Lost Innocence, and a Growing Insanity

Another day, another boring session going over matters concerning Princess Celestia in her duty and obligation as Princess. Sitting in her throne room, her assistant levitated a stack of papers for her to look at and either sign or decline.

'Almost makes me whish that something would happen.'she thought guiltily with a sigh.

*SLAM*

She perked and was surprised to see one of her roaming Royal Guards. The guards-pony run up announcing, “News from Northern Equestria!” He stopped as he remembered proper etiquette and bowed, “Uh, Your Highness.”

Dismissing her assistant and the papers, she asked, “Yes?”

“Your Majesty, I have been sent by your agent,” Emerald explained, and instantly Celestia knew this was important. “I am simply to tell you that… it has returned.”

She gasped, for she knew exactly what “it” meant, Celestia ordered her attending guards, “Find Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance!”

“Yes, Your Highness,” they obliged and hurried out.

Standing up, Celestia moved towards a window, looking out to the northern region of her kingdom. Narrowing her eyes, her horn started to glow…

There was definitely something out there, and it brought with it the promise of either harmony or great disaster. But it also resurfaced memories long past, memories beautiful and happy that turned into a path of disaster-filled nightmares that still caused her heart great pain, from loss and betrayal.  'Iggy...'

Taking a scroll and quill, she began to write a message.

“‘My dearest Twilight,

You must come to Canterlot at once…’”

King Sombra looked at the Crystal Empire with disgust in his red eye's. "Foolish pony's. Soon I will have my throne back and you will all crumple under my iron hoof!" He closed his eye's and contemplated his next move. Instantly King Sombra's eyes widen, and he let out a small chuckle, his horn started to glow a bright red and instantly a stone statue had appeared, in the statue were two dragon-like turtles. "Awaken my servants..." The statue glowed red before cracks started to appear, soon enough the statue exploded and stood the two dragons. "Hahahah ahahahaha ahahaha!!!

In Canterlot Tower, a new stained-glass window adorned the hall, of Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance bending towards each other, positioned to form the outline of a heart, their wings spread, clearly immortalizing their feat of saving Canterlot from the changeling invasion almost a month ago.

The Royal Sisters gazed up at it, Luna asking, “Are you sure you don’t want me to go as well?”

“No, I have complete faith in Twilight's abilities,” Celestia said with uncharacteristic animosity. “Besides, Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance are already there," Celestia said reassuringly. "The others will join them soon enough."

“The empire’s magic is too great a risk to lose again, my sister,” Luna reminded her.

“They will succeed in their respective tasks,” Celestia insisted. “And when they do, we will know that Twilight is that much closer to being ready.”

“Ahem!”

They looked to see Twilight at the threshold. Luna and Celestia nodded as the Princess of the Night excused herself, walking past the unicorn. “You wanted to see me, to give me a test?” Twilight asked, anxiously as she levitated the saddlebags off of her. “I brought my own quills, and plenty of paper to show my work!” Unfortunately, she dropped her bags, causing a mess and one scroll to bridge the space between her and her teacher. “Sorry, sorry!” Twilight started trying to roll the scroll back up, forgetting to use her magic to do so.

Kindly, Celestia put the study aids back neatly into the bags, “This is a different kind of test …The Crystal Empire has returned.”

“The Crystal Empire…?!” Twilight looked into some books, unfamiliar with the subject. “I’m sorry, I- I thought I’d studied!” – Celestia took some of them from her, leaving her to look in the last one – “I don’t think there’s anything in my books-”

“There wouldn’t be,” Celestia corrected, much to Twilight’s surprise. “Few remember it ever existed at all.”

Twilight watched as Celestia opened a glass case set beside her throne and levitated out a lavender crystal and set it at their hooves before flashing it with a spell. Twilight backed up as an illusion shined, revealing a glorious miniature realm, the main streets forming a hexagram-shaped snowflake, centered by a crystal citadel.

“The Crystal Empire beholds a powerful magic,” Celestia explained as her student watched the illusions of happy crystal ponies.

“One thousand years ago, it was tyrannized by King Sombra, a Unicorn whose Heart was as Black as Night.”

They watched as the landscape became riddled with thorny and jagged dark crystals, the citadel corrupted into a bleak fortress, and an image of a black unicorn stallion’s face appeared and a flash revealed him standing upon a balcony, lording over the enslaved crystal ponies, two drakes were standing behind the black unicorn.

Sombra was tall for a unicorn, not quite so as tall as Celestia but certainly taller than Luna, even Shining Armor. His coat was gray like ashes after a forest fire, his mane and tail black like obsidian. He wore cold metal armor, a kingly cape flowing across his back, concealing his cutie-mark. His crown was horrific but not so horrific as his eyes!

They were hate-crazed red, the whites long-turned to a poisonous green, and wreathed in a purplish miasma.

He smiled wickedly, flashing a pair of fangs, and his horn was unusually smooth as well as curving up a little, reddening from the base to the tip into blood-red, crackling with black electricity.

Suddenly the whole room was filled with a demented laughter accompanied by a childish laughter. Twilight started to panic and look around the room. Finally her eyes settled to the crystal, the image of the empire started to warp.

"Wha-What's going on?"

Celestia's face remained unreadable. Suddenly the laughing got louder and the image of the empire changed into two dragon- like turtles, the taller one had a pineapple shaped hair and a green shell, the shorter one looked slightly younger than Spike, he also had a rainbow Mohawk with a yellow ponytail, he also had a orange shell on his back.

"Who are they?"

Celestia looked at the image sadly. "They are Iggy koopa and Lemmy Koopa, they were two very unfortunate souls who were enslaved into becoming Sombra's main fighting force, Sombra keeps their loyalty with promises of freedom or with fear of being tortured, if Sombra has returned then there is no doubt in my mind that you are going to face these two as well." The image changed into Sombra again.  “King Sombra was ultimately overthrown, turned to shadow, and banished to the Frozen North.”

They watched as Sombra’s body dispersed into incorporeal shadow and his face was twisted with rage as he was sucked into an icy crevice, enclosing him into cold, unforgiving darkness.

“But not before he was able to place a powerful curse upon the empire, so powerful it was that it made the entire empire vanish into thin air!”

The images faded away and Celestia levitated the crystal, “If the empire is filled with hope and love, they are reflected over the whole of Equestria!”

The crystal illustrated her point by reflecting a rainbow of comforting colors, “But if hatred and fear take hold…”

Twilight gasped as Celestia’s eyes turned completely green, her horn bubbling with purple energy as a bolt of black lightning struck the crystal, casting a shadow that reached out along the floor towards Twilight as the shadow split around her, and the dark crystal sprung up, ugly and repulsive. Celestia promptly destroyed them with a beam of pure light, and the fear was gone.

“Which is why I need your help to find a way to protect it.”

“You want me to help you protect an entire empire…?” Twilight was overwhelmed by the idea.

“It is as I said, a different kind of test,” Celestia remarked as she put her crystal back in its glass case. “But one I am certain you will pass.”

Twilight looked at the ground for a minute before turning towards her teacher with a determine gaze.

“Where do I begin?”

"Hmm....

So quick to put your trust on someone so young,

Soon she well wish that agreeing to take this mission was but a slip of the tongue....

The pieces are set and there I see;

The prey of my game-to-be.

Run fast little pony

Because soon this day could be your last.... HAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!"