Author's Note

Hey o!! We’re finally back to Spike, Thorax and the main six! This chapter has a lot of exposition, so be warned: you probably shouldn’t skip this in the long run. Hope you enjoy! If I made any mistakes or if you have a suggestion, please leave a comment!

Chapter 5: fire in the Ice

”You wanted to see us princess?”
”Yes, my faithful student. I have an important mission for you all.”
”Well whatever it is, you can count on us! Right everyone?!”
”Yepperoni!”
”Darn tootin!”
”Hell yeah!”
”Indeed.”
”I- I’ll do my best.”
”You can count on us!”
”Whatever it is, together we’ve got this!”
The princess sighs. Hopefully, their optimism won’t be misplaced.
”Thank you, my little ponies. Now the mission I have for you is dire. The fate of an entire nation rests on the balance. As well as the lives of my niece, and your brother.”

The throne room grew unnaturally quiet, as the words of the princess sunk in. Once again, the world was in danger, and it was up to eight friends to fix it. But this time, it seems, the situation had more dire circumstances.
”Cadence and Shining are in danger?!”
Celestia winced at Twilights outburst, guilt filling her heart. If not for her asking for their help, those two would be safe and sound, enjoying wedded bliss. But now, she would have to send six more souls into the frozen hellscape.
”Yes, princess Cadence and Captain Shining Armor are in peril.Two weeks ago, I had given them an important mission. An exposition of a recent anomaly in the frozen north. And they have yet to make any contact. I fear that the crystal empire may have returned, along with its tyrant.”

Celestia let the words hand in the air, hoping that they would understand the severity of the situation. But what she got was several looks of confusion.
”Uhh, princess? Not to sound rude, but I have know idea what a crystal empire is.”
”You… you don’t? Do any of you know?”
Celestia turned to the others, hoping that some pony would know, but to no avail. It was then that it hit her: once again, she forgot to tell them. Her hand met her face, as she realized her mistake.
”I really have to remember to inform the elements about threats. Anyways, the crystal empire was a pony civilization that stood in the frozen north. A civilization where the love of its people burned so brightly, it kept out the chill. In fact, it was called the kingdom of love for that very reason. They were close allies with us, and were led by one of the only 3 known Alicorns still alive. Queen Cirrus Amore. For centuries, she ruled benevolently, and her subjects loved her. But then… he arrived.”

A shudder ran down Spike’s spine. For some reason, this… tyrant made him feel on edge.
”At first, he seemed like any other stallion. A simple crystal miner turned refugee due to the first griffinonic war, and no pony payed any mind to him. Until one day, down in the crystal mines, he found something. Something that drove him mad, and gave him a terrible power. While not even I know what he found, what is known is that he sought more. Using his power, he… he killed Cirrus, and imprisoned her newborn daughter.”
Gasps escaped from the lips of the eight. How could anyone be so evil?
”He then used the ponies of the empire as slave labor. Day in and day out, they were forced to mine, searching for more of what gave him his power. Until Luna and I tried to stop him.”

”We had received a letter, informing us of the fate of our fellow monarch. Rage filled our hearts, and we mobilized almost immediately. But after Cirrus’s death, the weather of the frozen north became wild, and unruly. Due to the danger presented by the weather, we could not bring any reinforcements. We were on our own. So for two months, we trudged through the snow and hail, until we finally got to the empire. And what we saw shook us to our cores. The entire empire was abandoned. Not a single soul to be seen… until we got to the castle. For that… monster, had rounded them all up… and froze them in crystal.”

The eight stood there, shock and horror on their faces as Celestia continued on.
”In every room, we found more crystallized ponies, but we couldn’t understand why. Until we got to the throne room. In there, a pillar of black crystal had been erected, and was draining the magic from every pony frozen. And there, upon a throne he stole, was the tyrant. Dark King Sombra.”
Once more a shiver ran down Spike’s spine. Why did this character give him the same feeling he got whenever the jungle tyrant was brought up?
”We challenged him, and began to fight. All the while he rambled on about how, ‘she had lied’, and how he would use the evidence of her crimes to ascend to godhood. Until finally, we managed to weather him down enough, to where we could finish him off. But before we could, the pillar finished draining them, and… the entire empire vanished. Nothing was left, but Luna and I.”

”So they all vanished, leaving no trace? No refugees, no immigrants, no nothing?”
” For the most part, yes. For no creatures managed to flee under Sombra’s rule, and no ponies ever wished to leave their homeland. For the most part; the former inhabitants disappeared in a moment. Except ... there was one group who technically managed to escape the disappearance. Though not without a price.”
Something about how Celestia worded that rubbed Thorax the wrong way. What did she mean “technically”?
”What happened to them? ”
”There was a small group of several pony subspecies who had attempted to rebel against his tyrant. But in less than a month, he had squashed their resistance, and… cursed the survivors. They were horrifically deformed, and many lost their minds, eventually annihilating themselves. And the one species who did keep their minds, lost any memories of where they hailed from.”

”That’s just awful!”
”Yes, it was a travesty. And now, the empire has come back, and likely he had too. Hopefully, wherever the empire went, he did not find what he was looking for, because if he did…”
A collective shudder ran down their spines. If he was powerful enough to kill an alicorn, imagine if he had even more.
”Well what are we waiting for? Let’s go stop him!”
”Wait Rainbow! We need to know more before we go! Princess, is there anything else you can tell us that might help?”
”Sadly, no. I told you everything I knew, and even that was not much. For with nothing left behind, we could not figure out anything about his takeover or abilities than what we experienced and what the letter told us.”

” Though thankfully, not all is lost. For you see, when we had arrived to the empire, there was one pony we were unable to find: the princess. And when the empire disappeared, we thought she was gone too. But then, one day, while I was overseeing day court, something… odd happened. A noble had approached me for a tax break, and I was just about to deny him. Then suddenly, a rift opened up within the throne room, and a small filly fell out. Somehow, the princess returned. And with her, the last chance to save the empire, and the ponies within.”
”Well that’s all well and good, but where is she? I don’t see no baby around here.”
”Thats the thing, Applejack. For she has already left to the empire.”
Realization dawned on Twilight. Why was Cadence one of the first ponies sent? She’s just a princess! Not just any princess though, a princess of love. And she was being sent into a place nicknamed the city of love. Not only that, but her cutie mark was a heart made of crystal.
”You mean…”
”Yes, my faithful student. 28 years ago, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza returned.”

Twilight was speechless. Cadence, her old foalsitter, her sister in law, was the lost heir of a forgotten empire? Twilights mind raced and she spaced out, tuning out the world. Though for Spike, this rose one more question.
”That’s all well and good, but did you tell her that? Or better yet, tell her why she was going there in the first place?”
Celestia looked as if she was about to respond, before she stopped herself. Oh. Oh no. She forgot yet again. Her eyes shrunk as the realization of the fact that Cadence went in blind hits her. How many times has she done this? The princess froze, her mind burdened with overwhelming memories of every time she had forgotten to inform heroes playing in her head. And after two minutes, she has still yet to move. Realizing what was going on, Spike just picks up the malfunctioning Twilight, before walking to the door. And shortly after, the rest follow, leaving poor Princess Celestia tormented by her bad short term memory.

ONE HOUR LATER

As the train bumped and rolled along, the eight inside did whatever to pass the time. From idle gossip to ponking about the train and even just taking a nap, they did everything to stave off the boredom. All except for one. Thorax sat next to his sleeping husband, looking out the window as his mind raced. For some reason, he felt as if he was forgetting something. Something that had to do with the crystal empire. When he heard Celestia say that name, it had felt oddly familiar. Even more so the lingo she used to describe it. Why did she put so much emphasis on love? I mean, yeah, Cadence is the princess of love, and she supposedly hailed from there, but her calling it the kingdom of love filled him with a sense of Deja-vu. And as the grassy fields were slowly replaced by snowy mountains, he had a feeling that he’d find out soon.