Earth 2010

The Crystal Empire

"Okay! Who's bright idea was it to base an empire in the middle of a freakin' snow storm?"

Everyone present ignored Iron Man's quip, too busy being focused on the approaching snow storm that would surely engulf the Crystal Empire, freezing and killing everyone who remained in the empire. And what's worse, Twilight Sparkle was still unconscious, and would be for the foreseeable future, the damage from the Agony Matrix having taken a toll on her body.

Batman refused to leave Twilight's side, ignoring the sneering glances from Shining Armor, not caring at all what the stallion thought of him. He didn't have a very high opinion of the Prince of the Crystal Empire, he thought he was a joke if he was being honest.

In fact the entirety of Equestria's Royal Guard were a joke.

But they were only that way because their former captain was incompetent. Bruce made up his mind on the stallion when Twilight told him about the issue at his wedding. He's read up on Changeling Magic, it could only make him see what the Changeling wanted, not influence how he felt.

And what he said to Twilight that day was unforgivable in his eyes.

To shun your family like that was inexcusable, especially to someone who's lost his family to the darkness of crime and villainy.

Holding Twilight in his arms, Batman rose from the ground, striding past Armor and eyeing Celestia. "Is there a way to restore this 'Crystal Heart?' A spell perhaps?" He asked, knowing that he was grasping at straws at this point.

As Celestia pondered to herself, Cadance took a look at Batman and felt a sense of familiarity, like she had seen him somewhere before. She was sure of it, she wouldn't forget something like him in Equestria. But for the life of her, she couldn't figure out where she had seen him.

"Perhaps." Celestia's voice breaking the Alicorn of Love out of her thoughts.

Luna looked at the group worriedly, "But it isn't something that either of us know."

Sonic looked back at the storm before turning to the alicorns, "Look, time isn't exactly on our side here, we'll take what we can get." He looked to Cadance, who was holding the baby in her legs, and asked, "You're the ruler of this place, right?" At her nod, he continued, "Do you have any ideas on how to fix this mess?"

"The library here at the castle is nearly as extensive as the one in Canterlot. There's a good chance we can find something there!"

Clapping his hands, Sonic announced, "Then that's where we start!" He then turned to the solar and lunar monarchs of Equestria. "Do you guys think you can hold off that storm while we search?"

"Yes, for a time, but even our magic will eventually succumb to the power of the Frozen North." Revealed Luna.

As Celestia took flight, Luna following on behind her, she said, "We will do what we can, but you must hurry." With that, the two alicorns took off into the sky and began dispersing the clouds with their magic, but their effort would prove futile as the clouds kept returning.

While the alicorns held off the storm, Iron Man surveyed the damage around the palace, trenches, craters, and injured ponies surrounded them. He looked to the group as his armor opened up, the man behind it stepping out as the Mark 45 closing behind him.

"We've got injured all over the place," He surmised as he turned to the armor, addressing the A.I. that was currently operating the suit. "J.A.R.V.I.S., I need you to help as many people as you can while we search for that spell."

"Of course, sir."

Nodding, he turned to Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy and ordered, "You three help him out, and get as many people as you can out of the cold, and help any injured people you see. This is a life or death situation, and we're not losing anyone today."

"Ya' got it, Tony!" Applejack assured the Avenger before turning to the other mares, "C'mon, girls!"

With nods of affirmation, the three mares went along with the Mark 45 to help any injured survivors, hoping to get them the medical attention they needed and to get them out of the harsh winter.

Looking at the remaining ponies, Mario asked the Crystal Princess, "So, just how big is this library of yours?"

"Big." She said with emphasis.

"Then we're gonna need your help!"

"You can count on us!" Pinkie gave a salute to the heroes.

"Not how I pictured us teaming up again, but I suppose the situation calls for it." Rarity added.

But before they could get a move on, Shining Armor spoke up, "Wait, hold on!" He eyed the Guardians with confusion. "Just who the hay are you guys? How do you know Twily and her friends?"

Sonic looked at him as if he were stupid, "Buddy, we're the Guardians of the Multiverse."

"And unless you want the lives of thousands of your subjects on your conscious, then you'll stop asking questions and get a move on." Batman stated harshly, still holding an unconscious alicorn in his arms, who stirred slightly in his grasp.

Before Shining could retort, the baby teleported out of Cadance's hooves and clung to Pinkie's face. She let out a scream and hurled her off of her face, sending her flying through the air. Shining and Cadance gasped as the former leapt to catch his daughter, but she teleported away before she hit the ground.

"Where'd she go?!" Cadance cried out, receiving her answer by the form of her baby giggling. The sound echoed from within the castle. "This way!" She led the group into the castle, in a hope to not only find her baby, but to also see if there was any way to restore the Crystal Heart and save her empire.

Meanwhile

Starlight never felt so disappointed in her life, she felt a heavy weight of failure in her tummy, a feeling like she ate too much food, except this was way worse. She not only let Twilight down, but she let herself down too. So much for showing Twilight that she was ready to be her student.

Spike, ever the loyal friend, scampered along her side, holding the list in his claws as he looked at the unicorn with sympathy in his eyes.

"Well, Spike, looks like my biggest fears came true. I wouldn't be surprised if Twilight decides to give up on me entirely." Came from a depressing looking Starlight Glimmer.

"Aw, it's not your fault. I'm the one who said all we needed was this list." Was Spike's response before he burnt the list to ash with his fire breath.

"It's not the list, Spike. Or you. Or Twilight. I'm the one Sunburst doesn't want to be friends with."

"I don't remember him saying he didn't want to be friends."

"He didn't have to say it."

Spike gave the unicorn a small smile, "Well, Twilight obviously thinks you're worth being friends with! And I do too!" He finished with a hug to Starlight.

The unicorn smiled, "Thanks, Spike. At least I have two friends, even if one of them has dragon breath."

Confused, Spike exhaled and his breath was visible for all to see, "Uh, that's not dragon breath. It's freezing!"

They continued along towards the castle, and Starlight was about to comment on the weather, when she suddenly let out a mortified gasp. Wondering what was wrong, Spike turned around and his jaw hit the floor. There before them, was nothing more than a barren wasteland, the street was in ruins, and there were many injured ponies roaming through the smoke.

And what caught his eye was the Mark 45 armor flying overhead.

"W-What happened?!" Starlight asked the obvious question.

"It's a total warzone out here!" Spike also exclaimed.

They heard lightning strike and they turned to see the storm clouds forming overhead. They also saw Celestia and Luna holding the clouds back, but they were growing tired and weaker with each strike. They wouldn't be able to hold them off for long.

"Something's happened! Come on!" Spike shouted as he led his friend towards the Crystal Palace, hoping to get some answers as to what's happened here.

In the Crystal Library

"Young filly... come back here!"

As the incompetent stallion chased after his infant daughter, the Guardians and Cadance were rummaging through the library in hopes of finding a way to restore the Crystal Heart. So far, their efforts have been unsuccessful, either due to not knowing what they were looking for, or due to the baby alicorn causing havoc in the library.

The baby had teleported away from Shining Armor, flying right past Batman, who was looking through various books, ignoring the pink pony currently chasing after the baby. "Come to your Auntie Pinkie Pie!" He rolled his eyes at the constant annoyance before glancing at the sleeping alicorn resting down on a pile of books a level below him. The sight of his unconscious friend reignited his steely focus.

On the other side of the second level of the library, Tony Stark was reading out each title of the books he'd manage to find. "Bridle Buck's Boat Chants? Hayhoof's Intonements? Mystic Maps and Mazes...? Who the hell comes up with these titles?!"

"You're supposed to be searching for any spells that may help restore the Crystal Heart!" Cadance reminded the billionaire, frantically rummaging through multiple books with her magic.

"I'm sorry, do I look like the Sorcerer Supreme to you?! I don't know any of this shit!" Was the Avenger's response as he threw another useless book behind him, ignoring the blue streak that sped by behind him.

Sonic had been moving from shelf to shelf, but by Chaos, there were soooo many books, it wasn't even funny. "Who needs this many books, honestly!" He sped off to see if he could have any luck in an entirely different section of the library.

Meanwhile Mario jumped down from the top shelf, landing next to Cadance, who spread out her wings and took flight to continue her search. "Any luck?"

"Not yet! I'm not even sure how these are organized!" She cried out just as her daughter popped into existence in the shelf. She smiled nervously as she reached out for her chaotic, bundle of joy. But the baby sneezed, unleashing a massive laser of magic that destroyed a nearby bookshelf. She teleported to the lower level and flew away from Shining Armor.

"Armor, for the love of all that is holy." Mario started calmly before shouting, "PUT A LEASH ON YOUR KID!!!"

"I'M TRYING!!!"

"Try harder!" Batman yelled sternly, jumping down from the railing, landing in a crouched position and made his way to another shelf. He looked over to Twilight and gently scratched behind her ear comfortingly. He blamed himself, and rightfully so, this was his fault.

He should've made sure that those plans were inaccessible to anyone but him.

He should've made the firewalls more secure.

He regretted not making them harder to access, but he didn't regret making them. They were needed, and nothing would change his mind about that.

As she watched Batman loom over her unconscious sister-in-law like a silent guardian, a look of realization appeared on her face as she remembered where she had seen him before. Why he looked so familiar to the alicorn.

He was at Twilight's coronation!

One Year Ago

"A little while ago, my teacher and mentor Princess Celestia sent me to live in Ponyville. She sent me to study friendship, which is something I didn't really care much about. But now, on a day like today, I can honestly say I wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for the friendships I've made with all of you. Each one of you taught me something about friendship, and for that, I will always be grateful. Today, I consider myself the luckiest pony in Equestria. Thank you, friends. Thank you, everypony!"

As Twilight wrapped up her speech, Cadance couldn't help but look at the mare with a swell of pride, remembering the days where she used to foalsit her as a little filly. To think that the pony who thought friendship was a waste of time was now a Princess of Equestria.

She went to approach the mare to envelop her in a hug, but stopped when a shadowed figure in the distance caught her eye.

Off in the distance, crouched on a nearby tower, Twilight's old tower to be specific, was a dark, bat like figure with white eyes, watching the ceremony closely. She squinted at the figure as she watched him stand up and turn away, his cape moving in the wind as he returned to the shadows, but not before he gave her a stern look, his eyes creasing into a furrowed position.

She wanted to pursue the creature, but grew distracted as Twilight gave her brother a hug, the stallion of her dreams denying the fact that he was crying.

She smiled at the scene, but couldn't help but think of the bat creature, and why it was there.

The Present

That's why he was there!

He was Twilight's friend!

Cadance could tell that he cared for the Princess of Friendship, she could feel it in his heart. It wasn't a romantic type of love, but a deep love, something she could tell that he didn't feel for a lot of people. She couldn't help but giggle slightly, Twilight Sparkle did have that effect on people.

"THIS IS FREAKIN' IMPOSSIBLE!!!" Sonic snapped, finally reaching his breaking point.

The doors to the library suddenly opened, and in walked Spike and Starlight Glimmer. They were about to ask what was going on, but their hearts suddenly stopped at the sight of Twilight Sparkle.

"TWILIGHT!!!" They both shouted, rushing over to approach the unconscious pony.

But one sharp glare from Batman stopped Starlight dead in her tracks. He wasn't going to let her anywhere near Twilight, and she knew it.

Spike didn't notice, nor did he care, as he climbed the pile of books and clung to his mother, "W-What happened?!"

"You want the long or the short version?" Pinkie asked as she was being dragged by the baby's magical grip.

"Short?" Starlight didn't sound too sure.

"Well, Tirek came back and drained all the magic from a bunch of crystal ponies, so Twilight decided to fight him and take the magic back, but the meanie-bo-beanie had a trick up his sleeve and Twilight lost and was about to finish her and us off when the Guardians arrived to save the day, but Tirek blew up the Crystal Heart and got away, now Cadance and the Guardians are looking for a spell to put it back together and save the Crystal Empire from turning into a giant wasteland of ice and snow."

"That was the short version?"

"TIREK CAME BACK?!" Spike screamed in surprise before returning his gaze to Twilight. "Is she gonna be okay?" He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Batman looking down at him.

"She'll be fine, she's strong." Batman reassured the dragon. "Maybe stronger than all of us combined. If anyone can recover from this, it's Twilight Sparkle."

"I THINK I FOUND IT!" Cadance suddenly shouted, gaining everyone's attention. They all saw her with a book in her grasp, an elated smile on her face. "Here, look!" She threw the book down to Batman, who caught it in one hand.

"Trotter's Tome of Reliquary?" Bruce had to give Tony credit, these names were dumb.

"Look in the book! Page 45!"

He did so and saw what Cadance meant. ""Spell of Relic Reconstitution"." He read out before closing the book. "I think this might be what we need."

"About time!" Sonic groaned as he sped down to the lower level of the library. "Now let's figure out how to use that spell and--"

A yellow laser tore right through the book.

You could hear a pin drop.

Everyone turned to Pinkie, who held the baby in her grasp. The child sneezed and it reflected off of Rarity's mirror, bounced off of a shield Shining conjured up, which then reflected off of a shield barrier Starlight created and tore right through the tome.

"Oops." Pinkie said meekly.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!" Sonic shouted, grabbing at his ears in exasperation.

Frustrated, Batman let out a long exhale and tossed away the book. He then walked over to a nearby bookshelf and punched a hole in it. Everyone took a cautionary step away from the Dark Knight before he resumed searching for anything else that could help.

"Great, back to square one." Tony sighed before resuming his search.

Mario dragged his hand down his face, "That spell was the only thing we found in the whole library that was even close to what we needed!"

"I'm so sorry." Starlight said, feeling guilty for aiding in the destruction of the tome.

"It's not your fault, Starlight." Sonic reassured the mare.

"Yes it is." Batman said simply, ignoring the harsh glare Sonic was giving him

"Is there anything I can do?" Glimmer asked, hoping to redeem herself.

"We don't need help from the likes of you." Batman sternly said, causing the mare to look down in sadness, her ears splayed against her head as tears brimmed the edges of her eyes.

Before the hedgehog could admonish his friend, a sudden groan from behind them caught their attention. There, awakening from unconsciousness, was Twilight Sparkle. With excited gasps from everyone present, sans Batman, who just stared with concern, everyone gathered around.

"Twily!" Shining yelled happily, ready to be enveloped in a hug from his sister.

But to his shock, his name wasn't who she called for.

"B-Bruce...." Twilight cried out weakly, reaching her hoof out weakly, wanting nopony but her best friend by her side.

The Dark Knight approached and crouched down beside the mare, not caring that she just revealed his real name, now wasn't the time or the place. "I'm here."

"I-I-It h-u-urts....!" She cried, tears falling down her face. She felt her best friend stroking the back of her head comfortingly and reassuringly. "P-Please m-m-make it st-o-o-o-pppp!"

"I'm sorry." Was all he could say. What else could he say to her? "You should've never experienced this, I should've done better."

A sudden wind from one of the holes in the walls caused by the baby made everyone turn around in alarm. They were running out of time.

"Hate to draw everybody to the obvious, but we're running short on time." Tony reminded the group, really wishing he packed a jacket. Somebody could've told him that it was so freaking cold here, just saying.

"We need to begin evacuating right now!" Batman ordered. "Try to get as many people to safety as we can before we literally freeze over." He looked over to Armor and said in a commanding tone. "You need to lead everybody to the train station before the tracks freeze over!"

"But what about Twilight?!" He protested, hating the idea of leaving his sister.

"I've got her! Now go!"

Starlight looked down in sadness as Shining rushed out of the library, "Great, we're all about to die, and Sunburst wants nothing to do with me."

"Sunburst?" Mario repeated, unsure of who she was referring to.

"My oldest friend. Twilight assigned me my first Friendship Lesson while we were here." She explained, facing the plumber. "I was meant to rekindle our old friendship, but we have nothing in common. He's a big important wizard! And I'm re-learning everything I ever thought I knew."

Cadance squinted at the unicorn, "Sunburst? I don't recognize the name, but if he's an important wizard, you should bring him here. Maybe he'll know what to do if the spell fails."

This caused Starlight to gasp, a happy smile on her face. "Of course!" She quickly galloped out of the library, leaving Spike and the others behind.

Batman, not trusting the mare one bit, looked down to Spike and said, "Spike, go with her and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid." When the dragon looked at Twilight, who was still crying in pain, Batman said, "I've got her, I won't leave her side. Go, she'll be fine."

Reassured, Spike gave Twilight a small hug before climbing down and rushing after Starlight.

Unknown Earth

Vorton

The Legion of Doom was gathered in front of the Gateway, having already completed their assignments. But when Tirek returned he had informed them of the Guardians' presence in the Crystal Empire, meaning that their plans had failed. Of course, Eobard was nowhere in sight, having rushed off back to Earth 1 to collect the second amulet.

The members of the Legion were, understandably, a bit miffed that their plans were foiled once more, and that the Guardians were alive. But Tirek had assured them that their demises were imminent as he had destroyed the Crystal Heart, the only thing protecting the Crystal Empire from a fatal snow storm.

And there was no possible way for them to find a way to restore the heart in time.

They were as good as dead.

But that still left them with their current directive, locating the fabled Spear of Destiny. With it, they would be able to rewrite reality as they saw fit, all of their dreams, their destinies, would be a reality, and there would be nothing that could stop them.

They just had to find the pieces and reassemble it first.

A flash of red caught their attention, signaling the return of the Reverse-Flash, the second amulet in his vibrating hand. Eobard's form ceased vibrating as he approached the group with a smug expression on his face. "Gentlemen!" He greeted with a chuckle. "I see that your missions were a success."

"Except they weren't!" Eggman reminded the speedster, slamming his hands on the table in front of him while Thawne simply looked bored. "The Guardians were in the Crystal Empire, they were alive! You assured us that those contingency plans would be the end of those feeble annoyances! But if Tirek is to be believed, then our plan has already been derailed!"

But instead of being concerned that their plan was not off to a good start, Thawne had the audacity to look smug, like this wasn't as big a deal as they were making it out to be. "It doesn't matter. So what if they're still alive? It changes nothing, we know the mission, and they know nothing. They don't even know that the Spear of Destiny exists." He zoomed away and returned with the other amulet. "But we do, and we now have the means to find the scattered pieces."

The two amulets shook in his hands, longing to be reunited with their other halves. Bringing them closer together, white electricity connected the two pieces like a magnet before they collided, becoming whole once again.

The two amulets, now together, had recreated the Longinus Medallion.

Holding the medallion face up, it suddenly projected an astral map detailing multiple earths in the Multiverse, the earths housing the pieces of the spear being highlighted in yellow.

Earth 666.

Earth 2003.

Earth 597.

And Earth 2010.

The Legion of Doom gazed at the map with evil and intrigued eyes, with Eggman and Bowser giggling with evil glee, Loki with a smirk on his face, and Tirek rubbing his hands together, ready to get started.

"Now!" Reverse-Flash spoke up, regathering their attention, his eyes glowing red. "Shall we get started?"

Earth 2010

The Crystal Empire

"But I thought you were an important wizard!" Starlight cried out, confused as to why Sunburst wouldn't help her. She and Spike had traversed through the storm to reach Sunburst's house to ask for his assistance in restoring the Crystal Heart. He was a wizard, so it shouldn't be that hard, right?

But he said no.

He flat out said no.

And Starlight had to know why.

"Well, you were wrong, okay?! I'm not an important wizard! I'm not even a wizard at all!" The liar sighed and wiped his glasses with his magic, closing his eyes so that he didn't have to look at the shocked faces of Starlight and Spike. "I know it's hard for you to understand, but not all of us end up achieving greatness."

"What? Why wouldn't I understand that?"

"Really? You're the protégé of the Princess of Friendship! I don't think she picks just anypony for that!"

Spike couldn't help but point out, "Technically, she's more of a student than a protégé."

"Whatever. I'm sorry I'm not the big important wizard you were expecting."

Giving Spike a warning glare, the dragon quickly stepping away with an embarrassed smile, Starlight looked at the unicorn stallion and said, "Sunburst, I don't care if you're a wizard or not. I'm just surprised. You always knew so much about magic. I mean, look at all these books!"

"Yeah, well, reading about magic is one thing, but you don't know what it was like at magic school! To know so much and not be able to do any of it!"

Having had enough of Sunburst's self pitying, Starlight decided to shut him up. "Well, you don't know what it was like to be left behind! And then getting so bitter that you steal the cutie marks from an entire village and then get defeated by Twilight and her friends, so you travel through time to get back at them, but they beat you again and teach you about friendship, but you're so terrified ponies will find out what you did that you can't make any friends!" She was visibly panting after having snapped at her oldest friend, if that's what they even were anymore, she honestly didn't know.

But there, it was all out in the open, he knew everything.

And she could tell that he hated her for it.

He didn't need to say it.

So she wouldn't even give him the chance.

"C'mon, Spike." She motioned to the door, ignoring the gaping expression on Sunburst's face. "We're leaving."

"W-Wait, Starli--"

She didn't even let him finish as she gave him a sad look before she and the dragon left without another word. There was no way that Sunburst would help them now, so they were just gonna have to find another way to stop the storm.

Sunburst looked down in sadness, he should've reached out to her sooner, maybe he could've made sure that Starlight never went down that path. Maybe she could've helped him at magic school. He should've told her the truth, he just wanted to impress her.

Now the Crystal Empire was done for, no more studying, no more magic, and no royal Crystalling.

...Wait a second, Crystalling!

"THAT'S IT!"

Meanwhile

Thorax wasn't sure what was happening, he thought this was a place of friendship and peace, but all he saw was a warzone. Currently disguised as a pony, he watched as Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, and the Mark 45 aiding with the evacuation and helping any pony that needed it.

He was confused, what was that strange, metal creature helping the ponies? Why was everything on fire? Why was there a snow storm about to destroy the Crystal Empire?

That didn't matter right now, he had to blend in, lest he be caught and prosecuted. So he decided to help out, aiding any pony that was injured, making sure not to drain them of their love, but he did notice that the majority of them lacked their magic.

A crack of lightning startled him, causing him to turn around and gaze up fearfully at the approaching storm.

He saw the Princesses of Equestria taking on the storm head on.

"Push them back, my sister!" He heard Celestia cry out, ice and snow covering her and Luna. But alas, he saw them become consumed by the dark clouds, unsure if they had survived. He looked over towards the palace, seeing Prince Armor leading a swarm of ponies towards the train station, with even more strange creatures running alongside him.

He squinted, he swore he could see the other alicorn he had heard about quivering in the bat one's arms, tears turning to ice down her cheeks.

Thorax looked around, it was clear that his original plan was not going to work out. The Crystal Empire was done for, so, he galloped towards the group and joined them.

So much for making friends with the ponies of Equestria.

So much for a better life.

With The Guardians and Shining Armor

"This way!" Armor shouted as he and the Guardians pushed forward, with the other mares helping out any stragglers that were left behind.

Fluttershy helped a mare that had fallen into the snow with a kind smile.

Rainbow was busting through the dark clouds, ice overcoming her entire form. Her wings wouldn't move any longer, it was too cold and they were incased in ice. So she landed and galloped alongside the others. Rainbow looked to see Sonic dashing ahead, breaking through any icebergs that had formed with his super speed.

She rolled her eyes, "Show off."

Dash looked over to see Twilight sobbing into her protector's chest, it killed her seeing her friend like this. Normally Twilight was the strong one, so seeing her so vulnerable and broken was heart wrenching. When she saw Tirek again, he wouldn't be walking ever again.

"Just a little bit further, y'all! The station's just ahead!" Applejack shouted, reassuring the scared ponies that this was almost over.

To their surprise, as they approached the station, Starlight and Spike ran through the mist, betrodden expressions on their faces. It appeared that their idea came up short. There was no way to save the Crystal Empire now, it was all over.

"WE HAVE TO GO BACK!!!"

Whipping their heads around, Starlight and Spike were the first to see Sunburst approaching with saddlebags on his back. Glimmer quickly backpedaled and hid amongst the masses, not wanting to bear the ire of her former friend.

"I KNOW HOW TO STOP THIS!!!" Sunburst revealed just as Celestia and Luna joined the mass, the former looking at the latter with a knowing smile.

"Who are you?" Batman questioned, doubting that this random pony could save the day. Most, if not all of the Crystal Empire was engulfed in snow.

"My name is Sunburst, and I can save us all!"

At the Crystal Palace

Cadance paced around, her mind racing, her stomach in knots. Right at this moment, she felt like a failure, she couldn't even protect her empire from that monster; Tirek had taken everything from her, the magic of her ponies were now gone, they were powerless, the deaths of her Crystal Guard was on her, she should've been further prepared.

And that monster threatened to kill her baby.

He wouldn't get away with that.

She looked down at the cooing baby in her legs and smiled softly, planting a kiss on her forehead.

"Oh, my child." She whispered to the infant. "I wish you could've been around long enough to see the empire in its entirety. It was wonderous, each pony was filled with love for their empire, for each other. The Crystal Empire would've loved you." She let out a defeated sigh, "I don't know what to do."

"An old student of mine believes he does." Celestia's voice cut through the wind, causing Cadance to turn around to see Celestia and Luna leading the group toward them, the Guardians standing behind them, Twilight still shaking in Batman's arms.

As Sunburst approached the shattered heart, Batman's voice broke the sudden silence. "You said you could restore the Crystal Heart." He looked sternly at the stallion, who nervously gulped at the Dark Knight. "Tell us how."

"The Crystal Heart's been around for millennia. Restoring a relic like this is way beyond one spell." The nervous stallion explained.

"We were going to use a spell called the The spell of Relic Reconstitution." Batman said.

But the stallion shook his head, "No, that won't do it." He then went on explaining, "You need to combine it with something else. Something unique to the relic itself. Something that strengthens it and provides it with power...?" He led on, expecting them to catch onto what he was dishing out.

"The Crystalling!" Cadance realized, finally catching on.

"But none of us had time to read the spell." Rarity reminded them.

Sunburst quickly reassured her fears, "That's okay, I have my own copy!" He pulled out another copy of the tome that the baby destroyed from his saddlebags. "Combining that spell with the light and love of everypony gathered for the ceremony, together with..." He pulled out another tome, "Somnambula's Weather Abjuration to clear away the snow..." Cue another tome, "and a little Fledgling's Forbearance for the parents... Heh. That should curb the little one's power fluctuations."

The baby giggled in Cadance's legs.

"You must be Sunburst. Starlight said you were a powerful wizard." Cadance remarked the stallion while Starlight looked away, tears in her eyes.

"Oh, I'm no wizard." Sunburst corrected.

While the Mane 5 gasped, Batman glared at the stallion, "WHAT?!"

"B-But let me assure you, I've been studying magic my entire life. And since nopony has any better ideas, what do we have to lose?"

They all looked to one another, skeptical, but he had a point, they had nothing to lose now.

Shining Armor took a step towards Sunburst, grabbing the baby from his wife's hold, "I had planned on asking Twilight to be our crystaller, but since she's..." He took a look at his sister, still curled up into Batman's chest. She had since stopped crying, and the pain had dulled slightly.

The mare looked to the group and whispered, "I-I can help..."

"No, you're still injured." Batman shut that idea down immediately.

"I-If I don't then we'll die." Twilight reminded her best friend, putting a shaky hoof onto his shoulder, "It's okay, Bruce. I'll be fine. Please let me do this. Let me have at least one victory today. Let me not feel like a failure."

Bruce sighed, exhaling through his nose, before gently placing the still shaking alicorn on the floor. She stumbled a bit, but was quickly caught by Sonic, who dashed over to keep her upright. "I got ya." He smiled at her, to which she responded in kind.

Sunburst looked to the prince and said with a bow, "I'd be honored!"

"Then what're we waiting for?" Tony asked as his armor landed behind him, opening up as it walked to him, sealing him inside, the helmet's eyes lighting up. "Time to work for a living."

The three alicorns, plus Starlight and Sonic, the latter holding onto his friend to keep her upright, gathered around the broken heart, ready to initiate the spell. Twilight gave Sonic a weak smile before lighting up her horn, firing a beam of magic at the shards.

The shards levitated into the air and formed together to reform the Crystal Heart, she strained as she let out a pained cry, her magic faltering slightly.

Celestia and Luna fired their own beams to keep the spell in tact, hoping to give the others enough time to complete the Crystalling.

Starlight looked over the spell once more and added her own beam of magic, hoping to help in some way.

Together, they all kept the heart together just long enough for this.

The Mane 5, The Guardians of the Multiverse, Shining, Cadance, and Sunburst all walked onto the stage, the crowd of ponies watching with anticipation. Despite the barren wasteland they were standing on, that didn't matter, all that mattered was this.

Shining and Cadance both planted a kiss on the baby's cheeks before touching their horns together, the combined power of their magic and love engulfing the baby in a yellow light, levitating her into the air, giggling and the tingling feeling she felt.

Rarity approached Sunburst and handed him a pure crystal from the box, the stallion taking it in his magic.

"Citizens! May I present the newest member of the Crystal Empire!" Sunburst announced to all in the empire.

The baby spread out her wings and giggled, the light encompassing the Crystal Empire. In response, the crystal ponies all bowed, light sparkling under their hooves and lighting up the roads of the empire. Sunburst smiled and placed the crystal on the ground, the magic spreading to it as well.

He then rushed into where the Crystal Heart was and leapt into the air, placing the shard into the center of the heart, the shard being absorbed into the relic. The alicorns and unicorn ceased their magic and watched as the heart spun around, the cracks disappearing and becoming whole once more.

With the Crystal Heart restored to its former glory, it released a burst of magic that engulfed the entire empire.

As the magic washed over her, Twilight not only felt all of her injuries disappear, but her mane had become curled and tied up at the back, her entire form glistening with the magic of the empire. And she wasn't the only one, as everypony present was now glistening with magic.

The magic spread throughout the empire, everyone now having a crystal-like glisten about them. Apart from the other Guardians, as they were not from this dimension, and thus, had no magic within them to give them that cosmetic. As the magic went through the Crystal Empire, the snow dissipated, as if it were never there, until the storm clouds were no more, finally held at bay by the shield that once again protected the Crystal Empire.

With the peace restored and the cheers that filled the air, the group turned away and returned to the heart, where Twilight instantly galloped forward towards her brother. Shining spread out his right leg, ready to hug his sister.

She ran right past him.

Turning, he saw that Twilight leapt into the air and wrapped her legs around Batman's neck, the Dark Knight taken aback slightly as he awkwardly patted her back. Grumbling, he looked to see Sunburst looking for Starlight, but for some reason she still thought that he hated her.

He wanted to tell her otherwise, but he couldn't do that if he couldn't find her.

"Of course it's you who saves my flank again." He heard Twilight tell Batman in jest.

"I wouldn't have to if you stayed out of trouble." He responded.

"How was I supposed to know that Tirek was gonna return?"

"Twilight presents a good point." All the attention was set on Celestia. "Now that the present danger has been dealt with, we now must focus on what Tirek has planned."

"It's not just Tirek." Sonic butted in, gaining everyone's attention. "Eggman attacked me too, nearly killed me."

"Ugh, I hate that human." Luna grumbled to herself.

"This was a coordinated attack on all of us." Batman revealed. "The speedster that took that centaur had tried burying me alive with my parents."

Twilight let out a horrified gasp, knowing how traumatizing that must of been to her best friend. "Bruce... I'm so sorry."

"Loki tried to blow up my armor. I'm assuming this speedster was the one who hacked into it in the first place." Iron Man added.

"Bowser poisoned me." Mario said.

"And we all know what Tirek did to Twilight." Rainbow added bitterly.

The alicorn looked away in shame, she had let her guard down and Tirek exploited that. She was reckless, and the empire was almost destroyed because of it.

All of this was her fault.

If only she knew.

"Soooo... What?" Spike asked. "What's the connection?"

"The connection, Spike, is that these attacks were not random." Luna said, eyeing her sister.

"They were working together." Celestia finished for her sister.

There was a chill in the air, almost as if the snow storm had returned. Four of their greatest enemies working in conjunction for a common goal, each from different worlds? That was a recipe for disaster.

"But why?" Rarity asked the obvious question. "And how did they even meet one another to begin with?"

A thought suddenly occurred to Twilight. "The speedster! He must be the one who brought them together! He hacked Tony's armor and tried burying Bruce alive!" They all looked to one another, that did make sense.

"But what for?" Fluttershy asked.

"Tirek mentioned something about changing the world." Twilight thought back to her encounter with the centaur.

"So did Eggman!"

"Bowser too!"

"How could they do that?" Cadance asked.

"I don't know, but we can't let them!" Twilight said, determination written all over her face. "We have to stop them, no matter what!"

"No offense, Twi, but we got our asses handed to us last time we fought them." Tony reminded the mare. "It's gonna be difficult to fight them all together."

"The speedster clearly wanted us out of the way." Batman said. "This was a coordinated attack intended to kill us... or, failing that, put us out of commission for an extended period."

"Obviously the first step of a larger scheme, something that we would stop." Twilight couldn't help but add.

"From what you've told us, the attacks were strategically brilliant." Luna contributed to the conversation, receiving nods from the other ponies present.

"They were specifically targeted at our physical and psychological weaknesses." Mario added, looking down in anger, he hated the fact that Bowser caught him off guard.

"Obviously by someone who knows us very well." Iron Man said.

"The plans were mine."

Silence.

Pure, and utter silence.

Everyone slowly turned their heads to the source of the sentence.

The one who uttered it.

The one who betrayed them.

Batman.

"W-What...?" Twilight asked shakily, her eyes showing nothing but complete and utter betrayal. "What did you just say...?"

The other Guardians looked as if they had seen a ghost, their eyes wide, Tony's mask sliding up as his jaw hung low.

Batman simply looked at them with an expressionless face. It didn't matter how they would take this news, if they wanted to continue, then they had to know.

Best to clear the air here and now.

"The plans that were used against us." Batman repeated, making sure that everyone was listening. "They were mine. I created them."

Author's Note

And that concludes The Crystalling! Holy shit, what a chapter!

Time to break it down!

It was fun adding the Guardians to an MLP episode, it was super fun to write, especially that library scene, that was a joy to write.

Unlike in canon, Starlight and Sunburst didn't rekindle their friendship. Uh oh, that totally won't come back to bite them later on!

And Batman was at Twilight's coronation, that was actually planned from the very beginning of this series, so it's nice for it to finally come to fruition.

And hey, it's Thorax! He's... here. (Gonna be honest, don't really care for Thorax or Sunburst. They both annoy me, don't know why, they just do.)

We got a glimpse of the worlds we'll be visiting this time, and let me tell ya, they're fun ones! And readers of the previous story will recognize one of the worlds mentioned.

It's bound to be quite entertaining!

And Batman finally revealed that it was his plans that the Legion used to try and kill the Guardians. And not just to the Guardians, but to the other Equestrians too!

Poor Twilight, she was put through the ringer this chapter, not only was she in agonizing pain the entire chapter, but now she has to live with the fact that her best friend betrayed her.

The mare can't catch a break.

Anyways, that's all have for you lot this chapter, I'll catch you all in the next one!