Twilight Sparkle yawned as she woke up to a peaceful morning. Sunlight hit the crystal walls of her bedroom in the Crystal Empire, reflecting it across her entire room, making it seem exquisite. Twilight stretched out her whole body, and got up. As her hooves hit the crystal floor, it produced a loud clopping noise. She walked to the mirror and took a look at her ruffled mane.
"Wow, I sure did have a rough night's sleep," thought Twilight as she levitated out a brush and straightened out her mane. After that, she made her bed and got out of her room. Everywhere she looked, she saw magnificent crystal ponies and crystal furniture. Just then, she heard her friends calling her name and walking up the stairs to her bedroom.
"Twilight, there you are! We wouldn't want to be late for the train back to Ponyville," said one of her best friends, namely Rainbow Dash. She flew over to Twilight and pushed her to the stairs.
"Hold on now Rainbow, Twilight must be hungry and didn't have breakfast. We must eat before we go. You know how long that train ride can be back to Ponyville Rainbow," said one of another of Twilight's friend, namely Applejack.
"Now that you mention it, I am kind of hungry," said Twilight. Right after she said that, her stomach grumbled.
"Oh alright, fine! If I could just fly back to Ponyville and not wait for you guys, I would already be back at Ponyville," murmured Rainbow Dash.
"Ooh! What are we going to have for breakfast? Muffins? Cupcakes? Doughnuts? Ooh, I can't wait!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie.
"Happy to know at least one of us is enthusiastic about breakfast," said Applejack, as she glared at Rainbow. Applejack then brought out her saddlebag and brought out bottles of apple juice, some muffins, and apple fritters.
"Oh my gosh! This breakfast looks so delicious!" Pinkie Pie then took an apple fritter and ate it in one gulp. "This tastes amazing Applejack! Why would you want to skip a breakfast like this Dashie?"
"Uh, no reason, no reason at all!" Pinkie then took an apple fritter and put it up to Rainbow's mouth. "Cut it out Pinkie! I'm just not really hungry," said Rainbow Dash.
"If you insist. Plenty more for the rest of us!" Pinkie then devoured another apple fritter.
"Oh, this apple juice tastes lovely Applejack," exclaimed Fluttershy. She sipped a bit more apple juice.
Rarity then grabbed a bottle of apple juice and drank it. "Fluttershy is right. It tastes divine!"
"Glad you guys like it. Come on and join us Twilight," said Applejack. She made some room for Twilight.
"Alright, but just for a while I guess. I am starving," Twilight then levitated a muffin towards her and munched on it with a side of an apple fritter and a bottle of apple juice. After breakfast, they got ready to take the long train ride home. Just as they reached the train station, they heard a stallion's voice calling for them.
"Twilight! Oh, there's my little sister," said Twilight's brother, Shining Armor, and known as the Crystal Empire's prince. He gave Twilight a hug. "I hope you do visit us again sometime Twily. Princess Cadance couldn't come because she was very busy, hence she just became the new princess of the Crystal Empire."
"I hope that I will visit you someday again, but it'll be a while since I have a lot of studies from Princess Celestia," said Twilight. "I also do hope to see Princess Cadance again too. Can you tell her that all of us said bye to her when she is not busy?"
"Anything for my little sister," said Shining Armor, as he laughed warmly.
"Not to interrupt your little reunion, but the train is here, so we better get going," said Rainbow, pushing Twilight to the train.
"Oh, I guess I'll see you next time we meet then Shining," said Twilight. Shining Armor waved goodbye to his little sister and her friends, and then he turned away and went to check on Princess Cadance.
After the train ride back to Ponyville, they all said their goodbyes to each other and went their own way for the rest of the day. Little did they know that this was the beginning of murderous chaos awaiting them.
Applejack walked in the afternoon sunshine, and was heading back to Sweet Apple Acres. The first pony that was first to see her was her little sister; Apple Bloom. "Hey sis! Welcome back home!" said the cheerful little filly. "How did ya' go? I heard about you and the others defeatin' King Sombra! Was it scary and hard? I doubt it though, since ah' know that yer' a strong and brave pony Applejack!" Her sister was very enthusiastic about her return.
"Hold on now sugarcube, slow down," giggled Applejack at her sister's enthusiasm. "It is true that we defeated that darn King Sombra. It was hard and a little bit of scary to be honest with y'all, but I had my friends' support to keep me on going. Now you just listen Apple Bloom, here is a lesson for you; whenever you're in doubt, your friends will always be there for you, ya' hear?"
"I do Applejack!" said Apple Bloom. Her eagerness made Applejack smile with pride.
"Good Apple Bloom," said Applejack. "Now yer' better be ready for the big o' bear hug coming for you!" teased Applejack, as she ran chasing her sister around. She finally caught up with her and gave her a big mighty hug. They laughed and hugged each other. After that, they walked to the farm to greet Big Macintosh and Granny Smith.
"It sure is nice to see ya' back here Applejack," said Granny Smith.
"Eeyup," agreed Big Macintosh.
"Ah shucks, y'all don't need to be all welcoming to me. It ain't nothing special, I just returned home." said Applejack.
"But it seemed like forever since you left! We were all worried sick about ya' AJ!" said Apple Bloom.
"Oh really? Was ah' really missed that much? I do have a great family that cares for me then," Applejack said. They all had a group hug and then everypony went to do their own things after a bit of talking. Applejack grabbed a bucket and started bucking some apples as usual. The breeze flowed through the trees and made some leaves fall off. "Fall is about to come soon. I better get back to bucking," thought Applejack. Everything seemed quiet, too quiet to be exact. Just then, there was a crumbling noise below Applejack's hooves. "What in tarnation is happening?!" She then looked below her hooves and noticed a crack widening each second. Before she could react and get away, the crack spread enough to trap her. She fell for quite a while, until she hit hard stone. Applejack looked around, and found a meager amount of light source coming from a crystal. She walked up to it, but it was a big mistake. As she walked close to this strange and ominous crystal, a bright light flashed around her, encasing her in a blinding light. In the light, she saw what was impossible; King Sombra. "What are you doin' here?!" shouted the farm pony in anger.
"Foolish Applejack. You thought that you stopped me? I'm not even in my final form yet. When your puny little friends banished me back underground, I was stuck until I escaped with ease. Your little Princess Cadance didn't seal my prison as well as your two princesses did one thousand years ago. I now want revenge Applejack," said King Sombra. "I've learned from my mistakes and thought of a new plan, a plan that will make everypony bow down to me. You're the first one to bow down to me." A evil grin spread across his face, as he lighted up his horn and froze Applejack in a solid piece of black crystal, her mouth gaping out in terror. "One out of six ponies to go," exclaimed the king.
Rainbow Dash flew up the Cloudsdale as soon as she arrived back at Ponyville. Pegasi greeted her and congratulated her for defeating King Sombra.
