Forgotten Legacy

“Spike,” I said, poking the snoring Alicorn with a hoof. “Just how much did you put in her tea?”

“I poured a spoonful in,” the dragon said. “That’s how much she usually takes for medicine.”

I floated the bottle the dragon held to me and read the label. “Spike,” I said. “The label says to use a single drop.” I poked the Alicorn again, who rolled over and mumbled something about scones in her sleep.

I sighed. “Let her sleep it off,” I said. “We might as well see what we can get done without her working up into another tizzy.”

Sunshine was in the main library with Starlight and Trixie. I sat down and sighed.

“Still out?” Starlight asked. Her voice was stronger, as was her color. I nodded.

“Spike gave her a bit more than the recommended dose of sleepsand,” I said. “So it’s just us four for now.”

“Starlight and I have read through most of the notes taken at the council and what the two of you could remember about the domination,” Sunshine said. “There isn’t much to go on, but she did manage to remember what triggered the spell.”

“It was a letter with no return address and a Crystal Empire postmark,” she said. “I opened it to see who it was intended for since it was just addressed for the castle. It wouldn’t be the first time Sunburst got a little careless about addressing his letters. I opened the letter and saw the circle. I had enough time to cry out when the spell triggered.”

“Do we still have the envelope?” I asked.

Starlight nodded and floated it over. I lit my horn and studied it for a moment.

Trixie cleared her throat. “What the Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t understand is why we’re so concerned about it now. I thought we had a moon before the meet-up was supposed to happen.”

I set the envelope down and looked at the show pony. “I don’t like the fact that someone that can tap into an Alicorn’s dreams and trigger dangerous spells at long distance is dictating plans.” I eyed her closely. “And considering who got hurt, I thought you’d want to know as well.”

I saw the low simmering anger in Trixie’s eyes, the same that I had felt when Acerak had kidnapped Sunshine. I slid the envelope away. “There’s barely any trace on the envelope. There’s only one thing we can do then.”

Sunshine looked at me. “You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking, are you?”

I smiled a lopsided grin. “Hey, it’s me.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” she said.

“So this is the Crystal Empire?” Sunshine said as we climbed off the train. She shivered. “It’s awful cold.”

“It’s warmer inside the city,” Starlight said, trotting quickly for the gates. “The Crystal Heart keeps the eternal winter away.” Trixie was right beside her, hat and cloak missing for once.

I tugged the edges of my greatcoat over me a little more as we walked.

“Don’t you want to be recognized, Sunny?” Sunshine asked when she saw me trying to keep my wings under wrap.

“Not particularly,” I said. “I’m still getting used to the fact myself, and while I’m not widely known, I don’t want it getting out that an Alicorn is poking about in the Crystal Empire. It might get back to whoever is behind this.”

She nodded, and suddenly a bright light swept through the area and we all took on a crystalline glow and a bit of transparency.

“Looks like we just missed crystalling,” Starlight said. “Wonder who it was.”

“How long does this last? Are we really crystal now? What if we were to fall down, would we bruise or crack?” Sunshine asked, the eager sound in her voice indicating that she had more questions in store. I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, surprised by the change in texture.

“Don’t get carried away, sweetheart,” I said.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie…” Trixie began before Starlight reached over and put her hoof under her chin. “I mean, I like the way it looks.”

“So,” Starlight said. “What’s first?”

“We get a local map,” I said. “And go check out Goraumn’s Overlook to see just what’s going on.”

“No, you’re not,” a voice said behind us.

We turned and I saw a crystal version of the crown prince of the Crystal Empire and husband of Princess Cadence, Shining Armor.

“Not that it’s a displeasure to see you,” I said, sighing. “How?”

“Train’s fast, but not faster than Dragon fire,” he said, coming over and giving Sunshine a friendly hug. “Twiley’s upset, but she understands. She’ll wait to see what you find out before letting loose for drugging her.”

“Did she tell you we drugged her to keep her from trying a Neighlin spell theory?” Starlight said conversationally.

“No, she failed to mention that,” he said. “But I know when she’s not being forthcoming. Cadence has already given you access to any supplies you’ll need and a guide.”

“A guide,” I said.

Shining Armor smiled. “Yup,” he said. “Me.”

“Isn’t this supposed to be the spring?” Trixie called out.

“This is spring,” Shining Armor said, his goggles giving him a strange look. “You should see when it gets really cold!” He had a manic grin on his face. “This is only a little cold snap.”

I ducked down as the wind managed to blow some snow past my visor and into my eyes. “How much farther is it?” I asked.

“Not far,” he called back. “It’s just a little beyond this rise.”

We crested the rise and stopped short. The entire valley was covered with a spell dome that shimmered under the falling snow. We couldn’t see what was inside, but we could see shapes moving back and forth within and multiple sets of tents.

“This isn’t good,” Sunshine said. “A campsite this close to the Empire?”

Shining Armor shook his head. “We’ve received no reports of this,” he said. “We’ve got to go back and get a proper force out here to recon the area.”

Another blast of snow whipped up, and as I turned my head to avoid the swirl, I saw something moving in the distance. “Over there!” I called just in time to see horns light up.

Shining Armor spun and threw up a shield, blocking the blasts. I frowned. Why were they black?

“Quick,” he said. “Start moving down the ridge.”

“I can teleport us out of here if we can get a few minutes of concentration,” I said, lighting my horn.

Starlight came over and crossed hers with mine, Sunshine following suit.

“More mana, easier casting,” Starlight said. Trixie tossed some of her flares out to distract the troops coming after us.

I started to power up the spell when something collided with me, throwing me to the side.

“Sunset!” I heard Sunshine shriek.

“GO!" I shouted, rearing back to blast the Pegasus that had slammed into me only to freeze for a moment.

The Pegasus in front of me had exposed bits of his rib cage showing, and his face was sunken around his skull, eyes nothing more than glowing pits of red light. It turned to me and tried to spread its wings again, but the collision had broken one.

I heard Sunshine calling for me and felt the building of mana for the teleport, but shock rooted me in place. I scrambled back numbly, not even spreading my wings or firing my magic. I felt magic wrap around me and yank me over to the group.

“Now!” Trixie shouted, and the entire area around me vanished in a flash of white light and we appeared in the throne room of the Crystal Empire.

I was shivering, and it had nothing to do with the chill of the area we had just left. I felt Sunshine wrap her forelegs around me, but it was as if it was from far away.

“Sunset, are you ok?”

I couldn’t form coherent words. The sight of the Pegasus still hovered in front of my eyes, and the chill it had sunk straight into my heart.

This was bad, very bad.