Shadows of the North

by Willow NightSong24

Rating: teen
Tags: Romance, Zoom Zephyrwing, Mane 5, Mystery, My Little Pony: A New Generation, Violence, Death, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Flurry Heart, Alternate Universe, Misty
Length: 55918

When the Mane Six recieve a letter from a long forgotten kingdom, they must either seperate themselves from the crushing past, or get lost in it.

Additional Character Tags: Cadence, Thunder Flap, Original Character, Opaline Arcana, Luster Dawn

Eight months after the whole changeling nightmare with Queen Vespula, Pipp and Hitch believe they can finally live their normal day-to-day life in peace, only to receive a mysterious letter from the Queen of a long-forgotten kingdom that makes them wonder if they're really their own ponies, or a reflection of the past.

Flurryheart finally starts to accept what happened in her past, but when two royal ponies show up that remind her all too much of it, she wonders if she really has moved on, or if she simply buried it for all these years.

Wanna see how it all began? The link to the first two stories are below ⬇

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/557751/a-perfect-pitch

https://www.fimfiction.net/story/559958/royalty-before-family

Published 2024-07-19 05:40:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-09-24 15:27:47 UTC

Yellow Northern Lights

"Jewel! Morphis! Look out!"

"PIPP!!! NO!!"

"I was never your friend."

"The only mistake I see…is you."

"Please don't leave me!"

"I…won't…I'll…I'll always be…right…here…"

Pipp sat up with a gasp, her eyes snapping wide open. She looked around the dark cabin, the only sound that filled the air being the running Marestream, Izzy's snoring, and the howling, snowy wind outside.

Without making the conscious decision to do so, Pipp felt the bed beside her, only feeling empty sheets. Pipp sighed heavily. Same old nighttime routine.

Pipp slowly got out of bed, her hoof automatically reaching up to touch the wedding ring that was on her necklace chain around her neck. She smiled as she remembered her wedding day, but that smile faded as she remembered what was to come.

Letting out another sigh, Pipp slowly crept down the cabin, making sure not to wake any of her friends, and slowly opened the door to the cockpit, being as silent as she could, and tiptoed in, softly closing it behind her.

Piloting the ship tonight, as he did every night, was Hitch Trailblazer. She paused, just staring at him. It was times like these when Pipp wished she had Misty's ability to feel emotions. Ever since Pipp came back to life from Hitch's tears, Hitch had built a wall blocking out Pipp. A wall that wasn't there a year and a half ago. The others gave her a basic rundown about what happened while she was gone, leaving out anything that had to do with Hitch, probably at his request.

It hurt Pipp. All she wanted to do was help, like a wife should, but he had to first let her in. And he wasn't. She thought that maybe once they married, he'd let his guard down, but alas, it was not to be. In fact, it felt like he had only reinforced his walls. She just wanted to know why, but she was afraid that bringing it up would cause him to distance himself further.

So, it was times like these that she'd just watch him. It was the only time, when he thought he was completely alone, that he'd actually show his emotions. Instead of looking into his eyes and seeing a facade, she'd look up at him and see fear, sorrow, anger, hurt, and other such emotions. Perhaps she didn't completely know the root of all those feelings, but she did know that he was feeling them, and she had to do the best she could to help him with that limited amount of knowledge.

However, just as she was getting a read on his emotions, he seemed to sense her, glancing over his shoulder and jumping a bit, but once he registered that it was her, a warm smile split his features, one that didn't completely reach his eyes.

"Oh, hey sleepyhead. Did I wake you?" Hitch asked.

She looked into his eyes and found his emotions were more genuine this time, not just a mask he wore to block his emotions. He must be having a better night. But one emotion that was always there, one that was always so genuine, no matter whether he was having a good day, or a bad one, was love. Pure, unconditional love. The kind of love that warmed her heart. The kind of love that'd make her love swell in response. The kind of love that made her remember why she married him.

She sighed, barely smiling at him. She didn't care that there was a wall up. After everything they'd been through over the past year, it didn't surprise her. He was hurt so much that he wanted to protect himself. All that mattered was that he loved her as much as she loved him. She was willing to be as patient as she needed to be for when he finally felt safe enough to let his walls crumble before her.

"No. You didn't wake me."

"Izzy?"

Her mind flashed back to a memory deep in her mind. A memory where those very same words were said. Up on the roof of the Brighthouse three years ago. Or was it four? Pipp's lost track of so much time these last couple of months, that it was hard to remember.

She was kept up by thinking of Hitch. It was before they became a couple. Pipp couldn't sleep, so she flew up to the Crystal Brighthouse balcony, where Zipp was doing some research with a mug of coffee. She was studying the Unity Crystals and the hologram message they received from Twilight. She was trying to figure out who the mysterious pony Twilight was talking about. One who they knew was now Opaline.

When she had come to the balcony and saw her sister, they had said these same words to each other. Pipp smiled and chuckled in response to Hitch's question, her face blushing.

"What?" Hitch asked, a confused smile on his face as he glanced a Pipp and then back to the sky in front of him.

Pipp shook her head. "It's nothing. I just…a couple of nights before we became official, I couldn't sleep and I had gone to the Brighthouse balcony to get some air and when I saw Zipp, we had said those exact words to each other."

"Well, that was a specific memory. Anything important about it?"

"I was chuckling because it was ironic. It was during that conversation I admitted my feelings for you and Zipp helped me come to terms with them."

"That is a little ironic," Hitch agreed with a small chuckle.

And then…silence. Pipp sighed. This is what it felt like most of their conversations were like these days. So distant. So awkward. Like there was an elephant in the room, but only one of them knew what that elephant was.

But, undeterred, Pipp tried again. "So…find anything?"

Pipp knew it was a stupid question. Had he even found a hint of something, he would've woken them all up. But she was desperate at this point to connect with him by any means necessary.

"Nope. Nothing but wind and snow and some trees. Didn't know there could be so much snow in one place."

Pipp sighed, looking out the front windshield at the curtain of snow. It was weird. Back in Equestria, it was summer. But here, the snow seemed to go on forever. They weren't even that far outside of Equestria. Or were they, and they just didn't know it? Were they not flying in circles like they thought and were really just going on farther and farther away from home, getting themselves lost?

Pipp shook her head. No. Zipp and Hitch weren't directionally challenged. They knew where they were going. Plus, the Marestream had a built-in compass in its rearview mirror. They had it all under control. She just had to focus on Hitch until they found the place.

"I know," Pipp replied, shivering at just the thought of having to go out there in the freezing cold. "Not a fan of the snow. So not looking forward to going in a kingdom full of snow."

Hitch chuckled a bit at that. "Oh, Pipp."

"What? It's the truth! You're telling me that you're looking forward to living in an igloo?"

"We never really got much snow back in Maretime Bay, you know, living on the beach and all. And the last time it snowed, it turned into a blizzard because every unicorn in Bridlewood was casting a snow spell without even knowing it. So, I don't really have an accurate comparison."

Pipp rolled her eyes. "Zipp always loved the snow. Especially when she got to go sledding. I never understood it myself. I mean, sure it makes a pretty good backdrop for some ponygram pics, but it is so not worth it. It's cold and wet, and when it melts it gets everywhere like sand, but it just makes you so much colder. At least the beach balances itself out. Sure, it's hot, but you can cool yourself down in the water. There's no warm spot in the snow."

"Well, maybe besides where Cloudpuff just had a relaxing moment," Hitch joked with a smile.

Pipp playfully punched him in the arm and chuckled a bit. "Eww! Gross! Hitch!"

Hitch chuckled and put a hoof around Pipp, pulling her close. Pipp smiled, softly closing her eyes and leaning into his chest. She could fall asleep just like this. It was moments like these that Pipp was grateful for. It reminded her that their relationship wasn't too far gone. It was just going through a rough patch. Like every relationship did.

Pipp smiled softly as she closed her eyes, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Pipp woke up when the Marestream shook and rattled. Hitch took his foreleg from around Pipp so he could focus both his hooves on the steering wheel. Pipp sat up, watching him. It surprised her how much force it looked like it took just to keep the Marestream steady, though he was doing a good job because the Marestream hardly shook anymore.

"What's going on?" Pipp asked, concern filling her voice.

"I'm not sure. Probably just some turbulence though," Hitch answered through gritted teeth, fighting with the steering wheel, which wanted to go in a whole different direction.

Pipp had looked out the window just in time to see a yellow glow around the whole Marestream just before it disappeared and the both of them lifted from the floor as the Marestream fell from the sky like a popped balloon.

Pipp screamed, using her wings to make her way over to Hitch, who wrapped his hooves around her as soon as she was within reach. Just as suddenly as it disappeared, the golden yellow glow wrapped around the ship, and the Marestream stopped falling.

Hitch and Pipp fell to the floor. Hitch checked the controls to see they were still descending but at a much slower pace. That was when Zipp, followed by everypony else, hurried into the cockpit.

"What in the hay is going on out here?!" Zipp asked, her messy hair a signal she just got out of bed.

"We were falling!" Pipp yelled, fear taking over her voice.

"According to controls, we still are," Hitch added.

Pipp's heart stopped as Zipp hurried over to the control panels. It was true. They were slowly losing altitude. They weren't even moving forward, despite the engines trying to propel them. They were just slowly descending straight down, the howling wind moving them side to side a bit.

"What in the hay?" Zipp muttered to herself, thoroughly confused.

"What is it, Zipp? What's wrong?" Sunny asked, hurrying up to Zipp's side.

"That's just it. There's nothing wrong. Everything's fine. The thrusters. The engine. Everything."

They had rebuilt the Marestream before they left for their journey so that it ran like a normal ship rather than on magic. They didn't want to bring the hope lantern this far into unknown territory, plus, after what happened the first time they took the Marestream to the dragon lands, they didn't want to risk the hope lantern going out and being stranded in the middle of this winter blizzard land.

As she said that, the yellow glow around the ship, which only Pipp seemed to notice, disappeared and the ship fell again. The eight ponies screamed as they lifted into the air. Zipp used her wings to fly over to the steering wheel, hit the gas, and pulled up. Everypony fell to the floor as Zipp sharply pulled up, glaring determinedly out the front windshield.

Then Pipp noticed the yellow glow as it surrounded the Marestream and they stopped moving. When Zipp looked at the control panels, she found that the progress she made going up was now being undone as they slowly descended.

"What the hay is going on?!"

"I think it has something to do with that yellow glow!" Pipp yelled as the yellow glow began to waver and the Marestream shook and rattled, making everypony unstable on their hooves and causing them to crash into each other.

Zipp gasped. "It's bringing us down! Whatever is controlling it is grounding us!" Zipp yelled to be heard over the rattling and screaming.

"But why?!" Misty asked, wondering why something would want to hurt them as she stumbled into Izzy.

"I don't know!" Zipp turned to Sunny. "Can you combat it with your own magic?"

"I can try."

Sunny closed her eyes and focused her magic. She was still learning how to use it, but lessons with Misty, who had brought her spell book along, were helping. Her horn lit up in a pinkish-purple aura that matched Sunny's hair as she tried to feel out the magical aura with her own magic, and though it was wavering, it was strong and whoever was using it was highly experienced. Much more than Sunny was. A pinkish-purple aura began to wrap itself around the Marestream like a big floating bubble that quickly popped.

Sunny opened her eyes to her expectant friends, only for their faces to fall when she shook her head.

Suddenly, the yellow glow went out and the Marestream tumbled out of the sky. Zipp and Hitch both made an effort to make their way to the steering wheel, but they fell over each other and other ponies as the Marestream fell through trees and branches, making the ponies fall into each other. The Marestream fell the last fifty feet before finally hitting the ground with a loud thud.

The eight ponies groaned as they all got to their hooves. They looked around, asking each other if they were okay. Hitch helped Pipp up and held her close, squeezing her tightly. Pipp didn't complain, burying her face into his chest, tears streaming down her face. She just wanted to be done with the death scares. She was so sick and tired of them.

"Now that's what I call a crash landing," Izzy said in a wobbly voice as Sunny helped her up.

As Misty stood up, she looked out the window and saw something in the distance. There was a shadowed figure in the distance, though she couldn't make out the details. It looked like a pony, but even though it was only thirty feet away, Misty couldn't tell much because of all the wind and the snow. She couldn't even tell if she really saw it. But then it moved, taking a step forward and she knew she had to tell her friends.

"Umm…guys. You might want to see this."

The seven remaining ponies crowded around Misty to look out of the window. They all saw the mysterious shadowed figure, just standing in the wind and snow, staring at them. Sweat formed on their brows as they watched the mysterious figure, not quite sure what to do.

"Maybe it's the mysterious crystal queen?" Izzy asked.

"Don't be ridiculous, Iz. I mean, what kind of Queen would greet their guests in the shadows all spookily and just creepily stare them down like a crazy pony?" Pipp asked, not taking her eyes off the mysterious figure.

"Opaline would."

The ponies' hearts stopped when Misty said the one name. Their experiences with Opaline were almost as traumatizing as the changeling nightmare. They weren't stupid. They knew that figure wasn't Opaline. Opaline was defeated. But, what if it were somepony like her?

They all stared at the strange figure. Somepony equally as powerful and equally as evil.

She stared down at her two headpieces, not sure what to wear. She looked between the helmet and the crown. She didn't know what type of ponies she'd be meeting. Were they warriors? Or were they elitists? Did she even care? Did it even matter? It wasn't like her wardrobe was going to change the outcome of what was to happen.

She rolled her eyes. Her Aunt would kill her if she knew she was thinking that.

She closed her eyes softly against the barrage of memories thinking of that one pony caused, the ponies she loved the most flashing in her mind, all faceless, all blurry, but there nonetheless. She squeezed her eyes shut as she pushed them out of her mind. She would not think of them now. What happened in the past was going to stay there. There was nothing she could do about it now. She couldn't go back in time and fix things, mostly because she didn't have the spell. Also because fixing things would make everything worse. They had taken the best course of action and that was all there was to it.

A knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts. "Come in!" She called.

The door opened to reveal a greenish-blue earth pony with a black mane, a black and white suit and dark blue eyes. He looked up at her. "We spotted something in the air, Your Highness. We believe they got to them first."

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Well, she didn't want to seem menacing in front of strangers after what they were going to see her do. She sighed, grabbing a headpiece with her magic and running past the butler and out of the room. The crown it was then.

Author's Note

The fourth story of the Pitch series is finally here. I know this chapter is kind of short, but this is more of a prologue chapter. Plus ending it there felt right. Trust me though, this story will be just as long as the other three. I'm so excited for this. I got me some big ideas

Shout out to Sword_Ironwing for giving me the idea!

When I Believed In Forever

The small group of ponies crept up to the fancy door at the end of the crystal hall. Before they opened the door, they gave each other determined smiles. This was going to be their best one yet.

Slowly, the four ponies slipped through the door to the sleeping princess. They all sat around the bed, glancing at each other with devious smiles. Pumpkin and Pound Cake had party blowers in their mouths and held up a banner that said, "Happy Birthday Flurry!" They couldn't fit Flurry Heart's full name on it.

Poundcake nodded his head three times before the other two ponies yelled as loud as they could, "HAPPY FIFTEENTH BIRTHDAY, FLURRY HEART" and the Cake twins blew through their party blowers.

Flurry Heart jumped up in her bed, firing a yellow beam of magic in front of her in alarm. It blew right through the banner, causing wide-eyed shock from everypony before the four ponies dropped to the floor, rolling in laughter.

It took a moment for Flurry Heart to gain her bearings before she finally realized what was happening, and she glared at the rolling Cake twins. "Pound! Pumpkin! This was your idea, wasn't it? It's not funny. I could've hurt you! You know I can't control my magic completely yet!"

"Oh, but that look on your face…it was so worth it!" Pound said, wiping away a tear from his eye.

Flurry Heart turned her glare to the blue unicorn stallion, who was also on the floor laughing. "Orion! Aren't you supposed to be the logical one around here?"

Orion simply shrugged. "Payback for last month."

Flurry Heart shook her head and rolled her eyes. It was no use being mad at these four ponies. They were her best friends, and she wouldn't have it any other way. It'd felt like forever since she'd seen them. She usually was only able to visit them when she went to Ponyville, and her last visit was last month. Which begged the question…what were they doing here in the Crystal Empire? They hardly visited her.

"What are you doing here, anyway? I thought your parents didn't let you take the long train ride here by yourselves?"

"Well, parents ain't got no say when ya don't ask 'em," the peach earth pony said with a wink in her country accent.

"You snuck out?!" Flurry asked in disbelief.

Pumpkin scoffed. "Is it really called sneaking out when you simply waltzed through the front door?"

"It is when you do it at five in the morning before your parents wake up in the dark and you buy tickets for the early morning train and sneak past the guards and break into the castle," Orion said, adjusting his glasses.

"Nopony asked ya, Orion," Peach Cobbler said, crossing her hooves over her chest.

"You snuck past the guards?!"

Pound Cake shrugged. "Eh. Wasn't that hard to do when you barely have any guards actually guarding the castle. Seriously, what's up with that? We could've been trying to rob you or something!"

Flurry shrugged. "I don't know. That is odd. You'll have to talk to my dad about that one. But seriously, though. What are you doing here?"

"Well, it is yer birthday, ain't it?"

"We're here to sneak you out and take you to Canterlot," Orion said matter of factly

Peach hit the back of Orion's head. "Way to ruin the surprise, dufus."

"Sorry," Orion mumbled, full of sarcasm, rolling his eyes. "Somepony woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

Peach hit the back of his head again.

Flurry rolled her eyes. They always did this. Peach and Orion argued like cats and dogs. It was a wonder that they hadn't killed each other yet.

Then what Orion said sunk in. "Ugh. Guys, I appreciate the gesture but…you know I hate Canterlot. It's all full of snobby ponies who think they're better than everpony else! The only reason I go there is to visit Aunt Twilight."

"Sure, that place is a real downer in the dumps," Pound Cake started.

"Unless you gotta best friend who knows how to prank snobby ponies without technically breaking the law," Pumpkin finished, raising an eyebrow, staring at Orion a little too intently.

It was clear that Pumpkin had a thing for Orion and vice versa, but they had yet to confess their love and become a couple. Pound Cake used to make fun of Pumpkin for it until Pumpkin threw his unconfessed crush on Peach back at him, and he backed off.

"Okay, now that sounds like fun," Flurry said with a huge smile, jumping out of bed and following the group of ponies out of the castle.

"Princess. Princess."

Flurry Heart slowly opened her eyes to the robotic voice that sounded in her ear. The dream she had of her fifteenth birthday rang through her mind. The day everything changed. Her worst day. Had she just stayed in the castle instead of going to that stupid city, things might've been different by now.

Flurry slowly sat up to see M.O.R.I.C. standing there, looking as awake as he always did, despite the time. Flurry looked at her clock. Six in the morning. She groaned, turning over and laying starfish on her stomach.

"Five more minutes," Flurry said into her pillow, her voice muffled.

Usually, she was pretty good at waking up at this time, however, last night she didn't go to bed until three thirty in the morning and then spent all night tossing and turning, her mind full of thoughts. She was finally able to fall asleep at about five thirty, only to have that dream that might as well be a nightmare, all things considered. She was functioning on a half hour of sleep.

"You have to perform the spell at six o'clock sharp. It is five til. Wait five minutes and you will be late. I am programmed to make sure you are–"

"Not tardy, I know," Flurry Heart said, getting out of bed reluctantly. "And we all know how Aunt Twi felt about tardiness."

Flurry Heart slowly walked to her balcony, moving aside the big blackout curtains that blocked out the sun during the night, which was already starting to get dimmer. Flurry Heart sighed, looking at the clock. Five fifty-seven. Three more minutes.

"Why do I even have to do this spell every day, M.O.R.I.C.? It's not like anypony's actually around to see it. Not anymore."

"Your subjects may be asleep, Princess, but you must still protect them."

"Yeah, but why? I mean, isn't that the whole reason Aunt Twi had me cast that spell? So that those things couldn't touch them? You know, because they're asleep. What's the point of me doing this if they're already protected by that damn spell. All it's doing is draining the hell out of me. Eventually, I'm going to drop if I keep doing this," Flurry argued.

"It is a precaution. There is no room for error. You must do everything you can to protect your subjects. One mistake can make the entire Empire fall. That is why you take precautions, Princess."

"Encouraging."

"I am sensing sarcasm again."

"Yeah, you definitely are," Flurry replied flatly with a roll of her eyes.

"Noted. As I was saying, it is better to take precautions rather than face the consequences of shortcuts. And anyway, according to Princess Twilight, you should last another thousand years doing this spell every day before you burn yourself out from exhaustion if you conserve your magic in everyday use. Princess Twilight did predict that the chosen ones would come before then. And she was right."

"Maybe. If these ponies really are the ones," Flurry mumbled bitterly.

"They must be. Prince Hitch healed Princess Pipp with his tears, much like what your mother did for your father." The alarm on Flurry Heart's clock went off. "It is time."

Flurry stood up, glaring at the artificial sun that was almost completely dimmed. "My mother took my father out of a trance caused by Queen Chrysalis with her magic alone. Prince Hitch used his tears mixed with this Element of Unity to bring Princess Pipp back to life. It's different."

Pipp slowly woke up to the sound of a fire crackling in the fireplace and somepony pacing. Pipp slowly opened her eyes to see a shadowy figure of Hitch pacing back and forth nervously. She squinted her eyes, waiting for them to refocus in the dark so she could see Hitch clearer.

Pipp could hear the slight sound of mumbling as he paced back and forth at the end of the bed. Pipp tried to listen to what he was saying, to detect actual words, but she got nothing. It was all indiscernible. Pipp sighed, wondering what he was fretting about now. She glanced at the clock. Seven in the morning. Well, might as well get up.

Pipp sat up, stretching. Hitch barely seemed to notice, continuing his pacing. Pipp stretched again, a little more vocally this time. Nothing. She rolled her eyes, finally deciding to just clear her throat.

This got his attention and he stopped pacing to look up at her. "Oh, hey honey. Did I wake you?" He asked as he walked around the bed and to Pipp's side.

Pipp rolled her eyes. "You were pacing in front of the bed for mom knows how long, mumbling to yourself. What do you think? What are you so stressed about anyway, honey?"

Hitch sighed heavily. "Oh, a multitude of things."

There was a moment of silence while Pipp waited for him to continue when he didn't. "Like…?" She prompted, laying on her back as he slowly crawled on top of her.

"Not important. Just silly things."

Pipp sighed. Looks like after everything that's happened, Hitch was more closed off than ever. "It's obviously important if it has you up pacing in the–"

"How'd you sleep?" Hitch asked, as though trying to change the subject.

"Hitch…" Pipp started, putting her hooves on his chest, looking up at him with pleading eyes.

"Hey…don't worry about me. I'm just stressing over stupid things when I should be thinking about how I get to wake up to the most beautiful mare in Equestria every morning."

Pipp smiled, her heart warming. "Don't think you can flirt your way out of this one, Mister."

"Why not? You know, the secret to a successful marriage is keeping the romance alive, Mrs. Trailblazer." Hitch leaned down, brushing his lips against Pipp's, making her blush.

"Oh yeah? And who told you that?" Pipp asked as their lips barely touched.

"I might have gotten some advice from a super secret source."

"It was a book about marriage…wasn't it?"

Hitch shrugged. "Maybe."

"How attractive. You really know how to charm a mare," Pipp commented, wrapping her hooves around his neck as he lay above her.

"What can I say? I'm a mare magnet. Mares just flock to me."

"Well then. Looks like I need to keep you close so I can keep all those mares' hooves off my handsome husband."

"You should." And with that, Hitch leaned down for a kiss.

As their lips met, Pipp's heart raced and and her whole body began to tingle. Oh, she could kiss Hitch for eternity, and it still wouldn't be long enough. But, for the moment, however, she'd settle for now. Their kiss was long and deep as, even after dating for three years and two months of marriage, butterflies still formed in Pipp's stomach just from kissing him. The romance was definitely alive. They got that department covered, and then some.

"Good morning, your majesties. Are you ready to come down for breakfast?"

Pipp and Hitch jumped, quickly separating and scrambling away from each other to opposite sides of the bed, both of their faces a bright red. At the end of the bed stood M.O.R.I.C., his head tilted to the side. Their hearts raced while their stomachs flipped and their bodies tingled, alarm, embarrassment, and lingering attraction warring with each other.

"M.O.R.I.C.," Pipp said, her voice shaky as she tried to catch her breath. "What a…pleasant surprise."

She tried to smile, but it also was a little shaky. She tried to be polite. M.O.R.I.C. clearly wasn't trying to invade their privacy or have any negative intentions. It was written all over his confused face.

"It appears I have interrupted something?"

"No. It's fine. It's…" Pipp trailed off, deciding to just move on from this awkward moment. "Did you need something?"

"My apologies," M.O.R.I.C. continued as if Pipp didn't talk. "I am unaccustomed to guests. Would you like me to knock next time?"

"Please," Hitch said, finally gaining his voice at the same time Pipp said, "That'd be great, thanks."

"Of course. Noted. Next time, I will knock so I don't inturrupt another–"

"Was there something you needed or whatever?" Hitch interrupted.

"I was asking if you were ready to come down for breakfast. And what you would like?"

They both agreed to have toast, with some butter and jam at M.O.R.I.C.'s persistence.

And with that, M.O.R.I.C. teleported out of the room. There was a moment of silence as they both stared at the spot where M.O.R.I.C. stood before the two lovebirds cracked up laughing, falling on their back with laughter.

"That was…" Pipp started, trailing off in laughter.

"You know, I've fought a changeling form of myself, I've married a pegasus, who six years ago was supposed to be my enemy, and yet that was the most awkward thing I've ever experienced."

"Agreed." Pipp sighed, sitting up in bed. "But, he's right. We really should get up."

"Oh c'mon. Stay in bed!" Hitch grabbed Pipp from behind and pulled her down, making her yelp.

"Hitch! M.O.R.I.C. had a point. We need to get up."

"But we're having a moment." Hitch kissed Pipp's cheek.

"And now that moment's over. Because of a blind to boundaries butler. Plus, I have morning breath." Pipp pushed Hitch away, much to Hitch's disappointment, and stood up from bed, walking to her saddlebag. "Can you get the curtains, please? I can barely see anything."

"You know. I should really have a talk with that butler," Hitch grumbled as he stood up and walked over to the curtains. "Doesn't he seem a little odd to you, though?"

Pipp flew into the bathroom with her toiletry bag and crown. She turned on the sink and began brushing her teeth. "Off you're talking abou the wobotic way he talks and how he tewaports when he's just an earf wony, then yeah. He's odd."

Pipp finished brushing her teeth and was now brushing her hair when she realized Hitch hadn't said a word. "Hitch? You still alive out there?"

Pipp meant it as a joke, but after everything that's happened, her voice was a little shaky, the smallest part of her wondering if he'd really reply, or not. There was a moment of silence and her heart stopped.

"Honey…you should really come and see this…" Hitch called.

Pipp quickly finished brushing her hair, not doing nearly as good of a job as she liked, put her golden crown on, and hurried out the bathroom only to be greeted by sunlight streaming through the curtains that only comes during midday.

"Holy Mom. Why is it so bright out? What time is–"

"Seven in the morning. The clock says seven in the morning but the sun says it's noon," Hitch said with wide eyes, staring out the window.

Pipp walked up next to Hitch and she looked outside, her mouth dropped. The sun was high in the sky, not a single cloud in sight. The sunlight reflected off the dark pink and light blue crystal homes, creating a blinding glare. While there was a constant raging blizzard for the past month, not a single speck of snow could be seen.

And the craziest part of it all? Every street, every sidewalk, every front porch, and every backyard was empty.

All four ponies were dying with laughter in an alleyway, off the main Canterlot street. They had just finished with their most recent prank which was so funny, that it was hard for them to control their laughter until after they were out of sight, lest they get in trouble.

"That was priceless, Peach! Did you see the look on her face?" Flurry exclaimed as she wiped tears from her eyes.

"I only came up with the idea. It was you who did all the work, Flurry. Great actin' by the way."

"And, it was all perfectly legal," Orion added.

"Orion. Quit bein' such a buzz kill."

"Oh, quit your fighting, you two. That was amazing and legal. Did you see the way her face paled when she saw her hair was a bird nest with worms in it?!" Flurry exclaimed, laughing all over again just thinking about it.

"That doesn't even compare to when you told the police officer that you had a cold. And the officer said it was an accident and there was nothing he could do." Pound started.

"And her face paled and she was all like: 'this mane style cost me one hundred bits. I deserve compensation,'" Pumpkin finished, making her voice sound like a stuffy Canterlot elite. "Priceless!"

Flurry Heart levitated the four other ponies with her magic and floated them over to her, embracing them in a group hug. "Thanks, guys. This is the best birthday."

"Alright," Orion said, trying to pull out of the hug. "This is getting cheesy."

"Nopony cares what ya think, Orion," Peach said, her voice muffled from the hug.

"Actually, I agree with Orion. This is just getting sappy," Pound said, trying to pull away.

Flurry Heart let them go, smiling at all her best friends. She had grown up visiting the Cake Twins whenever she'd go to Ponyville, since they were only ten months older than she was and they became fast friends. Then when Flurry Heart was nine and the Cake Twins were ten, they had met Peach, who was Flurry's age. And the next time Flurry came to Ponyville to visit, her and Peach also became fast friends, once she got over the fact that Flurry was an alicorn and a princess.

Orion had joined when Flurry and Peach turned eleven, and he was the same age as the Cake Twins. Peach and Orion had a rocky start, but they've gotten much better. Though, Flurry and the Twins wouldn't trust them alone in a room together. Especially since Peach had six older brothers. They were as close as family at this point, and nothing could tear them apart. Or, at least, that was what they thought.

"Seriously though," Flurry continued. "That was the best. Way better than that stuffy gala I'm forced to go through every year in a stuffy dress."

"You mean the stuffy gala that's thrown for your birthday in your honor every year?" A voice asked behind them.

The four ponies widened their eyes, the new voice freezing them in their tracks. They turned to see a purple alicorn that was as tall as Celestia. She had a dark purple mane with pink highlights that was floating in an ethereal wind. The alicorn had a cross look on her face that told the ponies she was not happy with them.

Flurry Heart smiled nervously as she looked up at the tall alicorn that was much taller than she was. "Aunty Twilight. What a pleasant surprise! What are you doing here?"

"I could be asking you the same thing, Flurry Heart. Why are you here in Canterlot and not in the Crystal Empire getting ready for your party?"

"Umm…" Flurry paused, looking for some kind of excuse that'd fly with Princess Twilight.

"You're not pranking again, are you?" Princess Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

"O-of course not, Princess!" Pound Cake exclaimed, trying to find some sort of excuse.

"We were…dress shopping!" Pumpkin finished for Pound, looking at Twilight nervously.

"Y-yeah!" Peach continued. "We wanted to find a fancy dress fer her gala. That's why we came to Canterlot. Umm…"

"None of the boutiques in the Crystal Empire had anything good," Orion stated matter of factly, earning a glare from Pumpkin and Pound Cake, and a slap on the back of the head from Peach.

"What he means, Princess is that…" Pumpkin started.

"We wanted to go different than the typical Crystal style. We…"

"Wanted Flurry to stand out. Obviously." Pumpkin finished. It creeped Flurry out sometimes when they finished each other's sentences.

"And that's why you snuck out without any of your parents knowledge you were going to the Crystal Empire?"

Peach was the first to think of something. "Weee…wanted it to be a surprise. Yah. Cause, umm…we thought her momma and daddy would be–"

Princess Twilight held up her hoof, silencing Peach. "Thank you, Peach Cobbler, Pound and Pumpkin, and Orion for that resounding explanation that I do not believe." The five ponies opened their mouths to argue when Twilight silenced them with a hoof. "I don't want to hear it. You're lucky the four of you are still invited, and that your parents are letting you still go. But prepare yourselves for a very stern talk and some punishments. You guys go ahead to the train station. Flurry Heart and I will meet you in the Crystal Empire."

The four ponies quickly agreed and were off in an instant, refusing to argue with the ruler of Equestria. Twilight turned her glare to Flurry Heart, though it was softer than before.

"I'm very disappointed in you, my niece. Your parents are worried sick about you."

"Sorry, Aunt Twiley. I just…why do we have to do this stupid gala anyway. I hate it."

"You know why we have to, Flurry Heart. It's how the kingdom celebrates you, and their love for you and it's that love that strengthens the Crystal Heart and, thus, strengthens all of Equestria. And you of all ponies should know how important the Crystal Heart is. Don't you remember the story your parents told you about the day of your Crystalling?"

"Yes Aunt Twilight. It's just…it's embarrassing how I'm already fifteen and I still don't have my cutie mark." Flurry Heart dropped her head, her ears flattening.

"Well, did you talk to the Cutie Mark Crusaders like I asked?" Princess Twilight put a wing around her niece.

"Yeah. I even went Crusading with them, but everything they tried failed. What if…what if I'm not destined to have a cutie mark?" Flurry Heart looked up at Twilight.

"Oh, Flurry Heart. You'll get your cutie mark someday. And it will be brilliant. I promise."

A scroll appeared in a green puff of smoke right in front of Princess Twilight. She picked it up in her magic and opened it, reading before her eyes widened slightly. "Right. We should be getting back to the Crystal Empire before your mother starts looking for you outside of Equestria," Twilight shook her head as she took off in the sky with her massive wings. "Where would I be without my number one assistant?" She muttered to herself.

Flurry Heart hesitated for a moment, looking at her blank flank. Why couldn't she just have a cutie mark like everypony else? Why did she have to be so late? She didn't care if it was special or not. Heck, she didn't care if it was just a letter. She just wanted a cutie mark.

"Stupid flank. Why do you have to be so stupidly late!" She yelled at her flank, as though insulting it would give her a cutie mark.

"You know…" a voice said from the shadows of the alleyway, gaining Flurry Heart's attention. "I can give you a cutie mark, if that is what you truly desire."

Hitch and Pipp finally made their way to the dining hall, after getting lost multiple times. Pipp couldn't believe her eyes as she walked through the Crystal Castle. It was absolutely breathtaking. She wished that when she first got here last night, that she was able to truly take in its magnificence.

Now however, she was so not going to waste that opportunity. She already had her phone out, taking pictures left and right, with selfie and such. It wasn't until Hitch finally put his hoof on top of her phone, slowly shaking his head, reminding her that while it's okay to take some pictures, it's also good to just stay in the moment.

She had smiled at him and nodded in agreement, putting her phone away. She'd want to take out her phone to take pictures when she'd see a beautiful crystal chandelier, or a beautiful purple banner, and sometimes she would take out her phone, but for the most part, she was doing pretty good at this being present thing.

Finally, they arrived at the dining hall, their toast already waiting for them, as well as all of their friends, who looked utterly exhausted. Pipp had to admit that she felt as tired as they looked and no amount of makeup could take the bags from under her eyes away, but, she had to admit, after this morning, she was feeling pretty good about her relationship with Hitch.

They sat at the table and the six of them sat in silence for a moment, as though not sure where to start. Pipp was the first to break the silence. She cleared her throat. "Ahem, so umm…where's Zoom?"

"She's with Thunder. She refuses to leave his side until he wakes up."

"Shouldn't he already be awake?" Hitch asked.

Zipp shrugged. "When Misty cast the spell, it was because she panicked. It was the first thing her mind thought of. She flipped through her spell book this morning and found the spell. Apparently, the pony it's cast on is asleep for about a week. So yeah. Thunder's out like a light for a while. Now, can we stop with the small talk and get down to the elephant in the room? Please? I'm dying to speculate! This creepy castle is just brimming with questions!"

"Well, good to know subtlety doesn't run in the family. At least it's not just me." Pipp said flatly, taking a drink of her water.

"You are so right Zipp. We should talk about the elephant in the room. So, does anypony have any idea how M.O.R.I.C. made all this stuff so quickly?" Izzy said, staring at her plate of waffles with whip cream and strawberries on top with amazement.

Zipp rolled her eyes. "While M.O.R.I.C. is on my 'things to investigate' list, how he cooks isn't even on it. And he isn't even top priority, though he definitely freaks me out. Anypony got any other questions. I've got a bunch, but I want to give you all a chance to put in your two cents, in case there's anything I missed."

"Okay…like how it looks like it's noon outside when it's really seven in the morning?" Hitch suggested.

"Or how outside is totally and completely devoid of any ponies?" Sunny added.

"Or how this castle is just as empty when, even if there aren't any servants, there should at least be guards?" Pipp put in.

"Or how just last night there was a super big blizzard but it now looks like the middle of summer!" Izzy continued. "And have any of you noticed that M.O.R.I.C. doesn't blink. Seriously! He doesn't blink!"

"Or how even though this place is supposed to be empty, and yet, I can feel feelings of happiness and joy all around me, excluding Flurry Heart's emotions."

Everypony stopped at that and just stared at Misty, who blushed and slowly curled into herself. She still hated attention. She bit her lip, just staring down at her plate.

"You mean there are other ponies here?" Zipp asked.

Misty nodded. "A lot. Since Flurry Heart's…outburst last night, I've been keeping my shield down so I might be able to predict another one…I've been picking up calm and happy emotions, but they haven't fluctuated much. They've been about the same and–"

Misty was interrupted when Flurry Heart walked into the dining hall, her face a passive mask. She had an air of royalty about her, one that intimidated even Zipp, who tried not to show it. She walked to the end of the dining table and just stood there for a moment, as though studying each one of them closely. Her eyes lingered a little longer on Misty before moving on.

Once she was done, she finally spoke. "Pleasant morning. I trust you slept well."

"Yes. We slept amazingly. The living arrangements were better than perfect, Sunny quickly said with a smile, trying to take to heart what Misty asked of her last night and give Flurry Heart a chance.

Flurry just looked at her confused, while Misty dropped her head on the table, knowing exactly what Sunny was trying to do. Why did Sunny have to be so bad at acting?

After a few more seconds of awkward silence, Zipp finally spoke. "Yeah, well, we slept as good as we could with these millions of questions running through our minds! Like, why is it so bright out? Why is it so empty but Misty can feel a whole lot of ponies here? Why it was snowing just last night, but this morning it's completely devoid of snow? And–"

Flurry raised a hoof, silencing Zipp. She hadn't even realized that she was starting to get out of her seat and leaning far into the table. She quickly sat back down, staying silent.

"I assure you. Many of your questions will be answered. Follow me." And with that, Flurry turned to leave.

Zipp jumped up, flying after the pink alicorn. "Wait! Why not all of our questions?"

Flurry Heart sighed irritably, stopping just before the entrance, causing Zipp to stop in her tracks. She turned to face Zipp with an irritated expression. "Because, Princess Zipp, if I could answer all of your questions, you wouldn't be here, because I wouldn't need you to save my kingdom because I would've already saved it myself."

Zipp opened her mouth to say something, but her mind blanked. And even if she had something she wanted to say, it was clear by the look on Flurry Heart's face that anymore interruptions would not be tolerated.

After a moment of silence, Flurry Heart sighed. "If that is all, I'd advise you follow me. I will not ask again." Without another word, Flurry Heart left the dining hall.

The rest of the ponies looked at each other before they quickly scrambled to their hooves and quickly followed Flurry Heart out of the room, Zipp taking the lead. Only Misty noticed that the wall Flurry had built around her emotional gravestone was now even thicker than before.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was?!"

The pink alicorn paced back and forth as Flurry Heart was being fitted for her gown for that night's events. Flurry Heart watched as her mother, Princess Cadence, paced back and forth, ranting and raving with a bored expression. They've been through this before in the past.

"I'm assuming you're going to tell me?" Flurry asked flatly.

"Very! I was incredibly worried! Terrified!" Princess Cadence continued as though Flurry Heart didn't say anything. "Anything could've happened! Anything! You could've been fillynapped or…or hurt…or…a number of things could've happened."

Flurry Heart rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure I would've been fine in a kingdom ruled by friendship."

"That's never stopped anything bad from happening before!" Cadence yelled, stopping her pacing for a moment to glare at her daughter before continuing. "I come into your room to wake you up, only to find you not in your bed! No note! The guards don't know where you are! Hell, the guards didn't even know you left your room! All I see is a birthday banner with a hole in it from a magical blast! Do you have any idea what I thought?!"

"That I was fillynapped?"

"Or hurt?" The white unicorn with a purple mane that sported grey streaks from age said as she sewed part of the dress together, earning a smile from Flurry.

Cadence stopped in her pacing to glare at her daughter and her dresser. "Alright, smart alecs. I get it." Princess Cadence sighed. "I know you just see me as a paranoid mom, but Flurry…the things I've seen…just because your Aunt rules Equestria and just because we're allies with most creatures outside of Equestria doesn't mean things can't go wrong. That was what we thought the third time King Sombra came back and he almost succeeded in taking over Equestria. That's what we thought when Queen Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow came back and actually succeeded in taking over Equestria."

"Yeah. For a whole five minutes," Flurry said with a roll of her eyes.

Cadence walked up to Flurry Heart, putting a hoof to her cheek. "Honey, I know you don't see the world as a dangerous place, and I love that about you, but you just need to be a little more cautious."

"Mom," Flurry groaned. "What's the worst that can happen. I'm an alicorn. With alicorn powers! I'm good!" Flurry waved a dismissive hoof.

Cadence rolled her eyes. "I swear. You're just like your father."

"She sure is, isn't she?" Rarity said as she put the finishing touches on the dress. "And done." She cut the string and took a couple of steps back, admiring her handy work. "And I must say, you look magnificent, darling!"

Flurry Heart turned to look in the mirror and her jaw dropped. She had no idea she could be this…pretty? The dress was a couple of different shades of purple from light purple to a darker purple that was a little lighter than princess Twilight's mane. The fabric was stitched in a way that made the different shades of purple look as though it was different shades because of the lighting and not because they were actually different shades.

The front of the dress had a wavy hem and the sleeves were capped at the top of her shoulders. Two dark purple ribbons wrapped around the edge of the top part of the dress before coming back around and making an X in the middle on both sides.

Her purple and blue hair was up in a beautifully braided bun and she had silver earrings and silver shoes to match the dress. Flurry stared at the dress, surprised by how much she actually liked it.

"Well, do you like it, darling?"

"I love it, Aunt Rarity. You've really outdone yourself."

"Oh, my baby. All grown up." Tears welled in Princess Cadence's eyes.

"Mom," Flurry groaned, a small smile on her face.

"Oh! And that reminds me! Your father wanted to see you before everypony else did. I should go get him before you go down." Cadence turned to leave.

"Hurry back, darling! I do wish to show off my latest design on my most fashionable model!" Rarity called.

"Oh! Mom! Hold on!"

Cadence turned just before leaving, a smile on her face.

"Tell the guards one more guest is coming. A last-minute invite."

"Of course honey. It is your birthday. You can invite whoever you wish. What's their name?" Cadence asked,

"Uh…Opaline Arcana." Flurry said confidently as though she's known that unicorn for more than a couple of minutes.

"Perfect. I'll let the guards know," Cadence responded before walking out and closing the door behind her.

Besides. An invitation to a stuffy party for a cutie mark. Seemed like a pretty sweet deal.

Author's Note

Bum bum BUMM!!

The story will be going back and forth like this a lot, which is what I originally planned. That's why I left a lot of gaps in the story. I'll try to make it so it's easier to follow.

Also, in case any of you are wondering because I cannot describe fashion all that well, here's the dress I used for Flurry's gala. Disclaimer: I did not design this dress, though I cannot find the artist.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KHLoldl1phfvJiDk0qcYaA-FbCoEZRpw/view?usp=drivesdk

Beautiful Voices

"What do we do?" Misty asked as the ponies in the Marestream stared at the unmoving figure.

"I…I don't know," Sunny muttered, her voice trembling a bit from fear.

"Well, we can't just go out there! That's just asking for trouble," Zipp argued.

"What else can we do?" Zipp opened her mouth to argue, but Hitch interrupted. "I hate the idea as much as you do, but it's not like we can leave. Even though everything's working, they'd still be able to ground us with their magic."

"So, the question remains: what do we do?" Misty concluded.

Suddenly, the six ponies heard the sound of metal armor and turned to see Zoom and Thunder bowing before them. Queen Haven had insisted they bring guards with them after everything that happened in their last adventure, but the limit Zipp and Pipp agreed to was two. They didn't want to put more ponies in danger than they absolutely had to. That was the whole reason Hitch left Sparky in Maretime Bay, despite how difficult it was for him to do so.

"Umm…we have an idea," Thunder said, a little nervously. When he didn't say anything else, Zip gestured for him to continue. "Well…what if Zoom and I went out there first and checked it out? You know, as royal guards do."

"Definitely not," Pipp said at the same time Zipp said, "Sure, okay. If you want to."

Pipp rounded on Zipp with wide shocked eyes. "Are you kidding me?! These are our subjects. We can't just throw them out there and wish them luck!"

"Look, I don't like this either, but what else can we do? This is what they signed up for when they were sworn into the guard and what they signed up for when they volunteered to come with us. I mean, are you saying you'd prefer to go out there yourself?"

Pipp was about to answer when Hitch suddenly interjected, "No. Hell no. Definitely not."

Pipp rounded on Hitch. Never mind the fact that she was already going to say no anyway. He didn't know that. "Excuse me?!"

Hitch sighed. "Pipp, trust me, I know you can handle yourself. I've seen it. But…well, c'mon. Can you really blame me? I…I just can't lose you again."

Pipp smiled, her heart warming at the small vulnerability he had just shown her. "Oh, honey. You won't. I wasn't planning on going out there anyway."

"Plus, the guards are trained for this, right?" Zipp asked, looking to Zoom and Thunder for confirmation.

"Yes, Your Highness. Two years of boot camp, princess." Zoom said with another bow.

"Four years of boot camp," Thunder added.

"Why four?" Zipp asked.

Thunder shrugged sheepishly. "I failed the first time."

Zipp groaned as Pipp's growing faith was torn down. Without another word, Zoom and Thunder left the Marestream, letting in a freezing cold bout of wind into the ship, making the six remaining ponies shiver.

When the door closed behind them, the six Guardians of Unity rushed to the window as Zoom and Thunder walked around the Marestream and to the shadowed figure. Their hearts raced as the two guards disappeared into the snowy blizzard, wondering if they'd come back, or if this would be the end of the two lovable guards that were close to all their hearts.

She trudged through the snow, wearing a black cloak, and the black eye protector and scarf that used to be her father's. The scarf wrapped around her mouth, the same way it did when her father first met her aunt at the train station here. However, there was no train station anymore, so she just had to guess where they might be. She could've just waited at the castle, but if they got to the guests first, she had to wander aimlessly in hopes of finding them in time.

She kept her head down, trying to protect her face from the howling wind. She was glad she still had her father's eye protection, but she still got small scratches on her face from the tiny bits of ice that blew in the wind.

She could barely see ten feet in front of her. She considered using her magic for a light and a shield, but her magic was stretched out enough as it was. Plus, she'd need it on her way back with the guests. She assumed the guests hadn't brought flashlights with them.

Her body was lethargic and it ached. Doing the same spell for the past thousand years was taking its toll on her, just as her aunt predicted. Her body ached as it shivered from the exertion of trudging through six feet of snow. Her eyes wanted to shut and she needed sleep, but she couldn't. She had to keep going.

That was when she heard a beautiful tune being hummed by a beautiful voice. Her heart stopped as she quickly put on her black ear muffs from her saddlebag with her magic, blocking out the tune before it had a chance to work its way into her brain and soul.

She charged her horn, ready to blast anything that moved, but when she looked around, there were no shadows in the distance. She stood there for a moment, automatically squinting her eyes against the blowing wind despite the eye protector.

Then her eyes widened. The guests. They were trying to lure the guests. She took a deep breath, removed her ear muffs from one of her ears, and listened. She heard the beautiful humming tune coming from a certain direction. She took off her ear muffs, knowing the tune wasn't aimed at her. If it wasn't aimed at her, she was safe.

She bolted in the direction of the beautiful voice, hoping that once again she wouldn't be too late.

"We can trust her," Thunder said as they forced the door closed against the howling wind.

Everypony, including Zoom, looked at Thunder confused. Actually, Zoom looked at Thunder as though he were crazy.

"What in the hay gave you that impression?" She asked her colleague, thoroughly confused. "She had bad vibes all around her."

Thunder shrugged. "I don't know, she just had seemed like a nice mare. Plus, she had a beautiful voice."

"Yeah her voice was nice, but that's not a reason to trust her!" Zoom argued.

"And why not? You know, a voice can tell you a lot about a pony,–"

"Since when?!"

"Since, like, forever. Seriously, Zoom, you need…"

As the two guards fought and the rest of the ponies watched them, unsure as to who to believe, Misty's ear twitched as she heard a beautiful voice humming a tune. She turned, looking out the window when she saw the shadowed figure, slowly walking towards them. She was about to call out to her friends, to warn them, but there was something about that mare that was so…hypnotizing. She couldn't seem to move her body, speak, or even look away. She just…stared at the mare that walked towards them, her surroundings falling away until they no longer existed.

As the mare came closer, the tune began to turn into words:

🎵I realize that you've always been an outcast.
It's not natural for others to like to think.
Of other ponies first,
It's hard to know for sure,
If they really are your friends or if they're fake🎵

Misty squeezed her eyes shut and the spell momentarily lifted, only to come crashing down again when the shadowed figure continued to sing:

🎵Now, I understand you have your reservations.
It's hard to have a heart as large as yours.
If you want to be their pawn,
Then I guess it's all your fault,
When they cast you out, they'll do, I assure!🎵

Misty tried to fight against the alluring sound of the mare's voice. It wasn't true. None of it was true. Her friends loved her. She wasn't their pawn. Right?

Misty opened her eyes to look at the mare, and just when the mare opened her mouth to sing again, a bright magical beam of yellow light hit her and she was suddenly disintegrated.

Misty, without even realizing it, began screaming as her mind was painfully released from the mare's influence. The rest of the ponies turned when they heard Misty scream, all of them rushing to the window just in time to see the yellow beam vanish the the shadowed figure disappear.

"Holy macaroni!" Izzy exclaimed, her eyes wide with fear.

"Oh my Queen Haven and her two daughters!" Thunder exclaimed, before rushing towards the door of the Marestream.

Zoom grabbed hold of him, stopping him from opening the door. "What in the hay do you think you're doing, you idiot?!" Zoom yelled, just to be heard over Misty's screaming.

"She needs help!" Thunder yelled, glaring at Zoom, making her flinch. Thunder never glared at her like that. They were best friends. "What's wrong with you?! We need to help her!"

"There's nothing we can do!" Zoom yelled back as Thunder fought her to let him go. "She's long gone! We need to focus on protecting the princesses! Like we swore to do!"

Suddenly, Thunder stopped as reality suddenly snapped into place and he realized where he was. Zoom slowly let go of him and he slowly stood up, blinking as though just waking up from a dream.

Meanwhile, as Zoom had tried to stop Thunder from bolting outside, Misty wouldn't stop screaming. She was sitting on the ground, her hooves over her ears, screaming at the top of her lungs. Pipp covered her ears as Hitch held her tightly to him, looking between Zoom and Thunder and Misty. Pipp had tears falling down her face as she watched the ensuing chaos from Hitch's hooves, her mind confused as to what the hell was going on.

Zipp quickly flew over to Misty and sat in front of her, grabbing Misty by the shoulder. "MISTY! STOP!"

Misty continued screaming as she felt the pain the mare went through, rocking back and forth with tears streaming from her eyes. Her mind was lost, drowning in an endless black sea, unsure of who or what she was. Who she was supposed to be without that mare's beautiful voice. The only mare in the world who seemed to understand her.

Zipp shook Misty, trying to get Misty's attention, but Misty ignored her, her eyes squeezed shut. Not knowing what else to do, Zipp slapped Misty, but she didn't even pause in her screaming, as though she didn't need breath to continue.

Zipp looked at her friends helplessly, not sure what else to do. Zipp returned to Misty, yelling for Misty to stop and listen to her. Misty's voice began to grow hoarse as she continued to scream, her mind flailing for something and yet finding nothing.

There was suddenly an urgent knock on the door, gaining everypony's attention, except for Misty's. Without thinking, hoping that by some small miracle, it was the mare with the beautiful voice, the same voice that was still playing in his head, he opened the door.

Rather than the mare he hoped for, it was instead a unicorn in a black cloak, with its hood up, scarf, and what looked like a black eye protector. They were taller than what the guard had ever seen, about as tall as Opaline was. Wind and snow blew into the Marestream as, without a single word, the unicorn stepped past the wide-eyed guard and to the screaming pony, causing Zipp to scramble back in shock.

Once they were there, they bent their head, their horn glowing in a beautiful yellow aura. Before any of the other ponies could do anything, they put their glowing horn on Misty's forehead. As soon as their horn touched Misty, there was a bright light that cascaded down Misty. In the darkness Misty's mind was drowning in, there was a bright yellow dot, like a big beacon. Misty swam to it, grabbing it for dear life. She stopped screaming with a gasp, her eyes opening as though waking up from a nightmare.

Misty blinked, rediscovering her surroundings as though being gone from them for years. She was too stunned to speak, wondering how long it's been. It's felt like years since she'd seen her friends, the Marestream, even though it's only been a couple of minutes. Or did no time pass at all. Was she really swimming in a black endless void, or was she here the whole time? Was she going crazy or did all of that really happen?

"Are you okay?" Zipp whispered to Misty with concern.

Misty nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. I think."

There was a shocked silence as the two guards and the Guardians of Unity stared at the mysterious pony, who, after a moment of studying all the other ponies in the Marestream, turned to Sunny, who was watching them with wide eyes and gave a quick bow.

"You must be Princess Pipp Petals," the unicorn said, revealing them to be a mare.

"M-me? I…I…umm…" Sunny stuttered.

Zipp was still shocked as hell, but the thought of Sunny being Pipp was just too hilarious not to laugh at. "Sunny? As Pipp? Yeah, no. Not even close," Zipp said between laughs.

Sunny gave Zipp a look. "I'm not sure whether to be offended or relieved."

"Relieved. Definitely relieved," Zipp assured.

From Hitch's embrace, Pipp turned to glare at Zipp. "Umm…feeling offended over here."

The unicorn mare blinked, looking between the eight ponies, thoroughly confused. "Um…I'm sorry," She turned to Sunny. "You are an alicorn. Are you not the princess?"

Sunny chuckled nervously. "I'm not a princess."

"Then who is Princess Pipp Petals?" The mysterious mare asked.

Zipp finally stood up, walking towards the unicorn mare. She didn't kick her out right away because she helped Misty, but she still didn't fully trust her. "Who's asking?"

The unicorn mare sighed. "Right. Of course. My apologies."

The unicorn mare then took off her hood with her yellow magic, the same yellow magic that brought the Marestream down, revealing a pink unicorn mare with a purple and blue mane, with blue eyes the same shade as her hair.

Upon seeing the yellow magical aura, Zipp stood in a defensive position. She wasn't stupid. She was a detective for crying out loud. She could connect the dots, even though it seemed as though the others couldn't.

"It was you. You brought us down! You have the same magical aura that grounded us!"

At this, the other ponies stood defensively, Hitch standing protectively in front of Pipp. Zoom flew above the ponies and stood between the unicorn mare and the princesses. Thunder, however, knew that mare. He only saw her once, and he didn't know her name, but he could never forget her beautiful face and her beautiful voice.

He started towards her, his eyes wide with wonder at this impossibility. "It's you. It's really you. I knew you'd survive. I knew you'd be okay."

Everypony looked at Thunder confused, though there was growing concern in Zoom's expression.

The unicorn was also confused. "What?"

"It's you. You're the mare with the beautiful voice–Zoom move!" Thunder yelled when Zoom stepped between him and the mare of his dreams. The very mare that promised him forever.

Upon hearing his words, dread filled the pink unicorn as she stared at the guard with fear, regret, and guilt, putting a hoof to her mouth. "I was too late," She muttered, doing her best not to go back in time.

"Too late for what?" Zipp asked, flaring her wings, ready to jump the queen.

The mare seemed to remember her surroundings and quickly answered, "I'm Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire. It was not me who brought down your…" She paused, looking around at the strange box she was currently in. "Your strange flying carriage thing. Nor am I the mare who entranced your guard and very nearly bewitched your friend."

"If it wasn't you, then who was it? Some doppelganger?" Zipp asked, clearly not believing this Princess Flurry Heart.

However, the others seemed to pause, looking at her with wide confused eyes. On Pipp's and Hitch's wedding night, they received an urgent summons from a Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire, claiming they were in need of Pipp's and Hitch's help. That's why they were here on the Marestream in no pony's land in fifty-below weather.

"Sort of. An ameles. In fact, I am the mare who disposed of this creature before they could do any more damage to your crew. You're welcome, by the way," Princess Flurry Heart explained, a little bitterness in her tone.

Thunder's eyes widened. Anger and rage filled him towards the mare who so callously killed his true love, and then expected to be thanked for it! This mare was crazy. She lost it. She…she was going to pay!

"YOU MONSTER! YOU…YOU KILLED HER YOU SON OF A–"

Zoom had stepped between Thunder and Flurry Heart, her heart breaking at seeing so much hate, anger, and grief for a mare he never even met on her best friend's face. "Thunder! Get it together!"

"But, she killed her! She killed that innocent mare!" Thunder yelled back as Zoom tried her best to hold him back from charging the Princess while the other ponies watched with confusion and fear.

Flurry Heart rolled her eyes. Not at the deranged guard, but at the thought of one of those…things being innocent. "That 'mare' was hardly innocent."

This seemed to only anger Thunder even more. Snarling, he used his wings to fly over Zoom, growling and swerving as Zipp and Pipp tried to cut him off. Misty, who had recovered from her almost mind break, cast a spell that kept Thunder levitated in the air by a coral aura and quickly cast a temporary sleeping spell, gently laying him on the floor.

When magic came back after the Unity Crystals broke, she noticed that her magic was stronger and more expansive than it used to be when magic was tied to those Crystals. She'd been studying spells from her spell book, learning new spells, including the one she just used on Thunder.

All the ponies, including Princess Flurry Heart, looked at Misty in confusion and shock. Her ears flattened, hanging her head to stare at the ground, tears filling her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut, ready for her friends to cast her out, just like the shadowed mare said they would. Just like they had before.

Instead, Misty felt a pair of hooves wrap around her. She opened her eyes to see Zoom hugging her tightly. "Thank you," She whispered in Misty's ear.

Zoom was grateful for Misty's quick thinking. Her best friend…he wasn't acting like her best friend. She had never seen Thunder so angry. So hurt. So…hateful. It broke her heart and she just wanted to help and it hurt her even more knowing she couldn't do anything. She was just happy that Misty had done something that didn't hurt him before he did something she knew he'd regret.

Misty was confused and exhausted, and all she wanted to do was just fall to the ground and break down in tears. She's never had such an emotional taxing ten minutes in her life. She just wanted to sob in her bed at home and put this whole thing behind her before this turned into another changeling situation.

Once Zoom was done hugging her, Pipp walked up to Misty and put a hoof on her shoulder. "We're not mad at you, Misty. We promise. We just want to know why you did that. That's all."

Misty took a deep breath, her heart feeling heavy. She didn't even know where to begin. She barely understood it herself. There was so much anger. So much rage. So much hatred. Thunder would've torn the whole Marestream apart just to hurt, to kill, Princess Flurryheart. Would've hurt anypony who got in his way. His heart grieved for the mare she killed, a mare who he only met once, but who promised forever. Who told him they were soulmates. Special someponies. Like Pipp and Hitch were.

But deep inside, there was a small part screaming at him that this didn't make any sense. That there was nothing to be so angry about. That this was…wrong. He should be hearing Princess Flurry Heart out, not trying to hurt her. That this mare he claimed to love was nothing but a sketchy stranger who barely said two words to him and Zoom. That he was a guard, supposed to protect the princesses, and that he was hurting his best friend.

But that part was overruled by the more feral part of him.

Misty tried to relay all this to her friends the best way she could, but she just couldn't find the right words for it. Nonetheless, it seemed as though her friends understood what she was trying to explain. Even the Crystal Princess seemed to understand, though she still seemed a bit confused.

"How do you know all of this, young unicorn?" Princess Flurry Heart asked, turning to Misty.

Misty was about to stutter out an answer when Izzy was suddenly right beside her, a hoof around her neck. "Oh! This is Misty Brightdawn and she's an empath so she can feel another pony's emotions. She's the element of Empathy." Izzy explained in one big breath.

"The Element of…Empathy?" Princess Flurry Heart asked.

"Yeah! You know, one of the Elements of Unity. There's Kindness," Izzy rushed to Hitch, giving him a big hug. "Courage and Confidence," Izzy rushed to Zipp and Pipp as she said their Elements, lifting Pipp's chin to make her look confident, even though she looked confused and making Zipp puff out her chest to look courageous, even though she just looked annoyed.

"Empathy," Izzy then nuzzled softly against Misty. "Creativity!" Izzy said as she held up assorted craft supplies she seemed to grab from thin air, leaning into Princess Flurry Heart to whisper "That's me," before bounding away to grab something. "And Hope!" Izzy pointed the beam of a flashlight at Sunny, making her light up like a beacon. Sunny put her hoof up to shield her eyes.

Zipp rolled her eyes. "Why don't you tell her our whole life story while you're at it," Zipp commented flatly.

"Huh. Well, I didn't think she'd want to hear it, but, okay," Izzy took a dramatic deep breath and was just about to start talking when Zipp put a hoof to her mouth before another word could come out.

"She doesn't. That was sarcasm," Zipp explained with some annoyance in her tone.

"I know," Izzy sang as she bounced away to stand next to Misty, leaving Zipp dumbfounded and frustrated as the rest of their friends chuckled.

Princess Flurry Heart was lost in thought. She never heard of the Elements of Unity, but they sounded awfully similar to something else she heard about. Something that broke over a thousand years ago during King Sombra's third return. Tears came to her eyes as she thought about them. "So…you mean…like the Elements of Harmony?"

"The Elements of what now?" Pipp asked tilting her head.

Flurry Heart shook her head. "Never mind. We should be going. I trust Princess Pipp is on this flying carriage."

Everypony looked at Misty, and at first, she thought this was Princess Pipp, though, she didn't have the air of royalty about her. Then she remembered the lavender unicorn, who reminded her so much of her Aunt Pinkie, introducing her as Misty something, and remembered she was an empath. They were probably looking at her fir a verification of trust. Good. At least they weren't that naive.

Misty knew Princess Flurry Heart was who she said she was. She could just tell. Misty couldn't feel much except for great sorrow, but it was buried down deep with a great big wall surrounding the gravesite. It made Misty wonder hoe strong Princess Flurry Heart's sorrow and grief really was, if she could feel it through all of that, this strongly. No wonder why she buried it. Even just feeling this much of it was enough to almost crush Misty.

"She's good. She's telling the truth, as far as I can tell."

"As far as you can tell?" Hitch asked, a little concern now growing for how much faith they were putting in Misty's ability.

"If they believe it's the truth, if they truly believe it with all their heart, then it feels like the truth to me. I'm an empath, not a lie detector test."

Pipp looked at Zipp, as though for confirmation. Pipp trusted Zipp more than anypony else, Hitch being a close runner up. If Zipp believed it was safe, then so would Pipp. It wasn't that Pipp didn't trust Misty, it's just that…it was almost an automatic thing for her. Whenever she was unsure about something, she'd look up to Zipp to give her courage.

Zipp nodded without hesitation. She had gained a lot of trust for Misty over the past year. It all started when Misty trusted Zipp enough to shatter the Unity Crystals when Zipp came to the conclusion that it'd keep Equestria safe from the changelings by making the ponies useless to them, even though it meant she could lose everything. Magic. Her friends. Her home. And when she did, still she trusted Zipp. She trusted Zipp when she said they'd find Pipp, no matter what, and Misty worked tirelessly day and night searching any possible lead that could even remotely lead them to Pipp.

She was one of the first to have the courage to trust Zipp when she stood weaponless against a charging griffon army all based off of nothing but a hunch. Misty trusted Zipp when she inspired the rest of their friends they could fight the changelings the first time around. She trusted Zipp all those times, so completely, with no questions asked. That's how Zipp needed to trust Misty. Trust went both ways. Why should Misty keep trusting Zipp if she wasn't going to trust Misty in return?

Misty looked at Zipp with wide, shocked eyes. Zipp was the most skeptical of all of them, never taking things at face value. So for Zipp to agree so quickly, no questions asked, based entirely off of Misty's word was surprising. Upon seeing Misty's shocked expression, it made Zipp wonder what type of friend Zipp truly was. Zipp gave a small smile of reassurance to Misty, who quickly returned it.

Pipp took a deep breath, going into full dignitary mode and acting exactly the way her mother taught her when meeting royalty for the first time professionally. She slowly approached Princess Flurry Heart and bowed low as she introduced herself.

"I'm Princess Pipp Trailblazer of Zephyr Heights. It is an honor to meet you, Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire."

"As is an honor to formally meet you, Princess Pipp," Flurry Heart replied, bowing low herself. She was surprised that even after all these years, the formal meet and greet between royalty was still the same. "I assume your husband is with you?"

Pipp nodded as Hitch walked up, following Pipp's lead. However, since he wasn't trained as a royal dignitary yet, with then leaving just days after their wedding, he didn't want to mess anything up.

"This is my husband, Prince Hitch Trailblazer." Pipp then turned to the rest of her friends. "This is Sunny Starscout. Izzy Moonbow. My sister Zipp Storm. And my future stepsister, Misty Brightdawn."

"Well, it is lovely to meet you all. I apologize for being so presumptuous Sunny, and mistaking you for Pipp. It's just that…when I was young, only alicorns were royalty. I suppose old habits die hard."

"But…you're a unicorn and you're Princess of the Crystal Empire." Sunny argued, thoroughly confused.

A small devious smile appeared on her face. The first smile seen on the Princess' face in a thousand years. "I'm not…just a unicorn."

Flurry Heart ruffled her wings and everypony gasped. The only other alicorn they've seen besides Sunny was Opaline. They didn't think there were anymore out there.

Zipp flew to Flurry Heart, her eyes wide with questions, excited for something else to investigate to soothe her detective soul. "Oh my hoofness I cannot believe you are an alicorn I have so many questions for you I–"

Flurry Heart put a hoof up, silencing the jabbering Zipp. "Please, Princess Zipp. I'd love to answer all of your questions. But we really must be going. We don't know what kind of danger lurks in these woods."

Flurry Heart knew exactly what type of dangers lurked in these woods, but time she spent explaining would be time for those very dangers to find them.

Author's Note

Alright, second chapter is here.

You know when I said I'd make this story less dark and have more humor than the last two?

Yeah, I gave up on the dream about a quarter of the way in of this chapter :facehoof:

So yeah. It's gonna to get pretty dark. As well as emotional :ajbemused:

Hope you like it!

Friend Or Foe?

"Name: Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire. Age: Pony age. Current questions: These. How long have you been an alicorn and how did you become one?"

They were currently in the air in the Marestream, Zipp driving so Hitch could rest since it was currently one in the morning and he had been driving for most of the night. Hitch was currently lying on one of the beds in the Marestream, Pipp cuddling next to him, her head on his chest.

Izzy was humming to herself as she crafted a new accessory for her new friend, who was currently sitting on the passenger seat next to Zipp, who had her phone on the dash recording everything Flurry Heart said.

Misty lay on her Marestream bed, her head buried in her pillow, as far away from Flurry Heart as possible. It wasn't that Misty didn't like Flurry Heart, the alicorn did save her after all, nor was she scared of Flurry Heart either. It was just that…Opaline and Sunny were the only alicorns Misty had met. And while one was one of her best friends, the other was evil and tried to take all of the magic in Equestria and fillynapped her when she was young and cruelly raised her. So, she had about a fifty-fifty chance of alicorns being good or evil, and while she wished her good experience outweighed the bad, unfortunately, it was the bad that left an impression on her, causing her to be apprehensive about this third unknown alicorn.

Not to mention, Misty just wanted to be alone. She had the patched-up fabric curtain her friends made for her to hang around her bed closed, creating a wall between Misty and the rest of the ponies. She was quietly sobbing into her pillow, being as quiet as she could so she didn't let her friends in on her tears. She had such a long night so far, and all she wanted was for it to end, but it felt far from over.

Thunder was still asleep, lying on his bed. Zoom didn't leave his bedside, praying like hell that when he woke up, he'd be his normal bumbly self again.

Sunny was sitting between the two seats up front, staring at Flurry Heart like she hung the moon. Sunny had felt so alone since the defeat of Opaline, being the only alicorn in all of Equestria. Zipp and her had gone to Opaline's old castle in hopes of finding more information on where other alicorns might be, and while they found that tapestry that told her other alicorns were out there, she had no idea where to find them. Even with Zipp and her studying every book about alicorns they could, which, face it, wasn't much, they still didn't find anything. Surprise surprise.

She considered asking her friends for help, and she was going to, but then Pipp and Hitch got into that massive fight and then Pipp went missing and magic was destroyed and after that, it didn't seem like it mattered because, well, Sunny wasn't an alicorn anymore. But then she became a permanent alicorn like Opaline and the problem arose again. She didn't ask her friends because, honestly, it didn't bother her all that much. She didn't have a whole lot of time to really think about it. Hitch and Pipp wanted to marry with a formal wedding, well, Pipp wanted the formal wedding, but Hitch didn't care as long as it ended with him marrying Pipp, as soon as possible after they took Sparky back to the dragon lands for a quick recharge. After that, it barely occurred to her among all the wedding preparations as the best mare that consumed her life.

Then the letter from Princess Flurryheart came and suddenly, a month after preparations, they were off. During the day, she hardly thought about it, speculating with her friends as to who Flurry Heart was, why she called them, and what the Crystal Empire was. However, late at night, when she'd sometimes lay awake in bed, the thought that she was the only alicorn in Equestria would plague her and she'd feel incredibly lonely.

But now Princess Flurry Heart was here. She was here and suddenly, Sunny didn't feel so alone. She didn't feel like there was nopony out there who'd ever understand her. She found a pony she had been looking for since she first became the alicorn and didn't even realize it. And she couldn't be more ecstatic about it. She didn't want to leave Flurry Heart's side, wanting to know everything she could about past alicorns and how Flurry Heart coped with the weight of such a responsibility.

Sunny felt stupid for complaining about her responsibilities when her friends had as big responsibilities, if not bigger, as she did. Hitch was the Sheriff of Maretime Bay, and now the newly crowned Prince of a city he didn't even grow up in. Pipp and Zipp were Princesses of Zephyr Heights, forcing them to make the hard decisions. Misty was an empath, having to deal with not only her own emotions, which was hard enough for most ponies, but everypony else's too. And Izzy was the main repair pony in Maretime Bay. Whenever somepony needed something fixed, they'd go to her. She'd have mile-long high orders, especially when ponies from Bridlewood and Zephyr Heights came just to bring her the things that needed to be fixed after hearing about her from their friends.

But, being the alocorn came with big responsibilities too. Everypony looked up to her. When there was a problem, everypony expected her to be able to fix it. She united pony kind, and it was her responsibility to keep them united. It was her job to keep all of Equestria united, lest they fall back into the old patterns Sunny grew up with.

It was a big responsibility, and if she could do it without being the alicorn, she would. But nopony seemed to listen to her when she'd be in her earth pony state when she was able to go back and forth. Her friends told her it didn't matter, that those who wouldn't listen just because Sunny wasn't "special" enough, their voices didn't matter. However, when it came to keeping unity and the majority of Equestria were those voices, it mattered. When Sunny lost her alicornhood when magic disappeared, she couldn't seem to keep ponykind from slowly drifting apart and moving back to their own cities. Ponies only listened when she was an alicorn, and it was a lesson she learned more than once.

"Umm…" Flurry Heart started, snapping Sunny from her thoughts. "I guess I've always been an alicorn."

"So, most of your life? Like, you don't remember your transformation or…?" Zipp asked, trailing off, hoping for Flurry Heart to agree or fill in the blank.

"I was an alicorn since I was born a little over a thousand years ago."

It took a moment for that statement to kick in. Zipp nodded and was about to go to the next question when she slammed on the brakes, causing the Marestream and everything in it to recoil. Hitch and Pipp sat up from the sudden jolt, Izzy's bin of assorted craft supplies fell to the ground creating a huge mess on the floor, and Misty quickly poked her head out of the curtain, wiping her face. Zoom had fallen on her back, but as Misty was about to help her up, Zoom was already on her hooves, ready for action. Ready to protect the princesses at any cost.

"Zipp! What in the hay? Why did you slam on the breaks?" Pipp asked.

"You messed up my assorted craft supplies! Now I'll have to start all over in reorganizing everything so I can finish my gift for Princess Flurry Heart!" Izzy whined, to which Misty quickly helped Izzy pick up her craft supplies with her magic, soon joined by Pipp.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Misty asked, with more concern than irritation in her voice, unlike the two previous mares.

However, Zipp ignored them all while she stared at Flurry Heart open-mouthed. "Y–you were b-born an ALICORN?!"

"And you're over a thousand years old?!" Sunny asked with the same amount of shock.

Everypony stopped what they were doing to look at the Crystal Princess, well, everypony except for Misty, who continued picking up the craft supplies with her magic. She only stopped when she noticed Izzy and Pipp had stopped helping. She looked around, confused as to why everypony was shocked.

"Yes. And yes." Flurry Heart answered simply.

Misty looked around. "I don't get it. Why is everypony shocked by this news?"

"Umm…because this is the first known alicorn to be born. And she's the oldest!"

Misty and Flurry Heart glanced at each other, both confused as to why everypony else was shocked, though for different reasons. "No, she's not. Opaline was born an alicorn. And she's older than Princess Flurry Heart."

Flurry Heart froze at Opaline's name. This…she couldn't really be back could she. The strange flying carriage suddenly felt very small and cold sweat began to form on her brow. Her breathing became rapid and her vision began to narrow as memories played through her head.

Aunty Twiley! Help!

MOM! NO!

Where's Dad? He's usually back by now…?

Sweetie, I need you to do something very important…

I need you to protect them with your life…

I believe in you, my precious little niece…

Best aunt EVER!!

Only aunt

"Princess?" Pipp asked, her voice full of concern.

Flurry Heart blinked, looking around as the good-natured laughter of teenage hood faded until there was no sign of it. Flurry Heart looked around to find herself in the strange flying carriage the other ponies called the Marestream. Everypony was looking at her with concern. Tears filled her eyes that she quickly wiped away. She had to play this off. She didn't want to unhash her whole past to these ponies.

"Princess? Are you okay?" Hitch asked, stepping up to stand next to Pipp, who leaned into him as he put a hoof around her shoulders.

Flurry Heart blinked again when in their place stood a light pink alicorn mare with purple, yellow, and pink hair and a white, blue‐maned unicorn stallion took their places, standing in the same exact position. When Flurry blinked, the two ponies were gone and Princess Pipp and Prince Hitch had taken their places.

"Umm…yes. I'm…I'm fine," Flurry Heart answered after a moment of silence. She cleared her throat, adopting the air of royalty about her rather than an emotionally struggling mare. "Umm…so…you know of…of her?"

Misty could see right through Flurry Heart's unconvincing charade, and it wasn't only unconvincing because she was an empath. Misty felt a small hole open in that wall of hers, a small crumbling of dirt that buried her feelings, and it was like those feelings of sorrow, grief, fear, and insecurity all streamed out of that crumbled dirt and hole in the wall like a geyser. Misty very nearly fell to her knees, tears coming to her eyes.

Then the hole closed again, the dirt was filled in, and the crushing loneliness, the weight of sorrow on her chest was somehow lighter. More bearable. However, even though the wall and grave site helped bury such debilitating emotions, it also prevented her from letting in feelings. Feelings of actual happiness. Feelings of excitement. Joy. Any kind of emotion, whether positive or negative, was barred access. However, remove the wall, unearth the dirt to let in those emotions, and the emotions that practically crushed Misty would be released, and Misty wasn't sure anypony could handle such emotions without drowning in them, even Princess Flurry Heart.

However, part of the reason they were so…much was because she allowed them to fester without dealing with them. They grew and grew and grew, and instead of facing it, one emotion at a time, she simply buried them to rot but left alone, feelings don't rot. They grow. And that's exactly what they did. And now, they may just be too much for her to handle.

"Oh? You mean Opaline?" Pipp asked, causing Misty to quickly wipe away her tears and try to pretend like nothing was wrong like Flurry Heart did every day.

Flurry Heart flinched, though nopony but Misty noticed. "Yes. You know of her?"

"To an extent," Misty said, moving her head in a kind of gesture.

Izzy was by her side in an instant, squeezing Misty close to her by the neck. "'To an extent'? We know her to an extent, cause we all defeated her. You know her personally," She turned to Flurry Heart with a smile of pride. "Misty here was raised by Opaline. Without Misty, we wouldn't have been able to defeat her!"

Misty's eyes widened and her blush could be seen from across the room as though Misty had just been caught naked. Misty took a step back and stared at Flurry Heart with fear. While Flurry Heart tried to present herself as calm, Misty knew otherwise. She could feel fear and anger rise in Flurry Heart. And vengeance. So much vengeance. Misty took another step back.

Not that it did any good. Before anypony could react, Misty was picked up in a yellow magical aura and Flurry was already charging at Misty, tears in her eyes. Flurry Heart threw Misty against the far wall of the Marestream, making the ship rattle. Izzy pleaded for Flurry to stop, but she was ignored.

Flurry Heart picked up Misty again, throwing her into the corner of the wall, taking down the curtain as she went through it, landing on her bed after she hit the wall. Zoom jumped on Flurry Heart, trying to get her to stop, but Flurry just plucked Zoom off of her and threw her against the wall with her magic, knocking the guard out.

Misty tried to scramble to her hooves but Flurry Heart picked her up with her magic, no longer seeing the blue unicorn, but seeing somepony else. Somepony she'd never forgive.

She slammed Misty on the floor, making the Marestream sway. "TRAITOR!" Flurry screamed as she slammed Misty against the ground, her voice cracking from a sob, tears flowing freely from her eyes. "YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!"

The Marestream swayed and while Zipp wanted to help, she was busy trying to keep the Marestream stable from all the commotion. Sunny was already on her hooves, charging her horn, putting a barrier between Misty and Flurry Heart, but Flurry had sent a magic beam at it, shattering it to pieces. While Sunny and Flurry may have both been alicorns, Flurry Heart had a thousand years to hone her magic, and failing was not an option. Not again.

Flurry charged up another beam, ready to cast it on Misty. Not knowing what else to do, Pipp jumped in front of Misty, willing to do anything to help her friend. However, Flurry Heart didn't see Pipp in time and fired the beam at Misty.

Hitch's eyes widened as he stomped his hooves on the floor as hard as he could. He was not going to lose her again. Not this time. Not when he could do something about it. As soon as his hooves slammed on the ground, a thick vine grew between Pipp and Flurry Heart, taking the brunt of the beam. Pipp and Flurry Heart were thrown back from the force of the collision, but it worked and both Pipp and Misty were unharmed.

Hitch hurried to Pipp's side to make sure she was okay while Flurry Heart disposed of the plant. When she did, she finally saw Pipp and Hitch in front of Misty. She snarled. She didn't want to hurt her kingdom's only hope, but at the same time…she needed to get rid of the traitor before she took everything from her again.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY! SHE'S A TRAITOR!"

"No! She's my friend and my future stepsister! And if you want to hurt her, you'll have to get through us!" Pipp said as Izzy and Sunny all stood in front of Misty. Sensing the physical part of the fight was over for now, Zipp put the ship on autopilot and flew past Flurry Heart to stand next to Hitch in front of Misty.

The two sides stared each other down as Flurry kept her horn charged. She clenched her teeth, snarling and glaring at Misty. "Don't you see?! She's working for Opaline! She's working with the traitor!"

"No! She was working with Opaline. And then she became our friend and she helped us defeat her. If it weren't for her, we'd be living under Opaline's iron hoof. You will not hurt her!" As Pipp said the last sentence, another voice echoed with hers as it boomed across the room. Nopony but Flurry Heart noticed this, but it was enough for Flurry Heart to take a step back.

Flurry Heart knew that voice. It was the voice that raised her. The voice that sang her to sleep. The voice that soothed her when she was scared. A voice she loved with all of her heart. A voice she'd never hear again.

Fat tears welled in her eyes as she took another step back. Upon seeing her shocked, grief-stricken face, Pipp's glare softened until it was nonexistent. She wanted to ask if Princess Flurry Heart was okay, but she still had her horn charged, so she didn't take a step.

"She's not allowed in my kingdom," Flurry mumbled, so low the other ponies barely heard her, panting heavily. "We don't accept traitors."

"Then you don't get our help. Your kingdom can fall for all I care. If any of my friends are put in danger because you can't control yourself, then we will turn this ship right around and go back to Equestria and forget you ever existed." Pipp answered dangerously, her voice not as low as Flurry Heart's but not as loud as before either.

I need you to protect them with your life…

With a heavy sigh, Flurry Heart stepped back, deactivating her horn, and looking away from the group of ponies. She turned back to the front of the Marestream, saying, "C'mon Princess Zipp. We're almost there."

Zipp flew up to hug Pipp and hurried to the driver's seat of the Marestream, glancing back at Misty who was still on the ground before taking the ship off of autopilot and driving. Just before Flurry Heart went to the passenger seat, Flurry overheard Pipp and Hitch.

Hitch was breathing heavily, both from fear and relief. "Thank hoofness you're okay! I thought I lost you again!"

Pipp and Hitch were sitting, both of Hitch's hooves on both sides of Pipp's face, tears filling his eyes. He kissed Pipp all over her face, ending on her lips, long and deep. Pipp had her hooves on Hitch's forelegs and was smiling up at Hitch with love, tears in her eyes.

Pipp laughed softly, a sound being a release from stress and there was a shakiness to it. A tremble that was more than slight. "What can I say? I guess I'm generous with my life."

Generous…

Flurry Heart froze, her heart stopping. A memory began to form in her head.

Well, that's what it means to be generous, darlings. Doing things that help another pony, even if it inconveniences or hurts us in the process. Because, perhaps, one day, when you help somepony who desperately needs it, they may help you when you desperately need them…

Flurry Heart shook her head, banishing the memory with it. She hurried towards the front next to Zipp while the others turned to the sobbing Misty.

The sounds of hooves against crystal floors could be heard throughout the Crystal Castle as the eight ponies made their way through the halls. They had finally made it to the Crystal Empire and they all felt like they were going to collapse.

The Crystal Empire was beautiful, and while it sparkled in the artificial sunlight, they didn't even notice. They were all droopy-eyed, their whole bodies achy from exhaustion. Misty limped at the back of the group, leaning against Zipp who had her wing around her.

She hadn't said a word since that incident, but it was for a completely different reason than the first time she was silent for six months. She couldn't talk, even if she wanted to, and she sure as hell didn't want to. She was crushed under the weight of Flurry Heart's emotions. She's never felt so much grief and fear and anger all bottled up in one pony. It was worse than when Hitch thought Pipp was dead. Much worse.

Because Flurry Heart didn't attack Misty because she thought Misty was working for Opaline. No. She attacked Misty because she thought Misty was a younger version of herself. At that moment, when she saw Misty, she didn't see Misty. She saw a younger version of herself. Literally. Eighty percent of that hatred and anger and fear and vengeance…it was all aimed at herself. She refused to forgive herself for the mistakes she made over a thousand years ago. The mistakes that cost her everything. The only thing that kept her alive after all these years was because her kingdom needed her. Because of all the mistakes she made that were stacked a mile high, she refused to add breaking a promise on top of it all.

Sunny levitated Thunder, who was still asleep, through the halls next to her. Zoom walked beside the floating Thunder, refusing to leave his side for any reason. Sunny no longer looked at Flurry Heart like she hung the moon. In fact, Sunny didn't know how to feel about the Crystal Princess after everything.

Pipp and Hitch walked side by side ahead of Zipp and Misty. They tried to let the struggling unicorn and her pegasus helper in front of them, but they chose to stay in the back, not wanting to slow them down. And while they were lagging behind Flurry Heart, all the ponies stayed close to Misty, as though forming a shield in case Flurry were to lose it again.

"My…apologies for my…outburst against your friend…" Flurry Heart started. "The Crystal Empire has many healing crystals that can help your friend feel brand new. If you'd like…we can get her started on that right away."

They all looked at the bruised Misty, who shook her head. Zipp sighed heavily. Not this again. Please not this again. Those six months were tortuous for Zipp, and not just because she had to choose Equestria over Pipp, but because Misty wouldn't talk, no matter what Zipp tried and it hurt to see Misty like this.

Once again, Zipp was Misty's voice. "No. We'd just like to go to bed at the moment."

"If you wish. M.O.R.I.C. will show you to your rooms. He has already prepared them for use. M.O.R.I.C.!"

Suddenly, a greenish-blue earth pony with a black mane, a black and white suit, and dark blue eyes appeared next to Flurry Heart as though he teleported there, scaring the seven ponies.

"There you are, M.O.R.I.C. Please, show these eight ponies to their rooms." Flurry Heart turned to the eight ponies. I was thinking that maybe you'd like to room in pairs. If not, that's fine, we have plenty of rooms for you all to sleep separately and I can have M.O.R.I.C. spruce them up but–"

"It's fine," Sunny interrupted. "That'd actually be great. Pipp and Hitch can take one room, Zipp and Misty can room together, Zoom and Thunder can go together, and Izzy and I can share a room. Is everpony alright with that?"

The rest of the ponies nodded.

"Good," Flurry Heart turned and began to walk away, only to stop and turn back to the group of ponies. "I…I hope you understand. Opaline…if what you say is true, and you really have faced her as you claim, then you know…she makes a…formidable foe. I was simply exercising caution."

"Yeah, we get it. You got a kingdom to protect," Zipp answered dismissively.

"We just expect an explanation," Pipp continued through clenched teeth.

"And one you shall have. In the morning. You must first rest. It had been a long night. During breakfast, I will explain everything."

"You better," Hitch growled.

With a sigh, Flurry Heart turned and walked away, leaving the ponies with M.O.R.I.C.

Flurry Heart slowly walked into her room, taking off her cloak and winter gear with her magic. She took off her crown and stared at it. It was light blue and had three points, the middle one being the tallest. In the middle of the tallest point was a carving of a heart. So much for looking nonmenacing.

"All the guests have been led to their rooms and are now settled in, your Majesty."

Flurry Heart jumped, dropping her crown on the floor. She turned to see M.O.R.I.C. at the entrance to her room, the door closed. "Sweet Aunt Twilight, MORICC!" Flurry Heart exclaimed, picking up her crown with her magic again. "You scared me half to death."

"Would you like me to knock next time?"

"Well, you don't exactly need to. It's fine. I was just…lost in thought."

Flurry Heart looked at her crown again, sighing heavily. What was wrong with her? Why would she attack one of them? And to make it all worse, she attacked the most sensitive one. She thought she had her emotions in check. She thought she had it under control. What happened? She was her father's daughter. If he could stay calm in those kinds of situations and not let his emotions get the best of him, why couldn't she? She practiced and meditated and…what was wrong with her? How could she just lose it like that? How could she rule the Crystal ponies when they woke up when she couldn't even keep her emotions in check?

"Are you okay, Princess?"

Flurry Heart blinked, realizing she was lost in thought again. "Yeah, I'm…fine."

There was a moment of silence before M.O.R.I.C. spoke again. "Princess Twilight Sparkle programmed me to know when you are experiencing feelings of distress. She wanted me to not only be your number one assistant but your friend."

Tears came to Flurry's eyes as she heard the words 'number one assistant'. She quickly wiped them away and scoffed. "Figures. Sounds like Aunt Twi. Guess a programmed friend's better than no friend."

"I detect…sarcasm?"

Flurry scoffed again. "Sort of."

"You are undergoing feelings of distress. Talking about your feelings will help. Is this about that blue unicorn?"

Flurry Heart looked up at M.O.R.I.C. "How did you know about that?"

"She came in with multiple bruises and abrasions. Did something happen?"

Flurry Heart sighed. Of course he didn't know. How could he? He wasn't there. But…why did Flurry panic about him knowing? He was a robot. It wasn't like he could judge her or anything. It wasn't like it'd change the way he thought about her. Still, she didn't want him to know. Sometimes he felt a little too real to be a robot, just like Twilight intended. Except when he'd crash and Flurry would have to repair him with that spell Twilight taught her.

"Nothing. I'm fine, M.O.R.I.C."

"You do not look fi–"

"I said I'm fine!" Flurry yelled, throwing her crown at M.O.R.I.C. with her magic. The crown went right through him and bounced off the door behind him. Flurry Heart sighed. "I'm sorry M.O.R.I.C. It's not you I'm upset with. I'm just…pissed at myself and the way I acted, that's all."

"You are angry. Going to bed angry will keep you awake. I will run a hot bath to help you relax."

Flurry Heart could hear the sound of water running in her bathroom tub. She was about to decline when she changed her mind. He really did know her best. "Actually, M.O.R.I.C., that sounds really nice."

Flurry Heart was about to walk to her bathroom when she was stopped.

"Princess?"

Flurry Heart turned around to face the green earth pony. "Yes, M.O.R.I.C.?"

"You know, it is okay to feel, Princess. Bottling up your emotions will only harm you, not help you. I understand you are scared to let yourself feel because of the horrible emotions you will feel when you do, but if you do not, you will not be able to make any friends. You will be lonely, and that will be the only emotion you feel. Princess Twilight did not want that for you."

"Well, Aunt Twi isn't here, is she? And I do have friends. I have you." Flurry Heart wasn't just saying that to shut him up. She really did consider him a friend. "Besides, the last time I let my emotions out, I hurt somepony. My emotions are dangerous, so they're going to stay buried."

"If you say so, Princess," He said before disappearing. Flurry sighed and walked into her bathroom, not sure what the hell she was going to do.

Hitch cracked the door to his and Pipp's room, looking through the small crack into the crystal hallway.

"Well? See anything?" Pipp asked from behind him.

"No. It's clear." Hitch turned from the door to look at Pipp. "Tell me, why are we doing this again?"

Pipp rolled her eyes. "Because, we don't want her freaky butler to get suspicious and spy on us, remember? Or, at least, that's what Zipp said in her text."

"And we're following her advice because…?"

"Umm…because I trust her opinion. Duh."

Hitch rolled his eyes. "Right. Whatever. I just think this is a bit much."

"Well, nopony asked you for your opinion, did they?"

"Clearly," Hitch muttered just loud enough for Pipp to hear, causing her to roll her eyes.

Hitch looked out the cracked door again just to be safe and when he saw nothing, he opened it just wide enough for him and Pipp to sneak through. They slowly crept down the massive hallway. All the doors looked the same and they couldn't remember which door was Zipp and Misty's.

As Pipp walked down the halls, something occurred to Pipp as odd. "Doesn't it feel a little…empty to you?"

Hitch shrugged. "It's two in the morning. Everypony's probably asleep," Hitch answered with a shrug.

It didn't surprise Pipp that Hitch didn't think it suspicious. He didn't grow up in a castle like Pipp did. She spent nineteen years of her life in a castle. She knew how they operated. They were never this quiet. Even if all the servants and such were asleep, there'd be guards patrolling the hallways, but besides them, there wasn't a single pony in sight. It felt wrong. Something was definitely up.

Suddenly, a door opened to their right and they were pulled in by two different hooves. They yelped but were quickly silenced by the hooves over their mouths. When they looked around, they saw Sunny and Zipp standing in front of them. Izzy was sitting next to Misty, who was sitting on her bed, as Izzy put a small bandage on her cut on her forehead.

Pipp and Hitch nodded and Sunny and Zipp slowly removed their hooves. Pipp and Hitch turned to Misty.

"How're you doing?" Pipp asked, flying next to Misty's bedside.

"I'm fine," Misty muttered, trying to give a reassuring smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Good. Can we get this over with? I'm tired and I wanna go to sleep," Hitch said with a yawn.

"Right. I don't trust Flurry Heart. There's something up about her. There's something she's not telling us," Zipp started.

"Well, she didn't really have the chance. It's been a craaaazy rollercoaster since we met," Izzy countered as she finished helping Misty.

"Tell me about it," Misty muttered.

"Yeah. Some of that rollercoaster was caused by her. Why did she just attack Misty like that? Clearly, she's unstable and dangerous." Zipp added.

"Yeah, that behavior was totally uncalled for. But, she did send that S.O.S. message. Her kingdom clearly needs help," Pipp said.

"What kingdom? Besides M.O.R.I.C., we haven't seen a soul. I'm telling you, there's something creepy about this place."

"Zipp, it's two in the morning. Everypony's asleep."

"Guys," Misty said quietly.

"Took the words right outta my mouth, Sunny," Hitch agreed. "But I do gotta agree with Zipp. Flurry Heart is unstable and dangerous."

"Guys," Misty said a little louder.

"Maybe we should just go," Sunny suggested. "Before she hurts another one of us. Or worse. I mean, if we can't trust our allies, how can we fight our enemies?"

"I second that," Hitch said, raising his hoof.

"Guys!" Misty yelled, gaining all of their attention. When they all looked at her, she sighed and continued. "Maybe we should all go easy on her. Meeting us was really hard for her. Like, really hard for her."

"Why? We're super nice?" Izzy asked.

"Does she have like, social anxiety or something?" Hitch added.

Misty sighed. "I'm not clear on the details or anything, but meeting us? It brought back some really hard memories that she hadn't thought about in centuries. I don't know what they are, but I know they're really hard for her." Misty turned to Hitch. "Hitch, remember how you felt when Pipp died?"

Hitch looked to the ground and nodded. He glanced at Pipp from the corner of his eye, who nuzzled him in comfort, but her ears stayed pricked. "Yeah."

"You felt anger at Queen Vespula for killing her. You felt guilt for not being able to save her. You felt guilty for not being able to take her place. You felt lost and alone."

"Yeah. What's your point?"

"Well, imagine if Pipp didn't come back. Imagine if you had to live the next thousand years without her. And then, imagine if you saw a mare who looked just like Pipp and it resurfaced all those memories you tried to keep buried. And now, imagine right after that, if you saw a pony who reminded you of Queen Vespula. How'd you react?"

"I'd lose it," Hitch muttered.

Misty looked at the rest of them. "That was what Princess Flurry Heart felt when she attacked me, but on a much larger scale. Flurry Heart needs our help. And not just for her kingdom, but for her. She may not realize it, but she needs our help to deal with her past. Trust me. She can't do it alone. It'll get messy. And it might get violent, but are we really going to let that stop us? Flurry Heart's a good pony. She just needs help."

Everypony was silent as they all looked at each other, seeming to come to a silent agreement before Zipp finally spoke. "Alright, Misty. If you say so. We'll help her. But you're taking the lead."

"I–I am? But why?" Misty stuttered in shock.

"Because you're the empath, Misty," Sunny reasoned. "You'll know best how to help her. Don't worry. You got this."

"O‐okay. If you say so," Misty stuttered, swallowing nervously.

Author's Note

Well, this was a difficult chapter to write.

I hope you like it and keep an eye out for the next chapter. We'll have our first real look into the past and get some answers. (Not all because where's the fun in that?) :derpyderp1:

See you in the next chapter!

Hakuna Matata

Love And Light

"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:ajbemused:

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.

There Is A Time To Listen And A Time To Talk

Misty tossed and turned, unable to get any real sleep. After dinner earlier, as she promised, she tried searching for Princess Flurry Heart, wandering the castle, but she found no hint of the pink alicorn. Finally, after four hours of searching, she decided to just head to bed and try again tomorrow evening.

However, now she just couldn't sleep. This wasn't unusual for her. She'd often have sleepless nights, but they usually happened after waking up from a nightmare. It was one in the morning and she had yet to fall asleep. She didn't understand why.

She looked over at the neighboring bed, sighing heavily. Zipp was fast asleep, with a book lying open on her chest. Every time Misty moved, Zipp would readjust and her breathing would hitch. If she kept this up, she'd wake Zipp up.

Misty slowly sat up and got out of bed, slowly creeping towards the door. She slowly opened it and closed it behind her once she was out in the hallway. She began to walk down the hall, keeping her head down, her surroundings blurring around her.

This was a common habit for her. She typically walked when she couldn't sleep. Walking always helped her focus her thoughts that would otherwise be a scrambled mess that'd keep her up at night. She practically did it every night at the Zephyr Heights castle for the six months she lived there. The night guards actually became accustomed to her nightly walks and actually came to expect her, sometimes with small gifts that were meant to help her sleep.

None of her friends knew of her nightly walks. She wasn't sure why she never told them. It was something she had done since the night Opaline found her. She'd pace the length of her small bedroom. Back at the Brighthouse, she'd purposefully go outside and walk around the Brighthouse to avoid detection. She'd even hide from Izzy a couple of times when she'd come out to get some tea leaves for her sleepy-time tea.

Misty felt bad about hiding it from her friends, taking such precautions to keep them from finding out. It made her feel stupid. Everypony had their late-night habits. Like how Izzy put Senior Butterscotch in her bed when she left it in the middle of the night. Or how Sunny liked to sleep with her lantern by her bed because it reminded her of when she was a filly. Or how Zipp fell asleep holding notes on the thing she was investigating at the time since she'd read them until the moment she fell asleep. And yet, whenever Misty thought about telling them, she'd feel her heart race and she'd become terrified.

Misty walked through the darkened hallways. The windows were covered by blackout curtains to block out the light of the dimming artificial sun. Her mind was blank, which was also odd. Her thoughts typically raced during these walks.

Come to think of it, she hardly slept since that night. Since the night that creature sang to her. Misty shook her head. Thinking of that creature and that song made her head hurt. And yet, she couldn't stop thinking of it.

What did that creature mean? That she wanted to be her friends' pawn? And how did that creature know about her deepest insecurities? That she's always been an outcast? That it's hard to know for sure if they really are her friends or if they're fakes? That they're just using her for her empathic abilities and when they're done with her, they'll just dump her somewhere like Opaline threatened to do all the time?

Misty stopped her thoughts right there. She refused to think of Opaline. Not after everything Opaline put her through. Not after years of finally being free from her. She would no longer give Opaline the time of day, or night unless she absolutely had to. And she didn't have to. Not now.

Misty looked up to see herself in front of the big ornate wooden doors of the research hall. She was about to walk past it when she saw that the door was cracked open and a lantern was on inside. She hesitated, not sure what to do, before slowly creeping up to the door.

She slowly peeked through the crack, but there wasn't anypony in her line of sight, meaning they were further in. Misty took a deep breath and quietly opened the door, stepping through.

Misty gasped when she saw who was on the other side, making her presence known and causing the pink alicorn with a blue and purple mane to turn and look right at Misty.

Pipp's eyes slowly opened to see the reflections of a lantern light. She sighed heavily. Slowly, she looked at the clock on her phone. One thirty in the morning. Of course. This wasn't the first time he was up this late. She glanced at the door, considering just getting up and leaving to get Sunny so she could levitate him to bed. He probably fell asleep at the desk again but decided not to.

She turned to her other side to see Hitch leaning over the desk in their room. "Babe…?" She called out softly, only to get no response. "Baby?" She called out again, only to get silence.

She sighed, preparing herself to get up, lying on her back. She would've just left him there, but the first time she did that, he was complaining of back pain and could barely walk from sleeping like that with his back hunched for hours. Since then, during the last two times he fell asleep there, she'd get up, and get Sunny so she could levitate Hitch to bed since Pipp wasn't strong enough to lift him on her own.

She stopped though when she heard Hitch yawn. She turned to see him shaking his head and quietly smacking his lips, rubbing his eyes with his hooves before rubbing his face and then going back to reading.

Something was keeping him up at night. She knew that much. She just didn't know what. He refused to talk about it, even though it was keeping him up nearly every night. She was starting to see the toll it was having on him, stressing and worrying and not sleeping. She'd try to pry it out of him, but he'd always tell her he was fine and not to worry about him.

It was killing her inside. They were supposed to be married. They were supposed to be a couple. They were supposed to do this thing called life together. And yet, of felt like They were two strangers, forced to stay together. She began to wonder if he loved her anymore. Now that they were married, did the novelty of being with a pegasus wear off? Was this all that it was to him? A novelty, an experiment, to see what being with a pegasus would be like? Was that what was keeping him up at night? Him trying to find a way to tell her so that he'd still keep his valor in the end? Is that why he didn't tell her?

Pipp shook her head. No. That wasn't it. He loved her more than life itself, right? It was just nerves building up in her. She was just…scared. She knew that their love was all she'd ever need. If that was gone, she was afraid she'd end up all alone again. She didn't want to be left behind.

"Honey…?" Pipp called out, sitting up.

Hitch started, looking up at her. His eyes were sad, but they were quickly replaced by a mask of kindness. "Oh. I'd ask if I woke you up, but…I think I already know the answer to that."

Pipp lay back down. "Honey, come back to bed…" she tried to say in her sexiest voice, but there was a slight tremble that showed her insecurities. "Please…?"

"I can't sleep," Hitch said briskly. "I don't want to wake you up by tossing and turning and…"

"Hitch." That was all she said, but Hitch knew that tone of voice and that look she was giving him. He knew not to test that look.

He sighed and reluctantly dragged his hooves to bed. It made Pipp's heart sink. Did he really not want to be around her that much?

He climbed into bed. She was about to turn her back to go to sleep, giving him the space he so obviously desperately wanted, but was surprised when he wrapped his hooves around her and guided her to lay on his chest.

"Are you okay?" Pipp asked, her voice just above a whisper.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I'm just…I'm worried about you, you know. I love you. You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"I know, hun. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

Pipp sighed, dropping her head on his chest. "Okay." She said shortly.

There was a moment of silence before Hitch asked, "Can you…can you sing for me? It helps soothe my soul."

Pipp smiled at that. He always loved her singing. "Yeah. Sure. Any requests?"

"Whatever comes from the heart. I wanna know what you're feeling."

That was when it hit Pipp. She wanted Hitch to share his feelings and his heart, but she didn't talk about her feelings either. He had no idea she was feeling so alone, so distant from him. How could he? She never told him. She was never good at sharing her feelings. Just like him, she was used to wearing a mask every day for the public to see. It was just so ingrained in her, that she didn't even realize she was doing it for him too. How could she expect him to share his deepest insecurities and feelings when she had yet to do it herself?

Pipp sighed. "Alright. This is a brand-new song. One I'm making up as I go…

🎵I never imagined myself out on my own,
Trying to salvage what's left of me.
I thought our love would always be my home,
Left behind the mare I used to be

But I guess as time goes by,
Everypony has to go out on their own.
And maybe someday I'll have to try,
Something new that's just for me,
A little something that could be
Just my own, so I won't feel so left behind.

We used to say that we'd be always side by side.
But maybe things are changing, and this could mean goodbye.
I always thought our love was all I'd ever need.
I thought we promised forever,
What else is there for me? 🎵

Tears filled Hitch's eyes as he heard Pipp's new song. He had no idea she felt this way. That she felt just like he did. She was scared that now that she'd dived in with all four hooves, he'd leave her and she'd be alone. That maybe him leaving her was inevitable, and that maybe she should distance herself so that wouldn't happen. So she wouldn't feel left behind. It was exactly what he felt.

When Pipp was fillynapped by the changelings, he was so lost without her. He found out that with her gone, he was no longer himself. He had barely functioned properly. The only thing that kept him going was Sparky. And then he found her and he couldn't have been happier.

And then she died, and this time was worse. When she was fillynapped, at least there was hope of her coming back. But…when she died…he knew she was gone. Sure the Unity magic brought her back, but…he didn't know that at the time. And had everything been normal, she wouldn't have. He felt so alone. So broken. Like half of him died right along with her.

And then she jumped in front of Misty when Flurry Heart tried to blast her. She was lucky Hitch was able to grow that plant in time. If he didn't…Hitch didn't want to think of that. He didn't even realize that he had been distancing himself. It wasn't like he could tell her to stop jumping in front of other ponies. But…he was so afraid of losing her again, that he put up that barrier so that when he did, it wouldn't hurt as much. So it didn't feel like she was trying to leave him behind.

As Pipp sang the chorus again, Hitch quietly sang along with her, his voice full of emotion:

🎵But I guess as time goes by,
Everypony has to go out on their own.
And maybe someday I'll have to try,
Something new that's just for me,
A little something that could be
Just my own, so I won't feel so left behind.🎵

Tears also filled Pipp's eyes. Finally, finally, she knew how he felt. By expressing her own emotions and fears, she was able to figure out that he felt the same way. She finally got to understand what he was terrified of. It was the same thing she was scared of. And she knew how to help.

"Hitch, I'll never purposefully leave you. And if you and I are separated, I won't truly be gone. I'll always be in your heart. And, whenever you truly need it, somehow, someway, I'll give you a sign. I'll figure it out. I promise."

And just like that, it felt like the distance between them closed up. They suddenly didn't feel like two perfect strangers forced to stay together. They felt like the married couple they were. They were one being and their souls were interconnected. Just like it was supposed to be.

Hitch squeezed Pipp tighter and Pipp smiled. And that was how the two of them fell asleep, Hitch getting his first restful night of sleep since that day at the changeling kingdom as he fell asleep with a small smile on his face.

Misty froze as Flurry Heart and Misty stared at each other in complete silence. Misty didn't know what to do. Flurry Heart was a landmine so to speak. If she said the wrong thing, Flurry Heart would close herself off again.

Misty stared into Flurry's eyes, seeing a mess of emotions she was not sure her friends would even notice. Fear. Guilt. Anger. Shame. All of it cultivated into one big monster that ate at her from the inside out. Misty was about to put her shield up, the emotions Flurry felt being like a punch in the gut, but she didn't. Sure, her emotions brought Misty back in time to when she felt those things back when she was nothing but Opaline's servant. And yeah, she still felt those emotions ninety percent of the time and instead of dealing with them, she just buried them. But she needed to feel these emotions in order to connect with Flurry on a deeper level. Maybe then she could help her. And, who knows, maybe they could help each other.

"Hi," Misty said in a voice just above a whisper.

"Hi." Flurry Heart turned back around, looking down at the rug in front of her with all the images.

Misty took a shaky breath and slowly walked up to Flurry, sitting down next to her. "What…" her voice came out trembly and wobbly, so she cleared her throat, and tried again. "What are you…looking at?"

"Memories." Was all Flurry said.

Misty was silent for a moment before she built up the courage to speak again. "What do those symbols on the rug mean?"

"Those are the Cutie marks of all of my Aunt's friends. She didn't want me to forget them and…she wanted me to always remember they'll always be here." Flurry Heart pointed to three apples. "This one belonged to my Aunt Applejack. And this one?" She pointed to a rainbow wonderbolt with a cloud. "This one was my Aunt Rainbow Dash's. And this one was Aunt Starlight's." She said as she pointed to a star with two streaks of magical light-green energy coming from it. "She and Aunt Twilight taught me everything I know about magic. And this one was my friend, Pumpkin's cutie mark. Her twin brother's, Poundcake, is right there." She pointed at two cutie marks, which were a pumpkin pie and a chocolate cake. "And this was my friend Peach's cutie mark. And my other friend Orion's." She then pointed to a peach Cobbler cutie mark and a constellation one.

Flurry paused as tears filled her eyes. Misty looked around the rug, trying to find something to distract her. She then found one with a crystalline sky-blue heart with a gilded golden frame and another one that was a dark blue shield with three stars over it. They kind of looked like Flurry Heart's cutie mark.

"What about those? Who are they? They kinda look like yours," Misty asked, pointing at the Cutie marks that were side by side.

Flurry sighed, looking away. "Those belonged to my parents."

Misty closed her mouth. Great. Now she just made Flurry Heart feel worse. She stayed silent, not wanting to make things worse. But…that was when a thought occurred to her.

Misty sighed, praying she didn't make this worse. "You know, Princess…I…I understand what it's like to lose a parent…and…I understand how you're feeling.

Flurry crossed her hooves and rolled her eyes, scoffing. "Sure you do."

I do. I…you feel so alone and that…" Misty squeezed her eyes shut as tears filled them. "That you lost the only pony who could ever understand you and that you'll never find another pony like that again…and…and that you'll be alone your whole life and that even if you did have that parent if they could see you now…they'd hate the pony you became because…you couldn't do anything right! No matter how hard you tried, you'd always fail! Because everything you'd do, everything you ever been involved in, you'd screw it up! And the one pony you looked up to as a parent after you lost your first one kept telling you how much of a screw-up you are and…and that nopony could ever love you and because you dont remember life before her, you believe her and think she's right and you start to believe it's true! And then you find out she was wrong and you make all these friends who claim to love you but even though she's gone, and you found your real parent again, and life's perfect all around, her words still ring through your head and because that's all you've been told your whole life, you can't help but wonder if they're true! So you hide all your feelings from your friends in an attempt to keep them because if you let the tiniest emotion slip, you'll lose them all and prove that pony right!"

Tears were streaming down Misty's face as the emotions she kept buried for so long came bubbling up to the surface. She hadn't even felt these emotions since she was a filly. She buried them, along with her memories, almost two and a half years after Opaline fillynapped her, because, on top of Opaline's constant abuse, it was way too hard on her. She wouldn't have survived otherwise. She…she would've eventually taken her life because of it.

She quickly wiped the tears away with her hoof, opening her eyes to see Flurry Heart just staring at her with wide shocked eyes, completely taken aback by her outburst. She had never expected this out of Misty. She was just so shy and meek and…suddenly, Misty's behavior made sense. She just assumed Misty acted the way she acted because she was shy or an empath. But now …now it made sense. She had just told Flurry Heart. She hid all her feelings in fear that if she let them show, she'd lose them, and prove somepony right. What in the hay happened to this poor mare to make her so…so much like Flurry?

Misty's eyes widened when she realized what just happened and to whom. She did not mean to let that all out. She didn't mean to have a mental breakdown in front of a very temperamental, very powerful, alicorn princess. Her emotions were still raw and her reopened wounds were still fresh. She started to regress to her old behavior. Instead of a light pink alicorn with a blue and purple mane, she saw a magenta-pink alicorn with a white and blue mane.

"I-I'm so sorry, Princess. I'm…I don't know what came over me. Please don't be mad at me!" Misty squeezed her eyes shut and she was once again in the lair with Opaline, as though nothing had changed. "Please, don't hurt me! I promise none of it was true! Please, Opaline, I beg you! I–"

Flurry Heart froze. Did…did she just say Opaline? "W‐what happened to you?" Flurry asked softly, not sure what to think.

She didn't think any of these ponies could understand her. That their lives had been just as blissful and perfect as it was before Opaline showed up. She didn't think anypony could possibly understand the mental torture she put herself through every day. The closest pony she thought could ever understand her was M.O.R.I.C., and he wasn't even a pony. But…maybe…just…maybe…she was wrong.

"I don't know, Opaline! I don't! I'm so sorry! It all just came spilling out and…and I–"

"Hey…" Flurry Heart said gently, grabbing hold of Misty's shoulders, and causing her to flinch. Flurry Heart considered letting go, but Misty was stuck in the past like Flurry so often was. Flurry had M.O.R.I.C. to get her out. Now Misty needed her to do the same. She had no idea what to do to comfort a pony, after a thousand years in complete isolation, so she just did what M.O.R.I.C. did to her. It always worked with her, why wouldn't it work for Misty? "Look at me, Misty. Just look at me."

Misty slowly opened her eyes, waiting for the blow, when her heart stopped. This wasn't Opaline. This…Misty's panic seemed to grow rather than fade away. "I'm so sorry Princess. I just…I didn't know…"

"Misty. It's okay. I'm not mad. I just…I just want to know what happened to you to cause…all this."

Misty sighed, looking down at her hooves as Flurry Heart slowly let go of her. Surprisingly, she didn't feel embarrassed. She just felt…numb inside.

"Well, as you already know, I was raised by Opaline. What Izzy failed to tell you was that she abducted me when I was a little filly. After a while of her abuse, my mind naturally repressed memories of my life before Opaline. She told me…she told me that together, we'd be great. We'd rule Equestria, and every wish, every desire would be granted. She dangled the one thing I wanted in front of me. That if I helped her, she'd give me a cutie mark. She'd…she'd make me special. But…every time I failed, she wouldn't hesitate to call me worthless. A screw up. And I'd fail her…a lot. She'd give me impossible missions, missions she knew I'd fail at, just for the excuse to call me a nothing. And that nopony would love me. She…she beat me down so much, I couldn't help but believe her. She made me feel as though I couldn't do anything right. I believed that she was the only pony who'd ever even stand my presence, let alone love me."

Tears filled Misty's eyes as she explained her life under Opaline. She never told another pony this, not even Zipp, despite how close they became after the shattering of the Unity Crystals. Misty was always the one who listened, not talked. But, it wasn't like any of the ponies ever asked her about her life with Opaline. The only pony who remotely seemed to care about those years was her dad, Alphabittle. But, she could tell talking about it always made him so sad, so she avoided the topic as much as possible.

She's never been a pony who focused on herself. She'd always focus on others before she even gave a thought about herself. If Misty had to guess, it was probably due to years of serving Opaline. That she always had to think of Opaline first. Would Opaline be pleased with that? Would Opaline want to hear that? Would Opaline punish her for that? She was conditioned to never think of herself around Opaline. If she did, there'd be major consequences.

But, talking about her past to Flurry Heart, who seemed to get it, felt natural. She never really had a pony who truly understood her. But Flurry Heart…even though she didn't know what Flurry Heart's past was with Opaline, she had felt the same feelings that Misty had, and still did undergo.

"How…how did you…get out?" Flurry asked gently.

"Opaline had asked me to infiltrate Sunny's friend group. You see, it was them who brought back magic. She knew they were special, and she wanted to know everything she could about them. But, what Opaline didn't account for, was how amazing they'd treat me. You know the saying? It's better to forever be in the dark than to see the light and have it ripped from you? It was like that. In my life with Opaline, I didn't know what I was missing. Everything that happened, to me, was normal. That was how everpony was treated. That was how ponies behaved. The strong on top, the weak at the bottom.

"But, when I met Sunny, she was nothing like Opaline. Yes, she was an alicorn, but she was kind and she treated me like a real friend. Opaline would try to combat my newfound happiness by saying that if they knew who I was, a blank flank, they'd never want to be my friend. That they'd cast me out. And…I believed her. But when Zipp cornered me, I told her I was a blank flank, and I was so sure she'd hate me. But, in fact, she told me that they needed me and that they still loved me just for being me. Izzy made me this charm bracelet." Misty held up her hoof to show off the charm bracelet she always wore, refusing to take it off for any reason. "It had all the cutie marks of my best friends on it, so whenever I felt lonely, all I had to do was look down and know I wasn't alone. But, Opaline raised me on the belief that nopony could ever love me and I still believed Opaline's words and…and I screwed up royally."

"What did you do?"

"Hitch has a baby dragon named Sparky. Opaline has been wanting him so that he can refuel her alicorn firepower. She had wanted me to take him. So, finally, I did. But, I felt so guilty betraying the first ponies who were ever nice to me, who only treated me like family. I went back to them to make things right. I led them to Sparky so that they could save them. I was a blank flank with no magic, there was nothing I could do. But…when I brought them to where Sparky was…Opaline found them…and trapped them. I wasn't even trying to get them captured. Everything Opaline told me about how I screw up everything no matter how hard I tried not to seemed to be true.

"And, for the first time in my life, Opaline was actually proud of me. She told me that as soon as she was done taking Sparky's dragon fire, she'd give me a cutie mark. I had everything I ever wanted. But…it didn't feel like I thought it would. I still felt guilty. I had lost the ponies that had ever meant something to me. I realized…it all boiled down to who I wanted to be as a pony. I realized that I'd rather be a pony without a cutie mark forever than live one more day as a pony that does the wrong thing! So…I freed them. And by doing so, I earned my cutie mark." Misty pointed to the coral and magenta butterfly on her flank. "Once I stopped worrying about wanting a cutie mark, Opaline had lost the only incentive she had for me. And when I had finally earned it, I was my own pony. I no longer had to live under her rule. I freed my friends and helped them save Sparky, and a couple of months later, I was able to help them defeat Opaline.

"Now life is perfect: I have the best friends who became my family, I have my cutie mark, I found my father, I have a home, I have everything I ever wanted, and, even though it's been a while, I'm finding my faith in them and that they'll stay. I still…I can't get used to it. I'm up at night thinking I might just lose it all. That somehow, I'll screw it all up just like she said I would. And I feel so guilty. I know I have enough. I have everything I ever wanted. I have peace. And I have love. I visit my father every month. So, if everything's good, and don't get me wrong, it's great, why do I sit and wait until it's gone? You know. I just…I just need these beautiful things in my life. I don't want to lose these beautiful things that I've got. I can't."

Flurry Heart stared at Misty as she wiped away tears from her eyes. This Misty…Flurry understood why she was the Element of Empathy. It wasn't just because she was an empath. It was because of how much she could relate to other ponies. Not just to their experience, but to the emotions that underpin that experience.

Tears filled Flurry's heart. The fact that Misty shared gave Flurry the courage to share her own experience. She didn't feel stupid in front of Misty for falling for Opaline's manipulations because Misty went through the same exact thing.

"Opaline manipulated me too," She finally said. "I was fifteen and still didn't have a cutie mark. Of course, Aunt Twilight taught me that nopony could give you a cutie mark. I knew that. But…still. Something about it felt right. Like she could really do what she said she could…" Flurry trailed off, sighing heavily. This was the first real-time she actually talked about it. She tried to visit the past as little as possible.

"A manipulation spell. That's what she used with me too, until she figured out I had repressed my memories and she realized she didn't need to do that anymore."

"I agreed and she…every year, my parents, who were the King and Queen of the Crystal Empire at the time, threw me a grand party for my birthday for…reasons." Flurry Heart didn't want to bring up the Crystal Heart. "I invited her to it and…let's just say…it's my fault she became so powerful to begin with."

Misty put her hoof on Flurry's. Flurry looked at Misty, who was still looking at the ground. "By the time I made the right decision and saved my friends, it was already too late. Opaline had already drained Sparky of his dragon fire. If she didn't get his dragon fire, she wouldn't have been able to kidnap two full-grown dragons and steal the cutie marks of everypony in Equestria." Misty looked up at Flurry Heart. "You're not the only one who made mistakes when it came to Opaline, Princess. We all did."

Flurry Heart smiled softly, blinking back tears. She quickly wiped away any remnants, saying. "Thanks, Misty. You know, it really makes me feel better, having somepony who went through something similar. Having somepony to relate to. It makes me feel…less alone."

"Same here. What I told you, I've never told anypony else. And, you can just call me Tea. All my friends do."

Flurry Heart looked at Misty with shock. "We're friends? After what I did to you? After what I did to your friends?"

"Yeah. Of course. Nopony can fault you for what you did. You were just trying to protect your kingdom and you were overwhelmed. Trust me, when I first moved into the Brighthouse after we conquered Opaline, I had done something similar. They can be…a bit much. And, they'll usually realize it after somepony blows up. You're not the first, Princess."

"Oh, enough with the formality crap. We're friends now, remember? You can just call me Flurry." Flurry sighed, looking at the clock. It was already two in the morning. She didn't realize they'd been talking for a half hour. "Well, I best be going to bed. I have early mornings."

"What time?" Misty asked as Flurry stood up.

Flurry smiled. "5:55 in the morning. Well, have a good night. I hope…I hope you find everything you're looking for."

"We won't stop until we find a way to save your kingdom. I promise." Misty said with determination.

Flurry smiled before walking out of the study.

Guilt welled up in Flurry. She already knew how to save her kingdom, but as her father told her a thousand years ago, it wasn't the right time. She'd know when that time came, her father assured her of that much, but she just had a few more loose ends to tie up.

Author's Note

Ha! Take that FimFiction! :rainbowwild:

Okay, so maybe I oughta give you a little context here…

So, originally, I wanted Misty to sing the song "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone, but that wasn't going to work because it's not a damn Mlp song! :ajbemused: (it should really count if you modify the lyrics for MLP, but whatever, rules are rules.) So I switched the song to Pipp and Hitch and did "Out On My Own" instead.

Though, there's always a way around rules. So, I incorporated some of the lyrics, okay most of the lyrics, in Misty's conversation with Flurry Heart, spread out a bit.

So, I repeat: Ha Fimfiction!

Okay, so, now that my little pat on my own back's done, I know this chapter was a bit mellow on the action and heavier on the emotions, but, it will get spicier next chapter and whatnot.

FIY: Next chapter is going to be all flash back, just like this chapter is all present, so do I need to italicized all of it, or will you guys be able to realize it's the oast and not the present? (That was a rhetorical question. Dont answer that:ajbemused:)

Welp, see you next chapter and I hope you enjoyed this one.

Hakuna Matata!

If It Scares The Lord Of Chaos…

"Honey," Princess Cadence said as she peeked her head into Flurry Heart's room, who was lying on her stomach while rotating three wooden blocks in her magic, completely bored out of her mind. "Your Aunts are almost here."

Flurry Heart rolled her eyes. "I still don't understand why I couldn't just go to Ponyville today. The Cake Twins need me."

Okay, so maybe they didn't need need her. Their parents were out of town for the day and since Pinkie Pie was going to be in the Crystal Empire, it was going to be the first time they'd ever run the shop for the whole day. They had asked her to be there if they needed help because they were nervous about messing up, and Flurry Heart told them that she'd have to get out of seeing her aunts today. Though, from the expression on her mother's face, it was unlikely.

"Flurry, I think they'll live. Besides, you've known about this for the past month."

"I know, but Mom. I see my aunts all the time. Do I really need to see them now?" Flurry groaned.

Honey, Twilight specifically requested you be here today. She said she has a surprise for you. Isn't that nice?"

Flurry Heart rolled her eyes. "It's probably a new book." Flurry Heart grumbled under her breath, crossing her hooves.

Cadence sighed. "I hate to agree with you, but you're probably right. C'mon, Flurry. The Council of Friendship will be here soon."

Flurry sat up, noticing her mother's specific wording. The Council of Friendship was meeting here. They always met at Canterlot. They never met here. Ever. Well, except for once, a couple of days after…

Flurry shook her head. She refused to think of that day. She wouldn't think of that day.

She focused back on her mother. "They're having a Council of Friendship meeting? Here? Didn't they already have one two months ago?"

Cadence's eyes widened slightly before her mask went back on. "Yeah. Just an emergency meeting. They didn't want to have it in Canterlot because they didn't want to raise suspicion. It's probably nothing. Anyway, they'll be here soon. I want to see you in the Grand Hall in five minutes, is that understood?"

Flurry nodded and with that, Cadence walked away, leaving Flurry Heart alone with her thoughts. Why would they have a Council of Friendship meeting so close to the last one? And if it were nothing, why were they having an emergency meeting about it? And why was it here? Something wasn't adding up, and Flurry Heart intended to find out.

Flurry Heart tapped her hoof as she anxiously waited for her aunts to arrive. She had cleared her whole afternoon. She had asked her mother if she could join the Council of Friendship meeting, she did on occasion if she happened to be visiting Canterlot at the time, but her mother just said, "Not this time, sweetie."

Fine. That was alright. Flurry had a backup plan. She wasn't an idiot. She knew the face her mother made when she asked to join the meeting. She knew something was up, and by the way her mother's face paled when she asked what it was about, it was bad.

Flurry clenched her jaw as another minute went by and they still didn't come. She looked around, her thoughts racing. Why weren't they here yet? Shouldn't they be here by now?

Suddenly, the entrance doors opened, and in walked a row of guards with Canterlot armor, all bearing the six-pointed star crest of her Aunt. Rainbow Dash flew in lightning-fast, leaving a rainbow trail in her wake. Applejack ran in, skidding to a stop once she passed the doorway, panting.

"I beat you!" Rainbow taunted as she flew circles above Applejack.

"Ugh, darn it, R.D, we're gettin' too old for these shenanigans," Applejack called back, glaring up at Rainbow.

"Oh please, AJ. Do you know what those sound like? Excuses. Excuses for the fact that you're too scared to admit one thing." Rainbow Dash perched on the edge of a guard station that was on the wall for Crystal pegasi guards. "You're slowing down." She said with a devious smile. She then sat up and stuck out her chest, pointing a hoof at herself. "While I'm still on my A-game!"

"Yeah, 'cause ya cheated," Applejack muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Nopony likes a sore loser, AJ," Pinkie Pie sang as she bounced in with hair that she wore up that held all manners of party items.

"Ha! You said it Pinkie." Rainbow agreed.

Applejack rolled her eyes and bucked the wall behind her, the same wall with the guard station Rainbow was sitting on. The kick sent vibrations through the wall, ones Rainbow wasn't expecting, that shook the guard station, causing the guard within to stumble and grab onto the railing for support.

However, Rainbow Dash was sitting on the railing, her eyes closed as she bragged about her many accomplishments, and hadn't noticed that Applejack bucked the wall in the first place. So, when the guard station shook, she lost her balance, and fell off, landing on her back when she couldn't catch herself in time.

Applejack smirked, looking down at Rainbow triumphantly. "Still got it. And I see you ain't any more bright."

Rainbow Dash glared at Applejack while still on her back, causing Flurry Heart to giggle. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were her favorite aunts, mostly because they were so competitive, they'd typically end up screwing themselves over while they tried to prove that they were better than the other, which would always make Flurry Heart laugh.

"Ha ha, Applejack. Good job. You got a laugh from the kid. Kootos to you." Rainbow answered sarcastically.

Applejack's smug smile remained. "Not only that, but I made a fool of ya too. This day's startin' out pretty good if ya ask me."

"Whatever. I still beat you here," Rainbow said as she flew up and hovered in the air.

"Don't tell me you two are roughhousing again. This is a castle. Show some manners." Rarity scolded as she trotted in. She trotted right up to Cadence and kissed both of her cheeks, Cadence doing the same. "Hello dear. I'm so sorry about those two. They have absolutely no manners."

Cadence smiled. "It's okay, Rarity. No harm, no foul."

Rarity walked up to Flurry Heart, doing the same thing, Flurry copying her. "How are you, darling? It's been forever since I've seen you. I keep telling your mother that two of you absolutely must have lunch with Sweetie Belle and me, but the both of you are always so busy with your royal duties that it's nearly impossible to book a time."

"Good to see you too, Aunt Rarity. I'm doing alright." Flurry didn't even comment on the lunch part. She loved her Aunt Rarity, but sometimes she was a little too sophisticated for Flurry Heart to fully relax.

"Oh! Flurry! Pound and Pumpkin wanted me to tell you that it is a-okay that you couldn't make it today. They have everything under control." Pinkie said as she bounced up, putting a hoof around Flurry's neck.

Flurry Heart rolled her eyes. She was glad everything worked out okay, especially if she wanted to spy on the Council of Friendship meeting later, but if she was trying to use that as an excuse, it was the wrong thing to say in front of her mother, who happened to flash her a smug look.

"Of course they do," Flurry muttered.

"Good day, Princess Cadence," A soft, quiet voice said, startling Flurry.

Flurry Heart turned to see Fluttershy bowing to Princess Cadence. Flurry smiled. While Applejack and Rainbow Dash always made Flurry laugh in their misadventures, Fluttershy always seemed to calm Flurry whenever she was stressed, frustrated, self-conscious, or any other negative emotions. She always seemed to know the right things to say and was always so easy to talk to.

Cadence smiled. "Fluttershy, how many times do I have to tell you? We've been friends for years. We can do without the formalities."

"Old habits die hard, I suppose. Oh, and Discord has a…umm…flying paper bookworm infestation at his house that he needs to deal with. He'll be here shortly but he told me to tell you that he may be a tad bit late but not to worry, he's got it all under control."

Cadence chuckled, shaking her head. "Oh, the circumstances that creature finds himself in."

"Did you just say a flying paper bookworm infestation? Now I've heard it all." Starlight commented, rolling her eyes as she and Sunburst came trotting in together.

"Aunt Starlight? What are you doing here? I thought this was just a Council of Friendship meeting." Flurry asked in shock.

She knew that Starlight nor Discord were on the Council of Friendship. Discord being invited was weird enough, but he often dropped in on Council Meetings whenever he liked, invitation or not. But Starlight was too busy with the School of Friendship to just drop by. Not to mention Sunburst was here too. Who in the hay is running the School of Friendship?

"Yeah, well, I got an invitation from Twilight, so it seems I'm needed," Starlight said as she walked up to Flurry to hug her. "How are you doing, Flurry?"

"I'm fine. Aunt Starlight, if you and Uncle Sunburst are here, who's running the School of Friendship?" She didn't know Sunburst all that well to call him 'Uncle' but he was married to her Aunt Starlight, so she called him 'Uncle' by default.

Starlight's whole body tensed as Flurry could see her jaw tense, and Flurry instantly regretted asking. "Trixie." Starlight groaned, dropping her head.

Trixie? Well, that was a…surprise. Personally, Flurry loved hanging out with Trixie. Sure, she acted a bit young for her age, but she was like your typical young hip aunt, despite being the same age as her other aunts. Though, Flurry couldn't picture Trixie running a school. She just didn't have the right personality for it.

Sunburst walked up to Starlight, pulling her close. "It's okay, Star. It'll all turn out okay. Trixie's matured a lot since she last watched the School of Friendship."

"You mean six months ago when she gave a magic show for one of the student assemblies and three of her volunteers fell off the stage, two of them breaking a leg and the other an arm, while a dragon ended up in the infirmary because she wanted to show off the newest spell she learned by magically baking an apple pie in five seconds. Do you remember all the paperwork and letters we had to write to their parents?! Especially since two letters had to go to Dragon Lord Ember since the one who broke an arm was a dragon. That was two dragons, honey! Two! Not to mention one of them who broke a leg was a yak, and the other one was a pony. That one was easy, but do you remember how hard it was to explain to Prince Rutherford what in the hay happened without him smashing my office to pieces!" Starlight began to hyperventilate. "You'd think after all these years she'd learn to use common sense, but nope! She's just as irresponsible as she was twenty years ago. I love the mare and I know she means well, but she is not fit to run a whole school! I…Sunburst, this was a mistake. We have to go back. She's going to set the school on fire again!"

Applejack walked up to Starlight, putting a hoof on her back, a kind smile on her face. "Hun. Yer Twilightin'."

Starlight turned to Applejack. "I am?"

Applejack nodded. "Yep."

"Total Twilighting," Rainbow said as she flew past Starlight and Applejack as though she was just lounging on her back, earning a glare from Applejack.

"There ain't nothin' wrong with it." She said to Starlight. "Just take a couple deep breaths in and out. It'll only be fer two days. Plus, ya got the CMC's keepin' an eye on her, remember?"

Starlight nodded. "Yeah. You're right. It'll be fine. Thanks, AJ."

"No problem, sugarcube."

Flurry Heart didn't miss Applejack's use of words. Two days? These Council Meetings typically only lasted one afternoon. Late evening tops. One has never lasted longer than that. Except for…

Flurry looked around, trying to distract herself. It was then she noticed the saddlebags on everypony's back. Flurry narrowed her eyes. What in the hay was going on? What were they not telling her?

That was when Princess Twilight walked in, displaying her typical kind smile and warm aura, but Flurry could tell by the way Twilight's eyes flicked back and forth periodically as though scanning for danger, and the way her whole body seemed stiff that there was something that was stressing her out.

Next to her walked a dark purple mare with a dark pink mane and a scar across her right eye, though the eye itself looked untouched. She was a unicorn, but her horn was broken, leaving behind a chipped husk. Flurry Heart instantly recognized her.

"Miss Tempest?" She asked hesitantly, her heart racing in fear. Not of Tempest but what Tempest being here could mean.

Flurry Heart hardly knew Tempest Shadow. She hadn't seen the mare since she was a filly, but she was kind of hard to forget, and not just because of the broken horn. The last time Flurry saw Tempest, she intimidated her with her stand‐offish attitude, but she knew Tempest was a great warrior. Her being here couldn't mean anything good.

Flurry only remembered a few things about Tempest. She used to work for a villain called the Storm King but helped defeat him when she befriended Aunt Twilight. And that she was a nomad, originally spreading word of the Storm King's defeat, but then she realized that she struggled to stay still for too long so she's been wandering Equestria since, never staying in one place for too long.

Tempest turned and noticed Flurry Heart. She walked over, stopping quite a distance away still. She bowed her head. "Princess. It's been a while. It's good to see you again." Tempest was silent for a bit before she looked at Flurry's cutie mark, and Flurry tensed. "Congratulations on the new cutie mark. I heard how you got it five years ago. I heard it was quite the feat. Quite the accomplishment. I was quite surprised when I heard about what happened and what you did. Surprising me is quite rare nowadays. You've gained my highest respect, Princess."

"Thanks, Miss Tempest. That means a lot, coming from you." Flurry said, bowing her own head in respect.

Flurry wasn't lying. It did mean a lot coming from her. Tempest was almost as legendary as her Aunt Twilight, and she was the ruler of Equestria. Stories of a mysterious unicorn who had a broken horn and yet still defeated monsters twice her size with zero magic would circulate themselves around the Crystal Empire and Canterlot. Many ponies looked up to her, despite her past. But she was one of the hardest mares to please. Many have tried asking to be her apprentice, and it was rare for her to give them an audition, and it was unheard of to actually get her to choose one. So having her highest respect was a big deal.

Tempest nodded once before walking away, immediately being bombarded by Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, asking her questions about, well, everything, and Tempest clearly looked uncomfortable but tried to answer their questions to the best of her ability, if nervously. She was one of the greatest known warriors, known to face anything without an ounce of fear, and yet casual conversation with friends made her uncomfortable and nervous. Who knew?

"Flurry."

Flurry turned to see Princess Twilight behind her. She smiled nervously in response. She could never get anything past Twilight, but she hoped this time, she'd be able so she could see what in the hay was going on.

"Hi, Aunt Twilight. How're you doing?"

"I'm doing just fine. I have somepony I would like you to meet. Luster? You can come out now," She called behind her.

Flurry looked behind Twilight to see a pink unicorn with a two-toned orange mane and orange eyes coming out nervously and hesitantly, staring at the ground, not even looking up at Flurry. Flurry looked from the mare to Twilight, a little confused. Was this Twilight's surprise? Where was the book? She always got somepony a book for a present.

"Flurry Heart, this is my top pupil, Luster Dawn. Luster, this is my niece, Flurry Heart."

Upon hearing Flurry's name, Luster looked up, her eyes widening. She gasped as a shocked smile appeared on her face. Flurry internally groaned. She knew that face. It was the face of an enthusiast admirer. Flurry hated those kinds of ponies. Flurry Heart wasn't thrilled about being a princess. In all honesty, she'd rather follow in her father's hoofsteps and become part of the royal guard. She just wanted to be a normal pony.

Instead, she was the Princess of Light, meant to rule alongside her mother, the Princess of Love. And being a princess comes with annoying fans and admirers who want nothing more than to praise her for every small thing. Flurry Heart hated all that attention, especially when that attention reflected a day she only wanted to forget.

You're Princess Flurry Heart? As in the Princess Flurry Heart?" Luster Dawn asked with wide sparkling eyes that were always evident in an admirer.

"Uh…yes…is there a problem?" Flurry stupidly asked. All Flurry could think about was how much she hoped this fan didn't bring up that day. That horrible, regretful day.

"No! Not at all! It's just that…I'm a big fan of yours! Ever since I heard about what you did five years ago! Creating a whole new Crystal Heart! That's like…unheard of. I mean, depending on how the first one was made, you could be the first pony to ever make a Crystal Heart! And two sonic rainbooms that brought light back to the world! Not even Rainbow Dash could do two sonic rainbooms and she's the greatest known flyer to come out of Cloudsdale. That was incredible! How did you charge that much magic in your horn without releasing it? That is incredibly hard to do. Especially since when a unicorn tries, one who's not incredibly skilled in magic, the magic ends up releasing itself by bursting out of the horn in a magical beam from all the build-up. Trust me, I've tried. Not doing it again until I'm absolutely confident I can do it. They had to rebuild one of the castle wings after that."

Flurry Heart had no idea how to respond. She didn't want to be rude, but at the same time, she couldn't stand ponies who seemed to worship her. Especially for that. She didn't deserve to be worshipped. Not after what she did in the first place. All she did was fix her mistake. It was nothing special. If the rest of Equestria and the Crystal ponies knew what really happened, they wouldn't be revereing her.

"Luster, was it?" Flurry asked flatly, earning an excited nod from Luster. "Right…" Flurry turned to Twilight. "Why is she here?"

Twilight smiled, as though she was hoping Flurry would ask that. "Well, Luster Dawn has just moved to Ponyville to learn about Friendship. She's doing quite well in her studies, but I thought she could learn a little something from you."

Flurry turned to Luster, who, as she was talking with Twilight, had taken a couple of steps closer to Flurry. Flurry took a couple of steps back. "Here's a lesson. Boundaries. Learn them."

Luster's eyes widened a bit and she took a couple of steps back, flushing in embarrassment, chuckling nervously. "Sorry, Princess. You're just kind of sorta my idol. I mean, the feats you've accomplished…even Starswirl the Bearded couldn't make a Crystal Heart, and he was, like, the greatest sorcerer to exist in Equestria. Though he and the other Pillars did grow the Tree of Harmony, which was ultimately destroyed, like the Crystal Heart, and wasn't regrown."

Great. Now she was comparing her to Uncle Beirdo. Flurry smiled a bit. Per Rainbow Dash's request as a prank, Flurry when she was a filly, had called Starswirl that. He pretended to hate it, but when he thought she wasn't looking, Flurry did see the smallest smile appear on his face. She called him that ever since. Well, until he sadly passed away when she was thirteen.

"Wow…you really know your history…don't you…" Flurry said awkwardly.

"Well, duh. I am kinda Twilight's top pupil." She said with a smile, but then her eyes widened in panic. "No offense, Princess."

"None taken." Flurry Heart said flatly.

Twilight intervened. "I was thinking you two could spend the day together. Luster needs to work on her Crystal Empire history and since you know quite a lot about that subject, more than I, I must admit, and since the two of you are around the same age, I was thinking you could teach her."

"No can do, Twi," A detached voice said. A familiar detached voice.

As the ponies looked around for the source, a flat wooden board appeared above them, causing the three ponies to scramble back to avoid being hit by it as it fell to the ground. At the top of it were two misshapen antlers. As it lay flat, two yellow eyes with red pupils and a mouth with a single fang and a snake tongue, appeared, making a face on the…face of the board.

"Uncle Discord!" Flurry exclaimed, a smile on her face.

Flurry Heart was a prankster at heart. And no creature can pull better pranks than Uncle Discord. Some of her best memories were when she and Discord would be laughing it up over a prank they pulled, like turning the whole Crystal Castle into a giant gumdrop, or surprise furniture that if used, would start walking. It got even better when Aunt Pinkie got involved. Like that one time the six of them, which included the Cake Twins, Peach, and Orion, put up surprise party cannons that would turn you into the color of confetti.

"Good to see you, Flurry. Got any good pranks in lately?"

"Discord, how lovely to see you," Cadence said as she looked around a little nervously. Where there was Discord, there was a prank hiding around the corner.

"I take it your 'flying paper bookworm infestation' has been taken care of?" Starlight asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, I'll have you know that flying paper bookworms are a real nuisance. Especially when they get into the chocolate rain." Discord turned to Twilight. "Now, as I was saying," Discord stood up, still in the shape of a board. "Luster Dawn is no good for Flurry. She's already straight as a board. While Flurry Heart is a mare after my own heart," Discord turned into a big red heart, before popping to Fluttershy. "After Fluttershy, of course."

"Well, who knows? They may be good for each other." Twilight responded with a knowing smile.

Discord rolled his eyes, turning back into his normal self and crossing his mismatched arms. "As in Flurry Heart will be good for Luster Dawn. Because if that's what you meant, then I completely agree."

Cadence smiled softly. "Now that we're all here, why don't we all head to the Council Chamber? Shining Armor will meet us there. We have much to discuss." She turned to Flurry Heart. "And Flurry, be nice. And behave. No going to Ponyville. Is that understood?"

Flurry sighed heavily. "Yeah, yeah. I get it. Whatever." She added an eye roll just to be safe.

Cadence, looking satisfied, turned and walked away with the rest of the group, leaving Luster Dawn and Flurry Heart by themselves. As they walked away, eyes appeared on the back of Discord's head, who was at the back of the group, and they winked at Flurry Heart, who winked back.

Luster, who seemed confused, hesitantly approached Flurry Heart. "What was that about?" She asked.

Flurry rolled her eyes, giving Discord a look and tilting her head in Luster's direction. Discord raised an eyebrow just before they all turned a corner, making Flurry Heart sigh.

"Are you two planning something?" Luster asked, looking where Discord had stood to Flurry Heart and back again.

Flurry rolled her eyes. "Whatever. C'mon board." Flurry grabbed Luster's hoof and raced for the grand staircase.

"Can you levitate yourself with your magic?" Flurry whispered as she opened the big sunroof window with her magic.

They had to fly down to one of the walled guard stations, which was empty, in the Council Chamber since they were too high to hear anything the Council of Friendship and Company were saying. Nopony else was in there, which was odd since there were always guards everywhere. Which means they wanted to keep this secret.

"Oh, yeah. Headmare Starlight teaches an advanced magic class at the School of Friendship and that was one of the first lessons she taught us–"

"Good. Try to keep up." And with that, she spread her wings and glided down the Council Chamber, landing on the guard station.

"W-wait!" Luster called in a whisper before putting a hoof over her mouth. Both she and Flurry Heart froze and looked at the ponies below, who didn't seem to notice them.

Flurry breathed a quiet sigh of relief before glaring up at Luster, who gave an apologetic look. Taking a deep breath, Luster engulfed herself in a yellowish-orangish aura and levitated herself down to where Flurry Heart was standing.

"What are we doing here?" Luster asked in a whisper once she landed next to Flurry Heart.

"Isn't it obvious? We're listening in." Flurry Heart answered in a whisper as low as Luster's as she crouched down so she could hear better.

"We're spying on the Council of Friendship?! Are you crazy?! We can't spy on the Council of Friendship! We're going to get in so much trouble if we get caught!"

Flurry rolled her eyes. "Then we don't get caught."

"But–" Luster started, only to be cut off by Flurry.

"Look, I take it you know a little something about the Council of Friendship?" Flurry asked, to which Luster nodded. "Good. Then you know they only meet once every moon. They already met two months ago."

"I know. I was there at that one. That's when they sent me to Ponyville."

Flurry Heart rolled her eyes. "Of course it was." She muttered before continuing. "Anyway, this is an emergency meeting. Plus, they never meet here. It's always at the Canterlot Castle. Not to mention, they never invite outsiders, and they invited four of them. Doesn't that seem just a little odd? Aren't you the least bit curious?"

Luster didn't want to admit it, but Flurry Heart was right. It did pique her interest. She bit her lip but finally relented, curiosity winning over, and leaned down next to Flurry Heart, listening in as well.

"Maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's just some psycho trying to scare us by abducting ponies," Rainbow Dash said, waving a dismissive hoof. "We've dealt with waaaay worse, and always came out on top."

"I've been hearing of reports about singing from shadows in the night in my travels," Tempest said, looking down at the Equestrian map on the table. "Ones that lure ponies into the woods. They come back in the morning, but they're zombified."

Pinkie gasped. "You mean like super duper gross, brain-eating zombies that walk around with their mouths open and eyes wide like they are brainless and have rotting pieces of flesh." Pinkie walked around, acting like the very thing she was describing.

"I don't think that's what Tempest means, Pinkie." Applejack turned to Tempest. "It ain't, right?"

"No, Applejack. It isn't. They were more like mindless robots." Tempest said, narrowing her eyes in thought.

"Perhaps a hypnosis spell?" Starlight suggested, putting a hoof to her chin.

"That is very possible," Sunburst agreed, adjusting his glasses. "There are very many hypnosis spells that are meant to keep those under the spell look natural."

"Maybe it was Opaline? We haven't seen her in a while?" Shining Armor suggested, making Flurry's heart stop and her breathing catch.

Luster felt Flurry's body tense and glanced at her. She's never heard of this Opaline. But clearly she wasn't good if the look of fear on Flurry's face was anything to go by.

"She did put multiple ponies under a manipulation spell while she was here," Shining continued.

"Who is Opaline?" Tempest asked, looking as lost as Luster.

Cadence looked around, as though making sure nopony was listening. Tempest and Luster were the only ponies who weren't there at the Crystal Heart at the time Opaline shattered it. Discord also wasn't there, but he knew everything that happened. Mostly because a couple of days later, everypony who was in the room besides Tempest had asked if Discord had known the spell Opaline was using, to which he said it didn't ring a bell. When he came to congratulate Flurry on her new cutie mark and he had asked her how she had gotten it, she had snapped at him. Feeling guilty, she told him everything that happened that day, leaving out no details. The full ugly truth.

Flurry didn't know why she didn't feel embarrassed telling him. Maybe because he wasn't like any creature else. His mind wasn't contained by the same four walls as every other mind was contained by. He didn't reserve the same judgments as every other creature did. Maybe because it was his past. Because he had screwed up so royally, so many times, she felt as though he could relate. Whatever it was, he seemed to completely understand, having fallen under similar manipulations himself by Tirek. Sure, Tirek didn't use a manipulation spell, but he still manipulated Discord by his words.

When Cadence was finally satisfied that nopony else was listening, she opened her mouth to begin explaining the whole ugly truth to Tempest. Before she could get a word out, Discord glanced up at Flurry Heart, a question in his gaze. Flurry Heart barely moved her head in a nod and Discord snapped the newly created fingers on his tail, creating a bubble around the Council of Friendship and Company, excluding Luster and Flurry from the conversation.

And just like Flurry Heart, Discord understood how worse having another creature's pity made the whole situation.

"Oh no! We've been caught!" Luster whispered, her voice full of panic.

Flurry rolled her eyes. "No. We haven't."

"Then how do you explain the silence bubble Discord just put around the whole thing? We can't hear anything they're saying! And Discord looked right at us!" Luster yelled in a strained whisper, almost making herself choke.

"Yeah, and they can't hear us, dumb dumb," Flurry said in a regular volume voice. "As long as we can't hear them, they can't hear us. And if you haven't realized by now, Uncle Discord's on our side."

"There are sides?" Luster asked.

"In other words, he's not going to snitch on us." Discord glanced at her. "He's removing the bubble now. Be quiet." Flurry whispered, to which Luster obeyed.

Discord then snapped the fingers on his tail, and the conversation resumed.

"Flurry Heart. I had no idea. That explains a lot." Tempest was in the middle of saying. "Though if you didn't catch this Opaline, it might be her. That does sound like her M.O., considering."

"I'm lost right now. Who is this Opaline?" Luster asked.

"If I tell you, you need to promise you won't freak." Luster nodded, though Flurry didn't quite believe her, having a spell ready. "All you need to know is that Opaline was the one who shattered the Crystal Heart."

Flurry put a soundproof bubble around Luster Dawn half a second before she screamed "WHAT!" Luster put a hoof over her mouth, took some calming deep breaths, and nodded to Flurry Heart, who released Luster from the spell. Luster took a deep breath.

Luster had combed through every book written on the subject and asked countless questions to her professors, including Headmare Starlight, and Princess Twilight. She even asked guidance counselor Trixie, since she was supposedly there. They all gave similar answers. That the Heart had simply given out. Never once did they mention Opaline. Now Luster was set on finding out what really happened and why they would lie to everypony in Equestria about it.

"Tempest is right. I will say it once and that's it. Doesn't mean you're right once, doesn't mean you're always right. Mention that I said these words and I will inherently deny them."

Everypony looked at Discord. Everypony but Fluttershy, to which Twilight noticed.

"What happened?" Twilight asked.

Fluttershy sighed. "We were going to say something, honest, but umm…Discord had to uhh…come to terms with it first…it really scared him."

Discord crossed his arms, glaring at the wall. "It did not." Which that, coupled with his body language was pretty much an admission that it did.

This silenced everypony. Not a lot scared him, and if it did, it was bad. The last thing that truly frightened him was when he teamed up Cozy Glow, Tirek, and Chrysalis together to give Twilight confidence and they backstabbed him, taking away his chaos power. If he was defenseless against it, it terrified him. And if his chaotic powers didn't work on them, which was only limited to his imagination which had no limit, they must be insanely powerful.

It was Shining Armor who found the courage to speak. "Tell us everything that happened. In detail."

Discord smirked. "I'll do you one better."

He glanced at Flurry Heart, giving her a wink. She sat against the wall of the guard station, out of sight from the others and pulling Luster with her. At Luster's confused look, she quickly said, "Brace yourself. And lean against the wall." Luster was about to ask why, but Flurry Heart hissed, "Just do it."

Luster obeyed, just in time too, because that was when Discord snapped his fingers…

Flurry Heart was walking down the street. It was dark and when she looked around, she found out she was in Ponyville. What was she doing here? Wasn't she supposed to be…

That thought trailed off. She didn't know where she was supposed to be before. It was all so…fuzzy. She turned in circles, trying to figure out what in the hay was going on. The fog began to build around her, making it hard to see. That was when she heard a scream and it all came rushing back to her.

That's what she was doing here. She was patrolling the night streets. Fluttershy had begged her to do it, claiming that she could be a hero. That it was the right thing to do. With his chaotic powers, he could apprehend whoever was behind all these abductions by catching them in the act and keeping Ponyville safe as well as finding the ponies who were abducted.

She had agreed, thinking this was just some psycho pony she could have taken care of in thirty seconds and have them confessing to their crimes and telling the police where the abducted victims were in less than five. It really was supposed to be a quick night.

It was anything but that.

Flurry Heart teleported to the location where she heard the scream, but there was nothing there. She kept her ears open, listening to any other sounds. Nothing. She heard another scream behind her, and she whirled around. He groaned. It was a yowling cat. Of course.

"Discord?" She heard somepony say her name behind her.

She turned around to see some odd creature behind her. A bipedal pink bird with pale green eyes, a light yellow beak, and orange arms and legs. She had feathers atop her head and tail that resembled a peacock and purple bat wings on her back. She held a staff that held some sort of orb.

She instantly recognized her. "E–Eris?!" She asked in shock. No. This was wrong. She had been defeated by this world's Luna, Trixie, Stigean, and Capper, and that world's Daybreaker.

"The one and only, cousin," She said with a sly smile.

Flurry wasn't even going to try and hear her out. She immediately lit her horn so that nacho cheese fell on top of her, and while nacho cheese fell all around her, not a drop actually landed on Eris.

Now she was confused. "W-what? How…" She then growled. "What are you doing here, Eris? Why are you abducting ponies? I thought you were defeated!"

Eris smirked. "You were wrong. But, cousin, I didn't come here to fight, I came to talk."

Flurry growled, lighting her horn again, dropping a pile of bricks atop her, though, much like the nacho cheese, the bricks fell around Eris, but not a single one touched her. Flurry's eyes widened before she glared at her cousin and flared her wings.

"Just hear me out, cuz. This place…it's our home. Sure you waste your power on idiotic pranks when it should be used for destruction, but you are restricted. We've been here for millenniums! Longer than any pony! You should be able to do whatever you like with your power, have whatever you want!"

While her offer sounded surprisingly appealing, she wasn't falling for it. She's learned her lesson. Nothing could beat harmony and the Magic of Friendship. She had it good. She had a good life. There was no reason for her to screw it all up for some offer that wouldn't work. She wouldn't lose Fluttershy again.

"Nice try. But I refuse to fall for some villain's half-baked plan again. Even if I did, it's not like it'll work. I mean, come on! You were bested by a slightly better-than-average magician!"

Eris smirked, and suddenly began to…sing? It confused the hell out of Flurry, but her voice was oddly…alluring. As she sang, her mind slowly began to blank and her heart began to numb.

🎵I have waited for the day,
For chaos to rule and reign.
Now I have magic as my salvation,
Gather here in my protection.🎵

Flurry Heart shook her head. No. This wasn't right. Something was wrong here. But…there was something so appealing about Eris's voice. No, Eris was evil. She trapped ponies in their worst nightmares. And yet, a world where chaos ruled sounded more appealing than it had in a long time. What's…what was going on?

Eris began to walk closer, a devious smile on her face. Flurry went into a defensive mode, trying to block out her voice.

🎵We. Will. Stand for chaos!

We hold the beauty of havoc,
In all its glory.
No need to fear their harmony.
Right here you have me to protect you,
Within this chaotic world.
Forever free!
Forever more!🎵

She squeezed her eyes shut as Eris began to approach her. Flurry lit her horn and created a hole under her, one that reached both ends of the alleyway in width. When Flurry opened her eyes, she saw Eris just standing on top of it, below her an empty black void of the nether. Her…her chaos magic didn't affect Eris at all?! How…how was this possible?!

Eris finally approached, walking around her, doing her best to lure her. But Flurry resisted. Barely. Havoc could be beautiful, but it wasn't worth it. It just wasn't.

🎵They have come into our domain.
We were here before they came.
And we will be for generations!
They are just a complication!

We. Will. Stand for chaos!🎵

No no no no no. Flurry tried to think of Fluttershy. Tried to think of Big Mac. Spike. Guys Night. She tried to think of everything good in her life. Her friends. Starlight. Trixie. They were Save Equestria buddies, right? Flurry squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the beautiful voice of her cousin. But still. It seemed to worm its way into her mind, entering her very soul. She lit her horn and earplugs appeared. She smiled smugly before that smile fell as she realized the earplugs weren't working. Flurry could still hear Eris' voice.

🎵Trust in me, this is for your own good.
Don't be afraid,
Chaos is our friend.🎵

Suddenly, Flurry Heart felt as though she was trapped in stone again. Trapped. She could feel herself frozen in time. Her mind running with chaotic ideas and pranks with no way to release them. She felt the constrictiveness of the snot, how it seemed to squeeze tighter and tighter every year. How she watched the world go by without even sparing her a glance as she was forgotten by time.

She'd watch as years went by, completely ignored, with only her thoughts crowding her head. No way to release them. No way to let them out. Generations would go by without even sparing a glance. She'd begun to think she didn't exist. Like, she was a figment of her own imagination.

Flurry fell to the ground, holding her head in her hooves. She had to resist. She just had to. She thought of Fluttershy. All those happy moments with her. Her tea parties. How much she loved her house. How much she accepted Flurry so completely. So thoroughly. How she was the closest a creature had ever been to her. She couldn't betray her again. She couldn't. It'd break Fluttershy's heart. She wouldn't do that again. She'd die first.

And yet…

🎵All of this havoc that surrounds us,
Every lovely bloom,
Designed to defend!🎵

Flurry squeezed her eyes shut, as images filled her head of a world of chaos and she gasped. There was Fluttershy. She was happy. For the first time in her mortal life, she was happy. Fluttershy was so happy. She was laughing. Lounging about on the mismatched ground. She was playing with Angel Bunny. A young angel bunny. She looked so young. So immortal. She could have Fluttershy forever.

But then the rest of the Elements of Harmony showed up and dragged her away, just for enjoying his chaos. No. They wouldn't…they couldn't do that. She wouldn't let them.

🎵Let them come, just let them try!
You're not about to say goodbye!
We'll be here throughout the ages,
Written into their history pages!🎵

Flurry smiled and she began to sing the last words with Eris. No. She wasn't about to say goodbye to Fluttershy, or who she was. So what if she and Fluttershy enjoyed chaos? They weren't going to take Fluttershy away for that.

🎵We. Will. Stand for–🎵

"Discord!" A voice called out. "Discord! Discord, where are you? Are you alright?!"

Flurry blinked. No. This was…wrong. This…

Flurry looked at Eris, but it was no longer Eris standing there. It was a black shadowy monster that seemed to change shape. It'd go from trying to change into Eris, but the best it could do was change into her general form, only to go back to being a glob.

"Discord! Where are you?! Oh, I hope he's okay…" Fluttershy called before mumbling to herself.

Flurry wanted to call out to Fluttershy, but she didn't want to put her in danger. But that was when that choice was taken away.

"Zephyr Breeze? Is that you?!" Fluttershy called. Flurry was confused. She didn't hear anything. That monstrous creature was still behind her. Even though it was nothing but a…

Flurry widened her eyes. She gave the creature a smug smile, lighting up her horn with a light spell. The creature screamed a guttural high-pitched sound that made it sound as though it was bruning alive. One that made Flurry's stomach twist.

"Discord?" A voice asked behind Flurry.

Flurry turned around and saw Fluttershy at the entrance of the alleyway. She looked behind her to see the creature thing gone. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Discord, are you okay? I had asked one of my bird friends to keep an eye on you, and they told me you were crouched down with this black fog thing trapping you. Are you okay? Where did this nacho cheese and these bricks come from? Are you hurt?" Fluttershy paused when she saw Flurry's expression, her eyes filled with tears. "Discord? Are you alright?"

Flurry ran to Fluttershy, enveloping her in a hug so tight, it threatened to crush her. Fluttershy was surprised, but she quickly hugged her back without hesitation. She could tell Flurry needed it.

"I'm alright. Thanks to you, Fluttershy, I'm alright. You saved me. Not just now, you saved me from myself so many times. Thank you. Thank you so much…

Flurry's eyes slowly opened, her head aching. It was dull but noticeable. Flurry groaned as she realized she was on the floor in a fetal position, curled as tightly into a ball as possible.

Across from her, she saw a pink unicorn with a two-toned orange mane. Flurry blinked as she studied the mare. Did she know her? Memories started coming back to Flurry Heart, but it was like looking through a foggy glass. Flurry narrowed her eyes at the strange unicorn mare, trying to sift through her brain, which felt like sifting through mud. Lucy something…? Lisa…?

Flurry gasped as everything came rushing back in full force. Flurry squeezed her eyes shut against the onslaught of memories as her head began to pound. Finally, everything returned to her and she felt somewhat normal. Flurry looked at Luster Dawn as she slowly sat up. Luster was still curled up herself, whimpering, rocking back and forth. Flurry crawled to her, putting up a soundproof bubble around them as she heard groaning and half-asked questions from below.

She began shaking Luster. "Luster. Luster. It's okay. It's over."

"NO! I have everything I need! I have friends! I have Fluttershy!"

"Luster! Snap out of it!" Flurry yelled, picking Luster up with her magic and forcing the pink unicorn to look at her. "It was just a memory. Discord's memory."

Luster blinked, her dilated pupils returning to normal. "F-Flurry?"

"Yep. Coming back to you now?"

Luster nodded, so Flurry gently set Luster down. "Why…why would he do that…?"

"So that we could get an accurate read on the creature. What it can do. What it looks like. What its weaknesses are. Stuff like that."

Luster looked shocked. "Wow. That actually sounds useful."

Flurry rolled her eyes, but inside, her stomach twisted. What Discord was put through by that creature…that was torture. Who were these creatures? And why were they trying to draw Discord in? How did they know so much private information about him? All his weaknesses? All his strengths? Why didn't his chaotic powers work on him? And why were they shadows? And they were scared of…the…light…

Flurry's heart stopped. No. That wasn't…how…Flurry's eyes widened.

"Flurry? Are you okay?" Luster asked upon seeing Flurry's shocked and panicked look, her own panic rising.

"That wasn't her end goal…"

"What? What wasn't whose end goal?"

Flurry looked at Luster, her eyes full of fear. "Opaline." Flurry stood up and began to pace. "She…she needed to destroy the Crystal Heart to take away light from the world so that she could have enough darkness to create those creatures. She's…she's behind it all. The creatures. The abductions. Whatever it is, she's planning something, and it's bad." Flurry stopped and looked at Flurry Heart with fear-filled eyes. "We haven't seen the last of Opaline Arcana."

Trust Is Earned, Not Given

Pipp groaned, closing her book and tossing it on the closest table. Hitch, feeling Pipp's frustration, gave Pipp's shoulder a quick squeeze as he had his forehoof around her, holding a book with his other.

While Pipp would often take comfort in the small gesture, it meant more to her that he seemed to feel whenever she was upset than the gesture itself, she was much too frustrated for it to work.

Sighing, she got up from the couch, causing Hitch to readjust. He looked up at her, concern written all over his face, but she just gave him a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine, babe. It's just that this book is more suited for Misty. I'm just going to find something else."

Hitch nodded in understanding and went back to reading his book. Pipp hovered in the air, scanning the bookshelves. They've been here a week and they had yet to find anything. Though, based on the sheer number of books in here, it'd take them months to read them all.

She began to fly around the maze of shelves, scanning the books and their titles. 'The Art of the To-Do List', 'Bygone Griffons of Greatness', 'Hayhoof's Intonements', 'Journal of the Two Sisters', 'Magical Mysteries & Practical Potions', 'Magical Compendium'. Pipp cringed. That last one was a big book.

As she continued scanning, one of the book titles caught her attention. 'History of the Crystal Empire'. She studied it. That sounded promising.

She grabbed the book, flipping it open to scan through it, ready to head back to the couch, when something in the corner of her eye caught her attention.

She looked up to see a blue book glowing. It looked pretty thin, but she flew to it anyway. How could she not? It was glowing for unity's sake. She read the title, the history book still in her hooves. 'Official Goof-Off Rulebook'? That didn't exactly fit with the types of books that were here. Certainly didn't sound as sophisticated as 'Predictions and Prophecies' and 'Trotter's Tome of Reliquary'. But it was glowing so it must be important.

She grabbed the book, pulling it out, though it didn't come all the way. Halfway off the shelf, it just stopped. She read the other books on the bookshelf, others glowing as well in a certain order. 'Burnferno: Warrior From Within', 'Daring Do', 'Gusty the Great', ' A Hearth's Warming Tale', and, finally, 'Slumber 101'.

She pulled them each one by one, as soon as they glowed, all of them like the first. Slowly, the bookshelf in front of her slid open and her eyes opened in shock before she screamed.

"See little filly? There's nothing to be afraid of. I'm right here." Flurry Heart said to the scared blue filly.

Slowly, hesitantly, she came towards the pink princess who had a kind and warm smile on her face. Flurry reached her hoof out, keeping her smile on. They touched hooves when they both heard something.

"Princess!" It sounded like a voice in the sky. A familiar voice. She looked up, but her surroundings soon grew dark as the filly's fear grew again. The sunshine Flurry had put into the sky slowly began to dim.

"Princess!"

The little blue earth pony filly let go of Flurry's hoof and ran off in fear, and Flurry could practically feel the filly's heart racing. She clenched her jaw and tried to put the sunshine back in the sky, but it was pointless. It was still dark and the filly's fear was too great.

"Your Majesty!"

With a heavy sigh, Flurry Heart clenched her jaw and cast a spell, her yellow magic gaining a small blue tint to it. Slowly, a swirl of magic enveloped her and she was transported through realms.

Once she was back in her room, she turned towards a greenish-blue earth pony with a black mane. "M.O.R.I.C! What have I told you about interrupting me when I'm in the middle of a dream? You know when I'm in a transition, so whatever it is, it can wait until then! You know how important it is that we keep their dreams–"

"They opened it, your majesty."

Flurry paused, her eyes wide. She knew exactly what M.O.R.I.C. was talking about. And yet, despite knowing, she refused to let herself believe it. They…they couldn't have. That would mean…Flurry's heart stopped. She refused to believe it. She wouldn't.

"Opened what, M.O.R.I.C? What did they open?!"

"The room, your majesty. In the study. They opened it."

The five ponies were each studying their own books. Misty was enjoying reading a book about magic while the other four would scan their books, before moving on to the next one when they didn't find anything useful.

Everything was quiet in the eerie silence when suddenly, they heard Pipp scream. Hitch was the first to react, followed quickly by Zipp, Misty, Sunny, and Izzy. Hitch was off the couch in half a second, already halfway to Pipp before the rest of them could even process what the hell just happened.

He skidded to a stop when he saw Pipp hovering in the air at an entrance to a doorway, eyes wide, a book on the floor, both of her hooves on her cheeks and, most importantly, a smile on her face. Hitch stood there, confused, not so sure Pipp was in danger anymore.

When the rest of them got there, Misty's, Sunny's, and Izzy's horns were already powered up, and Zipp was ready to charge at anypony that would dare attack her sister, only to freeze much like Hitch did when they saw the look on Pipp's face.

"Uh…Pipp?" Zipp asked, looking around. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Pipp mumbled, her smile and eyes growing wider as they seemed to sparkle. "What's wrong?! The only thing wrong here is this glorious beautiful room is kept hidden from the world, EEEEK! IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!"

The five ponies looked at each other before shaking their head in disbelief. Of course that was what Pipp was screaming over. They wanted to be mad at her, but they were just glad Pipp was okay.

However, as soon as Pipp took out her phone to take pictures, the entrance was quickly blocked by Flurry Heart, who had her horn charged, her wings flared so that nopony could see past her and into the room, and a glare in her eyes. Pipp flew back a couple of wingbeats, and Hitch was at her side in an instant, Pipp landing at his side.

"Put your small strange device down and back away from the room. Now!" Flurry took a step closer towards Hitch and Pipp, who took a step back in response.

Flurry Heart forced them back before closing the bookshelf door behind her, never taking her eyes off the six ponies, her horn never discharging. Misty glanced down and noticed the book on the floor, reading the title. Using one of the many spells she's learned here, she teleported it under the couch, without Flurry Heart noticing, her attention focused too hard on Pipp, who was the one who opened the door. It disappeared in a flash of coral light. Misty glanced at the couch, which was in her line of sight as she was in the back of the group, and saw another coral flash appear under it.

"How did you open it?!" Flurry yelled, stepping closer and pushing Pipp and Hitch against the wall. Pipp was the one she was after, and they all knew, but Hitch refused to leave her side. The others stayed where they were, worried one wrong move would make her blast her already charged horn. "Answer me!"

Hitch stepped between Flurry Heart and the nervous Pipp. Pipp tried to get him to stop, she didn't want to lose him again after everything, but he refused to back down. He stood boldly between the two mares, glaring at the alicorn with fury. Like hell he'd just stand there and let this princess threaten the love of his life.

"Take one wrong step against my wife and it will be your last," Hitch said boldly, stomping his hoof on the ground and green vines grew next to them, not moving, there as a threat.

"Is that a threat, Prince?" Flurry asked, charging her horn more.

"It is. And I'm Sheriff first. Now, do I have to repeat myself? Or are you going to back away from my wife, princess?"

Flurry Heart and Hitch stared at each other, both ready to strike at any moment, neither ready to back down. Finally, Flurry said, "Do not go into that room. Ever. Or you can kiss this place goodbye. Do I make myself clear…Sheriff?"

"Crystal…princess," Was all Hitch said.

After a moment of staring at each other, Flurry discharged her magic, glaring at Hitch and Pipp one last time before flying off. Zipp watched her go, her detective instincts tingling, wondering what could be so important about a single room.

"This is a bad idea," Luster said, seeming on the verge of a panic attack. "Like, a really bad idea!"

Flurry rolled her eyes. "Yes. I know. That's the only thing you've said since we got on the train."

"This is a really, really bad idea! Like, a really, really, really bad–"

Flurry Heart put a hoof to Luster's mouth, shutting her up. "Please stop saying that."

Luster started to say something, but it just sounded like muffled noise with Flurry's hoof over her mouth. Flurry took her hoof away. "We're going to get ourselves killed! This is the worst idea I've ever heard of, and the Lord of Chaos frequents the School of Friendship! How do you think we're even going to survive this!"

Flurry Heart rolled her eyes, though, truth be told, this might've just been the worst idea she ever came up with, and she's come up with some pretty bad ideas. She hated to admit it, but she had to agree with Luster. They might not survive this.

But that didn't stop her. This was her fault. Opaline was able to summon those creatures to Equestria because of Flurry. She knew she had to do something after the Council meeting, which was why Flurry and Luster were on a train to Ponyville in the middle of the night. This was her mess to clean up. She thought she did that when she brought light back to the world, but she was wrong. This mess was so much bigger than she could've ever imagined, and something told her deep inside that this was only the beginning.

Of course, she didn't trust Luster. She wished she did. Luster seemed like a good pony. Aunt Twilight trusted her. Her mom trusted her. But…so did Opaline. She was lucky Orion never made eye contact with anypony. Apparently, that's why Orion didn't fall under Opaline's spell. She used a spell that needed eye contact to work. And for Orion, eye contact made him uncomfortable. Sure, Peach didn't fall under her spell, but Peach barely spared Opaline a glance. Orion was the spell master. He saw the way Flurry's and the Cake Twins' eyes changed. The only eye contact he'd briefly make with was his friends, but that was because they had known each other for years and were more like family than friends.

Since then, Flurry rarely ever made eye contact with a unicorn stranger, just in case. She didn't want to make the same mistake she did once. And she didn't hand out her trust so easily. She only trusted her friends, her parents, and her aunts. She learned that day that trust was earned, not given.

But, nonetheless, she had to bring Luster. Princess Twilight all but ordered them to hang out. If Flurry Heart just got up and left without straight as a board Luster, it'd raise suspicion. They may not trust Flurry Heart to not get into trouble, but they sure as hell trusted Luster, and that was all Flurry needed. And, as long as Flurry didn't share any private information with Luster, all should go well.

"Didn't your mother forbid you from going to Ponyville for the next two days?" Luster tried, hoping desperately to talk some sense into Flurry Heart, by any means possible.

"Yeah, and we're not. We're going to the Everfree Forest, which is just outside of Ponyville."

"Why the Everfree? Couldn't we pick a location that was…I don't know…less dangerous than the Everfree?" Luster asked, a shiver running down her spine.

"We could but…don't you remember Discord's memory? Those…things hated light. It hurt them. Which means they'll be somewhere dark. What place is darker than the Everfree Forest?" Luster looked at Flurry, clearly not convinced. "Look, we're not going to be there long. Just long enough for me to pick up a sample to study."

"Yeah, if we don't get lured into their trap first! We might go in there and never come back out!" Luster yelled, gaining the attention of everypony in their cart of the Ponyville Express, earning a glare from Flurry.

They were trying to get there incognito. Flurry Heart wore a cloak to cover her wings, but if Luster kept up this yelling, eventually she was going to give away their identity.

"Yeah, but we're not going in there alone," Flurry whispered. "Fluttershy calling Discord's name was enough to snap him out of whatever spell those creatures were putting him under. The Cake Twins are getting Orion and are meeting us there. And we're picking up Peach.

Luster bit her lip before an idea came to her. They were approaching Ponyville, so she had to make this quick. "But, in order to get to Peach and the Everfree, don't you have to go through town?"

Flurry smiled. "Well, seeing as Peach doesn't technically live within town limits, no, we don't." And with that, the two of them disappeared in a flash of yellow light just before their train cart entered Ponyville.

Zipp cracked her door open, peeking out, looking for any sign of Flurry and M.O.R.I.C.. When she was sure the coast was clear, she gestured for Misty to follow and quietly left their room.

Was this heist risky? Yes. Was it stupid? Maybe. But it was necessary. There was something in that room Flurry Heart didn't want them to find, which made Zipp determined to find it. She couldn't help it. Her friends were risking their lives to help Flurry. Flurry owed them open transparency, and she's been anything but. It was time Zipp did something to change that.

The two mares crept down the hall to the meeting place. She had texted Pipp earlier, asking her to meet them at the big ornate doors that led into the research hall. Zipp wouldn't have invited Pipp, she didn't even want Misty coming, but Misty insisted, claiming she'd need some unicorn magic backup in case things went south. Zipp wanted to keep Pipp as safe as possible. It was clear Flurry Heart was willing to do anything to protect whatever was in that room.

But, unfortunately, they needed Pipp. They had no idea how Pipp had opened the secret door before, and they needed the secret code in order to see it for themselves. However, when Zipp asked her for it, Pipp refused to give it to her, agreeing to open it for them tonight. Which meant, that if Zipp wanted to get in, Pipp would have to go too. Which meant Hitch would most likely be going too.

Despite Misty nearly getting caught several times in Maretime Bay when she was working under Opaline, Misty could be pretty sneaky when she really wanted to be. Opaline taught her well.

Misty quickly took the lead. Opaline trained her to do heists for when it was time for her to first steal the Unity Crystals, and when that plan turned into a bust, to steal Sparky. Opaline was the one who taught her to steal after all. She only failed so much because deep inside, she didn't really want to succeed. But she knew she needed to this time. For the sake of her friends.

She heard the soft sound of wingbeats and quickly rushed to the nearest door. When that was locked, she quickly pointed up before levitating herself with her magic, all the way up to the ceiling. Zipp quickly followed, hiding in one of the small cubbies that lined the walls.

Flurry Heart sighed heavily as she slowly flew down the halls, her eyes heavy, her whole body weary with exhaustion. She flew right under Misty and Zipp in a daze, too tired to notice if anything was amiss. She had a long day of looking after her subjects and spreading the light this morning that she could only think of her bed.

Once she rounded the corner, Misty slowly levitated herself to the ground, while Zipp stayed hovering in the air behind Misty, just a few feet off the ground. Zipp had to admit, she was impressed. She's hardly ever seen this side of Misty. So confident, so certain, moving like a shadow. It was the complete opposite of how she'd usually see Misty, so unsure and insecure of herself. Zipp probably wouldn't have heard Flurry Heart like Misty did. She knew how to use a sword, and could do a heist like it was second nature. It made Zipp wonder what else Opaline taught her.

Finally, they reached the big ornate doors, but they couldn't find Pipp. Misty closed her eyes, seeming to be concentrating. Zipp watched her, wondering what she was trying to do. She wanted to ask, but she didn't want to break Misty's concentration.

Suddenly, Misty opened her eyes and looked at the curtain across the hall from the door, before walking towards it. She opened it, revealing Hitch. He jumped, but when he saw it was Misty, he let out a sigh of relief.

That was when Pipp flew down from above, giving them a small smile. Zipp turned to Misty. "How did you know where Hitch was?"

"His emotions. I let down my empath shield long enough to sense Hitch's emotions. I've been practicing and now I can sense the direction a certain pony's emotions are coming from." Misty whispered in response.

Without further ado, the four of them turned to the big ornate doors, opening them to reveal the research hall. They wasted no time in entering, softly closing the doors behind them. Misty remembered that night five nights ago when she had that bonding moment with Princess Flurry Heart. She felt guilty, disobeying a direct order from a princess. A desperate request from a friend. But Zipp was right. If they were going to do this, they needed complete transparency.

Misty used her magic to grab the book she had teleported under the couch earlier that day before joining her friends at the bookshelf. Three of them waited for Pipp to do whatever it was she did before that opened the bookshelf, but Pipp just flew in place, hovering in the air, staring intently at the bookshelf.

"Well? What are you waiting for Pipp? Open it!" Zipp urged impatiently. "We don't have all night. She'll figure out what we're doing soon."

Pipp hesitated before chuckling nervously, giving her sister a sheepish smile. "Umm…funny story…I uh…I don't actually remember how to umm…open the door thing…yeeeah…"

Zipp blinked, not quite comprehending. "W-what?"

"How did you open it last time?" Hitch asked.

"Umm…well…that's just it…I'm not quite sure. I had pulled out this book," Pipp pointed to the book Misty was holding in her magic. "And umm…a book over here started glowing. It was…it was blue. I remember that much."

Zipp sighed in frustration. "Remember anything else?"

"Sorry, sis! You know I'm not the best at remembering stuff!"

Zipp was about to open her mouth when Hitch intervened, stepping between the two sisters. "It's okay, honey. Just breathe and think. We can wait."

Pipp did what Hitch said, taking a deep breath and racking her mind. That was when it came to her. "That's it! I remember! It was a book about a Gooof-off or something. Some kind of rulebook."

"A Goof-off? Really?" Zipp asked flatly, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, I'm not the one who created the passcode. I just remember it was…it glowed and…"

"You mean that one?" Misty asked, pointing to a blue book that said 'Official Goof-Off Rulebook'.

Pipp gasped when she saw the book. She pulled on it, it coming halfway out, just like before. Then, the next book began glowing, and the next one. Smiling brightly, she pulled on the books in the order they glowed, one by one. As she did this, Zipp noticed her sister's cutie mark was glowing.

When she pulled on the last book, the one about slumber parties, the bookshelf slowly opened, just like before. Zipp rolled her eyes, wishing she was surprised, but if she were truly being honest with herself, she wasn't.

"A goof-off rulebook. Of course. Who knew?"

As one, the three ponies gathered around Pipp to look into this secret room Flurry had worked so hard to keep hidden, and when they did, all three of them gasped in amazement.

"I'm sorry, ya wanna do what now?!" Peach Cobbler asked in disbelief, looking at Flurry Heart like she was crazy. The ideas this mare came up with sometimes. Peach was surprised Flurry Heart or any of them weren't dead yet.

"Basically, the equivalent of monster hunting in the Everfree Forest," Luster stated flatly. She didn't know who this peach-colored earth pony was, but it was clear she seemed to think things through better than Princess Flurry.

Peach looked at the pink unicorn with a two-toned orange mane, blinking. "Uh…who are you?" Peach asked bluntly, looking Luster up and down.

Flurry sighed. "Luster, this is one of my best friends and Poundcake's marefriend, Peach Cobbler. Peach, this is Luster Dawn, Aunt Twilight's top pupil."

"Hi. Nice to meet you." Luster said, holding out a hoof, a polite smile on her face.

Peach looked at Luster's hoof before turning to Flurry. After the events five years ago, none of the five friends were the same. Especially when it came to trust. Even the fun-loving, carefree Cake Twins were wary of strangers. Not that Flurry blamed them. The last stranger they trusted manipulated their best friend into locking them in a storage closet after manipulating her into knocking them out.

"Yer draggin' her inta this?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Didn't have a choice," Flurry stated flatly.

"So you don't…" Peach glanced at Luster, trailing off.

"Of course not. You know what we all learned about trust that day."

"Yeah yeah, I know. So…what all does she know?"

"The basics." Was all Flurry said, though Peach seemed to understand. Flurry moved on to explain everything. "Peach, you know why I couldn't come to Ponyville earlier today, right?"

"Course I do. Yer aunts were comin' over." Peach answered.

"Yeah, well…they weren't just coming over. They were having a Council of Friendship meeting. You know about the disappearances that have been happening?"

"Yeah. Ponies have been disappearin' left and right. The mayor put a curfew in town and everythin'. Why?"

"Well, they're what the Council meeting was about. And…well…Discord came into contact with one of them and…and…"

"And they was caught, right?" Peach asked, but the way Flurry was acting gave her the feeling he didn't and that it was much worse than that. "Right?"

Flurry shook her head, not sure how to tell this to Peach. Nothing, almost absolutely nothing could get past the Lord of Chaos. And those that did nearly tore Equestria apart.

But, unable to keep it secret anymore, Luster blurted out, "His magic didn't work on it!" Flurry glared at Luster, who shrank back. How the hell was she supposed to keep what happened to the Crystal Heart secret when she couldn't even keep her mouth shut about this?

Peach's eyes widened slightly. "What?"

"His chaos magic didn't work on it," Flurry admitted reluctantly. "They…it got away…"

Alright, this was bad. Peach understood that much. But she didn't understand why this had anything to do with them. Sure, Flurry Heart was a daredevil, but she wasn't stupid. She knew better than to go hunting for some mysterious creatures in the Everfree. She had a million bad ideas, and, sure, a couple of them could've been considered dangerous. But Flurry Heart wasn't no vigilante hero. She knew how dangerous villains could be, especially after Opaline. So why was she wanting them to take a field day in the most dangerous forest in Equestria?

"Okay…what does this have to do with us?"

Flurry sighed. "Peach…I…we saw Discord's memory…it…that thing…it was pure darkness. It was repelled by light. Peach, do you remember how dark it was when Opaline shattered the Crystal Heart?"

Peach shivered as she thought back to it. It was a memory she preferred not to live through again. "Maybe."

"Well…I'm thinking…that's why Opaline shattered the Heart. To summon those creatures."

"No. No no no no no. That's just…no. Opaline's goal was to shatter the Crystal Heart and take away light and love. That's it. And we foiled her plans, remember? You brought light back to the world while yer mama brought back love."

"What if that wasn't her end goal though? What if that was just step one? What if she didn't plan on taking light and love away from the world forever? What if she just needed to for a quick moment so she could do phase two?"

Peach sighed, dread building up in her stomach. She had a feeling she knew exactly where this was going, but she refused to believe it. If Discord's silly yet powerful chaos magic didn't work on these creatures, what made her think the five, er, six of them could handle these creatures?

"Great then, tell that to Princess Twilight and yer parents and let professionals handle this. We ain't monster hunters."

"I know. And we won't be hunting them. I wouldn't ask you to hunt something even the Lord of Chaos couldn't." Peach breathed a sigh of relief, but it was premature. "I just need to be around one long enough to collect some data on it and we'll be out in a jiff. Okay?"

"Oh, is that all? Well, in that case…we're dead! Flurry, we ain't monster hunters or finders or whatever it is you wanna call it! We've never even fought a villain…successfully. No offense. I mean, we're just a ragtag group of friends and…" Peach paused, looking at Luster before gesturing to her. "Plus one, from wee little small town Ponyville! We ain't qualified for this!"

"I'm actually from Canterlot," Luster spoke up, raising her hoof.

"Well, ain't you just special," Peach muttered bitterly.

"That's exactly what Aunt Twilight and her friends were when they defeated Nightmare Moon and brought back Princess Luna. Then they defeated Discord when he was evil. And then the changelings. And so on."

"Flurry, I'd hate to burst yer bubble, really, I would, but…we ain't yer aunts. We're just…us. Two bakers, a nerd, a farm mare, a rebellious princess who don't even want her crown, and…whatever it is she's supposed to be."

Luster glared at Peach. "Luster." At Peach's confused look, Luster continued. "I have a name, you know. It's Luster. Luster Dawn."

Peach rolled her eyes. "Whatever, look, our friend group don't take too kindly to strangers. Not anymore. It ain't nothin' personal." Peach turned back to Flurry. "Point is, we ain't heroes. We as far from heroes as heroes can be."

"Peach. Please." She glanced at Luster before continuing. "You know how this all started. You know why I have to be the one to finish it. Please. I'd never forgive myself if anypony else got hurt because…because of what happened."

Peach sighed heavily, her frustrated look turning into one of concern. "And what about us, Flurry? What if we get hurt?"

"You won't. I promise." At Peach's unconvinced look, Flurry continued. "Look, in Discord's memory, we found out they have a weakness. They have an aversion to light. I'm the Princess of Light. If things go wrong, I'll just blast the area with light and be done with it. I'll teleport us outta there and all will be good."

"And what if you get lured into their trance too? Hmm? What do we do then? Pull out a million flashlights and point 'em at the creatures? If Opaline really summoned these things, I doubt she did so if they could be so easily defeated. Face it, Flurry, we'd be screwed."

"But–" Flurry started, only to be interrupted by Peach.

"No, Flurry. That's yer problem. Ya never think these things through. What if somethin' were to happen to ya? Flurry, if what ya say is true, Equestria's in deep shit. And I got the feelin' Opaline's not one to be messed with. That she could rain hell down from above like it's breakfast. And I ain't stupid. I know ya got that feelin' too. And…if…if the Guardians of Unity…if they fail," Peach shuddered at the possibility. "Celestia forbid, all of Equestria and the Crystal Empire will need ya. We'll need our Princess of Light. If…you're our last defense, Flurry. If…if somethin' were to happen to ya…" Peach trailed off, not even letting her mind go there. But, she didn't need to finish for the three of them to hear the rest of that sentence. That if something happened to Flurry, it could mean the end of Equestria as they knew it.

Luster sighed heavily, finally accepting she was dragged into this, and it was time she played her part. "You have me." Flurry Heart and Peach looked at Luster confused. "If something were to happen to Flurry Heart, I've got your back. I'm Princess Twilight's top pupil. If Flurry starts getting lured into a trap, I can cast a light spell just big enough to banish that thing and break the connection so that Flurry can get us out. It won't be easy, but trust me, I can do it."

Flurry clenched her jaw, looking away from Luster. "Trust is earned Luster. Not given. And you have yet to earn our trust."

Luster rounded on Flurry. "Are you kidding me? You're the one who dragged me out here, practically against my will, and you have yet to trust me?! Have you lost your mind? If you don't trust me, why in the hay did you bring me out here?"

Flurry looked at Luster with determined eyes and a hard look. "Because, Luster. The last pony we trusted doomed all of Equestria and is the reason we're all in this mess. I'm sorry if me not trusting you hurts your feelings, but my subjects come first. So…you can either leave, or you can do whatever it is you need to do to earn my trust. Because, trust me when I say this, once you earn my trust, the only way you'll lose it is if you break it. And once you've earned it, you'll be one of my closest confidantes. Because, if we don't trust those closest to us, who can we trust? And without trust, how can we work together to defeat Opaline? But trust the wrong pony, and the whole world as we knew it can crumble to the ground. The choice is yours, Luster. Are you going to walk away, or finish what you started?"

Luster looked at Flurry for a moment before giving a determined nod. She'd do anything to prove herself to Flurry, and not just because Flurry was her idol. Luster could see Flurry really needed a group of ponies she could rely on. And, Luster wanted to be a part of that group. Because, Equestria was her home, and Luster had the feeling this group was going to save Equestria when Equestria needed the most saving. And she'd do anything to protect her home.

The four ponies gaped at the room with amazement and wonder. Even to Pipp, who'd seen it before, it still blew her breath away. She resisted the urge to pull out her phone. Yes, they were disobeying Princess Flurry Heart, but it was for a good cause. The least they could do was abide by as many of her rules as they could.

The entire room was bathed in gold, purple, pink, and sky blue. Everything seemed to shine in the artificial light. There were more bookshelves filled with books, but these books looked different from the books in the research hall. They almost looked like photo albums.

Every wall was a beautiful mural. On one wall was a beautiful unicorn mare with a pale vermillion coat and raspberry colored and cobalt mane. She had a cutie mark that looked like a snowflake. She was beautiful. The mural was of her floating in the air, though she had no wings, and in her magic, she carried a crystalline sky-blue heart. Crystals came down from above and below while the backdrop was different shades of pink.

The next wall showed two different ponies. One of them was a light pink alicorn mare with violet and pink hair with gold streaks. The other pony was a white unicorn stallion with a two-toned blue mane and wearing a red uniform with gold lining and a blue sash. The two ponies had their backs to each other, but their heads were turned so that their horns touched. Whisps of magic were glowing and surrounding them, and both of them had their eyes closed. They both had small smiles and their manes were flowing in an ethereal wind. Above them floated a beautiful sky-blue heart, much like the one in the first mural.

Pipp was surprised by the similarities she shared with the alicorn mare, well, except for the horn, of course. It was as though they could be related. That was when Pipp noticed the crown on the alicorn's head, as well as the crown on the unicorn's head from the previous mural.

The next wall was covered by a black curtain that was haphazardly thrown up there. For the most part, the curtain covered the wall, but some parts were peeking through, showing paint that was much like the other ones, indicating there was a mural on the wall too, though they couldn't tell what it was.

Hanging from a flagpole in one of the corners of the rooms was a purple flag with a white snowflake inside of a white circle with light blue filigree around it.

And finally, in the middle, floating and twirling in the air between two crystal spikes was a beautiful crystal heart gem that was sky blue, similar to the ones on the two murals. However, this one had a small difference from the ones on the murals. This one had purple whisps inside the crystal surface, like it was gelatin, and somepony had spread light purple food dye into it and used a toothpick to swirl it around, but instead of gelatin, it was a crystal.

Zipp, her mouth hanging open in wonder, took a step, her body beginning to pass through the doorway, when she was repelled back into her friends by something that was at first invisible, but upon contact flashed a pale yellow. Suddenly, all around them, a siren began to blare, and immediately all the ponies put their hooves to their ears, the blaring loud siren threatening to make them deaf for the next month.

"A force field and a siren?!" Hitch yelled, just to be heard over the siren.

"That's just a little excessive!" Zipp commented loudly, putting the tips of her wings into her ears.

Without any more hesitation, the four ponies hurried away, Misty closing the bookshelf door with her magic. The royal sisters flew above them, keeping their eye out for any trouble. Misty held the book she had teleported under the couch in her magic, galloping as fast as her hooves could carry her.

They left the research hall just in time, Flurry Heart teleporting into the secret room just after Misty closed the door to the research hall. Her horn was charged, ready to blast anything that dared to move. She glanced around, finding the room empty and everything still in place. She glanced around, exiting the room to look through the bookshelves when she saw one book missing. She growled between her teeth, willing to do anything to protect her subjects.

The four ponies ran as fast as they could, turning corners and trying to find their rooms as quickly as they could. Their hearts raced and palpitated with exertion and dread, knowing if Flurry Heart caught them, they may never leave the Crystal Empire again.

That was when they skidded to a stop, nearly running into a greenish-blue earth pony with a black mane. Hitch, who was in front, couldn't stop in time and skidded right into M.O.R.I.C., but, instead of colliding painfully into a firm body like he expected, he went right through him, until they were both standing in the same exact spot.

That was when M.O.R.I.C. teleported away, only to appear right in front of Hitch. The four ponies looked at him with open-mouthed shock. What in the hay was this place? A kingdom with no subjects and floating crystals, creepy shadowed monsters, and a holographic butler? This place was just full-on crazy.

"What are you…?" Misty asked in a dazed whisper, her eyes practically bugging out.

"I am M.O.R.I.C., Magically Operated Robotically Intelligent Companion. I was created by Princess Twilight Sparkle to assist Princess Flurry Heart in her many centuries of isolation. I am magically connected to every square inch of this castle, so I can best assist the Crystal Princess. Including the forbidden room you just stepped hoof in."

All four ponies' eyes widened further, if that were even possible, as they realized they had been caught. They began trying to explain in a jumbled mess about everything, hoping something they said would gain the pity of this…whatever this was. A robot? A hologram?

However, M.O.R.I.C. simply held up his hoof, silencing them. "I am here to help. Princess Flurry Heart has been lonely for such a long time and it appears she has taken a shine to your blue unicorn friend. I wish to see my princess happy, but she has been in dark places for so long, even I have failed to reach her. However, since you have all arrived, Princess Flurry Heart has smiled more than she has in a thousand years. I do not wish to see that smile taken away from her. I am afraid that if it is, it may never return."

"You…really care about her…don't you?" Pipp asked, flying a little closer to M.O.R.I.C..

The greenish-blue earth pony looked at the pink pegasus princess with a small smile. "I may be a pre-programmed being, but Princess Flurry Heart is my charge. I only wish to see her happy."

"She's your family," Zipp muttered, looking down at Pipp and Misty, understanding exactly what M.O.R.I.C. was talking about.

"Yes. I suppose she is. I am her companion and she is mine." Suddenly, the five of them heard Flurry Heart call M.O.R.I.C.'s name and the four ponies froze. "Quickly," he continued. "When you get to your room, pretend you were just woken up by this alarm and have no idea what's going on. Do you trust me?"

The four ponies looked at each other before giving M.O.R.I.C. a nod. He gave them a small smile before stomping his hoof and the four ponies faded out of sight.

The six ponies cautiously walked through the Everfree Forest, their hearts racing. They all kept their ears perked for anything that sounded remotely like singing or anything that could be following them. This forest scared the living daylights out of all of them, even Flurry Heart, and especially Luster Dawn.

When the Cake Twins and Orion met Luster, things were on the awkward side. Luster was getting the vibe that the five of them were wary of her, as though they expected her to go evil at any moment. It made Luster wonder just what happened between the five of them and this Opaline character.

The Cake Twins were the least hostile towards her, but she could tell they were keeping their distance. Flurry Heart was starting to open up more to her. Not in terms of words exactly, but in behavior. Flurry no longer seemed so tense around Luster anymore, and when Luster would trip over a tree branch or a rock, Flurry was often the first to her side to help her up.

It was Peach Cobbler and Orion who seemed the most hostile towards her. They'd often give her warning side glances, as though saying that if she really was what she said she was, that'd be great, but if she were to backstab them, they'd be ready. Orion stayed glued to Pumpkin's side, always positioning himself between his marefriend and Luster like a barrier. It made Luster feel bad for them. Whatever Opaline had done to them…it was bad, and it must've changed them.

Not a single one of them said a word since entering the forest. Pumpkin often found herself leaning into her coltfriend, Orion, for comfort, her whole body shaking, jumping at every sudden noise. Her twin brother, Poundcake, seemed to have his nerves under better control, but his eyes still flicked with every loud noise, his wings ruffling uncomfortably.

They had all heard stories of the Everfree Forest, about how bad things always happened there, especially at night. How if it weren't for the Young Six's Treehouse, it'd invade Ponyville and soon, all of Equestria. How some of Equestria's most dangerous creatures lived in these woods.

This was sounding more and more like the worst idea they'd ever gone along with as the minutes ticked by.

Suddenly, the six of them heard rustling at their side and they froze. Flurry, ever her father's daughter, was in a defensive position, her wings flared out, her horn already charged with an uncasted spell. Pound was next, also flaring his wings, and standing defensively in front of Peach. Orion also stood in front of Pumpkin, his horn, along with Luster's, charged with uncasted spells.

"Remember the plan ponies. Stick to it." Flurry muttered to her friends, who nodded softly in return.

However, what came out of the tangle of overgrowth wasn't the creature Discord had faced, but rather…Chimera? Five of the ponies huddled together in fear, but Flurry was confused. Wasn't Chimera supposed to be in the Fireswamps? So what were they doing here in the Everfree? That was when Flurry Heart noticed their three sets of eyes. They were black and pupilless. And the way they moved, it was like they were unsure of how to use their body.

That was when Peach smelled something. Her eyes widened as she recognized that smell. She didn't live far from the Everfree and living on a farm, she'd seen her fair share of them when they'd try to steal food from her family's farm. "Uh…ponies…I don't wanna make ya'll panic or nothin', 'specially with Chimera and stuff but uh…I smell somethin' that smells an awful lot like a–"

"TIMBERWOLF!" Pumpkin screamed, interrupting Peach, pointing at the two Timberwolves behind them.

The ponies shrieked as they realized they were surrounded. That was when Flurry noticed that their eyes, instead of glowing green, were also black, moving around much like the Chimera did. There was something wrong with these creatures. Something was very wrong, and something deep inside told Flurry these creatures weren't in control of their own bodies.

That something worse was.

Author's Note

HALLELUJAH MY INSPERATION IS BACK! :pinkiesad2: I'm a whole new soul!

Okay, so maybe that was a bit dramatic, but seriously, it made me so sad having to put the story on hiatus indefinitely. I had inspiration coming in bits and pieces coming from all over the place, and no idea how to connect it all or continue. Seriously, since writing my last story, I've made like ten unfinished stories that are unpublished.

But now it's back in full force and it's amazing! I'm Izzy at the end of that one TYT special when she got her creativity back.

Hope you like the come back episodes and hopefully, my own case of Blockywockys are over and this was just a small bump in the road. I've got me some big plans for this story. *Misty evil laugh*

Tho, FYI, we are about halfway through so…yeah. Those plans will be coming up soon.

Attack on Canterlot Castle

"Does anypony know what that siren was all about last night?" Sunny asked as she scraped the rest of her breakfast into her mouth.

Pipp, Zipp, Hitch, and Misty all froze briefly at the mention of last night. M.O.R.I.C had teleported them into their rooms after their confrontation last night and they did their best to pretend like nothing happened. They didn't get a visit from an angry princess, so whatever cover M.O.R.I.C. gave them must've worked. Still, though, they didn't want to test it by telling Izzy and Sunny right now. They'd keep up their facade until tonight.

"Um…y-yeah. It definitely woke Hitch and me up."

"Well, I don't see how it couldn't. That thing was loud!" Izzy exclaimed, a bright smile on her face as she took another big bite of her pancakes drenched in syrup and whipped cream.

Pipp quickly shut her mouth, chuckling nervously.

"It definitely scared Zipp and me," Misty said meekly, it not exactly being a lie.

Zipp waved a dismissive hoof. "I was not scared. I knew whatever it was, we could totally beat with the Elements of Unity."

Pipp raised an eyebrow, looking at her sister with an unconvinced expression. "You're telling us that a mysterious siren randomly going off in the middle of the night with no explanation didn't scare you? Even a little?"

Zipp's eyes widened as she realized what she said. "I…umm…er…maybe a little, I-I guess."

Izzy finished her pancakes. "It scared me too, but then I realized that if it was one of those scary shadowed figures, Princess Flurry Heart would be able to take care of it with the light of her horn! Yumm…I cannot get over how amazing those pancakes are!"

Zipp paused, something Izzy said catching her attention. "Wait, Iz, what did you just say?"

"Umm…these pancakes are to die for–"

"No, before that. About the shadowed figure? What makes you think it was a shadow?"

Izzy shrugged. "I dunno…that's just what it looked like from the window of the Marestream, right Misty?" Izzy asked, turning to Misty, who was the first one to notice the shadowed creature when they crash-landed.

Misty just nodded in response.

The wheels began turning in Zipp's head as Izzy's words rang through her mind. "…but then I realized that if it was one of those scary shadowed figures, Princess Flurry Heart would be able to take care of it with the light of her horn!" She stared down at her plate, something about those words not sitting right with her.

She thought back to the night they crash-landed, trying to remember every detail. They crash-landed from a yellow glow, Misty saw the shadowed mare from the window, and Zoom and Thunder went out to see what was going on. Then Zoom and Thunder came back and suddenly, they had differing opinions. Thunder said they could trust the shadowed figure while Zoom said she had bad vibes all around. Then they started arguing when they hardly argued before, Misty started screaming and the shadowed mare was disintegrated. Thunder tried to just run out there without thinking anything through, trying desperately to save something that was so clearly gone, all the while Misty wouldn't stop screaming.

Zipp shivered just thinking about what Misty looked like that night, on the floor, rocking back and forth, tears streaming down her face. It was a moment Zipp prayed she'd never have to experience again. And the worst part was…she couldn't get through to Misty, no matter what she said or did. She couldn't help her sister. She felt as useless as she did when Pipp was captured by the changelings and there was nothing Zipp could do. Zipp just didn't understand why Misty would react that way after everything she's seen and been through. It was almost similar to how Thunder…reacted…

Zipp's eyes widened. There. There was a gap in the story. Something must've happened between Misty and that creature when their attention was focused on Zoom and Thunder arguing. But what was it?

"Zipp? Is everything alright?" Sunny asked, noticing Zipp's sudden silence.

Zipp ignored Sunny. "Misty…the night we crash landed…when that shadowed creature was disintegrated…you started screaming…why?"

Misty's eyes widened as she was reminded of the night she tried to avoid thinking about at all costs. She froze when that creature's words rang through her head.

I realize that you've always been an outcast.

It's hard to know for sure, if they really are your friends or if they're fake.

If you want to be their pawn, then I guess it's all your fault when they cast you out, they'll do, I assure!

Misty squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the words, but it was no use. It was as though those words will forever be ringing in her head.

She took a deep breath before answering Zipp's question honestly. "It…it sang to me. I know it's weird but…it…it seemed to be drawing me in. I…I tried to resist it, really I did but…it was as though I wasn't in control of myself…it was…she knew all of my insecurities…all of my worries…and…and she used them against me…she…she…" Tears filled Misty's eyes as she tried to explain what happened that night. She quickly wiped them away before continuing. "When the shadowed thing was destroyed, it was as though our connection had…had broken. It wasn't until then I even realized that…that she was a part of me and I was a part of her or…or so I thought. I…I didn't know who I was supposed to be or what…I was just so lost. But when Flurry Heart put her horn to my forehead, I remember there was a light like a…like a beacon…and…and it brought me back…"

Zipp was silent for a moment, staring at Misty as she began to connect certain dots. Shadows. Light. Songs. Lure. Zipp stood up, walking over to the closest window, looking out at the bright sun. Light was a huge factor in this she knew it. But what? What was it about light that seemed to banish these creatures and heal the damage they caused?

And then it came to her. Of course. The answer was so obvious. It was right in front of her this whole time. How could she not see it before? Light was the key. It was always the key. That's why the sun was always up. To keep those shadowed creatures away. But…if Flurry was able to heal Misty…why didn't she heal Thunder? Zipp needed answers, and there was only one pony who could give it to them.

She turned to the rest of her friends. "We need to find Flurry Heart. Now."

"Flurry, uh…what do we do?!" Luster asked, as she and the other five ponies slowly backed into each other, not taking their eyes off the intimidating creatures that surrounded them.

Flurry Heart racked her brain for something, anything that'd get them out of this mess. A mess she put her friends in. Dammit. Why didn't she listen to her damn friends? They told her multiple times this was a bad idea, but did she listen? Nope. Quite the opposite actually. She convinced them to join her. Now they were possibly going to be eaten by some possessed creatures.

Then an idea came to her. She closed her eyes, focusing hard, before her horn sparked and the six of them disappeared in a flash of yellow. Forget this mission. It was too dangerous and her Aunt Twilight needed to know Chimera was in the Everfree and that it and the Timberwolves were not in control of their own bodies.

The six of them appeared at the entrance of the Everfree, much to everypony's relief. They panted heavily, all of them trying to calm their racing hearts, when they saw something flying towards them.

As it came closer, the six of them recognized who it was. A purple and green adult dragon with a gold medallion connected to a purple ribbon around his neck. Flurry recognized him right away. It was her Uncle Spike.

"Uncle Spike!" She exclaimed, running towards him.

He looked relieved to see her, picking her up and hugging her close. "Oh, thank Celestia you're okay. We were so worried about you."

"I'm alright. I'm sorry I snuck out." She said as the two of them separated. "I just…had something I needed to do. But we need to go back to the Crystal Empire right away. I need to tell them what we found in the Everfree right–"

"Flurry, your mother wants you back at the Crystal Empire right away." Spike interrupted, as though she didn't even speak.

She looked up at him confused. She was so sure he was going to chew her out for going into the Everfree and for bringing her friends along and putting them in danger as well. But, it was like she didn't talk. When she looked closer into Spike's eyes, she realized how terrified he truly was. Something told her that he wasn't just scared for her, but something else too.

"Uncle Spike? What's wrong?" She asked, dread building up in her stomach.

Spike took a deep shaky breath. He rubbed the top of his scales with his clawed hand, looking away from Flurry. "It's Opaline. Canterlot is under attack. And Twilight's over there alone, trying to beat her back." Spike looked back at Flurry with pleading eyes, pleading for some kind of miracle. "And I'm not sure how much longer she's going to last."

All six ponies skidded to a stop when they saw Zoom running towards them. Zoom hadn't left Thunder's side, vowing not to until he woke up. Everypony looked at each other, before looking back at Misty. They knew Thunder was going to wake up any day now since it's been a week, but they were hoping that when he did, he'd snap out of it. But from the panicked look on Zoom's face, that wasn't the case.

Once Zoom got to them, she paused for a moment, panting, trying to catch her breath. Once she did, she finally started talking. "He's awake. He's…awake…"

"And?" Zipp asked, hoping against everything that something goes their way.

Zoom paused, and when Misty looked into her eyes, she saw they were glistening, like there were tears in them. "He's…he's a mess. He…he's losing it. He's going crazy. We have to help him. We…before he hurts himself."

Zipp took a deep breath, before turning to Misty. "Misty, you, Sunny, Izzy, and Zoom go and put Thunder back under the spell. Hopefully, when he wakes up next, we'll have a way to help him. Pipp and Hitch, you're coming with me. We're going to interrogate Princess Flurry Heart."

"But…shouldn't Misty go with you? I mean, M.O.R.I.C. did say Princess Flurry Heart made a connection with Misty. Wouldn't bringing her help get information out of her?"

Zipp paused at Sunny's suggestion. Sunny did have a point. She looked at Misty, who seemed to be contemplating the same thing. But, the answer had already come to Zipp. "Normally yes. But…Misty's the only one who knows how to cast the spell. And…Thunder's a trained royal guard. Something tells me you're gonna need all the unicorn magic you can get."

Flurry Heart appeared in a bright flash of yellow in front of Canterlot Castle. She felt guilt well up in her for lying to Uncle Spike, but she knew she couldn't leave Twilight alone to deal with Opaline. She was the only one who could help.

She saw a blast of fire burst a hole through the ceiling of the castle. She had to hurry. She was just about to take a step when she saw a flash of yellowish-orange next to her. She turned to see a pink unicorn with a two-toned orange mane that wasn't there before.

"Luster," Flurry hissed, glaring at the unicorn. "What are you doing here? It's not safe!"

Luster shrugged, as though it was no big deal, but deep inside, she was terrified. But Princess Twilight was her mentor. She needed to help her. "Then why are you here?"

"I–I'm an alicorn. I can handle Opaline. You're just a unicorn…you–"

"So was Headmare Starlight, and she helped fight Queen Chrysalis and helped set Princess Twilight's friends free just before the final battle twenty years ago. Starswirl and the other Pillars banished the Pony of Shadows and Starswirl was just a unicorn. So was Princess Twilight before she became an alicorn. Would you like me to continue? Because I haven't even gotten started on Clover the Clever and Sunset Shimmer, your father Shining Armor, assistant Headstallion Sunburst–"

"Okay, I get it." She didn't have time for this. She had to help her Aunt if it was the last thing she did. "Do whatever you want, Luster. Just don't blame me when you get hurt."

She turned away from Luster and without another word, hurried towards the castle, praying she wouldn't be too late. She could hear the hoofsteps of Luster following her, and she rolled her eyes. Some mares.

They entered the castle, only to skid to a stop. In the entrance hall, terrorizing the guards, was a bugbear, a manticore, stone statues of guards indicating there was a cockatrice or many around here somewhere, four cragadiles, ursa minor, and major, dragons, hippogriff, griffons, pukwudgies, other ponies, and more. All of them with black pupilless eyes, all seeming as though they had brand new bodies they didn't know how to fully operate to the very best of their abilities. But they had numbers and powers, and they had the guards held back.

Luster and Flurry froze, with wide eyes, wanting to help, but knowing they couldn't. That was when half the creatures in the room noticed them, and they knew they had to think of something quickly.

Flurry glanced at Luster, grabbing a sword from a fallen guard with her magic. "If you must come, stay close to me."

She then used her magic to teleport to herself the battle armor she always kept in her room. She purposefully practiced teleporting the armor onto herself from anywhere in Equestria. Okay, maybe not anywhere, but in the most well-known locations in Equestria. Especially Canterlot, since most battles seem to happen there. It was a spell every warrior learned. Silver and sky blue armor appeared on her, with accents of purple.

Luster nodded, grabbing her own sword. She used her magic to undress one of the fallen guards of their golden armor and put it onto herself, silently grieving and thanking the fallen guard for his service, as well as the armor she knew would protect her. The armor was a bit big, but it wouldn't fall off of her and that's what mattered.

Flurry stared down the creatures, daring them to try. The creatures stared back, both of them waiting for the other to make the smallest movement. Luster watched the stand-off with nervous trepidation, biting her lower lip.

They stood like that for a good five minutes, chaos ensuing around them. One of them took the smallest step towards the two mares, and the smallest smile appeared on Flurry Heart's face. This is the moment she's been training for her whole life.

"Wrong move," She said dangerously, before charging at the creatures.

The creatures responded by charging back. She tried to keep injuries to a minimum. She didn't want to start any more wars with Equestria's allies. She wielded her sword with expert accuracy, moving with well-practiced forms. Luster stayed close to Flurry's side, holding up her sword to block strikes made towards her, injuring a couple. She was never trained in sword fighting and had no idea how to use one. Her expertise was magic, not weaponry. But they had to get past these creatures to get through the entrance hall and into the throne room.

Flurry parried and dodged, Luster mirroring her moves to the best of her ability. Luster was clumsy, but Flurry watched her back, making sure not a single blow landed on Luster. They were almost there. They were going to make it. They were going to…

As Flurry was fighting her way through three griffons, a manticore snuck up behind her and raised his paw to strike, without Flurry noticing. Luster clenched her jaw and, without thinking, jumped between Flurry and the manticore, its thick claws creating deep wounds into her side.

Upon hearing Luster scream, Flurry turned around, her eyes widening upon seeing Luster fall to the ground, blood gushing from her side. She growled, new fury clouding her mind. She fought more fiercely than before, not caring whether she simply injured or killed anymore. She disposed of the manticor and the three griffons, killing all four creatures. She fought through the creatures that dared get in her way, carrying Luster with her magic, tears filling her eyes.

Finally, they got to the doors of the throne room, and Flurry burst through them, finding it destroyed and empty. She quickly hid behind a pillar, slowly setting Luster down on the ground, and dropping to the floor next to her. None of the creatures followed them, probably having explicit orders to not enter this room.

"Luster?" Flurry whispered, shaking the pink unicorn softly, tears streaming down Flurry's face. "Luster, please wake up. Please."

Luster's eyes slowly opened, blinking back tears of pain. Her side stung and hurt so much, she dared not move. Blood flowed out of her wound quickly. She wasn't going to last much longer. She was going to die of blood loss soon.

Upon seeing Luster slowly open her eyes, Flurry breathed a sigh of relief. "Luster. Good. You're going to be okay. Alright? You're going to be fine. You just need to stay awake long enough until I can teleport you to the hospital, okay?" Tears streamed down her cheeks as Flurry charged her horn, ready to perform the spell to teleport Luster to the first place she thought of. Home.

She stopped however when she saw Luster softly raise a hoof. "Thank. You."

"Why are you thanking me?" Flurry asked, her voice cracking.

"Because…because you helped give me the courage to fight. It was you…wasn't it? You were the reason…Opaline was able to get to…to the Crystal Heart all those years ago, weren't you?"

More tears filled Flurry's eyes, but she nodded anyway. "How…how did you know?"

Luster smiled weakly. "It…it wasn't…too hard to…piece together. It's…it's not your fault…you know. I know you. You'd never…purposefully put Equestria or…or the Crystal Empire in…in danger."

Suddenly, two ponies crashed through the ceiling of the throne room. Flurry glanced from around the pillar and saw Twilight fall against the floor, Opaline on top of her. She turned back to Luster.

"I have to get you out of here. Now. I'm teleporting you to the castle in the Crystal Empire. Tell the first pony you see that I sent you and that you have a mayday message for Queen Cadence and King Armor. It's an S.O.S from the Canterlot Castle. Tell them we need forces here, ASAP." Luster nodded weakly, fading quickly. "Good luck…friend."

"You too…friend," Luster responded weakly.

And with that, Flurry teleported Luster to the castle in the Crystal Empire, imagining the throne room. There was always at least one pony there. Flurry quickly wiped away her tears, stood up, and mentally prepared herself for the fight of her life.

Misty swallowed nervously as she, Sunny, Izzy, and Zoom stood before the door of Thunder's room. They could all hear him yelling and throwing things, demanding Flurry's head. Or, in his words, "the head of the evil monster that killed his one true love."

The door was blocked by pieces of fancy furniture, and still, the door rattled as he bucked and kicked at it. Every time Thunder would buck the door, the four mares would flinch.

As one, everypony looked at Izzy. When Izzy noticed, she looked between the three mares. "W-what?"

"Got any ideas? You are the Element of Creativity," Zoom said nervously.

Izzy shook her head silently. Misty began thinking out loud, "It'd be easier to cast if we can keep him still long enough…"

"But in order to catch him in a levitation spell, we'd need to see him…" Sunny continued.

"But he's much too violent for us to just waltz in there…" Zoom finished.

"Ooh! Idea!" Izzy exclaimed, bouncing in front of the four mares. She hesitated, only briefly. The last time she came up with an awsomazing idea, it ended with her literally being thrown into a jail cell, in the enemy's dungeon. All part of the plan of course, but still…that wasn't what she'd call fun. But still, an idea is an idea. There was a price to creativity sometimes, but it was a price she was always willing to pay.

The three mares waited for her to continue, so she took a deep breath and said quickly, "I can go in there and distract him and then Sunny or Misty can magically put a protection bubble around him so that Misty can cast the sleep spell on him because he'd be still enough you know?"

The three mares were silent for a moment before Sunny finally spoke. "Okay. Fine. But I'm going in."

"Sunny, it's my idea–"

"And I'm the alicorn. I can handle him better than you."

Zoom took a deep breath. "I'll go in."

Everypony turned to Zoom. At least Izzy going in made some sense, she was a unicorn, but Zoom? She was just a pegasus. She was going to get herself hurt.

"Zoom, you can't be serious," Sunny started before Zoom interrupted her.

"I am. I'm the only one who can. He's my best friend. He may be under some voodoo spell, but I can keep him talking long enough for Misty to do the spell. Besides…I'm a guard. I'm trained for these kinds of situations."

"Trained for how to deal with your best friend who's gone round the bend?" Izzy asked, tilting her head. "That's awfully specific."

"She means she's trained for hostile situations like these, Iz," Misty corrected softly.

"Oh, right right. That makes loads more sense."

The three mares agreed, knowing Zoom was right. She may not have any unicorn magic, but she was the most qualified for this. So, taking a deep breath, Misty readied the spell while Zoom faced the door with nervous trepidation.

"M.O.R.I.C.! Thank hoofness we found you! We need your help!" Zipp exclaimed with relief as she, Pipp, and Hitch ran up to the robotic green earth pony. They skidded to a stop once they reached him, seeing a polite, but strained smile on his face.

"Firstly, thanks for covering for us," Pipp started, panting heavily. "Whatever you told Princess Flurry Heart worked. She didn't come storming into our rooms last night."

"It was my pleasure. As I've said before, I only wish to see my princess happy." M.O.R.I.C. paused before continuing. "How may I be of assistance to you, your Highnesses?"

Hitch chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck. "I don't think I'll ever get used to being referred to as 'Your Highness' or 'Your Majesty'."

"Well, you better. Because you married a princess." Pipp sang, pecking a kiss on Hitch's cheek.

Zipp rolled her eyes. She always hated whenever she saw them giving PDA. She focused back on M.O.R.I.C. "Actually, that's what we wanted to talk to you about. We…we need to see Flurry Heart. Please."

M.O.R.I.C.'s eyes widened briefly. It was just a flash, one Pipp and Hitch missed, but Zipp noticed. She was used to noticing the small details. "While I believe it's time for you all to have a little…chat…now's not the best time. Perhaps try again later."

Zipp took a step closer. "It's sort of urgent. It's about why she called us here."

"I understand. If you have a message to deliver, I'll be happy to give it to her. But, for now, it is best we do not disturb her. When she's done, I will come fetch you. Or perhaps send her to you, whichever one suits you best. In the meantime, however, it may be in your best interests if you go on ahead to the study. So you can do some research. Yes?"

"Is she always so busy around this time, or is it just today, when we happen to want to talk to her?" Zipp asked, though M.O.R.I.C. just remained silent.

Pipp felt dread build up in the pit of her stomach. She had a feeling that M.O.R.I.C was right. It would be in their best interest to just leave the Princess alone. Pipp walked up to Zipp, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "C'mon, Zipp. You heard him. The princess is busy. We'll find her later."

"No. We need to find her now. She's hiding something from us. They both are. And I'm gonna get to the bottom of it." Zipp turned back to M.O.R.I.C. "We're going to find her. With or without your help."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." M.O.R.I.C was silent for a bit before something seemed to come to him. "In fact, I believe your friends are in need of your help."

And with that, the three ponies were teleported away, before M.O.R.I.C. himself disappeared in thin air.

Princess Flurry Heart sat in the corner of the room, her head bowed, a single tear streaming down her face as she anxiously waited. She glanced up at the bed when she thought she heard sheets rustling, but the body remained still. Though, she knew it wouldn't be for long. That any minute now, she'd awaken, and she'd either be normal after all these years, or she'd be bloodlust crazy. Flurry hoped the saviors would break this dreadful curse soon. She didn't know how many more times she could do this.

Slowly, the pink unicorn softly opened her eyes, revealing beautiful orangish yellow irises. Flurry Heart snapped her head up, hope swelling in her chest. But then, slowly, her pupils began to expand until they consumed the whole eye, and her hope burst like a bubble.

Flurry's eyes filled with tears as she charged her horn, standing up and adjusting into a defensive position. Slowly, the unicorn sat up, angry red scars marring her side, blinking slowly as though trying to adjust to her surroundings, before her eyes caught sight of Flurry Heart and she smiled sadistically. The pink unicorn then charged her own horn, but instead of its normal orange color that it was when Flurry first met her, it was a horrible black color. The same color as her pupilless eyes.

Flurry Heart blinked back tears, scraping her hoof against the ground and preparing the sleep spell. She hoped these so-called saviors would break this horrible curse soon. She didn't know how many more times she could put herself through this horrible pain.

"Opaline Arcana!" Flurry Heart yelled, holding the hilt of her sword with her magic, glaring at the dark magenta fire alicorn. "We have some unfinished business!"

Opaline Arcana slowly turned her face towards Flurry Heart, her expression making Flurry gasp and take a step back. While her eyes weren't pupilless and black, they still looked so much like the monsters that possessed the creatures outside. Full of insanity and bloodlust.

"Well well well. It's about time the Pwincess of Wight showed up," Opaline taunted, her voice dropping to a baby's when she said Flurry's official title. "Enjoying the new cutie mark I gave you?"

"You didn't give me a cutie mark! I earned it! By fixing my mistakes!" Flurry yelled back, raising her sword higher.

"Yes, a mistake you made regarding me. It wasn't planned, I assure you. I'm good, but even I'm not that good. It was just a happy coincidence. But nonetheless, you should be thanking me."

"Over my dead body!" Flurry yelled before she blasted Opaline off of an unconscious Twilight.

She quickly ran to her Aunt, performing a quick healing spell. Slowly, Twilight groaned, slowly opening her eyes to look at Flurry Heart. "Flurry…?" Twilight asked weakly.

"Get up," Flurry Heart urged. "Please. Opaline's still here. You have to get up!"

Slowly, Twilight sat up, standing defensively between Flurry Heart and Opaline. "Flurry, you need to go. You don't understand how powerful she is."

"But I can help–" Flurry Heart started, only to be interrupted by Twilight.

"Flurry! Go!" Twilight spread her wings, her horn charging as Opaline started to stand on her hooves.

Opaline smiled wickedly. "Oh, Princess Twilight Sparkle!" Opaline spat, glaring daggers at Twilight. "Nopony but me is leaving this room alive."

Suddenly, Opaline blasted fire at the two alicorns. Twilight quickly put up a shield around her and her niece. Opaline laughed maniacally, flying up into the air, shooting another stream of fire at the shield, putting all of her power into it.

Twilight's shield began to crack, but Flurry Heart used her own magic to help stabilize it. Twilight offered a grateful smile, and together they held the shield steady.

"Why are you doing this?!" Twilight pleaded, blocking another attack from Opaline.

"Because it's my elemental duty! I'm the alicorn of fire, of strength, of power. I was meant to be so much more than a puny alicorn from Skyros. I was meant to rule a kingdom. More so than those stupid alicorns Celestia and Luna. It's time they learned I'm the wrong pony to push around!"

Another blast of fire was aimed at them, but this time, it broke right through their shield. They quickly split up, hoping to bring her down by attacking on both sides. While Twilight flew around the throne room, drawing Opaline's fire, Flurry Heart snuck up behind her with her sword raised, ready to slice it through Opaline.

But, she hesitated. No. This was wrong. Her mother, her father, and her aunt taught her better than this. Killing should never be the first option. So, Flurry drew her sword back and instead blasted a beam of magic at Opaline, knocking her to the ground.

Opaline, who looked battered and bruised, stood up on shaky hooves, panting heavily. As soon as she stood up, she collapsed to the ground, crying out in pain. Flurry's heart stopped. Did she blast her too hard,

Both Twilight and Flurry touched down around the crumbled fire alicorn. They breathed a sigh of relief when they realized how injured the fire alicorn was. They let their defenses fall for just a bit until Flurry Heart heard Opaline's cynical laughter.

The two alicorns froze for a split second before they were blasted back by fire, both of them slamming into the walls of the throne room, creating holes and landing on the other side. They both weakly got to their hooves, flying back into the throne room, cuts and bruises covering their bodies.

Opaline laughed maniacally. "Oh, I have always been commended for my acting skills. Who knew I could fool two lousy princesses?"

"This is wrong!" Twilight called, hoping to get through to Opaline. "You don't have to do this. If this is about Celestia and Luna, I'm sure we can talk this out. Just…just don't do something you can't come back from."

"Oh, but you see, Princess. I do. I have to do this. And trust me, I've already crossed that line."

Opaline blasted Flurry Heart, and Twilight quickly flew to her, trying to get to her without being blasted herself. She landed next to Flurry, putting up a shield around the both of them while Opaline covered the room in flames.

That was when Opaline began to sing.

🎵You could call me evil, but,
I will go and take just what I need,
Don't need nopony with me.

Yes, it might be villainous,
But that's what makes me the perfect queen.
You will bow to me.🎵

As she sang, Opaline flew around, spreading fire everywhere. Twilight kept her shield up as Flurry stood up, looking around, trying to pinpoint her. But it was nearly impossible. There was so much fire…so much smoke, it was hard to see past anything. The shield blocked out most of the smoke, but some snuck past, making Flurry cough and wheeze. Twilight wrapped a wing around Flurry comfortingly, all the while looking for Opaline, not seeing her but hearing her voice.

🎵So hush, filly, just
Get lost in the rush,
Hypnotized by the words I'm sayin'
Feel the heat, then the beat, mesmerized, go to sleep
Like a lullaby, I'll be singin…🎵

Suddenly, a huge blast of fire hit the shield, and upon impact, it cracked. Flurry was about to help stabilize it with her own magic, just like before, but before she could, it shattered. Flurry and Twilight both separated, flying in different directions to avoid the purple and blue fire on the ground.

🎵I've got the power!
The fire that runs through my veins.🎵

Flurry flew through the air, trying to find Opaline, but unable to see her or Twilight. She began to feel useless, and she hated feeling like that. It was how she felt when Opaline shattered the Crystal Heart. She refused to feel like that again.

She lit her horn, casting a light spell just in time to see a shadowed figure flying towards her. At first, she thought it was Twilight, but then realized she was sorely mistaken. She was blasted by another bout of fire, landing in the middle of a ring of fire, Opaline hovering above her, continuing to sing.

🎵I've got the power!
And you're going to feel, you're going to feel
The flames! Flames!
La-da-da-dee-da-da-da
Oh, you'll feel the flames, flames!
La-da-da-dee-da-da-da🎵

Just before Opaline could blast Flurry, Twilight appeared from the air, landing in front of Flurry and casting another shield. This was too much. They couldn't defeat Opaline like this. Opaline had the advantage. She waited patiently until Twilight left Canterlot, leaving it unprotected, broke in, and awaited Twilight, catching her by surprise.

Suddenly, Flurry saw a quick flash of sky blue, and she knew exactly who it was. Finally, help came which meant…Flurry breathed a sigh of relief. It meant Luster made it there alright.

She glanced at Twilight, surprised when Twilight didn't seem to even notice the flash. She looked back at where she saw the blue flash. Through the smoke, she saw a pink alicorn with a purple, pink, and yellow mane, sneaking up behind Opaline. She gasped when she saw her mother's horn light up, finally feeling hope well up in her.

🎵You might think I'm wicked, but,
Don't be mad because I have a plan.
It spells out victory.🎵

As Opaline sang, she noticed Flurry's expression. Twilight quickly spread her wings, hiding Flurry from view. Opaline slowly looked behind her, never breaking her song, and fortunately, Cadence was able to hide before Opaline caught sight of her.

Flurry schooled her expression, it was as blank as her aunt's. However, Opaline wasn't an idiot, and she knew something was up.

🎵So hush, filly, just
Get lost in the rush,
Hypnotized by the words I'm sayin'
Feel the heat, then the beat, mesmerized, go to sleep
Like a lullaby, I'll be singin…🎵

Twilight glared at Opaline, her expression full of malice. She tried to reach her, tried to talk her out of this, but it was clear now that she was too far gone.

Twilight glanced at Flurry Heart, charging her horn. She'd help her sister-in-law by any means possible. She would've called upon her friends to help, but they were too busy trying to stop the attack on Ponyville.

🎵I've got the power!
And you're going to feel, you're going to feel
The flames! Flames!
La-da-da-dee-da-da-da
Oh, you'll feel the flames, flames!
La-da-da-dee-da-da-da🎵

Suddenly, just as Princess Cadence was about to blast Opaline, Opaline turned, dodged the blast, and cast her own blast of fire square at Cadence's chest.

Cadence cried out, falling to the floor in a motionless heap. Flurry watched all of this, tears filling her eyes as she shrieked, "MOM! NO!"

Twilight saw all this go down, watching her sister-in-law with bated breath. Suddenly, the two alicorns heard Cadence groan and try to stand up and the both of them breathed a sigh of relief. Cadence was alive, that was what mattered.

Twilight racked her brain for something, knowing she couldn't fight Opaline like this and win. They needed to find someplace safe, regroup, and come up with a plan. Opaline had an advantage and she used it well. Opaline may have won this battle, but if Twilight was going to win the war, she and her family had to retreat.

So, with a heavy heart, she did something similar to what she did all those moons ago when the Legion of Doom attacked Canterlot. She teleported Flurry Heart, herself, and Princess Cadence out of the throne room, leaving Opaline alone.

"Izzy! Look out!" Sunny yelled as Izzy flew through the air just as three ponies appeared out of thin air.

Sunny tried to catch Izzy in a levitation spell, but it was already too late. She crashed into Pipp, Hitch, and Zipp, causing all of them to fall to the ground.

Misty ran to her friends and grabbed Izzy's hoof, helping her up. Zipp and Hitch also stood up, Zipp rubbing her head and Hitch helping Pipp up. That was when Zoom went flying through the air, crashing into the wall next to the five ponies, knocking herself unconscious.

"What in the hay is going on?!" Zipp yelled, looking around for some sort of explanation.

"It's alive! It's alive!" Izzy screamed, confusing the three newcomers. Everypony looked at Izzy confused, and when she noticed, she just shrugged. "You know? Frankinhoof? It just felt fitting."

Misty shook her head, trying to get herself back on track. "It's Thunder. It's like he gained some kind of crazy superpowers. He's, like, super strong and like really fast. Whatever made him like this, also granted him with crazy inpony abilities."

Hitch blinked. "He's a weaponless pegasus against an alicorn and two unicorns. How much trouble can he really be?"

Suddenly, a pinkish-purple beam blasted from the bedroom, making them all jump out of the way. Sunny then came barreling towards them, landing on the ground, and rolling a couple of feet before hitting the wall.

"Umm…does a mirror count as a weapon?" Izzy asked, her voice trembling.

"A what?!" Pipp exclaimed, not sure she heard Izzy right.

"You're saying we're getting our assessment kicked by a damn mirror?! Seriously?!"

"Mirror mirror on the wall, I guess," Pipp muttered sarcastically.

"Wouldn't the mirror just shatter on impact?" Hitch asked.

"Yeah, you'd think that," Sunny replied, sitting up.

Suddenly, the six of them heard glass shattering and they all looked towards the door of the bedroom, their hearts stopping. After a moment's hesitation, they all bolted into the room, Izzy, Misty, and Sunny charging their horns.

But by the time they got there, the room was empty, apart from the broken furniture and the gaping hole in one of the windows. Thunder was nowhere to be found.

"This is really bad, isn't it?" Izzy asked with a shaking voice.

The six ponies stared at the hole in the window with wide eyes, but Pipp began to grow angry. She had had it. Flurry Heart refused to tell them anything and now it was costing them their friends. It was time to get answers.

"What do we do now?" Misty asked, not looking away from the window.

Pipp glared at it, her blood boiling. "We find Flurry Heart and we get ourselves some answers." She muttered dangerously. "This ends now."

Author's Note

The beginning of the end is upon us…I think.

I know the battle scene was pretty short, but I didn't want that to be the focus of the story. I dropped little hints everywhere in this chapter, so…I wanted those to be the focus because they'll be referenced to in future chapters.

I know that right now, I'm getting off track, but trust me, I'm not. I know with these kinds of stories, you have to have a road map to prevent getting off track, and trust me, I've had that from the beginning. In fact, this chapter is the source of past flashbacks Flurry Heart had in the beginning chapters. It's finally starting to come into a full circle. Promise.

Onto the next chapter…

Hakuna Matata

Dangerous Warnings

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Just Look Up

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The Spirit of Harmony

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Everything Will Be Okay

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The Crystal Festival

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