Celestia's Past/Equestria's Futureby Crimson FeatherChaptersBeginningsTo question a princessBetween two princessesThe beginning of the Crystal Empire's downfallThe story of the Royal Crystal Empire siblings part 1The story of the Royal Crystal Empire siblings part 2BeginningsCelestia’s sun was shining bright in the sky and the citizens of Ponyville were happy, going about their daily lives after completing their annual winter wrap-up just a few days prior, the market was busier than ever with ponies buying freshly grown fruits and vegetables, Sugercube Corner was busy selling their ‘Wrap-up’ cupcakes, a little delicacy the Cake family started to celebrate Ponyville finishing their wrap-up on time with Twilight’s help. The delicious treats looked like a normal cupcake with white frosting and a flower on top, but inside were bits of oats and diced up fruits, everypony loved the treats and would buy them by the dozens, soon Mr. and Mrs. Cake had to put a limit to the number of cupcakes they could sell to each customer in order to ensure that they didn’t run out before the afternoon. One pony in particular was obsessed with the Cakes creation, their own live-in employee, Pinkie Pie. She would bounce around the kitchen helping Mr. Cake prepare for the busy day ahead, although this was normal for the hyperactive pink pony with a tail and mane so puffy that it looked like she had just woken up. “I can’t wait to try some more of your special Wrap-up cupcakes!” Pinkie was full of energy and smiled more than any pony in Ponyville, perhaps even in all of Equestria. “I’m glad you’re excited Pinkie,” Mr. Cake was use to Pinkie’s explosive sense of energy. “Just remember that we’re making these for the costumers first.” “I know, I’m just really excited that I’m helping you bake.” Pinkie may seem immature at times, or rather most of the time, but she was still a hard worker when it came to helping others. Suddenly Pinkie heard a familiar voice, “Howdy Mrs. Cake, how y’all holding up this fine morning?” There was no mistaking that accent; it was her good friend Applejack. “Hello Applejack.” Mrs. Cake was in the front of the store handling customers and selling them sweets. “I’m guessing you’re here to deliver those apples we requested?” With a proud smile Applejack responded, “Yes’em, ten crates of crisp apples straight from the trees.” Applejack took great pride in knowing that all of Ponyville trusted her family greatly for their produce, even parts of Canterlot used vegetables grown at Sweet Apple Acres Farm. Pinkie popped her head out of the kitchen to see her friend, “Hey, Applejack! I’m baking cupcakes!” Applejack looked over to see a wide grinned Pinkie Pie waving her hooves hello, or to grab her attention, she wasn’t very sure which. “Well hey there Pinkie, I see you’re busy too.” Pinkie finally stopped flailing her arms, “Yep, I’m a busy little pinkie bee.” Applejack thought she would have been used to Pinkie’s odd word plays but alas, she was still left wondering what was going on in that puffy head of hers. The Pegasi were also busy, they were sending weather mares and weather colts all over to move clouds and get rid of any snow clouds that may have been left behind during the wrap-up, one Pegasus in general named Rainbow Dash was speeding through the air and bucking clouds quicker than any of the other flying ponies. By the time any of the other Pegasus was done with their section Rainbow Dash would have cleared her area and could be found sleeping on a cloud, or a tree branch. “Ha, easy peasy one two threesy, maybe next time I’ll get a challenging section.” Rainbow had a bit of an ego, she claimed to be the fastest flier in all of Ponyville and maybe even all of Equestria. Despite her love for show boating Rainbow Dash is arguably the most loyal friend you could have, she would give up her wings before turning her back on Equestria and her friends. “Now that I’m done here it’s time to find that cloud I left behind and catch some rays.” Rainbow bolted through the skies towards her resting spot, but then she decided to do something else. “On second thought, maybe a little practice would be nice.” There was something Rainbow Dashed loved more than sleeping, she loved the rush of speeding through the blue sky, the sense of freedom was something she admired. Rainbow Dash loved being a Pegasus, she may not be able to use magic like unicorns, but she didn’t need it as long as she had wings. The warm touch of the sun as she flew higher was relaxing to her, for those moments Rainbow Dash had no worries and could lose herself. “Yeah, this so much better than being an Earth pony or a unicorn, I don’t envy them one bit.” In Ponyville sat a cottage in the form of a tree, animals of all kinds lived there, from bees to bears. The owner of the place, Fluttershy, loved ‘critters’ of all sizes and took care of them in her home. She was a very meek and soft spoken Pegasus; she didn’t like conflict and could be easily persuaded to follow along with nearly anything, even if she was afraid. She was one the kindest ponies in Equestria and despite being a push over she was a very intelligent mare, especially when it came to animals. Fluttershy was packing a basket filled with carrots and baked goods, she and her pet bunny Angel were going on a picnic at the local park. “Oh my, I hope I didn’t forget anything, I know I can be quite forgetful sometimes.” Angel was sitting on top of Fluttershy’s head, practically hiding in her pink mane that flowed to the ground, he gave her a shrug. “You’re right Angel; if it was really important we would have packed it.” Fluttershy grabbed the basket’s handle with her teeth and raised her wings to take off towards the door. The thought of forgetting something nagged her all the way to the front gate, “But what if that something I forget to pack IS important? Our picnic would be ruined and it would be my fault.” Angel thumped Fluttershy on the head, it was routine for him to remind her not to worry all of the time, “Right, it’s like Rainbow Dash always tells me ‘Don’t sweat the little stuff’.” And with that Fluttershy flapped her wings and took off with Angel to enjoy their day at the park. With the winter season over a unicorn pony with purple colored mane that swirled majestically down her head and flank was dashing about her home. Rarity was a fashion designer who became famous after a highly influential fashion pony named Hoity Toity showed her dresses to all of Canterlot; her fame went even further after becoming friends with a high class colt named Fancy Pants. Rarity was putting the final touches on a new line of dresses, she spent her winter days thinking of new designs and filling orders for ponies in Canterlot. Watching her with a less than concerning look was her pet Opalescence, a Persian cat who had a sense for fashion just as refined as Rarity. Opal sat near her water dish and toy mouse turning her head left to right as she looked at her owner panic from stress, one could even be lead to believe Opal may have been enjoying the show. “Don’t give me that Opal,” Rarity didn’t need to look at her pet to know that she was being judged, “I have been in this situation before, I’m nearly done and there’s no reason for me to slow down now.” Opal rolled her eyes and then continued to watch, Rarity was very skilled in dress making but even she had trouble with large orders, this was because Rarity makes all of her dresses by herself. “Everything should start to calm down after this order, and then I can go back to focusing completely on my new designs.” Opal just gave out a low meow in agreement. While Canterlot housed Princess Celestia Ponyville was home to another princess, one that chose to be surrounded by books rather than other ponies when she was younger, Twilight Sparkle was a unicorn that became an alicorn, she dedicated all of her time to study magic; she is the ‘loyal student’ of Princess Celestia and lives in the local library in Ponyville. Twilight lived in Canterlot before her teacher, Princess Celestia, sent her to Ponyville with orders to try and make some friends, in the end Twilight became great friends with Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Together they went on adventures and learned valuable lessons in friendship, not only within each other but also within themselves. Being a princess was a scary thought to her, Twilight had no idea that being Celestia’s student would lead to her being a future ruler. Twilight eventually learned that being a princess shouldn’t and wouldn’t change who she was, thanks to some sound advice from her sister-in-law/friend Princess Cadence. Today was an important to Twilight; she was to meet with her teacher at the castle for an important meeting, while Celestia didn’t mention what the meeting was about Twilight was happy to be involved. She never questioned her teacher, it was probably the biggest reason Celestia calls her “most faithful student”, or it may have had something to do with an old apprentice that turned away from Celestia’s teachings. Twilight stepped out of her home to be greeted by a royal carriage being pulled by two royal guards, just like the one her teacher rides in when she came to visit Ponyville. “Oh my, is that really for me? I didn’t know the princess was sending a carriage.” Twilight didn’t mind riding the local train to Canterlot, it gave her plenty of time to relax and read a book. One of the royal guards nodded, “Princess Celestia wants you at the castle as soon as possible, the meeting she is holding has been moved forward and is now a top priority.” That wasn’t something Twilight wanted to here; it was odd enough that Celestia didn’t tell her what the meeting was for, now it’s a top priority? “I see, very well, let’s not waste any more time.” Twilight jumped onto the carriage and effortlessly the two Pegasus guards flew off, pulling the carriage as if Twilight wasn’t even on, not surprising since they probably pull Celestia all of the time. Twilight couldn’t help but worry about her meeting with Celestia; did she have another tasking that required the Elements of Harmony? As the royal guards flew Twilight towards the castle Rainbow Dash was flying by, “Hey that was Twilight, why are they in such a hurry?” Rainbow Dash decided to forget about it and kept flying, “Well whatever it is I’m sure Twilight will tell us if it’s really important.” Stomach growling, Rainbow Dash flew by Sugercube Corner to visit Pinkie and grab some lunch with her, when Rainbow did reach her destination she saw the huge line in front of the bakery. “Ah man, this is going to take forever, is all of Ponyville here right now?” There was no need to bother her friend as Rainbow Dash was sure that Pinkie Pie would be way too busy to take a break. At the palace in Canterlot Princess Celestia was standing in front her sister, Princess Luna. “Once Twilight gets here I will explain everything, I promise.” Celestia was the oldest and biggest of the two sisters, she had an orange and yellow sun for a cutie mark on her white coat and a light multi-colored manes that flowed as if they were being blown by the wind. “I understand sister, if it’s so important that Twilight Sparkle is needed then I shall wait.” Luna was smaller than her sister, mostly because she was still growing; she had a waxing crescent moon for a cutie mark on her dark blue coat, Luna’s manes were blue and light blue that also flowed like they were being carried by the wind. The huge double doors leading to the castle’s halls flew open and the royal guards that were already in the throne room snapped to attention, trumpets began to blast the royal entrance number and Twilight walked in. “Behold, the royal Princess Twilight has arrived!” The royal guard’s booming announcement made Twilight blush in slight embarrassment; surely such a grand announcement wasn’t necessary to let Celestia know that she was in the room. Celestia smiled and walked towards Twilight. “Princess Twilight Sparkle, my most loyal and faithful student.” With a smile Twilight hugged her teacher. “I got her as soon as I could Princess; I heard this meeting was now urgent.” “Yes, I’m afraid it is. This meeting will be held between the four of us.” Twilight had a confused look on her face, “The four of ‘us’, I thought this was just for me and you.” Twilight was disappointed that she wasn’t going to get the chance to speak with her teacher alone like she use to when she was actually living in Canterlot. “I’m sorry, but plans have changed, Luna and Cadence both needs to hear what I have to say.” Luna stepped from behind her sister. “Greetings Twilight Sparkle, I hope all has been well since we last met.” “Oh hello Princess Luna, yes, everything has been fine.” “And I assume my dear sister has also left you in the dark towards what’s so important about our little get together?” Twilight looked at Celestia and then back at Luna, why was it that even Princess Luna was unaware of the subject and how big was it that Cadence was called all the way from the Crystal Empire? “Well, no, I don’t know what’s going on right now.” Luna gave a disapproving look towards her sister. “Even she does not know dear sister, what is the meaning of this?” Celestia looked at the leader of her royal guards and motioned for them to leave, the leader nodded and gave the order. “Alright men, royal business that has nothing to do with us is about to be conducted, so move out. Broad Sword, you and Blazing Aegis are on door duty.” The guards all formed up and left, shutting the doors behind them, Celestia put her focus back to Luna. “I was hoping to speak with Twilight about the elements, but something has come up and I decided to hold off on that lesson.” Celestia walked toward her throne and sat down. “Cadence should be here soon; once she arrives we will discuss the issue at hand.” Luna looked at Twilight, she was just as clueless as she had proclaimed, Celestia must have a good reason to leave Twilight out of the loop. To question a princessThe doors swung opened as Princess Cadence walked in, she saw Twilight and smiled. “Twilight, Princess Celestia told me you would be here too, how are you?” Twilight always enjoyed seeing Cadence, she was her foal sitter in the past and they became great friends; Cadence ended up marrying Shining Armor, Twilight’s big brother. Cadence wasn’t always an alicorn, she was actually a Pegasus that was found and raised by earth ponies when she was younger, one day Celestia chose her to become an alicorn. Now Cadence and her husband Shining Armor, who was also the captain of Celestia’s royal guards, ruled the Crystal Empire together. Cadence had a pink coat with a purple shade at the tip of her wings; she had a heart shaped crystal for a cutie mark, her manes had three different colors; pink, purple and light cream. Twilight ran to Cadence and they both greeted each other with their sister-esq hoof shake, they both began to gallop in place while reciting an old nursery rhyme. “Sunshine sunshine….” While singing they ducked downed and covered their eyes, “ladybugs awake…” They both sat up and begun clapping each other’s hooves, “…clap your hooves and do a little shake.” Both Twilight and Cadence turned to shake their tail, with that they enjoyed a pleasant giggle along with a hug. “I’m so happy to see you Cadence, I’m doing great, how’s the empire?” Celestia cleared her throat and stared at the three princesses, “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we should get to why I called all of you here.” Luna turned towards her sister, “I’m sure it’s nothing good if you need all of us here at once.” “No, Luna, I’m afraid you’re right. I have asked you all to join me here today so I could reveal that a new threat has risen in Equestria.” Twilight walked towards Luna and stopped by her side. “A new threat, how bad is it princess?” “I don’t fully know yet my young pupil, right now all I do know is that it’s a possibility that this new enemy is causing trouble and I want you, Twilight, to go out and find the root of this problem.” “No problem princess, with my friends beside me this problem will be solved in no time.” "I’m glad you are confident in your friends, but don’t forget faithful student, you must also have confidence in yourself.” “Yes princess, I know, where do I start and what exactly do we know about the enemy?” “I was told that the issues were being created by a powerful unicorn, one that could control dragons.” The three princesses suddenly had a disbelieved look on their faces, Celestia continued. “I know it sounds farfetched, and that is why I want you to look into it Twilight, if what I’ve heard is true then we will need to plan accordingly.” Luna stared at her sister, why send Twilight if there is a unicorn with the ability to control dragons, why not send her instead? “Sister, I know you have great faith in your student, but do you really believe that sending her after a unicorn that powerful is a good idea?” Celestia pondered for a moment and smiled at Twilight. “Yes Luna I do, Twilight is a smart mare, I know if things get too bad she will be able to protect herself. Besides, she will have her friends, thus she will also have the elements.” Luna nodded and looked at Cadence, they didn’t really spend a lot of time together, with Luna being on the moon for so long and now Cadence has an empire to rule. “I’m sure you will be fine Cadenza, my sister wouldn’t entrust you with a whole empire if you were not capable of protecting the citizens.” Twilight felt a little hurt by Luna’s words, she was right; Cadence was able to hold up a force field over the entire Crystal Empire for days. Twilight was only capable of shielding much smaller areas like her home, she was smart but Cadence had experience. Cadence saw that Luna has inadvertently wounded Twilight’s confidence. “Don’t worry, Princess Celestia trusts you and so do I.” Twilight smiled, she knew Princess Luna wasn’t trying to make her feel bad; the way she says things at times just come out a little harsh, but that was just Luna being honest. Celestia turned her attention to Cadence. “I want you to return to the Crystal Empire and inform Shining Armor that I will be sending a few of my royal guards to help assist in any way they can, if the citizens see a bunch of royal crystal guards running in and out of the empire they could get nervous. But if we make it look like a training exercise they would be none the wiser.” Cadence nodded in agreement. “Don’t worry princess; I’m sure Shining Armor will find plenty of exercises for them.” Celestia then turned to her sister. “Luna you and I will continue with our regular schedules, everything must look as if nothing out of the ordinary is happening.” Luna nodded. “Very well, but I will be sending my guards out on night patrols, they work best at night and if they see anything suspicious we will know.” “That’s a good idea sister; night recon could give us an edge if this new threat works in the dark.” Celestia stood from her throne and walked towards Twilight. “As for you faithful student, I want you to return to Ponyville and prepare your friends, if we hear anything you must be ready to act.” “Of course princess, as always you can count on me.” Twilight’s wings puffed up and a determined looked washed over her face. “I know I can; now if you will all excuse me, I must prepare my royal guards for their ‘exercise drills’ at the Crystal Empire. Come Cadence, you and I will speak further on the situation at hand.” “Yes, your majesty. Good luck Twilight and you too Princess Luna.” Cadence waved to the two princesses and followed Celestia into the halls. Twilight turned to Princess Luna who had a composed look, Luna stared back at her. “Um, Princess Luna, do you really have such little faith in me?” “It’s not you I have little faith in you, Twilight Sparkle, believe it or not I’m questioning my sister’s decisions.” “If I may ask why, the princess has a plan and she knows what’s best, right?” “Twilight, you put too much faith in my sister, nopony’s perfect. Celestia has made plenty of mistakes in the past, we both have and we both paid the price a number of times.” “What do you mean, like when you turned into Nightmare Moon?” “That’s one example yes, but what I really mean is that we have both made enemies. We didn’t become the rulers of Equestria because we asked nicely.” Now that she thought about it, Celestia never told Twilight how she and Luna became rulers, Twilight only knew about how Discord was defeated and she assumed that was the end. “Princess Luna, what can you tell me about Princess Celestia’s past? I never thought about it before but, I know very little about my own teacher.” “My sister’s past is not for me to reveal Twilight, you must ask her yourself and if she refuses to answer your questions than it may be for the best.” Twilight never thought to question Celestia, nopony did really, why would they? She has protected Equetria for over a thousand years; she was the sun Goddess and brought joy into their lives. “She doesn’t talk about you becoming Nightmare Moon and while I was very curious on the subject I never pushed it, so can I ask you about the time you lost your way?” Luna averted her eyes to her sister’s throne, it was so long ago, yet she remembered the fear and anger that had consumed her as if it was very recent. “We were both filled with shame and regret after that tragedy, my sister and I, when you purged the corruption from my body I was embarrassed. My sister and I are amongst the most powerful creatures on this planet, but I was too weak to fight the corruption and she was too weak to destroy it, yet you and your friends were capable of bringing me down.” Luna pointed her hoof at a glass stained window showing Twilight and her friends beating discord. “And you continued to show great promises by defeating Discord and then reforming him to join us; my sister and I were only able to turn him into stone. You help save the Crystal Empire and eventually proved that you were capable of so much more.” Twilight had no idea where the princess was going with her reminders, Luna continued. “I see you are confused, simply put Twilight Sparkle, you and your friends have been fixing the mistakes Celestia and I made.” Twilight began to understand, Princess Celestia’s mistakes wasn’t something to take lightly and if this new threat is something from her past than the citizens of Equestria will surely need their princesses. Between two princessesCadence sat quietly in a big room filled with guards, on the table in front of her were tea and large amount of cakes in different varieties, Celestia was speaking with her royal guard leader outside of the room. Cadence looked around, the guards didn't seem to be on higher alert more than usual, didn't Celestia tell them about the new threat running around Equestria? The door swung opened by two guards while two more escorted Celestia inside, after she sat down across from Cadence the royal guard leader signaled for all of his men and women to leave. With the room empty and even quieter than before Celestia began the conversation. "I'm sorry for making you wait in here by yourself Mi Amore." Cadence smiled. "That's ok, your guards kept me....er...company." Cadence took a sip of her tea. "While I appreciate the tea and cake I must ask, why must you speak with me in private princess?" Celestia finished the slice of cake she was eating. "I thought I told you, we must plan our move accordingly and speak about Armor's 'training drills'." Cadence was a smart Alicorn, she knew there was more to this personal meeting. "I suspect there is more to this, if that was all we were going to talk about than why make this a private chat, surely you would have left some of your guards in here so they knew what to brief to the others." Celestia smiled, of course Cadence would have figured it out. "Other than my sister you are the only one who would question my actions." Cadence was surprised by the statement, but before she could respond Celestia stopped her and continued. "Twilight still believes I am incapable of making mistakes, she will do whatever I ask without questioning why until the end. You have been under my wings before Twilight was even born, I watched you grow from a loving Pegasus into a brave princess, like Twighlight you struggled and prevailed the challenges that were laid before you. Only Luna knows about my past and today, my dear Mi Amore, I want to share that story with you." Cadence never really thought about Celestia and Luna's past, she always figured that they had lived for so long it didn't matter, they had life experience and she was still a young princess who was still learning about ruling an entire empire. Now that she thought about it, what happened before Equestria when Celestia and Luna defeated Discord, where did they even come from if Sombra was the original ruler of the Crystal Empire? In the end only Luna knew about those details and she was just as reluctant to speak about the subject than her elder sister, Well if this was something Celestia was going to reveal than Cadence was going to learn more about her royal aunt than anypony else. Celestia finished her strawberry cake and honey tea. "I see you are beginning to wonder about our past, Luna and mine, you may ask anything. I look forward to finally sharing my mistakes with somepony that isn't Luna, I love my sister dearly but sometimes it's like talking to a mirror. Luna was there for most of the issues, so really we were only reflecting on the past, it provided absolutely no closure for the both of us." Cadence thought for a moment, there was so much to ask but she didn't want to offend the princess by accidentally hitting a hot button, she looked up to the princess who was eating her fourth slice of cake. "So Princess Celestia, what happened before Sombra?" Celestia finished her cake yet again. "What do you mean?" "You and Princess Luna defeated Sombra before Discord right? So if Discord was the ruler of Equestria before you two, why did you attack Sombra?" "Luna and I believed that Sombra was just a powerful unicorn that ruled over the Crystal Empire with force and we saw the terror he was installing into his subjects hearts. We were going to rule the empire together and protect them forever." "But Sombra was able to put a curse on the entire empire, making it vanish in thin air." "Yes, we knew Sombra was powerful but to have that level of magic was something Luna and I thought only we possessed." Celestia poured herself another cup of tea and offered some to Cadence who held her cup up and nodded, while pouring her niece the tea Celestia continued her story. "We flew on, searching throughout all of Equestria we began to hear stories of a wicked creature like none any of the ponies had ever seen, one that defeated every creature or pony that stood against him. Luna and I became concerned that there was somepony, or something, more powerful than Sombra. We soon came across him, Discord the Spirit of Chaos." Cadence sat her tea cup down. "Princess, before you get into your history with Discord, you never fully explained why you went after Sombra. It sounded like you and Princess Luna just felt like overthrowing somepony you felt was evil, granted the fear and hatred he forced onto his subjects is awful, he never did anything to you." "In all honesty Cadence, Luna and I was looking for a piece of land for ourselves, once we discovered Equestria we knew it was the place to create a kingdom of our own. During our travels we decided to stop into the Crystal Empire to rest, Luna thought the dark crystals were beautiful she said it reminded her of the gorgeous nights she was able to create." Celestia began to stare at the drapes around the room, they all had her cutie mark on them and were covering the windows, Celestia used her magic to pushed the polyester drapes aside and let the bright sun beam in. "I love Luna's nights but never understood her fascination for the shadows, did you know when we were younger I was afraid of the dark and Luna had to help me overcome those fears?" Cadence's ears perked up. "Really? You're the Sun Goddess, how could you of all ponies be afraid of something like that?" Celestia chuckled, this was the first time she had told anybody that part about her and Luna had always kept that secret to herself. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's very true, I always felt powerless without the sun. When I discovered my true purpose and my cutie mark appeared I was ecstatic, the sun always made me happy and to see it as my cutie mark was the greatest day of my life." Cadence giggled, she had never thought about her royal aunts as blank flanks, the very idea of Celestia and Luna not having their marks was nearly unimaginable to her. "It's nice to know that you and Princess Luna was once like everpony else, lost and confused as to what your purpose is, sometimes it's easy to forget that even you two have had hard times." Celestia smiled at Cadence, it was nice to finally get all of her thoughts out and have someone understand, she feared letting her subjects know her secrets would cause them to judge and lose all of their trust in her. The smile on the Princess face fell and she gave Cadence a stern look., stopping the crystal princess's laugh. "My dear Mi Amore, what I am about to tell does not leave this room especially not towards Twilight Sparkle, understand." "Yes Princess." "It was my idea to attack Sombra and overthrow him, Luna suggested that we move on and allow him to rule his empire anyway he saw fit, but I couldn't just fly away after seeing the pain in those poor ponies eyes. After a few....exchange of words, some of which I wished I never said, Luna agreed to aid me in bringing Sombra down." "Princess Luna had a point, your highness, I understand you wanted to help but..." Before Cadence could finish Celestia interrupted her. "I used those ponies as an excuse, Luna was right and I knew it, we should have left Sombra to rule. It would have been easy to just walk away but I didn't, we had a chance to rule an entire empire and I was going to take it, with or without my sister." The beginning of the Crystal Empire's downfallOut to the north of the Crystal Empire were massive mountains called the Crystal Mountains, they stretched throughout the Frozen north and gave a brilliant shine when the sun hit them just right and there were no snow storms. But snow wasn't the only thing that claimed the mountains as home, withing a fairly large cavern lived a Pink unicorn with a cutie mark that consisted of a square root symbol with a star inside of it, her tail and mane were two toned colored with Orange and a green tint so light it looked as if it was glowing. She wore a pair of glasses that only covered the bottom half of her Green eyes. Using a powerful telescope she peered into the empire and took notes on everything she saw pertaining to the royal guards, she watched as they exchanged shifts and took notice of their routes and ranks. "I'm sure Master Elgron will find this all very useful." She said to herself. "Three days in this daft cave, I can't wait for this whole thing to be over with so we can go home, or at least move somewhere a little warmer." A figure rose from it's slumber. "I agree, sitting in the cold isn't really my idea of a nice time." The unicorn jumped from her stationed, startled by the sudden voice. "Don't worry my dear sweet Angelica, I'm not enjoying this place either, but with all of the information you've given me in the past few days I'm nearly ready to make my move." The unicorn went back to her telescope and continued to write. "I'm glad that you feel that I have been a use to you, Master Elgron, especially with me being a pony and all." "Angelica, you know I don't mind if you just called me Elgron, I've been taking care of you since you were just a scared little filly. Drop the formality sweetheart and I told you before, you're not like other ponies, you can actually be trusted." The figure walked out of the shadows and sat near Angelica. Elgron was a wingless dragon with black scales that ran from his snout to the back of his tail, his underbelly had crimson red scales that ran from his jaw to the underside of his tail. The dragon was capable of walking on his hind legs but always preferred to walk on all fours, he mostly stood up in order to intimidate his foes, he had a slender build and his eyes were matched the same crimson red as his scales. She looked up and meet with his eyes. "Just how much longer do we have to wait Mas...I mean Elgron, what's left of the preparations?" "I still need you to go into the empire and look for a few books, while you are there I will be visiting a friend of mine, I'm going to need her help." The pink unicorn looked away from her telescope and closed her notepad. "What am I looking for exactly, the history of the empire?" Elgron smiled. "That's exactly what I want you to find, I need to know more about that Crystal Heart and King Sombra, so I need you to do what you do best, research and report." Angelica blushed, she loved getting praises from Elgron, especially when it came to how smart she was. "Yes sir, I will do so much research on the empire that I would even be able to recite their anthem to you." "Good, that's what I want to hear from you; now teleport your adorable little head down there and make nice with the citizens, I'll be back in four days." Angelica nodded and with a bright pink flash she was gone. "What a talented young mare you have become Angelica," Elgrone said to himself, "I'm sure you'll give Twilight a run for her crown. Now then, it's time I got back to finding my friend, I just hope she isn't mad at me for not visiting sooner." Elgron step out of the cave and walked off of the edge, as he fell his eyes emitted black smoke and while in midair he took of and was flying as if he had wings. He had four days to find his friend, without her the plan would become a bust and Elgron was not going to let that happen. Angelica walked through the entrance to the Crystal Empire, if she would have teleported out of nowhere into the city the guards would have reasons to be suspicious, but coming through the entrance made her look like a tourist. "I should ask around about their library, that's the quickest way to finding out all I need to know about their history." As she continued her way into the empire a crystal stallion walked by her, it was obvious that he was a empire native. "Excuse me sir." The stallion turned around. "Hi, I have never been here before, could you tell me where I could find the library?" The crystal stallion looked at her and smiled. "You came to visit the Crystal empire to read? We have great restaurants and our festival is coming up in a few days." Angelica pushed her glasses off her nose and back towards her eyes. "Festival, what festival?" "Why our Crystal Fair of course, surely you have heard of it?" Angelica shook her head. "Oh, well allow me to be your guide, I can tell you all about it while we walk to the library and then you can read to your heart's content." Angelica didn't waste any time thinking about the proposal, she was there to learn more about the empire and having one of the natives share their knowledge was almost as good as reading it from a book, almost. "That sounds like a wonderful idea, my name is Angelica." "I'm Lightning Hooves, nice to meet you, where are you from Miss?" "Oh, well...I live far away." "Manehattan?" Angelica became nervous, she knew the stallion was just being friendly but she couldn't tell him that she actually lived outside of Equestria with dragons. "Yes, I'm from Manehattan, how did you know?" The stallion smiled. "Lucky guess, a mare as beautiful as you couldn't have come from too far away." Angelica's cheeks turned bright red, she was never told be anybody that she was beautiful, sure Elgron mentioned she was cute for a pony but never beautiful. The two ponies began their chat as they trotted through the streets towards the local library, suddenly a spinning object caught Angelica's attention, it was a heart made of a single crystal. Lightning Hooves noticed Angelica gawking at the heart. "Beautiful isn't it? That is our pride and joy, the Crystal Heart." Angelica fixed her eyes away from the heart and onto the stallion. "That's the Crystal Heart, the one you were telling about that's powered by everypony here?" "That's the one, we would be lost without it, the Crystal Heart is everything to us." Lightning Hooves stared at the heart and his crystal coat began to shine. "With that heart and our royal leaders we have nothing to fear, they both bring us all hope and joy, unlike King Sombra." Angelica's ears perked at the mention of Sombra, that was the name of the stallion Elgron wanted to know more about. "So Lightning Hooves, what can tell me about this King Sombra, he sounds interesting." "You could say that I guess, but ask any pony around here and they would say anything but that." Lightning and Angelica continued on their walk. "He was a cruel and evil ruler, I'm glad Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor was here when we needed them, thanks to them we never have to worry about King Sombra ever again." Angelica began to think to herself. "So the prince and princess here are powerful enough to destroy any that oppose them, that may be why Mast...I mean Elgron said he needed help from his friend. He doesn't want the other dragons getting involved, so who is he talking to and what makes her so special?" Lightning Hooves and Angelica finally arrived to the library, inside was something that Angelica had only dreamt of, books amongst books that stacked from the ceiling to the bottom floor. There was only one other place where she saw so many books and that was outside of Equestria, Angelica couldn't remember the last time she was so happy. Lightning Hooves smiled at how surprised Angelica looked. "Have you never seen so many book, I would have guessed that Manehattan's libraries would be bigger than this." Angelica snapped out of her trance at the sound of the stallions voice. "Yes, I just underestimated the Crystal Empire's thirst for knowledge, or it's history." Looking back at the amount of books available to her, Angelica's voice soften. "It almost makes me sad that this wonderful empire will soon fall, perhaps I can convince Elgron to allow this wonderful building to stay." The story of the Royal Crystal Empire siblings part 1Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.The story of the Royal Crystal Empire siblings part 2Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
BeginningsCelestia’s sun was shining bright in the sky and the citizens of Ponyville were happy, going about their daily lives after completing their annual winter wrap-up just a few days prior, the market was busier than ever with ponies buying freshly grown fruits and vegetables, Sugercube Corner was busy selling their ‘Wrap-up’ cupcakes, a little delicacy the Cake family started to celebrate Ponyville finishing their wrap-up on time with Twilight’s help. The delicious treats looked like a normal cupcake with white frosting and a flower on top, but inside were bits of oats and diced up fruits, everypony loved the treats and would buy them by the dozens, soon Mr. and Mrs. Cake had to put a limit to the number of cupcakes they could sell to each customer in order to ensure that they didn’t run out before the afternoon. One pony in particular was obsessed with the Cakes creation, their own live-in employee, Pinkie Pie. She would bounce around the kitchen helping Mr. Cake prepare for the busy day ahead, although this was normal for the hyperactive pink pony with a tail and mane so puffy that it looked like she had just woken up. “I can’t wait to try some more of your special Wrap-up cupcakes!” Pinkie was full of energy and smiled more than any pony in Ponyville, perhaps even in all of Equestria. “I’m glad you’re excited Pinkie,” Mr. Cake was use to Pinkie’s explosive sense of energy. “Just remember that we’re making these for the costumers first.” “I know, I’m just really excited that I’m helping you bake.” Pinkie may seem immature at times, or rather most of the time, but she was still a hard worker when it came to helping others. Suddenly Pinkie heard a familiar voice, “Howdy Mrs. Cake, how y’all holding up this fine morning?” There was no mistaking that accent; it was her good friend Applejack. “Hello Applejack.” Mrs. Cake was in the front of the store handling customers and selling them sweets. “I’m guessing you’re here to deliver those apples we requested?” With a proud smile Applejack responded, “Yes’em, ten crates of crisp apples straight from the trees.” Applejack took great pride in knowing that all of Ponyville trusted her family greatly for their produce, even parts of Canterlot used vegetables grown at Sweet Apple Acres Farm. Pinkie popped her head out of the kitchen to see her friend, “Hey, Applejack! I’m baking cupcakes!” Applejack looked over to see a wide grinned Pinkie Pie waving her hooves hello, or to grab her attention, she wasn’t very sure which. “Well hey there Pinkie, I see you’re busy too.” Pinkie finally stopped flailing her arms, “Yep, I’m a busy little pinkie bee.” Applejack thought she would have been used to Pinkie’s odd word plays but alas, she was still left wondering what was going on in that puffy head of hers. The Pegasi were also busy, they were sending weather mares and weather colts all over to move clouds and get rid of any snow clouds that may have been left behind during the wrap-up, one Pegasus in general named Rainbow Dash was speeding through the air and bucking clouds quicker than any of the other flying ponies. By the time any of the other Pegasus was done with their section Rainbow Dash would have cleared her area and could be found sleeping on a cloud, or a tree branch. “Ha, easy peasy one two threesy, maybe next time I’ll get a challenging section.” Rainbow had a bit of an ego, she claimed to be the fastest flier in all of Ponyville and maybe even all of Equestria. Despite her love for show boating Rainbow Dash is arguably the most loyal friend you could have, she would give up her wings before turning her back on Equestria and her friends. “Now that I’m done here it’s time to find that cloud I left behind and catch some rays.” Rainbow bolted through the skies towards her resting spot, but then she decided to do something else. “On second thought, maybe a little practice would be nice.” There was something Rainbow Dashed loved more than sleeping, she loved the rush of speeding through the blue sky, the sense of freedom was something she admired. Rainbow Dash loved being a Pegasus, she may not be able to use magic like unicorns, but she didn’t need it as long as she had wings. The warm touch of the sun as she flew higher was relaxing to her, for those moments Rainbow Dash had no worries and could lose herself. “Yeah, this so much better than being an Earth pony or a unicorn, I don’t envy them one bit.” In Ponyville sat a cottage in the form of a tree, animals of all kinds lived there, from bees to bears. The owner of the place, Fluttershy, loved ‘critters’ of all sizes and took care of them in her home. She was a very meek and soft spoken Pegasus; she didn’t like conflict and could be easily persuaded to follow along with nearly anything, even if she was afraid. She was one the kindest ponies in Equestria and despite being a push over she was a very intelligent mare, especially when it came to animals. Fluttershy was packing a basket filled with carrots and baked goods, she and her pet bunny Angel were going on a picnic at the local park. “Oh my, I hope I didn’t forget anything, I know I can be quite forgetful sometimes.” Angel was sitting on top of Fluttershy’s head, practically hiding in her pink mane that flowed to the ground, he gave her a shrug. “You’re right Angel; if it was really important we would have packed it.” Fluttershy grabbed the basket’s handle with her teeth and raised her wings to take off towards the door. The thought of forgetting something nagged her all the way to the front gate, “But what if that something I forget to pack IS important? Our picnic would be ruined and it would be my fault.” Angel thumped Fluttershy on the head, it was routine for him to remind her not to worry all of the time, “Right, it’s like Rainbow Dash always tells me ‘Don’t sweat the little stuff’.” And with that Fluttershy flapped her wings and took off with Angel to enjoy their day at the park. With the winter season over a unicorn pony with purple colored mane that swirled majestically down her head and flank was dashing about her home. Rarity was a fashion designer who became famous after a highly influential fashion pony named Hoity Toity showed her dresses to all of Canterlot; her fame went even further after becoming friends with a high class colt named Fancy Pants. Rarity was putting the final touches on a new line of dresses, she spent her winter days thinking of new designs and filling orders for ponies in Canterlot. Watching her with a less than concerning look was her pet Opalescence, a Persian cat who had a sense for fashion just as refined as Rarity. Opal sat near her water dish and toy mouse turning her head left to right as she looked at her owner panic from stress, one could even be lead to believe Opal may have been enjoying the show. “Don’t give me that Opal,” Rarity didn’t need to look at her pet to know that she was being judged, “I have been in this situation before, I’m nearly done and there’s no reason for me to slow down now.” Opal rolled her eyes and then continued to watch, Rarity was very skilled in dress making but even she had trouble with large orders, this was because Rarity makes all of her dresses by herself. “Everything should start to calm down after this order, and then I can go back to focusing completely on my new designs.” Opal just gave out a low meow in agreement. While Canterlot housed Princess Celestia Ponyville was home to another princess, one that chose to be surrounded by books rather than other ponies when she was younger, Twilight Sparkle was a unicorn that became an alicorn, she dedicated all of her time to study magic; she is the ‘loyal student’ of Princess Celestia and lives in the local library in Ponyville. Twilight lived in Canterlot before her teacher, Princess Celestia, sent her to Ponyville with orders to try and make some friends, in the end Twilight became great friends with Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Together they went on adventures and learned valuable lessons in friendship, not only within each other but also within themselves. Being a princess was a scary thought to her, Twilight had no idea that being Celestia’s student would lead to her being a future ruler. Twilight eventually learned that being a princess shouldn’t and wouldn’t change who she was, thanks to some sound advice from her sister-in-law/friend Princess Cadence. Today was an important to Twilight; she was to meet with her teacher at the castle for an important meeting, while Celestia didn’t mention what the meeting was about Twilight was happy to be involved. She never questioned her teacher, it was probably the biggest reason Celestia calls her “most faithful student”, or it may have had something to do with an old apprentice that turned away from Celestia’s teachings. Twilight stepped out of her home to be greeted by a royal carriage being pulled by two royal guards, just like the one her teacher rides in when she came to visit Ponyville. “Oh my, is that really for me? I didn’t know the princess was sending a carriage.” Twilight didn’t mind riding the local train to Canterlot, it gave her plenty of time to relax and read a book. One of the royal guards nodded, “Princess Celestia wants you at the castle as soon as possible, the meeting she is holding has been moved forward and is now a top priority.” That wasn’t something Twilight wanted to here; it was odd enough that Celestia didn’t tell her what the meeting was for, now it’s a top priority? “I see, very well, let’s not waste any more time.” Twilight jumped onto the carriage and effortlessly the two Pegasus guards flew off, pulling the carriage as if Twilight wasn’t even on, not surprising since they probably pull Celestia all of the time. Twilight couldn’t help but worry about her meeting with Celestia; did she have another tasking that required the Elements of Harmony? As the royal guards flew Twilight towards the castle Rainbow Dash was flying by, “Hey that was Twilight, why are they in such a hurry?” Rainbow Dash decided to forget about it and kept flying, “Well whatever it is I’m sure Twilight will tell us if it’s really important.” Stomach growling, Rainbow Dash flew by Sugercube Corner to visit Pinkie and grab some lunch with her, when Rainbow did reach her destination she saw the huge line in front of the bakery. “Ah man, this is going to take forever, is all of Ponyville here right now?” There was no need to bother her friend as Rainbow Dash was sure that Pinkie Pie would be way too busy to take a break. At the palace in Canterlot Princess Celestia was standing in front her sister, Princess Luna. “Once Twilight gets here I will explain everything, I promise.” Celestia was the oldest and biggest of the two sisters, she had an orange and yellow sun for a cutie mark on her white coat and a light multi-colored manes that flowed as if they were being blown by the wind. “I understand sister, if it’s so important that Twilight Sparkle is needed then I shall wait.” Luna was smaller than her sister, mostly because she was still growing; she had a waxing crescent moon for a cutie mark on her dark blue coat, Luna’s manes were blue and light blue that also flowed like they were being carried by the wind. The huge double doors leading to the castle’s halls flew open and the royal guards that were already in the throne room snapped to attention, trumpets began to blast the royal entrance number and Twilight walked in. “Behold, the royal Princess Twilight has arrived!” The royal guard’s booming announcement made Twilight blush in slight embarrassment; surely such a grand announcement wasn’t necessary to let Celestia know that she was in the room. Celestia smiled and walked towards Twilight. “Princess Twilight Sparkle, my most loyal and faithful student.” With a smile Twilight hugged her teacher. “I got her as soon as I could Princess; I heard this meeting was now urgent.” “Yes, I’m afraid it is. This meeting will be held between the four of us.” Twilight had a confused look on her face, “The four of ‘us’, I thought this was just for me and you.” Twilight was disappointed that she wasn’t going to get the chance to speak with her teacher alone like she use to when she was actually living in Canterlot. “I’m sorry, but plans have changed, Luna and Cadence both needs to hear what I have to say.” Luna stepped from behind her sister. “Greetings Twilight Sparkle, I hope all has been well since we last met.” “Oh hello Princess Luna, yes, everything has been fine.” “And I assume my dear sister has also left you in the dark towards what’s so important about our little get together?” Twilight looked at Celestia and then back at Luna, why was it that even Princess Luna was unaware of the subject and how big was it that Cadence was called all the way from the Crystal Empire? “Well, no, I don’t know what’s going on right now.” Luna gave a disapproving look towards her sister. “Even she does not know dear sister, what is the meaning of this?” Celestia looked at the leader of her royal guards and motioned for them to leave, the leader nodded and gave the order. “Alright men, royal business that has nothing to do with us is about to be conducted, so move out. Broad Sword, you and Blazing Aegis are on door duty.” The guards all formed up and left, shutting the doors behind them, Celestia put her focus back to Luna. “I was hoping to speak with Twilight about the elements, but something has come up and I decided to hold off on that lesson.” Celestia walked toward her throne and sat down. “Cadence should be here soon; once she arrives we will discuss the issue at hand.” Luna looked at Twilight, she was just as clueless as she had proclaimed, Celestia must have a good reason to leave Twilight out of the loop.
To question a princessThe doors swung opened as Princess Cadence walked in, she saw Twilight and smiled. “Twilight, Princess Celestia told me you would be here too, how are you?” Twilight always enjoyed seeing Cadence, she was her foal sitter in the past and they became great friends; Cadence ended up marrying Shining Armor, Twilight’s big brother. Cadence wasn’t always an alicorn, she was actually a Pegasus that was found and raised by earth ponies when she was younger, one day Celestia chose her to become an alicorn. Now Cadence and her husband Shining Armor, who was also the captain of Celestia’s royal guards, ruled the Crystal Empire together. Cadence had a pink coat with a purple shade at the tip of her wings; she had a heart shaped crystal for a cutie mark, her manes had three different colors; pink, purple and light cream. Twilight ran to Cadence and they both greeted each other with their sister-esq hoof shake, they both began to gallop in place while reciting an old nursery rhyme. “Sunshine sunshine….” While singing they ducked downed and covered their eyes, “ladybugs awake…” They both sat up and begun clapping each other’s hooves, “…clap your hooves and do a little shake.” Both Twilight and Cadence turned to shake their tail, with that they enjoyed a pleasant giggle along with a hug. “I’m so happy to see you Cadence, I’m doing great, how’s the empire?” Celestia cleared her throat and stared at the three princesses, “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we should get to why I called all of you here.” Luna turned towards her sister, “I’m sure it’s nothing good if you need all of us here at once.” “No, Luna, I’m afraid you’re right. I have asked you all to join me here today so I could reveal that a new threat has risen in Equestria.” Twilight walked towards Luna and stopped by her side. “A new threat, how bad is it princess?” “I don’t fully know yet my young pupil, right now all I do know is that it’s a possibility that this new enemy is causing trouble and I want you, Twilight, to go out and find the root of this problem.” “No problem princess, with my friends beside me this problem will be solved in no time.” "I’m glad you are confident in your friends, but don’t forget faithful student, you must also have confidence in yourself.” “Yes princess, I know, where do I start and what exactly do we know about the enemy?” “I was told that the issues were being created by a powerful unicorn, one that could control dragons.” The three princesses suddenly had a disbelieved look on their faces, Celestia continued. “I know it sounds farfetched, and that is why I want you to look into it Twilight, if what I’ve heard is true then we will need to plan accordingly.” Luna stared at her sister, why send Twilight if there is a unicorn with the ability to control dragons, why not send her instead? “Sister, I know you have great faith in your student, but do you really believe that sending her after a unicorn that powerful is a good idea?” Celestia pondered for a moment and smiled at Twilight. “Yes Luna I do, Twilight is a smart mare, I know if things get too bad she will be able to protect herself. Besides, she will have her friends, thus she will also have the elements.” Luna nodded and looked at Cadence, they didn’t really spend a lot of time together, with Luna being on the moon for so long and now Cadence has an empire to rule. “I’m sure you will be fine Cadenza, my sister wouldn’t entrust you with a whole empire if you were not capable of protecting the citizens.” Twilight felt a little hurt by Luna’s words, she was right; Cadence was able to hold up a force field over the entire Crystal Empire for days. Twilight was only capable of shielding much smaller areas like her home, she was smart but Cadence had experience. Cadence saw that Luna has inadvertently wounded Twilight’s confidence. “Don’t worry, Princess Celestia trusts you and so do I.” Twilight smiled, she knew Princess Luna wasn’t trying to make her feel bad; the way she says things at times just come out a little harsh, but that was just Luna being honest. Celestia turned her attention to Cadence. “I want you to return to the Crystal Empire and inform Shining Armor that I will be sending a few of my royal guards to help assist in any way they can, if the citizens see a bunch of royal crystal guards running in and out of the empire they could get nervous. But if we make it look like a training exercise they would be none the wiser.” Cadence nodded in agreement. “Don’t worry princess; I’m sure Shining Armor will find plenty of exercises for them.” Celestia then turned to her sister. “Luna you and I will continue with our regular schedules, everything must look as if nothing out of the ordinary is happening.” Luna nodded. “Very well, but I will be sending my guards out on night patrols, they work best at night and if they see anything suspicious we will know.” “That’s a good idea sister; night recon could give us an edge if this new threat works in the dark.” Celestia stood from her throne and walked towards Twilight. “As for you faithful student, I want you to return to Ponyville and prepare your friends, if we hear anything you must be ready to act.” “Of course princess, as always you can count on me.” Twilight’s wings puffed up and a determined looked washed over her face. “I know I can; now if you will all excuse me, I must prepare my royal guards for their ‘exercise drills’ at the Crystal Empire. Come Cadence, you and I will speak further on the situation at hand.” “Yes, your majesty. Good luck Twilight and you too Princess Luna.” Cadence waved to the two princesses and followed Celestia into the halls. Twilight turned to Princess Luna who had a composed look, Luna stared back at her. “Um, Princess Luna, do you really have such little faith in me?” “It’s not you I have little faith in you, Twilight Sparkle, believe it or not I’m questioning my sister’s decisions.” “If I may ask why, the princess has a plan and she knows what’s best, right?” “Twilight, you put too much faith in my sister, nopony’s perfect. Celestia has made plenty of mistakes in the past, we both have and we both paid the price a number of times.” “What do you mean, like when you turned into Nightmare Moon?” “That’s one example yes, but what I really mean is that we have both made enemies. We didn’t become the rulers of Equestria because we asked nicely.” Now that she thought about it, Celestia never told Twilight how she and Luna became rulers, Twilight only knew about how Discord was defeated and she assumed that was the end. “Princess Luna, what can you tell me about Princess Celestia’s past? I never thought about it before but, I know very little about my own teacher.” “My sister’s past is not for me to reveal Twilight, you must ask her yourself and if she refuses to answer your questions than it may be for the best.” Twilight never thought to question Celestia, nopony did really, why would they? She has protected Equetria for over a thousand years; she was the sun Goddess and brought joy into their lives. “She doesn’t talk about you becoming Nightmare Moon and while I was very curious on the subject I never pushed it, so can I ask you about the time you lost your way?” Luna averted her eyes to her sister’s throne, it was so long ago, yet she remembered the fear and anger that had consumed her as if it was very recent. “We were both filled with shame and regret after that tragedy, my sister and I, when you purged the corruption from my body I was embarrassed. My sister and I are amongst the most powerful creatures on this planet, but I was too weak to fight the corruption and she was too weak to destroy it, yet you and your friends were capable of bringing me down.” Luna pointed her hoof at a glass stained window showing Twilight and her friends beating discord. “And you continued to show great promises by defeating Discord and then reforming him to join us; my sister and I were only able to turn him into stone. You help save the Crystal Empire and eventually proved that you were capable of so much more.” Twilight had no idea where the princess was going with her reminders, Luna continued. “I see you are confused, simply put Twilight Sparkle, you and your friends have been fixing the mistakes Celestia and I made.” Twilight began to understand, Princess Celestia’s mistakes wasn’t something to take lightly and if this new threat is something from her past than the citizens of Equestria will surely need their princesses.
Between two princessesCadence sat quietly in a big room filled with guards, on the table in front of her were tea and large amount of cakes in different varieties, Celestia was speaking with her royal guard leader outside of the room. Cadence looked around, the guards didn't seem to be on higher alert more than usual, didn't Celestia tell them about the new threat running around Equestria? The door swung opened by two guards while two more escorted Celestia inside, after she sat down across from Cadence the royal guard leader signaled for all of his men and women to leave. With the room empty and even quieter than before Celestia began the conversation. "I'm sorry for making you wait in here by yourself Mi Amore." Cadence smiled. "That's ok, your guards kept me....er...company." Cadence took a sip of her tea. "While I appreciate the tea and cake I must ask, why must you speak with me in private princess?" Celestia finished the slice of cake she was eating. "I thought I told you, we must plan our move accordingly and speak about Armor's 'training drills'." Cadence was a smart Alicorn, she knew there was more to this personal meeting. "I suspect there is more to this, if that was all we were going to talk about than why make this a private chat, surely you would have left some of your guards in here so they knew what to brief to the others." Celestia smiled, of course Cadence would have figured it out. "Other than my sister you are the only one who would question my actions." Cadence was surprised by the statement, but before she could respond Celestia stopped her and continued. "Twilight still believes I am incapable of making mistakes, she will do whatever I ask without questioning why until the end. You have been under my wings before Twilight was even born, I watched you grow from a loving Pegasus into a brave princess, like Twighlight you struggled and prevailed the challenges that were laid before you. Only Luna knows about my past and today, my dear Mi Amore, I want to share that story with you." Cadence never really thought about Celestia and Luna's past, she always figured that they had lived for so long it didn't matter, they had life experience and she was still a young princess who was still learning about ruling an entire empire. Now that she thought about it, what happened before Equestria when Celestia and Luna defeated Discord, where did they even come from if Sombra was the original ruler of the Crystal Empire? In the end only Luna knew about those details and she was just as reluctant to speak about the subject than her elder sister, Well if this was something Celestia was going to reveal than Cadence was going to learn more about her royal aunt than anypony else. Celestia finished her strawberry cake and honey tea. "I see you are beginning to wonder about our past, Luna and mine, you may ask anything. I look forward to finally sharing my mistakes with somepony that isn't Luna, I love my sister dearly but sometimes it's like talking to a mirror. Luna was there for most of the issues, so really we were only reflecting on the past, it provided absolutely no closure for the both of us." Cadence thought for a moment, there was so much to ask but she didn't want to offend the princess by accidentally hitting a hot button, she looked up to the princess who was eating her fourth slice of cake. "So Princess Celestia, what happened before Sombra?" Celestia finished her cake yet again. "What do you mean?" "You and Princess Luna defeated Sombra before Discord right? So if Discord was the ruler of Equestria before you two, why did you attack Sombra?" "Luna and I believed that Sombra was just a powerful unicorn that ruled over the Crystal Empire with force and we saw the terror he was installing into his subjects hearts. We were going to rule the empire together and protect them forever." "But Sombra was able to put a curse on the entire empire, making it vanish in thin air." "Yes, we knew Sombra was powerful but to have that level of magic was something Luna and I thought only we possessed." Celestia poured herself another cup of tea and offered some to Cadence who held her cup up and nodded, while pouring her niece the tea Celestia continued her story. "We flew on, searching throughout all of Equestria we began to hear stories of a wicked creature like none any of the ponies had ever seen, one that defeated every creature or pony that stood against him. Luna and I became concerned that there was somepony, or something, more powerful than Sombra. We soon came across him, Discord the Spirit of Chaos." Cadence sat her tea cup down. "Princess, before you get into your history with Discord, you never fully explained why you went after Sombra. It sounded like you and Princess Luna just felt like overthrowing somepony you felt was evil, granted the fear and hatred he forced onto his subjects is awful, he never did anything to you." "In all honesty Cadence, Luna and I was looking for a piece of land for ourselves, once we discovered Equestria we knew it was the place to create a kingdom of our own. During our travels we decided to stop into the Crystal Empire to rest, Luna thought the dark crystals were beautiful she said it reminded her of the gorgeous nights she was able to create." Celestia began to stare at the drapes around the room, they all had her cutie mark on them and were covering the windows, Celestia used her magic to pushed the polyester drapes aside and let the bright sun beam in. "I love Luna's nights but never understood her fascination for the shadows, did you know when we were younger I was afraid of the dark and Luna had to help me overcome those fears?" Cadence's ears perked up. "Really? You're the Sun Goddess, how could you of all ponies be afraid of something like that?" Celestia chuckled, this was the first time she had told anybody that part about her and Luna had always kept that secret to herself. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's very true, I always felt powerless without the sun. When I discovered my true purpose and my cutie mark appeared I was ecstatic, the sun always made me happy and to see it as my cutie mark was the greatest day of my life." Cadence giggled, she had never thought about her royal aunts as blank flanks, the very idea of Celestia and Luna not having their marks was nearly unimaginable to her. "It's nice to know that you and Princess Luna was once like everpony else, lost and confused as to what your purpose is, sometimes it's easy to forget that even you two have had hard times." Celestia smiled at Cadence, it was nice to finally get all of her thoughts out and have someone understand, she feared letting her subjects know her secrets would cause them to judge and lose all of their trust in her. The smile on the Princess face fell and she gave Cadence a stern look., stopping the crystal princess's laugh. "My dear Mi Amore, what I am about to tell does not leave this room especially not towards Twilight Sparkle, understand." "Yes Princess." "It was my idea to attack Sombra and overthrow him, Luna suggested that we move on and allow him to rule his empire anyway he saw fit, but I couldn't just fly away after seeing the pain in those poor ponies eyes. After a few....exchange of words, some of which I wished I never said, Luna agreed to aid me in bringing Sombra down." "Princess Luna had a point, your highness, I understand you wanted to help but..." Before Cadence could finish Celestia interrupted her. "I used those ponies as an excuse, Luna was right and I knew it, we should have left Sombra to rule. It would have been easy to just walk away but I didn't, we had a chance to rule an entire empire and I was going to take it, with or without my sister."
The beginning of the Crystal Empire's downfallOut to the north of the Crystal Empire were massive mountains called the Crystal Mountains, they stretched throughout the Frozen north and gave a brilliant shine when the sun hit them just right and there were no snow storms. But snow wasn't the only thing that claimed the mountains as home, withing a fairly large cavern lived a Pink unicorn with a cutie mark that consisted of a square root symbol with a star inside of it, her tail and mane were two toned colored with Orange and a green tint so light it looked as if it was glowing. She wore a pair of glasses that only covered the bottom half of her Green eyes. Using a powerful telescope she peered into the empire and took notes on everything she saw pertaining to the royal guards, she watched as they exchanged shifts and took notice of their routes and ranks. "I'm sure Master Elgron will find this all very useful." She said to herself. "Three days in this daft cave, I can't wait for this whole thing to be over with so we can go home, or at least move somewhere a little warmer." A figure rose from it's slumber. "I agree, sitting in the cold isn't really my idea of a nice time." The unicorn jumped from her stationed, startled by the sudden voice. "Don't worry my dear sweet Angelica, I'm not enjoying this place either, but with all of the information you've given me in the past few days I'm nearly ready to make my move." The unicorn went back to her telescope and continued to write. "I'm glad that you feel that I have been a use to you, Master Elgron, especially with me being a pony and all." "Angelica, you know I don't mind if you just called me Elgron, I've been taking care of you since you were just a scared little filly. Drop the formality sweetheart and I told you before, you're not like other ponies, you can actually be trusted." The figure walked out of the shadows and sat near Angelica. Elgron was a wingless dragon with black scales that ran from his snout to the back of his tail, his underbelly had crimson red scales that ran from his jaw to the underside of his tail. The dragon was capable of walking on his hind legs but always preferred to walk on all fours, he mostly stood up in order to intimidate his foes, he had a slender build and his eyes were matched the same crimson red as his scales. She looked up and meet with his eyes. "Just how much longer do we have to wait Mas...I mean Elgron, what's left of the preparations?" "I still need you to go into the empire and look for a few books, while you are there I will be visiting a friend of mine, I'm going to need her help." The pink unicorn looked away from her telescope and closed her notepad. "What am I looking for exactly, the history of the empire?" Elgron smiled. "That's exactly what I want you to find, I need to know more about that Crystal Heart and King Sombra, so I need you to do what you do best, research and report." Angelica blushed, she loved getting praises from Elgron, especially when it came to how smart she was. "Yes sir, I will do so much research on the empire that I would even be able to recite their anthem to you." "Good, that's what I want to hear from you; now teleport your adorable little head down there and make nice with the citizens, I'll be back in four days." Angelica nodded and with a bright pink flash she was gone. "What a talented young mare you have become Angelica," Elgrone said to himself, "I'm sure you'll give Twilight a run for her crown. Now then, it's time I got back to finding my friend, I just hope she isn't mad at me for not visiting sooner." Elgron step out of the cave and walked off of the edge, as he fell his eyes emitted black smoke and while in midair he took of and was flying as if he had wings. He had four days to find his friend, without her the plan would become a bust and Elgron was not going to let that happen. Angelica walked through the entrance to the Crystal Empire, if she would have teleported out of nowhere into the city the guards would have reasons to be suspicious, but coming through the entrance made her look like a tourist. "I should ask around about their library, that's the quickest way to finding out all I need to know about their history." As she continued her way into the empire a crystal stallion walked by her, it was obvious that he was a empire native. "Excuse me sir." The stallion turned around. "Hi, I have never been here before, could you tell me where I could find the library?" The crystal stallion looked at her and smiled. "You came to visit the Crystal empire to read? We have great restaurants and our festival is coming up in a few days." Angelica pushed her glasses off her nose and back towards her eyes. "Festival, what festival?" "Why our Crystal Fair of course, surely you have heard of it?" Angelica shook her head. "Oh, well allow me to be your guide, I can tell you all about it while we walk to the library and then you can read to your heart's content." Angelica didn't waste any time thinking about the proposal, she was there to learn more about the empire and having one of the natives share their knowledge was almost as good as reading it from a book, almost. "That sounds like a wonderful idea, my name is Angelica." "I'm Lightning Hooves, nice to meet you, where are you from Miss?" "Oh, well...I live far away." "Manehattan?" Angelica became nervous, she knew the stallion was just being friendly but she couldn't tell him that she actually lived outside of Equestria with dragons. "Yes, I'm from Manehattan, how did you know?" The stallion smiled. "Lucky guess, a mare as beautiful as you couldn't have come from too far away." Angelica's cheeks turned bright red, she was never told be anybody that she was beautiful, sure Elgron mentioned she was cute for a pony but never beautiful. The two ponies began their chat as they trotted through the streets towards the local library, suddenly a spinning object caught Angelica's attention, it was a heart made of a single crystal. Lightning Hooves noticed Angelica gawking at the heart. "Beautiful isn't it? That is our pride and joy, the Crystal Heart." Angelica fixed her eyes away from the heart and onto the stallion. "That's the Crystal Heart, the one you were telling about that's powered by everypony here?" "That's the one, we would be lost without it, the Crystal Heart is everything to us." Lightning Hooves stared at the heart and his crystal coat began to shine. "With that heart and our royal leaders we have nothing to fear, they both bring us all hope and joy, unlike King Sombra." Angelica's ears perked at the mention of Sombra, that was the name of the stallion Elgron wanted to know more about. "So Lightning Hooves, what can tell me about this King Sombra, he sounds interesting." "You could say that I guess, but ask any pony around here and they would say anything but that." Lightning and Angelica continued on their walk. "He was a cruel and evil ruler, I'm glad Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor was here when we needed them, thanks to them we never have to worry about King Sombra ever again." Angelica began to think to herself. "So the prince and princess here are powerful enough to destroy any that oppose them, that may be why Mast...I mean Elgron said he needed help from his friend. He doesn't want the other dragons getting involved, so who is he talking to and what makes her so special?" Lightning Hooves and Angelica finally arrived to the library, inside was something that Angelica had only dreamt of, books amongst books that stacked from the ceiling to the bottom floor. There was only one other place where she saw so many books and that was outside of Equestria, Angelica couldn't remember the last time she was so happy. Lightning Hooves smiled at how surprised Angelica looked. "Have you never seen so many book, I would have guessed that Manehattan's libraries would be bigger than this." Angelica snapped out of her trance at the sound of the stallions voice. "Yes, I just underestimated the Crystal Empire's thirst for knowledge, or it's history." Looking back at the amount of books available to her, Angelica's voice soften. "It almost makes me sad that this wonderful empire will soon fall, perhaps I can convince Elgron to allow this wonderful building to stay."
The story of the Royal Crystal Empire siblings part 1Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
The story of the Royal Crystal Empire siblings part 2Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
