"You know, I was wondering, is it possible that you could be any more vague?" Hitch deadpanned. "Because, if not, that's totally cool."

The seven ponies were currently standing in front of two large ornate wooden doors that seemed to sorely clash with the rest of the crystal castle. On the way there, the only thing she told them was that they were called here to help banish the ameles' and that it was Opaline who brought them here. That was about it.

"Yeah, you barely answered any of our–ow!"

Pipp smacked Hitch and Zipp on the back of their heads, making them yelp. "Quit being so rude," she hissed quietly through clenched teeth, before looking at Flurry with an apologetic smile. "You'll have to excuse them, they're idiots."

Flurry Heart just stared at Pipp and Hitch, her eyes wide, memories running through her head. She tried to push them out, but they just kept coming. "Did you just…" Flurry asked, looking between the three ponies.

"Smack them on the back of their heads for being idiots? Yes. Yes, I did."

Flurry just stared at Pipp, memories racing through her mind. Memories she thought she had forgotten about. Memories she was supposed to forget. Ones that surprisingly brought tears to her eyes.

Are ya outta yer ever lovin' mind?! What happened to all yer common sense?!

"Princess?" Sunny asked, her expression growing concerned when Flurry Heart didn't say anything to them, just kept staring. And…it looked like…tears were forming in her eyes?

But just as Sunny was coming to that conclusion, Flurry Heart seemed to snap out of it and she blinked rapidly, disposing of any evidence that there were any tears to begin with. Flurry Heart took a deep breath before continuing.

"You'll find answers to most of your questions behind these doors," She turned to them with a small knowing smile. "Prepare yourselves."

With her magic, Flurry opened the door to reveal bookshelves upon bookshelves filled to the brim with books, scrolls, journals, and even random pieces of parchments. Even those who hated research and reading had to be in awe of the sheer size of this room. The room was huge, bigger than the Zephyr Heights throne room, where they held events and parties, so it was really the size of a ballroom, but it looked so much smaller because of the bookshelves.

There were a couple of empty spaces that had tables with incredibly comfortable-looking chairs and even a couple of couches, dispersed throughout the room. There were two breaks of bookcases on opposite walls, one closer to the entrance, the other closer to the back of the room, that held fireplaces. Lanterns were on the tables and placed on little platforms where the different bookcases met side by side, which seemed pretty thick.

The whole room seemed to be made of dark cherry wood. There was an ornate rug with many different colors that seemed to clash with the rest of the room, which had an old study feel to it. There were many symbols on the rug. Symbols that looked to be cutie marks.

The six ponies stared in wide‐eyed shock, their mouths hanging open. And here Zipp and Misty thought the Zephyr Heights library was impressive. Flurry watched them with a nostalgic smile. She remembered when Twilight first built this room, she was as amazed as they were. Even after everything went to hell, whenever she'd come in here, she was hit with a sense of wonder. But, well, after the two hundredth year, it all looked the same to her. That amazed, wonderous feeling wore off. She wished she had that feeling again.

Sunny studied the rug, something about it feeling…familiar. The symbols were scrambled, overlapping, but there was a big empty spot in the middle that was a dark pink color. Slowly, Sunny walked closer to it, her eyes squinting as she studied the middle. Something about it…she turned in circles, looking at it from different angles, furrowing her brows.

"What is it, Sunny?" Izzy asked, tilting her head.

Flurry knew exactly what Sunny was looking at, but she kept her mouth closed. She wanted to see if she'd see it. Flurry Heart wasn't sure what it'd prove if she did see it, but it'd prove something. Flurry knew that much.

It took another couple of minutes, but Sunny was finally able to see what the blank middle was shaped as. The images around it made a specific shape. A six-pointed star. Sunny's seen that symbol twice before. In the old hangar in Zephyr Heights and her father's journal. And while she knew that symbol was important, she could never quite figure out what it meant…

Flurry could see the moment it clicked for Sunny. "It was my Aunt's cutie mark. The symbols that form it are the Cutie marks of her closest friends and family. The shield with the heart is mine. See?"

Flurry turned to show her flank, which was a crystal purple shield with a small blue heart in the middle and two gold flourishes on either side, just like the one on the rug.

That was when Sunny truly noticed the green scales she saw earlier in passing when she was just trying to figure out the shape. She only knew one creature with those green scales. Or, should she say, dragon. "Who did you say your Aunt was again?"

Flurry Heart smiled softly. "Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Flurry Heart looked around the crowd of ponies and creatures alike, most of them crystal ponies, as music played by an Orchestra weaved around the sounds of many conversations. Guests waltzed in the middle of the ballroom to the music while others held glasses and plates of food from the buffet as they conversed. It was the definition of stuffy.

Normally, she'd be standing in the corner, just trying not to die of boredom before she had to go on stage and everypony had to bow to her and strengthen the heart. However, this time, she stood as close to the entrance as she dared without looking too suspicious, which was the most crowded part.

Usually, she hated standing there because most guests who came in would see her and want to start a conversation. The stuffy, how do you do kind of conversations. Ugh. She hated these parties. She'd like them better if they weren't so boring, but, as her parents say every year, they must stick to tradition.

"So, who ya lookin' fer?" A voice from next to her said.

Flurry started. She turned to see Peach Cobbler standing in a simple brown one-shoulder dress, with brown shoes. Her light orange mane was in a braid with wispy bangs framing her face. With her, stood the Cake Twins and Orion, who were also dressed fancy.

Flurry's eyes widened. "Umm…I…I'm not looking for anypony…nope…not me."

Pound Cake rolled his eyes. "Flurry, you may be a good actress…" Pound Cake started in a way that made it clear his sister would finish.

However, it was Peach. "But you cannot lie to save your behind."

The three friends stared at the two of them in shock. Nopony, nopony but Pumpkin, was able to finish a sentence said by Pound. Even Peach and Poundcake looked shocked.

"I…I don't know where that came from. It just…came out…" Peach said, still in shock.

Pumpkin and Flurry looked at each other before giggling knowingly. Orion bumped Poundcake with his elbow, raising his eyebrows up and down with a knowing smile.

"Look guys, it was just a coincidence. What we're really focusing on is who Flurry Heart's looking–"

A guard came up to Flurry Heart, bowing low as he said, "Your Majesty. As you requested, I'm here to tell you that Opaline Arcana is here."

Flurry looked behind him to see a purple unicorn wearing a beautiful blue dress, with a darker blue cape. Flurry widened her eyes. She couldn't name it, but there was something about this pony that just…drew her. She felt…attracted to Opaline. Not romantically, but like she wanted to just be near Opaline. She just wanted Opaline to feel happy.

"Umm…yeah…thanks…" Flurry said, not taking her eyes off Opaline.

When the guard walked away, Opaline walked up to Flurry Heart. Flurry Heart forgot all about getting a cutie mark. She didn't remember feeling so attracted to Opaline before but now…

"Thank you, Princess. It's marvelous to be here. It's all so…overwhelming. I've never seen such grandeur. It warms my sunken heart to see so much joy and happiness in such a party."

"Do you want to see the Crystal Heart?" Flurry blurted, surprising everypony around her, including herself.

Everypony's eyes widened in surprise, including her own. Flurry Heart never just blurted stuff out, her mother raised her better than that, but she did sometimes get strange urges about a certain pony. To do or say something that'd make their day. Right? She couldn't quite seem to remember now…

"Twilight is your Aunt? You mean the Twilight Sparkle, past ruler of Equestria, creator of the Unity Crystals, my idol, is your Aunt?!" Sunny could not believe what was in the hay she was just hearing.

Flurry shrugged. "Yeah. I was actually there when she created the Unity Crystals."

Sunny made a choking sound, her jaw opened as wide as it could go, her eyes practically bugging out. "You…I…she…how…whaaaaa?!"

Flurry looked to the other ponies. While they were looking at her with shocked looks, it was nowhere like Sunny's. "Is she okay?" Flurry whispered.

Hitch chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck with his hoof. "Heh. She'll be back to normal. In about a month. She's a really big fan of your Aunt. She knows about everything there is to know about her, which isn't much nowadays. She gets it from her father."

"Big fan? Big fan?! I…I'm more than a fan! I…I've studied Princess Twilight my whole life! I…my father used to tell me stories about her when I was young…I…I've based my ideals on her…she's the reason I knew ponykind could be friends again! She's the reason we all believe in friendship! She's…I can't believe I'm talking to A LIVING PONY WHO ACTUALLY KNEW HER!!!"

Sunny began to scream, her whole body brimming with excitement, causing Flurry to put the tip of her wings into her ear. She couldn't believe it. It was one thing to meet Spike, but…this was unbelievable. After years and years of hearing stories about her, after seeing the hologram, after she and her father studied everything they could about her, she was talking to the Princess Twilight Sparkle's niece!

She bounded up to Flurry who, after almost a thousand years of not seeing another living soul, froze and lifted her wings as Sunny bombarded her with question after question after question, talking so fast Flurry could barely understand what she was saying.

"Oh, my hoofness. This is…this is so cool! You're a living relic!" Zipp said, joining in the excitement. "I've…I've had so many questions…" Zipp took out her phone, pressed record, and started bombarding her with questions as well. Izzy, who was excited to join just about anything that made her friends happy, started asking Flurry questions, though hers were a little more nonsensical, just asking the things that first came to her head.

And that was when Misty felt it. The change. She was teleported back in time and in the present all at the same time, Misty couldn't tell which was which. She was in an overwhelming crowd of ponies. She was being bombarded with questions.

Misty squeezed her eyes shut, trying to get out of Flurry's head before she lost herself in it. Her breath became heavy and her mind began to feel small and crowded, like everything was happening all at once, and yet nothing was going forward. Like everything was stuck in place and–

"Misty?" Pipp asked softly, a growing look of concern on her face.

"Make it stop," She muttered through gritted teeth. "Make them stop. Please. Now. Too. Much."

It took a second for Pipp to understand, but once she did, her eyes widened. She looked at Hitch, and she could tell when it clicked for him too. They tried to get the three ponies to stop, but they just kept jabbering excitedly, so pumped about meeting their idol, and Flurry Heart was frozen similar to how Misty was, her silence as consent for the three ponies to keep asking questions, each one yelling louder to be heard over one another.

An older pink alicorn was yelling at her. One Misty didn't recognize and yet, knew who she was without actually knowing who she was. The three ponies were loud. She couldn't make sense of what happened. She couldn't understand what these ponies were saying. Pieces of crystal glass. Black veins. Dark. Evil. Fire. So much fire. Dead body. Heartbreak. Fire. So much…she couldn't breathe. She couldn't see…so much smoke…so much–

"ENOUGH!!!" Flurry Heart boomed, her voice actually shaking the room, causing books and scrolls to rattle to the floor.

A yellow shield burst from Flurry Heart's horn, throwing the three ponies across the room until only she, Misty, Hitch, and Pipp remained standing. The three ponies hit the bookcases, causing more books and scrolls to fall to the floor and on their head, making them grunt and yelp in pain.

Flurry Heart whirled to the remaining three, glaring daggers at them, making all three of them flinch in fear and take a step back.

Upon seeing their fear, Flurry Heart took a deep breath and put her passive mask back on, burying her emotions even deeper. "Tell your friends that if they want to know more about my aunt, half of the journals here are written by her. If they want to know about the history of Equestria, every scroll, book, and journal from the Canterlot Royal Archives is here too."

Flurry Heart leaned in close to the three ponies, making them sweat and swallow nervously, leaning back as far as they could without actually taking a step backward, before Flurry hissed through clenched teeth, "Just leave. Me. OUT OF IT!"

And with that, Flurry Heart flew out of the room, not even waiting for a response, tears forming in her eyes as she squeezed them shut.

"Are ya outta yer ever lovin' mind?! What happened to all yer common sense?!" Peach yelled as she hit the back of Flurry Heart's head, making her yelp.

"Ow! What in the hay, Peach? I thought you only did that to Orion!" Flurry exclaimed in surprise, rubbing the back of her head.

The five of them were currently standing in the corner of the ballroom, Opaline waiting just out of earshot. Peach had dragged her away by the ear, the alicorn no match for her friend's earth pony strength. And now Peach was lecturing Flurry on how she's apparently an idiot for just offering to show Opaline the Crystal Heart.

"No. I do it to anypony actin' like a damn idiot! That just happens to be Orion ninety percent of the time." Peach shook her head. "Nevermind. That don't matter. Are ya really that stupid? Showin' that mare the Crystal Heart? Did ya forget what yer mama told ya yer whole life? Did ya suddenly develop short-term memory loss or somethin'?"

"No," Flurry said, her eyes drifting to Opaline. "I just…have the feeling she really needs to see it. That it'll make her feel better. Y'know?"

Peach glanced at Opaline before looking back at Flurry Heart. "Than ya know yer mama told ya very clearly not to bring strangers to the Crystal Heart. It's too dangerous and the Heart is too impor–are ya even listenin' to me?!"

"She looks sad. Doesn't she look sad to you?" Flurry asked, staring at Opaline.

"I'm starting to see what you mean. She just seems…" Poundcake started, looking at Opaline.

"Really sad. The Crystal Heart brings love and light to the world…" Pumpkin continued.

"Why wouldn't it make her happy?" Poundcake finished.

Peach was starting to grow concerned. She looked at Opaline, feeling drawn to her. She closed her eyes, shaking her head, the attraction snapping like a cord. Peach looked at Orion, who was staring at Opaline, the three other ponies, and back to Opaline, looking lost.

"Have you lost yer common sense or are ya still thinkin'?" Peach asked, trying to sound annoyed, but inside she had a bad feeling about this. "Ya think she needs the Crystal Heart to 'feel better'?"

Orion was silent for a moment before shrugging. "Nope. Not really," he said, not looking away from Opaline.

"Then why are ya starin' at her like that?" Peach hit the back of Orion's head, just to make sure he wasn't going crazy, and while he flinched, he didn't take his eyes off of her.

"She's…she's using some kind of spell…she's somehow manipulating Flurry and the Cake Twins…" Orion muttered as the said ponies walked away without another word and began leading Opaline to the Crystal Heart.

From the outside, if one was just an innocent bystander, the four ponies would look completely natural. As though they've been lifelong friends. Peach didn't know where and when Flurry met Opaline, but there was something bad about that mare. Peach didn't know what, but she knew something bad was about to happen. That, somehow, trouble always followed that mare like the grim reaper.

Peach turned to Orion. "We need to find Princess Cadence. Now!"

Orion nodded and the two of them ran throughout the ballroom, hoping to find Princess Cadence before it was too late. They finally found her talking to A group of elitists and they hurried over to her.

"Princess! Princess!" Peach yelled halfway to her.

Cadence turned to see an earth pony and unicorn she recognized. She was about to give them a firm talking to about their little stunt earlier, but when she saw their panicked faces, she knew something was wrong.

She quickly excused herself, running to meet the two panicked ponies halfway. "Peach! Orion! Is everything alright?"

Peach was out of breath but forced herself to talk anyway. "Flurry…Opaline…"

Cadence smiled. "Oh yes. Flurry Heart's new friend. She's quite delightful. And dare I say, modest too."

"Crystal Heart…with the…twins…bad…vibes…dammit Orion! Help me…out here!" Peach was starting to get her breath back, but she was too panicked to properly get her words together.

"Right. Translation: Flurry Heart and the Cake twins took Opaline to the Crystal Heart."

"WHAT!" Cadence exclaimed, her wide eyes quickly turning to anger. "That mare is so grounded!"

Peach hit the back of Orion's head, a lot harder than usual. "Ow! That actually hurt!" Orion yelled.

"Well, yeah. It was supposed to. Because you're bein' an idiot. Yer gonna get Flurry in trouble when she ain't done nothin' wrong! She's already in danger! She don't need bein' grounded on top of it!"

"You used a double negative you know," Orion pointed out, earning another whack from Peach. "Sweet Twilight, Peach. You know, I have had it with your damn abuse. Stop whacking me!"

"I'll stop the whackin' when you quit actin' stupid! You know, it's quite sad. Ya got all that book smarts, but ya ain't gotta lick of sense in ya."

Orion scoffed. "Yeah, says the mare who uses double negatives," Orion grumbled.

Peach was about to say something when Princess Cadence yelled, "QUIT IT, YOU TWO!" Both ponies froze while Princess Cadence took a deep breath. "My daughter and the entire Crystal Empire is in danger and you two can't stop bickering like foals! Now. What the hell is going on?!"

Peach and Orion took a step away from each other, blushing in embarrassment. But that wasn't about to stop Peach from getting one last punch in. "What dumbass over here was supposed to say."

Orion grumbled and was about to take Peach's bait when a glare from Cadence stopped him, settling for grumbling under his breath.

Peach smiled smugly before continuing. "Is that he believes that Opaline is using a manipulation spell to manipulate Flurry and the Twins to take her to the Crystal Heart."

"Dear sweet Celestia. Manipulation spells are incredibly difficult. I'm surprised you were able to detect one. I'm only able to perform one kind, and that's only because I'm the princess of love. This is bad. Like really bad." Cadence took a deep breath to calm herself. "Right. Orion, you get Twilight and her friends. Peach, you get my husband. Tell him to bring the entire Crystal Guard and meet me at the Crystal Heart. Once you do that, evacuate everypony to the castle safe rooms. You know where those are, right?"

Peach and Orion nodded, remembering how they used to play hide and seek there when they were little during the few times they visited.

"Good. I have a feeling we're going to need all the magic we can get."

"Ugh! I feel horrible! Why did I do that?! What's wrong with me? I was just so obsessed with learning about my idol, I completely lost it! Ugh! I'm a horrible friend!" Sunny groaned as she paced back and forth in the middle of the study, which they took to call the research hall since it was way too big to just be called a study.

"Yep, you were pretty bad," Zipp said as she read the book she was reading, while not really reading any of it properly.

"Oh shut up, Zipp. You were as bad as she was," Pipp scolded, looking up from her book.

It's been two days since the…incident, and they haven't seen Flurry Heart since. They've tried asking M.O.R.I.C. to lead them to her, but he'd flatly refuse. Zipp, Sunny, and Izzy all felt horrible in the meantime. They knew they shouldn't have bombarded Flurry Heart like that, especially after what Misty had told them their first night here, but they were just so overwhelmed with excitement, that they weren't thinking.

So, they've been busying themselves with research. They've learned some things while they were there. The ameles were some kind of shadow land versions of sirens. Izzy, of course, had a Bridlewood legend about the sirens. Mystical creatures who could charm a pony with their voices and lure them to their deaths. And apparently they're repelled by light. They just burn up in it, but they can be reborn in the shadows.

That was about it. They were unable to really focus because all they were thinking about was how horrible they were being. They just couldn't understand why they were clashing so much with the princess. It wasn't like the Princess was actually ever intentionally mean to them. Why couldn't they just get along like all of their other allies?

Misty knew why though, and it hurt. They didn't see Flurry Heart as a friend. They saw her as some mythical, untouchable god that came down from the heavens to…something. A god they couldn't get a read on. They didn't understand Flurry Heart as Misty did.

And Misty didn't just understand Flurry Heart because she was an empath. She understood because Misty once stood exactly where Flurry Heart was standing. Hell, maybe Misty was still standing there. Maybe instead of moving all four hooves, Misty just moved one.

"Maybe we should go find her? You know, so you guys can apologize?" Pipp suggested from the couch, leaning against Hitch, who had his hoof around her.

"That's if we can even find her," Hitch muttered.

"Yeah. She's been ghostin' since she ran out of here the other day. We haven't seen heads or tails of her. It's like she disappeared in thin air."

"Well, she has lived in this castle for a thousand years. She knows this place waaaay better than we do."

"Even if we do find her, I don't think she'd want to talk," Misty muttered, gaining all of their attention. She sighed, putting down the pencil she was using to take notes. "Why don't I talk to her? After dinner, when we're done researching, I'll look for her. Alright?"

After a moment of hesitation, the five ponies agreed, though a little reluctantly. Despite what she was going through, that mare was unpredictable and explosive and they all knew it. They didn't want Misty getting hurt, but, at the same time, they knew that if anypony could successfully talk to Flurry Heart, the only pony who could do it was Misty.

Cadence hurried to the Crystal Heart, praying she'd get there in time. She didn't know what she'd do if her daughter or her crystal ponies got hurt because she felt too safe in a dangerous world. Because she got used to comfort and she forgot how quickly it could all be taken away.

She skidded to a stop when she heard manic laughter in the direction of the Crystal Heart. It reminded her of when she almost lost her precious Shining Armor to that horrible former changeling queen, Chrysalis.

She continued to run, her speed increasing when she heard her daughter scream. "FLURRY!" Cadence yelled, taking off with her wings and flying as fast as she could, which still didn't seem fast enough. "No no no no no. Please let her be okay. Please." Cadence whispered to herself with tears in her eyes.

Remembering her magic, she tried to push her emotions aside so she could concentrate long enough to teleport. Even after all these decades of having it, magic still didn't completely feel natural to her.

She appeared at the Crystal Heart just below the castle in a flash of sky blue. She opened her eyes to find a purple alicorn with her wings engulfed in fire, laughing maniacally with the Crystal Heart in her magic. On the other side was Flurry Heart, her precious baby, knocked out on the ground, not moving except for the rise and fall of her chest.

"Flurry!" Cadence yelled, about to take a step when she realized that if she did, Opaline would be able to fly away with the Heart. Her backup hadn't yet arrived, so Cadence had to decide on her own.

"Well, this looks like a tough decision. Your daughter? Or your kingdom? Oh, I'd hate to be in your shoes right about now."

She tried to think about it, like any logical pony would, but it was pointless. She was a mother first and foremost. She always would be, no matter what. The decision was already made for her.

"There was never really a choice," She said in a dangerous voice, aiming one blast toward Opaline, who easily dodged it, before running to her daughter. "Flurry! Flurry, please wake up. Please…" Tears streamed down her face.

"Pity. And here I was actually looking forward to a real fight. Oh well." She put the Crystal Heart back in its place, charging her horn. "Tell me, Princess. Do you know what ontological dependence means? It means one thing can not exist without the other. Take an apple for example." With her magic, Opaline summoned an apple. "The skin of an apple, cannot exist without the apple itself. Sure you may be able to peel it off, but the fact that it exists in the first place is dependent on the apple itself. You can't just grow an apple skin. Same with the apple. The apple's existence is dependent on the apple skin. You can't just grow skinless apples. That's an example of an ontological dependent relationship." The apple then disappeared in Opaline's magic.

"You see, Princess, the same logic applies to love and light. Love cannot exist without the idea of hate because love is simply the absence of hate."

"Love is so much more than that!" Cadence said through gritted teeth.

Opaline rolled her eyes. "Well, of course you'd think that. You're the Princess of Love. It's the same with light and darkness. These things are intertwined with each other. Do you know what hate is, Princess? It's the absence of love. Which is why, in theory, the Crystal Heart can be used to spread not only light and love, but also hate and darkness."

Princess Cadence wasn't grasping the full extent of what Opaline was saying. She was wrong. She had to be. The Crystal Heart was practically the embodiment of love and light. There was no darkness in it. It, as well as the Tree of Harmony before it was destroyed, was the purest thing to exist in Equestria. She couldn't…it wasn't possible…was it?

"No! It can't. There isn't an ounce of darkness in it! It's the pure embodiment of light and love!" Cadence yelled back, hugging her unconscious daughter close.

"Yes. You're right. There isn't an ounce of darkness in this ancient relic. But what if I told you that there's a way to change it? Before I go on Princess, answer me this. If you were in a dark cave, and you had the brightest lantern to ever exist, and it combated all darkness, if you would turn off the lantern, what would happen?"

Cadence paused, before answering, her heart-stopping as she finally began to grasp what Opaline was saying. "The cabe would be dark again…no…"

"Precisely, Princess. Now, without further ado…"

Opaline charged her horn, casting a magical no-magic bubble around Flurry Heart and Princess Cadence. Cadence tried to use her magic to escape, but her magic wasn't working. Princess Cadence watched in horror as Opaline faced the Crystal Heart, charging her magic to maximum use. She closed her eyes as she performed the hardest spell she'd ever cast. A spell only used by one creature in the History of Equestria. A spell so powerful, that even Grogar, the only creature ever to cast it, feared it.

Black magic engulfed Opaline's horn as her eyes became black, her pupils disappearing. Her coat changed from a magenta purple to a pure black as shadows seemed to wrap around her.

That was when Princess Twilight and her friends, as well as Shining Armor, arrived with the entire Crystal Guard. Twilight hurried over to Cadence and Flurry Heart, charging her magic and pushing her horn straight through the bubble, popping it. She then turned to her friends, about to tell them to power up, before they were all knocked back by a powerful blast.

They all stood up, though it was a struggle to stay standing in the ethereal wind that was strongly blowing around them.

"What's going on!" Twilight yelled just to be heard over the wind and the strong whisper of shadows that seemed to be overwhelming.

"She's trying to drain all the light and love from the Crystal Heart!" Cadence answered.

"That's not even possible," Shining Armor, who was in his captain uniform, said as he waved a hoof. "Even if you could inject darkness into it, which would be impressive all on its own, the light and love would repel it."

"You might want to tell her that!" Pinkie Pie, the element of laughter, yelled as she struggled to stay standing, pointing a hoof at Opaline.

All the ponies turned to look at this Opaline, who was now fully engulfed in shadows. They turned their eyes to the Crystal Heart which had black lines going through it, almost like black veins. The heart began to rattle and shake, deep cracks forming and from those cracks, a black liquid began to form from it.

"Eww…what is that?!" Rarity, the element of generosity, asked in disgust.

"M–Mom?" Flurry Heart called weakly.

Cadence gasped, looking down at her daughter in her hooves, her mind filling with overwhelming relief that her daughter was okay. "Yes, baby. I'm right here. I'm right here." Her heart stopped as tears came to Flurry's eyes. "Are you okay, honey? Does anything hurt? Is anything broken?"

"I'm so sorry, Mom. This is all my fault," Flurry Heart said through the sob that was building in her throat as tears streamed freely down her cheeks as though they'd never stop. "This is all my fault. I never meant for this to happen…"

"Shh, shh, shh, baby. None of this is your fault. Opaline used a manipulation spell."

"I'm so sorry. You were right! I should've just listened to you!" Flurry Heart leaned into her mother and sobbed into her chest.

"Who said you could start the but kicking without–" Starlight Glimmer started as she, Trixie, and Sunburst ran towards them, only to stop when they saw what was happening. "Whoa…" Starlight muttered.

Trixie Lulamoon looked up to see Opaline, though she couldn't even tell it was a pony because she was enveloped in a black cocoon. "Holy sweet mother of Luna and Celestia what in the hay is that!" Trixie exclaimed, pointing with her hoof at the big cocoon.

"Opaline Arcana," Flurry Heart informed, looking up at the cocoon as well. "She's trying to suck all the light and love out of the Crystal Heart."

Suddenly, a huge beam of white light erupted from the Heart, causing the ponies to stumble back. It reached into the sky, engulfing the black cocoon, which seemed to absorb it.

"This looks really bad, guys" Fluttershy, the element of kindness, whimpered.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "A giant beam of light in the sky? Really?"

Rainbow Dash, the element of loyalty, groaned. "There's always one of these in every supervillain plot."

Trixie scoffed distastefully. "Yeah. You'd think they'd switch it up once in a while."

"Be original!" Starlight yelled, cupping her hooves around her mouth.

"Girls! Formation!" Twilight called. The five remaining elements of harmony stood next to Twilight, holding each other's hooves. "Opaline Arcana!" Twilight yelled, somehow knowing that Opaline could hear her, even through the cocoon. You have magic you do not understand! But it is nothing compared to the Magic of—"

"Yeah yeah, we get it!" Pinkie said, letting go of Fluttershy's hoof for a moment to wave it dismissively before grabbing it again with a determined smile. "LIGHT HER UP LADIES!"

"This cliched villain plot is so done!" Rainbow yelled as they began to lift in the air.

"I'm right there with ya, RD!"

The six ponies lifted into the air, each surrounded by a different color. Slowly, the bright white light shooting out of the Crystal Heart slowly became thinner and they knew they were running out of time. Then, six different colored beams of light shot into the air, colliding with the black cocoon. However, instead of defeating it, the cocoon seemed to soak up the light as well.

"Keep going! Just a little more…" Twilight said through gritted teeth.

"Havin' a hard time keepin' this up, Twi."

"It has to work. It always works!" Rainbow said as she began to panic.

Then, slowly, the light of Friendship began to fade and the six ponies were dropped to the ground just as the beam of light from the Crystal Heart disappeared. As it did, so did all the light from everything else, before the Crystal Heart shattered and the shattered remains disappeared.

The world was pitch black. No light remained. The sun. The moon. The candles and lanterns. The fire. None of it had any light. The ponies could barely see in front of them.

Opaline, who was released from the cocoon flew down to the ponies, a manic smile on her face, though it wasn't like the ponies could actually see her. Her fire had no light as well, but she didn't care. It was all the better for her little creatures to be born.

"Well, I've done what I came here to do. I know when to not overstay my welcome. Ta-ta."

And with that, Opaline flew off, disappearing into the darkness. All the ponies just looked around in shock, their minds not processing what the hell just happened. The whole world was just a see of empty blackness. It was worse than when Nightmare Moon returned. Because this darkness wasn't the blue and purple of night. It was pure black. Completely black. The ponies couldn't even see each other.

"What just happened? Why is everything black?" Starlight Glimmer's voice asked, though it wasn't like anypony could just see her.

"The Crystal Heart not only brought love and light to the Crystal Empire. It brought love and light to all of Equestria. Now that it's gone, so is love and light."

"But, what about when the Crystal Heart shattered durin' Flurry's Crystallin'? Everythin' didn't turn black then? Why now?"

"Because, when it shattered at Flurry Heart's Crystalling, it still had love and light to fuel it. Love and light made up what it was. Its whole purpose was to spread love and light. Without those two things, it's nothing. There's no reason for it to exist. It's like the Tree of Harmony surviving without the Elements or vice versa. They can't exist separately. Now that Opaline drained it of all the love and light…"

"There's nothing left…" Twilight finished. Princess Cadence was silent, only serving as confirmation that Twilight was right.

"That's probably why the Magic of Friendship didn't work either," Sunburst's voice theorized. The sound of him adjusting his glasses could be heard in the empty silence. It really did feel like an empty void. "Sure, it's magic, but that magic is in the form of light. And if that cocoon thing sucked up all the light…"

"It sucked up the Friendship magic too!" Starlight's voice finished, dread quickly growing into panic.

Trixie, however, was already there. "I'm just going to say it. WE'RE DOOMED!!" Trixie began to pace. She ran into Starlight and grabbed hold of her around the neck. "We can't live in eternal darkness. It would be worse than when Nightmare Moon returned. We can't…we'll never survive!"

Starlight put a hoof to Trixie's mouth. "Yeah. We got that."

Twilight, sick of this black, used her magic to light her horn. However, nothing happened. She tried again and again, but it remained dormant. "I can't use my magic."

Panicking, all the unicorns tried to do the same, but nothing happened. Until, suddenly, a small golden light appeared in the sea of darkness, slowly growing stronger until it showed everypony around the former Crystal Heart, the source of light coming from the one and only Flurry Heart.

"Why isn't our magic working?" Twilight asked, turning to Cadence, now that she could finally see.

"Because. Our magic is connected to love. Love is what fuels our magic. It's why the changelings used to steal our love. By stealing our love, they could take our magic."

"So why does hers work?" Rainbow asked, nodding her head towards Flurry Heart.

"I'm…I'm not sure."

Princess Flurry Heart, her horn still illuminating, walked to the entrance where they kept the Crystal Heart, which was made by two pillars connected to the castle. She looked around the empty blackness, an idea slowly taking shape in her head.

Then, the idea was completely formed. She looked up at the black sky, or what she assumed was up. It was stupid. And it probably wasn't going to work. And even if it did, it'd probably kill her from exhaustion alone. She thought about when the Crystal Empire first returned and her mom and to keep that force field on it to keep it from being invaded by ice and snow and keep Sombra out. She was basically doing the job of the Crystal Heart. But, it was at her expense. The longer she kept the barrier going, the weaker she became until it almost killed her. She was an inch away from death when Uncle Spike finally came back with the Crystal Heart.

She was about to do that but on a much larger scale. But she had to try. She just had to. If she didn't, she'd never forgive herself. This was her mess and she had to clean it up.

Without another word, she flew in the air, as fast as a bullet. Cadence called out for her to come back, but she didn't listen. Cadence began to follow her, but Twilight stopped her. She didn't know what Flurry was planning, but she trusted her.

Flurry didn't know how far she was going, but it became colder the longer the darkness settled in. She could feel the first winter wind blowing in from the Frozen North. She flew faster, knowing she didn't have much time left before the snowstorm would hit the Crystal Empire.

She flew faster, going faster than a speeding bullet. Slowing, she began to break the sound barrier. She had no idea where she was in the sky, so she began to count. One Equestria. Two Equestria. Three Equestria. She didn't know what she'd do once she got there, but so far, it felt like instinct, so she'd keep counting until it felt right to stop. Seven Equestria. Eight Equestria. Nine Equestria.

Her wings began to ache as she flapped in a certain pattern that would drive her the fastest. Tears formed in her eyes, but she had to keep going. The Crystal Empire depended on her. All of Equestria depended on her.

Suddenly, a sonic rainboom erupted around her as she broke the sound barrier, but instead of a multicolored rainbow, it was different shades of yellow expanding across the Crystal Empire, bringing back a little of the light. She slowed to a stop, panting and out of breath, now knowing what she had to do.

She took a deep breath before charging her horn again, but this time, refusing to release it. She flew as fast as she could down to the ground, before flying into the icy Frozen North. She had to go to the middle between Equestria and the Crystal Empire. She only had enough energy for one more, and that's only because she was an alicorn.

Back down on the ground, the ponies stared up in amazement at the spectacle above them. Light began to return, and while it wasn't full force, it was the grey of a very early morning twilight. Her mother stood there, proud of her daughter for accomplishing such a feat. But when she saw the light of her daughter's horn start to move towards the Frozen North, she began to panic. She started to take to the skies when Shining Armor stopped her.

"No. This is her destiny. This is what she's meant to do."

"But…how do you know? That's our little filly out there! She could get hurt…or worse!" Cadence yelled with tears in her eyes. "I can't lose her again!"

"I know…" Was all Shining Armor said. The love Cadence felt for her child, her husband, began to cause a sky-blue light to shine in her chest.

Flurry raced towards the Frozen North and even without light, she knew when she got there. She felt ice scrape against her face, the temperature dropped to below zero, and her tears began to freeze on her face. She squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to be deterred.

Her wings began to grow numb from all the exertion and the cold. She charged up her horn once she thought she was close between the two kingdoms. She flew upwards diagonally, charging her horn further with magic, but refusing to release it in a spell. She had to time it just right with as much magic as possible.

Even from down on the ground in the dark, the ponies could still see the Crystal Princess just from the yellow light of her horn as she flew up higher and higher and built up more magic. Cadence, her stomach dropping, closed her eyes and sent as much love to her as she could to keep her safe.

Suddenly, Cadence's eyes glowed white at the same time as Flurry's. A sky-blue stream of magic erupted from her chest and zoomed towards Flurry, intertwining itself with her golden light. Flurry's head ached as it felt as though it was being split apart from the built-up magic, but she continued anyway. From the splitting headache and the stars in her eyes, she hardly noticed the sky-blue light as it wrapped around her. She was just focused on one thing and one thing only. Spreading light across the pony world.

As she thought this, she broke the sound barrier once again and as she did, she released all of her pent-up magic in a light spell. As she did this, her flank began to glow a bright yellow that almost matched the intensity of the light Flurry Heart created. Flurry Heart screamed as she released the magic from her horn and the light spread. The light from her sonic rainboom and her horn spread so far out it was said it could be seen from the dragon lands. It was a hundred times brighter than the sun and while it singed Flurry Heart, it didn't burn her.

The light soon faded and as it did, her wings gave out. Cadence, who had floated up into the air shooting a sky blue beam towards her daughter that had the ponies around her ducking and covering their eyes, slowly descended to the ground and landed in an unconscious heap.

Flurry fell from the sky, hardly noticing that light did indeed return to Equestria. That was when she realized she was falling and tried to use her wings to catch herself, but she barely had the energy to move them. She had just enough energy for one more thing. Something told her her mother couldn't help her, though she didn't know why. But this instinct got her this far, she might as well continue to listen to it.

So, she screamed out the first name she could think of.

Back on the ground, Shining Armor was over his wife, trying to get her to wake up, to no avail. But at least she was breathing.

"AUNTY TWILY! HELP!"

Princess Twilight turned in the direction she heard her niece scream from using the Canterlot voice. Without hesitation, she spread her own wings and flew in the direction of her niece, praying she'd get there in time. She couldn't teleport, because she had no idea where her niece was, but she just had to keep flying until she found her.

Finally, she saw a small pink dot falling from the sky from higher than any pegasus had ever flown before. Praying her magic worked, she teleported herself to her niece, grabbed hold of her, and teleported to the snowy ground.

Flurry was already unconscious, her hair and the edges of her fur singed a bit, but other than that she was okay. That was when something glinted in the brand new light of the sun in the corner of her eye. Twilight turned to see something that wasn't there before. A crystalline Heart gem that was sky blue with whisps of purple that matched Flurry's mane. She looked down at Flurry Heart's flank and saw her new cutie mark.

Twilight smiled as she stared at her unconscious niece, tears filling her eyes. "Oh, Flurry. I always knew you'd get it, but…I never thought it'd be like this. You did it, Flurry. You saved Equestria. I'm so proud of you."

As Princess Twilight Sparkle, Ruler of Equestria and former Princess of Friendship levitated Flurry Heart, the new Princess of Light, onto her back and began to fly back to the Crystal Empire, an animalistic growl and a manic laugh echoed from deep within the Frozen North.

Author's Note

Okay…well this was a difficult chapter…and long…and difficult.

This took a while because I had to come up with a story on how Flurry saved Equestria and got her cutie mark that matched the quick scene in the last FIM episode where we saw a stained glass window of Flurry Heart. But now, I think I did pretty well.

Also, let me just kind of explain what happened in the ending in case you're a bit confused:

So, as the story says at the very end, Princess Flurry Heart is the Princess of Light. Cadence is the Princess of Love. The Crystal Heart's entire purpose is to spread light and love. Which means, much like the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are in the mane 6 in FIM, the spirits of love and light exist in Cadence and Flurry Heart. So, using their magic, they were able to create a whole new Crystal Heart without even realizing it, much like how the Pillars grew the Tree of Harmony and the young six transformed it into the tree house.

There. If you're still confused, that's not my problem

Just kidding. If you're still confused, just ask in the comment section and I'll answer your questions to the best of my ability.

Well, this isn't the last we've seen of the past. They're still flashbacks to be had. Stay tuned for the next chapter.