Shadow of an Empire

Princess Celestia was sitting in her throne room going through the day's work. There were letters describing all sorts of problems all over. Fillydelphia had another parasprite infestation, Appleloosa's night time raids, and it looks like the Griffons are causing trouble, again. Celestia sighed knowing that today would be a very long day. The white alicorn gazed at the murals that stained the windows. A warm smile grew on her face as her eyes rested upon the one of Twilight and her friends defeating Nightmare Moon, and returning her sister to her former self. A lone tear of happiness escaped her eye as she reminisced on the memory. She continued to gaze at the artwork, from when Twilight had defeated Discord, to when Spike had given the Crystal Heart to Cadence and helped defeat Sombra.

Her memories were interrupted though, by a messenger pony bursting through the door. He was sweating and was panting heavily, as though he had just sprinted here from halfway across Canterlot. The pony collasped onto his forlegs and held a lone letter in his hoof. It had a fancy heart design on it, which could only belong to her niece residing in the Crystal Empire. Celestia was confused for a minute. She started putting heavy thought into what was going on.

Why is the messenger panting? If it couldn't be thatimportant, right?

The alicorn was still in thought until she was dragged out by the pony who still hadn't delivered his letter. He was wheezing and gasping between words.

"Princess, letter...urgent."

The moment the word urgent left the earth pony's mouth, the letter was immediately taken from his hand and was ripped open and unfolded before the Princess' eyes. She unfolded the letter and quickly began scanning the words for any hint of a problem. Her reaction was the same of both Shining armor and Cadence's. The letter fell out of her grasp and floated the floor, swaying back and forth until it landed gently on the floor. Th Princess could have been mistaken for a statue she was so still. Two words stood out out of that whole ensemble of words,

Heartless, awoken.

It couldn't have been true, it just wasn't possible! The Heartless were defeated, she had made sure to keep them encased in ice! How in Tartarus had they been awoken!? Unless...

When the Crystal Empire returned! The amount of evil and darkness in Sombra's heart was immense! That must have awoken the Heartless, Sombra was like a buffet to them! The destruction and losses would be too great. Just then Luna trotted in wearing a small smile as she was enjoying her day. When she saw her sister however, the smile faded and she became worried.

"Sister, what has happened that has you are dumbstruck?"

When her sister gave no response what so ever, Luna became very worried and walked up to her sibling, inspecting her lifeless body, She noticed Celesia's eyes were resting on a spot on the ground and followed her gaze to the letter. Enveloping the document in a navy blue aura, the indigo alicorn started reading the letter.

Dear Auntie Celestia,

It's happened, the legends and rumor's are true. The unthinkable has happened. The Heartless are real! They attacked Shining Armor and I fear that they are also heading for the Crystal Empire. I have a feeling that you know who or what they are and I need your help now more than ever! I cannot protect my citizens from a threat that I have neither seen nor encountered before! I fear that Judgement Day is upon Equestria. We don't know how they were awoken but it happened. Please send Twilight and her friends. Please!

Sincererly, Cadence

Luna was a bit confused at first before the memory of her sister telling her of the struggle that ensued when the Heartless were last seen. She was shaking in her hooves, not daring to move wishing that this was all and elaborate prank. But it wasn't a prank. Luna was damn well determined to prove that it was a dream, resorting to pinching herself in an attempt to wake up from a dream that never was.

Celestia remained motionless until she heard an ear piercing screech directly in front of her. She shook her head and put her hooves to her ears trying to muffle the sound. She had both eyes clenched shut and refused to open them. But as the screaming went on she peeked at the source and what she saw broke her heart. Broke would be an understatement though, what she saw shattered her heart. There in front of her was her sister, she was spraying tears and constantly pinching herself and running her hooves rapidly and wildly through her mane screaming.

"WAKE UP! WAKE UP!"

The alicorn princess decided to stop sitting on her butt and do comfort her sister. She walked over and went for an embrace, but her sister beat her to it. Luna lunged and embraced her sister, staining the pure white fur with tears. Celestia was on the verge of tears as well but managed to keep them back,

I must stay strong. For Lulu.

Luna didn't open her eyes at all and asked her sister the most frightening question .

"Tia, is...is it r-r-really h-happening? This isn't some nightmare?"

Luna looked up at her sister and opened her eyes, revealing the plead of fright. As much as Celestia was tempted to say yes to spare her sister the pain as well as to spare herself the pain of seeing her sister like this. But it would pain her more should she lie to her and have Luna not only scorn her for lying but live in fear of the Heartless.

"Luna, I'm afraid that this is no dream." Luna dove right back into her sister's chest, the second dam of tears flowing freely now. Celestia continued the embrace trying to comfort her sister. They stayed like that for a good amount of time, neither wanting to return to the dark world they resided in. Celestia knew it was time to prepare and deal with this threat to Equestria. She had protected it before right? She gained some confidence as she thought of her achievements over the forces of dark and evil.

I've defeated Discord, Nightmare Moon, Sombra and the Heartless. I was their for my people and was able to protect them! And I'll be damned if I can't do it this time!

Celestia's face grew determined and she felt a new surge of strength, Pulling out of the hug and leaving a curious Luna in her wake, she grabbed a quill and a scroll and began writing swiftly, the ink flowing like a river forming words on the page. Luna had dried her tears and walked over to investigate the sudden action.

"Sister, who are you writing to?"

Celestia didn't look up to her sister until after she had finished writing, dotting the final sentence and rolling it up and tying it placing her signature seal on the scroll and sending it on it's way in a puff of green smoke.

She turned to her sister and gave a tiny smile and calmly stated

"To an old friend."

Luna's face grew into a confused look as she mentally questioned her sister's response before she realized who she was writing to.

"Let us hope she isn't too busy studying to help our cause."

Celestia let out a small chuckle at the dark blue alicorn's remark. But one thought plagued her. One that sent shivers down her spine and brought terror wherever it went,

Judgement Day is upon us...

With the alicorn sister's preparing to engage the situation at hand, and with the Crystal Empire having it's own preparations, the heroes, or heroines of the story, were going along with their daily routine's. The story now heads to the hectic town of Ponyville. Our destination of choice, the local library and home to the princess of Friendship herself, and not to mention savior of Equestria, Twilight Sparkle.

The lavender mare was an alicorn as well with her cutie mark bieng a six-pointed star surrounded by 5 other stars. She had a indigo mane with a lone magenta stripe running down. She is also the element of magic, living with her surrogate dragon brother, Spike. The day's work was slow and no pony really seemed to visit the library lest they miss out on the sunny weather, as ironic as that is considering the day's events. Most ponies were either inside relaxing or outside enjoying the sunny weather. Twilight had finished reshelving the books in her spare time and was relieved to finally be done, letting out a sigh of relief that she was done.

"There! All finished, now I can just relax and enjoy the rest of the afternoon, in peace." Twilight settled onto the couch and stretched out getting comfortable for a well deserved nap. That was until a certain dragon burst through the front door looking like he was in fear for his life.

"Twilight! The Princess sent a letter! She said it's urgent, that there's a crisis!" Spike searched frantically for the mare in question,, his gaze resting on the alicorn on the face down on the floor.

Spike looked at her, scratching his head in confusion as he tried to comprehend why his surrogate sister was on the floor.

"Uh, Twilight, why are you sniffing the floor?"

His response was a groan from the mare on the floor supposedly attempting to get a scent from the wooden floor.

Twilight sighed and got up dusted herself off and gave Spike an annoyed look.

"Spike, why did you come bursting in here?! What in the hay was so important that you couldn't knock first?"

Her answer wasn't heard but seen as Spike hesitantly lifted the letter up to Twilight's view. Twilight's eyes dilated as she realized it was a letter from the princess.

" A letter from the princess? What could she need?" As Twilight unraveled the scroll and started reading it she immediately sprung forward and grabbed Spike by the shoulders, shouting commands at him.

"Spike! Get our friends together and meet me at the train station stat! I'll bring the elements and get the tickets, you get everyone together!"

"Yes ma'am!" Spike then rushed out the door at breakneck speed rushing to gather the bearers.

Twilight started grabbing everything she thought she would need, packing only the Elements and two medical books for safe measure. Her mind going a mile a minute trying to process what her eyes had just registered.

What kind of crisis could be so severe that the princess couldn't handle it herself?!

Twilight pushed the thought aside for the time being and continued her frantic gathering before dashing out the door the momentum closing the door behind her. She was about to break into a full gallop before she stopped herself real quick and turned back towards the library door. She lifted the welcome mat which revealed a key. Twilight inserted the key into the door and locked it tight.

Better safe then sorry

Continuing her race for the train station she pulled a 180 and began galloping towards the station which was a few blocks away.

With Twilight getting the supplies, Spike headed for the nearest building which was Sugarcube Corner, home to the party mare herself and element of laughter, Pinkie Pie. Spiked shoved the doors to the shop open and was met with a tackle from a pink blur.

Spike opened his eyes to see Pinkie standing above him wearing a huge smile on her face. She drew in a breath to begin her world renowned speed conversation but Spike was well aware and put his claw over her mouth before she could speak.

"Pinkie no time! Train station now! Crisis go now!" Pinkie only nodded and in the blink of an eye the pink mare was gone. Spike breathed a sigh of relief and continued to his next stop, Carousel Boutique. Dashing out of the double doors and sprinting down the street until the fort of clothing. With the next stop in sight, Spike dashed forward faster and faster until he reached it.

Spike came upon the clothes shop which housed one of the most known designers, and element of generosity, Rarity. Spike knocked on the door of his crush and waited patiently for it to be answered. The door was opened to reveal the alabaster unicorn. She took notice of Spike almost immediately and proceeded to tussel his spines wearing a warm smile. She spoke with grace and addressed Spike.

"Oh hello my little Spikey-Wikey. What are you doing here darling? Come to help me with my new dress design, I assume?"

Spike shook his head and  replied with the utmost urgency.

"Rarity there's no time to explain! Twilight needs you at the train station now!"

Rarity's smile fell from her face as she realized the seriousness of the situation.

"I'll be there right away! Thank you ,Spike." Rarity then closed the door and galloped past Spike down the street weaving in between alleys obviously taking the backroads to save time. Spike was a little dazed from the sudden speed, but quickly regained his composure and continued the sprint to the next stop, Sweet Apple Acres.

Spike sprinted towards his destination with haste and was already exhausted from everything and all the running. His legs burned with every step, the sun beating down on his head. The adrenaline pulsing through his body saying otherwise. As the farm came into view he could just barely make out 3 ponies by a tree. @ of them being pegasus' and the third being an earth pony.

The first pegasus was a cyan mare with a rainbow mane and tail. The element of loyalty herself, Rainbow Dash. The next pegasus was a yellow pony with a pink mane and tail. The element of kindness, Fluttershy. The last of the trio, was an orange earth pony with a yellow mane and tail both tied up in a ponytail. The element of honesty, Applejack. Spike continued to close the distance between him and the mares picking up on the bickering between Rainbow and AJ.

"Darn it Rainbow! Ah'm tired of ya' nappin in mah trees! If your gonna sleep in 'em, ya' might as well buck'em!

Rainbow rolled her eyes at the farmer and responded

"Take a chill pill Applejack. When your the coolest thing alive, you need to regularly nap so you don't lose your cool. And besides, your trees are the best to sleep in anyway! The leaves are like the perfect pillow!"

Applejack glared at Rainbow ready to fire back a remark when she noticed Spike sprinting towards the group of ponies. She heard him start shouting something at them when he was in range of them.

"Applejack, Rainbow, Fluttershy! Twilight, train station, now!"

The 3 mares exchanged a glance at each other and all the words were spoken. This matter could wait, right now their friend needed them.

Applejack looked at Spike and commanded him

"Spike, hop on my back and I'll get us there lickety split."

Spike nodded in understanding and hopped on. With her passenger secure and her friend waiting, the group sped towards the train station.

Twilight was resting on a bench at the train station, 6 tickets to Canterlot within her grasp. She was waiting for her friends to arrive, wondering what was keeping them.

Where are they? I hope Spike didn't get hurt, or worse! Oh what if-

Her thoughts were cut short by a pink blur tackling her to the ground. He mouth agape in the form of a smile. Her mouth going a mile a minute.

"Heya Twilight! Spike told me that you needed me to come here cause there was a crisis and I was all like 'Let's roll' and I was thinking about what the crisis was! What if the crisis is that Luna's birthday is tomorrow and the princess forgot to stup her birthday party! That would be horrible! If that happened to me I would be all sad and want a nice big happy party to bring me up ya'know! But oh well."

Twilight was slightly annoyed with Pinkie's rude greeting but shook it off and pushed the party mare off here and got to her hooves.

"Well, Pinkie, I don't know what the princess could want or what the crisis is. But I sure hope everything's ok...."

Twilight and Pinkie's conversation was cut short by Rarity's stealthy walk up to them both.

"Well, hello girls. Twilight if I must ask what did the princess want exactly?"

"I don't know, Rarity, the letter just said that there was a crisis and that she needed us right away."

Pinkie took this as her cue to chime in

"Ooooh, sneaky!"

Twilight and Rarity rolled their eyes at Pinkie's antics and were about to continue when the last of the group showed up sweating and panting. Applejack was the first to speak followed closely by Rainbow, and Fluttershy.

"Twilight, we're...here," Applejack was panting heavily and Rainbow piped up speaking hastily

"Yeah, what did the princess want?" Fluttershy decided to add on to Rainbow's question

"And what's the crisis?"

Twilight was about to answer but was cut off by a whistle of the train and the yell of the conductor.

"All aboard! Train to Canterlot is now leaving the station!"

Twilight sighed and answered quickly

"Listen girls, I'll explain on the way but right now here are your tickets." Twilight handed each of them their own ticket and the friends stepped onto the train handing their tickets to the conductor. The group took their seats and prepared themselves for the journey ahead. Little did they know that the journey ahead will be their toughest yet.

The doors to the throne room of the crystal empire were thrown open and the sound echoed off walls. A guard stumbled in, carrying another on his back. Cadence was sitting on her chair awaiting the news. The guard dropped his commrade on the ground and cast his eyes at the ground. Fearing the worst Cadence asked the guard for his report.

"Commander, what happened? Were you able to stop the Heartless?"

The guard shifted his hooves and a lone tear was made visible as it fell to the ground.

"No...we weren't...."

Cadence's face developed a look of sadness and hopeless.

"And, what happened to your friend?"

"He was purged. they found some darkness in his heart and purged it out of him. It was like a replica of him, expect pitch black and yellow eyes were his features. Then he just changed into one of them." The guard was releasing tears now, the memories torturing him to no end.

"Commander, I'm sorry"

The guard nodded in appreciation and turned and left Cadence with the body of the fallen soldier in the middle of the room. His eyes were completely white, his mouth open, and slash marks were claimed his body. Cadence was horrified by the ferocity of the beasts. She looked outside the window and saw storm clouds gathering, trickles of snow falling, staining the roads and buildings.

Cadence said something out loud so only she could hear.

"Twilight, where are you?"

The dark clouds outside shrouding the Heartless gathering outside the doorstep of the Empire, their numbers increasing more and more everyday.