One More Problem With Sombra
"Twilight! You made it!" Queen Cadance happily trotted in front of a dozen crystal guards.
The young queen made her way towards her sister in law while levitating her baby princess behind her back. She pushed Princess Flurry Heart right into Princess Twilight Sparkle's loving hooves. The Princess of Friendship gently patted her niece's head and smiled gently.
"I can't believe I'm an aunt now! Thanks for setting up this quality aunt-niece time for me. You're the best, big sis!" Twilight exclaimed and started jumping up and down, still holding on to Flurry.
Queen Cadance's face suddenly turned dead serious. She leaned on Twilight and whispered in her ears quietly.
"Actually Twilight, we invited you over not just because Flurry misses you. There's a....tiny problem..."
"Whatever it is, I'm sure I can fix it with my trusty horn right here!" Princess Twilight joked playfully and lightened her horn.
"I'm afraid that you can't use your magic to help me this time. Shining Armor is waiting for you in the throne room to discuss about the problem." Cadance levitated Flurry out of Twilight's hands.
She pushed the concerned princess towards the crystal double doors. Twilight refused to move and stood there like a statue. No matter how hard the Queen pushes, she just stayed in the same spot. Cadance sighed heavily. She use her magic, which was obviously more powerful than her sister in law's, and levitated Twilight out the door.
"But-" Twilight asked, but was cut off by Cadance.
"Now now, you don't want to be tardy do you?" The Queen, still levitating her baby, plastered a fake smile on her face and slowly closed the door with her magic.
"Cadance, I-" Twilight stuck her face between the closing double doors, still trying to figure out what was going on.
"Bye Twily!" Cadance used her right hoof and squeeze Twilight's face out.
She slammed the door, locking the Princess of Friendship out. Princess Twilight, still concerned about what happened, mumbled to herself.
"Twily? Seems like somepony spent too much time with my brother."
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"Hey Twily!"
Twilight stumbled into Shining Armor's bedroom. It was a king's chamber, but the room was a mess! She nearly tripped on a bag of chips. Shining Armor hugged Twilight tightly, squishing her.
"Lack...of....air..." She gasped.
"Oops, sorry! I guess I'm just really excited to see you!" The King let go of his sister and grinned sheepishly.
"Cadance insisted that I should go talk to you about a problem. So, what's so urgent?" After pausing to catch her breath, Twilight asked.
"Oh...right....um, so...Sombra might or might not have return and is trying to kill our family..." Shining Armor stuttered.
"WHAT?!" Twilight yelled. "I thought he was dead!"
"Apparently not. He knows baby Flurry is an alicorn, and he's trying to kidnap her!" Shining Armor informed the princess.
"Oh my Celestia...What can I do to help?" Twilight inhaled sharply and asked.
"Not what you can do...what one of your friends could do!" Shining Armor corrected her.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. She didn't know what her brother was talking about. She's the Princess. She's her brother! She must help.
"You see, someone must go out of the Crystal Empire to find Sombra and kill him. This is a very dangerous job. Celestia forbid you to go, since you are the Princess of Friendship. If you die when you're out there, Equestria would fall. If one of your friends go, it wouldn't really matter if they die." Shining explained.
"What do you mean 'it wouldn't matter if they die'?! They are my friends! They are the Elements of Harmony! Need I remind you that they are even more powerful and more important than you? If one of them dies, I can't be the Princess of Friendship!" Twilight finally lost it.
"I know, I know. I'm sorry Twily, but we can't let you go out there. Celestia and Luna needs to stay here to rule Equestria, Cadance and I have Flurry to look after, and you have your kingdom to run. It's only fair that one of the elements go. Besides, their chances of dying are low! I mean, their as powerful as you! After all, they were the ones who gave you power, and your cutie mark." Shining Armor chuckled at the last part, remembering how his sister got her cutie mark.
On the other hoof, Twilight's eye started twitching. "Excuse me?"
"Plus, if their power can't protect them from Sombra, Celestia have already sent a Wonderbolt there." The Crystal King said.
Twilight stood there, trying to sort everything out. Her brother patiently waited for her decision.
"Hum..dangerous adventure, wonderbolt....adventure, wonderbolt. Aha! I know who I want to send to defeat Sombra!" Twilight clasped her hoofs together excitedly.
"Great! Send her here. And we also need you to stay here temporarily. We could use more ponies to protect Flurry from being kidnapped." Shining smiled.
"Okay. Let me just grab her, and that wouldn't be a problem, since I know where she is right now." Twilight said.
"Oh really? Where?"
"Sleeping. On a cloud in Ponyville."
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"What do you mean I have to pick?!" Spitfire yelled on top of her lungs.
Realising that she was talking to the ruler of Equestria, the captain blushed in embarrassment and struggled to apologise.
"U-um..my apologies, Your Majesty." She stuttered.
"No worries captain. But we must choose a suitable wonderbolt to protect the Crystal Empire from Sombra. Also, their lives will not be put in danger." Celestia assured.
"And how.... will their lives will not be put in danger?" Fleetfoot raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"One of the Elements of Harmony is already there, and you know how powerful they are."
The Wonderbolts traded looks as Spitfire smirked.
"Your Majesty, which Elements of Harmony is going with one of us?" She asked, eyeing the co-captain, Soarin.
"Well, I don't know yet, because Princess Twilight Sparkle is still deciding. Speaking of Twilight, I must return to the Crystal Empire to meet her and the chosen Elements of Harmony. Captain, you must choose now." Celestia insisted.
"O-okay. Um...Soarin? Would you mind protecting the Crystal Empire?" Spitfire pointed at Soarin.
"Not at all. I would be honoured to protect Queen Cadance, King Shining Armor and Princess Flurry." Soarin stepped forward and stood next to the Princess.
"Very well. Captain Soarin, shall we leave?"
Soarin nodded. He waved at his friends/co-workers. Celestia and him both trotted to the royal carriage. This might be the last time he sees the WDB Head Quarters.
“SHUT. UP.” Rainbow Dash said in a demanding voice, though her eyes stared into Twilight’s with no signs of anger.
The others gasped at the information Twilight have just informed them. Rarity fell on her trusty chaise chair, Pinkie started to flood the castle with her tears, Fluttershy started stuttering in fear as Apple Jack hollered.
“Twi! Ah reckon this might be a fancy princess thing of yers, but we can’t put Dash in danger! It’s like setting a nice, juicy and shiny apple in front of the Appleloosa’s apple eating fruit bats’ faces!”
“What she said!” Pinkie sobbed loudly.
Twilight rolled her eyes at her friends’ dramatic reactions. She levitated a tissue box from the restaurant and wiped Pinkie’s puddle, also she pushed away the chair with her magic, making Rarity fall right onto the grass.
“Hey!” Rarity whined.
“Look everypony. Dash will not be in danger!” Twilight tried to assure her friends.
“She’ll just have to go pass the Crystal Empire to the snowy mountains, with avalanches that could fall on her anytime, and King Sombra will hunt for her head to hang in his throne room as decoration. Not to mention the creepy creatures that might appear in the night…Okay that does sound dangerous.”
Apple Jack sighed heavily and shot a glare at her, as if saying ‘Ya think?’
Everypony turned to Dash, which was shaking in fear on the wooden chair. Fluttershy came up and grabbed her shoulder gently to stop her from creating a small earthquake at their table.
“B-but! There’s more! A Wonderbolt will be there!” Twilight plastered a fake smile on her face.
“A Wonderbolt?!” Rainbow asked hopefully.
“Yes! A-and not just ANY Wonderbolt. The Captain of the Wonderbolts!” Twilight excitedly said.
“You mean…Spitfire?!”
“Yes!”
‘NO!’ Twilight mentally slapped herself. ‘I don’t even know which Wonderbolt it’s going to be!’
“Euh…I mean…”
“Yes! A million times yes! I’ll definitely go!”
‘Well that worked.’ Twilight thought. ‘I’ll just tell her when we get on the train.’
“Are you sure Rainbow? I don’t want you to get hurt.” Fluttershy questioned Rainbow quietly.
“Yeah! I don’t want you to forget us!” Pinkie yelled into her friend’s face.
“Yea, ah don’t have a good feeling about this.”
“I think you should stay here darling.”
“Pish posh, I’m going! I’m Rainbow Dash, remember? I won’t get hurt! But... if I don't come back for some reason, you'll still be my friends...right?”
"Allers."
"Of course Dash. What are friends for?"
"You will be in our hearts everlastingly dear."
"DON'T GOOOOOO!"
The other three ponies shared a glare and shot it right at Pinkie, who was on the floor, dreading towards Rainbow's front hoof, and grabbed it tightly. Fluttershy, for the first time in months, rolled her eyes and dragged Pinkie away from Dash with her mouth pulling on her friend's tail.
"Wait a minute...my brother said that he needs as many pony as possible to protect Flurry Heart. We can ALL go!" After a moment of realisation, Twilight exclaimed.
The girls stayed silent for a few seconds, taking the information in. Then their lips curved up slowly.
"Yyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy!" They all shouted in unison, with Pinkie shaking excitedly.
"Oh my! A trip to the Crystal Empire! I have to pack. I don't want to look out of style. Good bye girls! I'll be back in a minute!" Rarity clasped her front hooves together happily as she skipped ladylike towards the entrance door.
"Okay, but you need to be back here in 15 minutes!" Twilight called after her posh friend.
"OH MY! That does not do! With Spike visiting Princess Ember for the month, no one will help me carry my bags! I'll need 30 minutes."
"No, 15!" Twilight put her hood down.
"25?" Rarity pleaded.
"15!" The princess yelled angrily.
"Sold!" Pinkie screamed. She paused for a minute. "Wait, what did I buy?"
Everyone sighed, rolling there eyes and ignoring their random friend like they usually do when she floats out of the topic.
"20 minutes Rarity. That's all you get." Twilight told her friend in a softer tone.
"But Twilight~!" Rarity whined shamelessly.
"15 minutes then?" Twilight raised her eyebrow.
"Understood." Rarity replied quickly and rushed out of the castle. "Maybe if I leave sooner, I'll have more time to pack."
"Um...Twilight...if you don't mind, I have to go pack and change clothes too." Fluttershy quietly asked her feisty friend.
"Of course Fluttershy! You could go pack! I'm not some kind of monster!" Twilight fluttered her hoof at Fluttershy and laughed. She suddenly turned serious and stared at her shy friend. "10 minutes."
"Okay. Bye..." Fluttershy turned around and started to flap her way out the door.
"Ah have ta go too! Ah have quite the city dress that Rarity gave me at my last birthday party." Apple Jack scratched her mane.
Twilight sighed. "15 minutes. Go."
She then glanced at the last two. They stared back at her, as if saying 'can we go too?'.
"Ugh..Just go would 'cha?"
"Kay bye!" As if waiting for that one sentence, Rainbow dashed off.
"Yyyyyyyyyyyayyyyyyyy! We're going to the Crystal Empire!" Pinkie yelled and threw confetti in the air before she bounced out of the castle.
________________________________________________________________________________
"Twilight! You're back!" Shining Armor greeted her sister.
The lines of crystal guards followed each other neatly. They stood steadily, and seemed extremely proud of themselves. The first guard of each line carried the flag of the Crystal Empire.
The six girls swooned at the breathtaking castle upon them. (Namely Rarity and Pinkie.) Twilight didn’t hesitate one second as she took a step forward at bowed before her siblings and niece. She wore a crystal gown, The Reign in Stain, or called the Princess Dress Rarity designed a few months ago. After all, this is a very important and professional event. She couldn’t just wear anything!
Rarity insisted she would design a whole new clothing line for each of the girls to wear at the Crystal Empire.
The girls looked just as amazing as the castle.
Rarity wore a golden summer dress with matching jewelries and shoes. She also styled her mane a bit differently to impress everypony.
Fluttershy wore a little green skirt with colorful flowers sewn on them. She also wore a picnic hat, which also had flowers on them.
Pinkie wore a puffy tutu with every color Rarity could think of. The bubbly pony tied her mane up into a cute bun.
Apple Jack wore her trusty old cowboy hat. This time, it was decorated with a few transparent gemstones. She also wore a country looking dress that represented her fully.
Rainbow Dash wore a turquoise dress with lightning bolts sewn on it. She also wore matching heels, which was killing her hoof at the time. Rarity styled her friend’s mane a bit girlier with curls here and there.
The five also bowed down to Shining Armor respectfully. He repeated their action and signaled them to come with him.
“Come girls. The three princesses are already waiting for you.” He said.
The mares trotted excitedly inside the complicated yet beautiful structure. A few 'wows' and gasps could be heard. This was going to be an extraordinary trip.
