Shadow and Crystal

by GreyGuardPony

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Original Character, Spike, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Cheerilee
Length: 23051

Cheerilee and Spike travel to the Crystal Empire, where they encounter a shadowy threat. But that's not all that's coming to the city... A Lunaverse Story.

Since his attempt to unite dragonkind into a singular nation, the young dragon Spike has been feeling lost in the world.

Miss Cheerilee, Element of Laughter, knight of Equestria and teacher extraordinaire has been growing worried about him. But having heard of a dragon professor in the far off Crystal Empire, who lives and works alongside ponies, Cheerilee thinks that Spike could use his perspective.

But upon arriving in the empire, they find that Corona, the Tyrant Sun is also in the city, as well as a shadowy threat from a monarch long gone...

Published 2018-04-30 04:30:07 UTC
Last updated 2018-05-28 05:16:37 UTC

1. Missives and Malice

Queen Celestia, Bearer of the Sun, Lady of the Dawn and the rightful ruler of all ponydom, was in a bad mood today.

It had started so well too. Thanks to the efforts of her loyal followers, her lost throne had been returned to her possession. Its placement in her temporary volcano based lair had, if she felt like admitting it to Kindle and the rest, made it feel a bit more like a home. With a few tapestries and perhaps a plant in the corner of the throne chamber, this caldera based liar would almost be worthy of Canterlot’s palace.

Not that she had stopped her plans to retake Canterlot from her traitorous sister Luna. The plans and preparations for the strike had been proceeding well. Getting her throne back and the magical power that came with it had been another part of that. She had planned on speaking with her new “adviser” on the next few steps of the plan, but now….

“Yangin!” she shouted, stalking through the halls of her palace.

“Has our wayward jinn managed to disappear again?”

Celestia spared Kindle, her proclaimed Voice of the Sun, a glance as he fell into step alongside her. “I’m beginning to think that she might be be avoiding me,” she grumbled, her animate flame mane and tail flaring larger for a moment. “Have you seen her at all?”

“Not since she returned from her visit to Naqah to ‘put her affairs in order’, your highness. But she may have slipped back on her own…shall we check her room?”

Celestia sighed, the animate flames of her mane and tail cracking and popping from her frustration. With the ground floor being jinnless she took Kindle’s suggestion and one of the many sets of stairs towards the upper floors and the chambers of her followers. “I swear if that jinn has run off after we made our deal….”

“If it’s any consolation my lady, I doubt she could make our current relations with Naqah any worse than they already are.”

Celestia groaned, massaging a temple with a hoof. “A pox upon Ofkeli Grev! What have you heard of his status?”

In retrospect, she should have known that the Naqhan emir’s offer of an alliance was too good to be true. But the temptation of another nation officially recognizing her claim to Equestria’s throne, an army of camels to deploy against Luna, and a powerful magical artifact was too much to pass up. Of course, getting involved in another nation’s civil war was an inherently dangerous prospect. It was hard to read the shifting terrain of alliances when they changed every day. Then the bearers of the Elements of Harmony had gotten involved on the royalist side and that was that.

“According to my sources, he’s currently locked away in the deepest, darkest hole the sultan could find.”

“Good. Remind me to send the sultan a fruit basket after we take Equestria.”

They came to the one room Yangin had chosen amongst the many that Celestia had magically constructed. It was easy to tell which one was hers. The jinn had opted to replace the normal stone door with one made of red hot magma.

“You know, I’m getting the feeling that she doesn’t like most of us,” Kindle commented dryly.

Celestia rolled her eyes and pushed straight through the curtain of magma, the heat so lethal to other ponies little more than a series of pleasantly warm tickles to her. Much like the chamber of Zecora, Yangin had decorated hers to resemble the homeland she had left behind. Tapestries and rugs, woven with intricate geometric patterns adorned the walls and floor. Piles of coins and gems either liberated from Naqha or conjured by Yangin herself glittered from the corners of the room. The hard currency was mixed shelves of antiques and nick-knacks that looked less valuable. Celestia knew better. She could feel the magic churning within a good number of them, being the odd magical trinkets that the jinn liked to collect. The sweet smell of floral incense filled the air, the smoke lazily rising from a bronze burners set around the room. Celestia frowned slightly. Zecora and Kindle had been gifted their various boons for serving her. Yangin had just taken her own initiative to redecorate.

Yangin herself sat in the middle of the chamber. Surrounded by books and scrolls, her short camel mane a flicking collection of flames, her coat red as the magma of her door. A crystal sphere floated in the air before her the face of another elemental camel contained within. Her coat was a light blue and her short mane was wild, almost tousled by an invisible breeze. In direct contrast to the chaotic appearance of her mane, her expression was quiet and serene.

“Very well Yangin. If I see Dunya, I will let you know,” she bowed. “But if there’s nothing else, I must return to my meditation.”

Yangin huffed. “Fine, Hava. Go back to contemplating eternity.”

The image in the ball winked out before it dropped, Yangin neatly catching it with an outstretched hoof.

Celestia’s previous aggravation with the jinn was momentarily replaced with curiosity. “Another one of your ‘siblings’?”

“You would be correct,” Yangin answered, casually flicking the crystal ball into a polished wooden stand on one of her shelves. She turned to face Celestia with a thought, floating in place now. “Roaring Air. Or Miss High and Mighty as I prefer to think of her. I still owed her a warning about Dunya though.”

The discussion of Yangin’s “family” continued to stir Celestia’s curiosity. Normally, jinn were non-sapient bits of elemental energy, bound to the whim of the camel sorcerer that called them forth to do his or her bidding. At least until one of Naqah’s rulers from the time when the country was still a caliphate sought to create a new class of jinn. It was both a shame and another example of Luna’s treachery, that she had been sealed away in the sun when those experiments took place and was now stuck playing catch up.

“It occurs to me,” Celestia mused, a thin smile playing across her lips, “that we’ve not spoken of your sisters or the ‘greater jinn’ as a whole.”

Yangin smiled and clapped her hooves together, the collection of platinum anklets she wore- one of which was her bound item and anchor of her existence- clinking animatedly. “I am your humble servant and friend, my queen. Ask and I shall answer.”

“Just how many ‘Greater Jinn’ are there?” Celestia asked. A few more would be useful when it came to retake Canterlot.

“One hundred, plus my sisters and myself. Though that assumes that none have met some manner of early end. We largely scattered across the world after our creation, well aware that our enhanced abilities would make us...desired by others,” Yangin answered. She idly waved a hoof and a tea set jumped off a shelf, the collection of porcelain bouncing its way over to them. “Tea?”

“No, I-”

“I think some tea will do us good,” Yangin smiled impishly. “I picked up a taste for it a few centuries ago. Not long after I acquired this little trinket from an eastern trader.”

The animated tea set went about pouring a pair of cups, the mild aroma of green tea filling the air. Celestia glared at Yangin all the while, but the jinn didn’t quail under the sun’s fury. Yangin’s moments of irreverence was unquestionably the most infuriating aspect of her personality, but one that Celestia was prepared to bear. Not that she wasn’t aware of what Yangin was trying to do either.

“Yangin…what do you want?”

The jinn took a sip from her mug. “You offered me a chance to be part of your brand new Equestria and I do appreciate that. But if I’m going to be a partner in this little enterprise, I need something from you.”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed and her wings flared instinctively in challenge. “And what might that be?” she growled. Already, her mind ran through a dozen answers and punishments to whatever inanity Yangin was about to try and extract from her. She was Celestia! She was the almighty and unconquered sun-

“It’s Dunya. I want your help finding her.”

Celestia paused. That was not the answer she had been expecting. “Why?”

“Because we were created to be tools and weapons. We were created to be a better mouse trap. For a greater jinn, there is no insult more severe, no act of betrayal worse, no taboo greater than clapping one of your fellows in irons,” Yangin sighed, her expression growing more distant. She wasn’t even looking at Celestia anymore, more looking past her. “And she did that to me! Her sister! Hava, Su and I were devastated when she thought she was dead. And she…she…”

Before she even realized she was doing it, Celestia placed a hoof on Yangin’s shoulder. That gesture snapped the jinn out of her reverie. Sighing, she shook her head slightly. “I…I am sorry. But my point is that of all the creatures here, you and I are the only ones who know that dig of a sibling’s knife. And you know what must be done if the end up going mad. If Dunya was willing to pass me off to some pony she didn’t know…I shudder to think what she might want to do to mortals, since one locked her away for centuries. If she won’t listen to reason…then I have to put her down.”

Celestia sighed. “…It is never a pleasant realization that one must turn against family for the greater good.”

Yangin laughed, more of a dry, bitter chuckle than a true laugh. “I suppose…that sister of yours tried the ‘greater good’ spiel on me once.”

Raising an eyebrow, Celestia took her cup of tea, “Really? What did she want from you?”

“Please Celestia. You want me to just tell you and deny a Naqhan a chance to spin a tale?”

The fact that Celestia’s eyes were solid white from her arcane power hid the fact that she had just rolled them. Quite hard. But to stop a Naqhan from gossiping or telling stories was like trying to stop Zecora from speaking in rhyme. It was only something accomplished by inflicting great bodily harm upon the individual in question, which Celestia had no desire to do. So, she helped herself to a long drink, while motioning a wing for Yangin to continue.

“Trinkets and rare items for sale! You’ll not find goods such as this anywhere but the great capitals of the world! Canterlot! Roam! Al-Asitana! …Whichever city the griffins are using this week!” Yangin shouted from just outside the front of her store.

The streets of Bittsburgh bustled with ponies on their way home after a long day, most of them choosing to ignore Yangin’s sales patter. The jinn- currently wearing the disguise of a pale coated, blonde maned pegasus- huffed in frustration. Of all the cities of Equestria she could have picked to set up shop in, she just had to have picked Bittsburgh. In retrospect, it really was the worst of the country’s many cities she could have chosen. It was all farmers and trades ponies. Ponies who didn’t care about antiques or own any. Nothing to sell and nothing to buy. Just…

“You sir!” she grinned, pointing at pony that looked a little more well off than the rest of the crowd. “Interested in a rare vase?”

“Get bent!”

…Disappointment.

She sighed. “Right.”

Turning, she stomped back into her shop and kicked the door closed behind her. Still fuming, she dragged a heavy trunk out of the corner and over to the shelves, beginning to dump the trinkets that were actually magical into it. The valuable ones she’d leave behind to pay for the rent on this place. The big question now was, where to go from here? She didn’t really want to go back to Naqah. …Going further north was always an option. Seeing the griffin lands or the elk’s massive tree city could be fun. Then again, maybe something to the east would be better. Bumming around Roam wouldn’t be a bad idea. See all the artwork. Maybe laugh at some of the ridiculously flawed preconceptions about jinn that artists still liked to use in their work. Yeah…the more she thought about that idea, the more appealing it sounded.

The door to her shop chose that moment to swing open, a pony pushing their way inside. Yangin rolled her eyes, but didn’t turn around. “I’m sorry, but we’re closed. For good too. I suggest visiting…literally any other store in this stupid city.”

“Choking Fire.”

The voice was regal and female, but slurred, like the pony had been drinking for a while. But that was secondary to the fact that whoever this pony was, she knew Yangin’s real name and could conceivably know her true nature as well. Slowly she turned to face the pony, only to blink at the billowing cloaked figure that met her eyes. Taller than a regular pony, she loomed over Yangin in her pegasus form, angry glowing eyes peering out from under the hood. There was a sense of power that radiated off the figure, enough that Yangin couldn’t help but nervously lick her lips, as mortal of a gesture as it was.

“There’s no one here by that name.”

The figure flipped back her hood, revealing a dark coat and shimmering starry mane. Her appearance was unmistakable. Princess Luna Equestris. “Do not lie to me jinn,” she growled. “I know what you are, though I’m not as sure what you’re doing in my country.”

Even for an immortal, magical being such as herself, Princess Luna radiated a sense of intimidation. Her gaze was as cold as the vast dark canvas upon which her starts were arrayed and every fiber of her being radiated with a primal magical power. With her sister now gone, Princess Luna was a being of singular strength and uniqueness in the world.

Still, Yangin had her pride and she wouldn’t just roll over for the likes of anypony. So she stood as tall as she could in her borrowed form and met the princess’ gaze.

“Funny,” Yangin frowned. “Last I heard, you had abdicated.”

Luna took an angry step forward, the floorboards creaking from the strike. “Don’t play games with me! I…I..,” she blinked a few times, the glowing crackle of power leaving her eyes. Yangin took a step back. The ex-princesses’ eyes were red and puffy. Had she been…crying? “You…you are a jinn. You can grant a pony’s fondest desire.”

“…So the legends go. Why?”

“I have a wish to make.”

“…You’re an alicorn and a former ruler. What could I possibly give you?” Yangin snorted.

“Give me my sister back.”

Yangin blinked in surprise. “…What?”

“You grant wishes!” Luna snapped. She stomped her hoof again, splintering multiple floorboards at once this time. “Cure Celestia of her madness! Fix her!”

“But-”

“Do it!” Luna shouted, grabbing Yangin in her aura and shaking. “Show me that you’re worth something, you cobbled together bit of magic!”

Being tossed about like a rag doll by an enraged alicorn was not something Yangin ever wanted to experience in her life. So, she did the only thing he could do. She punched Princess Luna Equestris in the right eye, as hard as she could.

“You punched her?” Celestia exclaimed.

Yangin pouted, crossing her forelegs. To see the ancient jinn pouting like a foal who was caught with their hoof in the cookie jar was quite amusing. “I panicked! Most of the wishes I got by that point were all for wealth, or power, or to help find true love! I wasn’t prepared to have a drunken alicorn track me down and ask me to do something that was impossible!”

Celestia took another drink of tea to stifle a round of honest laughter. Seeing Yangin on the backhoof was amusing, considering the earlier frustrations she had put Celestia through.

“What happened then?” she managed to ask after a moment.

“We went back and forth for a while, exchanging spells. Ended up burning down part of Bittsburgh’s waterfront district. Got myself a bit of a legend out of that scrap. Spirit of vengeance or something. Eventually though Luna just started to wear me down, so I dove into the river and headed south as fast as I could.” She gave Celestia a sly smirk. “Like I told the Element Bearers. That sister of yours has a nasty right hook.”

“Luna has always been the more duplicitous of the two of us. That includes that right hook of hers.”

Yangin chuckled, idly swirling her teacup for a moment. “You know Celestia…it might not be my place to bring this up. But are you sure that you’ve tried everything to make up with your sister?”

“…Why?” Celestia frowned, her eyes narrowing. Was Yangin actually some kind of Luna plant?

“Because, ponies who don’t care about their siblings, don’t track me down and beg me to fix them.”

“Yangin..,” Celestia growled.

She held up her hooves. “If you say that you have and that war is the only path, then you have my support. And speaking of that support, I’ve been mulling over your situation and developing a plan.”

“…Go on.”

“After having many conversations with the head of your supposed sun cult, I’ve come to a few conclusions about your control of Equestria once we take Canterlot. You’ll be putting down rebellions almost constantly.”

“You logic behind that being? My followers-”

“Are dwindling in number, despite Kindle’s claims otherwise. Especially with these new developments.”

With a light wave of her hoof, a little gust of wind flicked a newspaper off of a shelf and propelled it over to them. Celestia stared down at the headline with a frown.

Solar Cult Broken in Bittsburgh

It was accompanied by a photo of the arrest. The local guard was there, of course. But there was also a few camels present all wearing the neatly pressed military uniforms of Naqah. Their leader, bedecked in a fez, had a neatly trimmed beard and mustache. He stood stiffly and in Celestia’s opinion, seemed to be devoid of any sense of mirth or humor as he shook hooves with the guard captain. Her glower grew steadily deeper as she read the copy of the story.

“This is a pile of lies and slander! I was invited to assist with that rebellion and I never was going to annex it! Like it would even be possible without taking the whole of the Mild West at the same time? How could any pony believe this tripe?”

“Because Celestia. You have an image problem. Most of Equestria knows you as a tyrant. They won’t even call you by your actual name.”

Celestia squeezed her eyes closed, letting loose a long exhale. The damage centuries of slander had done to her reputation still bothered her. But the truth remained that her little ponies had been deceived. “And I intend to show them otherwise.”

“Ah! Then you have already hit upon the thrust of my plan. Wonderful!” Yangin clapped her hooves together. “But the way I see it, there’s no real reason to wait until after we take Canterlot. We should start working on fixing your reputation now.”

“And how do you propose we do that? The moment I raise my head in Equestria, my sister will swoop down upon me. As proven by your own Bittsburgh story, active fights above cityscapes rarely endear one to its residents.”

“Which is why,” Yangin leaned forward with a grin, “we are going to start outside of Equestria.”

Hundreds of miles away from Corona and her volcano, another mare was considering the future. Cheerilee, Ponyville school teacher and bearer of the Element of Laughter, was moping in her sister’s bar. It was an uncharacteristic thing for her, being more upbeat in nature and the holder of the primal expression of laughter. But as she hunkered over at the bar, lightly drumming one hoof against the wooden top, she glowered down at the letter that had arrived a few days ago for what was probably the sixth time. It was an early Saturday, so the bar wasn’t exactly buzzing at the moment, with only a few ponies helping themselves to a light lunch.

“Staring at that thing won’t help, you know.”

Cheerilee looked up into the eyes of her sibling, Berry Punch. She had an enigmatic smile on her muzzle, one Cheerilee had seen Berry use on dozens of other patrons. It was one of the many tools her sister used to pierce straight through a patron’s miserable haze and get straight to the heart of whatever was bothering him or her.

“Sorry, Berry. It’s just..,” she waved a hoof helplessly at the page.

“Spike?”

“Spike.”

She had been staying in touch with the baby dragon since the incident at the Dragon’s Forge and the Overlord. When his attempt to forge both a unified nation and a surrogate family from the rapacious dragons of Cissanthema had failed, he had gone to live with one of the more reasonable dragons of the whole lot, Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs. Apparently his lair was somewhere in Cavallia and Cheerilee had been hoping that some time there would help Spike deal with the repeated rejections he had experienced in his life. The letters she had been getting however….

“I can’t help it,” Cheerilee sighed. “He still sounds morose and unsure about his place in the world. Not a part of the dragon world, not a part of the pony world,” she frowned, before scanning the letter again. “…Though at least his penmanship is improving.”

Berry reached under the counter, producing a bottle of bourbon. “This is really getting to you, isn’t it?” she asked, slowly pouring a shot.

“I am an educator of young minds. I won’t not be worried about a young mind just because that mind is a dragon instead of a pony. …Besides, he does clearly still need help.”

It wasn’t the only thing bothering her, admittedly.

For under the letter from Spike, was a missive from Princess Luna. Despite the best effort of her spies and scouts, there had been no word on the fate of Yangin the jinn after she was taken by Kindle. The fact that she had failed to stop the jinn from being taken would have been bad enough. But she had taken Yangin’s bound item and forced her to come along on the adventure to find The Army of Smoke and Fire in the first place. Her capture by Corona was Cheerile’s fault and that had been weighing on her conscious.

Berry rubbed her chin. “Hmmm.”

“…If I didn’t know better, I’d say you have an idea.”

“Maybe..,” Berry Punch smiled resting her forelegs on the bar top. “Did I ever tell you about the time I took a trip to the Crystal Empire?”

“I remember you saying that you were going up there. That was during my last year at school right? You went up there to see what crystal brandy was like.”

“Slightly overrated, honestly,” Berry chuckled. “It has too much fizz…well, stuff like fizz, from the crystal nature of the grapes they use.”

The Crystal Empire was appropriately named. Powered and protected by the Crystal Heart, its magic infused the entire nation and the ponies within it. In addition to giving the country an uncommonly strong sense of unity- one backed up by events in their history- it made a great deal of the country…crystal. There was a running joke amongst Equestria’s historians that it was almost the most accurately named country in the world, only being disqualified by being an “empire” small enough to fit inside one of Equestria’s larger provinces.

“Anyway,” Berry continued. “While I was there, I happened to check out the University of Beren on a lark. As it turns out? One of their professors is a dragon.”

Cheerilee blinked. “A dragon? In the middle of the Crystal Empire? How has he not tried to eat half of it by now?”

“Based on what he told me, a mix of willpower and the Crystal Heart itself. But he’s a dragon that’s been living alongside ponies for most of his life now. If there’s anyone who could help Spike deal with some of what he’s feeling right now…well, I think he’s it.”

Cheerilee considered that for a moment. “Do you think he’d be willing to help?”

“I think so, yeah. We still write each other. I can find out easily enough.”

“Alright,” Cheerilee nodded. “Let’s see what we can do.”

A few days later, Cheerilee found herself standing on Ponyville’s train platform, her saddlebags fully packed for a several day trip. A flurry of letter exchanges- most of them magically charged for speedly delivery- had ended with an agreement for her and Spike to head to the Crystal Empire to meet this mysterious dragon professor, Schwartzkopf. While she wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from that dragon, she was willing to give this whole idea a try to help Spike.

The whistle of a train reached her ears and she looked up to see the train that Spike would be arriving on pulling into the station. It wasn’t long after it came to a halt that the doors swung open and the few passengers that were coming to Ponyville filed out. Spike was the last to do so, less stepping out than shuffling with a grumpy frown on his face. A stuffed pack was slung over one of his shoulders.

“Good morning Spike! It’s really good to see you,” Cheerilee smiled, trotting over to greet him. “How was your trip? No problems, I hope?”

Spike shrugged back. “Well...things were a little weird when I went to get my first ticket. Sjach came with me just to make sure that everything went okay..,” he trailed off.

Cheerilee blinked for a moment, but then went right back to smiling. “Well, clearly you worked it all out.”

“I might have been able to do some fast talking,” Spike smiled, standing a little taller. “Once I explained everything I was able to get a ticket just fine.”

“Speaking of tickets, this is for you.” Cheerilee dug into her saddlebags for a moment, producing the ticket she had bought for Spike for the journey to the Crystal Empire. She passed it over, Spike reading its face for a moment.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked. “We’re going to the Crystal Empire and I am a dragon.”

“Going to meet a dragon who’s been living there for decades,” Cheerilee smiled back. “Though I did get some gems from Rarity for you to snack on if you want.”

“Yeah, I have some of those too. I’m more worried about going all crazy and wealth obsessed like..,” he sighed, idly rubbing his arm. “Well, like what happened back at the Forge.”

Cheerilee placed a hoof on the young dragon’s shoulder. “Spike. You were able to resist the influence of the Alicorn Amulet. You’re a brave little dragon and you can handle this. Buttt, here’s a fact that might help,” she winked. “Crystals and gems are common enough in The Empire that they actually aren’t worth much up there. Just think of them as normal rocks.”

“Huh,” Spike blinked. “That...actually makes a lot of sense.”

Another train whistle sounded as the one that would take them to the Crystal Empire slowly pulled into the station. Cheerilee looked down at Spike before nodding at the train.

“Ready?”

Spike took a deep breath as he began to walk into the train. “As I’ll ever be.”

Author's Note

And I return to the Lunaverse!

It's been a little bit since I've penned a tale in this setting. Those who hang out on the Lunaverse forums are probably aware that I was working on a different Lunaverse story a while back. One involving Lyra and a Running of the Leaves.

*glances back at a vault door from with the deepest darkest shame and evil radiates*

......

ANYWAY!

I think that my favorite part of this chapter was the interplay between Corona and Yangin. The idea of the solar tyrant actually managing to make a friend with the irreverent jinn makes me smile. Fire types gotta stick together after all! :P

2. Fire and Shadow

“Woah!” Spike exclaimed, his face pressed to the glass of the train window.

Cheerilee didn’t vocalize her own feelings, but Spike was 100% right in expressing his amazement at the fortress that loomed before them. She had heard stories about the mighty southern fortress of Schluesselschloss. The name translated to Key Lock in Equestrian and was originally a small fort guarding the Gray Mare Pass between The Crystal Empire and Equestria. After Princess Celestia obliterated King Sombra and started down the path to becoming Corona the Empire had massively expanded it. Of course, it was one thing to read about it in the history books and quite another to see it.

The castle itself was set on the right side of the pass, half way up the mountain. It was a sprawling mass of impressive granite walls and buildings, decorated with gleaming crystals positioned to reflect the sunlight into the eyes of potential flying attackers. They also did a good job of hiding the location of the cannon batteries, as Cheerilee couldn’t pick out their locations on those sturdy looking battlements. From the main fortress, a massive wall flew off, blocking the whole of the pass save for the one opening that allowed the train to pass through. But even that could be sealed off by a huge portcullis.

The train was beginning to slow as they passed through said opening. On the other side, Cheerilee and Spike could see that a small collection of buildings had been built. Hotels, restaurants and trading posts were clustered around a central square tower, this one constructed entirely from crystal. The banner of the Empire, a multi-faceted gem set before a mighty mountain, fluttered from its peaked roof. Cheerilee was pretty sure that was an administrative center of some kind.

“I was expecting a bit more crystal,” Spike said as he pulled back from the window.

“Well, we are right on the border. I imagine we’ll see more the closer we get to Beren and the Crystal Heart.”

Spike nodded, but then crossed his arms and frowned. “This is going to be like walking through a town made of cake.”

“Don’t worry!” Cheerilee smiled, digging something out of her saddlebags. “I have it on good authority that there will be plenty of actual crystal treats for you to snack on. Twilight Sparkle told me that the presence of the crystal heart has lead to the existence of actual crystalline crops that ponies and dragons alike can snack on.”

It was a thick book that she held in her hooves, its title equally thick. “A Treatise On The Effects of the Crystal Heart upon The Empire’s Flora and Fauna: By Professor Schwartzkopf”. It, along with the equally lengthy “A Treatise On The Crystal Heart and its Additional Magical Effects.” had been given to her by Twilight to have the dragon professor sign. Apparently he was was well known in magical circles.

As the train came to a stop, the door to their section of the train opened up and one of the conductors came trotting down the aisle.

“Tickets please. Crystal Empire inspection.”

Cheerilee and Spike dutifully passed over their tickets to be stamped by Crystal Empire customs. While they waited, Spike turned his eyes towards the window again.

“Hey, something’s going on over there,” he said, jabbing a claw towards one of the buildings surrounding the train station.

Cheerilee followed his outstretched claw to one of the nearby taverns. Two groups of ponies were locked in what looked like a bitter argument of some kind. The larger of the two groups were local crystal ponies, while the smaller group might have been Equestrian. It wouldn’t have been a bad guess based on where they were. They all looked like academic types though, judging by their dress and bulging saddlebags. After a few more rounds of shouting were exchanged, both groups stomped off towards Schluesselschloss.

“That was...strange,” Cheerilee said, blinking slowly.

“What do you think they were arguing about?”

Leaning back in her seat, Cheerilee looked up at the ceiling and thought. “Well, in my experience academics usually bicker about discoveries and interpretations of them. I’m more wondering what they’re doing in Schluesselschloss. It’s a military fortress.”

“Maybe someone found something old in a basement. That place looks like it has a lot of them.”

Cheerilee chuckled. “I’d say that it would be pretty silly to find ancient artifacts just randomly in a fortress basement...but then my friends and I found a jinn running an antique shop in Naqah, so stranger things have happened.”

A slow smile spread across Spike’s face. “Oh yeah? Stranger than there being an eeeevvvill feather duster in that basement?”

“An evil feather duster huh? What would an evil feather duster do?”

“Oh, you know. Probably compel you to make things more dirty. And laugh evilly. That’s what makes it evil.”

The train began to move again at that point, the conductor coming back in to return their tickets, now bedecked with half a dozen official stamps. Tucking it back into her saddlebags, Cheerilee let the squabbles of academics go for the time being. She had more important things to tend to while here.

A few hours later, the train pulled into the capital.

True to her previous guess, Beren fit the popular image of the Crystal Empire much more. The buildings they passed were crystal. The streets were crystal. And the glittering edifice that was the Crystal Palace dominated the skyline, its flying buttresses and elegant construction making it seem more of a delicate sculpture than government building. Supposedly, it was built in the exact center of the city, which was at the exact center of the Empire itself. And in the center courtyard of the palace was the Crystal Heart, the source of the unique appearance of the country and its ponies.

Once the train had come to a stop and they collected their bags, Cheerilee and Spike began their winding journey through the streets towards their intended destination, The University of Beren. Though there had been a small detour along the way.

“Mmmm! Just like fresh amethysts!”

Spike was referring to the crystalline corn on the cob they had snagged from a streetside stand. Cheerilee considered her own cob as they kept walking. It was certainly the color of amethyst, that much was hard to deny. The taste though...

“I’m not sure. It tastes like corn to me.”

“No way! It’s totally amethyst! It tastes just like the stuff we’d find up at the Forge…”

He trailed off, expression growing distant at the mention of that volcanic landscape where his attempt to unite dragonkind had gone so very wrong.

“It wasn’t your fault Spike.”

“I know. Sjachthur says the same thing. But neither one of you decided to wear a cursed necklace and watch everything you were trying to do blow up in your face.”

Cheerilee paused and placed a hoof on his shoulder, giving him a soft smile when he looked up. “You still tried to do something. Which is a little more than most other dragons have. That still means something. And, hey, you’re not the only one anymore, right? Sjachthur is trying. And Professor Schwartzkopf clearly isn’t about hoarding and pillaging.”

Spike perked up a bit at the other dragon’s name. “I admit, I kind of can’t wait to meet him. A dragon that’s a teacher and who’s written actual books? It's hard to believe.”

“Well then, let’s hurry up and ask him how he’s done it!”

Smiling a bit wider now, Spike wolfed down the remains of his crystal corn and took off at a run. Cheerilee quickly followed suit, her heart just a little lighter at Spike’s more upbeat mood.

The University of Beren was a sprawling complex of buildings, almost a neighborhood onto itself once one factored in the dorms and other support structures. Creatures from across the known world walked its halls and well maintained pathways, all united in their desire to study. From what Twilight Sparkle had told Cheerilee, while the university taught many, many subjects it was most well known for being one of the centers of magical study outside of Canterlot. Though it focused more on the connections between the different kinds of magic used across the world. Again, according to Twilight Sparkle.

Something that was a good sign as far as Cheerilee was concerned, was the fact that Spike’s presence wasn’t drawing a lot of attention from the students around. Sure, there were occasional glances his way but nothing else. So they were used to seeing dragons around.

The massive university would have been a place quite easy to get lost in, if not for the fact many of the maps and buildings were also labeled in Equestrian.

Thank Luna that this country is bilingual, Cheerilee thought as she lead the way through one of the lecture buildings. My Griffish is incredibly rusty.

It had also taken a bit of asking around to work out where the dragon professor currently was, but they were eventually pointed towards his offices in the main building of the complex. Spike’s eyes were wide as they entered the crystalline structure.

“So many gems! I don’t know how Schwartzkopf stands it!”

Cheerilee placed a hoof on the young dragon’s shoulder. “Do we need to take a break?”

Admittedly, Cheerilee wasn’t entirely sure how to do that in a country that was literally overflowing with the stuff. But to her relief, Spike took a deep breath, held it for a moment and then exhaled, a determined expression settling on his face.

“I can handle this. I found my way to the Dragon’s Forge myself. I can handle a stupid building made out of glittering rock.”

Cheerilee smiled as they continued onwards, eventually winding their way through the halls to Schwartzkopf’s office. As they approached it though, they could hear the sounds of talking. The conversation was entirely in Griffish and seemed to be between a deep male voice and a softer female one. Coming to the door, Cheerilee and Spike poked their heads into the office to see a dragon and a pony arguing.

Schwartzkopf almost looked like he was carved from a glittering block of jet. Ontop at least, his underbelly and the undersides of his wings were more of a dark purple color. Twin horns framed the sides of his head, while a smaller row of spines ran down his back and to the tip of his tail. He also wore a few pieces of clothing, mostly a tweed vest and a pair of glasses that were balanced at the end of his snout.

On the other side of his desk stood a crystal pony mare. Her coat gave her the impression of being made out of rose quartz, while her long light blue mane and tail were more representative of aquamarines.

Schwartzkopf waved a talon at the mare and muttered something in Griffish. She huffed in response and stomped out of the room. Cheerilee watched her go, blinking a few times at her outburst of emotion.

“...Did I interrupt something important?”

“I’m sure that Rose Heart thought so,” Schwartzkopf said, before giving a deep, rumbling chuckle. “Something was discovered in a hidden chamber in Schluesselschloss. But the Crystal Empire has many archaeologists and I have made commitments to my time before it was discovered.”

Coming out from behind his desk, Cheerilee had a better judge of the dragon’s size. He was about as large as Corona, but a bit longer once one factored in the tail. He extended a claw to Cheerilee, smiling slightly.

“It is not everyday that one gets to meet an Element Bearer after all.”

Cheerilee shook his taloned hand. “It seems that we’re well known, even up here.”

“To be fair, I have been working on a paper on a theory that’s been rattling around my brain since they were discovered again.”

“Really?”

“Yes. But I shall bore you with the rigors of academia at a later date,” Schwarzkopf said, turning his attention to Spike. “I believe that we are here to discuss our young friend here’s issues.”

Spike looked up at the scholar dragon and blurted out a question. “You heard the call of the m- the Overlord?”

“That I did.”

“Why didn’t you come then?”

Schwarzkopf shrugged. “I didn’t want to. The commands and whims of the rest of dragon kind are not my concern. I am a citizen of the Crystal Empire and professor at the University of Beren...with tenure, I might add. I had no intention of throwing that away to play rampaging monster.”
Spike frowned. “I suppose that makes sense. ...Too bad more dragon’s don’t take your path.”

“Most aren’t given the chance, thanks to the nature of The Forge. Which I understand that you’ve seen first hand, yes?”

Spike nodded, his frown growing ever deeper.

“My egg was found in one of the Empire’s many mines,” Schwarzkopf continued. “I was born around ponies. Grew up around them. Learned alongside them. For me, being part of a society that values my contributions is the superior choice to hiding in a cave and hoarding gold.”

Spike nodded again, but he didn’t seem any less disappointed. Schwarzkopf placed a hand on Spike’s back.

“Come. We shall discuss things more, over a meal. It is a Crystal Empire tradition of a sorts. And I do have a favorite cafe not far from here.”

“That sounds nice, actually,” Spike smiled.

With the decision made, the trio headed back out into the city to eat and talk.

Schlüsselschloss was old.

While it had been the first of the mighty defensive fortresses constructed in the Crystal Empire, it was actually built upon the remains of another, older fortress that had once been occupied by King Sombra’s forces, which had in turn been built on an even older structure. Even with two different groups of archaeologists working in the basement, they weren’t entirely sure which structure the hidden room had originally been a part of.

Gray Granite hated this place. As old as it was, one could never entirely get rid of the vermin that lived within it. Their warrens squirmed and burrowed through the dank depths, their scrabbly little paws carrying them through every hidden crack and nook. Even now as they waited in a corridor illuminated only by lantern light, he could hear their little paws scrabbling on stone.

It was in one of those ancient, long forgotten chambers, that the cask had been discovered in. It was formed out of black crystal, like so many of Sombra’s creations, easily the size of a pony. And because of that, the ponies of the Crystal Empire weren’t going to take any chances.

“A telegraph has arrived from the capital,” one of the Crystal Guard declared, handing it to Gray Granite. “Schwarzkopf insists that he’s busy at the moment and isn’t available to examine it.”

Gray Granite nodded, turning his attention to the cask. “Then prepare it for transit. We shall lock it away in the deepest vault until it can be safely examined and disposed off.”

Some of the local archaeologists and some of the visiting ones from Equestria sprang into action. Heavy ropes were wrapped around the cask which were then lashed to poles for the ease of carrying. The poles were then picked up by a few members of the Crystal Guard and resolutely marched out of the fortress. Up and up they went, through winding stairs and onto the battlements. Then across the battlements and towards the stairs that lead down to the train station. There an armored car was waiting to whisk the item away to some of the secure vaults in the capital.

They were halfway down the stairs when the cask shook.

The Crystal Guard froze, those not actively carrying the thing drawing their weapons immediately. Nopony moved. They simply watched the cask, not entirely sure if what they had seen had come from it or a slight misstep coming down the stairs.

With a massive bang sound, the cask shook again. It shook so hard that the poles snapped in half, the cask tumbling down the stairs in a fury as it continued to bang and rattle as something tried to burst its way out. The Crystal Guard chased after it, Gray Granite already shouting orders.

“Surround it! Don’t let whatever is in there escape!”

With another loud bang, the cask was sent vaulting over the last dozen steps, landing hard on the landing below. The impact shattered the crystal into a thousand pieces with an almost ear splitting shriek. And in that brief moment, Gray Granite saw a wisp of dark shadow dart from those shattered remains and flow through a crack in the gates and into the town beyond.

“Open the gates!” Gray Granite shouted. “We have to find that thing!”

Crystal Empire efficiency sprung into action. A simple flick of a lever from the guards on the walls sent well oiled cogs into motion, the massive gates swinging open in a matter of moments. Gray Granite lead the charge, a dozen of the Crystal Empire’s finest following after him. He gave his commands with confidence, assured in the training he and his fellow guard went through.

“Meadow Bolt! Telegraph house now! Warn the capital! Everypony else, groups of two, standard search pattern. If you see anything, signal with your whistles.”

With the orders given, the group split off into into their pairs, weaving through the streets with steely determination in their hearts. As they trotted along, occasionally citizens would peek out of windows and doors, wondering what had the guard so riled up.

“Return to your homes!” Gray Granite called out. “Everything is under control!”

Gray Granite was on the far side of the village, near the telegraph office when he heard the scream. The scream had sounded like it had come from the telegraph office itself. His eyes narrowed at that realization. There was no way...whatever had come out of the cask could have known about his orders. Still, he galloped for the building at top speed, pegasus officer Swift Wing at his side. When they arrived at the office, Gray Granite lead the way, shouldering his way through the door and then drawing his sword.

Empty. Or so it seemed.

Gritting his teeth harder against the hilt of his blade, Gray Granite stalked around the right side of the front desk, while Swift Wing came in from the left. There he found Meadow Bolt and the telegraph operators.

They were huddled up in balls, quivering in fright.

Sheathing his blade, Gray addressed his subordinate. “Meadow? Can you hear me? What happened.”

“Walls...the walls. Won’t leave me alone. Won’t let me out,” she muttered, her eyes glassy and unfocused.

“They’re out of it too sir,” Swift Wing said, having checked on the telegraph operators.

“Just what was in that cask?” Gray muttered.

Distantly, more screams rang out, Swift Wing and Gray Granite whirling about almost instinctively drawing their blades as they did. Exchanging a pair of wary glances, they returned to the streets and headed in the direction of the screams.

When they arrived, they found four members of the Crystal Guard locked in similar catatonic states to those that were in the telegraph office. Of their attacker, there was no sign. Just four ponies locked in a horrible state of fear.

“This is getting out of hoof,” Gray Granite declared.

Swift Wing was looking around, eyes wide. “Where is this thing? What is it? Why can’t we see it?”

“Stay calm Swift Wing! If we lose our heads, we’ll have no chance to dealing with it!”

“Deal with it? We can’t even see it! How are we supposed to deal with it?”

Another round of screams echoed from a nearby street, the warble of a whistle dying out along with it.

“Nope! I’m done!” Swift Wing shouted, taking to the air.

“Swift Wing!”

A smokey black bolt of movement shot up from between the house roofs. Swift Wing caught whatever it was out of the corner of his eye and beat his wings faster, desperately trying to get away from whatever it was that was giving chase. But it was quickly evident to Gray Granite that he was fighting a losing battle, as the smokey shadow struck him like a thunderbolt out of a clear blue sky. Swift Wing cried out, plummeting from the sky and smashing through the thatched roof of a nearby house. The shadow came about, seeming to unfold as it did. Larger and larger it grew, mighty wings unfurling from a body of blackest night. Black, save for the two glowing red eyes that burned like red hot coals of malice and hate.

It looked...like a moth?

A staccato, echoing cry rose from the shadow moth as more darkness billowed outwards from its body. As the sky was plunged into darkness, Gray Granite heard moans and screams of terror all around him, emanating from every building in the town. Granite grit his teeth, turning to run for the telegraph office. It was too late for Schluesselschloss, but he could at least warn Beren.

But he had barely taken a few steps before his ears twitched towards new sounds. Horrible squeaking and chattering coming down the street from behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, his stomach twisted at what was chasing after him. A horde of dog sized rats came teeming down the street in a dark brown wave of mangy fur and flashing, yellow fangs. And the eyes! The horrible glowing red eyes.

“No! NO! NO! NO!” Granite shouted, pumping his legs all the harder to try and escape the living carpet that was scampering his way.

But the rats moved to fast. The wave slammed into him from behind, dragging him down beneath the flood of verminkind. He was screaming now, the hundreds of scrabbly little feet running over every inch of his body. The last thing he saw before he mercifully passed out, was the shadowy moth wheeling away from Schluesselschloss and flying north.

Spike had to admit, if there was one thing he loved about the Crystal Empire so far, it was the food. The cafe Schwartzkopf had picked had ended up being only a few blocks away from the university and was quite busy. Spike guessed that most of the ponies and other creatures crammed around the circular tables were students. The owner certainly knew Schwartzkopf as he had called out with a hearty wave and hello when they arrived.

Huddled around a table of their own under the outside awning, the three had prompty been delivered mugs of tea and scones with crystal strawberry jam that were on special today. Freshly baked, they practically melted in Spike’s mouth. And since the professor was covering the bill this trip, Spike was more than happy to help himself to as many as he could eat. He, Schwartzkopf and Cheerilee were clustered around an exterior table on one of Beren’s broad avenues.

Schwartzkopf- or Schwartz as Spike had taken to calling him- really was an odd dragon. Not that his oddness was odd in and of itself. Having spent some time with Sjach, Spike was used to a dragon that looked down on his own race. But while Sjach was more depressed about his own race, Schwartz barely acted like a dragon at all. He was just so...casual about his connection to the Crystal Empire and its crystal ponies.

“So, Spike. How has your time been Sjachthurkearverthichaoposs?” Schwartz asked.

Spike finished swallowing his current scone before shrugging. “Alright, I guess. He’s kind of a cool dragon. ...Doesn’t have his head stuck up his butt at least. He’s been kind of busy teaching a few dragons a different way to do things.”

Schwartz steepled his claws on the table. “Interesting. I wish him some success. More of our kind could stand to work with others.”

Spike thought for a moment and frowned. “Why haven’t you tried? You’re a teacher. Why not...teach?”

Schwartz hummed to himself, idly stirring his cup of tea with a claw. “Well...I have tried. When I was younger, I traveled into the dragon lands and tried to explain my ways to the dragons I found. It ended...poorly.”

Cheerilee cocked her head at that. “If you don’t mind me asking...how did it end badly?”

Schwartz tapped the side of his head. “All that glitters is not always the best. Especially when dragon greed is involved.”

Spike blinked. “Wait...you’re saying that they tried to add you to their hoards?”

“Indeed. ...Which isn’t to say that I’ve not been completely devoid of success. One of my students is another young dragon. While she may be a little young for university, I feel like she could use some guidance.”

“Actually, that reminds me. How do you live in a place that’s nothing but crystals without going crazy?” Spike asked. The temptation of the gems had been a near constant thing since they arrived here.

Schwartz chuckled. “I’ll tell you a little secret.” He waved a claw at the surrounding buildings. “Tell me Spike, what do you see?”

Spike looked around. “...Crystals and gems. Isn’t that the problem?”

“Answer me this Spike. Just how valuable do you imagine gems and crystals to be in a land that where it’s used as building material?”

Spike blinked. “Well...if it's being used to make buildings I guess it can’t be that expensive.”

“Exactly. In the land of gems, a diamond might as well be a hunk of granite,” he spread his arms apart, giving a toothy grin. “Reminding myself of that helps quite a bit. ...Though I also suspect that the Crystal Heart plays a role. It’s magic helps bind the Empire together and it clearly had an effect on myself.”

Spike nodded and let his mind and his gaze wander back over the buildings again, picturing them as just...normal rocks. Normal rock bakery, normal rock library, normal rock benches, giant shadow moth, normal rock streets.

“Gah!” he yelped, pointing a claw at it. “Giant shadow moth!”

His exclamation drew everypony’s eyes to the creature as it came swooping in low over the crystal roofs, dragging a lingering trail of darkness behind it. Panic immediately set in, both in the streets and in the cafe, with tables being up ended and ponies stampeding in every which direction.

As the shadow moth shot across the main avenue the cafe was built off of, Spike watched as ponies under its shadow trail collapsed to the ground wrapping their legs around their bodies and going nearly catatonic.

“Spike! Look out!” Cheerilee shouted.

The moth had banked sharply, the edge of its shadow threatening to fall across the edge of the cafe. Spike felt Cheerilee’s hooves wrap around him from behind and yank him backwards, the shadows just barely avoiding him. The moth then wheeled back across the street, eliciting a fresh round of screams and panicked rushing from the nearby baker, before shooting forward with a heavy rush of its wings.

Schwartz shot into the air with a beat of his wings, scanning the horizon for a moment before dropping back down. “It’s heading for the Crystal Palace!”

“The Crystal Heart!” Cheerilee exclaimed, leaping up from the table. “I have to go!”

“Wait! Why?” Spike asked. “What are you going to do about that thing?”

Cheerilee shrugged. “I don’t know. But I’m an Element of Harmony and that thing looks very unharmonious!”

Spike hesitated for a moment, before jumping onto Cheerilee’s back. Cheerilee reared up for a moment, before twisting her head around to glower at Spike. “Spike! You can’t come with me, its too dangerous!”

“Oh no! I’m not going to be left alone while a monster attacks the city. If you’re going, I’m going with you,” Spike declared, grabbing two clawfuls of Cheerilee’s mane and giving her a determined look.
“I shall come to,” Schwartz said. “My magical knowledge might come in handy.”

Cheerilee bit her lip before sighing and breaking into a gallop. “Okay. But if things get bad, you’re going to go with Schwartzkopf and get out of there.”

Spike nodded. “Deal.”

Cheerilee felt like her decision to let Spike come with her was becoming worse and worse as she passed catatonic guard after catatonic guard. The Crystal Palace was one of, if not the most heavily, defended castles on the continent and that moth...thing was cutting through it so effectively that she had just been able to waltz into the place.

“At least it’s leaving me a trail,” she grumbled as she galloped onwards.

Eventually though, the trail of guards came to an end in a grand courtyard. A quick glance told Cheerilee that they were under the central tower of the castle now. Supported by three mighty crystal arches, she could immediately see why the shadow moth had come here.

The Crystal Heart.

If the situation hadn’t been as dire as it was, Cheerilee would have been in awe of the artifact. Formed out of the most delicate looking crystal she had seen in her life, it floated a few feet off the ground, suspended between a stalagmite and stalactite of crystal, pulsing with a soft light. With each pulse there was a soft, musical chime.

But all of that was secondary to the shadowy monster that clung to it. The moth was gently, almost tenderly, caressing the Crystal Heart. Cheerilee had no idea what was planning but she was quite sure that it was going to be bad. Dozens of members of the Crystal Guard had surrounded it and were preparing to attack.

“Spike, stay with Schwartzkopf!”

Spike hopped off her back and Cheerilee galloped forward again to assist the Crystal Guard.

She was halfway there when everything went wrong. A magical pulse radiated outwards from the Heart, washing over every crystal pony (and dragon) that was in the courtyard. They dropped to the ground at once, screaming and clawing at themselves in what Cheerilee could only describe as sheer terror. And as she knew that the Crystal Heart connected itself to the land that made up the Crystal Empire, it was good odds that everypony in Beren was currently just as afflicted!
Without any real option, Cheerilee charged. Springing neatly around the moth’s fluttering wings, she snapped out her forehoves in a series of rapid punches.

It was like punching pile of dough. The dark tendrils of magic that made up the creature wrapped around her hooves and tried to drag her deeper into the mass. Half formed images flickered through her mind as she was reeled closer. Images of madness and horror that-

“Fulminating Flame Cage!”

Even through the haze of the moth, Cheerilee knew that voice.

“Yangin?” Cheerilee gasped.

A crackling cage of raw fire snapped into place around the moth, thrusting Cheerilee away and making it tumble away from the Crystal Heart with a high pitched screech of pain. Yangin stood a few yards away from the now trapped creature, in her full jinn glory. Short mane that was pure flame, dancing merrily in the breeze? Check. Coat the color of glittering bronze? Check. Platinum anklet that Cheerilee had once used to bind her into service? Double check. Cheerilee had no idea how she was here, since the last she had seen of the jinn, she had been taken away by the likes of Kindle.

But the jinn was wearing a cocky smile as the shadow moth managed to burst out of the cage. “Oh ho! So the Sombran wind up toy does have a bit of life to it!” She clapped her forehooves together in a mocking taunt. “Have at you then!”

The moth shrieked and charged, a massive cloud of dark shadow swelling before it. A few feet before reaching Yangin, it flared its wings to come to a halt, throwing the wave of shadow at the jinn.

In response, Yangin took a deep breath and exhaled. A massive gout of flame lept from her mouth, washing over the oncoming shadow. In a moment, it was burnt away, leaving behind an acrid smell. The wave of flame rolled onwards, now engulfing the moth with a burning fury.

It roared back. Needle thin tendrils of shadow and darkness whipped forward. Yangin tried to dodge, but they snapped against the sides of her head. The tendrils seemed to seep their way into her, Yangin’s eyes going black for a moment. The jinn stumbled but then her eyes and her body roared to life with fire, the darkness recoiling and bravado returning almost instantly.

“Fear is a nice trick, I will admit. It is, however, very limited. But trust me you glorified shadow puppet…” Yangin’s eyes flashed with magical power. “There is nothing you can conjure that I’ve not already experienced!”

With that, she clapped her forehooves together and two sections of the crystal courtyard rose up in mighty slabs. Another gesture wreathed them in crackling fire. And a third slammed together, smashing the shadow moth between their bulk. When they retracted, Cheerilee could only see the smoky remains of a smear upon the crystal.

With the moth vanquished, the catatonic ponies began to stir. Cheerilee started to trot forward, eager to ask Yangin how she had escaped Corona...when she suddenly began to talk again.

“Citizens of the Crystal Empire! My name is Bocogu Yangin and I come to you as a herald and messenger! And while it was I that vanquished Sombra’s ancient creation, I only act on behalf of a pony that asks for one simple thing...”

A horrible sense of dread was growing in Cheerilee’s stomach as Yangin swept into a bow.

“...your humble forgiveness.”

There was a golden flash of light and Corona appeared in the middle of the courtyard. She had taken on a different appearance, now sporting a mane and tail of blue, turquoise and pink that seemed to wave in an unseen breeze. Her eyes were no longer pure white either, now a soft pink color.

And to Cheerilee’s confusion, Princess Celestia bowed to the assembled ponies.

Author's Note

If Yangin has learned one thing from her time among normal ponies and other creatures, it's the value of a good story.

It's probably debatable which one of Corona's minions is better at the propaganda game. In my totally unbiased opinion (....yes, totally unbiased. Shut up. :P ) Yangin might have a slight edge on Kindle as she's less of zealot and can see her own propaganda from outside her own eyes. But I imagine you could argue things the other way and say that Kindle is willing to put himself on the line more than Yangin.

I also find Corona pretending to be her older self amusing. It comes across somewhat ironic to me.

3. Quarrels and Quibbles

Cheerilee took a moment to look up and make sure that the sun hadn’t been replaced by a blood red moon, or other impossible heavenly event, for what she was seeing shouldn’t be happening.

Corona, the Tyrant Sun, bowing to a collection of ponies. ...Corona bowing at all, for that matter.

She had thrown back every offer of working together that Luna had ever brought forth. She ranted and raved about how she was the sun and the rightful ruler of Equestria. She threatened to burn Canterlot away when she first escaped! She had taken young ponies hostage to try and enforce her demands! The Tyrant Sun did not bow! Yet, there she was, on her knees, head bowed to the surrounding ponies.

As confused as she was by Corona’s actions, the Crystal Guard were just as confused. They just stared at Corona for what seemed like a very long time, before one of them finally worked up the nerve to approach and address the alicorn.

“Princess...what do you mean?”

Corona rose and looked to Yangin before nodding. Yangin responded with a smile, idly waving a hoof through the air. Cheerilee could feel the flow of magic in the area idly rippling through her fur as a collection of gold bars were summoned from mid air, clattering to the ground at Yangin’s hooves. The jinn then began to pace back and forth before the guard, launching into a speech.

“Princess Celestia has had a great deal of time to dwell on the events that transpired here all those centuries ago. While she still believes that Sombra needed to be dealt with, she does regret the damage done to yours and your home in the process.”

She passed Cheerilee, pausing for just a moment, to fix her with an icy stare. Then she was moving on and continuing her speech. “While this gift of gold can in no way make up for the damage that was caused at the time, we hope that it can be the start of a necessary healing process.”

Healing process. Corona and Yangin were talking about a healing process.

The Crystal Guard were just as bamboozled by the Yangin’s and Corona’s behavior and had fallen into a spat of muttering amongst themselves. Corona and Yangin waited patiently, continuing to maintain their unnervingly out of character behavior. Eventually though, the Crystal Guard broke back apart and one of them approached the pair again.

“If you are serious about these...reparations, the Crystal Council will want to speak with you.”

“Of course,” Corona answered. “I would expect nothing less.”

A few members of the Crystal Guard moved to collect the gold bars and Cheerilee finally snapped out of her reverie.

“Wait a minute! You can’t really be taking her seriously, can you?”

Corona’s head snapped her direction and for a moment, Cheerilee could see the old Corona in those eyes as they flashed with an angry power. But as quickly as it had come, it passed again and Corona approached her with a soft smile.

“Ah, Miss Cheerilee. I suppose that I shouldn’t be surprised that one of the Element Bearers would be present when trouble was rising its head. Your concern is understood, however. We haven’t had the most pleasant relationship in the past.”

“That’s a polite way to frame your attempt to take over Equestria.”

Corona bowed her head slightly. “I do not enjoy the conflict with my sister anymore than you do. But until we can see eye to eye, it will regrettably continue.” She paused for a moment, her smile growing all the more sweet and kind. “As far as our conflict is concerned, however…”

Before Cheerilee realized what was happening, she had been scooped up in Corona’s legs and pulled into a tight embrace. Her body went rigid and her mind locked up as forelegs strong enough to bend steel hugged her like she was a foal that had skinned her knee. The only thought that managed to puncture that dazed confusion was the realization that Corona’s coat was unbelievably soft.

And then came the follow up blowe.

“I forgive you,” Corona said softly, before gently placing her back on the ground.

Cheerilee could only sit in stunned shock as Corona and Yangin trotted off with the crystal guard.

If had been quite a while since Celestia found herself in a mood as good as she was in right now. There was a lightness in her step as she followed a few members of the Crystal Guard through the corridors of the palace.

“You enjoyed that, didn’t you?” Yangin whispered.

Celestia allowed herself a smile. Regardless how the rest of the plan played out, she would savor the puzzled expression on Cheerilee’s face till the end of time itself. Considering the times the teacher had managed to reduce her, Equestria’s true monarch, to sputtering shock with lewd comments… Well, it already made Yangin’s plan worthwhile in her mind. A bit of delicious, welcome payback upon Dame Cheerilee.

“How does the expression go? Turnabout is fair play?” Celestia whispered back. “She had earned a little confusion.”

“I think she deserves more than that.”

Exactly what the jinn meant by that had to wait as the Crystal Guard had taken them to one of many offices in the Crystal Palace. Before leaving on this little endeavor, Kindle had pulled together a briefing on the current state of the Empire as it had been a thousand years since her last visit here. While the Empire was run by a council of influential ponies, not unlike Equestria’s own Night Court, it did have a speaker whose job it was to set the agenda and act as the public face of the nation.

It would be to that speaker that Celestia would be making her pitch, to use the vernacular of the era. Though, if she had to make a guess on how things would play out, it was likely that the Crystal Empire would take the gold and not make any actual agreements or concessions regarding the “healing process”. But ultimately it didn’t matter what stance they actually took. All she had to do was to appear the reasonable one. Yangin and Kindle would handle the rest.

As the door to the office swung open, Celestia prepared for the dance to come.

“I think she broke her,” Spike declared.

He waved a claw in front of Cheerilee’s eyes again. Schwartzkopf stroked his chin, peering down at the mare with a slightly bemused expression.

“Considering Corona’s reputation, I can’t say that it’s an unwarranted response to being hugged by her.”

“...She hugged me,” Cheerilee muttered.

“Ahh, there she is.”

“She hugged me.”

Spike sighed, scratching at the side of his head. “Okay, maybe not.”

“She. Hugged. Me.”

Rolling his eyes, Spike snapped his claws right in front of Cheerilee’s eyes. “Snap out of it!”

That managed to drag Cheerilee back to reality as she shook her head and focused on Spike. “Oh, sorry Spike. My mind was just...wandering for a minute there.”

“That was an understatement,” Spike deadpanned. “...Though it was strange to see Corona hugging anyone.”

“It’s way more than strange! She has to be up to something!”

“I would assume that she’s trying something, yes. But I would not put much stock in going anywhere,” Schwartzkopf mused. “An alicorn she may be, but Corona would have a better chance of talking a mountain into moving than getting Blue Agate to agree to anything.”

With the confusion over Corona’s actions still swirling about her mind, it took Cheerilee a moment to find herself and place the name.

“Oh! The Speaker?”

Schwartzkopf nodded. “Aye. Since Corona’s reappearance a year ago, she’s maintained a hardline neutrality stance. I don’t see negotiations going anywhere.”

“That being said…”

“You would like to send a message back to Equestria anyway?”

Cheerilee nodded.

“To a telegraph office it is then.”

Schwartzkopf led the way with Cheerilee falling into step behind him. Spike hung behind for a moment before shaking his head and following.

“This is going to lead to trouble…”

Bocogu Yangin was bored.

Celestia’s “negotiations” with the Speaker were going well enough, she supposed. Purple Perrywinkle or whatever her name was remaining intragnizent. Oh sure, she was more than happy to take the gold, as Yangin had expected. No self respecting mortal would turn down a pile of hard currency dumped at her hooves. They were quite, quite predictable that way.

But her desire to watch Celestia ask for diplomatic overtures that would be turned down so that she could be the bigger mare was rapidly approaching zero. Especially while a certain mare was in the same city as her. Deep within the eternal flames that fueled her very existence, a bitterness crackled and snapped like fresh wood thrown into a roaring blaze. Yes, at least half of the Element Bearers had supported binding her for their mission to find the Army of Smoke and Fire. But the idea had mostly come from Cheerilee.

Taking advantage of a momentary break in the conversation she reached over and tapped Celestia on her side.

“If your majesty doesn’t need me at the moment, I would like to take a look around the city. It has been quite a while since I’ve been this far north.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow, but nodded. “Very well. If I require your assistance, I’ll let you know.”

One of the Crystal Guard that had been watching the proceedings moved to follow Yangin, but he might as well have not bothered. Letting her form fall apart into flames, she flowed out of the office via a nearby window. Quickly, she flickered away from the crystal palace and to a secluded alley where she could pull herself back together. Upon reforming, she opted to take the form of a rose coated pegasus mare. That would let her fly around town more...incognito. Flaming camels had a way of making themselves noticed.

Beating her wings to maintain the illusion of being a normal pegasus, she summoned her elemental magic for her next move. The winds fluttered and swirled around her answering the primal call that existed between jinn and the elements.

“Find me the mulberry mare,” she hissed to the breeze. It was a vague command to a mortal, but for a jinn like her, intent mattered as much as the exact wording.

Outwards the breezes raced, shooting over rooftops and between buildings to seek out Cheerilee. To the ponies on the streets it was just a random trick of the wind, but as it whipped through their manes and tousled their coats, impressions of who that pony was were sent back to Yangin.

The sensation of the wind rippling out over the city did drag Yangin’s mind away from the thought of revenge. Beren glittered beneath her as the world’s most massive and perfect gem. Her summoned wind raced over every facet of every building, picking up the exquisite construction of the buildings and the lingering magic of the Crystal Heart. It was beautiful in its own way, a testament to what kind of amazing feats mortals could accomplish when they put their minds to it...and had a little bit of magical help. She supposed that was why she enjoyed living amongst them, rather than running off to live in isolated parts of the world like some of her other siblings.

But her musings were interrupted by the sensations of her spell having found the particular mortal she was looking for. Grinning to herself, she shot off over the city. She was going to have words with the mare that had imprisoned her.

Cheerilee sighed as she left the telegraph office. The word had been sent back to Canterlot. Whatever happened next was up to Princess Luna. Though she supposed that Luna would be just as confused by her sisters actions as she was.

Can’t worry about that right now though. I came up here to help Spike.

She took a deep breath and turned towards Spike and Schwartzkopf with a smile. “Okay! Now that all that chaos is taken care of, maybe we can get back to our previous conversation?”

“We can try, but I got the feeling that Corona being here is going to make that hard,” Spike said.

“Why do you say that?”

“Duh! She’s a crazy alicorn! Crazy alicorns have a way of messing everything up!”

Cheerilee...couldn’t really argue with that. Corona did have a way of sending everything straight to the sun. But she wasn’t going to let Corona get in the way of letting her help Spike without a fight.

“Well, all the same, we were in the middle of a conversation when the crazy moth showed up. Shall we find another cafe and pick it up there?”

“...Can we get more crystal jam scones?”

“Of course!”

But they had barely taken a step when a voice rang out. “That sounds fun! Mind if I tag along?”

Cheerilee turned towards the voice, pausing at the sight of a red coated pegasus. The face wasn’t familiar but she was able to tell who it was almost immediately based on the platinum bangle she had hooked around her fetlock.

“Yangin?” Cheerilee blinked.

The jinn in pony’s clothes strode over to her, throwing a leg over her neck. “In the flesh...so to speak. How have you been doing? Everything been working out for you?” she leaned in close, hissing the next part directly into Cheerilee’s ear. “You know, since you enslaved me?”

Cheerilee bit her lip. “Yangin, I’m sorry. I was...scared and I made a mistake.”

“Oh, a mistake? Is that all? Then I’m sure that we can discuss it like reasonable mares over some of those scones I heard your little dragon friend talking about!”

“You leave him out of this!” Cheerilee snapped, her teacherly instincts rising to the surface in a moment. “Spike hasn’t done anything-”

“Relax. Unlike you, I don’t drag bystanders into my fights.”

Cheerilee was ready to argue again, to point out that she didn’t have much of a choice when Yangin was one of the only creatures that knew the location of the Army of Smoke and Fire. But getting into a fight with Yangin in front of Spike wouldn’t help her or the young dragon. So for now she flashed Yangin the most apologetic smile she could muster.

“Fine then. Let’s have some brunch.”

With another cafe found the unlikely quartet ended up shoving two small tables together to form a larger one in one of its back corners. Spike had eagerly ordered some more crystal jelly scones. Schwartzkopf had settled for splitting a pot of tea with Cheerilee, while Yangin leaned back in her chair, content with nothing it seemed.

“I’m just not sure if I should really care about the rest of dragon kind right now,” Spike mused after another round of discussion. “I mean, I tried to make an actual nation and they were still more concerned about being the strongest.”

Yangin snorted. “Take a piece of advice kid. Don’t weep for the stupid, you’ll be crying all day.”

Cheerilee shot an icy glare across the table at the jinn. “Now, now Yangin. If we just wrote off everyone who made a mistake, where would we be?”

“I suppose that depends on how severe a mistake it is now isn’t it?”

“And I would argue that the intent of the po- dragon that made the mistake and how much they desired to make amends plays a factor.”

“And I’d argue that if the dragon actually meant that, they wouldn’t have made the mistake in the first place!”

Somewhere in that exchange both Cheerilee and Yangin had moved from sitting, to standing, with both their forehooves planted firmly on the table. Schwartzkopf and Spike looked at the pair then looked at each other.

“How do you two know each other again?” Schwartzkopf asked.

“We’ve worked together in the past,” Yangin answered.

“Uh huh…,” Spike muttered. “Seems a bit more than that…”

Yangin sighed. “Look, Spike. Take it from someone who has worked with more than a few jinn in her life. You can not take on personal responsibility for the whole of a race. Especially at your age. You’re a kid! Dragons are long lived enough that you’ll have centuries to go right some great wrong. Maybe it's time to be a little selfish? Ask yourself what you want.”

Spike sighed and mumbled something under his breath, slid out of his chair and made for the door. Cheerilee got up to follow, only to be blocked by a scaley black claw.

“Give him space. And sort out whatever... “Schwarzkopf said. He peered over Cheerilee at Yangin. “...issues you have with your friend there. Spike won’t be served by your bickering.”

Cheerilee glowered at Yangin. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. She-”

“Is tied to Corona?”

Cheerilee nodded.

Schwarzkopf snorted. “Yes, I figured as much. Her arrival was rather...convenient. Can you handle her?”

Yangin laughed. “Ha! Not a chance!”

The dragon’s expression turned positively sour. “Do I need to call the Crystal Guard?”

Cheerilee winced. The thought of Yangin and the Crystal Guard tearing through the streets of a neutral capital… “No...I don’t want to possibly start a fight in the middle of Beren. I’ll sort things out with Yangin and then catch up with you.”

“Meet us back at the University. I’m going to let Spike vent his feelings a bit more.”

He headed out the door, where Spike had been lingering. After a minute of conversation, they headed off together.Cheerilee turned her attention back to Yangin. She remained in her chair, the smuggest of smiles on her face. Forcing a hiss through her teeth, Cheerilee stalked back to the table.

“I tried to apologise. What do you want from me?”

Yangin leaned forward, crossing her forelegs on the table. “Funnily enough, I’m not interested in your apology. As far as what I want...I want you to realize exactly what you did. I want you to know that you are less than the alicorn you’re so afraid of. Because while you took my service, the big bad Corona offered me her hoof in friendship.”

“So...that’s it? You’re just going to hold my own mistake against me for the rest of my life?” Cheerilee said. “It was a moment of weakness! Are you going to claim that you’ve never had one of those in your life?”

“My youthful indiscretions didn’t involve slapping another creature in chains.”

“No, just punching alicorns in the eye, apparently.”

“Your princess swung first!”

Cheerilee sighed. “So, because I made a mistake you’re going to help Corona take over Equestria?”

Yangin sighed. “You’re a smart mare Cheerilee. You know as well as I, that we could sit here and argue the legal technicalities of which princess deserves to rule your country vs the other.” She stared off into the distance, her eyes focused on some point far beyond Cheerilee. “They honestly should be ruling it together, but Celestia’s mania undermines the effort...”

“Then you have to see how stupid it is to help her!”

Yangin snorted. “She’s going to make the attempt anyway! Besides it’s not like her little circle of minions has a working sane mind between them. Kindle is such a lickspittle that he’d go along with anything Celestia said. Smoke is so infatuated with him that she’s oblivious to the world around her. Terrorwing just wants somepony to fight. Zecora is a starry eyed mystic with no plan for the future and the dragon...” She shook her head, allowing an uneasy shudder to run down her back. “That dragon...I know he’s going to betray her. I can feel it in…,” she paused for a moment, frowning slightly. “Well, I don’t really have bones per-se, but I’m sure you catch my meaning.”

“That’s what you’re going to argue? That you’re somehow a limiting factor on her madness?”

“I’m better than the alternatives! Besides…,” she trailed off, shaking her head again. “You know what? No. I don’t owe you an explanation. I’m not going to be some kind of prop for you to feel better.”

Cheerilee pushed herself away from the table. “Fine. But just to prove that I’m not the monster you think I am? Solrath swallowed the Rainbow of Darkness.”

“What?” Yangin exclaimed.

But Cheerilee was already gone.

Author's Note

Screw lawns with a burning passion.

.....Now that random aside theater is done....

Yangin is being a bit of a malicious bitch in this chapter, actively rubbing Cheerilee's nose into what she did. Cheerilee, for her part, knows that what she did was wrong and genuinely wants to make amends with the jinn.

Yangin's distrust in the dragon Sorlath comes from a few places. Some of it comes from the tendency for dragons to want to try and get their claws on greater jinn to add to their hordes. But I think in a much more real sense, Yangin understands Sorlath and his hatred. He wears it on his sleeve and she knows that said hatred will over-ride common sense in the end.

....Funny how that works, isn't it?

Spike is slowly starting to crawl out of his shell. I do think that what Yangin told him is the truth that he's starting to understand. That all of dragon kind is not his personal responsibility.

4. Corruption and Warnings

Celestia was beginning to grow bored with Blue Agate.

She did have to give the mare some credit. There weren’t many ponies who could stubbornly argue with an alicorn for hours on end, especially one as ancient and skilled when it came to negotiation as she was.

“...so you see, while I still do appreciate your reparations, I can not recognize you as a legitimate government, in exile or otherwise.” She paused and adjusted her spectacles before brushing a lock of her blue mane out of her eyes. “Now, if you and your sister resolve whatever differences you might have-”

The words died in her throat from the intense glare that Celestia gave her. Then she coughed and glanced towards the door. “...Then again, perhaps if you wished to talk more tomorrow...”

That was fine by Celestia. She’d enact more of Yangin’s plan in the morning. It had been quite a while since she had seen the Crystal Empire anyway. It would be nice to see it in a non-occupied state. Sombra’s taint had done so much to ruin what was a beautiful city.

Winding her way out of the Crystal Palace, Celestia took a moment to more closely examine the elegant structure. It was...a fair recreation of the former palace she had destroyed. She was surprised to see that they had stuck with the open courtyard design of ages past. While I did allow ponies to easily see the Crystal Heart...it also let anypony just wander right up to it, with the Crystal Guard being the only real defense it had. A defense easily bypassed by a smokey, shadowy moth.

Celestia frowned at the thought of the beast. There had been many creatures like it back during the war. Of the many threats that stalked the world back in the day, Sombra had been among the most insidious. Emotions were what he had played and experimented with, forging the worst feelings ponykind could experience into weapons. Shadowy stalkers of fear. Brainwashed slaves to hatred and prejudice. Simpering sycophants of loathing that would whisper honeyed lies into pony’s ears. All weapons of terror and madness that Sombra spread with impunity among the empire.

A tired huff escaped Celestia’s lips. Sometimes being an alicorn was akin to being a maid with exceptional powers. Set one part of the world right, turn around to fix another and by the time you turned back around the first part had a fresh round of mud tracked on the rug. Well, this was one muddy hoof print cleaned up at least.

The larger mess cleanup was still to come.

Speaking of clean up.., she mused to herself, idly counting down from ten in her mind.

“It’s Corona!”

A gaggle of reporters, most likely tipped off by somepony in the Crystal Guard, swarmed towards her like an agitated flock of birds. Their cameras were flashing before they even reached her. This remained an aspect of the modern world that Celestia was still not entirely used to. Back when she had last sat upon Equestria’s throne, there had been no independent press in the nation. It was just heralds, official decrees and the like. But now?

A whole class of ponies, dedicated to printing rumor as much as fact. She was quite sure that Luna used Equestria’s own press as a tool to help keep control. She was also quite sure that if she banished ever reporter to Tartarus, there’d be updates from there in the paper before the next morning’s breakfast.

But she’d have to deal with it for now. Yangin’s plan involved playing in the so called “Court of Public Opinion” and that involved talking to the press. So she bit back her desire to vent her feelings upon the assembled reporters.

“Corona!”

“Celestia,” Celestia corrected. “Princess Celestia, please. The false moniker thrust upon me is not one I recognize.”

“Why are you here?”

“Did you discuss something with The Speaker?”

“How does this involve the Crystal Empire? Are you asking us to get involved in your civil war?”

“I am here for the purpose of...diplomacy,” Celestia answered with a beatific smile.

“When did you decide that you wanted to spend time with ponies, rather than dragons?”

Spike trailed behind Schwarzkopf watching the older dragon’s face carefully. His previously wide smile had drawn taught.

“I am sure that it is not a surprise that I went through my own rebellious teenage phase.”

Spike cocked his head. “Honestly, compared to some dragons I’ve met, you still kind of look like one except for the glasses. No offense.”

Schwarzkopf chuckled and adjusted his glasses slightly. “I shall take that as a compliment. But when I was thoroughly in that young hot headed phase of my life, I had gotten quite sick of what I viewed as the slow life in Beren.”

He glanced skyward for a moment. “So I ran off to the dragon lands and tried to fit in.”

“And that didn’t go well.”

“Not at all. From what little I know of your own situation, I imagine that our situations played out similarly. Lots of posturing about strength, size and what loot they had managed to steal. There was a particularly nasty brute at The Forge at the time. Torchyernakisus. He was the main one that wanted to lay claim to me for my gem like scales.”

He idly tapped a claw against the dark purple of his right arm.

“Looking back on it, I’m still not entirely sure why I thought my little sojourn was a good idea. I grew up studying and reading thanks to the influence of my adopted pony parents. There was no higher learning there. I was just young and foolish.” He chuckled and shook his head. “You’d think I would have learned my lesson then. But I’d return later when I was older and ‘wiser’ to try and convince the dragons of my point of view.”

Spike sighed and crossed his arms. “Young and foolish. Like me huh?”

“There are some similarities. In fact they are what drew me to assist when Miss Cheerilee wrote me. Your situation is difficult and I wanted to help as much as she did.”

Miss Cheerilee.

Spike had to admit, she had put in a lot of work to help him. Covering the cost of his tickets, following him up here...not to mention everything that had happened at The Forge. She had been a lot nicer to him than most of the other creatures he had spent time with. ...Except maybe for Zecora.

He balled his claws into fists at the thought of the zebra. He had trusted Zecora and she hadn’t spoken up at all when Corona had used him as a monster. He hated Corona for breaking the closest thing he had ever had to a family. Part of him hated Zecora for it too. Why hadn’t she spoken up? Why hadn’t she told him to run away from the alicorn? Why-

“Spike?”

“Sorry just...thinking.”

Schwarzkopf placed a clawed hand on his back, slowly guiding Spike back into his office.

“Come. We can talk until Miss Cheerilee arrives. Whatever you wish to discuss.”

Spike clambered up onto a chair. “You know, if I didn’t know any better I’d swear this was your job instead of being a magic teacher.”

“I may have also picked up a few other minors in my time.”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “...How old are you again?”

“Old enough. So, tell me some more about yourself.”

Spike shrugged and began to talk. He talked about his travels with Zecora, the brief time he had spent with Corona, more details about his attempts to unite dragons and his time with Sjach. But all the while his mind kept half dwelling on Miss Cheerilee. Maybe that was the answer. Sjach was nice for a dragon but he wasn’t sure he really felt at home in the Cavallian lair either. Maybe he could spend some time staying in Ponyville? See what it was like to live with a bunch of ponies, rather than wandering the wilderness or staying with other dragons.

While that last thought was rattling around his head, Cheerilee came stalking into the office, looking like she had just bit down on a dozen lemons all at once.

Spike blinked. “Are you okay?”

Cheerilee’s expression softened almost immediately. “I’m...fine Spike. Yangin was just being incredibly...difficult.”

Spike wanted to know more about what was going on between those two, but it didn’t feel like the right time to bring it up, considering how upset Cheerilee looked about it. He’d ask more about it later.

“Anyway,” Cheerilee said with a smile. “It’s starting to get late. Should we get some dinner?”

Spike’s stomach was feeling a little rumbly at the moment. “Yeah, that sounds good.” He glanced back over at Schwarzkopf. “Can we talk more tomorrow?”

“Of course. I’ll be free in the afternoon, after classes.”

Spike nodded and hopped back off the chair. At least someone cared about his well being.

Yangin caught up with Celestia just as the impromptu press conference was beginning to wind down. She could tell just from looking at Celestia that talking to the press had strained her good will nearly to the breaking point. She could see it in subtle movements of her wings and tail, annoyed little twitches of frustration that were threatening to boil over.

She landed at the Princess of the Sun’s side.

“Alright everypony, Princess Celestia has answered enough of your questions for today. Shoo.”

Instead, this triggered a fresh round of bulb flashes as she became the center of attention.

“Who are you ma’am?”

“What’s your relationship with Princess Celestia?”

“Where’s the camel that the Crystal Guard saw earlier?”

Yangin rolled her eyes. A subtle ruffle of her wings stirred the wind around them, a sudden breeze kicking up. It slashed across the the front of the assembled reporters, ripping their notepads from their grip and carrying them down the street. The reporters, now suddenly worried about the fate of their existing story, went galloping after them, leaving her and Celestia alone.

“...That was well played,” Celestia said, the barest hint of laughter in her voice.

“Mortal buttons are easy to push sometimes,” Yangin responded with a grin. “I’m guessing that everything is going to plan so far?”

Celestia nodded. “So far. I imagine that word has been passed onto my sister at this point.”

Yangin sighed. “I hope that she doesn’t show up. Somehow I doubt she’s forgotten that black eye I gave her. Really not relishing the thought of fighting her again.”

“That will come sooner or later. When we move on Canterlot-”

“I know.” Yangin ruffled her pegasus wings again before letting her body fade back into its natural form. She eyed a member of the Crystal Guard who had shown up to keep tabs on things during the interviews. “In all seriousness though, we need to talk someplace private. Now. Cheerilee told me something disturbing.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow but nodded and motioned for Yangin to follow her. “Very well. I believe that Blue Agate has arranged for lodging in their diplomatic quarters, since the Equestrian embassy is closed to us.”

The Crystal Guard, who had clearly been listening in, perked up at that. “This way your highness. I’ll escort you to the quarters we have set aside for you.”

Celestia allowed the clumsy eavesdropping to pass by uncommented upon and dropped into step behind the guard.

As was befitting the dual desires of the Crystal Empire to keep everything centralized and under their through control, its embassy row was built within viewing distance of the Crystal Palace and at the opposite end of the street from the headquarters of the Crystal Guard. The message to those who worked in the various embassies was clear.

We have our eyes on you, so watch yourself.

From what information Kindle had passed onto her, Celestia knew that there was a second reason for such close proximity to the palace. Ease of spying. Even back in her time, espionage was the great game played between states. Looking for an edge was just part of it all. She was quite sure that each of the embassies were laced with magical and mundane spying methods that their occupants were constantly countering back.

There was one building at the end of the row, a little less impressive than the other structures, for visiting dignitaries that didn’t have permanent buildings of their own. Once inside, it was a short trip to their chamber among the others.

It was not the most lavishly appointed set of chambers she had stayed in. But it was done up in the usual Crystal Empire style of geometric patterns and thin, graceful arches. There was only one four post bed in the room...though Celestia supposed that neither one of them truly needed it.

Celestia turned to face her once they stepped inside, Yangin closing the door in the guard’s face with a flick of her hoof. Celestia took a moment to channel, her horn tip glittering as she wove a dome of magic around them. Only once it was securely in place did she fully focus her attention on Yangin.

“What is it that Cheerilee told you?”

“That Solrath somehow got his claws on and then swallowed the Rainbow of Darkness.”

Shock washed over Celestia’s face as her wings flared wide. “Impossible! The Rainbow is locked away in Tartarus alongside its twisted master! The wyrm could not have gotten his claws on it!”

Yangin huffed in frustration. “Really? With all due respect, he’s an ancient dragon, obsessed with vengeance against your sister. Do you really think he wouldn’t try to get his talons on something that dangerous to use?”

“I have no doubt that he would like items of such power. But Tartarus has its own guards and protections. One can not just waltz into its depths and take anything thou wishes! Especially from the likes of Tirek! That monster is one of that pit’s most wicked prisoners!”

She stomped her hoof in emphasis, sending a spiderweb of cracks radiating outwards from the impact.

“Even if that’s the case, I think we should take this seriously!” Yangin exclaimed back. “That dragon will betray you without a second thought!”

“I am well aware of Solrath’s delusions! And I can handle his impotent rage should he try anything!”

Yangin sat back on her haunches, crossing her forelegs. “If it’s just him? Sure. But didn’t you get banished by your sister when she was channeling the power of Tirek?”

Celestia’s mane and tail burst into crackling flames. The temperature spiked in the room, the edges of the furniture beginning to catch alight from the alicorn’s rage. “Watch. Thy. TONGUE!”

Yangin held up her hooves. She had pushed things too far. “Okay, okay! I’m sorry! I’m just worried. You’re one of the only creatures I’ve met who knows what I actually am and that’s viewed me as something other than a trinket to add to their collection. I know you can’t actually die...but it’d be really boring waiting around for you to come back.”

Celestia’s flames died back down to her shimmering, flowing mane. “Very well. If what you say is true...I shall deal with Solrath when he makes his move. I still have my doubts.”

Celestia’s tone brooked no argument, so Yangin let the matter drop. Instead, she shifted topics.

“Are you ready for tomorrow then?”

Celestia nodded. “Yes. A bit of public relations in the morning then more time with The Speaker. Though the presence of Cheerilee complicates things somewhat. I imagine she’s already sent word to my sister and her friends.”

“You just worry about putting on a good face,” Yangin said. Her eyes flashed with power for a moment. “I’ll worry about that mare.”

That statement elicited an eyebrow raise from Celestia. “You are forbidden from harming her, Yangin. Whatever wrong she might have inflicted against you, she remains important as an Element Bearer.” She ruffled her wings, throwing in another observation almost as an afterthought. “Besides, it would undermine our goals if one of Equestria’s heroes was wounded here.”

“I’ll keep everything under control, promise.”

Celestia nodded and trotted over to the bed to lay down. Yangin picked one of the chairs and settled into it herself. She didn’t need to sleep, but a bit of meditation would help clear her mind. Closing her eyes, Yangin centered her mind on the raging core of magic within her center-

A half formed whisper reached her ears. “If you fail me, I’ll subject you to exquisite agonies.”

Yangin’s eyes snapped open. Had Celestia? But the alicorn seemed to be engaging in some meditation or deep thoughts of her own. Yangin frowned before settling back into her own efforts. Celestia could be a stern taskmaster. But she wouldn’t torture her...right?

Cheerilee couldn’t sleep tonight.

While Spike snored away in his bed, the teacher found herself standing at the hotel room’s window, staring out at the city’s skyline. The day’s previous clashes with Yangin hung in the back of her mind, refusing to vacate no matter how much she wanted them to leave. For there was a question she just couldn’t run away from.

Was she actually a good pony?

Before, she was pretty convinced that she was, despite her more wild youth. But now that she thought about it more... What happened with Tarnished, driving her friends crazy with “training, seizing control of Yangin… It was hard to ignore the thought that she was perhaps a bit too ruthless, a bit too willing to do what was “needed” for the sake of her friends and Equestria.

She looked back at Spike and thought about her students back in Ponyville. At least when it came to foals she hadn’t made any massive mistakes yet. She was going to make sure that things worked out for Spike at least. Even if she could never get Yangin to forgive her for her mistake, she’d make sure that one thing went well on this trip.

Sighing to herself, she forced herself to go to bed. She’d see what the morning brought.

Author's Note

Is Cheerilee a good pony?

Up to one's personal interpretation, I suppose. I still think she is.

Also, there seems to be something bad happening with our jinn. I wonder what's going to happen with that? We'll find out next time!

5. Depths and Darkness

Spike yawned as the morning sunlight dragged him awake. As he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes the smell of something good reached his snout. Slightly sweet mixed with the low earthy smell of gems. It reminded him of that emerald cake that Princess Luna had conjured for him after the events at The Forge. Sitting up in his bed, he blinked to see Miss Cheerilee rolling a cart into the room. A cart that had a few glittering trays on its surface.

“Good morning! I have a bit of breakfast for you!”

“Are those gems I smell?”

“Yup! Ruby and sapphire pancakes! With some fresh maple syrup.”

The thought of fresh pancakes was already making Spike’s stomach rumble. Hopping out of bed, he lifted off one of the tray covers and took in the glittering little gems set into the soft, fluffy cakes. He dug in without hesitation, indulging in that lovely mixture of flavors. There was fresh orange juice as well, which made for a refreshing companion to the cakes.

“So,” Spike asked after a few minutes of eating. “What’s the plan for today?”

“Well, that kind of depends on what you want to do. We’re here for you after all. How have you been feeling about your talks with Schwartzkopf?”

Spike thought about his time with the dragon so far. “Well, he’s been pretty nice. And I think that he has a point about not being afraid to live with other creatures. I mean...before Zecora threw in with Corona, we had fun together.”

Cheerilee tilted her head slightly. “What was Zecora like before? We’ve only ever known her as one of Corona’s minions.”

Spike considered the question carefully before answering. “Hmm. She didn’t really act all that different. Zecora’s always been kind of…focused on other stuff. When we were traveling together, we never stayed in one place all that long. She was always looking for something...or someone I guess.”

“Corona. From what my friends told me, she had a vision about needing to be at Corona’s side.”

“Oh yeah, her visions. I saw one of those once. Her eyes went all white and she started muttering to herself.” He wiggled his claws and glanced around the room in a conspiratorial manner. “It was kinda spooky.”

Now that got Cheerilee curious. Even taking into account the weird turn her own life had taken since becoming a knight, actual prophecy remained a strange and wondrous thing. “I don’t suppose you remember what she said?”
Spike shook his head. “Not really. I think it was something about ‘chaos’? It was kind of a while ago, you know?”

It was a slightly disappointing revelation, but one that couldn’t be helped. So Cheerilee turned her attention back to the more immediate situation. “So...what would you like to do today?”

Spike poked the edge of his pancake plate. “I don’t know. I know that we’re up here because of what happened at The Forge. But Schwartz already made a good point to me and I’m not sure that talking about it more will help.”

“If all you want to do today is wander around the city and have fun, I’m sure we can manage that.”

Spike considered the prospect. The more he dwelled on the question, the more he wasn’t sure that he wanted to do that either. He wanted to do...something more substantive. He wanted to…

“Let’s take down Corona!” he blurted out.

Cheerilee stared at him for a few long minutes. “I’m sorry?”

“Well...not actually take down. She’s too tough for that. But she’s also obviously up to something here. We could stop her! Isn’t that your job?”

“It may be one of them, but when I face down Corona, it's usually with all my friends and not with…” She sighed and shook her head. “I’m sorry Spike, but you’re still a child. I’d be breaking everything I ever swore to as a teacher if I willingly dragged a kid into danger!”

Spike crossed his arms. “I’ve already been in danger plenty of times!”

“And I’m not going to put you into more of it!” Cheerilee snapped, stamping a hoof. “I’m not going to make another huge mistake based on the fear of what might happen!”

An awkward silence hung in the air, Spike wordlessly staring back at Cheerilee with a raised eyebrow.

“That last bit isn’t about me is it?”

Cheerilee sighed, casting her eyes towards the floor. “I’m sorry Spike. I did a bad thing while in Naqah and may have handed Corona a new ally because of it. I don’t…” she trailed off, squeezing her eyes shut. “I can’t make a mistake like that again.”

Spike hopped off the bed and walked to the teacher’s side. Placing a hand on her withers, he flashed a comforting smile. “And I tried to unite all of dragon kind with an evil magic artifact. No one’s perfect here. If I’m not supposed to beat myself up over my mistakes, why is it okay for you?”

Cheerilee smiled sadly back. “Because I’m supposed to know better. I’m the adult. I’m the teacher.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re perfect.”

Before Cheerilee could argue the point further a heavy knock sounded against the door. She blinked before getting up to see who would be visiting them this early in the morning. The pony waiting on the other side of the door was a bookish looking type with his short straw colored mane neatly trimmed and a rolled up scroll cutie-mark standing out from his light brown coat. He was wearing a neat tweed vest and saddlebags that were crammed full of scrolls and other papers.

“Dame Cheerilee?”

“Yes?”

“I’m Quill Pusher, assistant to ambassador Springberry Meadow.”

“....And?”

“Well...he’d like to speak with you ma’am. About Corona. He’d like to discuss the possibilities of plans against her actions in the city.”

“But I’m here. Alone.”

“He has already telegraphed Canterlot, asking for your friends to join you here as soon as possible.”

“But I’m not here for that. I’m here for-”

“Go ahead,” Spike interrupted.

Both Cheerilee and Pencil Pusher looked at the dragon. Spike smiled back, idly waving a claw in a dismissive gesture. “Seriously. This is important. I’ll just wait here and order room service.” A smirk crossed his lips. “Room service that I’m sure the ambassador’s office will be happy to pick up, since your borrowing my guardian for the time being.”

For a moment Pencil Pusher was caught off guard, blinking in surprise. But then he nodded. “The embassy does have a discretionary fund for situations such as this. We’ll be more than happy to see that your companion is well taken care of.”

Cheerilee glowered. She didn’t want to leave Spike, but Corona was one of her responsibilities at the same time. Spike waved another claw towards the door.

“Go and talk to him. I’ll be fine for a few hours, really.”

Mentally conceding the point, Cheerilee was halfway through stepping towards the door when the memory of the conversation they had just had bubbled back to the surface. She turned back towards Spike, fixing him with an appraising glare. Spike grinned sheepishly back.

“What?”
“I can’t help but feel like you’re up to something.”

“Me? Up to something? Why would I be up to something?”

“Because you keep glancing at the window.”

“It’s a nice day out!”

“Uh huh,” Cheerilee deadpanned, before turning her attention towards Quill Pusher. “I’m adding another little caveat. Keep an eye on Spike while I talk to the ambassador.”

Now it was Pusher’s turn to be perplexed. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. If I’m going to speak with Ambassador Meadow, somepony has to watch Spike while I’m gone.”

“But...I’m not a foal sitter.”

“Hey!” Spike exclaimed, crossing his arms. “I’m not that helpless! I lived in the wilderness for a while, and found my way to The Forge myself!”

“And I’m not a foal sitter!”

Cheerilee grinned. “Tough luck! This is happening.” She leaned in close, whispering right into his ear. “Don’t let him out of your sight.”

She shoved Quill Pusher into the room, taking a moment to appreciate the stunned look on his face before kicking the door closed behind her. Quill Pusher could only stare at the closed door for a minute before turning to look at Spike.

“Sooo….game of cards?”

“...Okay.”

Five rounds of cards later and Spike was both bored and quite ready to ditch his guard.

“Do you have any twos?”

...Guard might have been pushing it.

Spike tossed his hand onto the nightstand. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

Pencil Pusher frowned. “Cheerilee said I’m not supposed to let you out of my sight.”

“Dude...it’s the bathroom. It’s not like I’m asking to leave the hotel or anything.”

“...Fine. Don’t take too long though! I got you right where I want you!”

“Hey, that’s what I expect from the master of Go Fish!”

Spike grinned, pointing both his claws at Quill Pusher before vanishing into the bathroom. Taking a moment to make sure the door was thoroughly closed and locked behind him, he quickly looked around. If there wasn’t a window in here, he’d be going nowhere fast. Thankfully, there was one positioned just above the toilet itself. It was small, too small for a pony to fit through and more designed to allow some light to filter through. Still, he was small enough that he might be able to squeeze through.

Hopping up onto the toilet, he turned his body sideways and squeezed himself through the the narrow little gap. Or at least, he tried to. About halfway through, he found himself stuck. It felt like his tail had managed to get wedged between his body and the window frame.

“Oh, for crying out loud,” he grumbled to himself.

Sucking in his gut, he strained against the frame with all his might. Nothing. Spike frowned. He couldn’t take too long, Quill Pusher wouldn’t wait forever. But as he kept struggling against the frame an idea did pop into his head. They were made of gems.

Backing out of the window, he tore into the frame with his teeth, his dragon nature making short work of the crystalline structure. Even with a mouth full of crystal, Spike beamed to himself at his own enginuity.

“Are you okay in there?” Quill called.

Spike swallowed. “Yeah, I’m fine! Just give me a minute!”

Scrambling through the now enlarged window, he was free! Unfortunately, the roof was at a sharp angle and his feet shot out from underneath him the moment he set foot on it. Desperately his claws scrabbled against the slabs of gemstone before the managed to find purchase and stop his descent before he pitched over the edge. For a few moments, he hung on the edge, catching his breath from the sudden rush.

“That was close,” Spike muttered to himself.

Then he looked down.

There were four more stories to go.

Spike sighed and got to climbing.

“You’d think that more ponies would be worried about the kid dragon wandering around,” Spike mused as he moved through the streets of Beren. Then again, maybe the presence of Corona in the city had everypony on edge to the point where it was easy to overlook him. There certainly seemed to be a great deal of chatter as he wandered the packed streets.

Not that he was entirely sure that he was going. Corona had to be somewhere in this city. Though...what exactly was his plan once he found her? He couldn’t fight her. Corona could probably fight multiple full sized dragons on her own. As much as he hated to admit it, he could really...

”Hast du das neueste gehört Corona?”

Spike spun towards the pony that had just spoken the solar tyrant’s name.

He was talking to another pony, both holding pads of paper. They seemed to be exchanging notes. All at once realization swept over him. They were press ponies. As the pair began to trot off Spike chuckled deviously, rubbing his hands together.

“Trying to improve your public image are we? Well, we’ll see just how well that goes when I give them an insider scoop.”

Following after the reporters, Spike cackled to himself.

Yangin couldn’t help but smile as she watched Celestia work, sprawled out on the four poster bed. A pair of the longue couches in the room had been moved to face each other. Celestia sat in one, while a reporter sat in the other. It was the second round with the press and now she was moving to one on one interviews with a few of the larger Crystal Empire papers. Those waiting for their turn remained outside their guest chambers, alongside dozens of hangers on from the lesser papers and gossip rags.

“How would you react to those who would accuse that this whole trip is a show?” the boring looking reporter pony asked.

“I would understand where they’re coming from,” Celestia answered. “The amount of time that has passed since the incident is great. It’s a moment of history for the ponies of this land. But for me, it’s been a question of years. It is a wound that needs to be addressed.”

The reporter hummed and jotted down a few notes. “There is the question of the Element Bearers. It is well known that they’ve opposed you in the past. Are you prepared to deal with them as aggressively as you did Sombra?”

Celestia snorted. “Please. Don’t ask foolish questions like that. They are children, that do not understand the politics of their situation. You do not respond to that with overwhelming force.”

“But reports of your encounters with them in the past?”

“Those are lies and have been blown out of proportion.”

“And the recent incident in Naqah?”

“An unfortunate one. Emir Grev was not up front with his intentions, or his motivations for his own nation. I made a very unfortunate mistake, stemming from a lack of understanding of the geopolitical situation outside Equestria. It will not happen again.”

She seemed ready to make a follow up statement when an uptake in murmuring outside their door caught her attention. Getting up, Celestia quickly pushed past the reporter she had just been talking to and threw it open.

The street in front of the building, already mostly filled with reporters waiting for interviews, had become an impromptu forum. All the reporters were now clustered around a small purple dragon, who was eagerly speaking and gesturing the the lot around him.

“-and then she used magic to make me all big and angry! Forced me to attack the Element Bearers, which I didn’t want to do. I mean, how crazy do you have to be to use a kid as a weapon?”

Celestia froze, her wings half flared in surprise.

And in that moment, Yangin watched her world collapse. Her plan, gutted by a child. A child! Her use to Celesia as an ally? Gone. Now the only role she could have as part of Celestia’s little group was as a tool. A tool, again. A thing, again! USED, AGAIN!

A horrible shriek tore through the crowd and ponies scattered like gnats. Yangin surged forward, all ash, smoke and rage. Smokey, shadowy tendrils lashed forward, ripping out of her body and grasping for that arrogant little dragon that had RUINED EVERYTHING!

Spike tried to scramble away, but her grip was too tight as she hauled him into the air. Vaguely she could hear some shouting echoing in the backs of her ears. But she pushed it aside and rose into the air like a firework, soaring for the wilds far beyond the city.

Celestia watched Yangin and Spike vanish into the distance with an uncharacteristic for her sense of horror. Right before her eyes, Yangin had gone berserk. Worse, she had sprouted shadowy tentacles and clouds of darkness just like one of Sombra’s creations.

That accursed moth! It must have infected her during the battle!

Cursed creation of a half mad warlock! I never should have let Yangin take the lead on that fight! Celestia mentally swore.

She was just about ready to spread her wings and give chase when she was swarmed by the reporters who had managed to find their courage again.

“Princess Celestia! Was she working on your orders?”

“Princess Celestia! What was she?”

“Has she been exposed to King Sombra’s magic?”

“What’s your plan of action?”

“Can you comment on Spike’s accusations?”

Damage control first then. Celestia opened her mouth to respond only for another voice to cut across her.

“What is going on here?”

The crowd parted, revealing a very confused looking Dame Cheerilee. She must have been somewhere nearby and came to investigate the noise. Celestia was about to explain the situation, when one of the reporters decided to shoot his mouth off.

“Corona’s fire camel kidnapped a baby dragon!”

Cheerilee froze, her expression growing slack. “I see.”

Celestia slowly approached the stunned mare. “My apologies Dame Cheerilee, but I fear that Yangin has become tainted by some of Sombra’s shadow magics.”

“I see,” Cheerilee intoned.

“She is not in her right mind.”

“I see.”

Celestia cocked her head. This behavior was...confusing. Of all the Element Bearers, Cheerilee had always seemed the most irreverent, no matter the situation. Now she was just standing slack and stunned. It was like she had broken by the news. Frowning, she leaned down to see if it would provoke any kind of reaction from the earth pony.

Cheerilee took a deep breath and swung.

“We have half a mind to banish thee into the sun thou insolent little whelp!” Celestia shouted.

“You let Yangin just take Spike! He’s a child! Oh, wait, you did that yourself when you first woke up!”

“Hold thy tongue!”

Cheerilee and Corona’s eyes bored into each other as they faced each other down. After slugging Corona in the right eye, Cheerilee had found herself grabbed by the alicorn and teleported back to her quarters. There, things had devolved into a shouting match.

“I will not ‘hold thy tongue’!” Cheerilee raged. Normally, she didn’t rant and rave and scream, but now it was flowing naturally. “I came here to help Spike! He was hurt and vulnerable and he trusted me! I was responsible for him! And because I had to run off and talk to the ambassador because of your presence, I wasn’t there to help him!”

Corona’s mane and tail roared back into their crackling, flaming state. “Thy presence wouldn’t have done much! Yangin is in the grips of madness right now and would have brushed you aside!”

“I could have at least tried! I have to do something! I have to...I have to…”

The blind fury that had settled over her ebbed away, a wave of exhaustion rising up to take its place. She slumped to the floor, head hanging, ears falling flat as the wetness of tears welled up in her eyes. It was just all too much. How was she supposed to be a knight, a “hero” of Equestria when she couldn’t even watch a child that was counting on her? How was she supposed to live up to her Element when she enslaved somepony? Was she any better than Corona?

Minutes passed with her sobbing in the middle of the floor. Cheerilee hiccuped when a pale white hoof clad in gold gently lifted her chin. She found herself looking into magenta eyes that were a mixture of soft and determined.

“We will get him back.”

Cheerilee blinked away her lessening tears. “We?”

“As was said, Yangin is not in her right mind now. I do not wish to see her go wild, in the throws of Sombra’s magic...and I do not wish to see Spike hurt. The way I treated him before was...wrong. I see that now. So, we will get him back.”

“How? I mean, I don’t want to hurt Yangin either.”

Corona ruffled her wings. “Neither do I. Thankfully, I have had some experience with Sombra’s creations. Negative emotions are what power them. But those same emotions also provide avenues of attack, if you know how to handle them.”

Wiping the last remains of misery from her eyes, Cheerilee set her jaw and nodded determinedly. “What’s the plan?”

Corona frowned for a moment. “Considering some of the feelings she’s expressed… We are going to kill you.”

“Let me go!”

“Shut up! I’m trying to think!”

Spike could only glare at Yangin as she paced the width of the cavern for what felt like the twentieth time. He didn’t exactly know where they were...some series of caves and caverns tucked away in the mountains of the Crystal Empire. At least he was pretty sure it was the Crystal Empire still. All the gems in the cave walls were kind of a give away.

Yangin was getting worse from when she had grabbed him. The darkness clinging to her body was spreading and growing more pronounced. More tendrils, wispy and thrashing, were growing from her body. Half her face was a mask of blackness, with one solid red eye burning in the shadow. Spike had to admit, she was growing more and more scary with each passing minute. It was like she was being consumed by something that was tearing her apart from the inside. Part of him wanted to run, but he couldn’t. Yangin had opted to hang him upside down from the ceiling, stone locking his feet and tail in place.

“Gotta prove my worth. Can’t have Celestia treat me like a thing. Need to do something…” Then she whirled around, the flames on her body shooting into the air. “That’s it!”

In the next moment she flowed across the chamber, stopping just short of Spike with a manic grin. “I’m going to use you as bait!”

Spike frowned. “Bait? I’m not that important.”

“Cheerilee. She cares about you. And if she’s dead, the Elements of Harmony can’t be used against Celestia! Nothing will be able to stop her! And then that will prove to her that I’m an equal and not just something to be used!”

“You leave her alone! If you try something, I’ll-”

“You’ll do what?” Yangin snarled.

Quivering with anger and unable to move, Spike did the only thing he could. He spat a mass of fire right into Yangin’s face. She recoiled back, more out of shock than any actual danger from the flames. But to Spike’s surprise, the darkness that had been coiling around her face seemed like it had been partially burnt away. Yangin seemed slightly out of it though, as she floated in place, swaying back and forth slightly while just staring into the distance. But then the darkness and the shadow began to advance back over her in a black march and the gleam of madness returned.

Spike sucked in another breath to burn away what he could. But before he could let the flame fly, a circlet of stone snapped around his muzzle.

“Ah ah ah. You just sit here and wait. I’ll deal with your teacher friend soon enough. I just need to wait for Celestia. I’m sure she’ll catch up with me.”

Spike fumed. What he wouldn’t give for that magical amulet now. He’d show both Yangin and Corona what for!

Time stretched on and on in mixture of boredom and frustration, with Yangin growing more and more agitated waiting for Celestia to arrive. The room grew darker as well as the shadows kept encroaching over Yangin’s natural flames. She looked ready to maybe leave and go do something, when a voice echoed through the halls.

“Spike? Spike? Are you in here?”

That was Cheerilee! Yangin cackled in glee and snaked back into one of the dark corners of the cavern, crouching behind a stalactite.

No! Spike thought. Yangin’s going to kill her!

Cheerilee stepped into the entrance to their chamber, trotting towards him with an oblivious expression. She stopped about halfway in, fixing her eyes firmly on Spike. Spike blinked back. Just what was she doing? Something felt...off here.

In her crazed state, Yangin clearly did not pick up on the same oddness that he did. She came screaming out of her hiding spot, fresh tendrils of flame and shadow reaching out for her. They wrapped around Cheerilee, eliciting a strangled cry from her before the jinn began to shake her like a ragdoll.

“Bind me will you? Drag me into your war will you? Use me as a toy will you?” Yangin shouted.

There was a loud snapping sound followed by Cheerilee being dropped to the ground. In theory, she had just been killed...but Spike would have burst into laughter if he could have. Cheerilee’s expression was beyond ridiculous. Wide eyed and somehow smiling while her tongue was also sticking out. Spike was pretty sure he had seen dolls with more realistic expressions! All she needed were X’s in place of the eyes to complete the look.

But Yangin kept ranting at the “body”.

“Haha! You’ll never control me again you witch! You’re gone! Gone forever! And you’ll never bother me again!”

As she ranted and raved, the shadows actually began to lift from her body. For a moment, it seemed like whatever had infected her was going away, but the cloud kept on growing and swelling in size. Doubling and then doubling again until it filled the whole roof of the massive chamber. It was once it reached its full size, a massive churning storm of umbral energy that Yangin finally stopped her ranting.

The jinn rolled her eyes upwards, uttering only a single word when she saw what was looming above her.

“Damn.”

And then the shadows dove for her.

The “dead” Cheerilee sprang to her hooves and dove for Yangin, tackling her out of the way. In that exact same moment, Corona appeared where Yangin had been standing a moment before.

“Face me, spawn of Sombra!” Corona roared.

And night became day. The whole of the alicorn’s body erupted into light and fire, filling every inch of the room with a sparkling radiance. The bubbling and churning cloud of shadows was banished in an instant revealing a moth shaped form at its heart. It wailed morosely, attempting to flee from the cavern.

But Corona was having none of it. “Oh, what was that phrase that Yangin cooked up when you fought? Ah yes,” her eyes flashed all the brighter. “Fulminating Flame Cage!”

Roaring flames engulfed the moth, the blaze growing hotter and hotter as Corona just poured more magic into the enchantment. The moth wailed and thrashed against its bonds, but against the sun itself, it stood no chance.

“Go join your master in the void,” Corona calmly declared, before throwing a fireball into the mass to finish the job.

With a final screech, this new moth- or perhaps a continuation of the old one- was snuffed out.

Yangin blinked. “What...happened?”

Cheerilee poked her in the side. “We’ll tell you once you release Spike, please.”

Yangin looked over at Spike and yelped. A clap of her hooves banished the stone in a moment, allowing Spike to stretch and get the feeling back into his limbs.

“That was quite a show,” he declared, running over to Cheerilee’s side. “Though I gotta agree with her,” he said, pointing to Yangin. “What did happen there?”

“Sombra constructed his shadow creatures out of raw lumps of magic,” Corona said with a nod towards the jinn. “It, not being intelligent enough to know what Yangin actually was, tried to replicate itself using her. Of course, it’s very presence and nature stoked her worst emotions.”

Yangin shuddered. “Well...that’s a charming mental image. But why have me think-”

“According to Corona, Sombra’s emotional monsters finished their...replications when exposed to large amounts of negative emotions,” Cheerilee answered. “So, by feeding your feelings for me.”

“We’d draw it out of your body, allowing me to destroy it,” Corona finished.

“Lovely,” Yangin sighed. She eyed Cheerilee for a moment as she returned to hovering a few inches off the floor. “...I suppose I do owe you some thanks for assisting me.”

“I owed you,” Cheerilee answered simply.

“I’ll consider us even then.”

“Come Yangin,” Corona said. “Our time here is done.”

“But-”

“We are done here.”

Yangin sighed and slumped. She wordlessly floated over to Corona’s side. Corona looked Cheerilee and Spike over before sighing herself.

“As you did assist us in banishing the moth from Yangin, we will assist both of you with transport back to Beren. Then, we will part ways. Until the next time we come into conflict.”

“Fair enough,” Cheerilee answered.

True to her word, Corona had born them back to Beren. She had unceremoniously dumped them off at the city’s outskirts before making a quick exit with Yangin. Cheerilee suspected it had something to do with the roaming crowd of reporters she saw wandering the streets. A crowd that she had resolutely dodged as they walked back to their hotel. The events after that were something of a whirlwind.

Equestria’s ambassador had tracked them down, demanding to know what had happened. Then Schwartzkopf had tracked them down, likewise wanting to know what had happened. Then things had managed to settle for a bit, giving Cheerilee and Spike some time to relax from the madness.

But after a while, it was time to leave.

Cheerilee found herself packing while Spike was saying goodbye to Schwartzkopf. As she worked, she found herself thinking about the situation with Spike. If she was being honest with herself...she didn’t know how well this trip had actually gone. She was tempted to call it a disaster based on Spike’s kidnapping alone. Yet…

He had been brave enough to try and foil one of Corona’s plans himself. Was that a sign that he was moving on from what happened at The Forge or wallowing in it, trying to get involved in things that were too dangerous for him? She honestly didn’t know. Still, the conversations that they had with Schwartzkopf had made her consider something.

Maybe Spike needed a chance to spend some time with other races too.

In fact, maybe some time in Ponyville could do him some good? He could stay with her in fact. She had the space. He trusted her. He was also closer in age to many of her students (at least she thought so), so spending time with younger ponies could be good for him. As those thoughts kicked and swirled around her head she glanced around for those books Twilight had asked her to get signed. Where had she put them?

The door to the room swung open and Spike came walking in with both books and a scroll in his hands.

“I got those books signed for you, and his address so that I can stay in touch with him.”

“Oh, thanks Spike!”

“Hey, no problem. I figured I might as well get it done while I was saying goodbye. We’re going to stay in touch.”

“Glad to hear that.”

“And you know, I was thinking...maybe it would be a good idea for me to spend some time with some ponies too. And well...if I did want to do that...maybe I could spend some time with you?”

Cheerilee smiled back at him. “I’d be happy to have you Spike.”

“Not that I’m thinking about doing that right now! Sjach could still use a little bit of help getting his new lair all together of course.”

“Of course.”

“Cool.”

He passed the books over and Cheerilee stowed them safely away.

“Hey, can we grab something to eat on the way to the train station?”

Cheerilee snapped her saddlebags closed. “That sounds great to me.”

A few days later, Yangin was brooding back in her room.

She knew that the axe was going to be falling sometime soon. Kindle had been furious at the backfiring of the Crystal Empire plan. He and the remaining Solarites had been waiting to take advantage of the spin she was going to throw out, but now that had all exploded in her face. Even worse, she had been partially saved by Cheerilee. It seemed that the teacher was serious about trying to make her previous mistake right.

She snorted. So be it. She had wandered the world alone since she and her sisters had split up. She could do it again. Let Celestia deal with taking her kingdom back herself!

Hoof falls. Here it came.

Celestia stepped through the magma door and took a seat opposite her. “We have things to discuss, Yangin.”

“When do you want me gone?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Gone?”

“I ruined my own plan. I imagine you want me gone.”

“And yet, despite Kindle and his failures, I haven’t gotten rid of him. Or Terrorwing. Or Zecora. This failure was not your fault.” Her horn glowed as she summoned a tray of tea. “Besides...you were right about something before we engaged in this little venture. Both of us know the sting of a sister’s betrayal.”

She slowly poured a cup. “You and your sisters are also like me and mine in another way. You are unique beings in this world, unlikely to ever see more of your kind made.” Passing the cup over to Yangin, the smallest of smiles played across her muzzle. “Of all those who serve me, you’re the one who I can relate to the most. I...do not want you to leave.”

Yangin blinked. Then she broke into a massive grin and swept into an imperious, over the top, bow. “Then I am your humble ally, my queen! What do we need to discuss?”

“Our plans for the attack on Canterlot,” Celestia said, extending her own full cup of tea.

Yangin tapped her own against it in a toast. “Then, let us scheme.”

Author's Note

And this little fic comes to a close.

My favorite part of it probably is the relationship between Yangin and Celestia. It's an odd friendship, but one that I consider to be legitimate at any rate. I also wanted to open up the door for Spike to maybe move to Ponyville in the future.

As for the remains of Sombra's legacy....well, it's always a possibility that more of his creations might be lurking in the shadows. But I suppose we'll have to wait and see if more ever do rear their ugly heads.

Hope everyone enjoyed this fic!