Forgotten: The Crystal Princess

Chapters

A New Equestria
Breakfast
Camping
Changes
Crystal Brighthouse
History
Then and Now
The Works
Streaks
Catching Up
Art
Advice
Getting Fitted
Northbound
Returning Home
Memories
Awakening
Searching
The Confrontation, Part I
The Confrontation, Part II
Aftermath
Epilogue
Locked Away

A New Equestria

Sunny Starscout woke up to her phone's alarm vibrating on the nightstand next to her bed; the only reason it didn't topple to the floor was the charging cable wasn't long enough for it to slide off to the carpeted floor of her castle suite.

She had been an honored guest of Queen Haven for three days now, and she was most excited about this morning, because if everything went well, this was the end of Zephyr Heights General's observation period for perhaps their most precious and certainly most unexpected find up in the frozen remnants of the Crystal Empire; Flurry Heart, the Crystal Princess, daughter of Prince Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

The Crystal Heart had kept the princess in limbo in an incredibly weakened state. Weakened was still alive, and they had managed to get her down to the Scouticus and kept her warm and hydrated enough to survive the trip south where qualified physicians could evaluate her condition. The magical artifact had done wonders of some kind or another; save for being just a tad malnourished and chilled, they had given Princess Flurry Heart a clean bill of health and insisted on keeping her for observation for the next few days.

'Just Flurry Heart, Sunny. Remember, just Flurry Heart,' Sunny told herself. It made sense, when she thought about it; the Crystal Empire was a frozen husk, with thankfully no frozen cadavers, so Flurry Heart was essentially, a princess of nothing currently. Or maybe titles and honorifics made her skin crawl, like Zipp.

Getting up and stepping into the rather luxurious rain shower, she was clean and ready for the day, and the sun was barely starting to come up at 7:15 am.

Putting her mane into her signature braid and strapping on her saddlebags, she left the room and pocketed the key card, which Queen Haven insisted she keep, and to come by anytime she liked. Every guard she passed came to attention and saluted her as she made her way to the exit. On one hoof, she understood why they did it, and appreciated that she was getting recognition for reuniting the three pony kinds of Equestria, on the other hoof she understood why Zipp wanted little to nothing to do with it. Sometimes it was just... Too much.

She exited through the front, onto the wide red carpet, and trotted down to the elevator, which was still at the top; nopony had used it to go down into town yet. Not really surprising, since everything but the earliest breakfast places weren't open yet. The elevator ride took about sixty seconds, before touching down at the edge what was known as the Cloud District, that the castle took up when it came to the city's official zoning. There wasn't a whole lot of shopping to be done here like there was in the Wind District, so ponies didn't make it to this one too often, unless they were visiting the castle for a special event, most likely one of Pipp's performances.

The zone directly south of there was the Wind District, which was where downtown Zephyr Heights was located, and was by far the busiest district, as it contained all the stores, hotels, and attractions that most tourists were interested in when they weren't visiting the castle, where the visiting hours were considerably limited. The zone around the Wind District was the Sky District, where most of the residences were, aside from business owners, who usually lived in an apartment directly above their business.

Sunny's destination, Zephyr Heights General Hospital, was also in the downtown Wind District. Admissions had thankfully gone down, after spiking considerably after Reunification Day, with the city's population, now with the ability to fly for the first time in generations, suffering from multiple flying-related accidents, mainly collisions with buildings, and midair collisions with other pegasi.

Thankfully, after Queen Haven and the city council worked tirelessly to come up with rules and regulations for airborne traffic flow, and almost immediately, injuries and hospital admissions declined.

After walking a few blocks south, Sunny found herself in front of the hospital, going through the non-emergency main entrance and right into the main waiting room, coming up to the administration desk.

"Good morning, Miss Starscout," the attendant greeted, having gotten used to her presence as she had been here all three days since they had brought Flurry Heart in.

"Here for Flurry Heart, I take it?"

"If she's ready to go," Sunny replied.

"Let me go check," the attendant told her, getting up from her seat and going down the hall towards the patient rooms. A few moments later, she went into the first room on the left. Sunny took a seat in one of the chairs against the wall. A few minutes later, she saw the attendant come back out of the room, with Flurry Heart behind her, the Crystal Princess a full head taller than the pegasus attendant. Having never seen her up on her hooves before, Sunny found herself surprised at the alicorn's height. The attendant led her out to the waiting room where Sunny got to her hooves, greeting Flurry Heart with a smile.

"She's good to go, Miss Starscout," the attendant told her, before returning to her seat on the other side of the desk, and put a clipboard on the desk. "As soon as you sign this discharge form."

The attendant put a pen on the clipboard, and Flurry Heart's horn lit up as she levitated the pen up and signed her name, probably the single action she had repeated the most throughout her rule.

"You're rather early, Sunny," Flurry commented after she set the pen down, giving the earth pony her whole attention.

"I figured you'd want to hit up one of the restaurants in Zephyr Heights for breakfast. This city takes pride in a lot of things, but hospital food is still hospital food," Sunny replied, then glanced over to the attendant. "No offense."

The attendant merely shrugged.

"Hey, I'm not in the kitchen."

Sunny and Flurry walked side by side as they headed for the front entrance.

"I imagine you have so many questions for me, Flurry. I can definitely say the same. I already sent Sprout and the others on when it was clear you'd be here for a few days, so you and me can have a nice slow time on the way back to Maretime Bay. That is, if you don't mind camping."

"I don't mind much of anything, Sunny. You really don't have to ask what I'm okay with; you pulled me out of whatever limbo I was in, and I'm certainly in for more than a few surprises now. I'll answer whatever I can, and am certainly up for camping. Show the way," Flurry replied with a smile.

Sunny smiled back as they stepped out into the Zephyr Heights morning light.

"Welcome to a new Equestria."

Author's Note

Figured I had teased this alternate branch-off long enough, so here's the first part.

Honestly, not too sure where I want to take this yet. So if you've got ideas for things you'd like to see, believe me I'm all ears.

Thanks for reading!

Breakfast

Sunny was trying very, very hard to keep her giggles internalized as she sat across from Flurry Heart, watching the Crystal Princess struggle to keep her fork and knife afloat in her magical grasp as she cut into the fresh hot pancakes in front of her as they sat in one of Zephyr Heights' diners that served breakfast. She was assuming that something had sapped Flurry's magic over the centuries that she had been in limbo, or that perhaps, just like the rest of the unicorns in Equestria, she was learning to use magic all over again.

"I guess no matter how many centuries pass, you really can't improve on the perfect pancake," Flurry commented as soon as she had swallowed her current bite of syrup-soaked breakfast. "So, now that we're in a more conversation-friendly setting, what is that you do for a living, Sunny Starscout?"

"Well, before Reunification Day, I ran a smoothie cart. I devoted pretty much all of my spare time to continuing my dad's research into Ancient Equestria, Princess Twilight, and her friends. Since we brought the Unity Crystals together, I've been helping run a history museum in Maretime Bay, using artifacts we've found, as well as sharing what we have with the pegasi and unicorns, and they with us."

"Your dad sounded like an amazing pony, Sunny. Again, I'm sorry that he passed before what sounded like his time."

"Thank you, and yes, he was. He was unbelievably patient with almost everypony... Everypony else who didn't think a day like this could come... A reunified Equestria."

A family of pegasi passed by on their way out, and not only the kids, but also the parents stared in wonder at the alicorn for just a moment, before they smiled awkwardly, with the parents offering short bows before hurrying their kids along.

Flurry returned the awkward smile to Sunny.

"Guess you're not used to that, either," Sunny offered.

"No no, that I am, sadly, completely used to," Flurry Heart answered.

"According to my research, alicorns were worshiped in Ancient Equestria, and nopony has seen one in, well, like we said, centuries. Now we've got one in the flesh."

Flurry couldn't help but cringe a bit at Sunny's explanation.

"Worshiped? That... Well, to be perfectly honest, that's probably more true than I'd like it to be, Sunny. I always tried to spend as much time as I could in the city, in the streets, with my citizens, letting them get to know me as personally as they could, so they could see that I was no different than they were. I guess I was always trying to convince myself of that much more than I was trying to convince them. Even back in my day, alicorns were extremely rare, and I was the only natural-born one in all of recorded history."

"Natural-born?"

"Every other alicorn had to earn either their wings or horn by accomplishing some great feat, like Twilight or my mom, or accept an impossibly heavy burden from others, like Celestia or Luna. But me? I didn't do anything like that. I took over looking after the Crystal Empire, and the Heart, once my mom and dad stepped down, but it was usually unbearably dull. I hadn't done anything to prove myself worthy of my wings or horn."

Sunny swallowed her last bite of pancakes.

"But you have, Flurry. You made the unity crystals, and that in turn, helped me and my friends bring all of ponykind together again."

Flurry smiled at Sunny's reassuring words.

"Thank you, but it wasn't just me. It took the sacrifice of Princess Luna and Spike, and if I had had my way, they never would have gone through with it; I guess that's why they had started the ritual before I had the chance to stop it, once I realized what the price would be, and now that I'm here... I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"I mean, are you supposed to know what to do? You've been in limbo for a really long time. I don't think you're supposed to hit the ground running towards, well, anything really," Sunny told her, finishing her last sip of orange juice.

"So, what do you think I should do, Sunny?"

Sunny couldn't help but shrug.

"Well, I know I'd absolutely love to show you our museum in Maretime Bay, and see if you can help me with missing pieces from Ancient Equestria. Other than that, just acclimate yourself to a new Equestria. Take some time to, well, to not be a Princess."

Flurry's eyes widened slightly at those last words, but her smile widened even more.

"When you put it like that... I really like the sound of that."

Sunny smiled warmly at the alicorn as her phone vibrated on the table.

"Say, what is that thing?" Flurry asked.

"Oh this? It's a smartphone."

"Well, I don't really know what a phone is, so whether it's smart or not probably doesn't matter to me," Flurry commented as she watched Sunny scroll through the alert she had just gotten.

Sunny giggled.

"They used to be just here in Zephyr Heights, but since reunification, they're rapidly becoming more popular in Maretime Bay and Bridlewood too. Ponies use them to keep schedules, talk to each other over long distances, keep up with news, learn new things... Just a whole bunch of uses."

Sunny turned the phone towards Flurry, and showed her a page from Ponypedia.

"Amazing... Libraries worth of knowledge at the tip of your hoof... Simply amazing!"

Flurry continued scrolling through Ponypedia pages while Sunny paid the bill for breakfast.

"Truth be told, probably one of the most popular uses is watching livestreamers. Princess Pipp is one of the most popular ones," Sunny explained.

"Livestreamers?" Flurry asked as they got up from their table and headed for the exit.

"Yeah, watching other ponies do things live on camera. For Pipp, it's usually beauty tips, singing, or blog updates. With a little bit of gaming thrown in, too."

There was that perplexed look on Flurry's face again.

"What's a blog?"

Author's Note

I don't want to fool anyone; I'm going to run out of SFW adult Flurry pictures very, very quickly.

Sunset Shimmer she is not. :rainbowlaugh:

Thanks for reading.

I'm now somewhat confident on how I want this story to end, but not quite sure on how it's going to get there just yet. More than likely, it's not going to be anywhere near as long as Sunrise was, but we'll see where updates, and reader feedback take us.

Until next time!

Camping

"Alright, so if a 'blog' is a diary that you post onto this 'internet', and ponies that also have the 'internet' can read it at anytime, from anywhere... Why? There's no privacy concerns?" Flurry asked, flabbergasted at such a possibility.

Sunny just giggled.

"Well, you don't post everything in a blog. Actually to be fair, some ponies do, like Pipp. But most content from other ponies is more curated, and focused on a specific subject, like food, music, or poetry. It's usually not intimate life details," the earth pony told her as they headed out of Zephyr Heights with a small wagon of camping supplies that they had pulled off of the truck before the others had continued on to Maretime Bay.

"I'm glad you told me the unicorns are happy in Bridlewood, and that they don't want their ancestral home back," Flurry commented, glancing back at the skyline of Zephyr Heights as the pair made their way down the mountain.

"Do you have any idea how that happened?" Sunny asked.

"Sadly, yes. Ponies had already started to drift apart. I don't have super specifics, but I think it had something to do with an earth pony getting injured by a spell. But it got so bad that they started to lose their magic, and that meant enchantments too. The pegasus city of Cloudsdale was above Canterlot at the time, and it quite literally fell from the sky. It left thousands of pegasi homeless, and put serious strain on the city's resources. The last I heard, tensions were quickly reaching a boiling point, and that wasn't long before the ritual."

"Did you think the ritual would stop any fighting before it began?" The earth mare asked.

"No... No. That was one thing that Luna wanted to make clear to me; our decision to lock magic away wouldn't stop the fighting; if ponies didn't use magic they were going to use hooves, and whatever they could get their hooves on. It broke my heart to think about what Equestrians would likely do to each other... But my goal was to give them the opportunity to heal the divisions. The Windigos wouldn't give them that chance. It took a lot longer than I would have wanted or thought, but I suppose it's finally starting to happen."

"I wish my dad could be here to see it, but I'm sure he'd be proud of what we've done," Sunny said confidently.

"When did you open your museum?" Flurry asked.

"Well, grand re-opening would be more like it, and that happened a few weeks after Reunification Day. It was mostly what we had found in Twilight's old castle, in addition to artifacts shared with us from the unicorns and pegasi."

"You found Twilight's castle?"

"It's in a forest pretty close by. Would you... Like to stop and see it?" Sunny asked.

"No... No, that's alright. It was one of my favorite places to visit when I was growing up, and honestly, I don't know if I'm mentally prepared to see it in whatever shape it's in now," Flurry admitted. "But I do thank you in taking whatever you could for preservation."

Sunny nodded.

"I understand. Twilight's memory crystals are how I first made the first discoveries about the Crystal Empire and where it might be."

"Speaking of the Empire, that is a place I would like to visit... And see what's left. I have a feeling that finding me cut your expedition rather short, didn't it?" Flurry asked.

Sunny nodded.

"It was no trouble. Pulling somepony out of a magical limbo was the absolute last thing I was expecting to do up there. Luckily we didn't use hardly any of our rations, and we came in under our projected fuel usage too, so planning another trip up there probably won't take too long, to tell you the truth," Sunny answered.

"I'll be ready to go whenever you will be, Sunny."

Opting for a light lunch of granola bars over stopping for a meal, the pair of travelers completed the descent by mid-day. But a light, on-the-go meal like that meant that their stomachs were rumbling again come dinnertime, and they hadn't had anything substantial to eat.

"This seems like the best place to set up camp. I doubt we'd get very far after dinner anyway. We'll only have the sun for about another hour or so," Sunny said as she stopped the wagon.

"How far are we from Maretime Bay?" Flurry asked.

"Well, we're about to make the wagon a liiiitle lighter, so I'd say another day, max. We'll definitely be back there by sundown tomorrow if we get an early enough start."

"Sounds good. You set up the tents, and I'll get started with the fire," Flurry suggested. The earth mare started unpacking the tents while Flurry went around and quickly collected stones for a fire ring, getting them situated in a suitable patch of dirt, before adding the kindling, which had already been packed.

Sunny watched as Flurry's horn began to glow a faint orange, but nothing beyond that as Flurry sat in front of the pile of kindling, her facial expression focused, only for her to give a grunt of frustration moments later.

"Everything okay? I've got matches," Sunny offered.

Flurry looked back at her and gave her a quick smile.

"I'm more out of practice than I thought, may have to resort to the actual words... Hm, what were they again...?" Flurry asked herself, again closing her eyes in concentration, turning back to the unlit kindling.

"Ignis," Flurry whispered, and with that, a glowing orange orb dropped from the tip of her horn, floated down to the waiting pile of sticks, and impacted with a small splash of flame, and whoosh, they had a small campfire suitable for cooking.

Flurry chuckled to herself victoriously.

"Heh, I've still got it."

"How do haycakes sound for dinner?" Sunny asked.

"Sounds like another time-tested meal that you really can't improve on," Flurry Heart answered.

"Did you go camping often?" Sunny asked as she finished setting up the tents.

"A few times with my mom and dad. But when they stepped down and I took over responsibility for the Empire... I guess I never made the time for it," the alicorn confessed.

"Alright, here we go," Sunny said, bringing over a cast iron pan and the freeze-dried haycakes, placing them in the pan and adding the correct amount of water in the recipe before setting the pan down in the fire. A few minutes later, the water had been reabsorbed, and they had steaming hot cakes on their tin camping plates.

"Not as fancy as you're used to, I imagine," Sunny commented before taking her first bite.

"No, and I can assure you that's a good thing. The last thing I want to feel like right now is a regal princess."

"Well, I'm glad I can help you 'rough it' for a bit," Sunny told her.

After dinner, they got the pan wiped out at the tin dishes cleaned. Without any serious wind, Sunny decided to add another log to the fire, before the pair of ponies retired to their tents for the night.

'Another one, here? After all these years?' the voice asked.

Flurry's eyes shot open, and she saw only the roof of her tent. She gave a snort of frustration before rolling over onto her belly in her sleeping bag, and poked her head out of the flaps of her tent to survey their chosen campsite.

The fire was down to mere embers now, and she heard Sunny softly snoring as she slept soundly across on the other side of the campfire.

She didn't want to be a hindrance on tomorrow's travels, so she popped her head back into her tent, and closed her eyes, lighting her horn up for just a moment.

"Somnium scutum," she whispered, and her horn's light brightened for barely a moment, before dimming and going out entirely as she slowly let out the breath she had been holding. A simple dream-shield spell that would hopefully keep the restlessness at bay for the rest of the night, as she wiggled back into her sleeping bag and let her head sink into the pillow once more.

The young unicorn mare was stirred from her sleep by the light ebbing and flowing through the crack between her door and the stone floor. Leaning up to gaze out the window, she saw that it was still pitch black outside. She gave a short stretch before pulling her blanket off of herself and she rolled to her hooves, hazily sauntering over to the closed bedroom door and slowly pulled it open with a creek.

There, in front of the stone throne, stood the only pony she had ever known, standing in front of her magical pool as murky purple clouds slowly whirled within the edges.

"It's really late. Have you found something?" The blue unicorn asked with a yawn.

The towering, eggplant-coated, white-maned alicorn acknowledged her with barely a glance, before returning her attention to the haze in the pool.

"Indeed I have. Something... Has returned. A presence I have not felt in... Ages..."

Author's Note

Changes

Hitch Trailblazer was up dark and early on his early morning rounds in Maretime Bay, specifically wanting to catch Sprout on his way to CanterLogic, which he did, by standing outside his house until he came out with a cup of coffee twenty minutes later.

"There you are, Sprout. Was hoping I'd catch you before work," Hitch said. "I was wondering if you could keep an eye out for Sunny and, what was her name? Fluffy?" Hitch asked.

"I don't think we ever got her name. Sunny took her to Zephyr Heights General and told us to keep going," Sprout answered.

"Yeah, and I figured we would have heard from her by now, and now my calls aren't getting through to her phone." Hitch said, digging his phone out to check to see if he had gotten any kind of reply yet.

"Which means they're probably on their way back; that takes a couple days, and the coverage between Maretime Bay and Zephyr Heights isn't quite there yet. Hitch, relax, I'm sure they're fine."

"I'm not worried, Sprout. Sunny can take care of herself, and I'm sure our rescued alicorn can as well. I just wanted to get a jump on them coming back into town so they don't run into the... The changes that happened yesterday if we can notify them ahead of time," Hitch explained.

"Yeah, that's true. Might want to prepare her," Sprout admitted.

"Right. So if they're coming from the east, do you think you could keep an eye out from CanterLogic?" the sheriff asked.

"Well, if I rotated one of the exterior cameras towards the hills, I might be able to catch her before she gets too close. But, that's a long shot, Hitch. Like, I'm pretty sure you can see that giant rainbow before you get anywhere close to town. I think our best bet is to hope Maretime Bay's cell tower gets her one of your messages before she gets too close, and that she'll reply once she does, so one of us can go meet her. I'll keep an eye on the cameras when I can, but I've gotta make sure the Scouticus is ready for another expedition, because we didn't pick up anything from the trip other than that alicorn, and she'll probably want to head back up soon, and I'm not gonna have any objections. We made it back safe once, and we barely used any of our supplies because we were barely there two hours before we had to bring that mare down for medical attention."

"Alright, thanks Sprout. I know you'll do what you can. I'll catch you later, pal."

With that, Hitch went towards the police station, and Sprout went in the opposite direction towards CanterLogic as the sun was just starting to come up.

Flurry awoke slowly, as the haze from a night of nothingness slowly lifted from her mind, and she wiggled out of her sleeping bag and poked her head out of her tent flap to see Sunny breaking down her tent as the sun hadn't gotten over the peak of Zephyr Heights back to the east.

"Morning, Flurry. Have a good night?" Sunny asked as she pulled the aluminum tent pole out of the sleeve, and her tent sagged some more.

"Well, I can certainly tell I haven't camped in quite awhile, that's for sure. I didn't oversleep, did I?" Flurry asked.

"Don't worry about it. We'll still make it to Maretime Bay before sundown if we can keep up a reasonable pace, as long as we can get going within the next half hour or so. Granola bars for breakfast it is," Sunny told her as she continued tending to her tent.

With that, Flurry got up, stretched, and rolled up her sleeping bag before also starting to tear her tent down. With the aid of her levitation magic, which was getting better by the hour, she had her camping gear packed and put in the back of the wagon along with Sunny's, who had clearly done this a time or three, having packed up in just over half the time.

"Did it always look like this?" Sunny asked after they had gotten under way with the wagon, looking out across the horizon.

"You mean untouched nature? Yeah, and whenever I traveled, that's what I liked best. If you weren't going to one of the metropolises, the biggest sign of civilization you would see is the railroad. Airships were used for pleasure cruises, as well as some military use, but not so much for travel. Trains were our primary method of getting around, trains and, well, this," Flurry commented, motioning to the wagon that Sunny was pulling, which was thankfully a bit lighter after a night of camping. "Though I can't imagine there's much left of the railroad after all this time, most of it's probably grown over or rotted."

Sunny dug her phone out of her saddlebags and gave it a check after she had finished her breakfast bar. No calls or texts, and that was likely due to the complete lack of signal out here in the prairie.

"You think you might want one of these?" Sunny asked Flurry as she dropped her phone back into her saddlebags.

"I think that level of technology is beyond me, but maybe with a class or two. Does your town offer those?"

"Absolutely. When smartphones started getting shipped to Bridlewood and Maretime Bay, Pipp immediately knew we'd need tutorials on how to use them. Class sizes have decreased as more ponies have gotten their phones and learned how to use them, but they're still being offered, regardless."

"Sounds like something I might look into, once I'm settled in. I still have no idea what I'd like to do, other than help you with any historical questions. Truth be told, I'm not sure if I'll be the source of any major breakthroughs, Sunny. The Crystal Empire is pretty far removed from the rest of Equestria. Now, once you go back up to the Empire, I'm looking forward to helping you up there with whatever you need."

"Please let me know if there's anything up there that you think should be left untouched," Sunny offered, and Flurry merely shrugged.

"The only thing I can think of in that regard would be graves, and at this point I imagine those are under so many layers of snow and ice that there's very little chance that we'll accidentally come across any. Other than that, I'm perfectly fine with bringing down whatever we can, so the rest of Equestria can see us and remember us," Flurry told the earth mare.

After their morning conversation, most of the second day was focused less on talking and more on getting back to Sunny's home. Both lunch and dinner were eaten on the go to keep their pace, because neither of them wanted to be within an hour or so of Maretime Bay and lose their daylight. Right after dinner, Sunny got a single bar on her phone, and heard it vibrating in her saddlebags. Digging it out, she tapped the screen, and saw the alerts; four missed calls from Hitch, Izzy, Zipp, and Pipp, and five texts from her aforementioned friends plus Sprout.

Izzy
OMH you have to see this!

Zipp
Sunny you're not going to believe this!

Hitch
You're in for quite the surprise! Eeee!

Pipp
I haven't posted about it yet because spoilers are terrible, but the entire town can see it. Hope you get here soon!

Sprout
Hey Sunny, Hitch wanted me to keep an eye out for your approach. You're coming from the northeast, right? Get a hold of me when you've got a signal, and I'll head out to meet you.

"Okay, something has clearly happened," Sunny said as she scrolled through the messages, before typing in a reply to Sprout, and also letting the others know that she would be in town within the hour.

"That's a pretty nice rainbow on the horizon," Flurry commented.

"That's odd. There's not a rain cloud in the sky," Sunny offered.

The pair of mares continued over the last few hills, and Sunny caught the top of her lighthouse behind the looming building of CanterLogic.

"What...?" She asked, confused.

As they continued walking, the lighthouse dipped behind the large factory, but the rainbow still remained visible high into the clouds, and Sunny's eyes fell to the top of the last hill, where she saw Sprout trotting out to meet them.

"Evening, Sprout. You doing okay?" Sunny asked as the red stallion came up to them, almost panting.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just... Just shouldn't have had that last slice of pizza for dinner," Sprout said, taking a few deep breaths.

"I know we didn't get everyone properly introduced. Sprout, this is Flurry Heart, of the Crystal Empire. Flurry, this is Sprout Cloverleaf, of Maretime Bay and CanterLogic Research and Development," Sunny announced.

Sprout gave her a smile.

"Welcome to Maretime Bay, Flurry. It's good to see you up on your hooves. You were in a pretty bad way."

"You were the driver of the vehicle, right? Nice to meet you, Sprout, and thank you for getting me down to get medical care," Flurry replied.

"Wanted to catch you before you got too far into town so you don't, well, flip out at what's happened," Sprout said, turning back to Sunny.

"Well, I can see already that something's happened thanks to that rainbow. What's going on?" Sunny said.

"Well, come and see."

Author's Note

Crystal Brighthouse

Flurry walked besides Sunny with Sprout on the other side of the earth mare as they made their way through downtown Maretime Bay. The alicorn that stood a full head taller than her companions was drawing all sorts of stares and murmurs from passers-by as they went to and from work, dinner, and home.

"I'm not going to be hard to explain, am I?" Flurry asked, trying not to meet every single pair of staring eyes that she noticed as they made their way down to the coastal road. When they came to the corner, giving them the best view of the lighthouse so far, Sunny's mouth dropped open, and her breath left her in a gasp.

"Oh.. My... Stars."

"Welp, I owe Hitch five bits," Sprout mumbled, chuckling to himself.

Sunny's gait up the coast to her home increased to a gallop, and Sprout and Flurry adjusted to keep up with her. As she closed in, one thing was blatantly obvious; her formerly stone and wood lighthouse was now a larger, crystalline, brass, and glass structure. She climbed to the top of the hill, and skidded to a halt, where she saw Izzy, Pipp, and Zipp picnicking just off in front of the planters on the left side of the path.

"There you are, finally," Zipp said. "Sprout told us you were on your way, and we can't wait to see the inside of this place."

"You... You haven't been inside? How long has it been like this?" Sunny asked, her bewilderment still running high.

"Well of course not," Pipp commented, getting up to her hooves. "It's your house, you should be the first one to see it. Now, honestly, the construction team did go in to have a look to make sure it's structurally sound and fit for living in, and they gave the okay. Other than that, nopony has been inside."

"I don't think anypony actually saw it happen, because it was so late at night. Everything was quiet, and all of a sudden, poof, new lighthouse with a bright rainbow coming out of it. In fact, you could say it's more like a Brighthouse!" Izzy declared excitedly.

Sunny took another breath as she slowly took steps towards the 'Brighthouse'. What used to be a single front door was now a set of double doors that was nearly twice as tall as the main entrance used to be. Above the doors was a brilliant arch window of stained glass. The center panel depicted the three Unity Crystals, and the three sections above it showed recreations of Bridlewood, Maretime Bay, and Zephyr Heights. Above the entry way, there was a large curved window to let more light in, before joining the main round structure, made of striped crystal, of repeating shades of purple. Above that, two large brass rings with twin supports for the large cylinder of glass that continued the tower up to the balcony and catwalk. The light chamber was also brass and glass, with 'wings' stretching out to the left and right, and lastly, a large replica of the Unity Crystals making up the very tip of the tower.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go and take a look!" Zipp encouraged, as the others got up from their places around the picnic blanket.

"Where's Hitch?" Sunny asked.

"Oh, I don't think he'll be joining us. Things got just as interesting for him while you were away too," Pipp said.

"What, the station turn into something spectacular too?" The earth mare asked with a smirk.

"Nope, he found an egg on the beach!" Izzy exclaimed.

"An egg? What, like a seagull egg?"

"That would have to be one massive seagull," Zipp quipped. "No, much too big to be a seagull. Not sure what it is, but he's been watching over it night and day, even turned one of the cabinets in his office into an incubator of sorts. He'd probably love to show you tomorrow, it is getting awfully late."

Due to the light emanating from the rainbow beam coming out of the tower, Sunny almost didn't notice how Maretime Bay had almost lost the sun for the evening.

"Right, well, let's see if we have a place to sleep tonight," Sunny said, and with her friends behind her, she went up the front ramp, and pushed the doors open with both of her front hooves. When she got her first look at the interior, her breath was taken away again.

Two short steps descended into the foyer, with multi-colored crystal tiles making up the floor. The walls were painted a sky blue. The kitchen on the right side was roughly in the same place it had been originally, with a bit more space this time around.

Instead of stairs off on the left side wall, two spiral ramps made of crystal and polished wood provided access to the second floor. Sunny ascended the curving walkway and her smile widened further when she saw all of the available space on the second floor, where the elevator to the top waited in the center, a rainbow beam shining up out of the glass cylinder.

"This... This is way too much room for just me. This is for all of us, I just know it," Sunny commented, turning around to the two pegasi, unicorn, and alicorn who had accompanied her inside. "Even you, Flurry. There's so much space to spare!"

She got smiles and nods from her friends, who were realizing that with that idea, they now all suddenly had a place to stay in Maretime Bay as well. Izzy's grin was the widest as the opportunities for unicycling was expanding in her mind by the millisecond.

Not wanting to get too far ahead of herself, she stepped towards the elevator with her friends, and once they were all on the platform, Sunny pressed her hoof to the glowing touch pad on the wall, and it rose effortlessly up to the top of the lighthouse. There, just above the heads of all of them, in the middle of the rainbow beam, floated the three Unity Crystals. The view from the balcony provided the same spectacular view of both the ocean and Maretime Bay.

"So those are the crystals..." Flurry said, admiring them as they stepped off of the lift. After all the lift's occupants stepped away, the joined Unity Crystals gently floated down to head level.

"It reminds me of the time that Twilight got her castle," Flurry commented, looking over at Sunny. "That magically popped out of the ground too. And I do think you're right. This place is for you and your friends."

Sunny smiled as she came up next to Flurry to admire the sparkling crystals in the setting sun, before turning back to her friends.

"Izzy, I know you're probably thinking it, so the second floor? Go nuts with the unicycling, as long as we have six or more places to sleep."

The unicorn's grin widened.

"I think I'll go back down to the wagon and get my sleeping pad, sleeping bag, and pillow. If it's alright with you, I think I'd like to spend the night up here, with these," Flurry told her, as they all got back onto the lift after admiring the view of the landscape.

"As long as you don't think it'll be too chilly up there, be my guest, Flurry."

"Here's to a good night's sleep!" Izzy said as they started to descend back down to the second floor. "I am going to do so. Much. Unicycling tomorrow!"

"Where did you go...?" The unicorn heard the alicorn say from behind her bedroom door.

She wasn't exactly tired just yet, but she was left very strict instructions to not leave her room or disturb her mistress tonight; dreamwalking magic took incredible amounts of concentration, and she needed solitude to maintain her focus. So the closest the unicorn would be getting to any excitement tonight would be putting her ear up against the door and hearing what she could.

"You cannot hide forever, child..."

Author's Note

History

As much as Flurry Heart enjoyed camping, she had to admit that sleeping on the top floor of the Crystal Brighthouse was a bit better than the prairie. She sat up in her sleeping bag and saw the Unity Crystals glisten in the rising sun and admired how stunning they looked. She was grateful to be able to see them in such clarity now, managing only to catch barely a glimpse of them against the raging blizzards and frigid winds that she had collapsed in ages ago.

She crawled out of the sleeping bag, and rolled it, the pillow, and the foam pad into a bundle, and stashed them in the corner where the wind wouldn't blow them off of the edge.

With a stretch, she stepped onto the lift, and the platform smoothly descended to the second floor. From up here, she could hear sizzling from down in the kitchen, and also caught a glimpse of herself in a full-length mirror that was leaning against the wall next to several shelving planks. Deciding a quick shower was in order before she presented herself, she stepped into the bathroom, shut the door, and started running the faucet, getting it up to lukewarm before stepping in and closing the curtain. She didn't dawdle, and got several more minutes of practice in with her levitation magic as she lathered her mane and coat up in shampoo, before magically grabbing the detachable shower head and rinsed herself off. She shook as much excess water off as she could, before drawing the curtain back and stepping out onto the rug, grabbing one of the folded towels from the recessed cubby shelves in the wall. After taking a few minutes to dry herself off and giving her mane a quick once-through with a comb, she was back out in the main room, and trotted down to the first floor, where she saw Sunny setting the table for breakfast.

"Good morning, Flurry. I'm glad you're up so early, so I can give you a private tour of the museum before it opens at 10," Sunny greeted as she set a pair of bowls on the table, filled with steaming strawberry oatmeal.

Flurry glanced at the clock on the wall, and saw that it was nearly 8 o'clock, so they certainly had some time. She sat down and began stirring the hot breakfast with the provided spoon, as it had just come off the stove and was a bit too hot to begin eating immediately.

"Have you thought about what you'd like to do today after our tour? I'm going to be at the museum until 4 o'clock this afternoon," Sunny asked as she took a seat.

"I definitely want to help your friends get this place furnished and livable," Flurry answered. "If this is the home of the Unity Crystals, I certainly want to do my part. I also might ask Pipp for basics on these phones everypony has."

Sunny wished she could keep trying to steer Flurry away from this line of thinking without appearing rude; she had already done her part by creating the Unity Crystals. But to be fair, if she were thrust forward hundreds of years or more herself, she would want to contribute in some way also.

"I'm sure they'll welcome any help. It'll likely be mostly Izzy and Zipp. Pipp has Mane Melody to run, and if any kind of mystery comes up, you can be certain that Zipp'll be on that faster than you can blink. But Izzy's the most creative one of our little group, and I know she'll turn this place from mostly empty to something truly amazing. Pipp can also give you the rundown on any phone you might like... Probably a bit more than a rundown, honestly. But if you want to get up to speed, she's the pony to talk to, absolutely."

After breakfast, Sunny quickly rinsed the dishes out, and made sure her braided mane was presentable before showing Flurry out of the front door, and they made their way down towards Maretime Bay.

"So what did you do before coming to work at the history museum?" Flurry asked as they made their way down the street.

"I ran a small smoothie stand. It was fairly popular. I've even got some requests to somehow incorporate that into my museum gig; maybe a stand out front, but at the same time, neither Cinnamon or I really want food or drink in the museum proper, so, still working on that. I know Maretime Bay loves my smoothies, but right now, I just think history is more important."

"I'd agree with you there, Sunny, and it's probably not fair to expect you to run your cart on your days off from the museum. Everypony needs some downtime."

"I mean, doing it like once a month would probably focus the excitement and demand into one day. I'd run the risk of selling out every time, but better that than having fruit left over to spoil."

"That sounds like the best of both worlds, honestly. Don't give it up entirely, but give ponies a periodic opportunity to come get what they love. Kind of like a fair, right? We held the Crystal Fair once a year, and not all the time, because then it wouldn't be special," Flurry told her.

"And here we are," Sunny announced as they came up the steps to the Maretime Bay Museum of History. The sign said closed, but Sunny slid her key into the lock, gave it a half-turn, and pulled the door open, before re-locking it, holding it open for Flurry to come inside. She followed Sunny around the admission desk into the museum's main hall, where the earth mare immediately headed to the left. She stopped in front of a plaque to the right of the large arched doorway.

"Welcome to the Guardians of Harmony Wing," Sunny told her, presenting the plaque.

Guardians of Harmony Wing

This wing of the Maretime Bay Museum of History is dedicated to
the memory of
ARGYLE STARSHINE
Who never stopped reaching a hoof out in friendship
when his surrounding society would not.

"Your dad?" Flurry asked, recognizing Twilight's cutie mark carved in the wooden pendant around the stallion's neck.

Sunny nodded.

"The studying and research he did set the foundation for what we've done to this place over the past several months."

Flurry stepped up to Sunny as she was led through the archway, and took a long glance at the displays all around her.

The alicorn's eyes were immediately drawn to the larger-than-life cutouts of Princess Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack. They were mounted on the walls above several glass display cases, each containing gems. Before approaching the displays, however, she made her way towards the center of the room, where three more exhibits awaited her. The center one was a very impressive scale model of Princess Twilight's castle. She looked down at the etched words on the plaque.

The Kingdom of Friendship
The Tree of Harmony bestowed this residence to Princess Twilight as a beacon of her rule, as she and the other Guardians spread the Magic of Friendship far and wide across the land of Equestria.

To the left of that, a trio of pegasi mannequins hung with Wonderbolt uniforms.

The Wonderbolts
At first formed as an aerial honor guard wing of the Royal E.U.P., the Wonderbolts were known across the nation as the pinnacle of flight acrobatics and demonstrations.

Flurry's gaze moved again, listing over to a large stone tablet over on the right side of the room. Walking over to it, she approached the informational kiosk in front of it.

Replica of Discord's Last Message
Discord was once an antagonistic demigod of chaos that was befriended by Princess Twilight Sparkle and the Guardians of Harmony. But when magic began to fade, so too did his grasp on his corporeal form in this realm. This is an exact replica of the last words he carved into the top tower of Princess Twilight's castle.

"I always thought myself fortunate that Discord never showed much interest in my citizens or my city," Flurry commented. "But I know he was a good friend, albeit in his own way."

With that, she stepped over to the cases of crystals and large hanging cut-outs of Twilight and the other Guardians of Harmony, smiling up solemnly at them, before turning to Sunny.

"You asked what I did in my spare time. I liked to paint. With the images in some of these crystals, I wouldn't have to worry about not remembering what they looked like so long ago."

Sunny's eyes widened, as did her smile.

"Wait right here, Flurry," Sunny said, before trotting back to her small office, coming back out with a coffee table book, and offered it to her.

"All of the pictures in these crystals were printed out to the best of our ability in here. Take it, compliments of the museum."

Flurry accepted the book, flipping through a few pages, before closing it and returning her attention to the earth mare.

"You're right to believe preserving history is more important than smoothies that your fellow ponies enjoy, Sunny. This is work you should be very proud of, and I know your dad would be proud of you. Even with my time suspended in limbo, I know nothing of what awaits us on the other side. But even so, I can't imagine a worse fate than to simply be forgotten."

"Thank you, Flurry. That means a lot."

"I'll certainly come back and take a closer look at everything, but for now I'll get out of your mane, and go find your friends to start to help with the lighthouse, and maybe talk to Pipp about smartphone basics," Flurry told her.

Sunny nodded with a smile, walking Flurry to the main entrance, and locking the door after she left, since the museum wouldn't be opening for another hour or so. As soon as Flurry was out of sight, Sunny got out her phone, and went through her contacts, before stopping at Izzy.

Sunny
Hey Izzy,

I can't think of anypony better to ask. Flurry likes painting as a hobby. Could you get her some supplies to use up on the top floor? Keep it a surprise if you can. :)

Author's Note

Then and Now

When Pipp got a text from Sunny that said Flurry Heart was thinking about asking about a phone, the social media magnate dropped what she was doing and was down out front by the time the pink alicorn had come up the path to the Brighthouse.

"Good day, Miss Flurry Heart! Sunny tells me you're thinking about getting your first phone, and learning the ins and outs of it. I've cleared my schedule for the next couple hours if you want to head back into town and pick one out," Pipp offered.

Flurry Heart's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wow, um, sure Pipp. Sorry, I guess I'm still not used to how fast news travels around here."

With that, Pipp and Flurry walked side by side back towards Maretime Bay.

"I've actually been wondering, Flurry. How was being a Princess back then? Compared to now?" Pipp asked.

"Well that would certainly depend on which Princess you were talking to. Each had to face different challenges. Celestia's schedule was always very busy, making public appearances, mingling with Canterlot's most affluent citizens, things of that sort. Luna wasn't seen nearly as often, because almost all of her work was in the dream realm."

"The dream realm?" Pipp asked.

"Luna had the power to tap into the world of dreams. She'd help with the worst of nightmares, as that was usually a sign that a pony was having some kind of internal struggle. Diminishing the nightmares frequently turned into a magical battle of wits."

"I see," Pipp said, trying to mentally follow along. It was a tradeoff; she was going to help Flurry adapt to modern times, and in return, she was going to hear about how near-mythical Flurry's time was.

"Then there was my mom. The Princess of Love. She frequently complained about how 'predictable' life in the Crystal Empire was, and got away as often as she and my dad could; frequently down to Ponyville. The seclusion of the Empire also helped her mingle with all of her citizens more often, rather than spending most of her time with the most influential or affluent. It was something I really tried to emulate during my rule. Every year I would try to eat at every restaurant, patronize each business, and host several events in the castle where everypony was welcome."

"Wow, when you put it like that, what I do kinda of well, pales in comparison," Pipp replied, her ears drooping a bit.

"What do you mean? Sunny has told me nothing but good things about you. You constantly keep ponies everywhere updated on news, personal beauty tips, and you release a new song almost monthly. I imagine that you keep countless fans of yours inspired and entertained."

Pipp smiled at the compliment. It was true; there were quite a few times that she got caught up in the amount of hooftaps she got on ClipTrot, but at the end of the day, she did everything she did for her fans, young and old.

"Well, here we are. Z-Mobile Wireless' newest location," Pipp told Flurry as they came to the second corner on the coastal road, where the Zephyr Heights cell service provider had opened their Maretime Bay branch. They walked through the double glass doors, and were greeted with a tone that signaled their arrival to the salespony at the register.

"Hello, and welcome to Z-Mobile. How may I— Ah, Princess Pipp! What an unexpected surprise! Come in, come in! How can I help the two of you today?"

"Hello! We're here to get my friend Flurry here her first smartphone," Pipp replied.

The salespony wasn't sure of what to make of the alicorn that stood a bit higher than Zephyr Heights' most popular influencer, but to him, a sale was a sale, and he had faith that Pipp was going to talk her into one of the unlimited plans that were popular with heavy users.

"Of course, our latest flagship models are right over there. All you have to do is pick out one that fits your budget and the features you'd like, then a case that comfortably fits your hoof, and we'll get you set up," the salespony told them.

Well aware of the layout of a Z-Mobile store, Pipp led Flurry over to the phones.

"How am I supposed to know what I want? I'm not even sure what I'm going to use it for, aside from keeping in touch with all of you," Flurry confessed as she followed Pipp over to the display cases.

"Well, it's far more than a phone. It can be a camera, a planner, discussion forums, journal, and more. Don't worry about budget for now, I've got it covered. Ponies have to think about screen size, battery life, storage space, and durability," Pipp told her.

Even if it wasn't her bits, Flurry went for something middle-of-the-road between the lowest and highest tier phones. The salespony quickly went and got her selection from the inventory while Pipp took her over to another set of displays.

"Now you need a case. It generally protects against drops and lets you hold it easier with one hoof and use your other for scrolling and pressing."

Flurry went for one of the cases with the larger hoof grips. Since her plan was just being added on to Pipp's account for now, the rest of it wasn't really a hassle. Flurry was given a small card containing her phone number, along with the empty box for her phone, which contained the instruction manual which she made a mental note to flip through later, and the charging cable as well. Pipp quickly got the rubberized case around Flurry's new phone before offering it to the alicorn, who concentrated and took it in her horn's magical aura.

"That phone should have enough charge to last you the rest of the day, Miss Flurry Heart. Thank you for coming in, and if there's anypony to show you every single facet of a new phone, believe me, it's Princess Pipp here," the salespony said. He waved the two mares farewell as they went to the exit and back out onto the streets of Maretime Bay.

"Now, it's not quite time for lunch yet, so tell me Flurry, did you have a stylist up in the Crystal Empire?" Pipp asked.

"Of course. For the big events, mostly. But even for some minor public appearances if I noticed that she didn't have enough clientele, or noticed that she was getting a bit bored," Flurry replied.

"Well, other than content creation, let me show you another one of my passions. We're going to a little place called Mane Melody!"

Author's Note

The Works

Flurry was internally hoping that she would, sooner or later, become a sight that the townsponies of Maretime Bay got accustomed to... Or that she would get accustomed to the stares of passers-by as she followed Pipp down the streets. She had become more than used to the warm smiles and greetings as she walked through the Crystal Empire, but these were more surprised and bewildered.

Indeed, like ponies that had not seen an alicorn in generations.

"And here we are! Welcome to Mane Melody, come on in!" Pipp announced, smiling widely at Flurry, who took in the corner building in front of them. The masonry was painted a bright white, and the supports were a bright pink. On the front wall, large enough to be on the outer wall of both the first and second floors, were a pair of large 'M's, in the style of musical notes. Pipp held the door open for Flurry as she came up the steps and entered the building, taking a look around at the passion of Pipp Petals.

The seating and outer edges of the room were immediately recognizable to Flurry; a beauty parlor, although understandably a bit more modern than what she had become used to in the Crystal Empire. There were a couple screens on the outer walls in the seating area in the corner, to keep waiting customers occupied. When the staff was ready, there were stations for over a dozen customers, depending on what you were there for; and if it was anything like the salons in the Empire, it was almost always mane treatments or hooficures.

What was the most interesting part of the interior, however, was the karaoke stage that was rear and center, along with undoubtedly the largest pieces of equipment in the room, the speakers; up above the stage, on both sides, and in the corners stacked to the ceiling. This was a salon and karaoke bar combined into one, and judging from the somewhat crowded interior, was fairly popular in town.

"Morning, boss! I thought you were off today," came the greeting from a light turquoise earth pony mare, who was currently giving a hooficure to a pony whose eyes were covered with cucumbers.

"I decided to bring a special customer in. Allow me to introduce Flurry Heart. Flurry, this is Jazz Hooves, my Head Hooficurist and backup vocalist," Pipp announced.

"Nice to finally meet you Flurry. The whole town has been buzzing about the new alicorn in town. I'd sign you in, but it sounds like you'll be in Pipp's hooves today," Jazz greeted.

"Indeed. She's getting the works today. Right this way, Flurry!"

Pipp led Flurry over to the closest available sink station, and Flurry sat down. As soon as she was comfortable, Pipp reclined the chair, and lowered Flurry's neck into a resting position in the padded recession in the sink. The pegasus grabbed the hoof-held water nozzle, and immediately began wetting her violet and arctic blue mane.

"Yep, you've definitely been hiking and camping with Sunny, that's for sure," Pipp commented as she grabbed the bottle of shampoo.

"And spending an eon or two in frozen limbo," Flurry added, relaxing into the cushioned pleather recession.

"Right," Pipp commented with a light chuckle as she drizzled the shampoo into Flurry's mane.

"It's already taking me back..." Flurry mused, listening to the shampoo get worked into her mane.

Pipp softly hummed to the music being played on the interior speakers, getting every inch of Flurry's mane washed before rinsing it with a gentle warm spray of water, before drying it just enough where it was still damp, but not dripping, before sitting the alicorn up, and wheeling the occupied chair over to an available curling station.

Now in a position to continue becoming familiar with her new phone, Flurry scrolled and tapped away while the pegasus went all around her, expertly putting her mane into rollers. After that, she wheeled over a hood dryer, lowered it over her head, and turned it on. Now with her rolled hair drying, Pipp instantly got an idea. She rushed back to her office, grabbed her copy of Sunny's coffee table book from the museum, and brought it out to the station Flurry was currently relaxing at as her mane dried. Pipp flipped to the page she wanted, and got out her hooficure kit. She started with Flurry's back hooves, getting them filed, got hoof cream applied and dried, then began applying the color coats. Flurry currently had earbuds in and was watching videos on ClipTrot, so she was none the wiser to Pipp's chosen pattern. When the back hooves were done, Pipp had Flurry set the phone down, and put two fresh cucumber slices over her eyes. She reclined the chair slightly and adjusted the hood dryer to help her relax while she finished on her front hooves. When they were finished and dried, Pipp quickly got her kit put away, shut off the hood dryer and likewise wheeled it away, before slowly sitting Flurry up and removed the rollers in her mane one by one. When that was done, she moved the alicorn's chair over to the closest mirror, and deftly removed the cucumbers from her eyes and the buds from her ears.

"And say hello to the new you, Flurry!" Pipp announced.

Flurry Heart's eyes widened, and even began to tear up a little as she stared at her reflection. She immediately noticed the hoof polish; ice blue patterns of the Crystal Heart and her cutie mark. The way her mane curled was simply divine. She turned to Pipp with a stunned smile for barely a moment before stepping forward, leaning down, and embracing the pegasus, who immediately returned the hug.

"Thank you so much, Pipp," Flurry said to her.

"My absolute pleasure, and don't worry about reimbursement. Izzy's got that taken care of. She sent me a text while we were in Z-Mobile; asked me to keep you occupied for a bit. Nothing does that like The Works at Mane Melody. Apparently she's been cooking up a little surprise for you back at the Brighthouse, so that's where we're headed back to!"

Flurry smiled at her, and her smile only widened as she turned to follow Pipp out back onto the streets of Maretime Bay, and caught another glimpse of herself in the mirror.

"Pipp, again, thank you so much. When... When the blizzard began up in the Crystal Empire, luxuries like this were the things I gave up first," Flurry said as she came up to the pegasus as they made their way down the street. "This brought me back closer to home than you know."

Author's Note

Streaks

As they left the paved streets of Maretime Bay, and began stepping onto the dirt path that lead up to the Crystal Brighthouse, Flurry was initially worried that the dirt would mar her brand new hooficure, but Pipp immediately reassured her that the top coat would certainly protect against such surfaces.

As they were coming up to the Brighthouse, Flurry caught a glimpse of Izzy on the top floor, who seemed to spot them down on the ground and immediately zipped back downstairs.

"I wonder what she's up to," Pipp commented as they came up to the front door. She pushed it open, and the pair of ponies trotted in just in time to see Izzy come down the elevator.

"Well, look at you!" Izzy said, looking excitedly down at Flurry's makeover. "Pipp sure did a number on you, Flurry. You look fantastic!"

"Thanks, I feel fantastic," Flurry replied with a smile as they came up to the second floor.

"I'm so glad Pipp was able to keep you out for a little bit, it was all the time I needed!" Izzy said.

"Well, I did what I can, what can I say?" Pipp replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"Keep me out? Wait, what's going on, you two?" Flurry asked.

"Oh, I've been cooking up a little surprise, and I just needed a little bit more time, so I asked Pipp to keep you out of the Brighthouse for just a little bit longer while I made one more trip and got everything set up. Come on up, you'll see!" Izzy said, waving them forward to the elevator.

Somewhat intrigued, Flurry followed alongside Pipp up to the elevator, and stepped on with her. It was a five-second up to the top floor, and Flurry's eyes immediately widened when she saw what the unicorn had been up to while she was out getting a phone and makeover.

The first thing that stood out to her was the a-frame easel that had been set up with a large white canvas set up on it, with several sheets in reserve neatly stacked over near the wall. Right next to that was a small end table with all manner of brushes and paints, along with colored pencils and pens.

Across from that, her sleeping bag and mattress pad had been upgraded to a full-on elevated cot, and it already looked much more comfortable than what she had been using. Next to her cot, a nightstand had been set up, with a small table lamp and a charging dock for her phone.

"Sunny let me know how much you loved painting, so she asked me to make your spot up here a little more homely," Izzy explained, as Flurry slowly got off the elevator and took in her new third floor, open-air bedroom. Flurry looked down at her phone and saw that her use during her salon treatment hadn't even drained it by a quarter yet, so she'd likely wait until tonight to charge it overnight.

"I mean... I don't know what to say other than... Wow. Thank you so much, Izzy. New phone, new makeover, new cot, new art set... I've almost got too much to choose from," Flurry said, turning to the unicorn with a smile.

"Well, that certainly beats not having enough to do. I just figured that with all these new surroundings and technologies, that you could probably use some old hobbies to fall back to," Izzy replied.

"I've got plenty of daylight here, so I think that's exactly what I'll do," the alicorn told her, as she approached the easel, and started to inspect the various brushes and drawing implements.

"I know art takes awhile, so I'll leave you to it, and I'll let you know when it's time for dinner. I'm cooking tonight!"

Author's Note

Pretty short update tonight, but I wanted to reiterate, as of now, this is going to be a pretty short story. I'm really not sure where to take it, so if you all have some ideas of how to prolong it, of things you'd like Flurry to experience, I am absolutely all ears.

Otherwise, the fluff might be minimal this time around.

Catching Up

"So how's that alicorn getting along, Sunny?" Cinnamon asked as Sunny was packing up and getting ready to leave for the day.

"I'm sure she's still acclimating. She's been asleep for a very long time," Sunny replied as she shut the door to the back office, coming back out into the Guardians of Harmony wing of the Maretime Bay Museum of History. "Pipp's been a big help in getting her up to speed as best as she can; got her a phone, and I think they went to Mane Melody for a makeover this morning."

"I just hope the town doesn't swarm her. We haven't seen an alicorn in... I don't even know when."

"Well, aside from some stunned looks, everypony has been pretty respectful so far. Here's hoping it stays that way. Well, I'm out of here for tonight. Thanks for getting me coverage so quickly, Cinnamon," Sunny thanked her colleague.

"More like just getting your coverage back. You were slated to be up in the arctic north for 2-3 weeks. All of you came back super early, so it's not as a big of a hassle as you might think. I won't keep you any longer. Have a good night, Sunny, and I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, Cinnamon went back to closing up the rest of the museum while Sunny went out to the admissions area and exited through the front door into Maretime Bay's evening air. Instead of going right home, she made a right, towards the northwest area of town, where Hitch lived. These past few days had been beyond hectic, and she wanted to do some catching up with her oldest friend, and find out more about this egg that he had found while she was in Zephyr Heights with Flurry.

The shadows cast by the buildings of downtown Maretime Bay were growing longer by the minute as the sun neared the horizon. She passed Hitch's house on the way towards the police station, and there were no lights on, so she figured he must still be at work. She increased her pace to a quick trot, and was at the doors of the station before the sun touched the western horizon.

She knocked a couple times before pushing the doors open, and stepped inside. The mare took a quick glance around, and saw Hitch over at Sprout's desk, looking like he was organizing and cleaning it out.

"Evening, Hitch. Just wanted to come by and see how you're managing, I know these past few days have been pretty hectic."

"Hey there, Sunny. Yeah, that's a bit of an understatement," Hitch replied, as he put another few items into a box marked 'Sprout'.

"So... I'm guessing Sprout told you that he wants to stay at CanterLogic?" Sunny asked when she grasped what the sheriff was doing.

Hitch nodded.

"Yeah, he did, while we were exploring up north. I'm not mad, or disappointed; he had several good points. He's been doing amazing work at CanterLogic, he's happier over there, and having him staying on as deputy after what happened doesn't make the most sense, honestly. I told him that I wanted him as a friend before I wanted him as a co-worker, so this is my way of accepting that, as well as making way for whomever wants to come in and fill the position. Might as well give them a clean workspace."

Sunny smiled at him.

"So the others told me you found an egg on the beach?" Sunny asked.

"Word travels fast, I see. Yeah, come and look," Hitch answered, stepping away from the deputy's desk, crossing the room to where his desk was, in front of a supply cabinet. As Sunny followed him, stepping around his desk, he saw that he had set up a sleeping bag and pillow.

"Are you sleeping here?" Sunny asked.

"Well I can't exactly leave this egg alone at night, and I don't want to risk moving it to and from my house every day, so yeah, temporarily staying here at night," Hitch answered. With that, he stepped around his sleeping bag, and opened the cabinet, revealing the large pink egg. What looked like speckles near the top turned into a solid darker coating on the bottom.

"I've... Never seen an egg like that before," Sunny commented, noting how Hitch had carefully set the egg atop a small pillow, and was keeping it incubated via a desk lamp.

"Yeah, me neither, but it didn't seem safe keeping it there on the beach. I have to guess it washed up into the sands with the tide."

"Do you have any idea what it could be?" The mare asked.

"None. I have to wait for it to hatch," Hitch told her.

"Well, I hope you know what you're doing. It could be anything in there, and it'll probably need care immediately. Here's to it not being anything too, well, you know, predatory," Sunny said.

"My thoughts exactly," Hitch agreed.

"Well, you seem to be doing everything you possibly can for now, so I'll get out of your mane. I'm getting pretty hungry, and I'd like to see how Flurry is settling in. Best of luck with your egg, and let us know the moment anything happens," Sunny told him.

Hitch gave her a curt nod.

"Will do, Sunny. Even if it's in the middle of the night."

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay in a story update. Work hasn't been getting any less busy, and one final 2022 game has been consuming nearly all of my free time this week.

Now if you'll excuse me, the Lands Between beckon still.

Thank you all for reading!

Art

By the time that Sunny was back at the lighthouse, the stars started to appear in the sky, as the shades of orange in the sky began to fade to blacks and dark blues. She walked up to the front doors, pushed them open, and her stomach immediately grumbled when the inviting aromas wafting over from the kitchen hit her nostrils.

"And that, Pippsqueaks, is how you make the super simple grilled cheese and tomato soup, one of the best comfort dishes that I grew up with in Zephyr Heights. If you're gonna try this yourself, let me know in the comments how it turned out! That's all from me tonight, and I'll see you tomorrow!"

With that, Pipp pressed a button on her phone to end the stream, set it down, and turned around to see Sunny.

"Finally, there you are! Thought I was going to have to re-heat this!" Pipp greeted, coming to the dining table with the platter containing a bowl of steaming hot tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich fresh off the griddle. Sunny sat down at the table in front of the platter.

"A Zephyr Heights specialty, huh? My dad has definitely made this for me before," Sunny commented, as she took her first bite of the sandwich, immediately followed by a spoonful of tomato soup.

"Well, not really surprising, what with all the research your dad did; you've probably had quite a few pegasus- and unicorn-inspired dishes," Pipp replied.

"So where are the others?" Sunny asked as she continued with her surprise dinner.

"Izzy's out making another trip for more decorations before every place closes up for the night, and Zipp is up top with Flurry. She's been working on her first art piece pretty much all afternoon and evening," Pipp answered.

"Does she have enough light up there now that the sun's gone?"

"I think so. Izzy moved a lamp up there, plus there's the light from the crystals," Pipp told her. "I've already given the two of them dinner; call them practice runs before I did my weekly cooking stream."

Zipp reclined in the folding chair Izzy had set up, content to relax and watch Flurry Heart paint as her delicious dinner settled, compliments of her younger sister.

The alicorn had gotten quite a few splotches of paint on her hooves and barrel, but was determined to keep working.

"I suppose all this paint everywhere doesn't make me look very Princess-ly," Flurry commented, as she gave her blue-covered brush another stroke on the canvas.

"Well, Flurry, the fact that you don't act very Princess-ly is probably my favorite part about you," the pegasus responded.

"Really?" Flurry asked, turning back to look at the pegasus. Zipp immediately nodded. "I guess some things don't change. My mom always told me I had to stand on ceremony more often, because 'it's what ponies expect', but I really didn't, except for really important events."

"I don't even like the really important events. My little sister enjoys all the regalia of it all, but not me," Zipp told her.

"What would you rather do?" Flurry asked as she returned to her painting.

"Do crazy insane flying stunts, and help ponies in need. I've always felt that's where my time is best spent, instead of entertaining pegasi who can afford tours of the castle," Zipp said.

"I saw the Wonderbolts regalia that was set up in the museum. Sunny tells me you've been thinking about reforming the team. Think you're up for something like that?"

"The trick is finding others who are just as daredevil-y as I am," Zipp answered.

"I'm sure they'll come along. And as for your 'royal' duties, Zipp, I know they can be overwhelming at times, or they don't seem important, but I do hope you don't completely shrug off all the fans and ponies that look up to you. You did help return flight to pegasi for the first time in generations. It's hardly farfetched that they love you for that."

Zipp gave Flurry a soft smile.

"I guess I don't want to have to meet anypony's expectations but my own," she admitted.

"As long as those expectations are realistic, Zipp," Flurry replied.

Zipp noticed the elevator get called down to the second floor, and coming back up a few moments later, with Sunny standing on the lift.

"Hey there, Sunny. Good shift at the museum?" Zipp asked.

"Yep. Fantastic meal afterwards, too. That sister of yours can cook," Sunny answered.

"That she can. Speaking of, I think I'll go and get some seconds."

With that, Zipp got up from her chair, and got onto the lift as Sunny stepped off, descending back down inside the lighthouse, leaving Sunny alone with Flurry. The earth mare stepped up behind her to see what she was working on.

"That's absolutely beautiful, Flurry," Sunny commented, taking in the in-progress portrait of Princess Luna, against a backdrop of a full moon and starry night sky.

"I figured it was the least I could do for them, to honor their sacrifice for all of us," Flurry commented. "I'm actually pleasantly surprised at how quickly I'm picking it back up. But I may try a more modern take on art. Pipp is telling me that 'digital' art is fairly popular, where you draw on a tablet, like a bigger smartphone, and you can very quickly correct mistakes, switch layers, colors, and brushes. She made it sound pretty interesting, so I think I'll be giving it a try."

"I'm looking forward to seeing whatever you create, I'm glad you're settling in here. Anyways, I wanted to give you an update on the Crystal Empire; Phyllis and Cinnamon think it's best to restock what little we used and head right back up north, since I had already scheduled the time off. I figured you'd want to come with us, so we've got a couple tailors at CanterLogic who can get your measurements and can get you some cold weather gear. You can do that anytime you like tomorrow, as long as it's before six. We should be ready to go in another couple days."

"Thank you, Sunny. I would like to go along and get a better look at what's become of my city. Who else is coming?" The alicorn asked.

"Sprout and I will do most of the driving, Zipp, and Pipp. Hitch is staying behind; he has some sort of egg he's looking after," Sunny answered.

"That certainly sounds interesting. Do you think he'd mind if I stop in to take a look at it?"

"Not at all, I'm sure he'd appreciate any insight you could give him."

Flurry smiled.

"Then I think I'll do that tomorrow. Thanks for being so patient with me, Sunny. I'm still not sure where I'm going to fit in with all this, but I truly appreciate how you've been making me as comfortable as you can here. It means the world to me."

Sunny nodded.

"I don't think the Crystal Heart would keep you in limbo for no reason. I'm sure you'll find your place here sooner or later. Take all the time you feel you need, Flurry."

Author's Note

Advice

Flurry Heart stepped off onto the second floor of the Crystal Brighthouse, thankful that the elevator was nearly silent in its operation, as she made her way down the curved ramp to the first floor as quietly as she could, not wanting to wake any of the second floor's other occupants. She headed down to the kitchen, and started the coffee pot, and was grateful that this was something else that hadn't changed a whole lot during the time that she'd been gone.

While the coffee maker churned drizzled out the fresh hot beverage, she got two slices of whole wheat bread, and put them in the toaster. The pot of coffee was nearly ready when she heard another set of hoofsteps come down the ramp to the first floor. She turned, and saw Pipp come into the kitchen, looking positively half awake.

"Oh, good morning Pipp, I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you," Flurry greeted.

Pipp gave her a tired smile.

"You didn't do anything, I'm almost always up this early; I've got a salon to open. It'd be simply amazing if I can get a cup of that coffee," Pipp replied.

"Yeah, absolutely. I was just going to do one cup myself," Flurry told her, reaching up into the cabinet and getting two mugs out. "I'm glad Sunny showed me where everything is already."

Flurry's horn lit up, and the pot of steaming hot coffee floated up in the grasp of her magic, and she poured it into the two mugs, up to about three-quarters full, leaving room for additions. The alicorn's and pegasus' choices were identical; a spoonful of sugar, and adding a bit of creamer.

"Well, since you beat me down to making coffee, I've got a few minutes. What do you have planned for today?" Pipp asked.

"Well, I'd like to head down to the sheriff's station and finally meet Hitch Trailblazer proper. Sunny also tells me he has an egg that's taking up all his free time, and I'd like to take a look at it, see if I can give him any advice. After that, I'm headed over to CanterLogic to see if they can get me fitted for any cold weather gear before our trip back to the Crystal Empire.

"Yeah, I'm glad we're headed back so soon. That's what my day is going to mostly consist of; making sure Jazz and Rocky are going to be able to hold down the fort again while we're gone, and make sure the appointments don't stack up to an unmanageable level."

"Well, things seemed perfectly orderly when you took me there yesterday. I'm sure they'll be fine, Pipp. I'm glad you'll be coming back with us to help," Flurry said, beginning to sip at her coffee.

"Not just me, but my sister too. Hitch isn't tagging along because of this egg of his," Pipp told her.

The toaster popped up with the two darkened pieces of bread. Flurry grabbed them both with her magic, quickly buttered them, spread strawberry jam on both, then offered a piece to Pipp.

"Why thank you," Pipp said, immediately taking a bite of toast.

"I wouldn't be waking him up early, would I? If I show up in ten or fifteen minutes?" Flurry asked.

"Oh no," Pipp answered, before swallowing her food. "Hitch is normally one of the first ponies up in the morning, and you'd be surprised at how early some of Maretime Bay's shops open for the early risers."

"That's a relief," Flurry replied, finishing her coffee, and taking the last bite of toast. "Well then, I believe I'll be off. I'll see you later tonight."

Pipp nodded happily.

"I know you're not done with your traditional painting just yet, so I'll probably hold off on getting you set up with a digital tablet, probably until we get back from up north."

With that, Flurry rinsed her coffee mug out in the sink, then put it upside down on the rinsing rack, before heading out the front door into the brisk Maretime Bay morning. The sun wasn't quite above the horizon yet, and wouldn't get up above the roof of CanterLogic for at least another hour. The morning tide was coming up onto the beaches, so nopony was out there yet; it would likely be too cold until the sun began to warm the sands up anyway.

Flurry kept to the coastal street, as that would take her right to the sheriff's station just a little halfway through town. True to Pipp's word, she passed by a few ponies, either out for a morning jog, being one of the first ponies in line for breakfast, or opening up their shops for the day to come.

After trotting down several blocks, she came to what could only be the Sheriff's Station, due to the giant five-pointed star surrounded by a horseshoe above the front double doors of the blue and white building. On either side of the horseshoe and star were large announcement speakers, no doubt used for public service announcements. She stepped up to the double doors and knocked. She heard muffled footsteps on the other side moments before the right door was pulled open, revealing the light orange stallion Hitch Trailblazer.

"Ah, you must be Flurry Heart. Sheriff Hitch Trailblazer, at your service. It's great to see you on your hooves," the stallion greeted as he sipped at a cup of coffee.

"Nice to finally meet you face to face, Sheriff Trailblazer. Sunny tells me you found an egg on the beach while she and I were headed back from Zephyr Heights? I thought I'd stop by and see if I could offer any insights," Flurry replied with a smile.

"Certainly. Come in, come in," Hitch said, stepping aside and holding the door open for the alicorn as she stepped inside the station. "It's just over here," he continued after the door closed.

Flurry followed him around his desk to the storage cabinet, and the stallion slowly and carefully opened the doors, revealing the pink speckled egg resting on the pillow, and having the desk lamp shine down brightly on it. Flurry took a moment to look at it before glancing over at Hitch's desk, and picking up the magnifying glass from the holder cup.

"May I?" Flurry asked, levitating the magnifying glass with her magic. Hitch nodded, and Flurry moved in closer with the instrument, taking in the almost crystalline shell in greater detail. She studied it from several angles for nearly a full minute before lowing the magnifying glass and stepping back.

"Well, Sheriff, I want to make the somewhat educated guess that you have a dragon egg here," she told him.

Hitch's eyes widened.

"A d-dragon?" Hitch stammered.

"Dragon eggs are the only ones I know of that frequently have that crystal-like coating on the bottom, having to survive the rigors of their climate."

"Well, what would optimal hatching conditions for a dragon egg be?" Hitch asked.

"A bed of volcanic rock warmed by lava pools underneath," Flurry answered, and the sheriff's mouth fell open. "Yeah, not exactly going to get close to that, but from what I can see, you're doing the best you can with what you've got," Flurry said.

"So... How do I know when it's ready to hatch, and, well, what do I have ready to feed it? What to dragons eat?" the sheriff asked.

"Pretty much anything. Seriously. The dragons I knew could handle Equestrian foods with no issue. If you have gems, they can even handle those. And when it does hatch, there's a pretty good chance the hatchling will imprint on the first living thing it sees, so, try to be close by if you can. You could even add another lamp, or even a heat lamp to this nest you have. It can take it, trust me. To dragons, it's even comfortable."

Hitch was clearly trying to take in all this new information that Flurry was giving him.

"Um, wow... So, at least there won't be any shortage of things for them to eat. What about fire? Don't they, you know, breathe fire?"

Flurry nodded.

"Dragon fire is inherently magical, so you will want to be careful until you can safely determine what it does."

Hitch gulped.

"So... This means I'm... I'm a..."

Flurry nodded.

"Congratulations, Sheriff. You're going to be a dragon dad."

Author's Note

Getting Fitted

After leaving Hitch with the new information about his egg, Flurry Heart made her way further downtown towards the Canterlogic factory, by far the largest structure in town. Built on top of the tallest hill on what could loosely be considered the 'back' of Maretime Bay, the window offices no doubt provided stunning views of the surrounding area; downtown, the coast, even all the way to the lighthouse.

She entered through the main doors, and was immediately reminded of that time Pinkie Pie told her about her husband's Joke Factory that he has passed down to a colleague a couple years before the two of them began to travel across Equestria and beyond, eventually starting a family.

"Hello, welcome to Canterlogic. Ah, it's the new alicorn in town. Again, welcome. My name is Sweets. How may we help you today, miss?" the receptionist greeted her.

"Hello. I understand Sunny Starscout is preparing to go back up to the Crystal Empire. I was told to come here to get fitted for cold weather gear," Flurry told her.

Sweets nodded understandingly.

"I'm pretty sure our tailor can get something put together for you before Sunny's ready to head up. Right this way," she told her, getting up from her seat, passing the alicorn a lanyard with a visitor pass to put around her neck. With that, she stepped from around her station and lead Flurry down the left hall while an assistant took her place at the desk. After a series of turns, she opened a door, and Flurry saw a lone earth pony siting at a desk, in front of rack after rack after rack of clothes hanging up. Most of them were Canterlogic uniforms; most of them on the left rack looked like they needed to be cleaned, while the rack on the right looked downright pristine. Then the bit dropped; this was the factory's dry cleaning service.

"Hey there, Sweets. Another newbie to be fitted?" the tailor asked.

"Nope. Miss Flurry Heart, the alicorn that Sunny arrived with a couple nights ago. She needs to be fitted for cold weather gear, because they're going back up there," Sweets answered.

The tailor, a light magenta earth stallion with a white, purple-streaked mane took notice of Flurry's wings and horn, then took note of her considerable height, standing nearly a full head taller than Sweets.

"Ah, fairly understandable that they would cut their trip up north short after they found you. Nice to meet you, Flurry Heart. My name is Ivory Cedar, and while I've never considered myself a miracle worker, but I'm sure I can get something effective put together by the time they're ready to leave. Let me just... Where did I put it now...?"

Ivory opened several drawers and rummaging around, he eventually came out with a measuring tape.

"So what sort of things does this factory make?" Flurry asked.

"Currently, we're coordinating with Zephyr Heights to increase their phone production and coverage," Sweets explained while Ivory began to take measurements and write them down on a clipboard. "We've been going through a major rebranding ever since Reunification Day. Before that, we made a bunch of devices meant to ward off unicorns and pegasi. Anti-mind reading caps, splata-pults, though I think Ivory's favorite one was the Balloon Escape Pack."

"Not funny," Ivory replied, his cheeks tinting at the unpleasant memory.

"Balloon Escape Pack?" Flurry asked.

"During our last Annual Product Presentation, that was one of the hare-brained ideas R&D thought up at the last minute. Ivory here was selected for the demonstration, and was assured that it had been tested and it was perfectly safe. I even slipped him ten bits if he did the whole thing with glitter makeup. He got out on stage, activated it, and then realized that going up and away was what worked perfectly. What we were still working the kinks out of was coming back down safely, which he was able to do... Three days later..."

"I ate and drank more than my fill after that harrowing escapade, let me tell you," Ivory chimed in as he continued his measurements. "I go up, everything's normal, a few days later I come back down, and Maretime Bay was full of unicorns and pegasi. To say I freaked out would be a... Bit of an understatement."

With that, Ivory took down the last information he needed, then tossed his measuring tape on the desk.

"Alright, Miss Flurry Heart. Just in case I can't get a complete set of cold weather gear completed in time, I'll start with the extremities and work my way in," Ivory told the alicorn.

"No worries if you can't. I've got a few alteration spells that will be quite some help up there," Flurry told him.

"Well, whatever I do manage to get done will be on board the Scouticus when you all are ready to leave."

Author's Note

Figured this guy would be a tailor for Canterlogic when he's not floating out the window and halfway across Equestria.

Let me tell you, forced to go back to a standard-height keyboard because the 'C' key stopped working on the low-profile you've been using for a year and half sucks.

SUCKS.

Northbound

The ride in the Scouticus Maximus this time was much more pleasant for Flurry, not to mention not so much on the brink of death this time around. Instead of being curled up on the floor under three thermal blankets, Flurry Heart was now buckled into the passenger seat up front, dividing her attention between the book she was holding, and the surroundings outside, which was flattening out more into arctic tundra. Sprout was napping in the back, and the two pegasus sisters were outside in the back with Izzy, enjoying the cool air and keeping an eye on the connected trailer, making sure it was keeping up with the rigors of the terrain, leaving the alicorn up front with Sunny, who was currently driving.

"Well, this is as smooth as any train ride, I'll give you that," Flurry said, glancing over at Sunny.

"The tribes are already talking about rebuilding the Equestrian rail network," Sunny replied. "Plenty of experience in both Zephyr Heights and Maretime Bay, with the monorails and trams."

"That would certainly make visiting and tourism easier," Flurry commented, returning her attention to her book as Sunny continued to drive. Several moments passed in silence, save for the sounds of the engine and the snoring stallion in the back.

"So..." Sunny began, trying to figure out how to word this politely. "What was Princess Twilight like?"

When Flurry looked back at Sunny, the way the earth mare was focusing on the road gave the impression that she was a little embarrassed and thought it was a rather awkward question to ask.

"Perfectly reasonable question when you have someone that knew her for most of her life, Sunny," Flurry began, setting the mare's mind at ease. "Twilight was... Nowhere close to being a perfect princess, and I think that was my favorite part about her. A lot of ponies expect a Princess to stand on ceremony all the time, and even worse, some seem offended when we act just as normal as everypony else."

"Yeah, I know what that's like... And I'm not even a princess, I just have the glowing wings and horn sometimes," Sunny added.

"Well, and you played the most integral part in reuniting the divided tribes of Equestria for the first time in generations. But I can certainly understand getting tired of the constant celebrity status, which is why going to visit Twilight growing up, especially in my teens, was such a breath of fresh air. I wasn't expected to stand on ceremony during dinner. Sometimes we'd just order a pizza and watch a movie."

Flurry saw Sunny smile warmly at the mental image.

"Which isn't to say that Twilight never stood on ceremony, but I like to think she changed the expectation of what a Princess should be all the time compared to the reigns of Celestia and Luna. But to answer your question... She was friendly, analytical, and most of the time was most at home either throwing a party with all of her friends, or just the opposite; in the middle of a quiet library with a table all to herself. There were times that she could figure out a pony instantly, and then sometimes, she could be so neurotic that she'd read everything but the room. But it was part of who she was as a pony. I know she'd instantly like you and your friends, Sunny."

"I just hope we don't repeat whatever mistakes were made," the earth mare said.

"History doesn't repeat itself, Sunny, but it does often rhyme. That's why the work you're doing here is so important. The more ponies know about their history, the safer they'll be from the mistakes of the past," Flurry reassured her.

"So, I know what I'm hoping to find up in the Crystal Empire. Books, artifacts, things that will deepen our understanding of Equestria's past. But are you looking for anything in particular, Flurry?" Sunny asked.

Flurry looked up from her book again, seeing the setting sun shine through the driver-side window, nearly silhouetting Sunny.

"Memories."

Author's Note

Returning Home

"Well, that's new. I didn't realize we were this close."

"That's because the most obvious clue that we were close was a gigantic spinning wall of snow."

Flurry Heart was roused by the voices of Sprout and Zipp, and gave a stretch inside her sleeping bag on the back bench of the Scouticus' passenger cabin. She looked up and saw Sprout in the driver's seat, Sunny in the passenger seat, and Zipp and Pipp in between them, with Pipp holding her phone up to the windshield, most likely recording whatever was in front of them.

Sunny turned and saw that Flurry had woken up. Izzy was still fast asleep on the right-side bench.

"Morning, Flurry. You want to take a look before we head down?" Sunny invited.

Yawning, Flurry got up and walked forward, while Zipp stepped back to give her room. The alicorn stepped up next to Pipp and saw that they had all been staring down at their destination; the Crystal Empire. The towering castle was the most recognizable, and not to mention the most uncovered; everything else was half-buried in snow, or completely covered.

"We were wondering where the storm went," Zipp commented from behind her.

"What do you mean?" Flurry asked.

"The last time we were here, there was a huge vortex around the city, a subzero vortex," Sunny began to explain. "Zipp led a team of fliers to scout the area a few weeks before our trip. They made camp to see if it would dissipate, and it never did, leading us to believe it had been holding position over the city since... We don't even know when..."

"That certainly sounds like the Windigos' storm," Flurry replied.

"But if that's the case, why did it dissipate now? When it was here, unmoving for generations?" Zipp asked, ever the investigator.

"If we see them again, maybe you can ask them," Sunny answered.

Flurry shuddered.

"Let's not do that," the alicorn told them.

"Well Sprout, we're ready whenever you are," Sunny told their driver.

"Alright, everypony buckle up. I'm going in slow, and if the trailer starts to slide, the only way to pull out of it is to speed up. So hang on," the earth stallion warned, and Flurry and Pipp took their seats in back. Pipp roused Izzy just enough to get her seat belt put on.

The vehicle slowly lurched forward. The lack of the storm made the descent much easier for Sprout, as he didn't have blowing snow and ice obscuring his view. His eyes darted from the path in front of him to the side mirrors to make sure the trailer was straight behind them and not sliding, right back to the front. The rising sun cast shadows that went sharply to the left, and even with the buildings half-buried, the way the sun's rays reflected off of them, instead of being obscured by a blizzard cyclone made it all the more beautiful, the rays reflecting off of the castle, breaking up the morning shadows into slivers that dotted across the expanse of white.

"Hey now..." Sprout muttered to himself, noticing the empty trailer being pulled behind them begin to list to the left. He gently accelerated until it got in line again, then let up on the pedal, continuing the descent into the Crystal Empire valley. "Don't even want to think about doing this with that thing loaded..."

"Maybe this giant bowl of snow will start to melt. You know, if the storm doesn't start up again," Sunny offered.

"One can only hope, but I don't even want to think about how long that'll take, not with how cold it gets at night," Zipp replied.

They came to the bottom of the snow valley, and the terrain leveled out. Sprout carefully snaked the vehicle and trailer around several half-buried crystal structures until they came to the center street that went right up to the castle, barely being able to make out the tread marks from their last trip here. He applied the brakes, came to a smooth stop, then set the parking brake, before leaving the engine idling.

"And we're back. So, teams of two again? Who's with me since Hitch is back home keeping that egg warm?" Sprout asked.

"I'll tag along with you, Sprout. Flurry can show Sunny around the castle, we barely started to explore that last time," Izzy offered.

True, their first expedition had come to quite the unexpected halt once they realized they had pulled a live alicorn out of a magical limbo.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Sunny said as she unbuckled herself and got up from the passenger seat, coming back to open the floor compartments and pull out their cold weather gear so they could start suiting up. "Sprout and Izzy in the closest house, Zipp and Pipp in the library, and Flurry and me in the castle. Just a reminder, we brought containers to keep items more secure in the trailer, and they're easy enough to move around empty, but let Flurry or Izzy know when you've got one to move back to the trailer, and they can help out."

One by one, they got dressed, got their radio headsets on and linked up, and stepped out into the snow.

"It's not abnormally quiet anymore," Pipp commented as she continued recording. "What do you think stopped the storm?"

"Well, do we have any idea what changed since the last time we were here?" Zipp asked.

The bit dropped for Sunny.

"Flurry."

"Yeah?" the alicorn asked, assuming Sunny was calling for her.

"No, I mean, you're what changed. We got you back to the vehicle so quickly we didn't load anything else. You were all we took out of here last time."

"You make a good point. But, I wasn't generating the storm. I was fighting back against the Windigos that were creating it," Flurry replied.

"You think they were trying to keep you locked away?" Pipp asked.

Flurry remembered her final, taunting words to the enraged otherworldly creatures.

'You may get us, but you will go no farther, do you hear me?'

It wouldn't surprise her if they had wanted to hold her here for all eternity, their final vengeance against the Crystal Empire for keeping their frozen doom from the rest of Equestria.

"Well, we won't get much done by standing here wondering about it. Move out, ponies!" Zipp said, after opening the back of the trailer and pulling out the first empty cargo container, with her and her little sister pushing it towards the library.

"Hey, Flurry. Are you okay? I mean, being back here? Seeing your city like this?" Sunny asked.

The alicorn nodded immediately.

"Yes, I'm fine, Sunny. It hurts seeing it like this, but it could certainly be much, much worse; frozen bodies everywhere. We had the foresight to evacuate everypony in time, and I can only hope that the Empire's descendants are still among us today."

Author's Note

Memories

With the late morning rays of the sun shining through the windows, the Crystal Castle somehow felt more of a ghost town to Flurry than before. When she was here last, the sun hadn't hit the castle for weeks due to the blizzard that had done nothing but intensified until she had made the call to evacuate the city.

Being in these halls brought the memories rushing back. She began to miss her staff, her hairdresser, but most of all, she missed Spike.

But again, she was grateful that they had evacuated in time. The very last thing she wanted to see in any building they checked out was frozen corpses huddled in the corners under blankets trying to get whatever warmth they could.

"So where do you want to look first?" Sunny asked as she walked beside the alicorn in the frozen castle corridors.

"My quarters... It was the last place I was before we put a stop to the Windigos," Flurry replied.

"Did it ever get lonely up here?" Sunny asked.

"Lonely? Not usually. Dull? Yeah, more often than I'd like to admit. It was something my mom always tried to warn me about, and I never really knew what she meant until I took over," Flurry answered, pausing as they came to her bedroom on the fourth floor.

The Crystal Princess' quarters were relatively straightforward and simple; a bed, nightstand, desk, closet, and a triple full-length mirror. The sun coming in through the open window further showed how nearly everything had frosted over; the sheets hanging off of the bed where Flurry had tossed them on her final night here didn't so much as billow in the slight breeze, as they had frozen in place.

Flurry walked over to the desk and her horn lit up as she reached into her saddlebags, coming out with a small ice scraper. She placed the blade diagonally against the frost, and began scraping away the ice, revealing the glass surface. Sunny had been looking at the frozen state of the bed, and came over to see what the princess was doing, watching as the scraping revealed a piece of parchment that had been sandwiched between the glass and the oak surface. When the frost had been cleared, she leaned over the desk, and read the writing:

To whomever finds this letter,

I won't presume to know who you are or what you're doing up here; perhaps a citizen of this fair city that is hopefully returning home, or a descendant. I hope it hasn't been too long. While I have not personally witnessed any of the unrest down south, the very mention of it breaks my heart.

I do wonder what the accounts will be like. To see what the collapse of Cloudsdale must have been like firsthand when it came down on top of Canterlot, or Ponyville as it was slowly overtaken by the Everfree Forest. Every report I have received in the months following have only described the situation as worsening.

While I yearned to join my evacuating citizens, I believe that it is my destiny to use the Crystal Heart to banish the Windigos to oblivion before they can end life everywhere. Ponies shouldn't cooperate together under threat of a frozen fate; they should do so because they love and care for each other.

If you find this, and the lives of Equestrians are still dire, I implore you; learn to love each other again, please. Princess Luna, Spike, and the crystal ponies sacrificed their home so that all of you would get that chance.

Sincerely,
Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire

"I'm always afraid to ask how bad things got," Sunny commented as she stepped away from the desk, looking over at Flurry for a moment before walking over to the window, looking out at the half-buried city. "All the unity that Princess Twilight and her friends accomplished... All that becoming undone... I don't like thinking about it."

"Honestly, neither do I, Sunny," Flurry said. "But if there's one caveat you could take away, make it this; that no matter how much you revere somepony, no matter how high a pedestal you put them up on, it's very important to remember that nopony is perfect; Not Twilight, not Celestia or Luna, or me."

Sunny smiled at the alicorn as she took the scraper and very gently began to pry the panel of glass up off of the desk, just enough to pull out the parchment, putting it in a protective envelope before depositing it back into her saddlebags.

"I'd say that's another piece for the museum, if you'll allow it," Sunny said. Flurry immediately nodded.

"You won't have to ask me permission for much, Sunny. The only things I'd like to keep are..."

The alicorn paused as she looked around, and came over to her nightstand, where a frosted picture frame sat next to the bedside lamp. She again took her ice scraper, and gently ran it from corner to corner, revealing a photograph of her mom and dad, Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor.

"This is all I really want to keep for myself. Mementos. I know there should be a journal of Twilight's that she sent me. I'm honestly not sure where I put it. It should be around here somewhere..."

Sunny began to pull on the frozen drawer of the nightstand, before likewise getting out a scraper and began to gently pry at the edges.

"What about Yakyakistan? That's further north, right?" Sunny asked as she began to gently work at the edges of the drawer.

"It is, in one of the valleys of the Crystal Mountains," Flurry responded as she carefully slid the picture frame of her mom and dad into her saddlebags.

"Do you think they're still up there?" Sunny asked.

"No reason to think they wouldn't be. But I won't even pretend to know that we'll be able to easily resume diplomatic relations with the other nations of Equus. When the civil unrest started, most nations wanted no part of it. Not when the nation that began to unite all the races began to break apart at the seams," Flurry explained.

"Do you have any idea how it happened? It couldn't have all been Cloudsdale collapsing down on Canterlot," Sunny asked.

"No, it wasn't all that. I don't want to recite events to you from memory, because those could prove to be inaccurate. But I will say to remember that nopony is perfect, Sunny. Nopony... And those that think they are were a very big part of the problem."

Author's Note

Apologies for the re-publish.

Hit the wrong button. There are times I think a monkey could do a better mobile layout for this site.

Awakening

Without the blizzard that had obscured every possible sightseeing opportunity the last time they were here, Sunny, Flurry, and their traveling companions were enjoying their first evening in the far north with an absolutely stunning night sky, with a small campfire and dinner to keep them somewhat warm.

"Pretty good first day, wouldn't you say?" Sunny asked Flurry.

"Absolutely. I'm thrilled that so much of the library's contents are still intact. So many works that will be made anew. That is, if more modern research hasn't overridden what we knew back then," the alicorn replied.

So far, they had loaded nearly half the trailer with books from the library that were in good enough condition to be scanned, copied, and possibly redistributed if there was enough demand for ancient Equestrian reading material. Flurry had gathered what personal effects she wanted for this trip, and began to sort what she would want to possibly collect on the next, as there would be at least two more trips to completely clear out the library of books.

"So," Sprout said, as he was warming his hooves in front of the fire. "What do you think of the odds of this place getting repopulated?"

"Um, Sprout, are you sure that that's not, you know, a bit disrespectful?" Sunny asked.

"Probably not in the way that you think, Sunny," Flurry replied. "We completely evacuated the city. As for repopulating, I suppose that would depend on all the snow melting, but even if the weather does mellow out a bit, this place was inhospitable without the Crystal Heart. That's not the only hurdle to clear, either. It's a two-and-a-half day drive to get here in that vehicle of yours. Unless Equestria's ancient railways are replaced, I don't see ponies moving here to be a very realistic idea. But at the end of the day, I hardly know what the future holds."

"Yeah, that's a good point. Even after reunification, there's still a lot of recovery and rebuilding to do," Sprout admitted. Maybe if the snow does clear, and we get all of the important artifacts out, we could make it a ghost town attraction."

Sunny just shook her head with a smile.

"I think we're considerably far away from that, Sprout. But you never know," Sunny told him. No doubt there were many more ancient places to explore, or, perhaps settlements that Maretime Bay, Zephyr Heights, and Bridlewood had merely fallen out of contact with.

After dinner, Zipp and Pipp decided to do one more trip into the library to get another container into the trailer. Once they had done that, they were just over half loaded, and if they kept a good pace, they would be ready to head out sometime tomorrow evening, towing several tons worth of books back to Maretime Bay. Flurry had already collected all of the personal items that she wanted to keep, so would likely help Sunny in the castle library tomorrow. But for now, it was time to get some shut eye. With their bellies full, the tiredness from the last day of work now quickly set in. With everything put away in the hidden compartments, there was more than enough room for everypony to stretch out in their sleeping bags, and Sunny had half a mind to ask Sprout what the timetable would be for getting a glass roof for the Scouticus, because falling asleep under the stars would be awesome, were it not for the still considerably freezing temperatures outside.

As the interior lights were dimmed, the vehicle's occupants quickly drifted off to sleep. Except for Flurry, who couldn't seem to get her mind to settle. It was like the first night camping with Sunny on the way to Maretime Bay again. She consistently felt a presence tugging at her. The discomfort seemed to ebb and flow, and just as it seemed like it would fade entirely, it would return like the tide.

'Flurry Heart... Come to me...'

Flurry's eyes shot open at the sound of the voice. She quietly sat up, and looked around the cabin, finding everyone else sound asleep. Getting all her gear on wouldn't be possible with the sleeping ponies, so she carefully stepped around her resting companions, and opened the side door as quietly as she could, stepping out into the snow and slowly pushing the door shut again, looking around.

'Flurry...'

The voice almost seemed like it was being carried on the wind, towards the castle. Lighting up her horn, she cast a warming spell so she wouldn't get chilled, and began trotting towards gargantuan structure. The sky was still clear, with countless stars dotting the night sky, with snow blowing up from the numerous drifts into the wind of the night.

Rather than go into the front entrance, she took to the air with a few flaps of her wings, and landed on the front balcony, stepping through the half-frozen curtains to the Crystal Heart chamber.

'Come... Embrace your heritage.' The voice called as she headed up the second floor staircase.

"Hello?" She called, her own voice echoing down the empty, frozen corridor. She walked towards the large doors of the throne room, and pushed them open, revealing the iced-over interior of the seat of the Empire, and her throat went dry as she saw who currently sat on the throne.

The purple alicorn stood from her sitting position, her curved horn crackling with magic.

"Embrace your birthright!" She shouted, shaking the walls.

Flurry's eyes widened.

"Opaline!"

Flurry Heart shot up in her sleeping bag with a gasping breath. She looked around, finding herself right where she had fallen asleep in the Scouticus. She calmed her breathing as she breathed in relief that it had just been a dream. She glanced up at the dashboard of the idling vehicle, seeing that there was still three hours to go before the sun would rise.

But before she laid back down, the realization hit her; that it may have been more than a dream.

She once again, got up, for real this time, and grabbed her saddlebags with a few snacks in them; she'd need something to eat. She stepped outside, and quickly lit a fire in the empty stone pit as she began warming the kettle of water for a cup of coffee. She would get an early start in the library, hoping that what she was now looking for wasn't packed away in the containers in the trailer.

The flames of the early morning campfire danced in her eyes as she tried to shoo away the very disturbing possibility that Princess Twilight's fallen student was still out there; still hunting for the magic that she had been denied.

The magic that had just been returned to Equestria after generations.

Author's Note

Searching

The sleeping bag on the bench seat of the Scouticus wasn't the most comfortable sleeping arrangements, but it beat nothing at all, and with a stretch, Sunny was ready to greet the new, frigid day in the frozen north. She got up, rolled up the sleeping bag around her pillow, and put it into the corner of the seat, and put her snow boots on before stepping outside, where Sprout was sitting and tending the fire.

"Morning, Sunny," Sprout greeted. "Coffee?"

"Sounds absolutely perfect, Sprout. Am I the last one up?" She asked.

"For once," the red stallion replied, pouring Sunny a cup of the hot beverage from the kettle. "Flurry was the first one up, no idea how much sleep she got. She wasn't in here when I got up, and I was up at six."

"She in the library?" Sunny asked as she sipped at her coffee.

"Yup. Zipp found her in there on the first trip in, she's certainly focused on something important." Sprout answered.

"Well, I'd better go see what it is," Sunny told him, opting to stick to the granola bars in her saddlebags if she got too hungry as she stepped away from the fire and headed into the library. Izzy was pulling books off of the shelves and stacking them on the table, Pipp was sorting them once they had been set down, and Zipp was carrying what she had prioritized for loading and putting them in the closest bin, which once full would be pushed out to the trailer.

"Morning, Sunny. Finally up?" Zipp asked after stacking the next four books in the closest bin.

"Yep. Sprout said Flurry was here?" the earth mare asked.

"Around the corner away from the noise, she seems awfully focused on something," Pipp said, organizing books on the table next to the bin.

"Thanks," Sunny said, before walking down the main concourse between the two sets of large bookshelves. Sure enough, after the last shelf, at a table against the back wall, sat Flurry Heart, horn glowing and providing light as she sat with two books. One looked to be a hoof written journal of some sort, and the other was a far larger atlas, with the pages wider and taller than most books, containing topographic maps that Flurry was studying quite intently.

"Flurry?" Sunny gently asked.

Flurry sat up and glanced over at her, and Sunny immediately knew that she had not slept well.

"Are you alright?" She asked the alicorn.

Flurry stretched, and pushed the chair away from the table.

"Yeah, I probably don't look that great. I've been in here since five in the morning. I had a rough night, so since I've already gathered up what personal items I want, I figured I'd try and find something that Princess Twilight hid away. It... It could be important."

Sunny wasn't sure what to say. She wasn't sure if Flurry looked worried, or if she looked like she just didn't get a good night's sleep.

"Can I get you some coffee?" Sunny asked.

Flurry shook her head as she got up.

"No, but thank you. I need to get up, I've been hunched over those books for hours. I think I'll go get some myself, maybe the walk will clear my head."

"Alright, don't work too hard, now," Sunny told her, trying not to sound too concerned. When Flurry got up and headed for the front doors, Sunny took a curious glance at the page of the atlas the alicorn had been looking at. Whatever she was looking for, it was fairly close to Maretime Bay and Bridlewood, on the southwest coast...

Flurry Heart looked into the flames as Sprout poured her a fresh cup of coffee.

'You did it, didn't you, Opaline? You caused the discourse that threw this nation into civil war. But what was your goal? You knew as ponies started to disagree and lose their magic, the windigos would return, and that nothing would be able to stop them. What are you after? What's your endgame?'

Author's Note

The Confrontation, Part I

Sunny stood on the top floor of the lighthouse starting out at the town of Maretime Bay, and the hills beyond as the late afternoon sun continued on towards the western horizon. She kept scanning the sky for any trace of Flurry Heart, and was so focused on that task that she barely heard Zipp come up the elevator.

"Hey Sunny, I brought you something to eat, I figure I wouldn't be able to convince you to come down for dinner," the pegasus said, setting a plate of carrot dogs down on the table next to the art board.

"Thanks, Zipp, but I don't know if I can eat. I'm worried about her. Where was she going? Why wouldn't she tell us? Why would she leave so suddenly like that?" Sunny asked.

"I'm sure she had her reasons, Sunny," Zipp replied, putting a hoof around her shoulders. "And try not to worry too much. If anypony can take care of themselves out there, my bits would be on an alicorn princess from eons ago."

Flurry Heart descended to the ground when she saw the clouds get stormy. She had been following the river west into the foothills for several hours, not wanting to go too fast and instead conserve her strength. She opened her saddlebags and pulled out the atlas, flipping to the right page and confirming that she was within two miles.

The Crystal Princess didn't remember much of Opaline Arcana, but she wanted to assume she was formidable in magic dueling, regardless if magic had just returned to Equestria in the past few months. The citizens of Equestria had already begun to lose their magic by the time she decided to seal it away, so that her fallen student couldn't get what they had left.

Had the division among the races been Opaline's doing? If so, she had to have known about the Windigos and what they would do. What had been her plan if they hadn't been stopped with the Crystal Heart?

Most pressingly, was her offer of allegiance genuine? If so, perhaps Flurry could use that to her advantage. She would never truly consider allying herself with Arcana, but if she didn't know that, she would have the upper hoof until the spells started flying. There was also a chance that she knew Flurry wanted nothing to do with an alliance of any kind; she hadn't asked Opaline where she was after she had been found in the dream realm, she merely fired off that tracking spell to find out where she was, and the way Opaline had immediately made herself scarce probably meant she knew Flurry's intentions were hostile.

Was she alone? Or did she have followers?

Flurry Heart came to the crest of the next hill, and there it was; a castle on the cliffside, overlooking the river that flowed to the north. She saw an arched bridge to into the forest to the east, three towers near the bottom foundation, and four more smaller towers that made up the top, with a single tree wrapping around the highest tower, with the leafed branches not quite reaching above the roof.

Strangely enough, for how old it looked, it didn't look decrepit or run down, but rather well-maintained.

From the path going along the cliff edge, she assumed there were two primary ways in, down on the ground level, and halfway up across the bridge.

"Primis defensio," Flurry whispered to herself, her horn flashing for barely a moment as she cast the spell around herself, in case there were any traps, magical or otherwise once she got inside. She weighed her options, and figured going in the bottom underneath the arched foundation would be best.

"Tace gressus," Flurry said, casting an alteration spell, effectively silencing her hooves as she galloped down the path towards the castle. Even though it could be considered the basement entrance, it was still well kept, the large double doors painted a dark purple with gold accents. She placed her lightly sparkling, enchanted hooves on the door, and making no sound, pushed the left door open, stepping into the undercroft.

The room was dimly lit, but she immediately spotted the stairs up, and took them as quickly as she could, keeping her head on a swivel, coming to the next set of doors.

The candles and torches were clearly enchanted, to last months or perhaps even years before they would need changing. No doubt these storage rooms were full of supplies; she couldn't imagine Opaline getting out very much, and certainly not making herself known to others.

After several more flights of stairs, she finally came to purple carpeting, signifying that she last most likely come to the living area. Flurry decided that she wasn't going to try and do this room by room, but get to either the throne room, or the tower. No doubt the door to that would be quite large.

The flames flickered as the evening air made its way through the corridors of gray stone and wooden arch supports. The hall curved gently to the left, and she eventually came to what she was looking for; two gold-accented large sets of double doors; one on either side of the hall. She slowly approached the one on the left, reached out her hoof, and paused when she felt a presence.

"Oh do come in. Did you actually think I didn't know you arrived? That I don't have every entrance to this castle enchanted?" she heard from the other side of the door.

Steeling herself, she took a deep breath, then pushed the doors open.

Flurry took in the room as quickly as she could; the carpet gave way to purple and gold tile, a reflecting pool in the center of the room, the bark and roots of a tree growing through the right wall, as well as providing access to the next floor of the tower, and there, on the other side of the pool, was the throne, with one Opaline Arcana sitting upon it.

"I must say, it took longer than I thought it would for you to get here, Princess," the orchid alicorn greeted. "Welcome."

Opaline Arcana wore matching dark steel fetlock guards on all four legs, and her mane had been expertly braided and curled, with teal accents running the length of it and her tail. And her horn had the slightest curve to it.

The alicorns silently watched each other with guarded expressions on their faces as Flurry Heart slowly entered the chamber.

"Opaline Arcana," she responded in kind.

"I certainly hope you enjoyed your long rest, I wasn't expecting to see you again," Opaline said, getting up and stepping down from her throne, standing between it and the reflecting pool.

"More or less," Flurry replied. "How about yourself? Must have gotten dreadfully boring here, spending all this time alone."

"Oh, you'd be surprised how the time just flies by when you have a sizeable library of magical tomes and research... None of which have been particularly useful... Until recently that is," Opaline answered.

"What do you want with me?" Flurry asked.

"I wasn't clear enough before you so rudely tracked me here instead of asking for directions?" Opaline asked, almost sounding offended. "Celestia... Luna... Cadance... Twilight... All long gone. My time has finally come to rule Equestria; a burden I will willingly share with you, as a fellow alicorn."

"I'm not quite sure that I haven't had my fill of ruling. Not that it means I'm going to just step aside and let you have your way with the rest of Equestria. What was it you said? 'To be feared and loved'? Answer me this, Your Majesty; if all of Equestria is supposed to fear you, how could you think they could ever possibly love you? It's impossible to have it both ways."

"Telum!" Opaline snarled, her horn lighting up in an intense blue light, sending a magical bolt of energy across the pool right towards Flurry.

Flurry Heart readied herself, and the bolt impacted with her shield, which shimmered around her body momentarily.

"But of course you came prepared. So, you would deny me my birthright, Princess?" Opaline said, beginning to walk around the circumference of the pool.

"Funny you should put it that way," Flurry answered, also beginning to walk around the reflecting pool, keeping it between her and Opaline. "You... Celestia, Luna, and the rest; all of you were given your alicornhood. I am the only natural-born alicorn, so don't talk to me of birthrights, Arcana."

Opaline lashed out again, a stream of blue flames rushing out from her horn.

"Oriri!" Flurry cast the spell down at the pool, and the water shot up, dissipating the flames. Then, before the water fell back down to the floor, she was ready with another spell.

"Glacies!"

The water droplets that hadn't turned to steam from Opaline's flames now instantly became frozen solid.

"Nivis tempesta!"

The ice crystals exploded outward, forcing Opaline to throw up a shield as the throne room began to frost over.

"Vi!" Opaline cried out, slamming her front hooves down on the floor, shattering the ice that had begun to form on the floor. "Tenebris!"

Instead of a bright blue, Opaline's horn became as black as a void, and the darkness quickly expanded outward to envelop the throne room. Flurry couldn't see anything, but her shield was holding, as she felt Opaline's fire spells impact her shield.

"You cannot imagine what I have learned in these centuries, Flurry Heart. Spend long enough in the darkness, and you'll see things nopony could ever dream of!" Opaline's voice echoed through the black expanse.

Flurry concentrated, making sure her shield would hold against the barely visible onslaught.

Opaline, determined to break through Flurry's magical barrier, had her confidence shaken when she saw the Crystal Princess open her eyes, her irises now a fiery white. Her entire body began to glow brighter, and push the enveloping darkness away.

"Spend long enough in the darkness, Arcana, and the light begins to burn."

Author's Note

*Picking off the petals of a flower, one by one.*

"Post a long chapter... Be a tease... Post a long chapter... Be a tease..."

Don't be mad at me. Be mad at the totally real flower right here on my desk.

The Confrontation, Part II

Misty took the last dried dish from the rack, put it away in the cupboard below, and with that, the dishes from dinner were done, and her evening in the kitchen was complete. With that, she hung the dish towel on the handle of the oven, exited the kitchen out into the hall, and made her way down towards her bedroom. Opaline usually didn't like to be disturbed after dinner, so she was likely on her own for the rest of the evening.

Things had always been quiet here, save for when Opaline was spellcasting, but the past few days had been especially dull. Opaline barely paid her any attention lately as she had concentrated on searching a place called the 'dream realm' for something, or somepony.

Misty nearly jumped out of her hooves as a loud bang echoed off of the walls. She heard Opaline yelling a spell, followed by another explosion. The unicorn's heart began to race immediately, and she found the courage to start to take steps again, and was soon galloping down the hall, skidded to a halt at her bedroom door, fumbled with the door handle for a moment, got it open, and retreated inside as a third bang went off in the throne room. She dove for her bed, got under the covers, and waited.

Seconds passed as she listened carefully. Slowly, she poked the top half of her head out, eyeing her bedroom door. Not hearing anything else, she slowly got out from under the blanket, got off of her bed, and slowly stepped towards the door. Putting her ear to the door and hearing Opaline and the muffled voice of... Another pony, she held her breath to try and make out the words.

Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest when she heard another rush of magical energy come down the hall, and immediately afterward, she heard something she never had before that made her blood go cold.

She heard Opaline cry out in pain.

Misty felt something in her harden; an urge that pushed her to open the door and continue galloping down the hall towards the throne room. She tried to stop at the double doors, but couldn't due to the fact that ice had formed on the floor, coming from underneath the doors. Grabbing the closest half pillar on the wall to stop herself, she uneasily stepped and slid towards the doors, and tried to push them open, but finding them stuck. Finding very little leverage on the floor due to the ice, she pushed herself back to the far wall, where the ice had not yet spread across the floor. Nearly violently shoving herself across the wall, she slammed her entire body weight into the door, and there was a shattering sound as it opened. The unicorn continued sliding across the floor until she collided with the center pool.

Then she saw the glowing alicorn standing six feet from her, and quickly saw that the state of the throne room had no doubt originated from her. The unicorn's eyes widened, before she gaze fell down and to the right, not only seeing the entire throne room covered in ice and frost, and then her gaze fell further, where she saw Opaline, prone on the floor, barely breathing, and her entire body covered with frost. Pulling herself over, she positioned herself between Opaline and the other alicorn, fearfully looking up at the unfamiliar pony.

"Stop! What do you want?? Just take it and get out!" Misty yelled, most likely against her better judgement as her heart pounded against her chest.

Flurry Heart glared down at the young mare standing between her and her fallen opponent. Was she Opaline's student? Daughter? Minion?

"I don't know who you are, child, but I am here for her. Do you have any idea who she is? What she has done? What she plans to do?" Flurry asked.

The young mare did not move, nor did she answer, and slowly, Flurry felt her resolve begin to soften as she stared down at her, noting that she did not have a cutie mark.

"I-If you've come here to prove something, you've done it! Leave us alone!" The mare screamed up at her.

Flurry stood there in silence, trying to contemplate the young unicorn's situation.

Opaline had not moved, nor made a sound.

"I don't know what she has promised you, child. But she will never give it to you."

She took several steps forward, and the unicorn did not move, and she had to admire her determination. After another moment passed, the Crystal Princess knew she did not want to take a life in front of somepony so young.

"This young mare just saved your life, Arcana. I hope you reflect on that, and know that I won't hesitate to return and finish what I started if I ever sense you in the dream realm, or if you ever threaten Equestria's citizens again."

With that, she turned, leaving the prone alicorn and shivering unicorn where they laid and stood, leaving the throne room in a frozen silence.

Author's Note

Aftermath

Sunny scooped the last of the strawberry oatmeal from the pot, poured it into a bowl, put a spoon in, and silently carried it up the ramp, and up the elevator, seeing Flurry Heart where she had been since returning an hour ago, staring out at the hills beyond CanterLogic as the first rays of the sunrise began to appear on the horizon.

"I brought you some breakfast," Sunny said softly, announcing her presence, unsure if Flurry had heard the elevator come up. She went over to the alicorn's nightstand, and gently set the bowl down.

"Is everything okay, Flurry? You haven't said a word since you got back, and I'm starting to worry," Sunny told her.

Flurry looked back at Sunny, and the breakfast she had brought her, and managed to give her a soft, exhausted smile.

"Thank you, Sunny, and I'm sorry. I just... I've been thinking in circles. wondering if I've made the right choice," Flurry told her, as she she sat down on the cot, but didn't touch the oatmeal yet.

"What do you mean? What happened?" Sunny asked.

"I found what I was looking for last night; I found Opaline Arcana. She's been in hiding all these years, no doubt in search of the Equestrian magic that has just revealed itself again, thanks to you and your friends. I entered her castle, confronted her, and we fought. I... I would have killed her, but there was a young mare living there with her. She put herself between me and Opaline. I don't know where she came from, what Opaline has told her... I left both of them there, and... And I'm wondering if that was the right choice. Maybe I should have taken that young mare away from that place. I didn't even know her name."

Finally, Flurry picked up the bowl of oatmeal, and took a few bites, just now realizing how hungry she was.

"Do you think Opaline is still a serious threat, after all this time?" Sunny asked.

Flurry nodded.

"She was the one who sowed division generations ago, so badly that it caused the Windigos to return. What her endgame was, I couldn't possibly fathom. She couldn't possibly think her pyromancy expertise could have resisted them..."

Flurry paused again to take several more bites of the breakfast Sunny had brought her.

"The important thing to remember, is now that magic is back, there will be those who want it for themselves, for their own ends. You have returned the magical way of life to Equestria, and now you will have to defend that way of life, Sunny. Are you prepared to do that?" Flurry asked.

Sunny nodded.

"Good. I'm glad. Because it will sometimes come to that, and the adversaries you face won't always see the light, won't always be able to be talked down. Maybe Opaline will be back, or perhaps with me here, she'll think more than twice about revealing herself again."

"Is there anything I can do, Flurry?" Sunny asked.

Flurry took a moment to finish the last bites of her oatmeal before getting up and going towards the elevator.

"You can keep doing what you've been doing, Sunny Starscout; research and teach our history, and continue to be a beacon of unity for ponies everywhere. Thank you for the breakfast. I think I'll go for a walk to clear my head, I don't think I'm getting to sleep anytime soon."

Epilogue

When it came time for Sunny's lunch break at the Maretime Bay Museum of History, she opted for a quick sandwich and smoothie before taking a walk around town to see if she could find Flurry Heart. She hoped the alicorn was feeling better; she was undoubtedly somber ever since she had returned to the Brighthouse this morning after her confrontation with whoever this 'Opaline' was.

Sunny had spent half her fillyhood researching the adventures Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends went on, a good deal of them with the fate of Equestria hanging in the balance. But if she was honest, she never imagined that she would have to involve herself in similar conflicts.

She had to assume that Twilight and her friends probably frequently thought the same of themselves.

She came up on the corner where Mane Melody was, and she noticed an advertising board out front that had not been there yesterday; that means Pipp likely had a special going on. She stepped up and read it:

Come in today for Alicorn Art!
Come get that makeover you've been wanting and have yourself immortalized in a caricature drawn by an alicorn princess!

"She can't be serious..." Sunny muttered disbelievingly as she stepped towards the entrance, and made her way inside.

The ad had brought in a considerable amount of ponies, considering it was the lunch period; the waiting area was full, Pipp, Rocky, and Jazz were all busy with clients, and there in the back, facing a chaise lounge chair, was Flurry Heart, sitting in front of a large digital art tablet as she sketched Posey Bloom, who was sporting the last style Sunny thought she'd ever see on a pony like her; a manehawk.

Pipp gave Sunny a wave as she passed down the center towards the stage towards Flurry, where she stood silently and watched as Flurry finished the rather cartoon-y looking colored sketch, and tapped a button on the side of the tablet, before a glossed sheet of paper containing the portrait slid out of a printer, and she offered it to the yellow earth pony.

"And there you go, Posey. Pipp knows her stuff, give it a little while, and I promise you'll love it," Flurry told the mare, who didn't seem the most enthused about her makeover. However, she was polite and accepted the portrait, her expression lightening just a bit before she gave the alicorn a smile as she made her way towards the exit. Flurry watched her go, and saw Sunny watching over by the stage as she turned.

"Sunny! Come on, come on over, let me do a sketch on the house," Flurry offered, immediately waving her over to the chaise lounge.

Sunny offered her a soft smile as she went over to the couch, and sat down.

"Sorry, I sort of assumed that Pipp roped you into this," Sunny told her.

"Well, honestly, she sort of did, but she asked if I was ready to try some digital art. When her first customers of the day were enthusiastically offering themselves as models, that's when she came up with the advertisement outside, and she's offering me 20% of the profits for today, and any day that I want to come in," Flurry told her as she began running the plastic stylus across the screen, glancing between the tablet and Sunny.

"So I guess that means you're feeling better?" Sunny asked.

"Quite," Flurry answered. "I've decided that while I do want to be ready to help you and your friends with any magical threats that may arise, in the meantime I want to take a page out of Zipp's book and be as un-princess-ly and 'normal' as possible. So that means for today, makeover caricatures. Tomorrow or the next day, maybe opening an art studio of my very own, who knows?"

Sunny was delighted at how something as simple as art seemed to lift the alicorn's spirits.

Ten minutes later, Flurry was done with the colored sketch of her friend, and hit the Print button once again. The sheet of glossy paper slid out and she offered it to Sunny, who took it in her hooves, and couldn't help but immediately smile at the result.

"Thanks," Sunny replied after looking at it, then carefully sliding it into her saddlebag. "This is bound for a picture frame for sure. Well, I've got to be headed back to the museum. Looks like you've got a little bit of a line started."

Flurry turned to look, and indeed saw that the trio of clients that had been seated with Pipp, Jazz, and Rocky had finished at the same time, and were all opting for the 5-bit alicorn sketch option.

Misty was trying, and currently failing, to keep her emotions under control as she frantically went from one corner of her bedroom to the other, grabbing what small trinkets she could, and cramming them in her saddlebags along with what food she was able to pack.

She was utterly terrified and confused; the last thing she wanted to do right now was to step back in that throne room and see that the only pony that she had ever known had not moved from where she had fallen.

Worse, she couldn't shake the words that the other alicorn had said to her.

'I don't know what she has promised you, child. But she will never give it to you.'

Opaline was not the last alicorn, and clearly, she was not the most powerful.

So what other lies had she told?

Whoever this mare was, she could have easily shoved her aside and finished Opaline, and instead chose not to.

That made her words weigh all the heavier in her mind.

Would Opaline ever give her her cutie mark? If she did, what was stopping anypony more powerful than Opaline from taking it away?

Nothing.

With her saddlebags as full as they could possibly be, she slung them across her back, went to the door, and took one last look back at her bedroom before galloping down the hallway towards the east doors, pushing them open, and looking out at the landscape as the morning sun began to peek out across the hills.

Taking a deep breath, she broke into a gallop across the arched bridge.

She wasn't sure where her place in Equestria was, but she knew where she didn't want it to be; in the middle of an ancient alicorn feud.

She would find her own place. Her own way.

After she crossed the bridge, she kept galloping towards the hills, and didn't even look back.

Author's Note

Well, I'm not expecting this ending to satisfy everyone, but I didn't exactly have a long-term plan when I decided to acquiesce to reader demand for an alternate storyline involving Flurry instead of Sunset.

Nevertheless, I've decided to leave it somewhat open-ended in case I get inspiration from somewhere, or one of you fine folks hits me with a crazy brilliant idea to continue it.

So in the meantime, thank you very much for reading!

Locked Away

Flurry walked through the endless expanse of fog, her head on a slow swivel, looking for any movement as she slowly trotted through the leg-high haze.

"I know you're there..." she said quietly, sensing the presence watching her.

"Are you ready to accept my offer?" a commanding feminine voice asked her in return. "Ready to accept your birthright?"

Flurry concentrated, but not too hard; not wanting to reveal her intentions too early, before she knew for sure that this would work, as she used her horn to light up the fog around her.

"It depends on what that is," Flurry answered.

"Isn't it obvious?" The voice replied. "To rule. It is what we have always done, for eons. To be feared and loved."

Sensing she was close enough, Flurry quickly turned, reaching behind her as she did so, and her hoof had already come in contact with the barrel of the magenta-coated alicorn.

"Semita," Flurry said, her horn lighting up, a mote of energy bolting down from her horn, traveling almost instantly to the tip of her hoof.

The magenta alicorn stepped back, but it was too late. The spell touched her, and she reared back, her own horn lighting up, shooting a beam off into the foggy expanse, and the black sky above began to crack, a split second before it shattered.

Flurry bolted up, awake instantly, staring at the ceiling of the Scouticus.

"Flurry? You alright?" Sunny asked.

The alicorn looked down at the glowing book she had been holding against her chest in her sleep. She opened the atlas to the page that was glowing the brightest, and saw a mote of light snake from their current position over to the west coast.

"Not far from Maretime Bay at all..." she said to herself, running the tip of her hoof down the page.

"Flurry?" Sunny repeated.

"Keep heading for Maretime Bay, Sunny. I'll meet you there," Flurry said as she got to her hooves, heading for the back of the passenger cabin, putting the glowing book into her saddlebags.

"Wait what? I don't understand, where are you going?" Sunny asked, again looking back at her from the driver's seat.

"I think I just found what Princess Twilight locked away all those years ago. Don't worry about me. I'll meet you back at the lighthouse."

With that, the alicorn reached up, opened the hatch to the roof, and climbed out, shutting it immediately after.

Sunny barely had time to roll down her side window, lean out, look up into the sky, to see Flurry Heart go airborne for just a moment, before she vanished into the night.

"Flurry!"