Storm of the Changelings

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Prince Shining Armor,

I am very sorry to say that you are required to return to Canterlot immediately. The Royal Guard needs your magical expertise.  I have ordered a train to arrive at 3:00 tomorrow. I hope to see you soon.

Warmest wishes,

Princess Celestia

“Have a safe trip!” Cadence called from the train station.

“I’ll be back soon, sweetie!” Shining Armor called back. “I promise, I’ll be back in time for the Crystal Fair!” The train pulled away, leaving Cadence and Twilight Sparkle alone at the train station.

“Come on, Cadence! We’ll be so busy setting up the fair that you won’t even notice that he’s gone!” Twilight comforted her sister-in-law. Cadence sighed and started walking slowly back to the Crystal Empire.

“Cadence, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

“I just… miss my Shiny,” Cadence mumbled a reply.

“Cadence, I know you. Something’s wrong. Something more than that.”

“Twilight–please. Don’t worry about–” Cadence fell to the ground.

“Cadence! Cadence, get up!” Twilight called as she tried to get Cadence on her back. She spread out her wings to help hold Cadence. Panting and already sweating a lake, Twilight took one step.

“Cadence… just… get… up…” Twilight complained. On her back Twilight could feel Cadence groaning and rolling around. It was slightly awkward for Twilight to be carrying her sister-in-law and old foalsitter.

“Twi–light–” Cadence muttered.

“Cadence! Please, get up! We’re almost home!” Twilight begged, trudging through the thick snow.

“She–you–you have to” Cadence managed to say. “Twilight–you have to–”

“Cadence, please, tell me! Who?”

“Get her,” Cadence said softly with her last breath.

“Cadence! No! Cadence! What do you mean? Cadence?” Twilight panicked. Summoning all her strength, she managed to get to a trotting pace. The empire was only a tail’s length away. She felt Cadence’s body slipping off her back, so she turned around to pull her up when she saw it. A huge, greenish-black cloud surrounding them.

Twilight screamed in fear. She frantically dashed for the magic barrier that created the haven for the Crystal Empire. She leaped in as the cloud of black nearly got her.

“Wait! Cadence! No!” Twilight screamed as she tried to run back in. She heard Cadence scream outside. She almost ran back in, but suddenly felt a tugging on her tail and Rainbow Dash jumped in front of her.

“Whoa, nelly!” Applejack said through gritted teeth, tugging Twilight’s tail. “What the hay do ya think you’re doin’? You must be crazy to go back out there!”

“Twilight? Where’s Cadence? Didn’t she come back with you?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“No,” Twilight replied softly, feeling tears forming in her eyes. “She didn’t come back with me.” A crystal guard walked up to the Mane 6.

“My name is Stone Crystal. I am the chief officer of the Crystal Castle Royal Guard. I was sent by Princess Cadence to escort the royal guests to the Crystal Castle,” a gray and white crystal pony said. He stared straight ahead, expressionless.

“Wow… even the crystal guards are good,” Rainbow Dash muttered. Suddenly the guard’s stern face turned to worry.

“Where’s the princess?” he asked, gently but demandingly.

“We’ve–er–I’ve lost her,” Twilight Sparkle confessed. Stone Crystal turned back to his stern face.

“Princess or not, I am commanded to escort you back to the castle,” Stone Crystal replied, still looking straight ahead. He led the ponies back to the Crystal Castle. Along the way, the ponies could already see that everypony was excited for the second Crystal Fair. They were hanging up streamers and banners, setting up booths, making fabulous decorations.

“WAIT!” the ponies were surprised to hear a gasp from Rarity. She ran over to some ponies hanging up green streamers.

“Darlings! That shade of green clashes horrifically with the purple! Use this yellow instead!” The two ponies looked confused and started putting up the yellow streamers that Rarity had demanded.

“Rarity! What in tarnation was that?” Applejack cried.

“Sweetie, I’m in charge of decor!” Rarity replied

“Oh!” said Applejack. “Now, who in tarnation gave you a job but not us?”

“Daaarling! You, my dear, have a lot to learn. In the Crystal Empire, ponies don’t just give you a job! You assign yourself by showing extreme talent and passion in a certain subject!”

“Right,” Applejack replied, rolling her eyes. “I wonder how you got all the publicity.”

“Oh Applejack, it was nothing! All I had to do was make this brilliant new line called Inspiration of the Peacock–”

“Rarity, she was being sarcastic,” Rainbow Dash interrupted, putting her hoof in Rarity’s mouth.

“Rainbow Dash! How unsanitary!” Rarity cried, pulling Rainbow Dash’s hoof out of her mouth.

“GIRLS!” Twilight screamed. “We have much more important matters than arguing over the Crystal Fair! Cadence is missing! And we can’t waste any time!”

“Sorry, Twilight,” all three ponies said together.

“What are we arguing about?” Pinkie Pie asked, jumping in from the sky.

“Um, excuse me Pinkie?” Fluttershy whispered.

“And then you guys were all like, talking and looking at this blue string thing–”Pinkie continued.

“Um, Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked, barely a hair louder.

“And I was like, WAY ahead with Twilight–”

“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted.

“Yes?” Pinkie replied, batting her eyelashes innocently.

“Pinkie Pie, um, if you don’t mind, um, and, um, all of you guys, um–”

“Spit it out, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash interrupted.

“Um, well, I think we should get going?” Fluttershy whispered, gesturing to a half-asleep Stone Crystal up ahead.

“Fluttershy’s right, troops. MARCH!” Pinkie Pie called.

“Pinkie Pie, you are so–” Rainbow Dash started.

“RANDOM!” Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack finished. Pinkie was already leaping far ahead.

Stone Crystal woke up to Pinkie Pie’s blue eyes in his face.

“I think he’s awake, guys!” Pinkie Pie shouted to her friends.

“AAUGH!” Stone Crystal screamed. He blushed. “How long was I asleep?”

“Approximately…” Twilight said, looking at a clock with eighteen hands. “Forty-five minutes, twenty five seconds, four milliseconds–”

“Almost an hour,” Applejack finished for her.

“Technically, it was closer to forty three minutes,” Twilight retorted. Stone Crystal started galloping.

“Hurry! We must get to the caste! Everything is way behind schedule!” he called out. The ponies galloped after him, wondering what was so urgent. When their hooves ached so much that they were going to fall off, they finally got to the Crystal Castle. The castle looked dark and gloomy, the crystals coated in a grayish color.

“What happened to the castle?” Pinkie Pie asked, now calmer.

“Oh, no. I-I failed her!” Stone Crystal exclaimed.

“Failed who?” Pinkie asked.

“The Castle… the kingdom…” Stone Crystal muttered. “the Crystal Heart.” Twilight’s eyes widened in understanding. This must have been why Stone Crystal was in such a rush to get them to the castle.

“Stone Crystal, what’s going on?” Twilight asked. Stone Crystal shook his head in dejection. Twilight sighed. “Stone Crystal, being the sister-in-law of Cadence and the backup ruler of the Crystal Kingdom, I command you to tell me what’s happening.”

“Princess Celestia… she had a meeting with Cadence and Shining Armor about a threat made against Equestria. I don’t know anything. But it’s serious. Celestia needs Shining Armor to go to Canterlot on royal business. Before she left, Celestia said something about a long time grudge against Cadence and Shining Armor… something about allied forces… that’s all I know.”

“A long time grudge? I can think of two ponies–” Twilight was cut off by a loud boom. “Run, everypony!” she said as she ran toward the sound.

“Shouldn’t we be running away from it?” Stone Crystal called, already retreating. The mane 6 didn’t hear him and charged straight ahead.

“Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, go ahead to see if there’s any explosion or damage!” Twilight called.

“Gotcha, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash and Applejack called back, already on their way. Fluttershy flapped up and nodded to Twilight.

“Pinkie Pie, Rarity, we’ll get the ponies to calm down and see if there’s any injuries.”

“Gotcha, Twilight,” Rarity replied. “Pinkie Pie, let’s go!” Then the ponies realized that Pinkie Pie was missing. Rarity and Twilight immediately ran ahead to find her.

“Where do you think she would be?” Rarity asked as they galloped.

“What if she got captured by the evil thing that took Cadence?” Twilight replied, worried.

“Hiya, guys! What’re we talking about?” a voice said behind them.

“Pinkie Pie?” Twilight and Rarity asked in unison. “Where were you? We need your help to assess the damage the explosion caused!” Pinkie Pie looked at them, puzzled.

“You mean the new flugelhorn I got? Silly billies, that wasn’t an explosion! There’s not even any smoke!”

“Come on, guys, then. Let’s get the others and tell them there’s nothing to worry about,” Twilight sighed. Then Applejack came galloping up. She stopped in front of her friends, panting.

“That was easy! Applejack, where’re Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“That’s… the… problem…” Applejack panted. “We ran ahead… and we found the explosion…”

“Applejack, that was my flugelhorn!” Pinkie Pie squealed, giggling. Applejack looked genuinely confuzzled.

“Then… what in tarnation… was… he…” Applejack panted. She took a deep breath. “What was Sombra doing here?” The moment Applejack said “Sombra,” there was a scream and chaos broke out.

“Sombra’s returned!” “The Dark Times are back!” “Everypony bring up their food offerings!” came the cries of the now-corrupted crystal ponies.

“Oops,” Applejack said, blushing.

“Back to the point, Applejack. Where did Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy go?” Twilight asked.

“WHAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE CHAOTIC SCREAMING!” Applejack screamed back.

“WHERE DID THE OTHER TWO GO?” Twilight screamed.

“LET’S GO INSIDE!” Applejack screamed again, her voice getting hoarse. Applejack nodded as Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Twilight followed her into the Crystal Castle’s secret dungeon. They were the only ones who knew about it, so they used it as a place to discuss secret matters.

“We ran all the way to the edge of the empire,” Applejack started explaining. “We saw those two giant crystals at the front, you know? I saw this dark cloud outside the protective shield, then a glow of red, and the crystals turned into ashes! All of a sudden, the magic shield shattered and Sombra stepped in. I turned back and saw them flying behind me. Then I turned around after a few seconds, and they were gone! I saw them, paralyzed on Sombra’s back, then he stepped out of the empire and into the blizzard. He put the ponies in some sort of trance, and they just stood in place creepily…”

“Wait. You’re saying Sombra’s coming back?” Pinkie Pie asked, suddenly serious.

“Not coming back,” Applejack replied, her voice dead serious. “He is back.”

* * *

Shining Armor was on the train to Canterlot. Why would Celestia need him? She had a meeting to discuss threats from Sombra, but it didn’t make sense why Celestia would need him in Canterlot.

“Tickets! Tickets!” a conductor called. Uh-oh. Celestia said she had ordered a train to come, but she didn’t give Shining Armor the proof of purchase.

“Ticket, sir, if you please,” the conductor asked politely.

“Celestia ordered a train for me–” Shining Armor began.

“Nope. Haven’t heard any word from her,” the conductor replied.

“But I’m the royal prince of the Crystal Empire!” Shining Armor protested.

“Of course! You’re Shining Armor! But sorry, that doesn’t give you any privileges on the train to Canterlot. If Celestia or Luna were on this train, they would have a free ride to Canterlot. If you were on the other train, you would have a free ride to the Crystal Empire. But seeing as how this train is headed for Canterlot, I’ll have to get a ticket.” the conductor said stubbornly.

“But–” Shining Armor tried to complain.

“No ticket, no ride!” the conductor said again. He pulled the emergency cord and whistled. As if on command, a trio of buff looking stallions popped out of nowhere and threw Shining Armor out as if he was an ant.

“Wait!” he called out. But the train was already puffing away. “Wait!” he called again, even though he knew his efforts were helpless. He lay down in the snow, hopeless.

“Shiny!” a voice called faintly in the distance. “Shining Armor!”

Shining Armor sat up. Did he really hear somepony calling for him? No, there was nobody out here, in this frozen, lonely land. Except…a pony came into his mind. No, he told himself.

“Shiny! ” came the sound, louder. He jolted up again. The only pony with a voice that sweet was…

“Cadence?” he said aloud. All he saw was snow. “Cadence!” he called out to the cold snow.

“Shiny! Shiny, I’m here!” the voice called back. Squinting into the distance, Shining Armor could make out the blurry image of Cadence.

“Cadence! I’m here!” Shining Armor called back. He stood up and started running toward Cadence.

“Shiny, I’m so glad you’re safe!” Cadence said as they embraced in a hug.

“How’d you know?” they asked at the same time.

“Know about what?” Shining Armor asked. “I was thrown out of the train because the letter didn’t include a ticket! What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at the Empire?”

“Yes… I should be at the castle, but–” It was then that Shining Armor saw the pony emerge from the snow behind Cadence.

“Long time no see.”

* * *

Back in the Crystal Empire, things weren’t much better. Ponies were screaming left and right; even Agatha, the librarian, was panicking.

“Everypony run! It’s a weirdo pony who has an army of more weirdo ponies!” Stone Crystal came back to tell them.

“Unattractive,” Rarity uttered as the guard ran away, chaotically screaming. A loud, evil cackle echoed throughout the land.

“I shall get my revenge, Shining Armor!” the voice called again, seething in rage.

“Is that who I think–” Applejack began.

“No time, AJ!” Twilight replied, pushing her friends out of the Empire. “We gotta find Cadence!” Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity immediately ran out into the snow, despite the fact that it was freezing and Rarity didn’t have her favorite scarf. Even though they were well out of the empire, they could still hear the chaotic screaming. They trudged through the snow wordlessly while the howling wind and snow tried to blow them over like tumbleweeds. All of them gritted their teeth. The wind wouldn’t stop them.

“Wait, everypony. Where’s Pinkie Pie?” Twilight suddenly asked. How could she have run off so quickly? She was bouncing along beside them when they left the empire!

“Princess! Princess Twilight Sparkle!” a pony’s call came behind them. Twilight turned around. Behind her stood a beautiful blue and white crystal pony.

“Princess,” the pony repeated softly, kneeling to kiss Twilight’s hooves. “Please, excuse me. My name is Blue Seawave, but you can call me Seawave. There is a group of corrupted ponies in the empire; Princess, you must come back!”

“What for?” Twilight asked.

“To rule the Empire, please! Without Cadence, the ponies are losing hope! Please, rule the Empire in your sister’s place!” Seawave begged, still kneeling down. Twilight waved her hoof to signal that she could stand.

Twilight thought for a moment. “Will you two be okay without me?” she asked her friends. Applejack nodded and hugged Rarity, seeing that she was freezing. Twilight sighed and started walking back to the Empire with Blue Seawave.

“Applejack?” Rarity asked, shivering. She spoke softly, like a filly asking her mother a question. It sounded like she was on the verge of tears.“Applejack, are you sure we can trust Seawave?”

“Don’t worry, Rarity,” Applejack replied in the same tone. Sorrow filled her voice as she hugged Rarity tightly. “I’m sure she’ll be alright.” But she didn’t sound too sure. Applejack and Rarity trudged on in the snow, keeping each other warm. Whatever happened, they couldn’t lose each other. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had been kidnapped by… him. Twilight was taken by a stranger who may as well have been on the dark side. And Pinkie Pie could be lost, kidnapped, or anything! Things couldn’t get much worse for them.

“Ah, my lovely guests! I’ve been expecting you,” a voice came behind them. The evil cackle drowned out the voice of their screams.

* * *

“Twilight, you have such wonderful friends!” Seawave said, trying to keep Twilight’s mind off her friends.

“What about you, Seawave? How about your friends?” Twilight asked politely, even though she had a sneaking suspicion…

“There’s one colt who I care for, I know he’ll be there for me–” Seawave sighed, beginning to sing a tune. Twilight was shocked that this stranger knew her song, but she decided not to question it.

“My big brother, best friend forever,” Twilight finished. “So, what’s your brother like?”

“He… well, he rarely pays attention to me anymore. When I bump into him on the street, he acts as if he doesn’t know me. When I was a filly, we were best friends,” Seawave said, a tear trickling down her cheek. Twilight wanted to trust her now, but she couldn’t. This was some random pony that may as well be putting up a show to get her trust.

“You can trust me,” she said, as if reading Twilight’s mind. “What about your brother?”

“He… he’s the captain of the Royal Guard in Canterlot,” Twilight said.

“Wait. Captain of the Royal Guard?” Seawave’s voice was suddenly bitter. She turned away from Twilight.

“Yeah, Shining Armor–” Twilight replied, confused. She was used to everypony loving Shining Armor, respecting him.

“It’s his fault… all his fault,” Seawave said, full of rage.

“Seawave–Shining Armor is your prince! You should respect him!” Twilight exclaimed in horror.

“I hadn’t realized… The prince of my kingdom is the head of the Royal Guard in Canterlot?” Seawave asked Twilight. It was hard to believe that the sweet but foolish pony Twilight met earlier was this pony. She glared at Twilight and stepped forward, making Twilight back up in fear.

“Your brother is the reason I lost him. He used to be my best friend,” Seawave started screaming. “Stone Crystal, I miss you.” Her voice turned from anger to sorrow as she lay down in the snow and started sobbing. Twilight reached a hoof to help her up, but Seawave slapped it away and ran off into the cold, still crying.

“Wait! Blue Seawave! You’ll freeze to death if you wander alone!” Twilight called. It was true. After an hour in this blizzard, a pony would be frozen solid.

“You seem to forget, Twilight,” she laughed maniacally, her voice echoing off into the distance. “The cold doesn’t bother us crystal ponies!” How could Twilight forget? She’d studied and taken a test on crystal ponies! Judging by the ice forming on her hooves, she had about fifteen minutes until she was frozen solid.

“No,” she said to herself. “I’ve got to go now. The crystal ponies need me.” She saw ice slowly enclose around her tail and hooves, up her legs. The world seemed to spin around her. How could she be so foolish? She left the Crystal Empire behind. She trusted that devious, foolish Blue Seawave. The ice had already started creeping towards her neck, but she could now see the empire, a dot on the horizon. Her hooves were cracked and she had frostbite on her legs, but she kept running. Tears streamed down her face as the ice slowly crept up her neck.

“Twilight!” a voice called. Not again! Probably some other pony like Seawave. Ahead she saw Stone Crystal! But considering that Seawave was his sister, it was hard to trust him. “Twilight, you’re nearly frozen solid!” he greeted her. He reminded Twilight of her own brother, Shining Armor. Stone Crystal hoisted Twilight on his back and started galloping back to the empire.

“Stone Crystal, I met Seawave–” Twilight tried to say. At the sound of his sister’s voice, Stone Crystal stopped and signaled for Twilight to stop talking.

“Do not speak of her, Twilight Sparkle. You know too little,” Stone Crystal said firmly. Twilight could guess that they had a very complicated relationship. They walked the rest of the way back into the empire without a single word. When they stepped in, the first thing they saw was a group of corrupted crystal ponies.

“There she is!” a pony called. At first Twilight thought they were relieved to see her. A pony came galloping up to her.

“Any last words?” the pony asked, holding a dagger at Twilight’s neck.

* * *

Applejack and Rarity cowered back in fear.

“It’s been far too long since I’ve seen you,” the pony said. He turned around to push Cadence back into the snow, snarling.

“Wouldn’t you agree?” He turned to Applejack and Rarity, still holding Cadence down with his back leg. He lunged at Rarity, but Applejack blocked him and took his blow.

“Sombra, you… troglodyte!” Rarity snarled, helping Applejack back up. “Don’t you dare lay your dirty hooves on my friends!”

“Your friends weren’t the ones I was thinking of,” Sombra cackled. “Your princess.” With that, he struck his hooves down of Cadence’s weakened body. Cadence stood up weakly and took a few wobbly steps backwards. Sombra easily leaped forward and held her down, keeping her in a choke hold. Cadence coughed and tried to say something, but it was choked by Sombra pushing her down even further. Her last breath escaped as Sombra flattened her neck into the snow. Her eyes fluttered closed as the white wisp of ice from her breath vanished in the air.

Sombra smiled.

“HOW DARE YOU MURDER CADENCE!” Applejack screamed furiously, attacking Sombra square on his chest. Rarity had never seen Applejack act so fiercely. Sombra left Cadence’s limp body in the snow and stomped Applejack down in the snow like he did with Cadence. Rarity stood back in horror. She’d just witnessed the death of a princess, and now possibly her best friend?

“Foolish pony,” Sombra muttered. Applejack struggled beneath the choke hold, but Sombra prevented it. She looked desperately at Rarity, but Rarity was frozen in shock by the death of the princess. Applejack stretched her leg up, struggling for air. She reached her hoof up and scratched at Sombra’s flank, leaving a fairly deep scratch. Sombra was shocked that Applejack fought back, and he raised his hoof for a moment. Seizing the chance, Applejack jumped up and bucked Sombra the way she bucked apple trees.

“Run!” she screamed to Rarity. Rarity snapped out of her trance and started running with Applejack. She was obviously still shocked about what had happened, and Applejack couldn’t blame her.

“Wait, Applejack!” Rarity suddenly halted.

“Are you crazy?” Applejack exclaimed. Sombra’s silhouette appeared from the cloud of snow.

“We can’t just leave Cadence’s body there!” Rarity turned back, narrowly avoiding Sombra. Within a few seconds, she was back, levitating Cadence’s body in the air. Together, the two ponies tore off running and left Sombra in the dust, licking his wounds. The snow pounded in their faces as they ran for their lives. Sombra howled in aggravation, only causing them to run faster.

“Rarity!” Applejack exclaimed. Rarity’s hooves were cracked, and there was ice frozen into her coat. “Your coat, your hooves, they look–”

“Applejack, it’s no time to be worrying about fashion!” Rarity interrupted.

“No, Rarity! It’s not that!” Applejack called over the howling wind. She stopped in front of Rarity. “Rarity, your coat is getting frostbite! It’ll crawl up to your neck in an hour! And your hooves are cracked while you’re running in the snow. The water in the snow will get into the cracks, freeze, and when it freezes, your hooves, well, you wouldn’t want to know.”

“Applejack, the same thing is happening to you. Right now, our number one priority is to get back to the Empire and tell Twilight that Sombra is back. We don’t have time to worry about frostbite and snow!” Applejack was worried, but she nodded and the ponies kept running. By the time the frost started crawling up their necks, they saw a pony in the distance.

“It’s a pony! That means we’re getting close to the Empire!” Rarity exclaimed in delight. Squinting harder, they could see the faint light of the Empire. They ran harder towards the pony until they could see the details. They were about five feet away until they realized the pony was frozen in ice. A poofy pink mane, poofy pink tail, light pink coat, bright blue eyes. There was one pony who looked like that.

“Pinkie?”

* * *

Twilight panted and looked at the corrupted pony in front of her. Chants of “down with the princess!” and “traitor” rang in her ears.

“WAIT!” Twilight screamed as the dagger nearly scratched her neck. “What in the name of Celestia are you doing?” A hooded pony ran up and pushed the others back.

“Give her a chance, ponies!” the hooded pony said. She threw off her cloak as Twilight realized in horror who it was.

“Hey there, Princess,” the pony said.

“S-Seawave?” Twilight asked, stammering.

“I’ll give you one chance, Twilight Sparkle. One chance. Blow it and I’ll be the one holding the dagger at your neck. I’ll be the one to stab it in,” Seawave snarled. Her bloody dagger made her look nothing like the carefree, silly pony that Twilight had met earlier.

“Th-thank you, Seawave,” Twilight said softly. “Excuse me, everypony! Please stop panicking!”

“WE NEED A PRINCESS!” a pony screamed maniacally.

“Put on your crown,” Seawave whispered. Twilight pulled her crown out of her saddle bag.

“Please stop panicking, everypony!” Twilight called, now with her crown on.

“Didja hear that, everypony! Stop panicking, everypony! That pony with the crown said so!” a pony said. All the ponies immediately stopped panicking and bowed.

“You’re good,” Seawave remarked.

“Please, everypony! Stop panicking! Your princess is here now! The Crystal Fair needs to be set up, so please!” Everypony looked uneasy. Finally a little filly spoke up.

“But… but how do we do a crystal fair without a crystal heart?”

“There’s no crystal heart?!?!?!?!” Twilight exclaimed, her eyes widening in horror.

* * *

“C’mon, Rarity! We gotta get her to the empire and heat her up!” Applejack called. She leaned on the ice cube that contained Pinkie Pie.

“Applejack, I hate to ask,” Rarity said, tears in her eyes. “How do we know she’s not… dead?”

“Look, Rarity. We’ve got to give her a chance. We couldn’t just leave her out in the cold!” Rarity nodded sullenly and helped Applejack push the ice cube to the empire. She put Cadence’s body on top of it as well.

“Boy, Rarity! It looks like we’re coming back from war with a bunch of dead bodies,” Applejack remarked. Rarity shot her a look that said that’s not funny. Applejack turned away and didn’t speak to her for the entire way back. Pretty soon, they could see the empire.

“Rarity! It’s the empire!” Applejack exclaimed. They pushed Pinkie as hard as they could, and they finally stepped into the empire. As soon as they got in, Pinkie’s ice cube immediately started melting.

“TWILIGHT!” Applejack screamed at the top of her lungs. Twilight got off her crystal throne and ran toward her friends.

“Twilight, it’s so good to see you!” Rarity embraced Twilight in a hug, using her magic to push Pinkie and Cadence behind a bush.

“Oh, I’m so, so, so, so glad you made it back! Did you find Cadence?” Twilight asked. Applejack and Rarity looked down. How were they going to tell her?

“Twilight, er–”

“No, Rarity. I think we have to tell her,” Applejack already cut her off. She went behind the bush and brought Cadence and Pinkie out.

“Sombra… murdered her,” Applejack gestured to Cadence’s limp body.

“But at least Pinkie is alive, right?” Rarity tried to comfort Twilight. Tears formed in Twilight’s eyes.

“No!” Twilight screamed. She ran away, sobbing. Applejack sat down next to Pinkie’s ice cube. It was half melted. She watched the ice slowly melt, the water trickling down the side, Pinkie’s petrified body. How could this happen? That morning, they’d been planning the Crystal Fair with Princess Cadence. Now she was all alone, with two friends kidnapped, one friend petrified, and two more friends shunning her.

“I’m sorry, Cadence,” she said to Cadence’s body, even though she knew Cadence was dead. “I wish I stopped him when I saw him take Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.” Suddenly, she heard a pony galloping in her direction. She squinted into the distance, only able to make out a purple mane.

“Rarity!” Applejack called. Wasn’t Rarity mad at her? “Rarity!”

“Hello, Applejack!” Rarity replied cheerfully.

“Rarity, weren’t you mad at me?”

“Darling, when did you get that idea? I ran off to get Nurse Redheart!” Rarity stepped aside and revealed Nurse Redheart. She was panting, apparently out of shape.

“Nurse, Pinkie here got frozen in the blizzard… Do you think she’ll be alive?” Rarity asked. “It would mean a great deal to us if you could help!” Nurse Redheart nodded.

“Of course, dears! But we have to get her to the hospital immediately,” Nurse Redheart said. Nurse Redheart and Applejack pushed Pinkie’s icecube as Rarity took Cadence’s body.

“How gruesome,” Nurse Redheart said softly. She was looking at Cadence’s body. “How did it happen?”

“I think… It’s best we don’t tell you,” Applejack replied. Mentioning Sombra could set the Empire into panic again. Nurse Redheart was obviously irritated, but she pretended not to care and kept walking.

“The ambulance is supposed to be picking us up at Crystal Berry Street,” Nurse Redheart said. Rarity looked up at the street sign.

“Well, it looks like we’re here!” she said cheerfully. Soon enough, a crystal ambulance came.

“Redheart! Nice to see you. So, this is our patient?” the pony in the ambulance said. He jumped out of the truck and helped Nurse Redheart push Pinkie’s ice cube into the ambulance. By now, the ice cube was almost completely melted. Rarity took Cadence’s body, as usual.

“So, um, Rarity,” Nurse Redheart whispered to Rarity. She was eyeing Cadence’s body with disgust, even though she saw such things regularly at the hospital. “Rarity, have you ever considered it… a bit… gruesome? Creepy? That you’re carrying the princess’ dead body around her kingdom?”

Rarity looked at her, then quickly checked that nopony was listening. “To be honest, Nurse, I find it so gruesome, disgusting, I wish I didn’t have to carry it around. But I’d hate to disappoint Applejack by just leaving it there.” After a short drive, the ponies made it to the hospital.

“Nurse Redheart, I need your help getting this pony in hospitalization pronto,” the ambulance driver called. He was attempting to carry Pinkie’s frozen body out.

“Oh! Of course! Right away, Doctor Needle!” Nurse Redheart rushed out of the backseat. Applejack and Rarity ran into the hospital after them and followed them into the room. Right before they entered the room, Doctor Needle slammed the door on them.

“Sorry, ladies. Delicate operation. No visitors allowed until tomorrow,” he said, his voice muffled by his mask.

“Rarity, I think it would be best for us to leave,” Applejack said sullenly. “If we can’t do anything until the morning, it would be best to find somewhere to stay for the night.” Rarity was a bit unsure. What if they got urgent news about Pinkie in the middle of the night? She couldn’t disappoint Applejack, though. She nodded and they walked out of the hospital together. Outside, the Celestia was lowering the sun and Luna was raising the moon. Everypony was going home.

“We should go find Twilight,” Rarity said. Twilight was the only pony they knew well, and she could definitely find arrangements for them. Applejack nodded.

“Excuse me, sir,” Applejack walked up to a stallion on the street. “Where could we find the princess?”

“Princess Twilight? She’d be at the Crystal Castle. You might have to wait awhile in line, though,” the stallion responded.

“Wait in line? For what?”

“Oh, all sorts of things! The Princess is offering signatures for the first time! And there are those ponies offering crystals to her, there are ponies in line to kiss her hooves, and ponies in line to just say hello! I got lucky and I managed to get a signature! But if you’re getting in line now, you’ll probably be waiting all night!” Rarity and Applejack looked at each other in horror. Twilight Sparkle, their good friend, had changed so much just because of some silly crown the ponies put on her head? She was now downright arrogant. Offering signatures? Letting ponies kiss her hooves? Ridiculous!

“Applejack, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Rarity asked. “We can’t call this place home! We can’t even call Twilight our friend anymore!”

Tears formed in Applejack’s eyes. “It’s all Sombra’s fault,” she said. Rarity thought for a moment.

“No, Applejack. It’s not Sombra’s fault,” Rarity said firmly. That made Applejack think as well.

“You’re right, Rarity. It’s our fault.”