Dark Crystal

by Prince of Cavia

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Violence, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Flurry Heart, Alternate Universe, Original Character
Length: 8097

Flurry Heart investigates a series of strange attacks in Crystal Empire’s frontier.

Villages in the remote parts of Crystal Empire have been attacked by a mysterious enemy that left no traces. Flurry Heart, the thirteen-years-old heir to Crystal Empire, wants to help her father in tracking down the attackers. She will have to face dark magic in a strangely familiar city.

Sequel to Flight to Dreadlands, although very indirectly. Reading it is not required, but could explain certain plot points.

Published 2024-08-26 14:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2024-08-26 14:30:01 UTC

Six

Flurry Heart read a book in the Dark Crystal Palace’s library.

The history of the past version of Equestria was fascinating. There were some similarities, but also many things were different. And of course, it had continued beyond what was the present.

Flurry read about a great darkness that has arisen in Griffonia and spread beyond. She read about a giant arkships that ponykind used to evacuate their country. It was interesting that the past Equestria seemed to exist on a flat plane, on an infinite ocean.

“Flurry, could you come here for a moment,” Dark Flurry said. Flurry hid the history book in her saddlebag and went.

“Hello. I see you are interested in the history of my ponies,” Dark Flurry said.

“Yes. It is fascinating.”

“I would like to teach you some spells that might be useful.”

“Sure.”

The two Flurrys went out of the palace towards the training grounds. Flurry noticed the strange armor of the guards, and the strange architecture of the buildings.

“Let’s do some spells.”

—

The training went well. After some time, Flurry and Dark Flurry went to the park.

Flurry looked at the statues. She noticed one of them.

“Is that Twilight?”

The statue showed Twilight Sparkle. She seemed afraid.

“Yes.”

Flurry felt the magic coming out of the statue. She recognized it.

“Well, that’s one strange statue,” she said.

“Indeed.”

Flurry got an idea.

—

In the evening, Flurry Heart was in the palace. The day went well, she learned something. Now, she was standing by Dark Flurry’s office.

She looked around to see if there were any guards there. The way was clear. She entered the office.

It seemed similar to Cadance’s office. Colors were obviously different, but the placement was the same. Flurry used her magical signature to open the drawer.

Inside, there were documents. Plans of strikes against the Crystal villages. Even a plan to attack Crystal City. Flurry hid the plans into her saddlebag.

She left the office. Hopefully, her plan will be completed.

—

Flurry Heart walked out of the palace. She casted a spell. Her wings were hidden, her mane changed color to purple. She hoped it would be enough.

She walked towards the tram station. Few ponies were there, but none of them paid her any attention.

She entered one of the trams. She watched the city from the window. It was familiar, yet strange.

Eventually, she reached her destination.

She saw multiple airships docked. Many ponies were here.

She levitated a document out of her saddlebag. Now, which airship is going to get her closer to home.

Ten

Flurry Heart and Dark Flurry looked at each other.

“I’m not going to let you attack my city.”

“Well, then. Just surrender. I only need you anyway. Together, we could…”

“Whatever you promise me, I refuse. I will not go with you.”

“Alright. If you don’t want to do it on your own, then I…” Dark Flurry didn’t finish it, as Flurry casted a magic beam on her.

“Thorax, run!” Flurry shouted, and continued attacking.

Dark Flurry casted a shield spell and checked her side. “Ouch, you do have strong magic. Let’s see how strong,” she said, and casted her own spell.

Flurry surrounded herself in a bubble of magic. The magic was battering on her, yet she held on. She attempted to counterattack.

—

In the meanwhile, Shining Armor was shouting orders. Enemy pegasi started engaging the crystal soldiers. He was confident his soldiers would hold on.

He felt powerful magic nearby. He turned, and saw golden beams being shot. He had recognized them. “Flurry!”

Shining ran towards the beams. He saw his daughter fighting her evil doppelganger. She was using the spells he taught her, and was quite good at them, yet she was fighting an adult alicorn.

Shining attempted to cast a spell, but then, cold overtook him.

—

Flurry Heart saw her father getting frozen in an ice cube.

“Well then, where did we stop,” said Dark Flurry.

Flurry was outraged. She didn’t want her father, or anypony in the empire, to suffer. She doubled her efforts.

Lightning and magic beams were hitting Dark Flurry’s shield. The alicorn was smiling and didn't even flinch. Flurry got even more angry. She summoned the strongest magic beam she could, and shot it.

This time, Dark Flurry did flinch. She was pushed back, and almost dropped the shield spell.

“Very well, I think you are ready,” Dark Flurry said, and teleported away.

Flurry was exhausted by the duel. She still ran towards her father. The spell wasn’t that difficult to remove, and her father was freed.

—

Shining Armor was quite disoriented after being hit by the spell, but quickly managed to recover.

“Dad, are you okay?” Flurry asked.

“Yes, Flurry. You’re okay?”

“Yes, I am. She ran away,” Flurry said. Shining had to help her stand. She was exhausted from pushing the limits of her power.

Shining saw that airships above Crystal City started retreating towards the floating city.

Then, there was a very bright, green flash. Shining covered Flurry, afraid that there was an attack. Yet, once the flash disappeared, so did the airships and the floating city.

“What happened?” asked Shining.

“She has fled into the future.”

One

Flurry Heart, heir to the Crystal Empire and the first natural Alicorn to be born in thousands of years, was standing on the guard’s training field.

She levitated a practice sword and charged. Flash Sentry, the most renowned commander in the Crystal army, parried the attack. Flurry pressed on, and would have definitely beaten him, if not for a distraction.

One of the castle servants trotted towards them. Flurry and Flash stopped their training. The servant bowed towards the princess, then turned to Flash. “Sir, Prince Shining Armor is requesting your presence. After the council meeting concludes, commanders are to gather in the war room.”

“I guess he got an idea what we should do about disappearing villages,” replied Flash.

“Wait, council meeting? Mom didn’t invite me?” asked Flurry.

“Well, you are still too young for this,” Flash replied. “We will continue the training tomorrow.”

Flurry was quite upset. Yes, she wasn’t an adult yet, but she was a princess. She should be helping other ponies, just like her mother and her aunt do. Instead, she was just studying. Sometimes interesting things, like swordfighting and history, but more often boring and useless things, like math or etiquette.

“I shouldn’t stay here buried under books. I’m going to help my mother.”

In the council room of the Crystal Palace, Princess Cadance, of the House mi Amore, Alicorn Princess, Empress of Crystal Empire and Protectress of Crystal Heart, listened to the report with worry.

“Another village hit. And we still don’t know who is behind the attacks,” she said.

“Whoever does this, is not leaving anypony to tell the tale. The scouts said that there were only a few bodies in the village, but no inhabitants were left. Whoever attacked them has most probably captured the villagers alive. There were no bodies of attackers. This was another village hit by the same enemy. This time the enemy has reached as far as the Aquavitae Creek province. This province should have been safe, yet it isn’t,” said Shining Armor, Prince Consort and Marshall of Crystal Empire.

“Thorax, did your changelings find anything about this? Could Chrysalis be behind those attacks?”

Thorax, the Spymaster of Crystal Empire and claimant to Changeling Lands, looked at the notes he had. “I’m afraid I don’t have anything. According to my spies, Changelings heard about the attacks, but didn’t take responsibility for them. Actually, a number of soldiers were deployed to the hives close to the border to protect Changelings from the attacks. However, if Chrysalis was planning something like this, she would only tell the highest-ranking officers.”

“So, she might have done this, but we have no proof,” said Cadance. “Sunburst, do you have anything to add?”

“I have,” Sunburst, the Court Archmage, replied. “I visited the attacked village with my researchers. I found traces of magic. Attackers were trying to cover them up, but they left some traces.”

“Changeling magic?”

“I’m afraid not, unless it is a type of magic developed in secrecy. This magic was nothing like I’ve seen before. It was strange and dark.”

“Dark magic?”

“Yes, but a type that I’m unfamiliar with.”

“Yaks or Griffons don’t use magic, so they haven’t done it. Changelings would probably leave traces of Changeling magic, but they are capable of removing them,” said Shining Armor. “Sunburst, was this magic cast by an unicorn?”

“It is likely. These spells were complex, and possibly only unicorns could cast them.”

“Or changelings in an unicorn disguise.”

“Changeling casting spells in unicorn form still uses Changeling magic. Many complex spells are impossible to be casted due to this,” noted Thorax.

Cadance looked at Shining. “You’re saying these attacks were carried on by ponies?”

“Yes. If I were to guess, I think there is some kind of organization hidden in the Crystal Mountains that is capturing ponies for unknown purposes.”

“You think he might be behind it?”

“Most probably.”

Cadance looked at the map of the Crystal Empire. She was working hard in restoring harmony in the Empire after the tyrannical rule of the most evil unicorn in history. Yet, it seems there still were some ponies loyal to the tyrant.

“Increase patrols in northern provinces. Send scouting planes to the Crystal Mountains. Whoever is behind these attacks, we must stop them!” said Cadance.

Cadance walked through the corridors of Crystal Palace.

When she traveled here just after Shining Armor led the army to capture Crystal City, she knew she had a hard task ahead of her. Yet, she got to work, and brought Crystal Empire into harmony. Still, things weren’t as good as she hoped, with the recent attacks being the worst.

“Mom.”

Cadance looked back, and saw her daughter. Flurry was still a child, but she was skilled and strong. Sometimes irresponsible, but it was to be expected. She would make a great Princess one day.

“Yes, Flurry.”

“I heard that you called a council meeting. I thought you would invite me.”

“You still have much to learn.”

“I would like to help Crystal Empire.”

“Flurry, you know about the attacks. There is a danger. You should stay in Crystal City and continue your education.”

“Mom, haven’t you noticed I’m an Alicorn Princess? I can deal with anything.”

“You’re still too young. I won’t allow you to get hurt.”

Flurry got angry, turned and walked away. Cadance looked after her. She knew Flurry was capable filly, yet she was still a filly. Cadance would never forgive herself if something happened to her.

Flurry was sitting on a bench in the castle gardens.

Why doesn’t she believe in me! she thought. She was more than capable of dealing with those villains.

She had an idea. She flashed her horn, trying to cast a difficult spell. She looked at her hoof. Her pink coat changed color to black.

She noticed someone walking in the distance. She stopped casting her spell, and looked towards the creature. It was the creature she waited for, the same who taught her these spells. “Uncle Thorax.”

Thorax and Flurry were close to each other. He used to be a babysitter back when he was just an exile and a guest of Princess Cadance. He taught Flurry many things, and they went into trouble on a few occasions.

“Hello Flurry. Having a bad day?”

“Yes. It’s my mom. She treats me like a child.”

“Well, you are thirteen.”

“I am an Alicorn! Fighting villains is what I’m the best at!”

“Yes, Flurry, but you need to understand that we still don’t know what we are dealing with. It might be something too dangerous to handle. You know history, there were plenty of monsters in the Crystal Mountains.”

“So, I have to stay at the palace while my parents are the ones fighting villains?”

“This is not an O&O game, Flurry.”

“I know, but… it’s just so frustrating.”

“Well, Flurry. Speaking of O&O, how about you joining up for a campaign on the weekend?”

“Sure,” Flurry answered. At least it would be fun. Until she begins her plan of saving the Crystal Empire.

Two

The next day was sunny and calm.

At least, that’s what it seemed in the morning. Then a pegasi scout from the north flew into Crystal City.

Shining Armor, Cadance, Flash Sentry and a few other Crystal officers gathered in the war room.

“Another attack. More ponies kidnapped. They are getting bolder,” said Cadance.

Shining looked at the map with resolve. The village wasn’t far from the one attacked yesterday. There were patrols in the area, yet they didn’t prevent the attack.

More ponies lost. It was far too many. Shining Armor wasn’t going to let any more ponies being attacked.

“Cadance, I will travel to Aquavitae Creek. The enemy is in the area, and I have to stop it.”

Cadance has hesitated, but finally replied. “So be it.”

Shining Armor looked at his soldiers. Heart Guard, the elite unit of the Crystal Army, stood, waiting for orders.

“Soldiers of Crystal Empire!” shouted Shining. “As you know, an unknown enemy has raided several villages in the northern frontier. We cannot allow this to happen anymore. I will personally lead you in the search of our enemy. Our goal is to track them down, make sure they won’t attack Crystal Ponies anymore, and free the kidnapped ponies…”

Shining Armor continued his speech. Soldiers listened. Among these soldiers, there was one that was listening with as much awe as if it was the first time going to battle. She was an orange pegasus with a pink mane.

“Ready for fight, Leaping?” said another mare, a gray pegasus with black mane.

“Yes, I’m ready,” she said. She noticed other ponies were looking at her, so she attempted to calm down.

Most soldiers from Heart Guard knew Leaping as a very brave pony, even if she was a bit eccentric. If only they knew why she was so excited right now…

Some time before Shining’s speech, Leaping and her best friend, Grumpy, were preparing for the journey north. They were accompanied by a special friend.

“Are you sure you want to do this, Princess?” asked the gray pegasus.

“Yes, Grumpy. I need to do this. For the Crystal Empire!” said Flurry.

Flurry knew Leaping and Grumpy for a long time. Their parents were royal guards, and they became guards as well. Flurry often trained with them, as her size and strength allowed her to go hoof to hoof with adult guards. They sometimes went on adventures together, and overall, were good friends.

Now, she was asking them for a very risky favor. Yet, it had to be done. Flurry Heart flashed her horn. Sphere of golden light surrounded her. It was getting brighter and brighter. Then, with one last flash, it disappeared.

“By the Heart, it worked! It worked!” shouted Leaping. She ran forward, to take a better look.

She looked at an orange pegasus with a pink mane. She took a very good look at her. “It’s perfect. You look exactly the same as me!”

“Thanks. It wasn’t easy,” Flurry replied, her voice an exact copy of Leaping’s.

“Where have you learned this? Are you part changeling?”

“My uncle Thorax taught me some changeling magic. One advice, don’t suggest that I’m a part changeling in the earshot of my parents. Last of the royal guards to do so is cleaning toilets somewhere on the changeling border to this day.”

Flurry took on Leaping’s uniform. It fit perfectly. She had to use her hooves, as obviously she couldn’t use her alicorn magic without dropping the disguise.

“Just stay close to me. Leaping does this all the time, nopony would mind. Besides, everypony is used to her behaving weirdly.”

“I’m not weird, I’m cool,” replied Leaping.

Flurry finished gearing up.

“Thank you very much. Now, Leaping, I’m going to teleport you to Ponyville. Anypony asks about what you are doing there, you can tell them Cadance sends you to watch for me. Thorax is going to cover for me, same story about going to Ponyville.”

“Fool-proof plan,” said Grumpy.

“If it fails, I’m taking full responsibility. You're not risking anything. Now, are you ready, Leaping?”

“Yes.”

Flurry gave her a backpack with some money and obviously-not-forged documents. Then, with a golden flash, a horn reappeared on her head.

“Whoa, I’m an Alicorn now,” said Leaping.

“I warn you, this might sting a bit,” Flurry said, and shoot a magic beam at Leaping. She teleported away.

“Now, Leaping, are you ready to fight these raiders in the north?”

“Yes, I am!”

Aquavitae Creek was one of the poorer regions of the Crystal Empire. Nested between Crystal Farmlands and Crystal Mountains, it was a land of cold taiga with only a hooffull of villages in the mountain valleys. In times of Crystal Frontier, before Crystal City returned from banishment, Aquavitae Creek was only nominally under Equestrian rule, actually being under control of independent villages, mountain bandits and occasional yak warbands. Nowadays it has become safer, and the government planned to invest in infrastructure here, hoping to re-open crystal mines, as well as creating new tourist resorts.

Column of military trucks was moving north on the forest road. Grumpy and Flurry, along with other pegasi, were tasked with watching the skies.

Flurry looked around. It was peaceful here, as of now. She knew the enemy was nearby, and that she would need to fight.

She was ready.

Three

After four days of march through rough terrain, Heart Guard reached the town of Aquavitae. It was a small town with wooden buildings. Its inhabitants were mostly shepherds or farmers growing the hardy mountain blackberries. The town was built along the Aquavitae Creek, a river flowing from Crystal Mountains, that gave its name to the entire province.

Shining Armor talked with the mayor. The mayor was an old Earth Pony with a dull green coat, orange mane and a cutie mark of a tree.

“Have you seen the enemy?”

“I haven’t, but my sister-in-law said she saw a huge construct in the sky.”

The mayor talked with a very strange dialect, with some Yaki loanwords, but Shining managed to understand it.

“This contraption, how did it look?”

“Like a boat, but metal and in the sky. It flew quickly.”

“Airship?”

“Possibly.”

“Do not worry, mayor. The Heart Guard is going to defend this town and find the creatures who attacked the villages.”

“Thank you, you highness. Ponies are afraid that Aquavitae might be next, but with your soldiers here, we will be safer.”

Shining Armor hoped that he would be able to catch the enemy.

—

Flurry Heart flew over the village. She volunteered to do the patrolling. There was no sight of the enemy yet. She hoped that the enemy would come here, so she could stop them and became a hero just like everypony else in her family.

Flurry looked around. There were no pegasi other than Grumpy here. She decided to quickly drop the disguise for her horn and cast a spell. Leaping’s eyes turned into Flurry’s as she casted a far-sighting spell and a detect creature spell.

She carefully looked around. She could see faint magical auras of the forest critters. She also saw the ground patrols, their auras strong and bright.

She looked at the sky, and saw something. Very bright sphere was moving in the distance, fast.

“Grumpy, you see this?”

“There’s nothing there.”

Flurry blinked, removing her spells. She couldn’t see the sphere in the sky. She thought for a second, and casted another spell, to remove invisibility.

Then, she saw what she detected. In the distance, there were airships. Few large ones, multiple small ones.

Flurry casted the spell on Grumpy. “Now, do you see them?”

“Airships!”

“We need to warn others, now!”

Flurry removed the spells and restored the disguise. Then she and Grumpy flew towards the command center.

They landed by the tent. “I need to see Prince Shining Armor. I found something!” shouted Flurry. The guard let them enter the tent.

Shining Armor was sitting by the table, looking at maps. He looked towards Flurry. “Yes, Private Leaping?”

Flurry saluted. “You Highness, I saw something moving in the air to the north of the town. I think it might be an airship with a poorly applied invisibility spell.”

“Invisible airship? How could you see it, then?”

“Clouds were deformed as it was passing in front of them.”

“Indeed, an amateur mistake. Thank you, private. I’m going to deal with it,” Shining said, and walked out of the tent.

He quickly ran over to the watchtower. He looked north. There was nothing here. He casted a remove invisibility spell.

“Airships approaching, alarm!”

The alarm rang in the base. Guards quickly readied themselves to fight.

Shining saw one of the airships flying over towards the town. He managed to get a better look at it. The airship was small, made out of metal, and looked nothing like the airships or planes used in Equestria.

“Unidentified airship, identify yourself,” he shouted, using a spell that made sure the pilot heard it.

The small airship stopped, its pilot surely surprised at being detected. There was no answer.

“This is Heart Guard. You are over a Crystal Empire’s town. Identify yourself or you will be shot down.”

The airship still stood in place. Then, it opened fire.

—

Flurry and Grumpy rejoined their unit. Flurry checked her pegasi battlesaddle. Finally, she will get into a fight.

Bright flash of magic stranded her. She looked at the watchtower, and saw her father casting a shield spell. The spell protected him from a volley of bullets from an invisible source. Shining briefly dropped the shield, and shot two powerful beams of magic. They hit the airship. It lost its invisibility and started falling to the ground.

Flurry and other pegasi took flight. Unicorns started preparing their own spells. Earth Ponies had their guns ready.

Suddenly, there was a bright golden flash that covered the sky. Some kind of area effect. It surely wasn’t cast by her father, and he was the only unicorn here powerful enough for such a spell. Flurry saw that the airships dropped their invisibility. The larger ones landed at some distance, while the smaller ones flew towards the town.

Anti-aircraft artillery set up on the town’s outskirts has fired upon the small airships. They managed to evade. Some of them started shooting from machine guns.

Flurry started to feel afraid, but she pushed it away. She looked at Grumpy and others. They could face this, so she could as well.

“Enemy approaching from the north!” their battalion commander shouted. Flurry and others flew north.

Then, Flurry saw the enemies. They were ponies. They had dark uniforms with strange red symbols and were wearing strange masks. Some of the unicorns casted spells, and Flurry felt the dark magic emitting from them.

Flurry pointed her gun at one of the enemy unicorns. She hesitated. They were ponies…

Only a push from Grumpy prevented her from getting shot. Crystal pegasi started scattering as the enemy pegasi started flying towards them.

Flurry was about to pick her target, but suddenly a huge explosion threw her off-balance. She saw one of the anti-aircraft guns being blown up by a powerful flash of golden magic.

She looked around, and saw something she couldn’t have imagined.

—

Shining Armor had casted another masterwork shield spell in order to cover the town from attacking airships.

Both the technology and the magic used by those ponies were strange and vastly different from those used in the Crystal Empire. Shining had no idea where they came from, but he had no time for thinking about it. Saving this town was his priority.

The attackers were powerful, yet the Heart Guard was strong and disciplined as well. They managed to stop the enemy on the outskirts of the town.

Shining casted another death beam and hit one of the airships. It fell down in flames.

Then, a great explosion shook the ground. Shining saw one of anti-aircraft guns being blown up by golden magic.

Something flew from the smoke. Shining couldn’t believe his eyes. He thought he must be mistaken, but then a flash of golden magic from this creature had blown up another AA gun.

Alicorn. Shining was looking at an alicorn. It was completely covered in red armor, richly decorated with magical crystals and wards. It wore a golden mask. Its eyes were dark, shadowed.

“What in Heart’s name is that?” Shining said aloud.

The alicorn was reading another spell. Shining couldn’t let it do so. He shot a beam towards it. The alicorn casted a shield spell and defended itself.

“Shining Armor. How nice to meet you!” the alicorn shouted. The voice was enchanted by magic and modified by the mask.

“Who are you?!” Shining shouted.

“I am the rightful Princess of Ponies!” the alicorn replied. “Surrender, and you will be spared!”

“Never!” Shining said, and prepared a barrage of magic. Beams shot from his horn. The alicorn defended herself with the shield spell. Then, she shot a beam herself.

Shining Armor was a world-renowned master of shield spells, but the sheer strength of the alicorn’s attack almost made him drop his spell. His horn hurt, he felt the magic running out. He pressed on. He wouldn’t let this alicorn hurt other ponies.

Suddenly, a golden beam hit the alicorn. The attack stopped. The alicorn barely keept herself in the air. Another beam made a dent in the magical armor. Shining looked at who was shooting the spell.

It was… Private Leaping. She had a horn now, a pink one… then, the disguise fell down.

“FLURRY!” Shining shouted. His teenage daughter was here, in the middle of the battle, attacking an alicorn. He felt panic. How did she get here? What was she thinking?

“Princess Flurry Heart? You’re here? It’s better than I expected!” the alicorn shouted.

Flurry shoots another spell. This time the alicorn managed to defend herself. She shot a beam at Flurry. Flurry managed to defend herself. Shining casted another barrage of spells. He had to protect his daughter.

The alicorn surrounded herself with a golden shield sphere. The attacks were weakening her.

“Not bad. Not bad at all. Time to stop this game,” said the alicorn. She dropped the shield, and cast a very bright beam at Flurry.

Flurry attempted to raise a shield, but the strength of the attack broke it. Shining saw his daughter getting hit, and falling from the sky. Before he could react, the alicorn caught Flurry in her magic.

“I’ve got the young princess. Retreat!” shouted the alicorn, and teleported away, together with unconscious Flurry. The enemy soldiers had retreated to the airships. The Heart Guard attempted to stop them, but the enemy managed to retreat. The airships went invisible again.

Shining Armor looked into the sky. His daughter, injured and captured. How did she even get here?

The shock was replaced with anger. Shining shot a flaming beam at the remains of the watchtower. He’s going to find this alicorn, and she will pay.

Four

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.

Five

Back at Crystal City, the situation was dire. Ordinally ponies talked about the battle of Aquavitae. They talked about how a band of cultists attempted to attack the town, only to be repelled by Heart Guard under the command of Shining Armor.

There was a talk about an unknown alicorn supporting the cultists, despite Celestia sending a note saying she would know about alicorn ascending and that there are only five alicorns in the whole world. Twilight made an official presentation where she explained how a sufficiently powerful unicorn could use illusion and flight spells to pretend to be an alicorn for a period of time.

However, the greatest loss suffered by the Crystal Empire in the battle was kept a secret.

In the Crystal Palace, Cadance was barely keeping herself together.

“How could this happen! How could you let her go to war!” she shouted at Thorax.

“Princess, I didn’t know she would go to battle. I told her it would be a bad idea. I really thought she was just going to sneak out with her friends,” Thorax defended himself, shaking with fear as he was subject to an alicorn’s wrath.

“And you,” Cadance turned towards Grumpy, the pegasus teleported back to Crystal City by Shining Armor. “You willingly led a thirteen years old filly into a warzone!”

“Your majesty, I believed Flurry would manage. Alicorns aren’t ordinally ponies. She already is a better warrior than most of the guards.”

“Alicorn or not, she’s a child,” shouted Cadance. She turned towards Flash Sentry. “We must find those cultists at once. I cannot let them hurt Flurry”

Somewhere above Aquavitae Hill, there was a plane. Its pilot, Steel Rose, was tasked with finding the cultists.

She looked over the forested hills. It was a very nice place, all things considered.She might visit it in the future, once the foalnapping cultists are dealt with.

She noticed something in the distance. It looked like a plane, but after Steel observed it for some time, she realized it wasn’t a Crystal plane.

“I found something,” she said over the radio, and gave her coordinates. She flew towards the strange object.

Once she came closer, she noticed the plane had an alien design. It didn’t have a propeller, the wings were far too small to lift it. It looked more like a metal-covered miniature airship.

The pilot of the strange airship noticed Steel’s plane. The airship turned in place and with a great speed, flew away.

“Who are we fighting against?” Steel asked herself.

Shining Armor led his unit into the woods. According to reconesance, there were cultists in these area.

He was angry. If those cultists hurt his daughter…

He stopped and ordered his unit to hold.

He heard a pony walking through the forest. He moved forward a bit, stopping on a hill.

Behind the hill, he saw two ponies in masks and strange black-red armor. Sombra’s cultists? Possibly.

He prepared a spell. Magic shot forward towards the cultists. Magical bubble covered them. Shining and his unit moved forward. Gunfire erupted from other cultists hidden behind bushes. After a short while, the cultists were forced to retreat.

Shining Armor walked towards the trapped cultists. “Who in Tartarus are you!” he shouted. The cultists stopped trying to break out of the shield, just staring at him.

“You’ve kidnapped my daughter and other ponies. Where are they!” he shouted again. No response. “You don’t want to talk? You will, once we go back to Crystal City.”

—

Despite the situation on the frontier, ponies of the Crystal City were living their lives in peace. They knew that the Princess and the guard would catch the cultists, and that the cultists wouldn't dare enter the city.

Crystal filly walked on the street. Her coat was shining. She was happy, the school finished for today, the holidays were just around the corner. She walked the street towards her house. She couldn’t wait to play with her brother.

Suddenly, she noticed something was off. Ponies stopped what they were doing and looked up. The filly also decided to look.

Above the city, there was an airship. Normally, it wasn’t too out of ordinally. Airships were used to transport ponies and material, especially across the mountains to Yakyakistan. This one, however, was different.

First, it was completely covered in metal. It had an unknown insignia painted on the side. It flew towards the city center, zig-zagging on the way.

Ponies started whispering, not knowing where this strange airship came from. Then, they saw planes. Three fighters of the Crystal Air Force started to approach the strange airship. The airship stopped, its engines started glowing brightly, and then it flew away, effortlessly outrunning the fighters.

“What was that?” asked somepony.

“Sombra’s cultists”

“I bet they are griffons.”

The filly started quickly walking towards her home. She worried about her family. She hoped they were safe.

Seven

In a flash, Flurry Heart arrived at the storage. Many crates were there. She saw a few ponies moving them.

She dispelled her illusion, and hid behind the crates. She hoped nopony would see her. She had one chance.

Flurry looked at the labels on the crates, then at the document. The crates had numbers of the airship they went to written on them. She just needed to look for the correct one.

She noticed an unicorn walking between the crates. She hid in between them. Luckly, the unicorn didn’t see her.

Flurry left her hiding place and continued looking at the crates. After some time, she found the one she looked for.

Flurry used her magic to silently open it, and levitated herself inside. The crate was full of spare parts for some unknown mechanism. Flurry teleported some of them away, to make space, then she hid inside and closed it.

Few minutes later, Flurry felt the crate start moving. She also heard some ponies talking.

“Spare parts, in case the future ponies catch your airship.”

“It is a bit confusing that there are two Crystal Cities now, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but we should trust our princess. She was right about everything so far.”

—

Flurry Heart listened to the airship’s engines. She waited for a while. Eventually, she grew bored of waiting, and slowly opened the crate.

The storage area was empty, except for two other crates. Flurry was going to take a better look, but she heard some suspicious noise.

Suddenly, the crate of ventilation fell off, and a bat flew out of it.

“Bat? That’s weird,” she said aloud. Then, she heard hoofstepts. She closed the crate.

“Look, the crate fell out again. I’m going to fix it. Probably will fall off again.”

The pony started fixing it. Then, another entered the room.

“I’ve got information from Crystal City. Apparently, some dangerous criminal escaped prison and might have hid inside an airship. Everypony should check this.”

Flurry Heart knew that she was about to be discovered, so she casted a teleportation spell.

—

Getting teleported out of a moving airship was far more difficult than it looked like. Flurry was hit by rushing air and started falling down. Lucky for her, she managed to stabilize her flight.

She looked around. It seemed she was over Amore Fields, in central Crystal Empire, not far from Crystal City.

Flurry saw something behind her. The airship was escorted by two smaller ones. They were closing in at her.

Flurry dived down, the airships following her. They opened fire. Flurry casted a shield spell and tried to avoid getting hit.

She flew down, closer to the ground. The pursuing airships didn’t leave her.

She decided to take a risk, and dropped the shield spell. Then, she casted a teleportation spell, appearing behind them. She dived down and landed on the ground.

Flurry quickly checked if she wasn’t hit. Lucky, she wasn’t. The airships started circling above her. She casted another teleportation spell, attempting to escape them.

—

After flying over the Crystal Empire for some time, Flurry finally reached Crystal City. She once again checked her saddlebag. The documents and books were all there.

She hoped she wasn’t in big trouble. Seeing the documents she managed to steal, maybe mother won’t be so mad at her.

Eight

Flurry Heart walked through the Crystal Palace. Her Crystal Palace. She was finally back home.

However, she did not run towards her parents first. Instead, she went to the spymaster’s offices.

“Flurry? You’re back! Are you all right?”

“Yes, uncle. Look at what I’ve found,” Flurry said and placed the documents on the table.

“What is it?”

“Plans of attacks on Crystal settlements by Dark Flurry.”

“Dark Flurry?”

“Yes. You won’t believe what I’ve found.”

Flurry heard hoofsteps on the corridor.

“Help me?” she said, as the doors were kicked open.

—

“Flurry Heart mi Amore!” Cadance shouted.

“Um… hi mom?”

“What in Heart’s name were you thinking!”

“I wanted to help the Empire!”

“You could get hurt!”

“I can take care of myself. Besides, I found the enemy's plans, and now we can fight them. Thorax, tell her.”

“Yes… these plans are something you need to know, your majesty.”

“Flurry Heart, you are grounded. Now, get back to your room.”

—

Flurry was angry. She could have predicted that it would end this way.

She didn’t think she placed herself in danger. She was perfectly capable.

She heard somepony running towards her.

“Flurry, you’re back. I was worried,” Shining said.

“Yes, dad, I’m safe.”

“You know you shouldn’t have done this, right?”

“But dad, I just wanted to help!”

“Well, between you and me… Thorax showed me the documents. They will be of great help. You did help us very much.”

“You’re not mad at me?”

“No, I’m not. Once you are a bit older, you will be a very capable guard.”

“Thank you, dad.”

“I am glad you are safe,” Shining said, and hugged her.

—

Later, Shining Armor went to Cadance.

“Cadance, I think we need to talk about Flurry.”

“Yes.”

“You shouldn’t be so harsh on her. She did help us a lot.”

“You know her. She might get reckless. She’s not invincible, you know that.”

“She’s a capable mare. I think she should get more involved in governing the Empire. She will have a purpose, so she won’t try something reckless to prove herself.”

“You… might be right. I just want her to be safe.”

“Maybe you should apologize to her.”

“I will think about it.”

“All right. Now, we need to prepare the defense. We should expect an attack soon.”

“We should. Send orders to move the guard to defend Crystal City.”

Nine

The next morning, Crystal City seemed peaceful.

Until a fleet of airships started approaching.

In the distance, an illusion spell was dispelled, and a floating city appeared. Around it, a great fleet of airships flew.

In Crystal City, an alarm was being called. Soldiers have rushed towards their positions. Anti-aircraft artillery was getting ready. In the airbase, fighters were starting.

The Battle of Crystal City has begun.

—

Flurry Heart and Thorax were on the outskirts of the city. Flurry wasn’t going to stay in the palace when her city was in danger.

Flurry casted an illusion spell to hide her horn and change the colour of her mane. Then, she took a cultist armor to blend in.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Yes, I am certain,” Flurry said. She knew how to quickly defeat Dark Flurry and minimize the losses.

“I will be with you,” Thorax said. He changed into a rock, and Flurry hid him.

Then, Flurry started flying towards the floating city. She just hoped her plan will work.

She managed to approach the floating city undisturbed. Nopony shot at her. She flew towards the center, towards the park.

—

The park of Dark Crystal City was quiet. Everypony was hiding.

“There she is,” said Flurry, looking at Twilight’s statue.

Thorax levitated himself out of Flurry’s bag and shifted into a pegasus. “You are sure she will help us?”

“She will. We just need to free her.”

Flurry dropped the disguise and focused her horn. She was quite a powerful mage, if not experienced. She poured a huge amount of magic into her spell. Somepony noticed this, and Thorax had to take out his weapon reading for fight.

Before the enemy could react, Flurry Heart teleported away.

—

Flurry, Thorax and the petrified Twilight arrived at one of Crystal City parks.

Flurry quickly took off the cultist armor, and walked towards the statue.

“Thorax, you have the spellbook?”

“Yes,” he said and levitated it. Flurry skimmed towards the part where petrifaction spells were written.

Suddenly, they heard a loud magical noise, of a powerful spell finishing. They turned back.

“Well, little sister. It seems I underestimated you. You need to come with me.”

Epilogue

Flurry Heart was in her room. The duel had left her exhausted, but luckily, she didn’t have any injuries.

Her mother was worried about her. Her father told everypony how she fought Dark Flurry, and ponies declared her a hero.

Right now, Flurry only wanted to rest for a bit.

However, she noticed something. She noticed something under her bed. She reached it with her hoof.

She noticed it was a book. Black cover and strange runes. There was no title.

She opened it on the first page. There was a card.

Little guide how to get your civilization to survive. I know you will do this. I hope we will meet again - Dark Flurry

Flurry Heart was briefly considering turning it into ash, but decided not to. Maybe this book would have something useful?

Author's Note

Sorry for the fact that I released the chapters unedited, but I just wanted to get this story out of my head ASAP.