Chapter Twelve: Solace and Stress in the Crystal Empire

Twilight was almost blinded by the glassy street surface as she trotted up the castle. After a few days in the Crystal Empire, her routine was set. She spent her mornings in intense meetings with her guards and staff, working out a plan to return Canterlot’s decimated buildings into being livable again. Her citizens were still shell-shocked by the bombings, but had adjusted as well as they could to their temporary home in the northern Equestrian kingdom. The massive conglomerate of tents and simple makeshift structures had proved to be immensely helpful for the injured and otherwise disturbed survivors, who enjoyed the beauty of the grassy city outskirts before being plunged back into the horrific memories they carried.

It was not unlike the treatment that the crystal ponies had faced themselves from King Sombra, over a thousand years ago. Thus, despite the trauma and strife facing the refugees, a sense of unity pervaded the newly-expanded kingdom. The Crystal Empire had long been defined by its checkered past and unusual landscape, but something far more special encapsulated the empire. It was the empathy of its citizens that bore deep into the ground, growing more beautiful than any of the magnificent crystal buildings. Even the ubiquitous crystal heart seemed to glow brighter and brighter each day. There was so much compassion and understanding for her citizens that it nearly brought Twilight to tears.

But today, she had another long, intense meeting ahead of her. As gorgeous and wonderful as the empire was, her citizens still needed their true home, Canterlot. However, nopony except for a few select guards had dared to venture back there, as concerns over a second strike were still alive and well. She had a dozen of her toughest guards stationed below the city, in the remaining tents that had been left in the crystal caverns after the massive teleportation spell. Nopony had dared go to the surface for more than a few minutes. There was no telling what kind of dangers still lurked in the ruined city. However, the castle was still impeccable, according to the guards specially assigned to check on the structure. If she was honest with herself, that scared Twilight more than anything.

As she trotted up the steps to the castle’s entrance, the topics of the coming meeting raced through her mind. Much like the intrepid, if foolish jaunt into the Everfree forest she had undertaken her first time in Ponyville, she felt as if she was walking right into a lion’s den. Every meeting she had with Cadence, Shining Armour, and her guards and staff proved to be more exhausted and draining than the last. Despite the utter devastation of the past few days, the world still turned, and with that so did the cycle of events across Equestria. It was easy for the solipsistic pain of grief to overwhelm a pony, but Twilight was still determined to break free from its grasp. There was still a world to save, a city to repbuild, and a society to uplift. Life would go on, and she was determined to stay around for it.

But Starswirl had died, and all other thoughts seemed to fade when her mind replayed his death on an endless loop. All her motivation for saving the world felt like nothing compared the sea of grief she was stranded in. There was no boat to rescue her, no wings on her back to rise out of the ashes like a brilliant phoenix, and certainly no slowing down for the harsh, stormy waves. She would have to swim right out of her grief if it killed her. Inch by inch, day by day, she came closer to the shore.

She was greeted warmly at the castle entrance by several of the crystal empire guards, many of which gave even deeper bows when Great and Honorable Spike the Brave And Glorious made his entrance a few minutes later. She was just grateful that it hadn’t gone to his head…mostly!

“Fellas, fellas calm down! There’s plenty of autographs for everyone!” She saw Spike maneuvering his way through a massive crowd of fans, paparazzi, and other curious spectators. All that was missing was a red carpet, and it would have looked like a movie premiere. He quickly finished signing as many posters, booklets, and photographs as he could before being ushered in by his security. He gave one last promise to the crowd that he would finish greeting them after the meeting, and the doors finally closed. In the entrance, a massive set of stairs, one on each side, greeted Twilight and Spike. A humongous chandelier, which looked to be made entirely of diamond, hung over them from a massive pillared dome.

“This castle always looks way smaller on the outside!” Twilight muttered.

“That’s for sure! I can barely see the ceiling!” Spike agreed.

They brushed their hooves off on the light blue carpet, and headed up the right-hand staircase, where the meeting room lay behind a short and secure hallway. They took another right, past the massive doors to the throne room, and into the much, much smaller adjacent room. It had a wide, circular table, showing a map of Equestria made with the same magic that Twilight’s Canterlot table had. The room itself was square, with bookcases lining the far wall and a large set of locked drawers on the right side. The left side, where the window looked out on the castle gardens, had a simple set of velvet curtains and a low table with various crystal-empire themed trinkets. One of the trinkets was even a miniature version of the massive statue of Spike from the town square.

Inside the room already were Cadence, Shining Armor, Discord, Fluttershy, Starlight, and Rainbow Dash.

“Twily!” Shining Armor gave her a quick hug. “Ready for the day?”

She didn’t want to give her friends any more cause to worry about her. They knew that the bombings and Starswirl’s death had been weighing hard on her the most of all of them.

Rainbow Dash launched into the air. “Ready to kick some butt Twilight?” She flew up even further than she already was and crashed into the ceiling. “Ouch!” She rubbed her head and grumbled at her misfortune.

Cadence took charge. “Okay every creature, I think that we should impose a no-flying-while inside-rule for Rainbow Dash. All in favor?”

She looked around the room, and every creature gave her a thumbs up. Discord snapped his claws and momentarily vanished Rainbow Dash’s wings, and she screamed.

“DISCORD, WHAT DID YOU DO?” She yelled. Her face was reddening by the second.

“Who, me?” Discord put a hand to his chest, dramatically aghast at the accusation. A fainting couch appeared and he flopped down onto it, still mimicking the mannerisms of an overdramatic socialite.

Rainbow’s face was so red it was almost comical. “Yes, you! Give me back my wings! NOW!”

Discord was silent except for a considering hum.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “DISCORD!” She snapped.

That seemed to do the trick. Discord shot up, fire shooting out of his posterior like a rocking shooting into space.

“Okay fine…I suppose…” He said begrudgingly. He snapped his claws again, and Rainbow Dash’s wings returned. She immediately began cradling her wings like they were lost children.

Shining Armor was the first to sit down at the table. “Okay, we’ve had our fun, but there’s a lot on the agenda today.”

Everycreature took a set around the magic map, carrying personal notebooks and any relevant documents to contribute. A few minutes later, the rest of the group joined, including Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack, who had come in the nick of time.

Shining Armor gestured his hoof to the map, where several cities of interest had been highlighted in red. “First, we have new developments on the attack on Canterlot. My guards have been investigated, and a sample piece of DNA left behind indicates that the attack was carried out by the same group that attempted to kill Twilight.” He said grimly.

Even at the mere mention of the attack, Twilight shivered. Her sister-in-law put a comforting hoof on her shoulder, and she smiled back gratefully.

Shining Armor continued in his authoritative voice, developed from years working as the head of the Royal Guard. “This group that is responsible for the attack on Canterlot, and Princess Twilight, are currently being investigated. Our current research shows that, in some fringe circles among Equestria’s youth, this group has exploded in popularity. Although we don’t know much more than that, we do know that they call themselves the Red Cloaks.”

“So…it’s a political movement?” Rainbow Dash asked. She cocked her head.

“Well, everything is political right now.” Twilight sighed. “With the attacks and everything, Equestria is…fractured.” She admitted.

“I’m not surprised that it was that dastardly group. Anypony with fashion that awful has to be guilty of something.” Rarity said.

“I wish we all weren’t so divided. I know that a lot of ponies are dissatisfied with the monarchy, but isn’t there a way to solve this without senseless violence?” Fluttershy asked.

“There’s never, ever a need for violence.” Applejack said, shaking her head. “But clearly the Red Cloaks believe differently.”

“Why didn’t that group just talk to us first?” Pinkie Pie roared, startling everypony with her anger. “What does killing prove that talking does not?” She was so angry that she was shaking with rage. Even her pink curls seemed more intense than usual.

“They want more than just power or recognition. They want our life drained out of us.” Twilight said, her voice tight. “We need to be hopeful. As long as we remain hopeful, they can’t take everything away from us.”

It was an astute observation, but seemed far out of reach. What was there to be hopeful for when Canterlot was turned to dust before their very eyes? When there were more ponies killed than ponies that survived? Those questions hung over every creature's head.

Amidst her own inner turmoil, her own diminishing hope, and her own grief, Twilight wouldn’t let the Red Cloaks take her spirit. As her soul seemed to slowly slip out her grasp, she clung onto her livelihood like the future depended on it. Because it did.

“They can’t take our spirits, everypony. They just can’t.” Her voice cracked and wavered. “I know it’s tough right now. I know it’s hard…but we have to keep being optimistic. There’s nothing else that will work.” She admitted.

Applejack looked directly at her. “I remember having this conversation with you a while back. What was it I said we always did?” She asked, although the fire in her eyes indicated she knew the answer.

Twilight smiled. “Try and save the world.”

Applejack echoed her words. “Try and save the world.”

Cadence piped up. “Twilight’s right, every creature. It is difficult. Probably the hardest threat our world has faced. But I know we have to keep on keeping on.”

That was an old slogan from Equestria’s tumultuous post-industrialization period. Twilight smiled at the phrase. It made her think about all of the difficult times in her world’s past, and how ponies had always managed to make it to the other side. They could too, if they took Cadence’s words to heart.

Shining Armor continued. “Regarding the Red Cloaks, we will need a significant amount of time and money put towards our investigation of them. I pay my guards three times their normal rate to research into their group, because of the obvious risks involved. Additionally, many of my staff have been traveling across various borders to access any information they can find. So a budget increase is certainly in order.”

Twilight nodded, and signed the relevant documents to increase the pay towards the guards assigned to the Red Cloaks research team. She handed them back to Shining Armor, who confirmed the authenticity with his wife.

“I’ll take these to my treasurer immediately. Thank you, Twilight.” Cadence said, and swiftly exited the room.

Shining Armor continued. “We have another item on the agenda, and this one is for Discord specifically.”

Discord snapped his claws, putting himself right between Twilight and Shining Armor. “Hmm…a task for me? What is it? A vacation to Las Pegasus? A pilgrimage to Saddle Arabia? An act of thrilling espionage for this handsome devil?” He snaked around the room, barely concealing his excitement for whatever “dangerous mission” he was to be sent on.

Twilight hoped it wasn’t anything too interesting. His ego was inflated enough already?

Shining Armor didn’t quite know how to answer his barrage of questions, because for all of Discord’s rambling, he was right on the money about one thing: espionage. “Sort of?” he said, still confused. “I’m asking you to disguise yourself and spy on a Red Cloak meeting. I have received word that an underground meeting is happening tonight.”

Discord was surprised. “You mean, you actually want me to spy on the most dangerous people in the world? Oh sure, that makes sense!” He ranted. “Yes, force the lone draconequus to risk his beautiful, wonderful, perfect life to go mingle with a bunch of assassins?” He paced around the room, apparently too caught up in his rant to continue floating.

He then stood up to his full height and shoved right into Shining Armor’s face, who was not phased at all. He was used to Discord’s drama. “Are you KIDDING ME? The Lord of Choas himself will not be debased to such danger! I can RIP THE VERY FABRIC OF REALITY from my LIVING ROOM and you want me to hang out with terrorists?” He was clearly not having it.

Shining Armor, who must have thought long and hard about how he would convince Discord, only had a few words to say. “If you do this, you’ll get your own crystal statue next to Spike.”

Although Discord had been given plenty of recognition and admiration in the last decade or so, this was one place that didn’t care about him enough for his liking. He immediately perked up at the offer.

Shining Armor stuck out his hand, and Discord eagerly took it, the force of his hand nearly sending Shining blasting to the ceiling. “I accept!” He said happily. Apparently every one of his legitimate concerns went out in the window when his vanity was concerned.

Twilight whispered to her brother. “Are you sure about this? You know how arrogant he gets! He’ll probably want ten statues after this!”

Shining whispered back. “We’ll make them out of cardboard if we have too. I just wanted him to agree, considering his chaos magic and all.”

Discord was busy setting off invisible party cannons, and unfurling a magic banner that said “Go Discord!” on it. Fluttershy, for her part, looked increasingly ill. She didn’t want anything bad to happen to him.

“I think…I think..I’m going to throw up!” She was green in the face and quickly bounded out of the room, to the bathroom down the hall. She emerged a few minutes later, looking a bit calmer.

“Hmm…I suppose I’ll have to be away from my dear, sweet Fluttershy for a few days.” He snapped and made the fainting couch reappear. Before he could lie down again, Spike ran over to him.

“I’ll go with you!” He said confidently.

Twilight’s head whipped around so fast that she nearly pulled a muscle. “You will?”

Shining Armor asked him to reconsider. “Spike, it’s far too dangerous for more than one creature to go to!” He pleaded.

“Nah, I’m tougher than you think.” he waved off their concerns with his claws. “Besides, it will help me and Discord catch up on the latest Ogres & Oubliettes updates while we travel. Spiketopia has some cool new buildings that I won in a round from Big Mac last month–”

“Okay, okay we get it.” Twilight said. “Spike can go. But you need to write to me twice a day.”

Spike folded his arms like an annoyed teenage pony. “Fine. Whatever you think is best.”

He and Discord shared a high-five, and were both given scrolls containing the top-secret coordinates of the supposed “meeting place” of the Red Cloak.

“Twilight, what if it’s a trap?” Applejack asked. “Those red fellows aren’t known much for their honesty, I reckon. What if this is all a plan to lure members of our team out there?”

Twilight hadn’t thought of that, and it was a long minute before she spoke again, knowing how risky the plan was. “I…I don’t know. But from all accounts, the guards did their research. They disguised themselves as regular ponies and reached the very farthest corners and the smallest, most remote towns. If something was fishy, I think they would have caught it by now. Either way, I think it’s worth checking out, because at the very least Discord and Spike can find out more.”

Discord interjected. “I’m very much okay with risking my life if it means I get a cool tribute out of it.”

Spike, too, was confident. “Me too. I mean, not the statue thing–I could care less–but the other part. I want to do whatever I can to stop these ponies.”

Twilight hesitated. “Okay…alright. Well, I can’t say I’m completely thrilled with this, but it needs to be done. I wish you both the best of luck.”

Shining Armor cleared his throat to get the focus back to him. “It is from my understanding that you two should leave immediately. There’s no telling how long you will be gone for, so I would get an early start if I were you.”

Discord and Spike disappeared with a flash, and the room was now two seats emptier.

Shining Armor winked at Twilight. “Technically, they still had a few hours left, but I couldn't stand the thought of hanging around Discord for any longer,” He admitted.

Everypony burst into laughter, even Fluttershy, who hid her giggles behind her hoof. It was nice to enjoy a brief moment of merriment in an otherwise dark time.

—

A few hours later, Twilight and the rest of her staff were busy handing out food to her citizens. On the menu tonight were hay burgers, carrot dogs, salads, apple cider, and Pinkie Pie’s famous cupcakes. To avoid attracting unwanted attention to the Crystal Empire’s secret refugee camp, dozens and dozens of ingredients had been sent in nondescript crates from Manehatten, Trottingham, and every other major city. Each city had utilized the underground crystal caverns, narrowly escaping the dangerous twists and turns to fulfill their obligation as fellow citizens of Equestria. Only the most senior politicians and guards of every city even knew that boxes were being sent, and nopony except for Twilight’s secret guard from Trottingham knew what was in them and what they were for. She was grateful for the absolute secrecy that was provided. It did mean that she paid a lot of bits for the expedited efforts, but anything was worth it to give her citizens the nutrition they needed after days of barely scraping by.

She munched on her salad, putting down her fork for a few moments to thoughtfully focus on the flavors of her food. For ingredients that were delivered from all over, the crisp lettuce and juicy peppers tasted like they were plucked fresh from the castle gardens. Such was the power of magic these days that ingredients could be kept fresh for much longer than nature allowed.

Beside her, her friends were sitting with her on the curbside of the Crystal Empire’s largest public park, which was the site of Canterlot’s refuge. Although two of her friends were not with her.

Spike and Discord had not returned from their trip to spy on the Red Cloaks, which they had set out on in mid-morning. Although she knew they were using the utmost amount of caution and responsibility(by Discord standards, of course) she couldn’t help but worry. After narrowly escaping the terrors wrought upon her city, her mind was overloaded. Of course, the sting of grief was relentless. Sometimes, she felt so sad she thought it would never end. Of course, things always ended. Starswirl’s death was a prime example of that principle. But knowing and feeling were miles apart in the pain they caused.

Twilight sighed. She continued eating.

A few hours later, everycreature was finished eating, and Twilight performed her duty to lower the sun and raise the moon. Appropriately, a twilight evening had befallen the city. A mix of purple and blue permeated through the sky. This far north, the “northern lights'' weren't so much north as they were right above. She gazed at the green glow of the lights, allowing a moment of reprieve before her mind fell back into the darkness that had been eating her alive. What if Discord and Spike were in danger? What if the Red Cloaks truly were unstoppable? What if Canterlot could never be rebuilt? What if her public image was beyond repair? What if she was hated not only by the general public but by her friends? What if? What if? What if?

Twilight took a big breath in and out. It was a trick Cadance had taught her when she was first designated a princess. How long ago that had been, she thought. How long ago when her biggest problems were the Grand Galloping Gala and whatever villain of the week she had to stop. Even battling Tirek or pre-reformed Discord felt like filly’s play compared to now. Much like their namesake, the Red Cloaks were, well, cloaked. Twilight didn’t know their names, and could barely remember their faces in detail. She hoped Spike would write to her soon. Only then could she form a plan. In Starswirl’s travels, he had once told her about the time he had crossed paths with a revered warrior pony in ancient times. When Starswirl had made a pilgrimage to the far East, he had conversed briefly with a captivating and highly respected military general. What he had learned was that the key to defeating a pony is to understand them.

In order to defeat the Red Cloaks, Twilight would have to understand them, and perhaps empathize with them. After all, they were only just a group of ponies. If Twilight was hard-set in her morals, they were too. It was just vastly different in outcome. Twilight kept having to remind herself that. There was nothing she could do before she truly understood them. She made a mental note to check back for that “Elements of Disharmony” book she had read a few days earlier.

She headed back up the castle with her friends, tired after a long day of meetings. She hung her head, willing herself to stay away until she was in the comfort of her own bed. Even having her own bed was a luxury. As a protected and important official, she was granted access to a small bedroom in the castle. It wasn’t anything ostentatious, but it was far away from the conditions of the camp outside. She had used some of her magic to fix up the hastily-built camp, but there was little else she could do, considering the limited use of her magic. With the chance of her magic being tracked, she feared using it for anything other than an absolute necessity.

She took her white book out of her saddlebag and opened it. She flipped to a fresh page, past the frantic messages she had received just as the bombing started. She wrote to her guard, telling him briefly of her city’s current refuge from Canterlot. She avoided any identified details or titles of where she was, because at this point, any information she gave out could be compromised. The guard wrote back a few minutes later, expressing sympathy for those that were killed as well as the physical destruction of the city, but shared Twilight’s relief that the remainder of the citizens were somewhat safe. The guard also wrote that Canterlot’s bombing was receiving widespread coverage in newspapers and media stations, although there was still a lack of consensus on the motive or the group behind the bombs. It seemed that the Red Cloaks were so covert that they had vanished without a trace.

Like a guard dog sniffing illicit magic, Twilight knew that there were out there, somewhere, whether it be in the bustling streets of a large city or a dim tavern in a forgotten town…the Red Cloaks were likely having their meeting now. Under hoods and cloaks, they slunk in the shadows and trembled in the nasty glare of the bright full moon. Anything, even just a glint in their eye, had to be covered under the literal and metaphorical veil of secrecy. Twilight wished they could have been as cartoonish and silly as their past foes had been, but these ponies were made of something far, far darker, a seemingly impenetrable ink that would seep through the powers of friendship like water through a flimsy piece of paper. It was the gravity of the situation that terrified Twilight. Typically, any Equestrian villain had been locked up long before they had destroyed an entire city or slaughtered tens of thousands. There had been no indication that the bombing was a one-off affair, either. The war had not even begun and yet the first attack was more brutal than anything the world had ever seen.

Twilight put her head into her hooves as she rested on the top steps of the castle’s magnificent stairs. A familiar face trotted up to her. Although she mostly wanted to be alone, she welcomed the comfort anyway.

“Hey Twilight.”
“Hey Starlight.” Twilight sighed.

Starlight took a seat alongside her defeated friend and both ponies were silent for a long while.

Twilight mulled over what to say, until the only words she could utter were simple.

“We have to make a plan. Not preparations, a plan.”

Her words were very weighted.

Starlight nodded, her big purple eyes shining in the moonlight. “Like weapons and whatnot, I’m guessing.”

Twilight confirmed her suggestion with a quick nod. She looked down at her hooves sadly. “I never believe in violence. I never do. But…where do we go from here if not fighting fire with fire?”

Starlight didn’t have an alternate solution. “I…I don’t know. But if warfare is the answer to this problem, I absolutely support it.”

“It’s…it’s not the answer. But if it helps us get there, then…” She never finished what she said, because her heart seemed to crack into two. She burst into tears, every cell in her body wracked with its own universe of agony. How could it come to this? How could the so-called Princess of Friendship even think about the possibility of using violence to defeat the Red Cloaks?

Starlight seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. “This isn’t just on you, Twilight.”

Twilight sniffed. “I know.”

Starlight continued. “There’s a reason why we’re all different elements, Twilight. We balance each other out ... .So I would talk about this line of thinking in our meeting tomorrow, and see what the others think.”

She handed Twilight a tissue that seemed to have materialized out of nowhere. “In the meantime, crying is good for the soul.”

Twilight eventually dried the last of tears. “Thanks Starlight. I don’t say it often enough but I really, really appreciate you.”

Starlight smiled. “I know,” she said, and laughed.

The two ponies watched the stars, enveloped in the rich navy of the sky. It was hours before either of them climbed into their separate rooms and went to bed. Sometimes the soft night breeze and the presence of a dear friend was what Twilight needed most.

Author's Note

This chapter is relatively short and mostly filler...just wanted to get something out because it's been a while since I have posted! Thank you all for reading!