The Lost City

Dusk Shine was still dizzy after waking up. It was confusing to remember the last thing that had happened. He could only remember that he was falling from the balloon with Shining, Cadance, Spike, and his friends, losing sight of them in the storm until he crashed into the snow. However, at that moment, what confused him the most was the brilliant and enormous crystal city that could be seen not far from where he was.

Dusk took a couple of steps toward the city but stopped immediately and shook his head.

“No… Before solving the mystery of that city, I must find the girls.” Dusk thought, turning to try to look for any sign of his brothers and friends. However, the wind was beginning to stir again, as if the snowstorm, which had subsided for a moment, wanted to become intense again.

Just before Dusk illuminated his horn so that his friends could see him from afar if they were nearby, he was distracted by seeing something moving in the air. Dusk squinted his eyes to try to see better, but because of the snow in the air, he could barely tell that it was some creature trying to fly with great difficulty in that storm.

For a second, Dusk smiled at the silly idea that this could be a pegasus, but no pegasus would be crazy enough to try to fly in that storm. No pegasus except... Suddenly Dusk's smile faded when he realized that he precisely knew the only pegasus reckless enough to dare try to fly in that weather.

Suddenly, that flying creature could no longer fight the storm, and since it could not stabilize itself due to the strong winds, it somersaulted in the air and began to plummet. Instantly, Dusk ran scared towards where that reckless creature was falling, illuminating his horn so that he could catch that pegasus with frozen wings with his magic.

“Rainbow Dash! How can you think of flying in this storm!?” Dusk shouted scared. With a mixture of relief and anger after having caught her friend before she crashed into the snow. Seeing that, apart from being a little dizzy and with a couple of feathers on her wings frozen, she seemed to be in good condition.

"Uh? What? Dusk?” Rainbow Dash murmured dizzy until she shook her head, looked at Dusk, and her eyes lit up. "Dusk! Are you okay!" Rainbow Dash said, jumping to hug Dusk.

With the pegasus's hug, Dusk couldn't help but forget all his anger and smiled in relief. For her part, Rainbow Dash kept hugging Dusk for a long time, until she suddenly became embarrassed by her sudden outburst of emotion and quickly separated from him, her cheeks blushing.

"I-I'm glad you're okay, hehe…" Rainbow laughed. Dash awkwardly, embarrassed. Then she looked up at the sky again and stretched her wings. “One down, the rest are missing.” Rainbow Dash added, ready to fly again, with a look full of determination.

“You're not going anywhere; look at your wings!” Dusk quickly stopped her, taking one of his friend's wings and showing her that it had several frozen feathers. “It’s dangerous for a pegasus to fly with so much snow. Didn't you learn anything in flight school?” Dusk added, feeling like he was getting angry at his friend again for how irresponsible she was being.

"Of course I know it! I’m not dumb!" Rainbow Dash replied, annoyed, moving her wing so Dusk would let go of her. "But what do you want me to do? I can’t just wait here without knowing if my friends are okay.”

At his friend's response, Dusk sighed tiredly and covered his face with his hoof.

"Of course. She is the most loyal pony of all. I can't ask her to abandon her friends.” Dusk thought resignedly. Knowing that in her desire to help her friends, Rainbow Dash sometimes just acted without thinking.

“Don't worry, we’ll find them. Trust me. But you can't put yourself at risk in the process.” Dusk said, with a tender smile, to calm the situation. Then he illuminated his horn and used a spell to generate some heat. “Come closer; you need to thaw your wings. You can stay warm while we walk and look for the others.”

Rainbow Dash looked at Dusk in surprise, then looked at his horn and stared at the stallion's side for several seconds. Finally, she lowered her head in shame and slowly approached Dusk's side, opening her wings to better receive the heat radiating from the unicorn's horn, as if the lavender stallion had temporarily become a small heater.

"That is! Come closer, so you won't feel so cold. Now, we must look for the others.” Dusk said, getting even closer to Rainbow Dash, so that they were touching side to side. Giving her a signal for both of them to start walking and stay close together as they did so.

Just as Dusk expected, the pegasus felt that the magic that Dusk radiated warmed her frozen wings and the rest of her body. However, what Dusk didn’t realize was that what had gotten the most hot on the pegasus had been her cheeks. Feeling a mixture of shame and happiness at being so close to Dusk as they walked.

After a few minutes, Dusk and Rainbow Dash noticed two blurry figures not far from where they were searching, not being able to see them well due to the storm. They both rushed to see if it was one of their friends. As they approached, they both sighed in relief when they saw that it was Fluttershy and Spike. Both turning their backs on them when looking the other way, apparently also trying to look for one of their friends.

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash shouted happy. Coming running from behind.

“Eep!” Fluttershy shouted in fright, making a big jump. Being taken totally by surprise.

“Dusk!” Spike shouted happily, jumping up too, but to hug his brother.

“I'm glad you're okay.” Dusk said, smiling at his brother and then looking at Fluttershy, who had fallen on her face in fear against the snow, while Rainbow Dash helped her up, apologizing for scaring her. “I guess it's just the two of you, since you were looking for someone else, isn't it?” Dusk added, looking at his brother again.

“Uh… Well, yeah, it's just the two of us. But actually, we weren't looking for the others yet.” Spike responded a little embarrassed. “Actually, we were checking to see if there were any snow monsters nearby.”

“Snow monster?” Dusk asked in disbelief. "That doesn’t exist."

“Well, I'm not so sure…” Spike replied, nervously biting his nails. “The dragons told stories about this part of the north. They said that not even they came here because the place was cursed, that sometimes the shadows came to life here.” Spike added, remembering the horror stories he had heard during his stay in Dragon Land. “And also, Fluttershy says that when she woke up, she saw a big shadow that roared at her. So she ran away far away until she collided with me.”

“Uh- huh…” The shy yellow pegasus stated. Looking fearfully towards Dusk.

"Don’t worry. I promise that I’ll take care of any monster that appears.” Dusk responded, sighing and smiling at his friend to reassure her. Affectionately touching her cheek. Something that made Fluttershy open her eyes in surprise, blush, and shyly close her eyes and smile more calmly.

“Okay, two down. Still to look for Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Cadance and Shining.” Dusk said, looking confidently at his friends. With renewed hope when he saw that none of her friends were hurt.

Fortunately, the storm had caused it to snow heavily, which made falling from the balloon not fatal. But that same storm would freeze them all if they didn't hurry out of it, and Dusk knew that time was against them.

Ready to renew your search, Rainbow Dash once again stuck to Dusk's side with her wings open, no longer embarrassed to get so close to him. While Spike took the opportunity to climb on his brother's back and avoid walking for a while. Then, only Fluttershy was left, who looked at Rainbow Dash intrigued, seeing that she was so close to Dusk.

“Come closer, Fluttershy. You’ll be warmer if you come close to my magic.” Dusk said smiling.

Fluttershy blushed and hesitated for several seconds. Then she approached timidly and stood next to Dusk. Then she hesitated another second, and looking away, she opened her wings and pressed her body against Dusk's.

“Uh, You don't need to stick so close to me. Rainbow Dash does it because she has frozen her wings.” Dusk said slightly blushing, seeing that Fluttershy had imitated the same pose as Rainbow Dash and now he was attached to the bodies of two mares, one on each side.

“I-I also froze my wings a bit earlier,” Fluttershy answered timidly. Blushing like crazy, without being able to look at Dusk's face.

“Oh! Alright." Dusk responded smiling. Feeling foolish that he hadn't realized that his friend also had frozen wings.

As everyone walked, Rainbow Dash glanced at Fluttershy and put on a mischievous smile. One that made Fluttershy blush even more and look away again.

“I'm the only one daredevil to try to fly in a storm. That's why I know how to recognize when a wing has frozen feathers...” Rainbow Dash thought, laughing mischievously. Amused to see how daring her friend had been to lie to get closer to Dusk.

The minutes passed and it seemed that the search was becoming more and more difficult. The wind grew more and more agitated, and the falling snow seemed to blur the view more and more. Fortunately, a light of hope shone before the ponies as they all saw a faint blue light in the distance. Everyone quickly ran towards her, always close to Dusk, so as not to lose the heat that emanated from his magic. As the light grew larger, they were finally able to recognize the source, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw who it was.

“Rarity!” Spike shouted excitedly. Quickly jumping off Dusk's back to go hug his muse.

The light was nothing more than the magic of Rarity, who kept a firm, concentrated face with her eyes squeezed with effort to do her best and function as a beacon so that her friends could find her. Next to her was Applejack, who kept hugging Rarity, so as not to lose so much heat in that cold storm.

Rarity broke her concentration and turned off her magic when Spike suddenly hugged her hoof.

“Spikey-Wikey!” The white unicorn said surprised. Bending down to give his favorite little dragon a big hug. Then she and Applejack looked back and smiled even more when they saw that Dusk, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were there too, safe and sound.

“It was very clever to use your magic as a beacon, but it was risky.” Dusk said, getting closer to Rarity. “If no one came in this direction, even with the light, we wouldn't have found you.”

"I know. But… I had faith that you would find me.” Rarity answered, with a big smile, blushing slightly. “Besides, we had to stay here in case Shining came back.”

“Shining Armor was with you?” Dusk asked surprised. "Where is he now?"

“The three of us fell close, so we were able to reunite quickly.” Applejack answered. “But he was still very worried about Cadance. He said to us to wait for him here and then he ran in that direction.” Applejack added, pointing to her right. “He said that if he didn't come back in a few minutes and we still didn't find the others, we should follow him in that direction.”

“Shining was very worried… He said he felt a strange magic near Cadance when we fell from the balloon, but I didn't feel anything.” Rarity added with an unsure look, blowing her horn. “We were about to go in that direction, when you arrived.”

“A strange magic?” Dusk repeated, just as confused as Rarity, because he hadn't felt any strange magic in the balloon before it fell either.

For a few seconds Dusk was thoughtful, trying to remember exactly everything that happened before falling from the balloon. While doing so, another one who remained very thoughtful was Rarity, seeing very surprised how close Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were to Dusk.

Dusk suddenly came out of his thoughts when he felt a slight push. Dusk looked up and saw that Rarity had stuck next to him, just like her two pegasus friends did. So now, he had three mares pressed skin to skin against him.

“I'm sorry... I also wanted to warm up a little. And… I see that you are quite hot.” Rarity said with a tender but flirtatious look. Which made Dusk blush deeply.

"Yeah. Dusk's magic is the best!" Spike added smiling. Jumping on Dusk's back again to also take advantage of warming up with Dusk’s magic. Without realizing that his dear Rarity had said the last thing with a small double meaning.

“Hey, if you want to warm up, why don't you use the same spell as Dusk?” Rainbow Dash murmured to her unicorn friend. Who also didn't understand her friend's pun.

“Shh! You shut up!" Rarity said blushing.

While Dusk felt a little suffocated, with Spike on his back and three of his friends fighting to see who would stick closer to his side, Applejack simply stayed where she was. Looking at her friends with a scolding face as she saw that they were all fighting to be by her ex-coltfriend's side.

“You know, you should come closer too.” Dusk suddenly said. Looking at Applejack and noticing that she had instinctively touched her hoof to her chest to try to keep warm, due to how cold it was.

“Nah! I'm fine. It’s not that cold.” Applejack answered. Turning her head so that Dusk wouldn't see her face.

At that moment, Applejack saw that a pink aura surrounded her hooves, and against her will, she was pulled. Until finally, she was also stuck next to Dusk, like her friends.

"Liar." Dusk responded, stopping using his magic. Looking at his ex-marefriend with a mischievous smile, beacuse he already knew perfectly well when his ex-marefriend was lying and trying to act strong.

“Hmpf… Shut up.” Applejack answered, lowering her hat to hide her face, so that Dusk wouldn't see her small smile or her blushing cheeks.

Just as Applejack's friends began to laugh, everyone suddenly became tense and silent. A strange noise, similar to the roar of strange beasts, began to be heard nearby. A strange and dark noise that became increasingly louder as it got closer.

“T… That's the monster.” Fluttershy trembled, remembering the shadow she had fled from.

“The snow monster? That doesn’t exist!” Dusk thought, trying to think rationally. However, he also remembered the story that Spike told him that the dragons told about strange shadows that were there in the frozen north. A thought that made him hesitate.

Suddenly, the noise became louder, and a huge shadow appeared near them. A shadow that seemed to be that of a huge beast with many horns, which was getting closer and closer, with a terrible roar. A noise so horrible that it seemed taken out of this world. A noise so deafening that…

“Wait… I know that noise…” Dusk thought out loud, with a confused look. Just as the huge shadow of what seemed to be a huge snarling animal finally arrived in front of them.

Before the ponies, the happiest pink pony in the world appeared. Carrying with her a loud and bulky yovidaphone, which she played with a big smile.

“Pinkie Pie!!” They all shouted at the same time. With a mixture of joy and surprise, seeing that the enormous shadow was nothing more than Pinkie carrying that ostentatious and noisy yak musical instrument.

"Dusk! Girls! I knew I would find you faster with the power of music!” Pinkie Pie shouted with a huge smile. “I was lucky to find the yovidaphone that I threw away when we were on our way to Yakyakistan.” Pinkie added smiling. Then she looked at everyone attentively, smiling for a couple of seconds in silence, and then, she tilted her head slightly with a confused look as if she was waiting for something. “It's a fortune to see all my friends so…so… together.”

For a moment no one understood Pinkie's confusion, until suddenly the girls realized their mistake and immediately separated from Dusk's body, to which they had fought so hard to remain stuck skin to skin.

"Hahaha! Just kidding. I'm not jealous." Pinkie Pie said smiling. Taking advantage of the fact that her coltfriend was alone, she approached him and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. Then she walked a couple more steps and, turning her back on Dusk, briefly put on a sadder smile. “Besides… I guess I'll just have to get used to it…” Pinkie Pie muttered, thinking out loud. A comment that Dusk couldn’t hear.

"Did you say something?" Dusk asked confused.

"Nothing!" The always smiling Pinkie Pie responded. Turning around and smiling normally again. “So… We just need to find Shining and Cadance?” Pinkie asked quickly, to change the subject. Looking around and noticing that the only ones missing were the royal couple.

“Apparently Shining went in that direction.” Dusk said, pointing to where Applejack had told him that Shining went looking for Cadance. “I think that's where the city I saw before is… Most likely Shining went to look for Cadance there.”

“Is there a city in this part of Equestria?” Rarity asked confused.

“It seems so…” Dusk responded with a frown, slightly gloomy. He remembered that mysterious city and that Shining had felt a strange magic just when they fell from the balloon in that place.

Before Dusk could continue entangled in his thoughts, the storm seemed to become more intense. Which made everyone tremble, and automatically approach Dusk to warm themselves a little more with his magic.

“If there is a city over there, we should go before we freeze to death.” Applejack said, as her teeth began to shake.

Quickly Dusk, Spike and the mares hurried to go in the direction Shining had gone. A path that became more and more difficult by the minute as the storm grew stronger, making it difficult to see where they were going and making it so that not even Dusk 's magic was able to calm the cold. Finally, they had no choice but to run because if the storm continued to increase, Applejack's words could become a terrifying truth, and they could actually freeze to death.

Dusk and the mares finally saw a light through the hazy wind of the storm. Then they quickened their pace. Running and running until... suddenly the storm and the snow disappeared.

"Uh?" Rainbow Dash said puzzled. Stopping in her tracks when she suddenly saw that they were no longer treading snow.

They all had the same attitude as the pegasus, looking at the ground and seeing that they were no longer stepping on snow, but rather a smooth floor, like a large tile. When they looked up, they saw that there was no sign of the storm. In fact, the sky had a strange light blue hue, like the night sky that was about to dawn, and crossing that sky, a brilliant greenish aurora seemed to be slowly lighting up more and more. That was enough to surprise everyone. However, that was left in the background when they saw that before them, there was a huge city with hundreds of houses and gardens. All the buildings seemed to be made of various crystals of different colors, and much further ahead, a large tower seemed to rise inside a castle, which was perhaps as large as Canterlot Castle itself.

Dusk had seen that city from afar, but now that he had it in front of him, he couldn't help but remain open-mouthed, like his friends. He would definitely have known before if such a peculiar and beautiful city existed in Equestria. He must have even seen it when they were flying towards the land of the yaks… That huge city had appeared there overnight!?

"Hahaha! This is fun!" Pinkie Pie laughed behind her friends. Causing everyone to come out of their stupor and turn to look at her.

Turning around, everyone watched as Pinkie Pie jumped back and forth repeatedly, and every time she jumped back, her mane became covered in snow. Then she would jump forward again, stepping onto the crystal tile floor, shaking off the snow, and repeating the process. Laughing at that peculiar phenomenon, without understanding why it happened, but as always, taking the opportunity to have fun.

Rainbow Dash approached where Pinkie was. Then she also poked her head back a little and quickly backed away in surprise.

“It doesn't snow here, but one step over there, the storm from where we came appears!” Rainbow Dash said very surprised.

Dusk approached where the blue pegasus was and also extended his head, seeing that snow also fell on him for a second. Then he raised his hoof and very slowly began to stretch it forward as if he wanted to touch an invisible wall.

"Here it is!” Dusk thought, very surprised. Suddenly stopping his hoof, just before snow began to fall on it. “It's a very subtle magical barrier, but here it is... But how!? How can there be a magical barrier so thin but, at the same time, so powerful as to surround an entire city?” Dusk thought almost in shock. Realizing that no unicorn, not even a group of powerful unicorn wizards, would be capable of such a feat.

Suddenly everyone was distracted when bells were heard in the distance, just when the light of the aurora that crossed the sky seemed to shine more intensely, so much so that the sky seemed to be illuminated by daylight. Then, Dusk and the others began to hear the noise of movement while the doors of the houses began to open.

Instinctively, Dusk ran to stand in front of his friends and remained in a guard position. He still didn't know what that strange place they had arrived at was, so he had to be prepared to protect his friends from any strange creature that lived there. If he was not careful, the powerful creatures that had created that powerful magical barrier could attack them in a fit of rage because they were being invaded by Dusk and his friends.

That thought from Dusk only lasted a couple of seconds. Since the first thing everyone heard clearly was the sound of laughter. Hundreds of smiling ponies began to leave their houses, happy to start a new day in their wonderful and beautiful city. Everyone greeted each other politely, chatting with their neighbors and laughing at every comment they said. If Dusk had to say it, this was probably the most smiling and happy town he had ever seen because not even in Ponyville had he seen each and every one of its inhabitants wake up with so much joy and motivation to start the day. And that was not a small town; it was a huge city! Hundreds of ponies laughing and smiling in unison!

“They're just ponies…” Dusk whispered, thinking out loud. Still amazed to see that there seemed to be no danger there, but even more impressed to see the enormous number of ponies that were there. A number of ponies probably larger than the number of ponies that lived in Canterlot and Manehattan combined, which were the largest cities in Equestria; thousands of ponies! But… How was that possible!? While the streets began to fill with happy ponies, the big question that began to arise in Dusk's mind was: How was it possible that such a huge city was not mapped on the maps of Equestria!?

“How divine! What shampoo will those ponies use to make their coats shine this spectacularly? I need to know!” Rarity suddenly said, her eyes shining with excitement.

As Dusk and his friends were at the edge of the city, they still saw all those happy ponies coming out of their houses from afar, but when they paid more attention, Dusk and his friends were also able to see what Rarity's sharp eye immediately noticed. Indeed, all those ponies seemed to shine in a very peculiar way, and as Dusk focused his sight more, he noticed something else. There were only earth ponies among them, which left another big question. If there were no unicorns among them, who had created that powerful barrier that separated them from the storm?

While Dusk's head was filled with more and more unknowns, in the distance, finally one of those mysterious ponies looked in the direction of where Dusk and the others were. That mare, who seemed a little older, stopped her walk in her tracks and stared at them with a very astonished face. Then, that mare put on a huge smile, and she told a younger stallion passing by her to look in that direction. He also made a face of great surprise when he saw Dusk and the others. As those two ponies pointed toward Dusk and his friends, more and more ponies began to look toward them until finally, a huge stampede of ponies began running in the direction of Dusk and the others.

Dusk was on guard again, with his horn ready to use his magic and defend his friends from any danger. However, he felt confused when he saw that all those ponies that ran towards them did so with huge smiles, shouting with joy, as if he and his friends were some kind of celebrity.

Quickly, all those ponies surrounded Dusk and company, filling them with dozens of questions. Everyone wanting to meet these newcomers. Always smiling and without a hint of distrust or fear on their faces, as if they had known Dusk and the others all their lives.

"Hi!! Welcome!!"

“Do you come from outside? Right!?"

"It’s incredible! You’re our first visitors since… Ever!”

“Look at their fur! They’re so opaque! Hahaha!"

"Incredible! A dragon! I haven’t seen one since I was a filly!”

“Those two have wings! Now that's strange!”

“They’re the sign we were waiting for! It’s almost time!”

“I'll invite them to my house! Great-grandmother baked a delicious cake that they’ll love”

"No, better to mine! I want them to meet the rest of my family! Besides, I saw them first.”

That last pony that spoke was precisely the first mare that had seen Dusk's group. That was a mare that Dusk quickly noticed had certain peculiarities compared to most of the other ponies there. First, it was her age, since she was a somewhat old mare, and she seemed to be the only old pony that Dusk could see in that huge group of ponies, which were all very young. The other thing that characterized that mare was that her coat didn’t shine as much as the others, although her eyes and mane did.

“Wait a minute… Is that really fur they have?” Dusk thought surprised, realizing that detail. Turning to look at all the young ponies surrounding him, seeing that more than fur, their bodies seemed to be made of… “Crystal?”

As if none of the ponies present wanted to argue for even a second, they all simply shrugged their shoulders and smiled goodbye to Dusk and the others as if they had all been lifelong friends. Which left an uncomfortable feeling in Dusk and his friends. It was true that neither Dusk nor his friends rejected friendship, and they were always willing to make new friends, but those ponies greeted them as if they were part of their families. Shouldn't they get to know each other first before blindly trusting a stranger? It was the question that was going through everyone's mind at that moment.

"Hi! My name is Amethyst Maresbury. What are your names?" That old mare asked, once the crowd began to disperse. Putting on glasses to see Dusk and his friends better, always smiling at them at all times.

Both Dusk and his friends remained motionless and silent for several seconds. As if they were still having a hard time assimilating everything that was happening around them.

“Hi Amethyst!” Pinkie Pie suddenly said, with a big smile. Who seemed to be the only one in the group who shared that huge smile that everyone in that city had. “My name is Pinkie Pie, and they are Dusk Shine, Spike, Rarity, Apple-Hmpf!” Suddenly Pinkie Pie was silenced when Dusk pulled her up and covered her mouth. “Pfft…! Why are you covering my mouth?” Pinkie asked confused.

“I… I'm not sure…” Dusk responded, just as confused. Glancing sideways at Amethyst, who simply stared at him with a warm gaze that radiated kindness.

“They shouldn't trust us so quickly. We’re strangers in a strange city. And they... They just smile and fight over who is going to receive us and introduce us to their families!?” Dusk thought, very confused and unsure. "They should distrust us, but instead, they act so strange, that now I'm the one who distrusts them..."

"Hahaha! What a strange face!” Amethyst suddenly said. Starting to laugh while pointing at Dusk's face. All while Dusk's friends looked at each other confused, not understanding what she was referring to. Which made Amethyst start laughing even more, this time pointing it at the other mares' faces.

"What? It's normal for everyone to have those confused looks. This is all very suspicious… This city is strange.” Spike answered, who perfectly understood the doubts that were going through the minds of Dusk and the others. “It’s not strange that we’re a little afraid of going to a stranger's house, in a city we have never seen before, and that doesn't even appear on the maps!” Spike added, who without being an expert in cartography like Dusk, knew just like any pony, that that mega city in the north in which they were, should not be there.

For a second, Amethyst put on a surprised expression and tilted her head slightly, as if she was now confused.

"Suspicious? Afraid? What thing is that?" Amethyst asked, with a slight look of confusion. One that left Dusk and his group even more confused. "Come on! Go to my house. The higher granny makes the best hot cocoa in the kingdom. There you can continue inventing strange words and making funny faces, hahaha!” Amethyst added, gently pushing Pinkie Pie and the others to start walking.

Dusk and his friends continued to look at each other with confused looks, except for Pinkie, who simply followed the smiling old mare without hesitation. So, the others decided to also follow Pinkie to see if in Amethyst's house they could find more answers about that strange city and to see if there were more 'normal' ponies that they could talk to in their family.

In another part of that huge city, Shining Armor was reaching the center of it. Despite being there for the first time, it was easy for Shining to say that the place he arrived at was the center, since there was a vast castle right there, and whoever designed the city had taken care to make all the main roads of the city lead to that place. There, there was a huge castle made entirely of white crystal, which seemed to shine almost with its own light due to the flashes that were reflected from the aurora in the sky.

"I... I still can't believe this!” Shining thought with a look of disbelief as he saw the imposing castle in front of him. “I spent months supporting the northern guard in my training, and this city shouldn't be here!” At that instant, Shining lowered his gaze, shook his head, and once again put on a serious and concentrated look. “If anyone or anything has Cadance, it must be here.” Shining thought, continuing on his way towards the castle.

That enormous castle had not only caught Shining's attention due to its colossal size, but he had also gone there when he felt a slight magical aura that seemed to emanate from that place. An aura that became more intense as Shining approached the castle, which led Shining to think that this could be the magical trail of his beloved or perhaps that of her captor.

Walking determinedly under the castle, crossing several pillars that were the base of it, Shining slowed down when he saw that there were ponies nearby. Five ponies wearing armor, so Shining quickly concluded that they must be guards of that castle. At first, what caught Shining's attention the most was the crystalline fur of those ponies, one that was not at all normal to see on other earth ponies. However, what ended up drawing the most attention to the captain of the Canterlot royal guard was seeing that all those guards were fast asleep.

“They’re probably the worst guards in the world…” Shining thought with an annoyed look, because he would never have accepted such an act of negligence if they were his subordinates.

Despite being bothered by the ineptitude of those guards, Shining was grateful that they were asleep, so he could continue on his way to the castle. However, just as he began to walk more calmly, the aurora in the sky seemed to brighten more, resembling daylight, and bells began to ring over the castle.

The sleeping guards opened their eyes quickly and slowly stood up, stretching their hooves to reactivate their muscles. Shining looked everywhere, trying to find a place to hide, but he could not find one. Then, he illuminated his horn to teleport, but he stopped himself at the last second when he saw something that caught his attention.

Not far from him, just below the center of the castle, was something made of crystal, rotating on its own axis, floating slightly in the air. Something that, for some reason, emanated an enormous amount of magical aura.

"What's that?” Shining thought distractedly. Immediately realizing that the magical trail that had guided him there must have come from that thing.

"Uh? Who are you?" One of the awakened guards suddenly asked. Noticing the presence of the white unicorn.

Shining quickly became distracted and froze, seeing that he had been discovered.

"I'm an intruder trying to sneak into their castle… No matter what I say, they'll definitely distrust me."Shining thought nervously, putting on a serious look. “I may have to defend myself from their attacks.” Shining thought, putting himself on guard with his hooves very firm on the ground.

“Hey, Lancelot! You’re still here? I thought you would already be having breakfast with grandma.” Another pony, wearing the same type of armor, asked from afar. Approaching where the others were, followed by another large group of between fifteen and twenty armored ponies.

“Oh! Today, Grandma would make fried hay! Right?" The guard who had approached Shining asked. Turning around and completely ignoring Shining as he approached the newcomers with a big smile.

For his part, Shining froze with an incredulous look... Were those really castle guards? They didn't even care about an intruder being in their castle!!

After both groups of guards greeted each other and laughed together, one of the newcomers finally noticed Shining Armor's presence. Who was still stunned seeing the indolence with which those supposed guards acted.

“Wow! Someone new! Wait... You have a horn! Are you coming from out of the city!?” A guard who had noticed Shining's presence asked.

"Oh yeah! I almost forget him. When we woke up, this guy was hanging around here.” The first guard who had chatted with Shining responded smiling. Approaching along with all the other guards who were next to him.

For a second, Shining was scared, regretting his mistake. Since, due to his carelessness, he was now surrounded by a large group of ponies, which would make his escape more difficult. However, Shining immediately saw that there was no hint of threat from those guards. Everyone just smiled and looked at him like he was some fun circus show.

“You… Are you guards of this castle?” Shining finally asked. With a voice that could barely cover his disbelief.

"Sure! The best guards you will ever find!” The one who seemed to be the captain of the guard responded, with a big smile. “By the way, do you want to enter the castle?”

“Uh-huh…” Shining muttered in shock. Seeing how the guards smiled proudly, even though to Shining, they were just a handful of ponies who didn't take their jobs seriously. “Wait, are you inviting me into the castle?” Shining added, almost in shock. In that instant, Shining's sense of duty took over him, beginning to speak as if he were training a new recruit. “You don't even know who I am! I could be someone planning to attack whoever lives here! Or try to take over the castle! How negligent can you be as palace guards!?” Shining Armor shouted, exasperated.

“Hmm? Attack? That’s… How to do something bad?” One of the guards asked in confusion. “Why would you do something… bad?”

Shining's anger quickly disappeared to give way to disbelief. It was like talking to a bunch of foals who didn't know the difference between right and wrong. So the guard captain inside Shining went back into hiding and Shining focused on his mission again.

“W-Whatever… I'm looking for a mare, an alicorn princess! I think she fell this way.” Shining asked, becoming serious again. “Have any of you seen her?”

“What is an alicorn?” The same guard asked, with an even more confused look, which made Shining hit his face with his hoof.

“They don't even know what an alicorn is? What kind of pony kingdom is this!?” Shining thought frustratedly. Realizing that those pseudo guards wouldn't be of much help to him.

“If you haven't seen her, I think I'll keep looking.” Shining finally said, looking away in annoyance, ready to continue your search. However, he barely managed to take two steps when something caught his attention again. That strange crystal object rotated in the center of that small square and from which that great magical aura radiated.

Shining slowly approached that object, while the other guards walked behind him, still fascinated by this new visitor. As he approached, Shining opened his eyes wide as he understood that it was not only the magic that it emanated that had caught his attention; upon seeing it up close, he saw that 'that' that was spinning, levitating with its own magic, was a crystal heart. A crystal heart that Shining had seen many times before.

“The cutie mark of Cadance…” Shining whispered in amazement. Then, still looking at the floating crystal heart, he spoke loudly for the guards to hear. "What is this?"

“That, my friend, is the 'Crystal Heart,' the most valuable item in the entire kingdom.” The captain of the guard responded with a look full of pride. Speaking as if that were a speech memorized long ago, and that he hadn’t been able to say for a long time. “The Crystal Heart is a powerful magical object, full of ancient magic, that protects this entire empire from…” At that moment, the guard fell silent and gave a slightly confused look. “What did it protect us from…?”

Without seeing the reaction on the crystal guard's face, Shining kept staring at that crystal. That it was an item made from ancient magic explained why the magic it radiated was so intense. Then, Shining turned and looked at the captain of the guards.

"Can I touch it?" Shining asked, raising an eyebrow, because if it was the most valuable object in the kingdom, it was already negligent that it was there for everyone to see, but... Would the guards be as inept as he had been until now and let him do something so reckless? Shining needed to test those guards.

Unlike other times, the captain of the guard didn’t respond immediately; instead, he looked surprised at the question.

“I… I guess so.” The captain of the guard responded, scratching his head with a slight confused look. “I mean, it's a valuable object. I think it wouldn't be right, but... I don't understand what bad could happen.” The captain added, shrugging his shoulders.

“I could steal it, destroy it… How can they be so careless!?” Shining thought, looking away angrily. Refocusing on the crystal heart levitating in front of him.

Shining approached and touched the Crystal Heart, as soon as he did so, it stopped spinning and the floor under his hooves shone.

“This is another magic… It's unicorn magic!” Shining thought in surprise, looking at the floor below him. Immediately thinking that he should put himself on guard to defend himself from a possible attack. However, just at that moment, something diverted his attention.

As soon as the Crystal Heart stopped spinning, Shining could see that inside, it was not all crystalline as it looked from afar. A large number of small dark clouds swirled inside it, as if inside this crystal object, there was a huge storm that could only be seen when viewing the Crystal Heart up close.

"What's that?” Shining thought, squinting his eyes to see better. Feeling for some reason, a chill when he saw those clouds of darkness, in which for a second, he thought he saw the faces of ponies.

Before Shining Armor could react, the floor beneath him shone even brighter, causing Shining to snap out of his distraction and refocus on what was important. Someone had used a spell there. One that Shining could barely recognize and failed to react.

“It's a spell of-!” Shining shouted, as he simply vanished from there. Leaving all the guards with very surprised looks.

“W-What just happened?” One of the guards asked in surprise while everyone remained silent.

For several seconds, the guards looked confused and somewhat fearful. Until suddenly, their fur glowed. Then, the doubts and confusions were erased from their minds, and the guards simply returned to their duties as if nothing had happened.

Oblivious to what happened in the city center, Dusk Shine and his friends followed Amethyst towards her home. After a short walk, the old mare finally indicated to Dusk and the others that they had reached their destination, her home. A huge two-story house made entirely of purple crystal. Amethyst quickly opened the door and smilingly pushed the other ponies to rush in.

“Amethyst, is that you? I knew you would come back! You never miss my special tasty hot cocoa!” A female voice said from the kitchen. Then, a smiling young mare popped her head out, sporting a somewhat old-fashioned manestyle. Additionally, this mare, unlike Amethyst, like most ponies in the city, had fur that appeared to be made of crystal.

“I would never miss it!” Amethyst responded, smiling and approaching the young crystal mare. “But along the way, I met new friends, and I wanted them to try your delicious hot cocoa too.”

"New friends?" The young mare asked in surprise. Looking behind Amethyst and being even more surprised to see the strange group that Dusk and his friends made up. “Ohhh…! Come in! Come in! The whole family must be seated by now, and there's always room for one more. There are only almost a hundred more mouths to feed, hahaha! By the way, my name is Coral.” The young crystal mare was quick to say, winking at them friendly. With the same enthusiasm shown by old Amethyst. Pushing Dusk and the others to follow Amethyst and go to the dining room.

For a second, Dusk thought about asking what 'there are only almost a hundred more mouths to feed' meant, but he decided to ignore it, thinking that it must be some local saying. However, when he arrived at the dining room, he understood that it was not. There, in the dining room, there were indeed almost a hundred ponies. Everyone sitting at a huge table, chatting and drinking cups of hot cocoa.

“Is the whole city here?” Dusk whispered, very surprised. Thinking out loud.

“Hmm? Of course not! This is just my family!” Amethyst responded with a smile. Who had managed to hear what Dusk said.

Just like in the city, dozens of ponies looked at the newcomers in amazement, and in a few seconds, they jumped up to crowd around and greet them with huge smiles as if they had all been best friends since forever. Causing Dusk and his friends to feel uncomfortable again, except for Pinkie Pie, who was smiling and chatting with everyone, and Rarity, who couldn't stop complimenting the beautiful crystal fur that those ponies had. Finally, the young mare who had greeted them calmed everyone back to their seats and quickly brought some seats for Dusk and his friends to sit on.

“You must forgive my family, but you are the first guests the city has received in centuries. Everyone is very excited!” The young Coral said as she took a large glass jug and served hot cocoa to her new guests.

“Saying… centuries… It's just a way of saying, right?” Dusk asked, raising an eyebrow, while drinking the hot cocoa. Thinking that the answer was obvious, but that city was so strange, he couldn't help but ask that in a joking tone.

"What? Oh yeah! Of course, maybe I was wrong.” Coral responded. Then putting on a more thoughtful look. “It might be thousands of years, I'm not sure.”

“Pffft…! Cough! Cough! W-What do you say?” Coughed Dusk, who had just been drinking the delicious cocoa and couldn't help but spit it out. Smearing cocoa on the face of old Amethyst, who was sitting in front of him. Who just wiped herself off and put on a small smile. “There are no cities that old in Equestria.” Dusk added, sure of himself. Thinking that that mare must be playing a joke on him, but for some reason, there was something that worried him, and a question began to grow in his mind: What if it's not a joke? Still, what city in Equestria wouldn't receive visitors in over a thousand years? They must have been playing a joke on him!

“Equestria? Oh… I remember, that's the name of the outer kingdom, right?” Amethyst asked in front of Dusk, finishing wiping the cocoa off her face, which made Dusk quickly drink again to hide his embarrassment for having spit on her. “No, this kingdom is not part of Equestria. This kingdom is independent; this is the Crystal Empire.”

For the second time, Dusk couldn't hold back in shock and spat the cocoa back at Amethyst. Who was surprised again, but this time she put on a more nervous and forced smile after being dirty again.

“Cough! I… I’m sorry.” Dusk quickly apologized, wiping his mouth. Then, he lowered his gaze and put on a look of absolute concentration. It was as if the missing piece of the puzzle had fallen. Now he knew where he was and why that place seemed so strange, but... It was impossible for them to be in that place!

“What is the Crystal Empire?” Spike asked, who no matter how hard he tried, couldn't remember any kingdom called that on the maps he had seen with Dusk in the castle.

“The Crystal Empire was… it’s one of the oldest kingdoms on the continent. It’s even much older than the birth of the Kingdom of Equestria…” Dusk responded with a very confused and fearful face.

“But that kingdom disappeared more than a thousand years ago along with all the ancient kingdoms…” Dusk thought, feeling a shiver of fear. "What's going on!? Did we go back in time? Was it always here?” Dusk thought very confused.

Dusk's flow of thoughts stopped when everyone at the table started laughing. Then he looked up and saw everyone pointing at him.

“What a funny face you made! Hahaha!" Coral laughed. Approaching Dusk again with a jug of hot cocoa. “Here you have, dear. I hope you don't spit it on my granddaughter again this time, hahaha!”

Dusk laughed embarrassedly, sipping his cocoa again. Then his brain 'clicked' when something that mare said didn't make sense. “Wait… Are you a grandmother?” Dusk added, confused, looking carefully again at the young crystal mare who was attending to him.

"Sure." The crystal mare responded, smiling proudly. “Everypony sitting at this table is my grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-great grandchildren, hahaha.”

Both Dusk and his friends froze as if their brains had been disconnected for a few seconds.

“By the way, how about hot cocoa?” Old Amethyst asked casually, taking advantage of that second of silence. “I told you that higher granny Coral made the best hot cocoa in the world, hahaha.”

“PFFFTT!” This time it was all of Dusk's friends who spit their cocoa in Amethyst's face. As if with that comment, their brains had finally connected and they understood the weight of what they were witnessing. While Amethyst was covered in cocoa again, this time remaining motionless without smiling.

“How can YOU be HER granddaughter!?” Spike asked in amazement, pointing at the old Amethyst and then pointing at the young Coral. “It's obvious that Amethyst is much older-Hmph!”

“You don't ask a mare's age!” Rarity said, rushing to cover Spike's mouth, so he wouldn't insult her guests. Although the only thing poor Spike said was what everyone thought.

The young Coral had rushed to help clean Amethyst's face, seeing that she hadn't cleaned herself immediately after having cocoa spit on her for the third time. In fact, Amethyst looked with a shaky smile, as if she was struggling between continuing to smile or finally appearing as angry as she felt. Something that caught Dusk's attention since, for the first time, he seemed to see that one of the ponies in that city was not smiling normally.

“I look very good for my age, don't I? Hahaha!" Coral laughed, after helping Amethyst. Looking at Dusk and his group, amused by their funny shocked faces. “In fact, I was one of the founders of this kingdom.”

"Foundress?" Applejack asked, confused, turning to look at Dusk. Who, for his part, just stood still, shocked, quickly understanding what that meant. "That means…"

“I am more than two thousand years old. Three thousand perhaps? Who knows, after a while you stop counting them, haha.” Coral responded with a smile and a youthful pose, worthy of a filly posing for a photo.

"WHAT!?" Dusk's friends shouted in unison, very shocked. The instant they did, Amethyst instinctively covered her face, scared of being spit on cocoa a fourth time.

"What’s wrong dear? Now you have a funny face.” Coral asked lovingly, looking at her youngest granddaughter.

"Uh!? I… I'm not sure what's going on…” Amethyst responded, very confused. Trying hard to smile again. “I think I feel weird… Not happy? Hehe…"

“That's anger for spitting on you and fear that we would do it again... Don't you even know the name of those feelings?” Dusk thought. Little by little coming to new conclusions when listening to old Amethyst's strange comments.

“Do you feel weird?” Coral asked with a thoughtful look. “Hmm… Maybe you’re just as tired as Golden Quill.”

“Who is Golden Quill?” Pinkie Pie asked. Who had already memorized the names of the dozens of ponies present there and didn’t remember having greeted any 'Golden Quill '.

"He is my husband. We’re the only two members of the house without crystallizing.” Amethyst responded, regaining her usual smile. “Come with me, I'll take you to see him.”

Amethyst invited her new guests to follow her. Spike and the girls got up and followed her immediately, while Dusk was the last to get up. As soon as he did, he simply stood there, with his head down and a look of absolute confusion.

"What's wrong? Won’t you go with young Amethyst and the others?” Coral asked kindly, seeing that Dusk had stayed behind while everyone else had already gone to another room.

The fact that that young mare still called the elderly Amethyst 'young' made Dusk feel a shiver of discomfort. Nothing that was happening in that city, and nothing that he had heard, seemed to make sense, and that made him extremely uncomfortable.

“What does it mean to be crystallized?” Dusk finally asked, raising his head and looking seriously at Coral. “A few moments ago, Amethyst said that she and her husband were the only ones uncrystallized.”

"It's how it sounds," Coral responded, smiling. Hitting her cheek and causing a soft crystalline noise, like that obtained when hitting a crystal glass. "I guess you already realized that our fur is different from Amethyst's." Imitating Coral, the rest of the crystal ponies sitting at the table had fun touching their faces, laughing at hearing so many crystals ring at the same time. “This is what gives us eternal youth. That is why the Crystal Empire is a paradise on earth for us!” Coral added smiling.

"A paradise on earth…” Dusk thought restlessly, with a thoughtful look. “A kingdom with eternal youth, where no one gets angry, where no one cries, where no one is scared, where no one suspects anyone… It really is the definition of a paradise, but… Why does it feel so unnatural?"Dusk thought, remembering for some reason Zecora's lessons and how she had taught him that there was no need to fear death and that everything was part of the cycle of life.

"Wait a second." Dusk suddenly said, realizing what it meant to have someone more than a thousand years old at his side. “If you’re really over a thousand years old, you should know the princess-”

“AHHH!” Suddenly Amethyst's scream from one of the rooms brought Dusk out of his thoughts.

Dusk quickly ran towards where he had seen the old mare and her friends had gone. Upon arriving, he stopped short at what he saw. That seemed to be someone's room; in the center of it, there was a bed with an old stallion sleeping on it. At the edge of this bed, was Amethyst, finally expressing with her face something very far from a smile... A deep face of fear as her eyes were soaked with tears as she cried. In front of the bed were Spike and his friends, all with pale faces as they saw Amethyst crying.

"What’s wrong?" Dusk asked scared. Fearing for Amethyst's sudden outburst of emotion, but first fearing for his friends' safety, he approached them to see if they were all okay. For their part, Dusk's friends didn’t respond; they seemed to still be paralyzed, with their gazes fixed on the old stallion lying on the bed.

“Wake up Golden!” Amethyst shouted between cries, holding the hoof of the old stallion on the bed, who simply remained motionless, with his eyes closed. "Why won’t you move?!"

“He… He's dead…” Applejack muttered weakly. Being the first to manage to come out of her stupor. Causing Dusk's skin to also turn cold, turning again to see the old stallion in bed.

Dusk illuminated his horn and touched Golden's inert body with his magic for several seconds. There was no doubt, his magic didn’t detect a hint of life in him.

“What is that glowing purple thing!? What does it mean to be dead!?” Amethyst shouted desperately, with a look full of confusion and fear. Without understanding anything of what was happening, because deep down, it was the first time that he had experienced such pain in her memories.

"What's going on?" Coral suddenly asked, peering into the room. Who had been followed by several of her family members, who also looked out, to see why there was so much commotion there.

It seemed that no matter how hard they looked at the scene, neither Coral nor her family members could understand the situation. So Applejack turned and looked at her.

“W-We came in here with Amethyst to meet Golden Quill, but when we came in, we saw that he wasn't moving.” Applejack said very nervously. “A-At first we thought he was asleep, but after touching him and seeing that he wasn't breathing, he…”

“Apparently, Golden Quill is dead. He was before the girls came to the room.” Dusk interrupted, noticing that Applejack was still very affected by what happened. Focusing his sight on Coral, to carefully watch her reaction.

"Dead? What's that?" Coral responded with a small smile and a slight look of confusion. “Hmm… That word… Wait! That… That's what happened before… before…” Coral responded, as if she was having a hard time remembering. For the first time, stopping smiling.

As soon as Coral stopped smiling, both her fur and that of the family members next to her glowed for a second, and instantly, those looks of confusion disappeared completely, being replaced by simple expressionless looks.

“Oh! Don’t worry, Golden must just be asleep.” Coral responded immediately smiling again. “That's the problem with non-crystallized ones, they love to make jokes, Hahahaha!”

“Higher Granny! Golden didn’t crystallize!” Amethyst shouted, panicking. Seeing that no one helped her. “He's not moving! He doesn’t move! He should have crystallized! Something bad happened!!”

“Who wants another cup of hot cocoa?” Coral asked smiling, looking at Dusk and the others. As if she had not listened to her youngest granddaughter at all.

Seeing herself completely helpless, Amethyst covered her face in terror and began to tremble and cry. Which, along with the scene of the other crystal ponies, smiling as if none of that were happening, made Dusk and the others step back, trembling at the terrifying situation.

“C-Calm down… Everything will be fine.” Dusk finally said, gathering his courage, approaching Amethyst to comfort her. Kindly placing a hoof on her shoulder.

“You… What did you do to my husband!?” Amethyst shouted, turning around and glaring at Dusk. Which made Dusk freeze and retreat in fear. “You used that pink light on Golden! This morning Golden was moving and talking, but since you arrived in this city, everything has become strange!” Amethyst shouted furiously, this time glaring not only at Dusk but also at Spike and Dusk's friends. “Everything I feel, I don't feel happy! What did you do to me!? What did you do to Golden Quill!?”

Dusk's mouth opened shakily to respond, but at the last second, he stopped when he saw Amethyst's gaze. She was out of control, there was no word that could comfort her or calm her in the state she was in. Also, what could he say to fix the situation? It seemed that those 'crystal ponies' didn't even know the concepts of death, nor anger, nor fear, nor grief. Everything was very complex to explain, and if Dusk couldn't use his magic, which apparently, they didn't know either, there was only one option.

"I'm sorry." Dusk said with a sad look. Lighting up his horn and activating his magic.

Instantly, Dusk, Spike and all their friends were outside Amethyst's house. Dusk used his magic to teleport them all as far as possible, which, being six ponies plus a dragon, the range was outside the house, halfway to the place where they had first arrived at that city.

“Dusk, what did you do?” Fluttershy asked, scared to understand what Dusk did. “ Amethyst was terrified. We must explain to her that it is not our fault.”

“Amethyst was too out of control, and if her entire family reacted the same, it could have been very dangerous for everyone.” Dusk responded with a sad look. Although at that moment, he remembered the smiles of Coral and the other crystal ponies that had been in the room. They didn't even react to Golden's death or Amethyst's crying... Would they really have reacted angrily like Amethyst?

"Girls! Hide!” Rainbow Dash suddenly said, pushing her friends to hide behind the wall of a nearby house.

Once everyone was under the shadow of the wall, Rainbow Dash pointed into the distance. Looking at where the pegasus was pointing, the others could see that Amethyst had run out of her house. Apparently, she was gathering all the ponies in the sector to tell them something. Straining his eyesight, Dusk could see that some of the ponies Amethyst was talking to only had their shiny manes, not their fur, just like her. And as soon as Amethyst talked to them, they all made scared faces. Unlike the ponies with completely crystalline fur, who just looked slightly confused and kept smiling.

After gathering a large group, all the ponies that Amethyst had gathered separated in different directions. Everyone carefully looking everywhere, looking for something... To those responsible for Golden Quill's death.

“Stay back. For now we must hide.” Dusk Shine said, turning to see her friends. Pushing them all further into the shadow, as a crystal pony was approaching there.

Upon reaching the alley, Dusk saw that the pony looking in that direction was one of the ponies with crystal fur, who simply watched from afar without being able to see Dusk and his friends. That pony stared for a long time, always maintaining a big smile, as if what he was doing was just a game. Then, another young pony arrived, which didn’t have its fur made of crystal, and unlike the first, it did have a worried and scared look. Finally, both ponies left, without being able to see that Dusk and his friends were hiding in the shadows.

"This is very dangerous. There are probably more than a thousand ponies living here.” Dusk said with a thoughtful look. “If everyone starts looking for us, they’ll definitely find us.”

After thinking for a moment, Dusk used his magic on Spike and his friends, using an invisibility spell on them.

“As long as you don't move, no one will see you.” Dusk said, who was now the only one visible in the group. “I'll go outside the city limits to see if the storm has calmed down yet. Maybe Shining and Cadance went back to where the balloon fell and are looking for us there.” Dusk added, lighting his horn again to teleport.

“I'd like to find out what's going on here, but first and foremost, I want to keep Spike and the girls safe. And the further we get from this strange city, the better.” Dusk thought, while using his teleportation spell.

Instantly, Dusk appeared at the edge of the city, right where he and his friends had arrived. There, he stretched out his hoof and immediately felt the thin but intense layer of magic that separated the city from the outside. Dusk quickly crossed it and couldn't help but be surprised even though he knew what would happen. After passing the force field, the snowstorm was still as intense as before entering the city, and when looking behind him, Dusk could see the city behind him. However, he knew that from inside it, no one could see him since the storm couldn’t be seen from within the city. Another of the magical effects that Dusk found fascinating but that he now needed to put aside to focus on a new task.

Dusk looked around, trying to position himself to see which way he should go, hoping that Shining and Cadance were back where everyone fell.

“If Shining hasn't returned, he must still be looking for Cadance in the city.” Dusk thought, starting to walk. “If so, I’ll have to return to the city to look for him. But I don't want to risk my friends. And on the other hand, I can't make them leave the city and expose themselves to this storm... What should I do!?” Dusk thought very worried, not knowing what course of action to take.

Dusk had managed to take just two steps out of the city, when he suddenly stopped when he saw something on the snowy ground. In front of him, there were several hoof prints, all walking in that direction. The tracks of a large group of ponies.

Dusk thought for a few seconds until he understood that those were the footprints that he and his friends left when they went to the city. Then, Dusk opened his eyes wide and looked up worriedly, looking towards the storm. Then he quickly lowered his gaze again, again focusing on the footprints. The lavender stallion's gaze changed to one of deep confusion.

“They can't be our footprints. We've been inside the city for hours. With the intensity of this storm, the snow would have already covered them.” Dusk thought very confused. Suddenly, something collided with his back and made him fall into the snow.

“Ouch… That hurt…” Rainbow Dash said, rubbing her head. Who had flown quickly and had been the one who had collided with Dusk.

“Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?" Dusk asked, getting up and also rubbing his sore back. “I told you to wait hidden.”

"It's not my fault!" The pegasus grumbled. “You left more than an hour ago. Obviously, I couldn't wait. “I thought something bad might have happened to you.”

"One hour? What are you talking about? I haven’t even been out of the city five minutes.” Dusk responded annoyed. Until what he himself said made him open his eyes in surprise.

"Wait a second... It's impossible..." Dusk thought, while a crazy theory began to form in his head.

Just at that moment, Applejack crossed the magical field while Dusk and Rainbow Dash stared at her in confusion.

“What are you two doing here!? We have been waiting for you for hours!” Applejack said annoyed.

"Uh? What are you talking about? I just left city.” Rainbow Dash responded confused.

“Let's get back into the city… Right now!” Dusk suddenly said scared. Quickly pushing her two friends so that everyone passed through the magical barrier.

Upon returning to the city, the three ponies looked at the sky in surprise, seeing that the aurora that illuminated it had gone out noticeably, becoming more like the night sky. Similar to the sky they had seen when they first arrived in the city.

"What's going on?" Applejack asked confused, scratching her head. “When I left the city it seemed to be dusk, but now the sky is totally dark, as if it were night.”

“You only came out for a few seconds, but in here, it was like a couple of hours had passed.” Dusk responded with a scared look. “Somehow… here time moves forward in… a different way.”

"What?" Rainbow Dash said confused. Putting on a thoughtful look until she finally understood. “Oh…! Do you mean that time moves faster here than outside!?”

“Yes, and it doesn't do it continuously…” Dusk responded, falling into a sitting position, as if he were exhausted. Putting on a panicked look. “You said that you waited for me here for an hour before leaving to look for me, but for me it was only a few minutes. Instead, Applejack waited for several hours, but for us, it was seconds…”

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN THIS PLACE!!?” Dusk shouted in his mind, on the verge of mental collapse. Feeling useless as he saw that with each discovery, that place seemed more and more strange as if it didn't even follow the laws of physics or common sense.

Slowly the light of the aurora in the sky began to shine brighter, resembling a dawn. That made Applejack get scared and pick up Dusk to regain his composure.

“It's already dawn. We must return to the others.” Applejack said, looking seriously at Dusk.

That made Dusk come to his senses, and his mind refocused on what really mattered: keeping his friends safe.

The doors of the crystal pony houses began to open, repeating the same ritual from the previous day. Everyone came out of their houses smiling, greeting each other happily. While Dusk quickly used his magic to teleport him and his two friends back to the alley where the others must be.

With a flash, the three ponies appeared back in the alley. Seeing who they were, Fluttershy, Rarity, Spike, and Pinkie Pie rushed to them and hugged them, causing the invisibility spell to disappear.

"Where have you been!? We were waiting all night for you!” Rarity said with a few small tears in her eyes. Scolding Dusk while hugging him.

“Even if you don't believe me, I was only gone for a few minutes,” Dusk responded with a nervous smile.

“So that was the flash I saw! It was you!!” A voice suddenly said behind Dusk and his friends.

Dusk's group saw that the pony seeing them was one of the many ponies with crystal fur that inhabited that city. Just like Coral, a pony that seemed to be made entirely of crystal, who kept a happy smile while looking at Dusk and his friends.

"Hey everypony! I found them!” That crystal stallion screamed. Pointing at Dusk while yelling at everyone to go there. Screaming with a huge smile of joy, as if he had won a game. “Yesterday, the whole city was looking for you. Why did you run away from Coral’s house?” The crystal pony asked, refocusing his gaze on Dusk and his friends.

For a moment, Dusk immediately thought about teleporting again and fleeing with his friends. However, something that that crystal pony said caught his attention.

“You… Don't you know why we ran away?” Dusk asked confused. “Amethyst didn't tell you why?”

“The young Amethyst?” The young crystal pony asked with a slight confused smile.

“Yes, she was furious with us,” Applejack said worriedly.

“B-But we didn't do anything wrong,” Fluttershy added timidly.

“Furious? What's that?" Amethyst herself suddenly asked. Who came there along with dozens of ponies that also arrived attracted by the cry of the young crystal stallion.

Elder Amethyst stared at everyone from the front of the alley. With a huge smile full of kindness. One that was a far cry from the furious look they had seen on her the last time they saw her. For their part, Dusk and his friends stood frozen, again not understanding anything of what was happening.

“Y-You… Do you remember what happened yesterday?” Dusk asked timidly. Trying to understand what was going through the minds of those strange crystal ponies.

"Well, of course." The old mare responded smiling. “Yesterday, I invited you to have hot cocoa with higher granny Coral, and then, you just ran away without saying anything.”

For several seconds, Dusk remained silent. It was obvious that that mare didn’t remember what had happened, or at least not everything. She could remember meeting Dusk and the others, but she couldn't remember when she became angry and let out her feelings of fear.

Dusk hesitated about what to do next. The wisest thing was not to try to make Amethyst remember what happened. However, the mysteries about that city were eating away at Dusk's mind, and he simply couldn't stand any more mysteries.

“You… Don't you remember what happened… with Golden Quill?” Dusk asked slowly. Knowing that he was taking a risk by remembering the moment of Amethyst's husband's death.

“Uh? Did someone say my name?” A stallion's voice suddenly said and approached Amethyst and stood by her side.

That stallion had the same color of fur and mane as the ones Dusk remembered seeing on the deceased body of the elderly Golden Quill in Amethyst's bed, but it had two big differences. The first was that this stallion was much younger than the old Golden Quill they had seen the previous day, and the second was that this stallion shone as bright as most of the crystal ponies in town, with a coat that seemed to be made entirely of crystal.

"Hi darling," Amethyst said, giving the young Golden Quill a small kiss on the cheek. “It seems that somehow Dusk and his friends know your name, although they didn't get to know you yesterday.”

“Oh… Yes, it's a shame I couldn't meet you yesterday. If I had met you before, you would have seen me as old, as I was before crystallization, hahaha.” The young crystal stallion laughed. Taking a step and approaching Dusk. "Nice to meet you! It seems you already know this, but my name is Golden Quill, Amethyst Maresbury's husband. A pleasure." The young stallion said smiling.

Dusk Shine froze as he saw the young crystal pony smiling at him, stretching out a hoof in front of him to greet him, with dozens of other crystal ponies behind him, just as smiling. Finally, Dusk's temper was broken, and he sat down again with a lost look.

“Heheh… Heheh…” Dusk laughed awkwardly as one of his eyes twitched. “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN THIS PLACE!!?” Dusk shouted hysterically, no longer being able to contain what he thought only in his mind.

Cadance was sleeping peacefully in a comfortable bed in the castle. As her consciousness returned, the first thing she noticed was someone caressing her mane and singing a sweet song.

“Aunt Celestia?” It was the first thing Cadance thought while still asleep. However, that thought was immediately discarded because although her aunt Celestia pampered and hugged her when she was a filly, she had never sung to her while caressing her.

Cadance's confused mind searched the recesses of her memory. A figure that was nothing more than a diffuse shapeless silhouette. Someone who had also caressed her many years ago and who had also sung to her while holding her in her hooves.

“Mom…” Cadance murmured weakly as she began to open her eyes.

Slowly coming to her senses, Cadance noticed that this was not her room. The other thing she noticed was that the pony caressing her didn’t have the warm touch of her mother but rather colder and more rigid hooves.

Realizing this, Cadance finally reacted, opened her eyes completely and jumped to see who had been singing to her. As she did so, Cadance was surprised to see a beautiful unicorn mare, with purple fur and a light blue mane. However, what stood out most about that mare was her fur, which shone as if it were completely covered in crystal.

“W-Who are you…? Where I am?" Cadance asked confused. Looking everywhere and then refocusing on the mare in front of her.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, dear Guardian.” The crystal mare responded with a kind smile and a slight bow. Standing up and looking at Cadance with a smile filled with the purest and most absolute kindness. “My name is Radiant Hope, and right now, you are at the top of the Crystal Castle… Specifically, in the hall of the Guardian of the Empire.”

“Guardian of the empire? W-What empire?” Cadance asked, even more confused.

Cadance's sight was distracted when she saw that behind that mare called Radiant Hope, there was a statue of an alicorn. However, to Cadance's surprise, that alicorn was not one of the three alicorns that everyone in Equestria knew.

“Amore…” Cadance whispered in surprise. Finally knowing where she was, but not being able to believe she was actually there.

End of chapter 35

Author's Note

Many thanks to 'Silveranon' for his great help

**ARTISTS 'CONTRIBUTIONS**
Dusk Shine II Chapt. 35 - DenDoctor