creatures seemed friendly given how Fluttershy and the creature reacted to seeing one another, but on the other hoof the other creature was looking at Celestia with an expression that could mean anything.

“Soldiers, protect the Princess!” Shining ordered.

Fluttershy was about to speak up in worry but was stopped by Grendel, who smiled down at her.

“Wait a second Miss Fluttershy.”

Celestia raised her hoof which stopped the soldiers in their tracks; she continued to look at Turil her expression never changing. The silence gripped the town as they watched nervously, waiting for one of them to do something. Turil was the one who broke the silence.

“You’ve gotten fat.” Turil commented.

The entire crowd gasped in shock at what they heard, Cadence looked to her aunt with worry as Shining and Twilight glared daggers at Turil, trying to grab him but being held back by other ponies.

“HOW DARE YOU!” Blueblood screamed. “GUARDS ARREST THAT FILTHY CREATURE-“

Celestia cut him off with another raised hoof, her gaze never leaving Turil’s. As everyone calmed down, they saw Celestia give a small smirk and leant her head down closer to Turil’s.

“At least after a thousand years, I still look young and beautiful.” She smirked, nodding her head to his grey hair. “Old man.”

As the two looked at one another in silence, Turil was the first to grin being followed closely by Celestia before the pair burst into laughter and Celestia wrapped her legs around him, bringing him into a hug which he happily returned.

“It’s so good to see you again my old friend!” Turil said happily.

“Oh how we’ve missed you Turil…” Celestia smiled.

Everyone’s jaws dropped for what seemed like the fifth time that day, Twilight’s eyebrow twitched as she tried to work her head around what she just saw. She knew that Turil and Celestia were friends but she just couldn’t understand how they could just act like THAT in front of everyone. As the two broke their hug Turil smiled and looked around before frowning.

“If you’re here…where’s…” Turil began

He was cut off as he had to immediately duck as a blast of water shot over his head, missing him but soaking Blueblood completely. Blueblood spluttered as he screamed in anger, everyone looked to where the blast had come from and were shocked to see Princess Luna standing near a barrel of water, a large grin on her face.

‘Must have sneaked her way over there.’ Celestia thought.

Turil stared at her for a few moments as his mouth opened slightly, Luna sniffled as tears formed in the corners of her eyes as he smile began to quiver.

“You always did have a bad aim Lu-Lu…” Turil chuckled softly.

Luna suddenly broke into a run along with Turil and the two hugged tightly as Luna let her tears flow from her eyes, burying her face into his neck as she cried happily. Celestia felt her eyes water up as she smiled along with Cadence, who had realised the two creatures were friends of her aunts. The crowd of ponies no longer felt afraid or were in shock; instead they were smiling at the scene with some of the mares sniffling. Even Shining was smiling, all concern that the Princesses were in danger was gone.

Twilight smiled warmly watching them, knowing how much Turil and Luna’s friendship meant to each other. Rarity and Pinkie were crying as Applejack and Rainbow Dash watched with a smile on their faces, Fluttershy and Grendel were also smiling as they watched the two hug.

“I missed you, I missed you so much Rilly…” Luna sniffled as she clung tighter to him.

“I missed you to Lu-Lu…more than you know…” Turil replied stroking her back.

After Luna and Turil had finished being reunited, the celebration began again starting with Celestia welcoming the two humans to the celebration and officially stating that they are friends to the Royal family. This seemed to be the final thing the town needed to hear to fully calm them down, now feeling more comfortable after Celestia’s announcement, the town then began to carry on with the festivities, and stall owners went and manned their stalls while the rest wandered around enjoying themselves.

Grendel smiled as he was led around the town, Fluttershy had not stopped talking once as she happily chatted to Grendel about everything and anything, introducing him to all the townsfolk who were more than happy to meet him. Foals of all ages rushing up to gawk at the tall human inspecting him from every angle, three foals in particular were grinning as they stared at him.

“So like…what do you do?” One of them asked.

“Well little one, I’m a Mage.” Grendel replied.

“What in the hay is that?” Another asked.

Grendel looked over to see it was a filly with a bow in her mane; he smiled as he gently sat on the floor cross legged, his cloak flat behind him and Fluttershy by his side.

“It means that I am a practitioner of magic.”

“But how can you use magic? You don’t have a horn!” Another replied.

“I’m not from your world, remember?” He chuckled. “It’s different where I come from.”

“Where’s that?” A unicorn filly with a light purple and pink mane.

“Cyrium.” Grendel simply replied.

“Can we see you do magic?” A purple maned Pegasus asked him.

Grendel chuckled and raised his hand up flat, the foals watched with wide eyes waiting for something to happen. They all gasped and began to chatter excitedly as Grendel created a floating ball of flames that danced on his hand.

“Oh my gosh that’s so cool! Maybe even on, like, Rainbow Dash level coolness!”

“Scootaloo, this is way cooler than that!” The filly with the bow said.

“Is not!”

“Is to!”

“Girls please.” Fluttershy said. “I’m sure Mister Grendel doesn’t want to hear you two bickering.”

“It’s ok Miss Fluttershy, there just being children.” Grendel smiled.

Turil smiled as he watched Grendel perform a few tricks for the foals, who would cheer and giggle as he did. He was sitting at a table that would be used later for a feast at the end of the day’s celebration, beside him with her head resting on his shoulder was Luna and on the other side was Celestia.

Blueblood was sitting at the table refusing to look at what he deemed, ‘a filthy creature’, and was instead drinking from a cup of tea and complaining about it to his group of servants. Opposite Turil on the table was Cadence who was talking with Shining, who was now completely relaxed about the two humans as was enjoying himself. Beside them watching Grendel with a smile was Mayor Mare.

“He certainly knows how to entertain foals.” She said with a smile.

“I think it’s because he’s an old man.” Turil replied as Luna giggled.

“I heard that!” Grendel shouted.

They all chuckled as Grendel went back to entertaining the foals, he was also being watched by Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity, who were there because of their sibling and seemed to be enjoying the show. They watched as Pinkie would bring Grendel treat after treat which he politely took, much to her enjoyment.

“Aren’t you an old man yourself?” Celestia smirked.

“That’s different; he’s five years older than me.” Turil said.

“How does that change anything?” Cadence asked him.

“Simple, he’s the eldest, therefore the older old man.” He replied with a grin.

Cadence and Luna giggled as Shining tried to understand what he meant; Turil looked to Luna’s left to see Twilight approaching him, nervously holding a journal and quill in her magic.

“Uhm…Mister Tailclaw…if it’s alright-“

“Just Turil, calling me Mister makes me feel as old as Grendel.”

Turil ducked as a small ball of fire shot past him from Grendel’s finger, chuckling as he turned his attention back to Twilight.

“Ok...Turil, I was just wondering if I could ask you some questions?” She asked.

“Sure, what would you like to know?” Turil smiled pointing to an empty chair near Cadence.

Twilight made a happy squee sound and took a seat as she opened her journal, ready to learn.

“Ok, so my first question is, how does magic work exactly in Cyrium?”

“Well…from what I gathered when I was here, you ponies can all use magic to an extent. Unicorns with your horns can lift things and what have you, whilst pegasi have magic in their wings that allow them to do what they do regarding the weather. And earth ponies have a magical connection with the ground.”

Twilight scribbled down as the others chuckled playfully as Turil continued.

“It’s the same in Cyrium; everyone is born with the ability to use magic only in rare cases someone is not. But unlike with your magic which comes to you easily as you grow older, magic in Cyrium is harder to harness which is why we have the Temple, a place for mages to learn.”

“Yes, Fluttershy told me that’s what Grendel told her.” Twilight said with a nod.

“Did he now?” He raised an eyebrow. ‘Actually…that’s fine, it’s harmless information that’s all. I doubt they know anything about the war.’ He thought.

“No you stupid cloth eared bint! I told you I don’t like that kind of tea!” Blueblood suddenly shouted.

“I-I’m sorry your highness.” The poor maid apologised.

“You do that again and I’ll have you arrested!” Blueblood snorted.

“Nephew! Be quiet!” Celestia snapped.

“I’m sorry Twilight, continue.” Turil said, getting irritated by Blueblood.

Twilight smiled and cleared her throat, ready to write down more.

“Second question, what was it like when you were here a thousand years ago in the war and-“

Twilight was interrupted as Turil raised his hand and slowly glanced at Celestia, who was looking nervous.

“Tia…how does she know about the war?” He asked in a flat tone.

“Well…you see uh.” Celestia chuckled nervously.

“I thought I told you to change the way it happened.” Turil glared at her.

“I did it’s just…”

“Ink Quill was writing a book.” Luna cut in for her sister. “Detailing everything that happened.”

Turil looked to Luna with interest.

“Go on.” He said.

“Well…he thought it would be nice to have something, even if it was just one book, remembering what you did for us.”

“We just wanted something to remember you by…it wasn’t right just to fully make everything you did for us disappear like that…” Celestia added.

“We’re sorry Rilly…” Luna said softly.

Turil should have been angry with them for breaking their promise but he couldn’t stay mad at them. With a sigh he pulled them both into a hug and chuckled.

“You’re forgiven, you silly old mares.” He said.

“Wait, what did he do?” Shining asked.

Turil looked to the sisters and nodded, they then briefly began to tell the others what happened a thousand years ago. They listened intently and with wide eyes as they listened to how he saved their world from King Sombra and another human called Malaskaar, Celestia and Luna then told them about Varlos’s protection spell and Turil’s request before concluding about the tome and how Twilight knew about it.

“Wow…that’s incredible.” Shining said.

“Those poor ponies…but I can tell you did everything you could.” Cadence said to the three with a smile.

“What a pile of absolutely rubbish!” Blueblood scoffed.

“Excuse me?” Turil asked.

“You honestly expect me to believe we were saved by a filthy ape?” Blueblood chuckled. “No, you’re just having a joke with my aunties aren’t you?”

“Blueblood! Luna shouted.

Blueblood waved his hoof dismissively and knocked the tray the maid was carrying onto his lap, he cried out in pain as the tea poured into his lap and he turned his attention to her, his eyes filled with rage.

“I’m sorry!” she cried.

“I’ll teach you, you little!”

“Blueblood stop this at once!” Celestia bellowed.

The entire town, attracted to her voice turned to see the scene. Blueblood looking down threatening at a cowering maid and two angry rulers, they glared at Blueblood who noticed their looks and simply scoffed.

“What are you looking at peasants, why don’t you just-“

Blueblood stopped as he felt something grab him by the scruff of his neck, he was forcibly made to turn and came face to face with Turil who was looking down at him with calm face.

“You know…Prince.” He began, saying the last word with a hint of sarcasm. “Where me and Grendel come from, a Prince is seen and not heard when he is in the presence of the ACTUAL rulers. And speaking of which, one day you are going to have your own kingdom, Varlos forbid, and you need to learn something.”

Turil forced Bluebloods face to look at the crowd, who were looking back slightly shocked.

“A ruler is only as strong as his people, and it’s the faith the people have in their ruler that gives them their strength. If the people believe they cannot trust or believe in their ruler…”

Turil forced Blueblood to look back at him and chuckled.

“I’ve been alive for half a millennium Blueblood…and I’ve seen what happens to Princes who become Kings and act like spoilt, pathetic children and treat their subjects like dirt…and it’s not pretty, be careful of what you do in your life Blueblood, these ‘peasants’ are stronger then you will ever know.”

Turil release Blueblood and returned to his seat.

“Now apologise to that poor maid, and why not go have a lie down in your chariot?” Turil said.

“O-of course! I’m s-sorry miss!” He bowed to the mare who was shocked.

“That’s…ok?” The maid replied.

Blueblood then quickly scarpered into his chariot and slammed the door; there was a brief silence before the crowd burst into cheers. It was well known that the Prince was a bully and cruel to ponies he considered to be below him and it was nice to see someone put him in his place. The crowd returned to what they were doing as the ponies at the table looked at Turil.

“What?” He asked.

“Was that really necessary?” Celestia asked.

“Someone had to do it, and besides the kid looked like he needed to be put back into line with a slap.”

Luna couldn’t help but giggle and rested her head once more on Turil’s shoulder; Celestia sighed and shook her head. It sounded harsh but Turil was right, Blueblood needed to hear that and was glad it had been said. Suddenly a scroll appeared in front of her, bearing the seal of Whitewall. Celestia went to open it before a second scroll appeared, causing her eyes to widen in fear.

“That seal…” she whispered.

“The seal of the Crystal Empire.” Turil nodded, knowing what it looked like. “The reason why me and Grendel are here.”

Luna and Celestia felt their hearts sank, they were hoping that Turil and Grendel had simply arrived for the sake of just seeing them. But they both knew this day had been coming.

“You mean?” Twilight began.

“Aye…they have returned.”

As the sun faintly shone down through the clouds, the Crystal ponies emerged from the caverns, slightly blinded by the light and dazed. They looked around in confusion as they yawned, beginning to fully waken up from the spell that had been cast over the city. Some wandered the roads looking at the one proud shining crystal buildings that now looked barren, old and filthy. The fearfully looked at the skeletal remains of soldiers that littered the city ground, the armours of Equestria and the Mountain kingdom, scattered around were various bits of armour that weren’t built to fit a pony’s body but rather the body of something bipedal.

The snow fell around the city as the cold wind blew harshly over the city as the townsfolk began to emerge more and more from the caverns, just trying to make sense of what happened. Some began to break down in tears seeing the skeletal corpses and coming to the realisation that something truly terrible had happened to the Empire and the capital.

Amemond opened her eyes slowly as she began to wake up, she suddenly let out a gasp as she stood up and looked out of the window. As her memories began to flow back to her, she remembered that the last thing that happened was seeing the shadows engulf the city and teleporting Ink Quill away to safety before losing consciousness.

“How long have I been out…” she wondered to herself.

She walked down the hallways and felt herself becoming more and more concerned as she noticed the dozes of cobwebs that were around her, as well as the dust from the carpets and tapestries that instead of looking regal now looked old and ruined. She came to the exit of the palace and into the city itself and gasped, feeling tears form in her eyes.

“Oh no…” she whispered upon seeing the skeletal remains.

“Your highness!”

She turned to see a group of Crystal pony’s approach her, each one looking as scared and confused as the other.

“What’s going on? Did we win?” One asked her.

“I…I don’t know…all I can remember is…the shadows.” Amemond replied.

“How long have we been asleep?” one of them asked looking around.

“I wish I knew…” Amemond whispered. “But judging by the…remains, it must have been a long time.”

As the ponies walked through the city, trying to make sense of things, a pair of foals with their mother walked down a road and noticed a strange orb on the ground.

“Mummy…what’s that?” One of them asked.

“I don’t know…it looks like an orb of some sort.” The mother replied.

“Can we keep it?” The other foal asked.

“We can’t it might belong to some-“

She was interrupted as the orb began to crack, a low hiss leaking form it as it suddenly shattered with a roar, sending the family running and screaming.

Amemond and the group by her as well as the entire town heard the deafening roar and looked to see a large swarm of shadows burst into the sky and arc towards where the Mountain Kingdom resided, Amemond felt her blood freeze as her eyes shrunk.

“No…it can’t be…”

“Empress?” A stallion in armour asked approaching her followed by another. “What was that?”

Amemond didn’t answer; she simply stared at the shadow as it vanished against the horizon in fear.

“Empress?” the stallion asked again.

“We need to prepare the defences.” She replied.

“But My lady-“

“I know we have little soldiers left, but that…thing is going to return, I know it!” Amemond said.

“Shouldn’t we inform the Princess?” The other soldier asked.

“I don’t even know if Equestria is still around…we don’t know how long we have been gone.” Amemond replied with a sigh. “But send a scroll anyway, immediately.”

“Yes my lady.” The soldiers saluted and took off.

Amemond frowned as she looked to the horizon; she was terrified but was trying her best not to show it to anyone. All she could do is pray that Equestria was still around, and that help would arrive soon.

The shadow soared through the sky before darting downwards and crashing into the snow, skidding along the ground before coming to a complete stop. They danced on the snow as the wind blew harshly over them and the snow tried to cover the shadows, the shadows began to rise up and form the outline of a tall bipedal creature.

As the shadows finished forming, a low growl could be heard coming from the robed figure, he turned around and glared at the capital, just on the horizon before beginning to limp towards the Mountain Kingdom, feeling his energy slowly returning.

“I said it wasn’t over Tailclaw…this world is going to burn…” Malaskaar growled.

Author's Note

[Edited version to come.] Feel free to point out any errors.