“The Crystal Empire has returned.”

“The Crystal Empire?” Twilight gasped, “I’m sorry I-I thought I’d studied. Ooh I don’t think there’s anything in any of my books!”

“There wouldn’t be,” Princess Celestia said, prompting a very confused look from Twilight, “Few remember it even existed at all.” She continued, carefully removing the glass covering from a pedestal, a large, oddly shaped crystal sat upright on it.

Quickly removing said crystal, Princess Celestia set it down on the floor, right in front of Twilight, “Even my knowledge of the empire is limited,” She infused it with magic, allowing it to project a diorama of an intricate looking city, in which a large crystal spire rose above in the center.

“But what I do know, is that it contains a powerful magic. One thousand years ago King Sombra, a unicorn whose heart was black as night, took over the Crystal Empire.” Princess Celestia explained as the miniature city was enveloped in dark crystals, a menacing face appeared at the top, snarling.

“Ultimately, he only ruled for a short time, but before he was about to be overthrown, he cast a curse. A curse that caused him, along with the rest of the Crystal Empire, to vanish into thin air.” Princess Celestia concluded, the crystal flashed, and the projection was sucked back into it.

Twilight looked on in amazement.

“If the empire is filled with hope and love, those things are reflected across all of Equestria.” Princess Celestia shot a beam of magic into the crystal, which began to emanate a beautiful rainbow. “If hatred and fear take hold.” Princess Celestia continued, and began to focus, a much darker, malicious magic began to emanate from her, and she soon shot a darkened beam into the crystal.

This time, the crystal emitted a shadow, even in the well lit room, it stretched across the floor, with blackened crystals shooting up wherever it diverged, nearly surrounding Twilight. Princess Celestia quickly switched back though, and ended the display with a blast of solar light, disintegrating the crystals.

“Which is why I need your help finding a way to protect it.” She finished.

“You want my help protecting an entire empire?” Twilight asked, unsure of herself.

“It is as I said,” Princess Celestia began, replacing the crystal back on its pedestal, covering it once more. “A different kind of test. One that I would've hoped to postpone for your recovery, but time is of the essence, and I am certain you will pass.”

Twilight simply stood there for a moment in confusion, before a determined look appeared on her face.

“How do I begin?” She asked confidently.

Princess Celestia smiled, “By joining Princess Cadance and Shining Armor in the Crystal Empire.”

“My brother is there?” Twilight asked

“He is,” Princess Celestia answered, “And your Ponyville friends will join you as well.”

Twilight smiled, but it soon faltered as she realized something.

“Is that thing going to be there?” She asked

Princess Celestia paused, and looked towards Twilight for a moment, “Yes, it will be, but Princess Cadance has proven herself capable at keeping it under control. Nevertheless, I have every confidence that you will succeed, and when you do, I’ll know you are ready to move onto the next level of your studies.”

Twilight trailed behind Princess Celestia as they exited the throne room, and she gave her a worried look.

“But, what if I fail?” She asked,

“You won't,” Princess Celestia reassured

“But, what if-” Twilight stopped as Princess Celestia touched her lightly with her hoof.

“You won’t,” Princess Celestia repeated, standing next to her sister, “But Twilight, in the end it must be you and you alone who ultimately assists Princess Cadance and Shining Armor in doing what needs to be done in order to protect the empire. Do you understand?”

Twilight regained her confidence, and gave a quick nod, “Mm-hm!”

“Then go, there is no time to lose,” and with that, Princess Celestia shut the doors to the castle, a bit more abruptly than what was probably necessary.

A moment of silence passed.

“I don’t know about you sister, but I for one am glad that the worm is out of the castle, at least for the time being.” Princess Luna spoke,

“I have to agree with you on that,” Princess Celestia replied, “Though I am worried that it might interfere with Twilight’s test.”

“Indeed.”

“My this weather is awful!” Rarity complained, “I can hardly see a thing.”

“You want me to take care of it?” Rrainbow Dash asked, looking a bit smug.

Rarity peered out of the window, but wasn’t able to see much in the severe blizzard.

“I don’t think even you could take care of this.” She stated,

“Hmm,” Rainbow Dash said, putting a hoof to her chin, “I could probably do it in say… fifteen no sixteen seconds flat.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow.

Rainbow Dash held her serious expression for a moment, but then it began to falter, then she snorted, and soon began to snicker uncontrollably.

“Yeah right”! She said through laughs, “I can hardly imagine even flying in that, much less clearing it.”

Rarity also cracked a smile, and soon joined in with the laughter.

“I’m glad I brought enough scarves, I can’t imagine what it would be like without them.” She commented,

“Enough? Rarity, you brought like fifty of them.” Rainbow Dash said, “I think that’s more than enough for one pony.”

Rarity scoffed, “One can never be too fashionable Rainbow Dash, and besides, I can share too!” She defended herself.

“Pfft! Like I need a scarf just to handle the cold.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes

The whistling of the train prevented any more conversation, and signaled that they were nearing their destination.

“Is everypony ready?” Twilight asked the group as the train slowed to a stop

Several nods and agreements were given.

“Great.” Twilight continued, and proceeded to open the door to the train.

Immediately the wind forced its way inside, nearly knocking Twilight off her hooves, but she held firm, and slowly began to walk out into the blizzard, closely followed by her friends, and Spike. Outside it was nearly impossible to see, the darkness from the storm compounded with the wind whipping back and forth made simply walking in a straight line more than difficult.

“How are we supposed to find an empire in this?!” Applejack tried to ask.

“What?!” Twilight shouted over the wind.

“Ah said!” Applejack shouted back, “How are we supposed to find this empire?!”

Twilight frowned, and with a quick flash of magic a transparent bubble surrounded the group. The wind was immediately cut off, and for the moment they were protected from the raging blizzard.

“There,” she concluded, “Now what did you say?”

“Thanks, but how are we gonna find the Crystal Empire in this storm?” Applejack asked again.

“I… I don’t know,” Twilight said, “The train was supposed to take us within walking distance, but I can’t see a thing in this storm! Can any of you see anything?”

Every one of them each took turns peering out into the storm, trying to make out anything besides the train station in the snow, but not much else could be seen. That is, until a dark outline appeared, and began to approach them. Twilight squinted her eyes, trying to get a better look at the mysterious figure as it ventured ever closer.

It stopped right in front of the dome, and knocked on it twice, but Twilight didn’t let it in. Then it reached up, and pulled its scarf down, as well as taking off its snow goggles, revealing a very familiar face.

“Shining Armor!” Twilight exclaimed,

”Twily!” He responded, though it was a bit muffled.

Quickly expanding the dome they were in, Twilight enveloped her brother with it, allowing him to speak normally as well.

“You made it!” He said, and reached forward to hug her.

“We did," Twilight returned the gesture, "But how are we supposed to get to the Crystal Empire?”

“Yes, this blizzard has prevented us from doing much of anything at all.” Rarity complained,

“Actually.” Shining Armor said, “We do have something for that,” He looked towards Twilight again, “If you would,”

Twilight looked to her friends, “Ready?” she asked,

They all nodded, and so did Twilight, then with another spark of magic, the dome faded, and they were once more surrounded by the blizzard. The wind whipped past them, with flakes of snow stinging anything exposed. Squinting her eyes and glancing at her brother, Twilight waited for what he would do next.

Shining Armor brought a hoof up to his mouth, and gave out a shrill whistle, which seemed to pierce through the storm’s howling winds. A few moments passed, and nothing notable happened, but right as Twilight was about to reform the protective dome, something incredible occurred.

Some sort of shockwave passed over them, and in the next instant, the blizzard seemed to just vanish. The area immediately started to lighten, the wind died down quite a bit, and the snowfall calmed considerably. A few seconds later faint beams of sunlight began to break through, and an evening sky was visible through the holes in the clouds.

Everypony was in varying degrees of shock, except for Shining Armor of course, but the most surprised of all, was Rainbow Dash, who sat there slack-jawed in amazement at the display.

They all looked across the now visible landscape, the snow drifts casting long shadows across the tundra with the aid of the setting sun. A fair distance away was a brightly shining blue dome, acting as a centerpiece for the whole scene.

“It’s beautiful.” Rarity commented,

“Just wait till you see the inside,” Shining Armor said.

Rainbow Dash then shook herself out of her stupor, “What was that?!”

“You remember the worm don’t you?” Shining Armor asked,

“The worm did that?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed,

“Well yeah, how else do you think that storm over Canterlot appeared and disappeared so quickly?”

“That's…” Rainbow Dash paused as she remembered, “Totally awesome!”

Shining Armor nodded, “It has been helpful.” Then he cast a glance towards the horizon, “Though we’d best get moving, the storm will reform eventually, and there are things out here that we really don’t want to run into after dark.”

There were some nervous looks from the group, but they all nodded eventually, except for Twilight, who just looked across the snowy landscape with uncertainty.

“Twily?” Shining Armor asked,

“I-I don’t know,” She said, “I’m still rehabilitating, I can’t even walk up the stairs without help!” She looked at the braces on her hind legs, “I don’t think I can make it across the snow.”

“Hey, look at me,” Shining Armor said, putting a hoof on her shoulder, “You can make it, you just need a little bit of help is all.” His horn began to glow, and Twilight was lifted up a few inches as a magic sled appeared beneath her. “Remember when we used to do this as kids?” Shining Armor asked,

Twilight looked down at the half sphere she was now sitting on and smiled, “Yes.”

A distant howling overtook the moment however, and Shining Armor got a very stern look on his face.

“We better hurry,” he said, and began pulling the sled Twilight was on, with the rest of her friends soon following.

The wind began to pick again as the group traveled, and as the sun sank the rest of the way below the horizon, the air grew chilly. They were about halfway to the empire when the eerie howling returned.

“What is that?” Twilight asked,

“Not the wind,” Shining Armor answered, picking up the pace a bit, “We think it’s the unicorn king who used to rule the empire back before it disappeared. He keeps trying to get in, but so far he hasn’t been able to.”

“But Princess Celestia said I was being sent here to find a way to protect the empire. If King Sombra can’t get in, then it must already be protected.” Twilight deduced.

The howling came again, this time sounding much closer, causing everypony to stop and look behind them. A dark, looming cloud separated from the encroaching storm, dropping low to the ground and quickly approaching them. Everypony stopped to look at it for a moment, either in fear or fascination until Shining Armor cut in.

“Move!” He commanded, and he quickly yanked the sled forward, nearly causing Twilight to fall off.

That seemed to jostle the rest of the group into moving as well, and soon enough they were sprinting the rest of the way to the Crystal Empire. As they neared the shimmering blue dome however, it became evident that the black mist was gaining on them, the rough terrain not helping in the slightest.

Twilight took initiative, and turned to face the dark cloud as she was being dragged along, horn charged. The first few bolts missed by quite a large margin, but as Twilight got used to being bumped and bounced, her aim got better. However, what magic attacks that did land gave little pause to the entity at all, and the mist continued to edge closer and closer.

Twilight unleashed a beam instead, sweeping across the cloud, managing to separate it into pieces, which took some time to reform, delaying it. She continued this action in bursts, cutting away any part that was getting too close, but it wasn’t enough, and the cloud drew ever closer.

Then Shining Armor tripped.

The magic sled continued forward, but soon caught on another piece of the terrain, up-ending itself and sending Twilight flailing through the air. It took her a moment to realize what happened, but before she could react in any way, a wave of hot air passed over her, and the next moment she landed in a heap on some grass.

Wait a minute… grass?

Twilight got up as fast as she could, and frantically looked around. A sprawling city lay before her, made completely of crystal, a familiar spire rose in the center, with a light blue dome encompassing the whole thing, somehow illuminating the entire area, making it seem like it was day. Twilight followed the dome wall with her eyes all the way until it was behind her, just in time to see her friends pass through along with Spike, but not her brother.

“Where’s Shining Armor?” She demanded

“He’s-” Applejack took a moment to catch her breath, “He’s still out there!”

“What?!” Twilight shouted, and she quickly hobbled over to the wall of the dome.

Just as she was about to peak back outside, Shining Armor was apparently thrown through the dome. Twilight was knocked back, and they tumbled together into a pile of limbs.

Shining Armor shook his head, and carefully untangled himself from his sister, making sure to help her up as well.

“Are you okay?” He asked,

“I think so,” Twilight answered, checking herself quickly, “Nothing broken at least.” But as she looked up at her brother she gasped, “Your horn!”

Shining Armor looked up, and felt his horn with a hoof, small, black crystals seemed to have sprouted out of it, and as he tried to gather magic, they dispersed it.

“That’s not good,” He said.

“What should we do?” Twilight asked worriedly,

Shining Armor inhaled, “There isn’t much time to lose, we should go see Cadance,” He said, ignoring his condition.

Twilight gave him an uncertain look, but nonetheless followed him towards the outskirts of the Crystal Empire, where the rest of her friends were waiting. The intricate gateway alluding to the beauty of the rest of the empire.

“This is absolutely awe inspiring.” Rarity gushed,

“Sparklerific,” Pinkie Pie said,

Even Rainbow Dash seemed to admire the view, though she didn’t show it much.

“Come on girls, lets actually go inside,” Twilight announced,

“No disagreements here, I can’t wait to see the inside of the city.” Rarity said, closely following Twilight and Shining Armor past the gate.

The rest of the group soon followed as well, Spike included, and they entered the Crystal Empire proper.

Sparkling crystal buildings rose on each side of the glittering street, each one seemingly carved out of a massive gem. However as the group travelled down the main road, one thing became apparent. The streets were completely empty, devoid of any life, and even as they neared the castle in the center, there was not a single soul present besides themselves. Well, except for one soul, the worm.

It lazily circled the castle’s spire, letting out periodic chirps and trills. Twilight gave it a very uneasy look, but paid it little more mind in favor of seeing her sister in law. The group entered the crystalline castle and easily navigated the empty hallways with the help of Shining Armor. They entered the throne room, and upon seeing Cadance sitting on the throne, Twilight rushed to see her as fast as she could.

“Cadance!” She called out.

“Twilight!” She called back,

Even from across the room Twilight could tell Cadance looked miserable, she had obvious bags under her eyes and looked to be having trouble just sitting, much less standing. She seemed to lighten up quite a bit when she saw Twilight approaching though. She shakily got up from the throne and went to meet her halfway.

“Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake!” They both repeated to each other, the motions… not so much.

“It’s been so long,” Cadance said, “How have you been?”

“Better, but I’m still a long way away from a full recovery.” Twilight said, looking towards the braces on her legs once more.

Cadance gave Twilight a sad look, “I’m sorry,” She said, then cringed immediately after, the glow on her horn flickering slightly. She exhaled as she focused her magic some more.

“Nevermind that,” Twilight said, now looking at Cadance with worry, “Are you okay?”

“Cadance has been able to use her magic to spread love and light,” Shining Armor stepped in to explain, “That seems to be what is protecting the Empire. But she hasn’t slept, barely eats, I want to help her, but my protection spell has been countered by King Sombra.”

Cadance stood up a bit straighter, “It’s alright Shining Armor, I’m fine.”

He gave her a stern look. “You’re not fine. You can’t go on like this forever, and if your magic were to fade…” He looked towards Twilight, “Well you saw what’s out there waiting for that to happen.”

“That’s why we’re here.” Twilight concluded,

“Why we’re all here,” Applejack added in, followed closely with the rest of Twilight’s friends.

“Well with Cadance putting all her strength into keeping her spell going, and me trying to keep an eye on signs of trouble in the arctic. We haven’t been able to gather much information from the crystal ponies.” Shining Armor explained.

“Crystal ponies!” Rarity exclaimed, surprising the group, “There are crystal ponies?!”

A very awkward silence fell over the group, Rarity laughed nervously, “Please continue.”

“But we have to believe that one of them knows how to protect the empire, without having to use Cadance’s magic.” Shining Armor continued,

Twilight perked up at this, “A research paper!” She said,

“Huh?”

“That must be part of my test.” Twilight deduced, “To gather information from the crystal ponies and deliver it to you! This is going to be great! I love research papers!”

“Yeah… who doesn’t?” Rainbow Dash said jokingly.

“Oh Oh Oh!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, “Let me guess! Is it Spike? No no! Fluttershy? Rarity?” She asked rapidfire, "Maybe even big wormy?"

“Don’t worry big brother,” Twilight said, ignoring Pinkie Pie’s outburst, “I am really good at this sort of thing.”

“Great,” Shining Armor said after a moment, “Then you can get started right away.”

“We will!” Twilight affirmed, “Right girls?”

A plethora of nods came from her friends.

“Then let's go!” Twilight announced,

She briskly walked back out of the throne room, closely followed by her friends, all of them had determined looks on their faces.

That determination left rather quickly.

“Are you sure? Absolutely sure?” Twilight asked, hoping for any piece of information that might have been helpful.

“I’m sorry…” The crystal pony said, “I wish I could help you, but I can’t seem to remember anything before King Sombra came to power.” She visibly flinched after saying that, “And I don’t want to remember anything about the time he ruled over us.”

Twilight leaned over to Spike to whisper, “King Sombra’s spell must be why their coats aren’t… Crystally.”

“Have we really been gone over a thousand years?” The crystal pony asked,

“Yes,” Twilight answered.

“It feels like it was just yesterday”

“If you think of anything, even the smallest thing.” Twilight said, hoping to gleam at least something from this pony.

“Of course.” The crystal pony nodded, then turned back into their house, closing the door behind them.

“Well that was a total bust.” Spike exclaimed, quickly hopping down the steps,

Twilight frowned, “Maybe the others are having better luck, let's head back for now.”

On their way back to the castle though, Twilight noticed something odd. In the time it took her to question a few crystal ponies, the worm had dropped lower to the ground, flying just high enough to pass over the buildings. Twilight would have given it a wide berth if it wasn’t for the small crowd of crystal ponies trailing behind it. She watched as more and more would congregate behind the worm until it would notice and snap back at them, shooing them away, but soon after the crowd would reform and begin to follow it again.

With curiosity getting the better of her fear, Twilight approached the crowd, making sure to keep an eye on the worm as it flew overhead. She knew it wouldn’t attack her unless provoked, but Twilight was still wary of it, especially since she had experienced first hoof what it could do.

“Why are you following that… thing?” Twilight asked, pulling one of the ponies from the entourage.

The pony stared at her blankly with dull eyes, “I don’t know…” She said slowly, “Something about it is familiar…”

“Familiar how?” Twilight asked,

The crystal pony just shrugged, then walked away to rejoin the crowd, which had moved a fair bit away.

“That was something,” Spike commented, “Still not very helpful.”

Twilight furrowed her brows, “Come on Spike, let’s go regroup with the others,”

It seemed that the rest of her friends each found a similar outcome, seeing as the rest of them were all gathered there looking disappointed.

Rainbow Dash let out an exasperated sigh, “I got nothing so far.”

“Me neither.” Rarity added

Fluttershy just nodded, while Pinkie Pie glanced left and right rapidly, she got up real close to Twilight, “My cover has been blown, I repeat, my cover has been blown!”

“Oookay?” Twilight said, giving her a strange look

“Sorry Twilight,” Applejack began, “These crystal ponies seem to have some kind of collective amnesia or something. Only thing ah was able to get out of them was something about a library.”

“A library?!” Twilight exclaimed, “Well why didn’t you say so?”

“Ah thought I just did,” Applejack said

“C’mon girls!” Twilight announced, “This is going to be great!”

It was not great.

“I can’t seem to remember,” The crystal pony said, “I’m not sure I actually work here.”

Rainbow Dash grumbled and facehooved.

“We’ll just take a look around, I’m sure we can find it on our own.” Twilight said,

“Let me know if you find anything,” The crystal pony replied as they walked off, and then she began to look around in confusion.

“I like her,” Pinkie Pie said, then quickly followed the others into the library proper.

The group then spent the next few minutes searching for a history book, which was easier said than done. Despite being quite a large library, its organizational structure was not very refined, and even though there were categorized sections, the books themselves were mismatched and misplaced, much to the annoyance of the group, especially Twilight.

It boiled down to each pony taking on a different area of the library, sorting through every book in hopes of finding the right one, if there even was a right one. Rainbow Dash haphazardly flew down the shelves, barely giving the books a glance as she went over each one. Fluttershy went down each row a bit more slowly, and carefully inspected each book before putting it back. Applejack gathered piles and quickly sifted through each one, while Rarity enlisted the help of Spike to go over several at a time. Twilight was by far the fastest, having a constant stream of books to review that ended in a large pile off to the side. Pinkie Pie, on the other hoof, was randomly picking out books, from anywhere, whatever was the most eye-catching was what she singled out next.

“What about this one?” She suggested, holding a book with a matte maroon cover, “A Tale of a Cruel World? What’s that supposed to mean?” She asked, reading the title out loud.

“That sounds like fiction Pinkie Pie, not what we’re looking for darling,” Rarity replied as she glossed over a few more books.

“It doesn’t look like fiction.” Pinkie Pie said, and she cracked it open, “Who is this Bray-lore? Stah-tise? Seal-vah?” She listed, a confused look on her face, “This guy doesn’t look too nice, Yarr-”

“I found it!” Twilight interrupted, holding up a large book, “History of the Crystal Empire” She read out loud. The others gathered around as Twilight opened it, “I just hope it has the answers we need…”

“A crystal fair,” Twilight began, “According to this book, it was established by their first queen, and became their most important tradition. The fair was held every year to…” She paused to read directly from the book, “Renew the spirit of love and unity in the empire so they could protect it from harm.” She stated, “My friends and I could put it together, everything we need to know is in the book.”

“That sounds promising,” Shining Armor responded, smiling a bit, but as he looked towards Cadance, his smile dropped.

She didn’t even look awake, her eyes were closed and she was obviously swaying back and forth. Only the constant glowing of her horn showing that she was actually conscious, if you could call it that.

“We’ll get started right away!” Twilight said, “C’mon Spike, we’ve got a crystal fair to put together!”

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

I'd like to say that I don't take much joy in copying down dialogue and scenes directly from the episodes, but it certainly helps fill the chapter. I've had and am currently having a lot of difficulty trying to figure out exactly how to write this part, but so far I've been getting it done, so you have this to enjoy for now.