Moonlight's POV

Sombra and I are in the throne room, settling a dispute between two farmers over who owns a patch of land, when a guard runs into the room and asks us to drop and prepare for an attack on the Crystal Empire.

"What is it?" I say, trying to stay calm. No point in worrying unless I know what the problem is.

"Two ponies from Equestria heading towards the Crystal Empire, your majesty. They're about half an hour's walk from the outskirts of the city."

"Only two of them?"

"As far as we can tell."

"Do they look like guards, or maybe Shining Armour and Cadance?"

"They could be guards, but they're too far away to tell at the moment."

I exchange a look with Sombra. Should we be worried?

No.

What do we do?

We could go out there and meet them.

It could be an attack.

It doesn't sound like it, but if you say so.

I raise an eyebrow, confused. What is it with the short answers today?

I'm considering the possibilities of an attack; or either Blueblood , Luna or Starlight sending ponies here; or some ponies deciding to visit the Crystal Empire after reading that article you published; perhaps something else entirely, and what we're supposed to do in each scenario, plus I'm using the telepathy spell to talk to you. I happen to be a bit preoccupied.

Alright, alright, I'll stop bothering you.

He looks down at the guard and orders, "You and four other guards will go to meet them and escort them back here."

"By 'here', do you mean here or the dungeon?" The words slip out of my mouth far too quickly and I bite my lip as Sombra glowers at me.

“How dare you?” he says, though he’s not as annoyed as I thought he would be.

“Everypony in the room was thinking it,” I counter. “I was just the first one to speak.”

A smile slowly creeps onto his lips. “If you were anypony else, I really have no idea what I would do, but I can’t stay annoyed at you. This is why I fell for you: you have the guts to say the things that other ponies won’t.” He pauses and looks at the guard. “No, I am not quite that horrible. Bring them back here to the throne room. They might not be Solar Guards, and if they aren’t I would like to at least try to be nice to them.”

The guard salutes and leaves. Sombra looks at me. "Next time, try to hold your tongue. Where did that comment even come from, anyway?"

"I don't know, it just seemed like a funny thing to say. It wasn't until I said it that I realised."

"Oh my goodness, Moonlight. No wonder Celestia hates you if you go around saying things like that."

"It's not the first time I've said something like that to you," I giggle.

"I know, I know. Just… if you write any more newspaper articles, be careful with what you say."

"You read the one I wrote and said it was fine."

"I'm telling you for the future."

"Ok."

"Good. Now can we get back to the matter at hoof?"

"Oh." I suddenly remember the two farmers and look at them, expecting them to be annoyed by the delay. Instead, though, they're both smiling.

"It's fine, your majesty. Looking after everypony is your top priority," one of them, a blue-coated stallion, says. He glances at his neighbour, a green unicorn. "Although I'd also like to get my land back."

"If you can prove it was yours in the first place," the unicorn quips.

I glance at Sombra and can’t help but think, This could take a while.

An hour later, the court case is resolved in the earth pony’s favour, but the two farmers agree to stay on friendly terms. At the same time as the two ponies leave, the guard from earlier walks into the room and bows.

“No need to be so formal,” Sombra tells him. “Where are they?”

“Unfortunately, we had to take them to the Crystal Empire dungeon.”

“Did they put up a fight, then?”

“Yes. Nopony was severely injured, but they weren’t exactly pleased to see us.”

“Solar Guards?” I ask.

The guard shakes his head. “Pegasus and a bat pony, both stallions. No armour, but a lot of old injuries and scars. They wouldn’t say who they were, just said they wanted to speak to you two.”

“Ok then.” I leap off of the crystal throne and soar down to the throne room floor. “Now’s as good a time as any. And I’m sure, as leaders of the Crystal Empire, we are allowed to tell others how they can and can’t treat our guards.”

“Let’s see what trouble we have landed in, then.” Sombra jumps out of his seat, and the three of us trot down the many flights of stairs until we reach the main corridor in the dungeon. The guard leads us to the cell where the two stallions have been locked away.

“Oi, Miss Daughter of the Night! Here ter talk, are yeh?” Thunder the Solar Guard calls as we go past his cell. “Or maybe even let me go?”

“There’s a couple of new arrivals,” I answer.

“Oh? More Solar Guards?”

“We’re not sure. Would you or anypony else know anything?”

“Maybe Ah’ll tell yeh summat useful if he ain’t here starin’ inter mah soul.” Thunder glares at Sombra, who simply turns his nose up at the prisoner.

“You go on ahead,” I tell him. “I’ll stay here for a moment and find you later.”

He and the guard walk away, and I sit down in front of the iron bars. “So, Thunder,” I say casually, “what do you know?”

“If even one of them ponies is an, uh, bat pony,” he hesitates to stop himself from accidentally saying ‘vampire’, “they’re probably an ex-guard. Celestia don’t hate all the Lunar Guards, says there’s a hoofful she can trust. ‘Parrently there were a few of ‘em she used ter like, but most of ‘em left the guard years ago. All rumours, but maybe there’s a bitta truth in there.”

“Why am I not surprised that she has favourites?” I sigh. “But thank you. You know, I should really speak to Sombra about getting better living conditions for ponies like you.”

“Ah’m only on speakin’ terms ‘cause yeh wheedled too much outta me already an’ Celestia won’t like me no more, remember.”

“That doesn’t mean you should be down here when you’ve helped me. I only found out the truth about my mother because of you. I owe you for that.”

“Ah told Celestia plenty about yeh before yeh caught me,” he argues.

“Amnesty is a thing, you know.”

“Fine. Do what yeh will. Make me a citizen of the Crystal Empire an’ let me free if yeh must.” He pretends to look miffed, but he’s used a piece of stone to make marks on the back wall and keep count of how long he has been in the underground prison.

“I’ll keep in touch.”

“See yeh soon, then.”

I give him a silent nod, then get up and leave. I walk for a short while this way and that through the underground prison. Most of the cells are empty, but I pass a few that hold the Solar Guards that Blueblood dumped on us. They shout at me and call me a vampire, but I ignore them and hold my head high. I don’t have time to argue with them.

When I find Sombra and the guard, they are both standing in front of a cell, from which I can hear the low muttering of the two stallions. Judging by Sombra’s expression, he’s not had much luck with finding out why they turned up in the first place.

I reach the cell and look at the two ponies inside. The first is a green-coated pegasus with a sandy mane and tail and bright blue eyes. One wing flutters by his side whilst the other remains still. The second pony is a bat pony with an orange coat and a purple mane and tail, although both have hints of grey here and there. He is facing away from all of us, but there are small chunks missing from his ears here and there. His wings are tucked in by his sides. Both of their coats are dirty, and their manes and tails are slightly matted in places.

“Aha!” the pegasus says cheerfully, looking at his friend. “Here she is. The one we’ve been waiting for.”

The bat pony spreads his wings, and I can’t help but gasp: one is a normal purple bat wing, but the other - the one on the right - isn’t a real wing, but a fully-functioning metal replacement. Every bolt and every screw and every metal plate glints in the light of the flaming torches and the enchanted glowing crystals lining the walls. I’ve seen prosthetic wings before, and I’ve heard that some have been developed to move in the same way as an ordinary pegasus wing, but I’ve never seen one before, and most ponies probably don’t see them at all simply because they are so expensive.

He pulls himself onto his hooves and turns himself around. His right eye is covered by an eye patch that almost covers the scar running down that side of his face, but the left one is light blue. He has a grey moustache, and a few small scars on his face. The one blue eye drifts from the Crystal Guard to Sombra, and then when it lands on me it lights up and he smiles.

“Here she is,” he echoes his friend. He adds, chuckling, “Now, you wouldn’t mind it if we could go somewhere a bit more comfortable to talk? We’ve been travelling for quite a while, and although this isn’t too bad I wouldn’t mind having a proper chair to sit on.”

I raise an eyebrow at Sombra.

"If you can explain who you are, why you have tried to fight the Royal Guards I sent to guide you here, and why you are here in the first place, I will be… lenient on you both."

The pegasus tilts his head to one side. "Sure these are the right ponies and this isn't all just a hoax on Sunbutt's part? I thought you said they'd be more accepting of us."

"I said the crystal ponies would be more accepting. I never said a word about the King."

"You said the crystal ponies would be more accepting, and then the guards came and put us in here for no reason. And her?" He casts a quick glance in my direction and sighs.

"Mother knows her daughter best," he shrugs.

"Let them go," I say. "If they're here on Luna's word, they aren't going to hurt anypony, Sombra."

Sombra casts a spell and the bars of the cell sink into the ground. "Now can you answer our questions?"

"Name’s Moonlight Skywalker," the bat pony introduces himself, stepping out of the cramped holding cell. "This here is, both my best friend and most loyal trooper, Hanzal... We were both in the Equestrian Royal Guard, but defected about… What? Ten years ago? I honestly can’t remember, though I can say for certain we were way fed up with Celestia. Our… current group is in the north of Equestria, we've been trying to rebel against the darn Sunbutt for years."

"Of course, somepony here did a much better job at it," Hanzal laughs, looking at me again. It makes me feel slightly uncomfortable.

Skywalker approaches me carefully and says, "Ma’am… you have any idea what ponies are starting to call you?"

"Liar, traitor, vampire, or Umbrum?" I say to lighten the mood and break the ice.

"Nope." Hanzal shakes his head. "Daughter of the Night, Bringer of the Light."

"The Queen of the Stars, the one to unite," Skywalker finishes.

I stare at the floor and rub my left foreleg with my other front hoof.

"We're here because we heard that you had been accepted as the Crystal Empire's leaders and have plans to be kinder than Celestia was to any of us. The two of us have come all this way here because we are on your side… Your Majesty." He bows his head in respect, and Hanzal does the same.

I'm taken aback by this show of kindness from two complete strangers, but compose myself quickly. “Thank you,” I whisper.

"I'm disappointed," Sombra sighs. "All this love and adoration for my wife. At this rate she is bound to become another Celestia."

"You're just mad that most ponies don't talk about you like that," I giggle. "Don't worry, you've still got me to fawn over you."

"That's got nothing to do with it."

"Oh, really? Good thing we can read each other's minds, then."

"I-"

"Jealousy leads to the dark side," Skywalker jests, yet changes expression. “Trust me, I know how it is…”

We all walk upstairs, and I guide Skywalker and Hanzal to the lounge. When the two of them sit down, they relax. Clearly, neither of them have sat on a sofa in a while.

“So,” Sombra asks them, “what exactly brings you to the Crystal Empire?”

“Our group is in desperate need of protection and refuge; many are tired and really want to just take a break from… well, all this. Even more after Celestia declared us enemies of the state.” Skywalker replies.

“Why?” I say.

“She probably thinks we know too much about her. We tried staying out of trouble at first, but she wouldn’t listen to us.”

“That sounds familiar. She needs a better pair of ears.” I glance at Sombra. Can we help these ponies?

It depends on whether or not you think we can trust them. There is a chance that Celestia sent them as spies.

But they keep calling her Sunbutt.

Fair point. In that case, I honestly can’t see why not. I am willing to give them a chance to live normal lives away from Celestia, but at the same time I don’t expect to keep them here for free. They have to pull their weight and do something useful.

That’s ok with me.

“We have decided,” Sombra tells Hanzal and Skywalker, “that we will be able to support you and whoever else needs a place to stay. However, we expect that you give something in return for our hospitality.”

“None of us have come here looking for free meals and leisure time, sir,” Skywalker answers. “Another one of our reasons for coming to the Crystal Empire is to aid both you and your people. We have knowledge of how the Royal Guard works in recent times, what the darn Sunbutt is likely to do next, and the best strategies to combat her.”

“Oh?”

Hanzal takes over. “By the sounds of things, the Crystal Guard isn’t going to be enough on its own to keep Celestia out. Really, the Crystal Guards should stick to guarding the castle and the streets of the Crystal Empire, and there should be a proper army who fight when they have to.”

“And what is Celestia likely to do?”

“She’s trying to gather a proper army of her own, and over the last few weeks Lord Tirek has received some sort of training. Nopony knows what he’s been taught, but he is already capable of stealing any living creature’s magic.”

I bite my lip. “What about the Elements of Harmony?”

“Those six, ma’am?” Skywalker gives a grim laugh. “They’ll definitely be sent here. I don’t know when, but she isn’t going to cut corners. She wants to make sure that if she gets you, there’s no escaping.”

“Great.”

“But if we can come to an agreement, we’ll do our best to keep them out.”

“Deal,” I say. I reach across the coffee table and shake his hoof, then Hanzal’s. “Welcome to the Crystal Empire.”

Author's Note

Time to hand out some credit!

The two OC's who appeared here are not mine: Hanzal belongs to Bronycommander and Moonlight Skywalker was created by Bronie312

I'd like to add that Bronie312 helped a lot in the writing and editing process of this chapter. The idea generator got stuck for a while, but they got it going again, and now I have two new awesome characters to work with!

I'm going to get back to writing. No promises because this chapter took much longer than I expected, but the next chapter should be done by next weekend. I'll keep you all updated in my blog!
~ Angel