The Fairy Flies

Cold winds blew across a landscape of snow and ice, a verifiable storm making even the hardiest of creatures shake as they sought rare prey or hid beneath the snow for shelter. Beneath the snow, a frozen ground stood as hard as stone, preventing all but hardiest of creatures from digging even a smallest den while dark clouds above dropped heavy flow of fresh snow.

And yet, in this hellish landscape of ice and snow, stood a small city, made of crystals and protected by a blue barrier, shielding it's denizens from the storm inside, while displaying a night sky, with moon and stars visible, as if the skies above were not covered in dark clouds.

Yet, where once this beautiful city stood active, with lush fields of farms and grass surrounding it, now only a thin section around the city remained, frost growing on grass, crops and windows of the houses while guards wore an extra layer of clothing, to keep warm during the night shift.

The ponies slept together, to stay warmer during the cold nights that crept in, colder and colder with passing of weeks, as at the center of the city, in the plaza below a towering castle of crystal that stood on four pillars, a heart-shaped crystal slowly spun, hovering between two points of crystal, glowing weakly;

The Crystal Heart was growing weak.

The crystal ponies, citizens of this declining city, hoped every day that their ruler, Princess Amore, would find a way to revitalize the dying crystal heart, even as her efforts grew more and more unresponsive as the weeks passed. The moral of the citizens were slowly crushed, as rumors spread that the frozen north might finally claim the Crystal Empire, forcing it's founding ruler to abandon it as she'd be forced to lead her ponies down south, to emerging country of Equestria, ruled by the newly crowned Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.

No one would expect, that the salvation would arrive not from the minds of Princess Amore or her two promising students, nor the twin sisters sworn to help the Empire once Tirek was defeated.

No, their salvation would come from the guidance of a small, tiny creature, that proclaimed itself to be a 'Cryst-fairy'...

Outside the barrier and it's withering city, a sound of thunder echoed, followed by a sound one would describe as 'glass breaking', as a hole in reality opened, leading into a realm of pure black, only to close within moments of happening, leaving no evidence of it's existence.

There was no one to witness, as a tiny creature slipped through and fell to the snow below in that brief moment the gate between Equestria and Realm of darkness stood open... yet in a thousand years, all would wonder where the creature came from.

Airy huffed as she dug herself from the pile of snow, shaking the snow off herself as she stood up, her tiny weight letting her stand on piles of snow without sinking through. As she wrapped her arms around herself, she looked around the snowy landscape and the dark clouds ahead, shivering as the cold winds blew past her.

" 'Near one of their cities' my ass. This is a frozen wasteland!" Airy yelled out loud, before cursing at how inaccurate her master had been. She had expected a forest or a field of grass, not piles upon piles of snow in every direction. There weren't even any tree's as far as she could see, only hills of snow and ice and glowing blue dome in the -

Her eyes snapped back towards the dome, it's faint bluish glow line a beacon in the dark winter landscape in the distance.

"Huh... I guess he was right, after all" she said to herself, before flapping her wings as she took flight. She could see that it was quite a distance... one she clearly couldn't just fly straight, as the winds blew her right out of the sky, causing her to crash right back into snow below.

It only took her a moment to dig herself out of the snow again, this time angrily huffing at the stupid winds, before she once again shook the snow off herself. As she glanced at the blue dome in the distance, she began to think; it would be relatively easy to just transform to her first form (which lord Grogar's power had already unlocked, since it was mostly physical abilities only) but she wasn't sure if the citizens could already see her, nor how they would react to what was a monster walking towards their protected city.

The other option was to walk there in her current form; an option she disregarded almost immediately, as she'd freeze before reaching it. That left her with final option; to fly as close to the ground as possible, avoiding gusts of wind as she tried to reach the dome before she'd be forced to transform.

With a plan in her head made, Airy once again took flight, only this time staying close to the snow-covered ground as she flew towards the blue dome....

Inside a towering castle of crystal, in the royal bedroom a larger than average unicorn slept, nuzzling herself below the thick red blankets, enjoying what little rest her troubled mind could get. Yet soon enough, a magical alarm ran on the night table, rousing her from sleep as her long spiral horn glowed, pale blue light illuminating the dark room as the mare rose up, her raspberry mane flowing down her head, turning cobalt blue at the ends as it stood out against the very pale vermilion coat; it was almost white, yet a hint of pinkish hue was still to be seen.

A deep blue snowflake between laces marked her flank as a cutie mark.

As Princess Amore, the founded and first ruler of Crystal Empire yawned and left her bed, she already dreaded the start of the early day. In just a hour, she'd have to once again recharge the Crystal Heart, yet each time she did, it took more and more magic out of her, with lessening effects.

As she levitated pieces of jewelry and her crown to herself, she glanced at the dark sky outside; soon, Celestia would raise the sun and mark the beginning of a new day... Another day where neither her efforts, nor the efforts of Radiant Hope and Sombra, her personal students and the only magic users left besides herself, would reveal a way to revitalize the heart.

When she had founded the Crystal Empire nearly 60 years ago, when Celestia's and Luna's mother was but a tiny thing in their grandmother's womb, it had taken but a single, weak spell once a week and the power of the Crystal Heart had kept the barrier strong as warmth spread across the kingdom, with lush fields of green as far as the eye could see at the top of the castle.

Yet these days, each day she felt drained when she cast the spell, with the dome only covering a section of the area it had once done; the distance between the center of the city and the edge was longer than between the city and the dome.

As she brushed her hair and finished setting the jewels and crown, she turned her attention to today's tasks; first, she'd have to get the weekly reports from Radiant and Sombra, then charge the Crystal Heart, after which begin discussions with her royal council about the possibility of evacuating what remained of the Crystal Empire... a depressing topic.

So many of her ponies had already left, with those that remained being her most loyal subjects. Almost all unicorns had already left to join Equestria in the south, as had the thestrals who had once been shunned by pegasi, now swearing loyalty to the night princess. That left only a few unicorns and the crystal ponies, many of who were ready to leave if given command. Sadly, out of the four unicorns that remained, her younger sister Glimmer was unable to use magic since birth, leaving only Amore, Radiant Hope and Sombra as the only magic users in all of Crystal Empire.

Glimmer felt guilty that she couldn't help with the Crystal Heart, but her work as minister of agriculture was just as valuable, especially on times when food started to become scarce without Equestrian support.

As Amore left her quarters, she nodded to the guards, as well as the pair of maids outside, who went in to do their job as she walked down the halls. The air inside the castle was slightly cool, but not at freezing as the outside, which helped her mind finish waking up, just as she came across Radiant and Sombra, both yawning at the early morning.

Sombra was the first to greet her, as they stopped in front of her "Good Morning, your highness" he said with a bow, followed by Radiant doing the same.

She really wished they'd learn by now, that she didn't need them to bow; they were her students, not common citizens.

"Good morning, Sombra, Radiant hope" Amore greeted as the two stood up, slightly tilting their heads to look up at her. Radiant Hope had a beautiful heliotrope coat, with mane of grayish blue, with light blue eyes and a symbol of golden caduceus as cutie mark. Sombra on other hand was opposite, with dark grey coat and black mane, with green eyes and a symbol of black crystals as cutie mark (though he wore a light, green colored cape over his body; he excused it as staying warm, while she knew he didn't like to show his cutie mark).

This time, it was Radiant Hope who spoke first "I'm sorry to tell you, your highness, that neither of us have found the means to repair the heart, as we can't even tell what's wrong; all of our tests and spells tell that the Crystal Heart should work properly, yet no matter what we try, it is still losing power" she reported in saddened tone, as she lowered her gaze.

"At this point, we even considered it a sign of dark magic or a curse, yet the Crystal Heart shows no signs of either; we simply cannot find a reason nor a way to fix the Crystal Heart" Sombra finished, as he too lowered his gaze, ashamed at their lack of results.

Princess Amore looked at them with saddened face, before lifting their chins to look at her once more "My precious students; it is not your fault. I too have failed to find reason or solutions to this problem, so let us hope that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will arrive soon, to help us deal with this situation... And should worse come to be, they can help us in evacuation of the empire" she finished.

Both Sombra and Radiant Hope looked shocked at what she was saying, but before either of them could reply, she raised her hoof to stop them "As much as I hope we can find a way, we must face reality; A day is slowly approaching, when our magics combined will not be enough to keep the heart working. It is because of this, that i'll have my ministers and captain of the royal guard begin making plans and preparations, should we deem it necessary to evacuate the Crystal Empire; safety of the citizens must come first" she finished, as she looked at her two students.

It was clear that both of them wanted to argue against her decision, but as Radiant Hope bowed her head in acceptance of Amore's decision, she could see a flash of anger briefly go over Sombra's features, before he too bowed his head in defeated acceptance.

"Now, let us go enjoy the breakfast; we still have months before the worst, so until then, the two of you will be in charge of trying to find a way to fix the heart" Amore said with a slight smile. Both Radiant and Sombra perked up at the mention of breakfast and followed her to the dining hall, though in their hearts they felt sadness. The Crystal Empire had been their home for their entire lives; neither of them wanted to leave it.

As luck would have it, their silent prayers would be answered in less than a hour, though the future would not be what either of them hoped....

As the princess and her students gathered together for breakfast, outside the barrier protecting the crystal empire, a glowing light slowly approached the city. As the snow continued the fall, the glowing light finally stopped just before impacting the barrier.

Airy shivered as she rubbed her hands together, carefully inspecting the glowing blue dome in front of her. She didn't know what kind it was; did it stop anything going through or did it vaporize them? Did that work one way or both ways? Or was it simply a fancy weather shield, that let living beings through while shielding whatever was inside from the weather?

Wondering her options for a moment, she landed on the snowy ground, after observing for a moment that no, it was not electrocuting the snow and ice around it.

As she stood still and watched the blue dome, her entire body kept shivering at the cold weather; even her wings were feeling stiffer. Looking at the snow below her feet, she knelt down, using her hands to make a small snowball, before she stood up and carefully threw it at the blue dome. As it flew through the air, she saw it impact the dome and... no idea. Did it vaporize or simply pass through?

She huffed in frustration. Of course it would not tell her anything; the thing was practically protecting whatever was inside from the weather, so throwing a snowball in a snowstorm did nothing.

There was only one option left; testing it by touch.

Airy shivered at the though, but after a moment, started walking towards the dome. Soon, she was within an arm's reach, at which she slowly extended her hand towards it, her index finger straight while the rest were curled up into a fist. If it indeed vaporized stuff, then at most she'd lose a fingertip, but if it let her through, then there was no harm to pass through it.

Taking a gasp of air, she closed her eyes as she pressed her finger into the dome... and quickly pulled it out, half expecting to scream in pain, only to discover... nothing?

Airy blinked as she opened her eyes and looked at her hand; there was no harm whatsoever to her finger. Glancing at the dome, this time she kept her eyes open as she extended her hand again, finger poking into the dome. After a moment, she pulled it out, unharmed, before taking a step closer and thrusting her whole arm, all the way to the elbow.

As she pulled it out, she saw no damage, only a tingling sensation that faded as soon as she removed her arm from the dome. Taking a deep breath, she gathered her courage and stepped through... into a field of frost-covered grass? Blinking at the odd sight, she took flight once more, stopping as she reached above the grass blocking her field of view... and before her stood a most beautiful view she had seen in two lifetimes.

An entire city, made of pure crystals stood out in front of her. Building and streets, made of huge pieces of crystal, looking like they were carved straight out of giant blocks of crystal, standing two to three stories tall. As she unconsciously flew closer, she could see the city sidewalks and yards filled with grass, bushes and small tree's, a sanctuary of life, protected from the lifeless winter wasteland surrounding the dome.

Blinking, she turned her head up, to look at the night sky above, stars and the moon shining without a cloud on sight. Turning to look back where she had come from, she could see a faint outline of where the dome edge was, though on the inside it showed as if the lush green fields continued on forever beyond it.

Magic was truly amazing.

Turning back to the city, she inspected what seemed to be the glow of streetlamps, before turning turning her attention to the center of the city, where a massive tower of crystal stood out; it was like someone had taken the Eiffel tower from her world, filled the empty spaces and made it entirely out of crystal: it seemed to go on forever, as if it's creators had been dared to reach the heavens.

Clearly, a castle fit for a king.

She felt a grin spread on her face, as she looked at the city before her; while the air was still cold, it now felt like an early fall breeze, rather than bone shaking cold she had felt outside. With her destination chosen, she flew towards the city, deciding to inspect what the average houses and citizens looked like, before she approached the rulers of this majestic city.

After all, knowledge was power.

"Ugh, I hate the night shift" a guard spoke, as he stopped at the intersection to rub his hooves together, while his partner looked at him "It's just another half an hour, when the sun rises up we'll get a warm meal and some sleep" the second guard replied, before glancing nervously around, checking if any citizens were on earshot "Do you think the rumors are true? That the Crystal Heart is dying and we might have to abandon the empire before we all freeze to death?" he asked in hushed tone.

"Stop talking about that; what if somepony hears you?" The first guard quickly replied, anger on his tone "I'd like to believe that Princess Amore will find a way to revive the Heart; she has ruled the Crystal Empire since she founded it 58 years ago, she'll find a way eventually. My grandfather was one of the first guards that joined and i'll be damned if i'm the last" he replied, before a flash of light in his peripheral vision drew his attention.

Yet, as he turned his head, there was nothing to see. Only walls and yards of the houses and a lamppost to illuminate it, giving out a soft glow. After a brief inspection, he shook his head as he motioned to his partner "Let's go, the sooner we are finished the sooner we can get some sleep" he said, before pointing to his partner "And don't talk to anypony about the rumors; we don't want the ponies to start panicking" he said, before walking away as the two guards resumed their patrol.

Neither of them noticed a small ball of light hover above the lamppost, before flying off....

For a such a beautiful city, it's inhabitants were both sad and disappointing.

As Airy stopped by a window of another bedroom, she could see an entire family huddled together under blankets. Wooden interiors and furniture told a further tale, that this entire city was not made of high class society as she had initially though, but rather your average pleasantry class, though it was likely the what nobility there were, they'd be close to the castle.

As she flew up to hover above the house she had been peaking into (a simple interior; no books, wooden furniture, non-fancy fabrics...) she considered the towering building at the center of the circular city. The shape of the city made sense, considering the dome, but was the castle build before or after this... Crystal Heart that the guards mentioned was put into use.

She also wondered how similar it was to the Crystals she knew of.... Cryst-fairy, landing in a city made of crystals? she wasn't sure if it was Grogar's intention, a happy coincidence or some kind of twisted fate, but...

Airy shook her head, as she once again continued exploring the city. If what she had heard from the guards was right, she'd have less than 30 minutes to sunrise. That meant the entire city would be waking up soon, so she'd have to explore as much as possible and maybe take a peak at this.... Crystal Heart, just to see how secure it was.

It might prove useful for her plans, whatever they might be once she learned more of this world...

As the doors to the dining hall opened, both Radiant Hope and Sombra gave a nod of greeting to minister of agriculture and the Royal guard captain, as they sat down opposite of them on the long table.

"Good morning, sister" Princess Amore lifted her head, taking her eyes off the financial estimate as she turned her head to her right, where her little sister Glimmer and her husband, Thunder Shield sat down to join her at breakfast. Glimmer was a unicorn with white coat and yellow mane, while Thunder Shield was a pegasus, one of only three (of which one was a foal and the other an old retiree) in the Crystal Empire, with red coat and twin colored mane, a swirl of blue and green.

It had been a surprise 25 years ago, when her elder mother had somehow had Glimmer, as her mother had been nearing 80 by then, but she was glad to have such a loving sister, especially after their mother passed away three years ago. Thunder Shield, who was only 3 years older than her sister, had grown up with Glimmer in what was now Equestria, as childhood friends in a little village. Such a sweet story of friends who became lovers, after Glimmer gained her cutie mark (a crystal flower) growing a gift to Amore, while during a thunder storm, Thunder Shield had gotten his by protecting Glimmer from lightning (and miraculously both walking away without a scratch).

While the two sisters had the age gap of staggering 58 years, they were still close, as Amore didn't look over 30 (and by unicorn estimates, she'd probably live to see her 200th birthday; a blessing among the unicorns powerful enough to live beyond the first century, as her mother would have probably lived to her 150's too, if she hadn't been claimed by an illness).

Amore had been pleasantly surprised when the two had moved to Crystal Empire in their teens, but she had welcomed both with open hooves. Glimmer had eventually risen to become a minister of agriculture, while Thunder Shield had passed all expectations and now stood as a newly appointed Captain of the Royal Guard, after Mighty Hammer retired to spend time with his grandfoals.

"Good morning, Glimmer, Thunder. I take it little Daisy is with her nanny?" Amore asked as she greeted the two.

Glimmer laughed embarrassingly at the mention of her wild little pegasus foal "Oh yes, she was so excited. She gets to play with her nanny before and after kindergarten, it's so adorable. Rose Pedal has been so helpful while Thunder and I are busy working, so when we get home after work, she's always calmed down. But enough about that, when will I be seeing nieces of my own?" Glimmer said, teasing Amore's own lack of foals.

Amore simply shook her head as she smiled, giving a light chuckle "You know as well as I that I simply don't have any romantic interests, nor a desire for foals. Still, it's always fun to see little Daisy playing with her toys... have you considered giving her a sibling?" she asked teasingly in return, before chuckling as Glimmer blushed, while Thunder cleared his throat and changed the subject "So Radiant, Sombra; how has the progress on the heart been going?" He asked, trying to hide his own blush at mention of foals.

It was a wrong question to ask, as light smile on Amore's, Radiant's and Sombra's face went away, Sombra focusing on his food as Radiant answered "Unfortunately.... we've had no progress" she said, as she glanced at Sombra. As one of two students serving Princess Amore, the two young adults were always looking to show their worth, yet each failure only weighted on their consciousness, especially Sombra.

Amore didn't hold it against them: They were brilliant and talented students, excelling in their own fields of magic, yet even she failed to find a way to revitalize the heart; to hold them responsible would be foolish, as everypony failed at something.

Amore let out a sigh, before she turned towards Glimmer and Thunder, who's own smiles had now faded away "While i'm hoping the Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will have a solution, i'm afraid that it's time for us to begin preparations for evacuation, should the worst come to be"

Glimmer's eyes widened as she turned to look at Amore in shock "B-but you always have a solution for these things; like the time when those deer cultists tried to kidnap ponies or when those diamond dogs though they could rob the empire from beneath. Surely you can figure out what's wrong with the Crystal Heart" she said, only to receive a shake of head as reply.

"Unfortunately, neither I or my students have managed to figure out what's wrong with it. For all purposes, it should function as normal, yet it's losing power. The Crystal Heart is an ancient artifact, so for all we know there might be some forgotten spell or ritual, that is needed to recharge it... so with heavy heart, i must admit that there might be no other way than to leave the empire; The safety of everypony who live here must come first" Princess Amore said, as she lowered her head again.

Only silence followed, as the five sat without talking, finishing their breakfasts, before parting as Princess Amore left to recharge the heart, with saddened Radiant and Sombra following behind her.....