Chapters "Shining?! Where's the baby?! Do you have the baby?!" Cadence screams.
"No, do you???" responds Shining.
"No," responds Cadence. The two then run into the throne room and see Sombra dangling her by her hooves with his magic.
"Don't come near!" hisses the King. "Or the baby gets it!"
"Mama!" cries Flurry Heart.
The conversation, this moment, continues to play over in Cadance's head as she lets out a sigh. "Hey Shining, do you think she's safe now that she's out of the empire?"
"I don't know, but she's probably definitely happier," responds Shining as he comes over and embraces the crying mare in his hooves.
"Do you think she forgot about us?" responds Cadance. The two then hear a knock on their door and open it to find Twilight Sparkle at their door.
"Flurry would never forget about her parents, big brother, Cadance," responds Twilight trying to reassure the pair.
"Twily! Why are you here?" inquires Shining.
"It's our annual sibling lunch date, don't you remember?" responds Twilight.
"Oh, right, that," responds Shining. "See you in a bit hun!" he kisses Cadance then heads off to lunch with Twilight in the crystal village.
As they are enjoying their lunch, Twilight notices her brother is bummed out a bit. "What's wrong big brother?" she inquires.
"We, we miss our Flurry Heart. We know sending her away was the best and safest thing to do, but the pain of not having her around hurts, especially for Cadance. She woke up in tears again this morning, from the nightmares of what happened at Sombra's return."
"Yikes, that's really yikes," responds Twilight. "But I got a note from the family that took her in this morning, she's doing fine. The mare says that she misses you and Cady so much."
Elsewhere in Equestria, in a small nowhere town called Saddle Ridge, a now five year old Flurry Heart happily helps her princess protection program assigned family tidy up their house and plant their garden. "Mist Garden?" asks Flurry Heart. "Do you think mom and dad forgot about me or do you think they miss me?"
"Hmm?" responds Mist. "They miss you very much, Heart Song."
"Why don't you just call me Flurry?" asks the filly. "That's my name."
"I know, but using a pseudonym or false name is better for your protection, princess."
"Okay, good to know," responds Flurry Heart. The young princess then flies back inside and up to her room.
After awhile, she is called down by Mist and Mist's husband, Charcoal Ink down to dinner. At dinner, the princess looks glumly as she picks out her food with her fork.
"She misses her real parents," sighs Mist. "And nothing I've done to get her mind off it or make her happy has worked."
"Let her write them then," responds Charcoal. "It'll help."
"Okay," sighs Mist. After dinner, she and Flurry sit down and write a letter that they then have the mailmares fly to the Crystal Empire. A few days later, the letter arrives and Shining and Cadance read it.
"Dear mom and daddy, this is Flurry. I just wanted to let you know I miss you and am homesick. Mist and Charcoal are nice and all, but they're not you. They'll never replace you. Flurry Heart." Cadance's eyes well up in tears and she begins to cry. Shining gives her a hug.
"What did I tell you? She'd never forget about us."
"Yeah," responds Cadance, "I still miss our baby girl though." She leaves her husband and goes inside and continues to cry. As Shining tries to run after her, he hears a roar and a thunder.
"It, it can't be," cries Shining in shock. "Sombra's back." He runs off to tell Cadance and they immediately shoot a magic forcefield into the sky around the empire. Everypony then goes into the house, slams the door, closes the windows, and hide.
"How? How is he back?!" panics Cadance in a frenzy.
"I...I don't know," responds Shining. "I thought he was destroyed by Twily, her friends, and the elements."
"So...so did I," cries Cadance as her ears pin down to her head in fear.
"Where is the infant princess?" hisses the smoke cloud. "Where is she?!"
"She, she's not here," responds Shining as Cadance continues to shake in fear behind him. "And you'll never find her!"
"Really?" responds Sombra. "My crystal gremlins are already looking over every part of Equestria for her. She's more than a princess you know, you fools? She's the savior set to destroy me, but we'll see about that." He then dissolves back into smoke and vanishes.
"Flurry? Savior? No way?" says Shining in disbelief.
"I'm, I'm not surprised actually," responds Cadance. "I was the quote on quote savior after Amore's passing. Kind of runs in my blood and I guess it also does in our daughter's."
"You have a lot to explain to me then," responds Shining. "Now."
"Fine," says Cadance. "I'll tell you immediately once we get inside."
Once inside and locked into the throne room, Cadance goes on and explains everything to Shining. "Do you know how I was adopted by Celestia not long after Luna's banishment?"
"Yes," responds Shining. "And about how she turned you into an alicorn. What does that have to do with anything?"
"Well, mom was a unicorn princess too, Amore's little sister. Her name was Cora. She told me before she abandoned me that someday I would be princess. She also told me I would someday be the savior of the empire her sister ruled. Now, that same thing is happening to our daughter. Now do you understand?"
"Yes," responds Shining. "Our daughter is truly not safe anywhere we send her. Good to know."
"Come on, Shining, don't be like that," responds Cadance with an angry snort. "It's not my fault our daughter's fate just happens to be being a savior like mine was all those years ago. She must return when she comes of age to save the Crystal Empire."
Meanwhile, the crystal gremlins come across Saddle Ridge and Mist and Charcoal's house. There, they turn to dust and enter the house where they soon find the young Flurry Heart. "Princess..." they whisper. "Princess... Princess..."
"What? Who's there? Who's calling my name?" cries Flurry Heart.
"We're the children of Sombra," responds the dust as it flies into the room and turns into two shadow forms in the shape of mares. "Our names are Wrath and Pestilence. We're the daughters of Sombra. His top gremlins."
"And what does your master want with me?" inquires the five year old princess.
"To let you know he's spying on you, savior, always spying on you. He'll destroy you someday. Give it a few years." The two shadows then disappear back into dust and fly away.
"Well, that was weird," responds Flurry. "But is what they say true? Am I really a savior?" She then hollers for Mist and Mist comes running.
"What?!" asks Mist.
"Is there something you and Charcoal aren't telling me?" demands Flurry.
"Yes," sighs Mist. "We didn't want to tell you until you were older. You're not only a princess but the Savior of the Crystal Empire. It's in your blood Flurry. When your mom had you, that destiny, that fate she was born with, passed on to you. Your mom did her duty as the previous Savior of the Crystal Empire and now it's your turn."
"How?! How could you not tell me this?!" demands a now angry Flurry Heart.
"It was for your own protection," responds Charcoal. "Mist and I were just hiding the truth from you like we were told by your mother to protect you. You have five more years until Sombra's full return. Then, then you'll have to return and protect the empire. Only then, not now. Then."
"Okay," sighs the Princess. "I'm still angry about this. Don't think I'm not." She then commands them to leave before turning over on her bed and looking at a picture of her with her parents and her auntie. "Oh mom, dad, Auntie Twi, I miss you guys so much." She lets out a sigh. "I just wish I had known I was the Savior of the Crystal Empire before now."
"That's my girl," giggles Shining Armor. "But be careful with that sword, Flur Flur."
"Yeah, daddy, I know," responds Flurry as she lowers it down level to his sword with her magic. The two then levitate their swords back into their hilts and head off to meet up with Cadance and Twilight for lunch.
"How did sword fighting go?" asks Cadance with a smile as the two enter the dining hall and sit down.
"It went well," respond the two in unison.
"Flur Flur did great," adds Shining as he watches her sit down next to her mother.
"Well good," responds Cadance. "Now enjoy some lunch you two. You need it after that many hours of practicing." Flurry nods and picks up her daisy and dandelion sandwich and begins to eat it while Shining slurps on a bowl of carrot soup.
"Honey," coughs Cadance, "could you not slurp? Gees."
"Fine," says Shining as he goes back to eating it normally with a spoon levitated by his magic.
"So?" says Flurry curiously to her auntie and mother. "Will I get a stained glass if I manage to defeat Sombra and his crystal shadow children once and for all?"
"Maybe, sweetheart," responds Cadance.
"Absolutely!" squeals Twilight.
"Twily, don't get hopes up," butts in Shining.
"But every time we knocked out a bad guy, we got one. Why would Flurry be any different?" Twilight questions at her brother and sister-in-law.
"Love, she does have a point," responds Cadance. "But she needs to learn how to fight properly first. To fight a war, you also need to learn how to defend yourself."
"Indeed, we do have much more practice to do before you're ready to end Sombra for good," responds Shining.
"Yeah daddy, I know," responds Flurry all grumbly.
A few minutes later, Flurry and her father finish up their lunch and return to sword practice. They continue to duel for several hours before finally turning in for the night. "You're advancing well, my daughter," says Shining, "I'm proud of you. You'll be ready to face Sombra soon enough. Maybe even kill him for good. Soon you'll start your love magic and friendship magic lessons with your mother and aunt."
"Oh joy!" says Flurry jumping around the room giddily before hugging her father and running off to bed for the night.
"Good night, Flur Flur," says Shining after her as she runs down the hall.
"Good night, daddy!" she yells back as she continues down the hallway. Soon, she reaches her bedroom and gets into bed. She then reaches under it and pulls out a small scrapbook and opens it to a page of her as a baby with her parents. "Those were the days I loved the most," sighs Flurry, "now they're the ones I miss the most." She then falls asleep after closing it and sliding it back under the bed.
As she sleeps, Flurry can't help but dream about the days before she was foal napped by Sombra in front of her parents. To her, those were the days she wished she could go back to the most, back when things were normal, back when she was normal.
Meanwhile in the throne room, Shining, Cadance, and Twilight are discussing important matters. "You're not scared that our daughter might die!" cries Cadance erratically. "I can't lose our only child! I can't! She's my world! My life! My everything!" Shining does his best to comfort his wife.
"Well, we don't know for sure that she's going to die in this war," responds Twilight. "She's the Savior, right? Just curious, Cady, what does that even mean if you don't mind explaining to me?"
"Fine," sniffles Cadance. "For as long as the Crystal Empire has existed, it has had protectors called Saviors. My grandmother was the first, followed by my aunt Amor and my mother Cora. My mother sacrificed herself to save me. When she died, the title of Savior of the Crystal Empire passed on to me. Me gaining the horn after killing Prismia just confirmed that fact in my mind. Not only was I bound to be Savior but also the future Crystal Princess. Both my mom and aunt ended up dead, I got lucky. I just hope my daughter is also one of the lucky ones." She bursts back into tears in Shining's hooves.
"Okay! That's enough!" snaps Shining. "It's time we all retire for the night. We all need the rest." Cadance nods and Shining helps her back to their room where she passes out immediately on the bed. Shining then lays down next to her and opens up a comic book and reads through it plus several more before falling asleep himself. Meanwhile in her room, Twilight falls fast asleep after reading through the entirety of the newest book in the Daring Do book series.
"I do hope Flurry Bear is successful in defeating Sombra once and for all," sighs Twilight before falling fast asleep for the night.
Early the next morning, a restless Flurry wakes up with the sunrise as does a restless and worried Cadance. "If only it could be different, if only the task of Savior wasn't in our bloodline," sigh the princesses as the look out at the beautiful sunrise hitting the crystal walls of the houses and the the palace and off the statues of Amor and Cora and off the one of Spike.
"That statue is so silly," giggles Cadance as a smile breaks across her face.
"That statue is so dumb, why do they keep it around?" laughs Flurry. Cadance turns around at the sound of her daughter's voice.
"Couldn't sleep either, I take it?" responds Cadance as she looks at her daughter.
"No," responds Flurry Heart. "Hard to sleep with the whole weight of the Empire on my shoulders." She chuckles. "Sunrise is pretty, though."
"Yeah," responds Cadance with a giggle. She then comes over and sits down next to her daughter.
"I know you're worried about me fighting Sombra," says Flurry looking up at her mother.
"You're right. I am worried. Scared more like," sighs Cadance. "I don't want to lose the best gift in the world, my little filly."
"Mom, you won't lose me," responds Flurry. "I'm not going to die in the war. I can feel it in my gut that I'll survive this."
"Well, I hope you're right," responds Cadance. "At least your words are bringing me a tinge of comfort. Alas, not enough comfort." The two then hear a cackle, a menacing growl coming over the horizon.
"Really Saviors?" says the voice of the dark king. "Good luck destroying me for good. Especially you, young Savior. Flurry Heart. I'm tougher than you think, child."
"And I'm tougher and stronger than you think!" Flurry yells back enraged at the smoke on the horizon. "I will defeat you, Sombra! It is my destiny!"
"And it's mine to defeat you...Radiant Hope...no..." whispers the King to himself. "It's mine to defeat you...Flurry Heart." Flurry just looks at the smoke confused then at her mom confused.
"Who? Who is Radiant Hope?" inquires Flurry Heart.
"She was Sombra's muse. His lover." responds Cadance. They watch the smoke disappait and disperse before returning back inside. There, they are soon greeted by Shining Armor and Twilight and head off to breakfast together of oatmeal with honey and crystal berries. At least, it is something to get their mind off of what just happened. Flurry and Cadance can definitely agree to that.
At breakfast, Flurry and Cadance just sit quiet and eat their oatmeal while Shining and Twilight go gaga over the newest Daring Do comic books and action figures. Cadance then mumbles under her breath, "why are they talking about comic books when there is clearly a war on the horizon?"
Flurry then whispers to her mom. "They're holding onto happiness and memories, let them." Cadance moans and nods to her daughter. "So, lovely day, isn't it?" says Cadance faning a smile.
"Yeah, sure," respond Twilight and Shining before getting back to needing out over Daring Do stuff. Cadance then puts her hoof down and straight up yells.
"Why are you talking about silly comic books and action figures when we're on the brink of war? We have a mad king in the basement that has plans to kill our daughter and you're talking about comic books, really? The heck you two! The heck!"
"Mom, it's fine, you can stop," says Flurry embarrassed.
"No! It's not fine!" snaps Cadance. She then storms out of the room and lets tears pour down her cheeks out of view. She can't believe she just snapped like that, at her husband and sister-in-law no less. She then runs off to her room and locks herself in for the rest of the day and just continues to cry.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, Flurry does her best to focus on her friendship magic lessons with her Auntie Twily, but Twilight can tell her mind isn't fully there. "You're worried about your mom, aren't you, Flurry?" asks Twilight concerned as she puts her hoof under the young mare's chin.
"Yes," responds Flurry. "I've never seen her snap like that before. I know she was just hurt and annoyed that your focuses were elsewhere instead of what is at hoof, but but, it was still wrong. Honestly, I'm a bit rattled and scared." She hugs onto her aunt. "Can we just cut lessons short today and can you possibly talk to mom for me? Please. She'll listen to you."
"I don't think that would be wise, Flurry, but yes, we can end early," responds Twilight. The two then go off to the library to just hang out and talk. They catch up, Flurry tells Twilight about growing up living amongst normal ponies. Needless to say, Twilight is fascinating and writes all of it down in scroll upon scroll.
The next morning, Cadance is back to her normal self and the combined friendship and love magic lessons go off without a hitch much to Flurry's delight and happiness. The three then go and just hang out and play games once lessons end along with Shining Armor. Flurry is glad to have this quality time with family. It gets their minds off of things: of darkness, of war, of pain and fighting. Alas, they know this cannot last forever and soon, soon, Sombra will break free and they'll have to face him and his crystal and umbra army in the bloodiest battle likely to ever occur in Equestrian...and Crystal Empire...history.
Elsewhere in the depths of the Everfree, Chrysalis and her changeling minions are planning an attack on the Crystal Empire for the third go round.
"So, we have a bit of an issue this time around, the Savior child Flurry Heart," hisses Chrysalis.
"And the fact you can't masquerade as Cadance again," pipes up a changeling named Larvae.
"But I could masquerade as Shining Armor if we knock him out," responds Chrysalis hissing. "But even that's too risky as the foal is super close to her father and would notice an imposter. Drat! And if you're about to say masquerade as Twilight, that would also backfire as she's also super close to her Auntie Twily."
"Then what do we do, your highness?" inquires Larvae.
"We replace the Crystal Guard. Each and every one of them," responds Chrysalis. "They'll never see that one coming." That night they put their plan into action, replacing each and every one of the Crystal Guard by morning time comes with the sunrise. Chrysalis then retreats back to their hiding hole in the Everfree and transforms into a phoenix so she can keep an eye on things from the sky above in the nests hidden throughout the Empire.
That morning, Shining notices something is not quite right. "Why are you guys lounging around, soldiers?! There's a war at hoof. Get to your posts!"
"Sorry, Captain, long night," respond the changeling guards in unison before heading off to the posts of the ponies they replaced. Chrysalis, now as a ladybug, watches from the window and whispers in a hiss to herself, "our plan in going perfectly." She then flies off back to the forest.
Meanwhile at the palace, Shining brings up his complaint to his wife. "Honey, I can sense something wrong. My magic feels it. I think the changelings are back and that they replaced my guards."
"Yeah, I sense it to," responds Cadance. "But how do we know which guards are real and which are fake?"
"I...I don't know," responds Shining. "Other than our power, our daughter's power, combined with the Crystal Heart." Shining then runs off to gather Flurry Heart and the Crystal Heart and brings them into the throne room. They then use the Heart to search out throughout the castle for the changeling spies in their midst and they soon find them. They're each and every single one of the guards. Now, now, they can worry. This is truly a bigger problem than the three initially thought.
"So, mommy, daddy, how do we take down a whole army worth of changelings?" inquires Flurry Heart. "We can't do it, three against thousands."
"I...I don't know..." says Cadance starting to freak out. She knows with this many around, their queen can't be far away. "But I'm honestly more worried about their queen...Chrysalis...as they are a hive mind species. We find her and destroy her and we get rid of all her drones...for good."
"Yeah, she's right," responds Twilight who has since entered the room, "The question is just where could she possibly be? Surely she's not that far away. Do you mind doing a locator spell, brother?"
"Already on it, Twily," responds Shining. "And it seems like she's within the Everfree Forest, but that's as much as I've got."
"Well, it's better than nothing," responds Twilight. "But the others aren't available, we'll have to figure this out on our own. Just the four of us."
"Oh, may Celestia help us," sighs Cadance in fear. The four then leave the room to try to talk and relax Cadance's nerves over some tea.
The next morning, Cadance and Shining wake up with an idea. "Hey," says Cadance, "what about we get some advice on this from Starlight, Trixie, Thorax, and Discord as they've actually defeated Chrysalis before?"
"That could work," responds Shining. "Send the scroll." Cadance nods and shoots the letter to Ponyville with her magic and it soon arrives at the castle and Starlight reads it.
"Dear Starlight, we have a bit of a Chrysalis and changeling problem. They've replaced all our guard and we don't know what to do. We could use some assistance from you and your friends. You know the ones." Starlight then zaps some magic teleporting her friends from their homes and to the castle to explain the situation to them.
"So what you're saying," says Trixie, "is you pulled me out of the shower for a changeling problem?"
"Yes, a bad changeling problem. They've replaced all the Crystal Guards," responds Starlight with an annoyed look on her face at her best friend.
"Well, I'm in," responds Discord. "Anything for Twilight Sparkle and her family."
A few hours later, Trixie finishes her shower and they hop on the train to the Crystal Empire and arrive about a day later. Once in the Crystal Empire, the royals explain the issue to them. "They're literally everywhere," says Cadance, "and we need to get rid of them for good. They make me anxious, especially the fact that there's been no sighting of their queen." She begins to hyperventilate and Shining does his best to calm his wife down. He then takes her out of the room while Twilight and Flurry continue to explain the situation to Starlight, Trixie, Thorax, and Discord.
"So," says Starlight, "Flurry, you're the Savior of the Crystal Empire, and Sombra wants you dead and you have a changeling problem at hoof, that's yikes."
"Yeah," responds Flurry. "I know, but I was literally born to be the Savior." After several hours, the group come up with a bit of a plan. Twilight and Flurry fly the Heart over the city and hold it up with their magic along with Starlight's and Trixie's magic from the ground. They then add a bit of a locator spell to the Heart to help locate the changeling guards at the moment. They then call all the ponies to arm with their love and friendship magic and they all power the Heart together, locating and setting ablaze several of the changeling guards. This continues to go on throughout the day, eventually killing or injuring the changeling guards and causing those left alive to retreat back towards the Everfree Forest and their queen. Discord, learning this, then goes off and confronts and defeats Queen Chrysalis himself, dragging her into the depths of the Chaos Realm and torturing her for all her previous misdeeds.
Meanwhile back at the Crystal Empire, they return the Heart to its holdings and Flurry goes and delivers the good news to her mother and father. Starlight and the others however, don't even notice Discord and Chrysalis are missing. They then decide to just chalk it up that he's probably finishing her off somewhere, likely the Chaos Realm. Today, however, it's time for celebration. Across the next few days, the original Crystal Guards emerge from the Everfree Forest, emaciated from loss of love and slowly return one by one on their bellies to the Crystal Empire where they are soon taken to the nurse's wing to be treated by the nurses and the two princesses, who use some of their magic to return love and friendship to the ill guards. Cadance is just relieved Chrysalis is gone along with her changeling drones. She can finally calm down and relax. However, as for Shining and Flurry, they know the real war is still ahead as they can both feel Sombra is about to break free from his prison and wage war across the Empire and then the rest of the surrounding lands.
In the meeting hall after the defeat, the four royals plot their next move against the tyrant King Sombra. "Well, we hurt him while he was solid, that's a start," says Flurry Heart proudly. "But we need to figure out how to defeat him in his shadow form as well as his solid form."
"I agree," responds Shining Armor. "He's a force to be reckoned with."
"We need help." adds Twilight. "The four of us and our army clearly are not enough anymore."
"I agree," adds Cadance. "But who should we contact? Celestia and Luna are on vacation and aren't your friends busy, Twilight?"
"If it's dire enough, they'll all come running, trust me," responds Twilight.
"I hope you're right, Auntie Twily," responds Flurry, "now send the letter." Twilight nods and does as her niece asks. A few days later, the letter reaches her friends in Ponyville and a second reaches the princesses in Silver Shoals. The following days, they all arrive by train to the Crystal Empire where they are rushed inside and briefed on the situation.
"What do you mean Sombra's back?" asks Applejack.
"Yeah, wasn't he banished to the ether for eternity?" inquires Rarity.
"Actually no," responds Shining, "we've been keeping him prisoner under the Crystal Palace and he's escaped and has waged war on us along with his shadow and crystal zombie minions."
"Well that's just peachy," says Rarity with a Humf. She plops down in the chair and crosses her hooves.
"Anything else we need to know that you haven't told us your highnesses?" inquires Aj.
"Well, I'm the so called Savior of The Crystal Empire thanks to mom's bloodline," responds Flurry Heart. "The reason Sombra is doing this is because he wants to destroy me and mom as we're the last of the Crystal Saviors left."
"We'll we're not going to let that happen, don't worry," responds Shining holding his wife and daughter close to his side. He then looks at his sister and her friends. "Right girls?"
"Right," responds Twilight. "But we have to do this war together or else we'll never win."
"I know," responds Shining. He then turns to Celestia and Luna. "I hope you two don't mind helping Cadance here protecting the Crystal Heart."
"Not one bit," respond the two with a smile. "We're just happy to help." The two then follow Cadance to where the Crystal Heart is being held. There, the three ignite their horns with their magic and begin to cast a spell around themselves and the heart.
Meanwhile, everypony else gets into armor and gets weapons from the castle armory. They then head back out to the battle field where they find Sombra with all his minions behind him and horn now completely and thoroughly healed. "Oh foolish child, don't you know time plus a little dark magic can heal anything?" He does an evil laugh. "Don't you know you can't defeat me? I am darkness incarnate! Nothing can defeat me!" Sombra then looks up as he hears another voice.
"She's not alone you know!" shouts Rainbow Dash who lands with Fluttershy and Twilight at her side along with Flurry Heart coming in not far behind them. Meanwhile from behind, Aj, Pinkie, and Rarity sneak out of the shadows much to the King's shock.
"What? How? Where did all of you come from?" says the King, muzzle quivering and shaking with fear. He then begins to shoot dark magic at them and has his minions surround them.
"No one hurts our king, our father," whisper the Daughter of Sombra ghost demon ponies. They then take to their solid forms to try to fight off the Mane Six and the young princess Flurry Heart. Flurry meanwhile fights back against the king with Twilight's help.
Meanwhile, down on the battlefield, Shining Armor and the other soldiers deal with the main brunt and force of the crystal zombies and shadows. They only get hits in on the shadows when they take to their solid forms. "No one goes after my family! Not on my watch!" the Captain of the Guard hollers as he attacks the crystal zombies with his sword before blasting them into oblivion with his magic.
"Really, because it looks like your dear daughter and sister are struggling against our Lord King Sombra," hiss the shadows. "Face it, you aren't winning this." Shining lets out a scream letting out a massive blast of magic wiping away all the shadows and crystal zombies with it including the ones up near his sister and daughter. From their place up near the king, the two look down at Shining in shock along with Twilight's friends.
"Did, did your brother let out that blast?" says Rarity.
"Yeah," responds Twilight. "They must've made him very angry. That can only mean one thing. The shadows threatened me and Flurry Heart and probably also Cadance, the ponies he cares about the most."
The group then turn around to face the tyrant king. "All your minions are gone, what are you going to do now?" asks Flurry Heart along with Twilight Sparkle. He then vanishes back into the clouds and out of the Crystal Empire, at least for now.
"Well, that happened," says Aj in disbelief.
"Yeah, that was weird," agrees Pinkie Pie. "Where do you think he's heading?"
"I wish I knew," responds Flurry.
"Probably nowhere good, would be my guess," adds Twilight. "Come, let's go help out my brother." They run down to help up Shining and the ponies he accidentally harmed in the magic blast.
"What was that about?" asks Twilight as she helps up her big brother.
"They threatened you guys, threatened to hurt you guys," responds Shining. He soon gets back up on his hooves. "I couldn't let that happen."
"You let out an entire massive magic surge, hurting some of your own guards in the process. They're being escorted off to the hospital some by hoof and some on cots as we stand here speaking."
"I, I didn't mean to hurt any pony and you know that, sis," responds Shining Armor. "Come on, let's just go back to the castle." He walks back tail between his legs followed by everypony else. He can't blame his sister for being mad at him. He did hurt some of his best soldiers with that magic surge. However, that, to him, doesn't matter now. His family is safe...his wife, his daughter, and his little sister. His only fear is that Sombra isn't going to be staying away for long. Actually, he knows that as a fact. He will return eventually, they just need to figure out when. For now, though, he needs to find a way to get his little sister back on his side or else they're all going to be done for, their family, the empire, all of it, for good.
Over the following days, Shining locks himself away in his quarters and refuses to come out. Even his wife and sister can't get him to budge.
"Shiny, please come out," begs Cadence.
"Shining! Darn it big brother! Please come out. The guards have recovered, they're fine, despite a few concussions." adds Twilight.
"Not helping, Twily!" he hollers through the door. "Now can you and Cady please just leave me alone!"
The two then just leave his room door and walk outside the palace, tails hanging between their legs, Cadence with tears streaming down her cheeks. "I don't think he'll ever come out at this point, Twilight. He blames himself for everything."
"He was just trying to protect everypony, but it backfired. It's hard on him," responds Twilight as she takes Cady in her hooves trying to comfort her. "Cadence, you're the strongest pony I know. That's why I look up to you. We'll get through to him. I promise."
"I...I hope you're right," responds Cadence still sniffling and in tears.
Meanwhile elsewhere in the castle, Flurry reads up on some more things about Sombra in the Crystal Castle library. She is specifically reading over a section on the Daughters of Sombra and the crystal zombies. She doesn't even realize her mother and auntie aren't on the castle grounds but are out and about the empire, Twilight still trying to calm Cadence down.
"I know I'm right," responds Twilight not meaning to be snarky about it. Unfortunately, that's how it comes out.
"Love, you don't have to respond like that every time you're right about something, it makes you sound self centered and ego centered," responds Cadence annoyed.
"Sorry," apologizes Twilight, "I didn't mean for it to come out like that."
"Well, it did and it hurt," responds Cadence. She then runs back towards the castle and locks herself away in the garden. Twilight runs off in a huff towards the Crystal Library where she soon bumps into Flurry.
"What are you reading there, Flur, my favorite niece?" asks Twilight.
"Stuff on Sombra. I heard mom yelling as she ran towards the garden. Is she okay?" responds Flurry.
"No, I made her mad, I didn't mean to make her mad or upset her, but I did," responds Twilight. "Now tell me about your findings."
"Okay," responds Flurry with a nod. She then goes on to tell Twilight all of her findings as Twilight listens on fascinated.
"Whoa, that's all really cool and interesting," responds Twilight. "These must be the lost volumes of the reign of King Sombra."
"They are, I kind of went in the restricted section."
"Ah, I used to do that at your age, it drove Celestia up a wall," responds Twilight with a sigh.
"Well, I'm glad some pony in this family approves of what I'm doing. Right now, I can't even talk to mom and dad. Now, more so because he's locked in his room and she won't leave the garden. I miss the unified family we used to have when I was a filly. Now, I don't know if we'll ever get that back."
"They'll be fine," responds Twilight, "don't worry. They just need some time. The war with Sombra is really taking a toll on everypony. And because of that, things that seem silly and meaningless are now the most weightiest things in the world and that's not our faults. It's just how it's going to be for a little bit."
"Well, I hope it goes back to normal soon. I miss mom and dad. I really and truly do." Tears begin to pour out of Flurry's eyes as she leans on Twilight's shoulder. Twilight then does what she can to comfort her niece. She wants things to go back to normal too, but unlike Flurry, she knows that is likely not going to happen anytime soon.
The next day, Twilight, Cadance, and Flurry work on the magnifying spell when they hear screams from townsponies. “Smoke! Shadows incoming!”
“Sombra and his soldiers are back, everypony don’t let him overwhelm your emotions. Your love for this kingdom is the only thing that can defeat him!” The ponies bow down and release their love and the princesses do as well with use of the magnifier spell on top. This successfully pushes the shadow ponies away and destroys them and knocks Sombra off his crystal and destroying him into a million pieces as well.
“I think we did it,” say the princesses as they lift up their heads.
“I don’t see any signs of Sombra or his soldiers anymore, they’re disintegrated, gone,” sighs Flurry with a sigh of relief. They then go off to celebrate the final defeat of Sombra.
At the celebration, Flurry and her mother dub the day Final Freedom from Sombra Day. “He’s not the last of it,” sighs Flurry, “Chrysalis is still out there mom, and she’s gunning for both you and me, auntie, and father.”
“I know,” responds Cadance, “but right now, let’s just celebrate.” Flurry nods in agreement and they go down and celebrate amongst the crystal ponies pouring all their love and joy into the crystal heart as auroras light up the sky. Even so, as she tries to celebrate, Flurry has a sinking feeling in her gut. She can’t help but feel something is wrong, but right now she can’t do anything about it. She’ll just wait and see before facing it head to head, for now-she needs to do her darnedest to celebrate their freedom from Sombra.
It’s years later and Sombra has not returned, the Crystal Empire is breathing a sigh of relief and celebrating Flurry’s coronation as The Savior Princess of the Crystal Empire. That same night, she finds and falls in love with a stallion named Cedar Wood-a simple noble with farmer and Crystal Empire roots. A few months later, the two are engaged and subsequently wed.
Two years later, Flurry and Cedar welcome a little princess into their midst whom they name Crystal Snowflake. The two are the most loving and doting parents too, giving their daughter every gift in the world that they can afford. Crystal is their world now and they wouldn’t have it any other way and two weeks later, they have the filly’s Crystalling as well which is welcomed with great fanfare as Cadence is the Crystal bearer for the filly. All the love sets the heart aglow as Crystal Snowflake’s piece is added to the whole of the heart right next to her mom’s Crystalling Crystal no less. Everything is perfect and Flurry wouldn’t have it any other way and neither would her family. Cadence loves being a grandma, Twilight a great aunt, and Shining Armor the cool nerdy grandpa. Velvet even shares her Disneigh stories with her great great grandfilly. Everything is truly perfect once again for the family of royals.
Five years later, Flurry Heart, now a grown mare returns to the Crystal Empire to answer to her destiny. "Soon, soon he returns. I feel the smoke in the wind. Feel a shudder as I approach. Eery. I'm chilled to the bone." As her parents see her approach, they run out the castle to greet her.
"Flurry! You're back!" they squeal. "But you're a year early. He's not yet returned again."
"I...I know, but I couldn't wait any longer. I miss you two way too much." She hugs them and the three go inside and have a chat in the throne room.
Like a snap, the year flies by and Sombra soon returns to the Crystal Empire. There, he reveals himself outside the walls to the young Savior princess and her parents. "Savior...Your highnesses..." he hisses. "I'm back."
"I'm going to end you for good, Sombra!" Flurry Heart hollers back to the tyrant king.
"I have no plans on going anywhere anytime soon," responds Sombra with a hiss and a chuckle. "After all, Savior, we have a war ahead of us. We better get prepared."
"Yes, we better," responds Flurry as she raises an eyebrow before returning back inside with her mother and father.
A few days later, the tyrant king returns once again and Flurry goes and meets him outside the walls of the palace. Alas, the two are not alone, but instead with four crystal gremlins in tow, the two she had met when she was young: Wrath and Pestilence along with two others: Fury and Terror.
"Daughters," hisses Sombra to the gremlins, "make sure she doesn't go anywhere. She and I still have to talk." He then wisps away on the wind to go talk with Shining and Cadance.
"Don't you know you're setting your daughter up to die?" says Sombra as he appears to the royals. "She's going to die. Just like Amore and Cora did, Cadance."
"No, my daughter will defeat you once and for all, I guarantee it," responds Cadance as she gnashes her teeth at the tyrant king.
"Don't get your hopes up," responds Sombra before disappearing and returning back outside the wall to talk with Flurry Heart.
"You went to taunt mother, didn't you?" inquires the young princess.
"No, to tell her the truth, that you're not coming out of this battle alive, Savior," responds Sombra.
"That's where you're wrong and you know it," responds Flurry Heart with a bit of a chuckle. "I can and I will defeat you and your children, Sombra."
"That's not likely, you naive little filly," responds Sombra with a hiss before disappearing back into the storm that was coming into the kingdom. After all, it is late winter and snow storms aren't unusual. Flurry Heart then returned back into the castle and went to warm up by the fire in the throne room before returning to her own room for the night and going to sleep.
"Mom and dad never changed this room from when I left, I don't know if that's sweet or sad," she says before turning on her side in her bed and falling fast asleep. Alas, she can't stop thinking about the conversation she had had just prior with Sombra. This war with Sombra isn't going to be the end of her, she knows that much for certain at least. Nevertheless, the old tyrant king Sombra did put a seed of doubt in her head about the entire thing. Yet, as the princess and the Savior, she still had a gut feeling at the same time that she would be fine and that she had all this under control.
The next morning, Flurry wakes up to the smell of pancakes and the voices of her mother, father, and auntie Twily.
"Aunty Twily?" says Flurry as she runs out and embraces the purple mare in a hug.
"Hey Flurry, you've gotten big," says Twilight with a smile. "But you know you're not safe here. Right princess?"
"I know, but I had to come back, auntie. I'm the savior."
"And that's why I'm scared," responds Twilight. "Sombra wants to destroy you. Kill you."
"I know," responds Flurry Heart. "But I've got this under control. I promise."
"Well, I hope you're right that you won't end up dead after all this blows over," responds Twilight with a sigh. She then sits down to breakfast with her sister, brother, and niece. At least, the four can still enjoy pancakes together before Flurry heads off to sword fighting lessons with her father. At least, they can still have a little bit of time as a family before her Savior duties put learning to protect herself both magically and physically as first priority.
Thousands of years ago, before the rule of the Amor bloodline, there was a king who ruled over the Crystal Empire and his name was Sombra and his eye was soon taken by a young crystal mare named Radiant Hope and she soon became his muse and his lover. "You're my princess, my lovely," says Sombra with a giggle. "I love you so much. You complete me."
"And you, me, your excellency," responds Radiant with a smile as brightly shining as her crystal coat and mane. She watches as he runs his hoof through her mane before putting a diamond ring around her horn. "What, what's that for, your excellency?" she asks in shock.
"A proposal, my dearest," responds the King. "Do you accept?"
"Of, of course," she responds still shocked. The following day, the two are wed and she becomes his queen. For a little bit, the couple are happy and have a filly of their own who would someday go on to be the mother of Cadance's mother and aunt, Amora Rose. Not long after their daughter's birth, however, Sombra becomes obsessed with dark magic and soon consumes him causing Radiant Hope to flee from him with their daughter in tow. This leaves the mad king heartbroken. Now, dark magic is all he has and he pours all his study into it and labels his old family as a distraction from his goal of true power. However, he couldn't be more wrong, that love she gave would never truly leave him.
He continued to pour all his time into the dark magic and the cursed scrolls full of spells until he finally became the most powerful umbra unicorn in existence. He then began to rule the Crystal Empire as a dynasty with himself as the tyrant head. All those who refused to obey, he'd brainwash into obedience and defecting soldiers he would kill and replace with those brainwashed to the point of being almost crystalline zombie slaves. Hard labor became a constant in the lives of the ponies under his rule and the Crystal Heart was hidden away and forgotten by the ponies. It would be this way for years, until the children of Amora Rose would save the Crystal Empire once again.
A few days later, Sombra finally breaks out of his crystalline prison. He then heads straight for the teenage princess. "Princess, oh Princess," he whispers in Flurry's ear, "I'm out. Come and fight, Savior. You're still the Savior, right?"
"Yes!" responds Flurry with a shout. "And I'm not scared of you! I'm not that scared infant anymore!"
"I know Savior Flurry Heart, daughter of the Savior and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza," responds Sombra with a hiss.
A bunch of green smoke forms around the filly princess as figures begin to appear. "We're the Daughters of Sombra," hiss the ghostly apparitions as they become touchable forms, "Wrath. Pestilence. Vengeance. Fear. Death. Famine. Plague."
"And we're the Crystal Soldiers of the Emperor of the Crystal Empire," say the Crystal Zombies as they rise out of the ground around her. "We hope you're ready for war!"
"We're all ready for your war!" Flurry snaps back, her teeth gnashing at the crowned smoke in the vague shape of a pony. He then vanishes into nothing along with the Daughters of Sombra and the Crystal Zombies. Flurry, now a bit scared, runs off in terror and tears into the arms of her parent and aunt.
"What's wrong, darling?" asks Cadance concerned.
"Sombra, he's free and he's ready to rage war!" responds Flurry. "He came and surprised me in my room with his Crystal Zombies and shadow minions, the Daughters of Sombra."
"Then we must prepare for war!" responds Shining.
Later that day, all the soldiers are prepped and ready and they head off to war with Sombra and all his minions. They are followed close behind by the four royals, all in full armor. As they approach, they see Sombra come in to form in front of them. "Time for war," he hisses. He and his minions then charge at the royals and their soldiers. Shining and Cadance handle the minions whilst Twilight helps Flurry get close to the evil tyrant king himself and they take him on together, Flurry using both the fighting skills and friendship and love magic skills she learned as well. After a good bit of fighting, Flurry manages to actually hit Sombra in his solid form with her magic and even cracks his horn a bit. Screaming in pain, he retreats away followed by his minions. The war is not yet over, but at least it's at a yield for the time being. It gives them time to regroup and work on a better plan to stop the tyrant and his army of goons and minions, especially the shadow warriors Sombra calls his daughters.
Over the following weeks, Flurry and Twilight spend all their time together in the restricted section of the Archives reading through the Lost Volumes of King Sombra. "Sombra is what they call an umbra, a pony made entirely of shadows. Unlike normal unicorns, they are born with an affinity for black magic and crystals. Their weakness above other things is love, strong and pure, and joy magnified by the Crystal Heart."
"Look at this," says Flurry to Twilight who comes over and looks where her niece is pointing. "I think this is the way we can defeat Sombra and his shadow and crystal army for good."
"I think you're right, Flurry," responds Twilight. "And with a magnifier spell added on top of the love and joy of the Crystal ponies, we can destroy Sombra for good."
"Well, I hope you're right, I'm just ready for all this to be over."
"Me too, Flurry, me too."
Twilight takes Flurry in her hooves and comforts the crying mare. They then go and tell the good news to Shining and Cadance which actually gets them out and ready. Cadance runs off to get the Crystal Heart and Shining to get all the ponies together in the middle of the town. Twilight and Flurry run to the center where they are soon met by Cadance and the Heart which she puts in its holding crystals. She then helps Twilight and Flurry cast the magnifying spell on the Heart. That's when they look up and see smoke on the horizon as they see Sombra and his army come into view. Everypony then follows the royals' lead as they kneel down and feed their love and joy into the Heart. As they do this, Shining and his guards do the same in a perimeter around the Heart. This luckily fends off Sombra for good as he banishes into the ether along with his shadow pony and crystal zombie army. As they get up and see the dissipation on the horizon, they cheer in victory. "We did it!" squeal the royal family as they embrace in a hug.
Elsewhere in Canterlot, the royal sisters get the news that Sombra and his armies have been defeated by the Crystal Heart and the ponies of the Crystal Empire. Needless to say, they're relieved. "I'm so glad they're all safe, Twilight, Cadance, Shining, Flurry Heart, all of the Crystal Ponies, everypony."
"Yes, dear sister, as am I," responds Luna as she puts her hoof on her sister's back. "But you and I both know, Sombra wasn't their only problem. Chrysalis is still out there lying in wait to destroy the Empire."
"Yes, I know, dear sister," responds Celestia, "but I have a feeling, they have that too under control."
