Rise of the Harmony Kingdom

by cornholio4

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Main 6, Other, Drama, Tempest Shadow, Princess Skystar, Adventure, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 11798

After the fallout in the Canterlot Wedding, Twilight ends up overthrowing the Storm King.

AU to a Canterlot Wedding with a twist. Shades of the movie.

Twilight left Equestria ashamed of calling Cadence evil without knowing she was replaced by Queen Chrysalis. The real Cadence was accidentally found and the Changeling invasion was foiled.

Since then Princess Celestia and her friends have been searching for Twilight.

2 years later the Crystal Empire returns and Twilight's friends are sent but it seemed that an armada led by the stern faced Tempest got there first. She is there on behalf of a new empire ruled by Queen Twilight.

20th January 2018, Featured! First of my stories that I know of to be featured on the main page!

Published 2018-01-18 20:50:07 UTC
Last updated 2018-07-14 19:22:39 UTC

Prologue

Author's Note

Based on the Canterlot Wedding AU fics where Twiligth runs away and ends up forming her own kingdom. Plus I never saw one where she runs away in shame without knowing she was sort of right.

Plus I want to address issues brought up in the accusation fic forum for the movie or the forum for the movie. About how easily conquered Equestria gets by having Twilight with Tempest's urging build her empire with a strong defence and military so it can be protected.

Prologue

Klugetown an unsavoury town in the desert wasteland south of Equestria, one day the fearsome residents were going through their illicit day to day dealings. One such creature was a humanoid cat wearing a red coat by the name of Capper who was trying to pawn off some items he had acquired.

The day seemed simple enough before confusion filled the air as music was playing through the town. All the residents rushed to where the music was coming from and it took them to the entrance of the town.

Eyes were on a giant airship which had a purple star with small white stars on it. There were mutterings and shock as yeti like creatures with armor that had the emblem on them exited the airship. They all formed a side to side line as a black furred hedgehog creature called Grubber went down the ramp of the airship along with one of the creatures which was carrying a podium and microphone.

Grubber went up and coughed before speaking through the microphone "people of Klugetown, before you lived under the rule of the Storm King. Now I bring exciting news that the Storm King is no longer a problem and now you shall live under the prosperous rule of ...Queen Twilight!"

Then the mutterings increased as then down came a tall stern faced broken horned unicorn with the same armor as the creatures. "Now I turn it over to Commander Tempest." Grubber said through the microphone before leaving a list on the podium.

He walked down and allowed the unicorn called Tempest to take the stage, "ladies and gentlemen for lack of better terms, the Storm King has been taken care of and his former territories are now under the benevolent rule of Queen Twilight. Klugetown is the last of the territories to be annexed into... Into... the Harmony Kingdom..." Tempest said sounding like she was groaning through the word.

"She assures you that in time she will make sure to improve the lives of the citizens but she has given a list of the first set of mandatory laws that will be taken into effect immediately. First slavery is now abolished and any slave owners will have to set their slaves free, the currency of Storm Bucks will be changed, sale of body parts is now prohibited..." Tempest stated to indignant protests and mutterings.

"Just a minute here!" shouted an angry small pig like creature, "Who do you think you are coming here and to change things on how MY town is ran! We only have your word for it that the Storm King is gone!" the creature ranted.

"Who are you supposed to be, the mayor or something?" Tempest asked looking down quite bored at the creature.

"We have no need for politics here as we didn't need any under the Storm King! I'm Verko the boss of the city and every lowlife and pickpocket in this town answers to me! I have absolute loyalty of the residents of Klugetown!" the creature called Verko ranted and Tempest just sighed and powered up her horn.

Then Capper came and bowed before Tempest's podium, he sensed that things were not going to go well for Verko and he might as well adapt to the changes that would be happening here. Perhaps this way, he would not have to worry about the debt he still owed Verko.

"Commander Tempest, my name is Capper and let me be the first to pledge my allegiance and loyalty to her majesty, Queen Twilight!" Capper told the unicorn to the furious look on Verko's face for this betrayal.

Tempest fired up a blast of magic form her horn and shot it right at Verko pretty much frying him and knocking him out unconscious. Then residents then wisely began changing their tones at the sight of Tempest's smirk which dared more protests to begin. Tempest then heard the talking began:

"It was costing too much to feed my slaves anyway..."

"...I don't need anymore unicorn horns anyway..."

"Long live Queen Twilight!"

Tempest then looked down to her army and said "I guess I should make this official: on behalf of Queen Twilight, the town of Klugetown is now hereby annexed by the Harmony Kingdom!" She then faced Capper and asked "Until we can get the governments of the other lands sorted out, I am appointing you acting Mayor of Klugetown. My assistant Grubber will go over the regulations with you and please share with him any knowledge you may have."

Capper looked surprised but retook himself and responded "I won't let you or her majesty down!" Tempest sighed, she could tell quite clearly he was a kiss flank con artist who clearly wanted to be on the winning side but fear alone could ensure he does the job well.

"Disappointing, I was hoping more creatures would be more difficult but still now this means we have the Storm King's territories taken care off..." muttered Tempest as her thoughts turned her to a smile.

She had long ago lost hope in friendship and only allied with the Storm King in hopes of having her horn restored, but she had found a friend who had managed to convince her to join up with her.

She had explained that she didn't think there was a way for horns to grow back so the Storm King could just be using an empty promise to ensure her loyalty. It was promises of using her magical knowledge to train her to use her broken horn effectively as well as genuine respect and kindness shown that convinced her to switch sides.

Now she had to use a call potion to call back to her friend...

"Open up your eyes!"

Twilight Sparkle clad in the former Storm King's crown used her horn to remove the blindfold and marvel at the castle in front of her, built by a group of servants from the Hippogriffia Kingdom.

It was a gift from Queen Novo the ruler of the Hippogriffs, for helping protect her home and powerful Orb from the Storm King.

She sighed thinking of the events that lead to her running away from her former home of Equestria and finding her way at Mount Aris after a long journey in search of someplace to start anew. The disappointment and anger her friends, mentor and brother had shown to her.

She decided it was better if she could try to turn herself into a better pony, maybe she could make things up with them... especially Cadence.

It was shame that prevented her from coming back to Equestria after these 2 years. Perhaps she would be worthy of going back after she earned a little something during her adventure...

"Oh, it's almost ready! We just need to paint it and just like you asked we have the Storm King's statue in the hallway to start of the hall of enemies! I promise you that we got the swimming pool up and ready!" said a hyper voice of a yellow hippogriff her age.

The hippogriff was Princess Skystar the daughter of Queen Novo and reminded Twilight of Pinkie Pie, she then mentally battered herself. She hated comparing Skystar to Pinkie Pie and the same for Grubber and Spike. It was unfair to them as it felt like she was trying to replace her friends.

"I am hoping the Harmony Kingdom and Hippogriffia have the start of a beautiful new friendship between our nations!" Twilight told her with a smile which was returned.

She then found a potion call with a call awaiting her, she then used her magic to activate it and it showed Tempest's face. "Greetings Tempest, how was the annexing of Klugetown?" Twilight asked but Tempest's smirk gave her the answer.

"You now have all of the Storm King's former lands under your rule." Tempest stated and Twilight smiled having already been at work restructuring the governments and lands that used to belong to the Storm King. The citizens would not have to live in fear and she will do what she could to make them better. Tempest asked what the next step was.

"Celaeno told me that her crew gotten word that the Crystal Empire will be returning, I will give you the coordinates and have yourself and the Armada ready to meet me. Time we add a new tyrant to our list of defeated enemies." Twilight told Tempest to which she nodded.

After the 'Wedding'

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

How Not to Do Diplomacy

In the carriage set being driven by two Pegasus guards, sat Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. The still technically engaged couple had an awkward silence between them as they were looking over the opposite sides of the carriage. They were both also feeling a bit of the cold due to only having blankets to warm themselves.

Shining decided to break the silence by asking "so are you warm enough? I could give you my blanket..."

"I'm fine." Cadence stated bluntly not even turning to face him as they both gave a sigh at the same time. Cadence took a deep breath and said "Shining, do you think the issues between us are ever going to be fixed? Even once we find Twilight, will that change the fact that we have barely been on speaking terms for about two years? Say we do find Twilight and all is forgiven? Are we supposed to go to our wedding while ignoring everything that happened?"

Shining took a sigh himself and wanted to say that everything would be fine but he felt that if he did his heart would not be in it. "...You're right... Perhaps it would be best if we go to some counselling, go over our issues and decide if we have really want this to continue. We can't exactly go back to how things were before..."

Cadence was about to respond when one of the guards told them to look down there. They looked down and their eyes widened when they saw the Crystal Empire surrounded by what looked like an army standing guard. "You don't think King Sombra managed to assemble an army and take back control already..." Cadence asked and Shining had no answer.

The carriage dropped down in front of the entrance with the Armada going into battle ready stances at the sight. Looking determined Shining and Cadence got out of the carriage and went up to the creatures.

One of them came forward and Shining asked "are you King Sombra's army?" The creature then shook his head and Shining decided to be more forward. "I am Captain Shining Armor of Equestria here with Princess Cadence. I demand to see your leader!" Shining told him giving his best threatening look he could muster.

The creature then looked to another one and told him "Sam, I need you to go and get Commander Tempest."

"Right away Ralph." Said the creature walking away and the two Equestrians batted their eyes at their strange names. Then a minute later Sam came back with Tempest and they were shocked to see a unicorn with a broken horn.

"Private Ralph, Private Sam, please go back to your posts while I deal with these tourists." Tempest told the two creatures who gave a salute as they did so. Shining and Cadence were indignant at being called tourists. Tempest gave them a look telling them to explain themselves and they got over their shock.

"I am Captain Shining Armor of the Equestrian Royal Guard and this is Princess Cadence. We are here to lend assistance to the Crystal Empire." Shining explained trying to make himself look important only for his helmet to fall off earning a giggle from Cadence.

"Well please go back as your assistance is not required. I am Commander Tempest of the Harmony Kingdom and we have this all under control." Tempest stated to the eyes widening of Shining and Cadence.

"The Harmony Kingdom? Those warlords that have been invading and expanding themselves over the lands South of Equestria over the last year and a half?" Shining shouted at once and then began marching towards Tempest before Cadence could stop him. "You are probably invading the Crystal Empire right now! Expansionist invaders who could come to Equestria next..." Shining told her looking quite ready to fight.

Tempest then humourlessly laughed in his face. "Expansionist nothing. We are merely good Samaritans who have been freeing our lands from the late Storm King's clutches. Do not judge us for details which you don't know." Tempest responded with strict firmness in her voice.

"You are the ones twisting the name of 'Harmony' by using the phrase in your name. Your leader probably just backstabbed the Storm King since there is no honour in thieves. You probably want to continue invading but I won't stand for it!" Shining told Tempest with a smirk. Princess Cadence was standing there looking like she wanted to slap Shining on the head several times and tell him to shut up before he digs himself deeper.

Tempest made Shining go back in fear with her horn lighting up. "Don't you dare insult my Queen like that again! She was the first creature to show me kindness in a long time. Plus you have some twisted priorities, don't you? Equestria didn't care when the Storm King was conquering his lands but only when our new management wants to save the Lands... Only then do you consider us a threat? No wonder you lot were dumb enough to get invaded by Changelings." Tempest told him coldly.

Cadence jumped at it and any reminder of the Invasion was a sore spot for Shining. Shining then charged right at Tempest with her ready to fight. Cadence wanted to intervene but she did not need to as Shining was thrown away by a hippogriff wing.

Cadence glared at Shining when she was helping him up, "Let me do ALL the talking from this point forward!" Cadence told Shining with a look that dared him to argue. Shining only gave a slight nod.

They turned to see Queen Novo glaring at them along with Princess Skystar who was waving at Tempest. "This is an unexpected surprise Queen Novo, Princess Skystar." Tempest stated with a bow before the Hippogriff Queen.

Queen Novo gave a smile to Tempest making the two Equestrians pause realising Queen Novo must be familiar with the Harmony Kingdom. "Leave now, once I have calmed down I will be generous and talk to my queen about letting you lot lend a hand." Tempest told Shining and Cadence when faced with them again.

Shining wanted to argue but Cadence went in front of him. "We give our humblest apologises and we hope to come back again once we are ready to discuss political relations." Cadence told Tempest as she walked back to the carriage along with a glaring Shining.

"Please give Princess Celestia this message about when the Storm King invaded my home and it was up to the Harmony Kingdom to help me and my subjects: THANKS FOR NOTHING!" Queen Novo coldly told them making Cadence and Shining gulp.

They saw Tempest turn around and paused when they noticed the symbol on her armor. They looked to the symbols of the armor of the Guard as well. There was a larger one on a nearby airship. "Are you thinking what I am thinking?" Shining asked as they symbol really was familiar to them.

"We better let my aunt know about this at once." Cadence responded knowing this was the first clue to Twilight's whereabouts they had in two years.

Cadence herself had a sneaking suspicion why their flag would be like that and who their Queen was...

Author's Note

Sorry if this chapter is a bit short compared to the others.

Reactions part 1

It was the morning in Ponyville and Rainbow Dash woke up as the Sun shined through her cloud window. She grunted as she got up and began to get to work on her morning routine. She got ready and got her and Tank's breakfast salad all taken care of. There was a knock on the door and she answered it.

There was Derpy Hooves doing her mail delivery. "Hello Derpy, I don't suppose there is anything about Twilight in the news today?" Rainbow Dash asked, having asked the question to Derpy every day for the past few years.

Once again Derpy shook her heads and gave the parcel and morning newspaper to Dash. Dash gave a thank you as the Mail mare then left. She placed the parcel on her table and opened it.

There were two brand news copies of the latest Daring Do book, one was for her and the other one will be for Twilight WHEN they find her again. After all these years the search had not been going very well. All they could do was keep an eye out for any hint of her and continue their requests for information.

"Come on Twilight, please give us a hint already to where you are? How am I supposed to make it up to you if you are not even here?" Dash screamed in her head in agitation.

Things hadn't been the same for her or their friends without the sixth member of their little group around. Especially with the circumstances behind the last time they had met.

There were words they needed told to her and apologises they had to make. She knew this situation at the wedding was not handled well at all but she knew who deserved the most blame:

She made solemn vow that if she ever saw the Changeling Queen ever again, well then she would make sure she had regretted even coming up with her invasion plan in the first place.

She put one of the books on the table, that was for her later. Right now she needed to get Twilight's to the library with the others that had been released since her leaving.

She got to the library which had been run by Spike ever since they got back to Ponyville. However she stopped when she saw the door which had one of Twilight's search posters on it, was wide open.

She had wondered what was going on when Cheerilee came over and told her "you should have seen Spike rushing through that door. He seemed excited but would not stop to say what was going on." Dash's mouth was wide opened as Cheerilee left to start the school day.

Dash shook her head thinking she would worry about the dragon later. She went to the table and put the book on the stack with the other Daring Do books to give to Twilight.

She then spotted on the same table was a letter that seemed like it came from the Princess. However she caught a glimpse of a particular T word and read the entire thing from the beginning:

Dear Spike

I bring wonderful news. I assure you that I am most serious when I say that we may have found our first clue to Twilight's location and what she had been doing for the past few years. I will explain everything when you and Twilight's friends arrive in Canterlot. Please be prepared as this involves a task which may take a few days.

Sincerely Princess Celestia

Rarity had intended to take a long lie in bed to get some extra beauty sleep but she was woken up by being shaked incredibly hard before her usual time being awakened. At first she thought it would be Sweetie Belle wanting help from something.

Instead it was Spike who looked as if Princess Celestia had passed a law stating that he was to be given Equestria's entire gem supply to eat. She could not remember him being so happy.

She had no time to ask or even demand an explanation for what he was doing before he told her to come to the library with her going away stuff. He then left without a word.

Thinking it must be serious she went to work assembling her stuff and sighing at the dresses she had made patterned after her missing friend's mane patterns and Cutie Mark. The line was a success but she was unable to enjoy it until she had the pony that had inspired it back by her side.

There was a sad feeling to the ponies they knew that got along with Twilight when they got the news. Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had tried various tasks related to becoming Cutie Mark Crusaders Twilight Trackers and countless times she had to stop them from trying to venture out on their own quest to find her.

She had gotten to the library to see Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Applejack already there. By the looks of things, they had no more knowledge on why they were there than her.

Before Rarity could point out Rainbow Dash was not there yet, Spike then ready out his latter from Princess Celestia. There was a minute of silence before Spike was hounded by the four ponies wanting to see the letter for themselves to make sure this was for real.

Pinkie Pie had been planning the biggest party she had ever for Twilight's Apology Party when they found her. She spent several hours working on the details to make sure it was perfect for Twilight when they found her. All her happiness and smiles didn't seem complete the last few years due to not having all her friends with her. Especially since it was not good terms when they last saw her.

Fluttershy was going to give Twilight the biggest hug ever when they found her. She would sometimes stare a picture of her on her table lamenting on their friendship. She even surprised herself when she actually snapped at Angel when he tried pushing the picture away. This surprised all the animals as she had never done that before to Angel.

To say Angel was stunned would be an understatement.

Applejack was excited at the prospect of having her honorary family member back. She would INSIST that Twilight spend the next Hearth's Warming Eve with her and her family. The last words said to her kept haunting nightmares.

Then suddenly they heard a crash to see Rainbow Dash there with her bags. "What are you girls waiting for? Let's get to Canterlot ASAP! I will fly you all myself in my arms if I have to!" Rainbow Dash shouted stomping her hooves on the floor.

Author's Note

Sorry again for the length.

I can't wait for the MLP Movie to have its DVD release on the 12th here in the uk.

Plus I saw the trailer for Them's Fightin Herds. Hope for a future console release. To be honest (I said this or two pages on the group's forum) last I heard before seeing the trailer of this project was literally after I heard Lauren Faust joined the team as designer after he cease and desist letter. I didn't hear of the new characters, story or title until I saw Lauren's Twitter showing the trailer.

I honestly thought the project was cancelled. I guess that's my fault for realising it actually takes time to develop video games..... unless your Scott Cawthon. I do want to write stories of the game after its released though.

Reactions part 2

Princess Celestia was waiting in the throne room for the five remaining bearers of the Elements of Harmony, spending the time looking over a photograph that was taken of the both of them.

“Sunset and Twilight, the two ponies who I considered the closest I had to my own children and I failed them both..... At least now I have the slim chance of fixing my relationship with Twilight...” Celestia sighed at the photograph lowering it with her magic.

A part of her was glad that Twilight could still be alive and she could mend fences with her and her friends but another part of her was worried that might be led astray....

Things were tense between her, Shining, Cadence, Luna when she found out what happened and of course the parents of Twilight and Shining. It was not her place to pray into how things were Shining and their parents when they had the situation explained to them but she could tell things were strained.

She did not want to alert their parents until this could be explored further. She didn’t want the chance to get their hopes up before she knew for certain or the chance they could plunge themselves into a dangerous situation.

She knew if they got wind of an actual lead to their daughter’s location, well they would be headed to it instantly even if it were in the middle of an active volcano crawling with pony eating dragons.

The same was for Luna when she got wind of it from overhearing Shining and Cadence. After a long argument she had managed to convince her sister to let her handle it for now. However Luna’s last word on the subject was:

“First I hear of anything going wrong on this then I will be coming over to find my friend....”

Celestia knew her sister would let anypony know it if they displeased her, it was ignoring her complaints about the ponies shunning her night which was one of the factors in her letting her getting possessed by her emotions becoming Nightmare Moon.

She would let the Harmony Kingdom and this Tempest Shadow know if she thought their actions were evil and if she thought they kidnapped Twilight. Add in the fact that thanks to Shining Armor, they did not have a strong first impression of the Kingdom’s military commander...

Plus the fact that Queen Novo was involved in this situation somehow and she would be on the side of the Harmony Kingdom. She had not known the Hippogriff Kingdom was in danger until it was too late and it seemed her now presumably former friend was all too aware of it.

The door then opened and in came five ponies and one dragon and their voices began at once:

“I gathered everypony as soon as I got your message....”

“Spill it, where is Twilight?”

“Pardon Rainbow Dash’s bluntness but you understand our anxiousness, your majesty....”

“Normally I would want to be patient but ah am with Dash on this Sugarcube, where in the hay is Twilight?”

“Please tell us Princess? Pretty please?”

“.............if that’s okay with you Princess but we are quite anxious..........”

Princess Celestia casted off a spell which silenced the room. “My little ponies, sorry for scaring you like that but I assure you that I will give whatever answers I can soon enough.” Princess Celestia told them calmly and the guests looked at their Alicorn monarch and then nodded silently.

“Let me explain, I sent Shining Armor and Princess Cadence to find a recently reawakened civilisation known as the Crystal Empire. I hoped we could save it from King Sombra, the Kingdom’s last ruler before he trapped the Empire in a dormant spell for a thousand years. However it seemed that the Harmony Kingdom had gotten there first.” Princess Celestia explained but sighed when she could tell everyone there was totally lost.

“I apologise for not taking account your limited knowledge of life outside Equestria. To explain the Harmony Kingdom would be first to explain the Storm King.” Princess Celestia told them as the six individuals sat down as they realised this was going to be a story.

Princess Celestia then began her story:

“My knowledge of the Storm King is quite limited but what I do know is of the legends that have arisen in the past few years. He was a strong mysterious creature who commanded a vast armada of strong creatures armed with magic repellent armor. The Strom King desired nothing more than two things: total conquest of the world and the power to control the weather at his fingertips.”

“To this end he sent his armada known as the Storm Guard across the lands conquering and pillaging the lands. Stealing their treasures and magical artefacts so the Storm King could use their powers. Anyone who could be a threat to their forces where encased in stone by their Obsidian Orbs. Within a few years he had managed to conquer the lands south of Equestria.”

“However word got out that the Storm King had been defeated by a mysterious unicorn who took over his Storm Guard. the past more than a year was spent taking back the lands that the Storm King conquered was rechristened the Harmony Kingdom.”

Rainbow Dash then shouted “we got it, there was a bad guy and some unicorn beat him. So what?”

There were seven eyes looking at her quite sternly and she moaned. Princess Celestia then told them “Princess Cadence and Shining Armor got a quick look at the Harmony Kingdom’s flag and it was pretty close to Twilight’s Cutie Mark.”

1 HOUR LATER

The six were on the extra large carriages that would take them to the Crystal Empire. They were told they were to help the Harmony Kingdom in aiding the Crystal Empire. There they could get as much information about Twilight as they can gather if she was not there.

“So we leave Twilight alone for two years and she dethrones some big bad becoming a queen, do you now think if we were worried about Twilight’s saftey for nothing now? I mean we already know she can do amazing magic stuff and now she found herself a kingdom to run?” Rainbow Dash suggested, at the moment they had been digesting the fact that their fears and thoughts of Twilight scared and alone outside Equestria might have been for naught.

“As good as Twilight is and how innocent she could be, I fear she was led astray by others. She could have been manipulated into being a puppet queen.........” Shining Armor commented feeling a bit bitter form his last confrontation with Tempest.

The ponies and Spike jumped when they saw Cadence angrily use her magic to forcibly shut Shining’s mouth. “Aunt Celestia put me in charge of this mission and please do remember, leave the diplomacy to me! Remember Twilight was in a difficult place the last you saw here and saying the wrong thing could alienate her. If you are right about being in the wrong company then you could steer her towards them. Am I anyway unclear Shining Francis Armor?” Cadence snapped at Shining and he calmed down.

“Sorry Cadence, you’re right..... I let last time get the better of me. Still she could be in danger, the seaming expansionist of the Harmony Kingdom has gotten the attention of other kingdoms. Some who may consider them a threat and thus Twilight a target.” Shining commented making Twilight’s friends fearful.

One guard who was carrying one of the carriages cringed remembering when they went to the site of a tribe of bandits and mercenaries who were trying to invade one of the Harmony Kingdom’s lands. What they saw made them violently ill, it was the bodies of the invaders with a message written in blood:

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU INVADE THE HARMONY KINGDOM

In his opinion the sweet innocent Twilight they knew was long gone, he could not imagine anypony other than a vicious dangerous sadist running the so called Harmony Kingdom.......

“WHAT SHINING ARMOR AND CADENCE WAS HERE? THEY WILL BE COMING BACK? WHAT IF PRINCESS CELESTIA AND ALL MY FRIENDS COME HERE! I HAVE TO FACE THEIR DISSAPOINTMENT AGAIN?” Twilight Sparkle shouted in panic inside the library of the Crystal Empire. Tempest had chosen to this minute to explain the encounter to Twilight as she was researching the library.

Queen Novo and Princess Skystar were there with Tempest. Skystar had come over to take overseeing the help on her mother’s behalf after her mother escorted her there. Tempest rolled her eyes and used a blast from her horn to silence her friend. “You don’t have to face them until you are ready to Twilight, I will personally restrain them if they come near you if I have to. Take as much time as you need. I promise you that we will make this work out.” Tempest assured her friend as Twilight calmed down.

“Well to find the Crystal Heart I will need time, there is a Crystal Fair that can be used to lighten the moods of the Crystal Ponies. Skystar you can be in charge of the Fair and the visiting Equestrians can help you.” Twilight told them and Skystar nodded enthusiastically.

Twilight sighed thinking about what is going to happen soon....

Author's Note

I toyed with making the invaders mentioned here the Carribou from the infamous Fall of Equestria but I decided against it.

Arrival

Soon the Carriage came to the entrance of the Crystal Empire; the six Ponyvillans were unnerved at the sight of the Harmony Guard stationed there. “Oh my, I have never seen creatures like this before. Not even in the Everfree Forest....” Fluttershy muttered as they got off and nervously made their way to the entrance where Tempest was waiting.

“Oh my dear what happened to your horn and your mane? You must let me take a look...” Rarity shrieked going over to Tempest before being enveloped in a giant bubble by Cadance. Cadance then gave some quick apologies to Tempest who was glaring fiercely at them.

Cadance then hustled them together and whispered “listen, please act civil and keep any criticisms to yourself. It’s very important because thanks to a boneheaded stallion we did not make the best first impression. We have to be as friendly to them as we can!” she then gave them a fierce look to ask if they understood and they gave fearful nods.

“Since you’re here I will introduce myself, Commander Tempest of the Harmony Empire. I will show you to the inside and there you will meet Princess Skystar who is in charge of the Crystal Fair. She will be your supervisor.” Tempest explained motioning them to follow her to the inside.

They did so and marvelled at the sight of the buildings but were in shock at the posters and banners. Spike grabbed one and showed it to the others. “Queen Twilight invites you to the Crystal Fair?” Applejack read out loud and looking at the picture of Twilight smiling there with her crown and robe.

They sighed at the sight of their lost friend and Rarity could not help but comment “that Crown does not suit her color at all; she would need some new robes that suit her...”

One of the Guards went up to Tempest and whispered in her ear. “I have to go and deal with King Sombra since he escaped from his stone again. Go the outside of the Castle where the Fair will be held. You cause any trouble and I WILL deal with you!” Tempest warned storming off.

Shining looked like he wanted to do something but wisely kept his mouth shut. He didn’t need to cause anymore tension and he wanted to prioritise helping the Empire as well as finding his sister.

They then started scouring the area to see if they can find where this fair was being held. They could not help but be frightened at the sight of the Harmony Kingdom Guards as well as the scared Crystal Ponies who were looking confused and depressed. “I bet it’s those Harmony Kingdom Guards to blame! First King Sombra and now they are at the mercy of this conquering power....” Shining thought in his head as he was not noticing what most of the Guards were doing.

Cadance and the other Ponies could not help but notice that the Guards seemed to be giving warm waves to the Crystal Ponies that passed them. One guard ruffled the mane on a passing filly and one even offered the rest of the candy he was eating to another one. “Well they seem friendly and harmonious, hard to believe they were under a conquering Storm King. Must be Twilight’s influence, we might have been worried for nothing. If only Shining realises it before he does something that he regrets.....” Cadance signed in her head.

Then the sound of an unusual song was being played on speakers:

“Does anypony hear that? It’s catchy!” Pinkie commented bobbing her head to the weird song and they followed where the song was coming from. They passed Crystal Ponies who were at a sign saying “CRYSTAL FAIR PREPARATIONS – DO NOT ENTER!”

They reached the centre of the area outside of the Palace when they heard a voice they had not heard in a long time:

“This is totally inappropriate music for a Crystal Fair! The book clearly stated what type of music was to be played!”

They looked and silently gasped at the sight of Twilight standing there in royal regalia looking quite annoyed as she was telepathically showing an open book to Princess Skystar. Skystar took the book and closed it with her claws shocking Twilight.

“Trust me Twilight, the Crystal Ponies will totally love the music. Mum really liked the song when I showed it to her and............ hey look the preparation team from Equestria arrived!!!” Skystar told Twilight and then began waving to them as they came running forward shouting:

“TWILIGHT!!!”

Twilight gasped at the sight of them and panicked ran towards the palace. Skystar then used her wing to prevent most of them from running after Twilight and used her claw to catch Rainbow Dash’s wing as she tried to fly past.

“Sorry, I know you must be super excited to meet the most amazing queen on the planet but Commander Tempest made it very clear that you would only meet Queen Twilight when she was ready.” Skystar stated to the disappointed and anxious looks on her faces.

“Horseapples to that, I have waited too long to go see my friend so let me go!” Rainbow Dash ranted trying to get free of Skystar’s grip.

“You know, Commander Tempest gave me instructions to let her know if any of you caused any trouble. Plus Queen Twilight is super busy having to find the Crystal Heart to save the Ponies but she kinds of need this Fair put together.” Skystar commented dragging Dash back down to the ground.

Applejack gave her a silent glare who just grunted, “We will do what we can to help!” Cadance told Skystar and gave a look to the others telling them silently to be a bit more patient.

“Excellent, we need to have the stands and the jousting all set up!” Skystar squealed excitedly giving instructions. The Equestrians knew that Twilight was there and knew they now needed to wait for the moment to talk to her.

Twilight herself calmed down as she entered the Palace. “You knew they were coming Twilight, you have to face them soon enough but now I have to focus on getting the Crystal Heart to stop King Sombra. Going to be simple enough as I have dethroned enough tyrants now since becoming Queen....” Twilight muttered to herself going through the castle.

Author's Note

Exciting day, finally got this updated and soon enough is the 500th episode of Atop the Fourth Wall which I have been looking forward to.

Interlude

1 YEAR AGO

On the way to the next land on their list to free and annex from the Storm King’s former domains, the Queen and the Harmony Guard had stopped at a village called Our Town. It had appeared that they residents all sported unnatural looking smiles and had the same Cutie Mark. ”Are you sure, you can’t stay? We think your Harmony Kingdom can learn a lot about friendship through our Equality!” Starlight Glimmer the village’s leader asked with her weird smile to Twilight and Tempest who were more freaked out than anything. Grubber was busy eating a cupcake that he had brought with him from the sky skiff.

”No thank you Starlight, we really need to get going as we have some more Tyrants to dethrone and lands to annex. We thank you and your friends for your hospitality but we hope our lands can remain friends....” Twilight told Starlight with a smile which dropped as she made her way to the airship. Tempest not that far behind her.

”Are you sure we can’t just annex this place and force those creepy smiles off their faces? Something doesn’t seem right.......” Tempest muttered to Twilight thinking the sooner that if the answer was no then she hoped never to return to these unnatural smiles.

”Everypony seems happy with their way of life here, we only dethrone tyrants and we will only annex lands if the residents are being oppressed by their leaders. I can’t say I don’t feel as if something is off but we can leave them to it....” Twilight responded with a shake of her head. In truth she was feeling the same as Tempest, in a hurry to leave as soon as possible.

Starlight gave a mental frown and followed them trying to keep up with their paces. These two unicorns lead a massive empire and she figured if she could get them on her side then she could spread her message of Equality further. However Grubber took one last bite of his cupcake which ended up covering Starlight’s side with frosting.

”Sorry about that, let me fix that for you!” Grubber stated wiping the frosting off Starlight. He then followed Tempest and Twilight to the inside of their skiff and the last of the guards entered. Starlight tried to use a spell to stop them but was too late as the doors closed and they were now air bound.

Starlight gave a mental sigh as she went back to the resident of Our Town. ”Oh well, unfortunately we haven’t made any new friends today....” Starlight told them only to frown physically when they were looking at her all shocked and mouths opening.

”Look, I am sorry that they didn’t learn the Magic of Equality but......” Starlight told them only for their glances to become accusatory and they were pointing to her flank. Starlight glanced at it and her face now had a look of horror when she realised what they were looking at.

Grubber had wiped away her false Equal Signs Cutie Mark and her real one was now clearly visible. Starlight had a sheepish smile as she faced them and muttered “I can explain..........”

Starlight Glimmer fought through the cold using her warming spell to keep her warm in the snow. She had used a tracking spell on a magical signature and she had made it to the Crystal Empire. After they left the residents of Our Town had an argument with her which led them to decide to get their original Cutie Marks back, going into the cave and breaking the jars.

After that they were angry with her and it was clear she was no longer their leader, fumed she decided to leave them be. In her anger she was blaming the so called Queen Twilight and the Harmony Kingdom. It took her quite a while for her to track the queen down since she didn’t settle on a single place for very long.

I will finally catch you and when I see you again, you will regret the day you came to MY TOWN!!!“” Starlight snarled as she kept on going.

Soon enough the ponies got their assignments:

• Shining Armor and Rainbow Dash were doing the jousting
• Fluttershy was taking care of the petting zoo
• Rarity was making hats for the Crystal Ponies
• Applejack was serving refreshments
• Pinkie Pie was doing entertainment

Spike and Cadance were helping Skystar with a stand selling merchandise. Apparently Skystar thought it would help morale to be giving gifts to Crystal Ponies. Apparently the skiffs had merchandise of their ruler Queen Twilight.

Spike sighed looking at the box of plush dolls of her lost friend, the sooner they can meet her again the better. Still if he knew about this stand before, he might have brought his own custom Pony figures to sell there. It was what he made to sell at things like the Summer Wrap Up Festival.

He glanced at one of the plush toys and then picked one up to inspect it closely. He then had a silent gasp when he noticed something.

Cadance was helping Skystar unload the boxes. Skystar was chatting off about which bobble head was the most popular seller or the Harmony Kingdom board game, Cadance was like Spike looking forward to getting to meet her favourite filly again. Even if she was a queen now....

“Hang on a minute, I think whoever made these dolls made a mistake!” Spike shouted bringing one of the plush toys to Skystar. Skystar stared at it before shrugging and asking what was wrong with it and Cadance gasped when she saw what it was.

“Well for starters, Twilight doesn’t have wings. She’s a unicorn and not an Alicorn!” Spike told Skystar who looked confused as Spike was holding the plush toy by the wings.....

The Crystal Heart

Twilight whistled to herself as she had gone through the transformed Crystal Kingdom castle. Dark magic was used to transform the inside of the castle to how King Sombra had lived in it; thankfully she had learned plenty of it in a library in Tartarus.

She and her armada had taken a month off for vacation and she thought it was a good idea to take the suggestion of where to go from a completely at random soldier in the armada. Apparently the soldier in question was always curious about what was in Tartarus. Twilight had made Tempest promise her to stop her from ether considering Tartarus for a vacation spot again.

Still the magic learned from the Tartarus library came in handy, there was an evil unicorn king of a village and a Minotaur baron of one of the Storm King’s now former territories that she had used the magic to defeat.

She had bewitched the stairs to let her to the point and she had a feeling that she was getting close to the Crystal Heart. Truth be told she wished it would take even longer to find it. True she wanted to save the Crystal Ponies and stop King Sombra.

But the longer it took, the longer she had to face her old friends from Equestria and she kept putting off in her head how she would deal with facing them again.

She sighed as she opened a door that she felt was enchanted. She looked around and saw herself in the throne room of Canterlot Castle. She walked to see Princess Celestia, her fields, Shining Armor and Cadence all glaring at her direction.

“You had behaved like a foal and almost ruined the wedding and you felt the need to run away. I am most disappointed in you Twilight. To think you were my most faithful student.” The vision of Princess Celestia told her sternly as Twilight just yawned.

“You ruined this for your family and I can’t be friends who somepony who would do this to their family.” The vision of Applejack shouted.

“Out of control egghead!” the vision of Rainbow Dash taunted.

“Selfish filly...” the vision of Rarity shouted.

“Unfun wedding ruiner!” ranted the vision of Pinkie Pie

“Unkind jerk!” the vision of Fluttershy shouted using the Stare at Twilight’s direction.

The visions of Shining Armor and Cadence were about to speak next only to pause then when they were destroyed by a simple spell from Twilight’s horn. The visions of Princess Celestia and Twilight’s friends paused eyes widened and then saw Twilight chuckling darkly at them.

“Is that all you got King Sombra? A vision of my greatest fear? That is supposed to stop me or break me? News flash, I have been facing many variations of this scenario in my dreams since I left Equestria! I know I have to face the real deal but you’re just pale imitations of the real ponies I have to face. So now I will deal with you lot....” Twilight muttered out loud her horn fitting up to deliver a powerful spell.

The visions of Princess Celestia and Twilight’s friends stepped back in fear not sure what to do as they had never expected this. “Don’t worry everypony, we are just illusions so this will not hurt.......... right........” the vision of Pinkie Pie chuckled out loud not really believing her words.

It was the last thing any of them said before the blast collided with them.

Shaking off that Twilight continued on her trek until she felt her communication spell trying to contact her. She then stopped and then answered it to find Grubber. “Grubber, I thought you were overseeing things in Kugetown?” Twilight questioned curiously as Grubber looked nervous.

“Well we got things mostly under control and I left the acting Mayor this cat Capper in charge...... so I kind of decided to come here to see if I could help.... but when I got to the entrance.......... I have some bad news.......” Grubber muttered and Twilight had a feeling she will not like this. Nonetheless she motioned Grubber to continue.

“Well when I got there I saw Tempest kicking this Orb at King Sombra, it was so cool and awesome!!!! It was........ But then the Guards revealed it was the last orb......... all the ones we brought for this trip have been used up..... Tempest is on her way to warn the Equestrians....” Grubber explained to Twilight’s alarm.

“Don’t worry, I am close to getting the Crystal Heart, with it King Sombra will be permanently taken care off. I just hope the Crystal Ponies are able to power it up again!!!!” Twilight muttered. She was about to take off when Grubber spoke up again.

“One more thing, we came across this unicorn. She says she is here for vengeance and her name is Starset Shimmer or Starlightning Glimmer Dust.....” Grubber commented and Twilight shook her head.

“Keep her at bay; I have more important matters to take care of than some unicorn...” Twilight muttered ending the spell. She then charged forward, so close now.....

Not long before Twilight had entered through the door, the Equestrians were getting desperate for ways to keep the Fair going but now (after a big freak out when Shining and Dash came over and the lot learned of the appearence of Twilight in the plush toys) Twilight’s friends and Spike were managing the stalls while Princess Cadance and Shining Armor were focusing on taking to Princess Skystar after Spike showed them the inaccurate looking merchandise. “Princess Skystar, take it from a pony who has gone from Pegasus to Alicorn herself. It takes a special process to ascend and you must be mistaken about Twilight being an alicorn.” Princess Cadance told her shaking her head. She knew that her aunt Princess Celestia had hinted about Twilight having a destiny ahead of her but she would be nowhere near the level ready when she had left.

“Well then the entire Harmony Kingdom and Hippogriffia must be mistaken ourselves. We had builders build the statue of her for the palace we built for her!” Princess Skystar responded having her arms crossed in a manner showing she would not budge on the issue.

“Plus, I know that it takes a process to ascend a unicorn into an alicorn, I was there when it happened. I helped Queen Twilight ascend....” Skystar explained only for Shining and Cadance to have their eyes widened. Skystar was covering her ears with her claws when she was bombarded with requests to explain what she had just said.

Rainbow Dash had taken a break and was reading the newest Daring Do book. She smiled at the memory of the adventure they had taken where they found out AK Yearling was the actual real Daring Do. She had brought her own copy of the latest book as well as the extra copies for Twilight so she could catched up to what she missed.

This newest adventure had Daring Do going to get a relic from this kingdom only to find it annexed by this Alicorn queen. Daring had found herself at odds with this nameless queen and her second in command this unicorn..... with a broken horn.......

Wait....

Upon realisation she glanced at the cover again and realised that the drawing of the Alicorn on the front cover looked a little like Twilight...

This had to be a coincidence right...

Then the Equestrians grew alarmed when they felt a large shadow covering the land and Crystal Ponies screaming in terror with Tempest running towards them and trying to fight the shadow with her horn. They knew this could only be one thing....

King Sombra was here...

Things Turn Sour

Once they got inside the palace, the Equestrians stared awkwardly at Twilight who stared awkwardly back at them with Tempest, the Harmony Guard and Grubber at her side. Then suddenly it was broken by Twilight magically pulling them into a hug while rambling:

“I am so sorry about what happened at the rehearsal! I hope you can all forgive me, especially you Shining and Cadence. I am so sorry for leaving without telling anypony and how I almost ruined your wedding. Spike, I so missed you and everybody else. I hope you have been washing behind your ears......”

The Equestrians took a moment to relax as they all hugged Twilight back with Spike especially happy in how she addressed him specifically (though embarrassing how she had done so). Anymore discussion could wait but at the moment, they finally had their friend back.

“Wow, so sappy and all that.” Commented Grubber out loud and everyone gave a stare at him. “Sorry, did I ruin an emotional moment?” Grubber asked sheepishly as Tempest shook her head at him.

“We will be here if you need us your majesty, I will let you have your moment with your friends.” Tempest told Twilight with a bow as Twilight gave a slight nod to her with a smile. It felt odd to Equestrians as Twilight was silently acknowledging a friend and not her captain of the guard.

“So Twilight, have you been in a lot of places since you ran away?” Pinkie shouted with a big smile to shaking heads of the Equestrians but Twilight smiled. She definitely missed Pinkie being Pinkie.

“Well before I met Tempest and formed the Harmony Kingdom, the first adventure I had got on took me through this magic portal to this land without magic...” Twilight began to explain as Pinkie chimed in. It was just when the others were anxious to hear about what she was up to.

“Ooh, did you meet a meanie and different versions of us but formed the power of friendship to make her a good guy. There they would have their own spin off which included us being big meanies to the former big meanie due to contrived circumstances set up by the CMC?” Pinkie chimed in again as everybody blinked.

Even for Pinkie standards, that last bit seemed like a stretch. Though for the other four elements it struck them the idea of them turning on a friend and being a jerk due to contrived circumstances... it made them silently groan.........

“No, I can’t say that happened Pinkie...” Twilight responded to much disappointment and shock from Pinkie.

“Though the land without magic I went to did involve redemption for bad guys, but it was a cursed place connected to this forest where all magic came at a price.” Twilight explained with a shrug as everybody tilted their heads.

Just what had Twilight been up to?

“But can we please address the elephant in the room?” Spike asked pointing to Twilight’s wings. Before anybody could respond there was a squeal of delight as they then looked to an elephant that had been cleaning the palace.

“Finally, I had been here since day one and that was the first time someone even noticed me!” the elephant cried tears of joy as he then went back to work.

Their eyes widened and they blinked but Grubber just sighed.

“Look, I asked the land of the elephants that we conquered to send someone to clean the palace. I thought that it might have gotten dirty in the thousand years since it was banished. Better watch your step also as to help explore the palace; I invited the pony who could shrink himself that’s an old friend of mine...” Grubber explained as everybody shook their heads weirded out.

“Okay seriously, you had to go all the way for that joke just to pad things out. This is the level of comedy writing that the readers have to tolerate. Plus I get more to do than just be an Ariel copy of the Deadpool copy....” Princess Skystar muttered as Pinkie Pie got angry. She was seconds away from ranting that breaking the 4th wall was her thing.

“Now we got that uncomfortable interruption away, can we please ask how and where you got those wings Twilight dear. I didn’t think becoming an alicorn was possible?” Rarity questioned already looking over Twilight’s wings and mentally going over the dresses she would make for Twilight now.

“It’s a bit of a long story Rarity....” Twilight muttered letting Rarity marvel at her wings for a bit.

“They are nice egghead but you might have to tell us once we bring you back to Ponyville. Plus get you settled back in the library.” Rainbow Dash said flying in to take a look at Twilight’s wings. Twilight’s eyes widened as she straightened at what Rainbow Dash had just said.

“Rainbow Dash, I am not going back to Equestria. Maybe to visit and catch up to everypony but I am not moving back.” Twilight told her in an apologetic tone which caused the Equestrians to jump as it had never registered to them in all this time that Twilight might not want to come back to them.

“WHAT? We have been looking for you for a long time and you say you are not coming back? Why the hay not?” Rainbow Dash demanded getting in Twilight’s face. Tempest then went to work pulling Rainbow Dash’s tail away. Twilight then raised a hoof to Tempest, silently telling her that she can handle this.

Tempest gave a nod as Twilight faced Rainbow Dash and the others and explained “sorry, I know everypony we knew in Equestria misses me but I am in no position to come back. I am the Queen of the Harmony Kingdom and we had just finished annexing the last of the Storm King’s former territory. So that’s the lands south of Equestria that is counting on me to be their monarch and leader.”

“We just got you back and no way are we losing you just so that you can continue playing queen...” Rainbow Dash shouted as there were gasps from Spike, Fluttershy, Rarity and Cadence. They could all tell things would get worst.

“Playing? PLAYING? Do you think I have been playing a foal’s game all this time Rainbow Dash? I certainly was not playing when I have been fighting to overthrow tyrants so I could free their lands from the oppression they faced!” Twilight fired back her horn lighting up with the rage that was now building up.

Skystar and Grubber then wisely decided to let them be as they went to check on the Crystal Ponies outside.

“About that Twiley.” Shining said speaking up and Cadance was praying to every deity she could think of that Shining would not make this worst. “I think its best that if we took you back to Equestria away from this Kingdom. A lot of important ponies are being scared by this so called Kingdom and I am worried they might come after you if it gets out that you are the figurehead. I don’t think blame you but I think the company you keep might be influencing you negatively.” Shining softly told Twilight with a glance at Tempest who was getting angry.

“He is putting his hoove into his mouth so far that the ankle is almost there!!!” Cadance screamed in her head ready to step in but Shining continued.

“Including whatever spell you used against Sombra. I know you mean well but that kind of magic is dangerous.........” Shining continued on but Twilight exploded.

“So ponies think of MY kingdom as a threat just because we are doing our best to do what it takes to liberate the territories of a tyrant? Just because we use whatever it takes to fight against the empire of a mad king? The Storm King apparently was able to building his kingdom for years unopposed but only when we are undoing it plus saving other kingdoms while we are at it, we are the villains?” Twilight shouted out furiously making Shining step back in fear.

Shining was about to speak only for Cadance to get in his face and snarled uncharacteristically “You...... Have said.......... ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!” Shining gulped as it finally dawned on him that he has finally screwed up his reconciliation with his beloved sister.

Cadance then put on her best sisterly look as she faced Twilight who was calming down upon looking at her. She was letting go of her anger when Cadance pulled her into a hug.

“Sorry about that Twilight, I know he is a complete dunderhead, but he let his worry and fear for your saftey cloud his judgement with what little he knows of your Kingdom. Out context to whatever you were actually doing, he just jumped to conclusions. He has just been scared for your saftey just as I was. It’s nice finally getting to see you since the last time I had seen you was before you moved to Ponyville.” Cadance told Twilight softly. Then suddenly a light bulb clicked in Twilight’s head as she got up and faced Cadance in confusion.

“What do you mean? I saw you plenty of times in the wedding preparations and the rehearsal was when we last spoke. You know when I accused you of being evil?” Twilight asked growing suspicious as she saw the Equestrians’ now were looking nervous and guilty.

“Twilight, that was not Cadance. That was the Changeling Queen pretending to be Cadance. The threat that had infiltrated Equestria and taken Cadance prisoner to impersonate her. We beat her in the end but you were right..... kind of.... Cadance was not herself or rather the fake Cadance was but nopony noticed....” Spike spoke up thinking it was not use trying to postpone the inevitable.

Twilight had her mouth open as she was trying to process this information. All these nights she thought of how guilty and cowardly she was to accuse Cadance of being evil but she had been onto something.

“I............. need time to myself.....” Twilight muttered looking like she was going to break down. She turned to Tempest and told her “sorry Tempest but i am going to palace bedrooms, nopony is to disturb me please........”

Tempest gave a salute and sympathetic look in her eye as Twilight flew up the palace stairs. Rainbow Dash went to chase her but Tempest caught her in a force field and told her harshly “I believe you heard the queen!”

“I can’t believe you two idiots! We could have eased all this out and settled this peacefully but NNOOO you two idiots had to ruin everything! That was our best chance to reconcile and we could have gone over concerns about her kingdom later but you turned off your brains! I am so...... peeved!” shouted Fluttershy using her Stare on both Shining and Dash.

It left a stunned silence and nopony was more surprised than her.

That had been one of the most uncharacteristic sentences that she had ever said in her entire life.

Just when they thought things could not get more complicated.....

Skystar and Grubber went through the front doors and shut it. They then faced Tempest who told her “Sorry but we have a situation, the Crystal Ponies are insisting to see their new queen to thank her for defeating Sombra...”

Author's Note

For some levity, the next chapter we catch up to a certain unicorn with an Equalist philophsy...

Fight with Sombra

The shadow caused dark crystals to be formed in the ground and the shadow assembled himself to the form of a smirking King Sombra. The Crystal Ponies cowered and hid in fear of their feared usurper king. “Nice to see you all my slaves, your king has returned!” King Sombra cackled darkly as he looked around him.

Cadence gathered together Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Spike into her force field spell. Shining Armor determinedly striked a spell against King Sombra which seemed to have little effect.

Tempest herself was trying to use blasts from her horn to blast at the Crystals. The Crystal managing to break after every few spell. The Equestrians saw that right outside of Cadence’s force field was Skystar who was whistling herself as if waiting for something to happen.

She grinned as she and the others all saw a purple blur flying right out of the tower of the Palace. King Sombra was taken aback as the blur hit him sending him blast.

“A little speeding attack spell I acquired from one of the Lands that we annexed.” said Twilight casually standing on the ground looking at King Sombra grumbling as he got himself up and holding the Crystal Heart with her telekinesis. The Equestrians were shocked to see that Twilight was without her cloak (left at the Palace before she flew out) and saw that she clearly had wings.

“.....I told you so, I told you so...” Skystar gloated the others in an uncharacteristic sing song voice. They were too shocked to make any sort of response.

“King Sombra, is it? Let me introduce myself; I am Queen Twilight Sparkle the founder and monarch of the Harmony Empire. It’s my job to look out for my lands as well as take care of evil tyrants like you and then I either annex the tyrants’ land or put someone good in charge. I am here now to tell you that I will be accepting your surrender.” Twilight told in an incredibly casual voice with a smirk for the situation that was happening.

“SURRENDER? SURRENDER? I WILL NOT SURRENDER! FOR THIS INSULT, I WILL TEAR YOU APART AND THEN I WILL SEND MY SLAVES AS AN ARMY TO RAVAGE AND DESTROY EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOUR LANDS!!!!!!!!” King Sombra thundered furiously charging at Twilight.

He was then caught in a green circle spell and he seemed to be screaming in agony to the shock of those nearby. “A spell designed to show great discomfort and pain to those born of the shadows like King Sombra.” Tempest explained casually to the Equestrians who shielding their eyes, except for Shining Armor who was angry at the thought of Twilight learning such spells.

“Do you know what will be the worst thing for you Sombra?” Twilight asked King Sombra walking towards the green circle so she could stare at him face to face. “The worst part is that after I am done here freeing the Crystal Empire from your tyrannical rule, I will probably forget all about you. You will just be another name on a long list of tyrants I have beaten, by this time tomorrow I may not spare you another thought. You will remember today as the day that I gave you your final defeat but to me this will just be another normal day.” Twilight taunted him causing Sombra to scream in rage.

Twilight then magically magnified her voice and shouted for the entire kingdom to hear “Listen to me Crystal Ponies, I am Queen Twilight Sparkle of the Harmony Kingdom!!! I have the Crystal Heart but to use its magic I will need your help! Soldiers of the Harmony Guard please help, feel the love in your hearts and use it to power the Crystal Heart!” Twilight shouted through the spell.

The Crystal Ponies then nervously all went out and joined by the Harmony Guard as well as Grubber. They then began focusing on the love of their hearts as Cadence let go of her force field. The Equestrians joined in deciding that Twilight needed their help.

Everyone started glowing and the Crystal Heart flew into the air powered by the magic and let out a magical blast causing everyone to started glowing and sparkle. The Equestrians were astonished and the Crystal Ponies began cheering when they saw King Sombra screaming as he blew up leaving behind his horn.

Twilight went and broke the Horn with her hoof. She then faced Tempest with a smile and told her “you look cute sparkling like that.”

Tempest grunted as she replied “it’s only because you’re my queen that you will get away with saying that!” Twilight smirked as she giggled.

Skystar then excitedly put on some music to celebrate as the Crystal Ponies surrounded Twilight cheering on her.

Twilight then faced the Equestrians and gulped as they then now had the chance to pull her into a hug. After a few minutes they let go and Twilight sighed telling them with a smile “I guess there is no use putting it off anymore, you say we can go to the Palace to talk?”

They wanted to waste no time but felt they could use the time to relax after what happened and calm their nerves. Twilight motioned Skystar, Grubber and Tempest to follow her inside to join them.

They had a lot to go over...

Author's Note

Next chapter is when things turn sour...