Dark Crystal

Flurry heart felt as if she was struck by lightning.

She slowly opened her eyes. She was lying in bed. The room was furnished with some bronze and white furniture.

“What… happened?” she thought aloud. She managed to get up from the bed.

Then, she remembered. There was a battle, that alicorn came out of nowhere and started fighting her father…

“Dad!” she shouted. She had to find him!

Suddenly, there was a noise of a key turning. The doors slowly opened.

“Calm,” somepony said monotonously.

Flurry wanted to respond by blasting the door open… but noticed she couldn’t. Something blocked her magic.

“Calm. Princess wants you,” somepony said.

“Your princess wants to meet me?”

“Yes.”

“Okay… lead the way. I will behave.

The door opened, and a masked pegasus walked in. He wore black armor, decorated with crystals and red wards.

Flurry walked out of the room.

“What is this place?”

“Princess. Talk.”

Flurry raised her eyebrow. “What’s wrong with your voice?”

“Saw. Everything.”

“Okay… let’s go to your princess, then.”

Flurry and the pegasus walked through the corridors. They looked… strangely familiar.

Finally, they reached a large door. “Princess. There,” the pegasus said.

Flurry opened the door.

—

She entered a richly decorated dining room. It was fit for a palace. There were paintings, showing either strange symbols or airships.

Flurry looked at the table. By one chair, the masked alicorn that attacked Aquavitae was sitting.

“You, what did you do to my father!” Flurry shouted.

“No need to worry, little Flurry. Your dad is safe, back in your Crystal City.”

“Where I am?”

“This might be complicated to explain. Come on, you must be hungry. I have pancakes with strawberry jam.”

“Pancakes?”

“Your favorite, aren’t they?”

They were her favorite. How did she know it? Flurry was suspicious.

“Lapis Blue, leave us alone. I want to talk with the little princess,” said the alicorn.

“Princess,” the armored pegasus bowed and walked out of the dining room.

“Lapis Blue?”

“Just like your friend from the guard.”

Now, Flurry was really suspicious.

“Pancakes are getting colder.”

Flurry walked towards the other alicorn. There was a set with pancakes. This entire situation weirded her out. On the other hoof, she felt she was starving, so she started eating.

Flurry ate the delicious pancakes. The masked alicorn was watching her. This was getting weirder.

“These were nice pancakes. So, can you tell me who you are?”

“I will,” the masked alicorn replied. She flashed her horn, and took off her mask.

Flurry gasped. She saw a light pink mare with blue-pink mane. The mare was scarred and older, but she was unmistakable.

“You… look like me.”

“Indeed,” the alicorn replied in normal voice, very similar to Flurry’s. “There’s a reason for this. It’s because I am Princess Flurry Heart, Princess of Crystal Empire.”

“How could you be Flurry Heart? I am Flurry Heart!”

“This might be complicated to explain, but I will do so. For now, I want to tell you that I do not have anything against you or your ponies. In fact, I was glad to finally find ponies outside Crystal City.”

“Outside Crystal City?”

“Yes. You are currently in the dining room of Crystal Palace, in Crystal City. You are my guest.”

“Crystal City? You mean there’s a second Crystal City? What’s next, you tell me there’s a second Twilight or second Celestia?” the younger Flurry still was suspicious of the situation.

“You like history, right? Let me explain you my history, then.”

—

Both alicorns walked towards the castle library. It was almost identical to the one at Crystal Palace.

“Have you heard about the Eternal Return?” the older alicorn said.

“No. What’s that?”

“It is a theory that states the events are repeating itself. If something happened in the past, it will happen in the future, in a large time loop. See, as I predicted, and just proven, this theory is true.”

“How have you proven it?”

“In my time, Equestria had collapsed. Ponies had to flee from their homelands. In an attempt to save Crystal City, I’ve banished it into the future for a thousand years.”

“You’ve used the banishment spell?”

“Yes. I had to, otherwise the Crystal Empire would collapse like all other civilizations. Later, I repeated the spell. Sometimes I’ve spent a few days in a millennium, before sending the Crystal City into the future. Sometimes I stayed for many years, building up the city. During that time, I searched for Equestria.”

“But… you said your Equestria has collapsed.”

“It did. That’s where Eternal Return comes into play. See, there are certain patterns that the universe repeats. One of the patterns is Equestria and her ponies.”

“Equestria is repeating?”

“For some reason, certain things, called patterns, repeat. The truth is that in the distant past of the universe, there already was a Crystal Empire, and there already was a Flurry Heart.”

“You mean there were an infinite number of my past versions?”

“I’m not sure about infinite, but there were some. Moving on, during my journey, I discovered something about the universe’s history. The full cycle of all patterns repeating, called a kalpa, was already recorded. After I banished my city a few dozen times, I’ve got a good look at where in the timeline we are. We are in the closing years of Eon of Decay, and at the start of Eon of Exile.”

“Decay? I don’t think the universe is decaying.”

“That’s because you haven’t seen the Taiso Empire during the peak of Eon of Empire. Eon of Emerging that preceded it or even Eon of Decay and its Two Hundred Great Worlds were grand as well. Yet, this is coming to an end.”

“Why?”

“Twenty two years ago, in a distant world, a pact was signed that sealed the fate of Two Hundred Great Worlds, including yours. In twenty eight years, everything is going to be devoured.”

“Devoured? By who?”

“I really, really don’t want to talk about it. The point is, you, the current Flurry Heart, can do what I did, and save Crystal City despite the upcoming destruction.”

“How?”

“I’m going to teach you. So, what do you say, little sister?”

Younger Flurry thought about this. “First, can I refer to you as Dark Flurry. I like your style.”

“Sure,” replied Dark Flurry.

Flurry Heart thought about this. It was strange, but it could be an opportunity. Not that she trusted this Dark Flurry. Flurry Heart knew how Crystal City got banished. Dark Flurry must have used the same spell, and that meant Flurry had a pretty good idea about the fate of kidnapped ponies.

“It’s a deal,” Flurry Heart said.

“Perfect. I’m going to unlock your magic now.”

Flurry felt magic washing over her. Her powers returned.

“I would like to look around for some time.”

“Sure. Take as much time as you want.”

—

Flurry Heart entered her bedroom. It was dark and stylish, just like she liked. Dark Flurry at least had a good taste.

However, she was still suspicious. Even if the things she said were true, a thing hard to prove, she still attacked Crystal Empire and attempted to injure her father.

Luckly, with a changeling uncle, Flurry had learned certain skills that could help her here.