A Heart with Heart

Chapters

1 - Never Like They Say
2 - Life With Trouble
3 - What We Want
4 - Through Bad Times
5 - Give and Give
6 - The Crux
7 - Dreams as Reality

1 - Never Like They Say

Why did they make marriage sound so incredible? That was the prominent question on Gleaming Shield's mind as she traversed the distance to the palace. She had been about the city as usual so that she could check up on things. The citizens seemed quite at ease with their long-term problems finally solved. On the outside, Gleaming would be quick to agree with any of them. It was good news that Queen Oscura had finally been dealt with. The Empire was recovering at lightning speed under its new overseer, Prince Tempo. The white unicorn mare just couldn't bring herself to consider her husband as the ruler of the crystal ponies. Deep down past her polite and caring servitude, she was annoyed.

Gleaming had read more than her fair share of books, which was in no small part due to her little brother's obsession with the medium. A few of those books had contained characters who married each other. Some of the books even - indirectly - gave advice concerning marriage. Books aside, modern movies were full of romance. Gleaming didn't see movies often because of her duties and even less now that she was married, but she had seen enough of them to catch the ongoing themes that they all portrayed. Every movie that she had seen involving a fairy tale had always ended with the two characters getting married and having a "happily ever after." Either she had an unusual luck with the movies she watched or it was a staple of the genre. So where was her happy ending?

Last time she checked, her marriage involved a chaotic life-threatening wedding, one unique but extremely awkward night, and a never ending stream of failed expectations mixed with "life as usual." In essence, her life was now worse than it had been before she had gotten married. The downward spiral of her thoughts was only interrupted as she entered the throne room. She hadn't even realized that she had entered the palace. It gave her the creeps that she had already become so familiar with everything that she could get around without any mental effort.

"Is everything okay?" the pink alicorn asked from across the room. He was not seated on the throne but was instead busy inspecting some inscription on the wall.

Gleaming Shield gave a quizzical expression as she trotted over to him. "Why would you think otherwise?"

The prince didn't turn his face this time but continued to study the foreign characters that were chiseled in the crystal. "I've been finding some menacing little traps throughout the palace. Magic inscriptions meant to deter ponies who disagreed with Oscura's rule. Other than that...your face."

"Huh?" Gleaming asked as she repulsed from her position beside the alicorn.

Tempo laughed calmly in the royal manner that only he could do. Squinting for a microsecond, he turned back to face the unicorn. "You look serious. There's obviously something on your mind."

The mare chided herself for wearing her heart on her hoof and horn. The alicorn had a knack for reading her body language. Apparently, the stallion's talent in love was able to translate into understanding her mood with annoying accuracy. "It's nothing. You'd better be careful; that trap is still active."

Tempo slid on his rare overconfident grin. "What? This trap?" he asked as he lifted a hoof and leaned into the wall's inscription. The trap activated and blew confetti onto the couple.

"You modified the magic," Gleaming Shield deadpanned.

The stallion chuckled, "Well of course, dear."

Gleaming felt him intentionally bump her flank as he trotted back to the throne. "What's got you so chipper today?"

"Hmmm," he wondered aloud as he took his seat. "Maybe the real question is what's got you down?"

The mare sighed in return. "I already said it's nothing."

Finally, the pink alicorn lowered his voice and spirits. "If it has my precious wife feeling rotten then it has to be something. And don't give me that annoyed look again. See, you're already doing it."

"Because you just have to read into everything I say, think, and feel," Gleaming remarked, already exasperated.

In two flaps, Tempo launched from the throne and landed in front of the unicorn. He had that serious look that he only had when he thought that there was something important at stake. Gleaming had learned all of the different expressions and moods that the stallion had in his repertoire. It was just something she picked up by being around him for such a long portion of her life.

"Gleaming," he started. "I love you."

"I know..."

"I'm asking you what's wrong because I don't like it when something is bothering you. We've been through Tartarus together, so why won't you tell me?"

It was that very word that made her drop her guard. It was never easy for her to hold that guard up in the first place - not with Tempo. "Because we have been through Tartarus and it just won't stop. It's as if our wedding night was the only time we've had together. I just..."

Seeing that his special somepony was spilling her emotional guts, the alicorn stayed silent and let her continue even through the awkward pause. His cutie mark wasn't just for show, after all.

"...want to have more of those moments...where I don't have to be 'Captain of the Guard' and save the day..."

"More of the 'Happily Ever After,' right?" the prince added.

Gleaming Shield nodded gravely and realized that her eyes had watered up. She wasn't that distraught over it so why was she so close to crying?

Tempo raised a hoof to her face and stroked it. "Sometimes we don't even know how strongly we really feel about something until we have to talk about it."

The mare widened her eyes as she looked back into Tempo's. His voice had lacked it's usual sturdiness in his last statement. He was trying to keep a strong appearance even though he was also getting emotional. "I guess you didn't think I was bothered by it. I was just trying to stay strong for you but...I hate it too. I really really hate how everything has been going since we got married. I knew we'd always have our duties - our responsibilities. But I thought we could work things out. I didn't think everything would go to the seventh level of Tartarus after our honeymoon."

Gleaming Shield nodded eagerly and tried not to cry. What he was saying was just a fresh reminder why she married him in the first place. He understood her. He cared.

"So that's why I'm trying to be more energetic," his smile returned. "After the fiasco with the Queen, I feel like I've gone through a blender. But I don't want that to stop me from being the best I can be for your sake."

Gleaming abandoned her resolve to not cry. Tears flew as she launched herself into a hug with her husband. He returned it and held her until her crying stopped. It was a good ten minutes before they parted.

"Why can't we have a normal marriage?" she laughed sadly at her own remark.

The pink stallion grinned back, "How about we just say we finished our work and goof off for the rest of the day?"

The unicorn faked shock as she started to catch his giddy mood. "Are you serious?"

"I'm the prince. My word is law!" he joked as an idea struck him. His flank started moving back and forth like it always did when he was playing around. "And I say that my lazy 'Captain of the Guard' needs to be locked away for her extreme insubordination!"

Gleaming Shield was finally able to forget her earlier mood. Tempo was acting just like he used to when he would play around with her and her brother. It was nostalgic...

He continued, "But not the dungeon. That would be too easy on you. I say it must be...my be-"

Tempo was never able to finish as the unicorn gave him a playful buck from her back hooves and raced into the nearest corridor. "Oh, mutiny is it?!" he roared as he rocketed out of the throne room after her.

After failing to catch up and losing her twice, he almost got lost himself. The castle was not necessarily big but it was in every sense complicated. He got lucky when his wife made the mistake of running past a side-corridor nearby. The prince used his wings to careen around the corner and knock her to the floor. "Gah," she gasped.

"Ready for punishment?" he gloated as he pinned her down from atop her back.

"I don't think 'punishment' is the right wor..." she stopped eerily as something moved below them.

Tempo noticed something was wrong from the way her voice trailed off. "What is it...?"

She could only watch it happen in horror and slow motion. Inscriptions in the floor lit up in a creepy glow and moved in circular gear-like patterns. It was one of the Queen's traps and it was a big one. The white unicorn ran out of time even as she tried to move out from under her husband. He noticed it as well but was also too late. The trap was designed to ensnare quickly.

It succeeded.

· · · · ·

"No...no!" Gleaming cried as she regained consciousness. This was not supposed to happen. They were supposed to have the day off!

Tempo groggily got off the ground to which he had been roughly dropped. "Teleport magic...?" he mused in a gravely voice.

His wife darted back and forth in his vision, seemingly unaffected by the ordeal. Well, her guard training sure had toughened her up. She wasn't captain for nothing. The sight she was taking in was unreal, as it certainly wasn't nighttime when they had been teleported. They also hadn't been unconscious that long, right? Her ability to gauge such a length of time was irrelevant, however, because they were not in the castle anymore. They were not in the Empire either.

They were not even in Equestria.

"Where in the-" Tempo gawked as his vision cleared and he took in the sights.

What he saw in front of him would have been spectacular if it were not for the thousands of questions and concerns that it begged. In front of his was Gleaming Shield, wearing a look of near panic. Behind her was a night sky of stars. They were stars that were far too brilliant and far too clear. The stars were not alone, however. There was also something very big. It was like a moon but it had unique patterns of white and green and blue. The sun shone faintly off one side of the orb. It was mostly hidden in the eclipse. A smaller orb hovered in front of the larger one and mostly showed its dark side to the two ponies. Tempo didn't speak. He didn't want to think about what those two orbs were.

"Tempo..." Gleaming's voice trembled. "Honey..." she tried again as the fear took hold.

"Science class..." he finally whispered. "Celestial existence and travel using the base theory of magical teleportation and atmospheric containment. I hated that class. Why would I even need that information..." he giggled hysterically.

After wasting a good few moments in shock, Gleaming Shield took note of the ground beneath her. She stomped her hoof on it just to make sure it was real. "We're standing on some kind of enormous...rock," she stated devoid of emotion.

Tempo also returned from his stone-faced state of disbelief and proceeded straight into intense worry. "Space. Stone. Trap. Oh, uncle Solaris! Please let there be a way back!"

The unicorn watched helplessly as the prince ran across the barren face of rock. It was difficult to make out but there was definitely a magical sphere around the rock that kept the atmosphere contained. It was, however, quite far up...or down. Space doesn't have a true direction, Gleaming remembered tiredly. At least that was what the textbooks had said if she had recalled them correctly. Her brother had a fascination with stars and space, so it was something she was more familiar with than some other things...like methods to detect and avoid traps. Her guard training should have emphasized it more.

What atmosphere did exist had obviously been formed with the intent to be temperature independent of the sun. Space was cold to begin with if those books were to be trusted. But the lack of visibility to the sun would make it as cold as scientifically possible, right? Or would there still be some warmth from the reflection of other planets? Okay, so maybe she didn't know as much as Dusk Shine did. Nopony would blame her, right? Whatever the case, the air was breathable and the temperature was just cold enough to be uncomfortable but not unbearable.

"Gleaming!"

The unicorn jerked her head back to look at the alicorn. He was a good field's distance away at one of the rock's sides. It dropped off sharply from where he was standing - or so she guessed by the angle. When she trotted up beside him, she saw that she was only half right. The rock did have a small cliff there but it did not end. About a pine tree's height downwards, the rock flattened again and led into the distance. It did not lead into a barren distance though. There were a collection of marked and lit paths leading in various directions. Some of them even led down into the rock that made up the ground. Beside the scatted trails were a variety of machines. She couldn't tell what they were from a distance, though.

Tempo turned to face her and their eyes met. "We've got to get out of here."

"No kidding," she laughed weakly.

"There might be an exit down there."

"Let's hope so."

Without warning, the prince scooped up the mare in his front hooves and leaped from the edge of the rock. Not wanting to argue about using teleportation or other methods of travel, she let him carry her. It wasn't a very far drop so the flight was short. Considering the expanse of paths, machines, and who knows how many tunnels, the flight was probably the shortest part of their journey.

2 - Life With Trouble

There she was once again. It appeared that her original grumblings about Mr. Trouble being the husband to Mrs. Marriage had just been proven by hard fact. They were once again in a dangerous situation that would have serious consequences should they fail. Only this time they had absolutely nopony else to help them. It seems things are improving, she thought sarcastically.

Still, it was a rare occasion for the prince to be holding her as he was. In fact, she was usually the one holding him. Perhaps it was because he had been brought to the brink of physical exhaustion so many times in the past few months. The fact that he was carrying her in his hooves while flying was testament to his immense endurance - or at the very least his willpower. The latter was probably more likely, as he used to spend the majority of his time doing the "royal" things that took little to no physical effort. That he was pushing himself for her sake was at least worth a smidgeon of appreciation.

The couple quickly reached the smooth rock surface below and Gleaming forced down a complaint when the alicorn tipped her back onto her own hooves. They may have been in a dangerous situation but may the sun be cursed if she didn't treasure what moments she could still get.

Tempo's hooves clacked against the cold hard stone behind her and she could hear the worry eek from his stride. She knew what he was going to say long before he said it. Her perception was readily attributable to her familiarity with the alicorn and her natural pessimism regarding magic worlds created by crazed overlords. She turned around to see a weary-eyed Tempo standing just out of hoof's reach, but he wasn't wearied by the flight. It was what laid before them.

"This was more than a trap," he remarked in a lowered voice. They were on one of the paths now that stretched across the rock's surface and on either side of it were rows of machines. The contraptions were of odd shapes and sizes but the purpose of each was clear.

"But I can't tell whether this place is a prison or an elaborate torture chamber," Gleaming Shield sadly commented.

Tempo approached the nearest machine. The restraints and spikes indicated torture. Perhaps it was the stains upon the metal that dissuaded him from making a detailed analysis but he didn't feel bad about looking away. "Oscura was sicker than I thought..."

It wasn't until he turned around that he noticed that his companion had run up ahead on the path. He started to become lost in reflection about the poor ponies who had gone through the Queen's tyranny, so he picked up a brisk pace and caught up to the white unicorn while she was studying yet another machine. He didn't have to ask why it interested her, however, since it was clearly different than the others. It looked more like a control panel. Switches, dials, and levers covered it as if the designer was obsessed with them.

"Controls?" he mused.

"I don't want to touch anything without knowing what it does first," she replied nervously. "If one of these controls affects the magic containment..."

"I'd rather not find out," he finished. "But I'd guess that they are all related to the nearby machines. Have you seen anything else?"

Gleaming Shield tilted her head in a "maybe" gesture. "There are some different-looking machines further along, but they look like the top of something else."

"Underground?"

"Probably."

Both ponies fell onto their rears in exasperation. "It's going to take us forever to figure all of this out and we don't know how long we have to do it," the mare complained.

Her husband placed a hoof on her shoulder for assurance. "Oscura isn't around anymore but this place still exists. It's obviously stable. At the moment anyways. There's no use in worrying about the situation. Let's just take it one hoof at a time."

Gleaming Shield's return smile was weak but existent all the same. She could always count on the stallion to stay strong. Truly there wasn't another pony in all of Equestria that had his determination and calm demeanor when the situation called for it most. It was then that a thought struck her. "Wait. Do you think there is...anypony still here?"

From the jump in the stallion's posture, she could tell that he hadn't considered it yet. Since the Queen was gone, the only resident that could possibly still be around would be...a former prisoner. The thought of such a pony being trapped eternally on the rock was horrifying. "I don't know whether I should hope so or not," he gulped.

Neither of them wanted to continue the thought but Gleaming Shield had to break the silence all the same. "We haven't seen anypony yet but we haven't explored much either. It looked like there were tunnels..."

Tempo gave a small nod. "I can fly around the surface, but you'd be better at checking the inside of this thing," he tapped the rock with a click of his hoof.

The mare wasn't taking the bait though. "Putting aside the fact that I don't want us to split up on what is obviously an asteroid of pain and death, you just hate tunnels."

Tempo tried to laugh innocently but the unicorn had already read him like an open book. "I was stuck in a cavern when we were supposed to be getting married. It was a very traumatizing experience...."

Gleaming Shield sighed. "You're a baby but I'll cut you some slack-"

"-because you're my very special some-"

WHACK!

"Don't be a goof!" the white mare scolded.

Tempo grinned all the same. "Just trying to lighten the mood, dear. This place could use it..."

Gleaming Shield couldn't disagree. She really was happy for anything that kept her mind off of what was around her. Torture and possible murder were not things for light contemplation. The perpetrator behind their current environment was long gone so she would be happy to leave as soon as possible. Her own powerful magic was simply not capable of whatever bizarre teleportation that got them in their current predicament. Perhaps she would hit the books after they got back. They would get back.

"Alright," Gleaming Shield conceded. "I'll head to that entrance at the beginning of the path. We can use magical communication if you get lost."

"If I get lost?" the stallion questioned his wife's implication. Her return look made him relent. "I'll catch up with you in a bit," he ended in a serious tone before taking to the air.

Seeing him flying away made Gleaming more nervous than she thought she'd be. It was the reality that was still hitting her. The trap that they had fallen into was far more extensive, complicated, and dangerous than either of them could have imagined. She tried not to think of there being additional traps, space rocks, and torture machines. If any of their crystal pony subjects activated such a trap in their absence...

No! She had to focus on the task at hoof.

Invigorating herself, she trotted back down the path they had traveled to find the nearest cave entrance. Just as they had suspected, there was at least one tunnel that lead into the oversized space rock. It was dimly lit by what Gleaming Shield could only assume were magical lamps. They gave off any eerie green glow that made the tunnel less welcoming than they already were. So the white unicorn just stood there for a solid minute trying to determine if going into the cave-like space was really such a good idea. The rock was who knows how old and that was not even to mention the questionable magic that kept everything as it was.

The mare felt small before the carved and gaping entrance of the dungeon rock's lower levels. One step and then two. The darkness quickly increased and the light of the distant sun and stars began to extinguish. The biting cold already present suddenly took a nasty turn for the worse. If there was weather than it would definitely be snowing inside the tunnel. Gleaming Shield shivered and wished she had her old scarf with her.

She kept on walking through the tunnel but it didn't change for a good while. The smooth walls and green glow of the lamps seemed to be mirrored straight forward for an eternity. Glancing behind her to the entrance, she could found she could not see it. There was probably a slight curve to the tunnel that hid it, as that was her experience with such things. She probably didn't know half as much as her husband did, though. That infant was going to get an earful about getting over his fears when she saw him again...as long as she didn't let it get to her either. That would make her a bit of a hypocrite.

The captain of the royal guard had nothing better to think of as she continued walking. She kept up her alertness all the same, as was her habit due to past training. When she was about to give up and turn around for a lack of anything actually being in the tunnel, a door materialized in front of her. She hadn't seen it until she got relatively close because it was set nearly out of the light of the nearest lamp. The door also marked the end of the tunnel.

With renewed interest, her horn glowed with low magical energy as she opened the door. The fact that it was not locked and seemed to have no lock could only mean that Oscura had not thought anypony but herself to have free access around the tunnel - or rock for that matter. The door was heavy all the same, as it was made of thick and heavy iron. Cautiously, Gleaming Shield stepped through the doorway. She made sure to check for magical traps as she moved. There was no telling what surprises might be hidden and she had more than enough reason to be suspicious. Why would everything be so open and readily available when potential prisoners were just landed on their rears upon the rock's surface?

What she found inside the new room was...darkness. She stopped short because there were no lights on in the room and only a little light from the tunnel illuminated the entrance. There was no telling what horrors were lying in that darkness. Not sure if she had faced worse things in her life, she brought up the courage to light up the room herself. Magic sparked from her horn and the dark space came into visibility.

It was large to the point that her own light failed to illuminate it all. The massive hall that laid before her was filled with an enormous amount of small cut crystals. They shined and twinkled in the presence of Gleaming Shield's light. The rock walls and pillars were smooth to the point that they resembled marble. It baffled rather than amazed the mare, however. Oscura must have used this place as one of her horde caches, she thought. Perhaps the queen thought that prisoners would be too scared to travel the tunnel or that they'd be too entranced with the horde of beautiful crystals to escape before she found them. This horde could even have been used as a sort of snare...

The white unicorn shivered at that thought. She resumed her pace forward, as there was a path between the piles of crystals that lined either side of the hall. Considering that there might be something at the other end of the hall, she largely ignored the horde and the magical lamps that hung on the walls and pylons. They had obviously been turned off or had run through their supply of magical energy.

She began a trot as she made her way farther along and the darkness closed visibility to the door behind her. It was discomforting but she knew for a fact that there wasn't anything nasty behind her. It was the simple fear of darkness that unnerved her and she was certainly mature enough to ignore it...mostly. Nopony ever really grew out of the fear. They just gained more courage to face it.

She arrived at the end of the hall to find, as revealed by her magical light, a platform that was raised from the floor of the large room. A set of stairs twice her own height led up to it and she climbed them with all of the care that the creepy hall begged for. For a moment, her horn lit brighter upon the discovery of the item atop the platform. The cage of black crystal sat menacingly in the middle of the space. Through the cracks between the bar-like crystals, she could just barely make out intricate inscriptions on the floor. The ones she could see were bizarre and nothing that she had ever seen or studied before. There was no way to get a closer look at them without entering the cage and she immediately knew that was a bad idea. Perhaps it was even the intent of Oscura for careless ponies to enter it.

Gleaming Shield trotted slowly around the cage, as it seemed to be the only thing on the platform and, in turn, the only thing left in the enormous room other than the mountains of valuable crystals. The cage did have a door. Some of the thick crystal bars were affixed to the others on a hinge, but it did not take a pony with half a brain to see the tiny inscriptions on the hinges. It was an old magical ploy. Magic could be activated automatically in the event that the hinge moved in a certain direction. Considering the fact that the item was a cage, the magic would probably slam the bars behind her and freeze the hinge.

Some dark stains came into view just inside the cage door, thus solidifying the mare's fear of what the floor inscriptions did upon the door's seal. She would have to test it all the same and, like her pink-colored stallion flying above ground, had to cautiously try everything to find a way out of the trap world. One glance to the left and one glance to the right later and she zapped one of the crystals from the horde into a levitation grip. It hovered over to her and she engaged a third common magic to open the crystal bar door of the cage. Light, levitation, and movement were all such simple things that it took only a little concentration to do them all.

Gleaming Shield opened the door as far as she could pull it and tossed the crystal inside. She only hoped that the presence of weight or matter, regardless of amount or animation, would be enough to trigger whatever the cage was designed to do. Her plan done, she released her magic on the door and the natural weight of it on its hinge made it slowly swing back. With a sudden flash from the hinge inscriptions, the door nearly came to life as it swung closed with lightning speed. The white unicorn was bathed in a green and purple hue as the floor inscriptions activated and filled the cage with their light. The eerie color seeped through the cage bars and lit the room only for a moment before plunging it back into the moody and limited light from the mare's horn.

The crystal that Gleaming Shield had tossed in was still sitting on the cage floor. It was no longer a light blue, however. It was now a black crystal. As black as the cage that surrounded it.

3 - What We Want

Gleaming Shield thought what she wanted was what every mare wanted - or would at least take if freely given. A perfect marriage wasn't too much to ask for, right? It would be such a simple matter for two ponies in such a high position. Apparently, that was not the case. Ever since they had arrived on the sun-forsaken rock, everything had been unusual. And that was not to say that it was unusual in the good sense. Gleaming had always enjoyed a little spice in her life to make the often boring guard work more bearable. However, the bleak desolate world that she was currently in was nowhere near the kind of spice that she liked.

Perhaps she had failed to do something. The expectation dropped upon her shoulders like a stone yoke once again. Desperately she tried to shift it off of herself. She had done nothing wrong. Mistakes happened and she wasn't going to reiterate the same arguments in her head. It was a waste of time, especially since one couldn't change the past. The question now was what she was going to do.

The cage was obviously a death trap and she suspected as much. But there wasn't anything else in the room and she hadn't seen an other passages or doors. Perhaps the tunnel entrances that she had seen top-side were all separate from each other. It would make them easier to keep track of but it would be a chore all the same to explore each one. She hadn't counted them so there was no telling how many times she'd have to go through the foreboding tunnels.

Perhaps Tempo was having better luck.

· · · · ·

In fact, Prince Tempo was having even worse luck. It would have been at least worth a molecule of amusement if he had found a machine or cage as had his wife. In his case, however, all he encountered was the end of the magical barrier that sustained the space rock. The dome that covered the inhabitable portion of the torture world curved down to the rock's surface and was as tough as steel even though it was as transparent as glass. It was fine all the same since Tempo had no desire to puncture it.

Still, it was frustrating to have such a lack of progress. Thinking of such matters, the stallion looked back to the sun that was just on the edge of the distant world - the world that probably but not certainly contained Equestria. His brother-in-law probably knew more about the sun and stars as well as their movement, but Tempo didn't have the benefit of asking the purple unicorn.

Wait...it wasn't the stars that moved. It was the planet, right?

Tempo laughed mentally to himself. It was the only amusing thought that the wasteland had given him thus far. It was encouraging to know that he shared things in common with Gleaming Shield. She was his spouse after all and he would be in an awkward spot if they couldn't relate to each other. Only, Tempo was perhaps less interested in those science lessons than Gleaming was. He never saw how they would be of any use anyways, since he would never actually be in a situation where such knowledge was important.

Doodle in haste, regret in leisure. At least Dusk Shine had enjoyed seeing his doodle art when he had to foalsit. The young colt had especially enjoyed his doodles of Gleaming Shield for some reason. He doodled her a lot...

It was then, after getting lost in so much thought, that Tempo finally realized that he had landed and taken a seat on the smooth rock to watch the eclipsing sun. Had he subconsciously given up on his explorations? No. It was that there was something wrong about that sun and that made him realize an earlier thought that had gotten trampled beneath his reminiscing.

The sun hadn't moved. Or rather, the planet hadn't moved. It was still there in the same spot it had been when they had arrived. That was disturbing and it made Tempo worried. Now, there were all sorts of theories that somepony could bring up regarding planetary movement and the position of objects relative thereof. However, Tempo was again not very attentive in his days at science class. Such theories would make Dusk Shine write entire volumes, but they eluded the alicorn stallion. Instead, Tempo arrived at his own dark conclusion and enacted a simple - if rarely used - spell that confirmed his suspicion.

His horn lit with magical energy and an hourglass rose from the smooth rock floor. He used the rock to construct the hourglass by magical means as he infused it with special grains of magical energy. It took quite a bit of effort to make since the magical grains were designed to move only with an absolute measurement of time - the movement of certain celestial bodies. It would normally be beyond his specialty to make but it had proved the most interesting - not to mention easiest - of the science projects that his science tutor had provided.

Tempo smiled as soon as the construct was finished. The fact that he remembered how to make it was all the proof he needed that he wasn't an airhead with education. Forget that nopony was around to appreciate it or that there wasn't a single pony to challenge his intellect in the first place. It was just a personal reassurance. After all, everypony has doubts about themselves every now and then, right?

Tempos' smile didn't last any longer, though. The magical grains weren't moving even though they were properly placed in the upper portion of the hourglass. Perhaps he had done it wrong after all. Ego destroyed, he lit his horn with magic once again and checked the construction. Finding everything in order, he decided that the error was beyond his current position to detect and therefore scrapped the hourglass in lieu of making a new one.

Completing the mechanism once again, his frown deepened. It still wasn't working and that meant only one of two things. Either he really had forgotten how to properly make it or...his original worry had merit. Not wanting to think of the implications of the latter, he decided the truth was the former. He would have to put aside possible intrigue and do something else if he was going to figure out how to get back to the Crystal Empire.

Tempo unfolded his wings and with a powerful and completely non-dust-inducing takeoff - for there was no dust to speak of on the rock - he made his way back to the path that he had left earlier. In a strangely vague sense of time, he came once again into view of the rows of torture devices. He passed what looked like a curved rack and something else that consisted mostly of spiked panels. The gears and levers didn't looked rusted at all so it was likely that they could still work.

Tired of having them sitting around looking evil, he decided it was best to simply land and take care of them. It would take some time and effort since there had to be at least two dozen of them but it was thought-intensive enough to keep his mind off other matters, such as panic or frustration at his current predicament. Besides, maybe some material transformation would spark an idea. He had occasionally gotten a stroke of brilliance through such unexpected things as the act of foalsitting. Dusk Shine had always been bright but he sometimes stumbled across things by shear accident or even paranoia rather than real intent. Tempo supposed it was true to some degree for all ponies.

His horn lit once again with magical energy as the first torture device (the rack) was illuminated within a pink glow.

BAM!

The rack was now a simple, but decently large, potted plant. Tempo grinned. The rock world could certainly use a plant to spruce it up - even a gnarled cactus would give the bleak place more cheer. But his grin died as he realized what Gleaming Shield would think of his work. She would probably berate him for using his magic for decor during a survival crisis.

He looked from the plant and then back to the sun as it tried to hide behind the large bluish orb of a planet. Something stirred in him. A feeling. It had to do with his life, love, and situation - even though he only acknowledged the last of those three things as being the issue at heart. Mentally, he decided not to trust his earlier experiment. Mentally, he decided to chock it up to lost ability. In his heart, he knew better.

Tempo was an alicorn and, regardless of what others and even what he himself thought, he was powerful in the ways of unicorn magic. His wife may be capable of raising an energy barrier around an entire city but he could do even more. He could raise, over the same radius, a barrier of love. It may sound less secure than physical force but such a thing was far more difficult and also far more effective. Even a legion of dragons could not penetrate a shield of emotion because it would not fail to any strength save that of character itself.

Tempo hadn't failed any class that he took and he never failed to remember what others taught him. He was a prince and, even if he had the privilege of being a goof around his wife, he would always live up to the position's responsibility. He knew what the still magical grains had signaled. The world that he and Gleaming Shield had been temporarily confined to was under a powerful and very experimental magic. It had never been safely proven in Equestria, but then this wasn't Equestria. It wasn't even the same planet and Tempo suspected that it was that fact more than anything else that had encouraged Queen Oscura to construct the air-pocket of a world on the space rock.

It was a testing ground for magic too powerful, dangerous, or incompatible to be used in their own world. The assumption that villains didn't care about the consequences of their actions was only partly true. Queen Oscura was evil without a doubt but she hadn't come to rule by reckless stupidity. She had been a ruthlessly smart dictator and that, more than anything else, was what made her so dangerous.

Finally, Tempo decided what it was that he wanted. Some time away from the busy life. Some time away from all the problems that Equestria threw at them. Just some time of peace and rest. Just some time with his caring wife.

Perhaps Gleaming Shield was having better luck.

· · · · ·

If I could have anything I wanted, it would be a hot bath, a warm blanket, no more guard duty, no more tunnels, and a no-strings-attached trip to anywhere-but-here with Tempo. I'm not sure if the order of those things matters.

Such were Gleaming Shield's thoughts as she found yet another doorway in the dark recesses of the Hall of Horde. It was not the way that she came in and not one of the other twenty-two tunnel entrances that she had uncovered thus far. She was sure of that but not necessarily out of want. It was, after all, yet another place to search with the utmost care.

Not assuming that any of the tunnels were more important, or at least discernible as such, the white mare strode into the new tunnel. Unlike the first one and quite like the others, this passageway had no light at all. The magical lamps hung throughout were devoid of life. It was of no difference to her though, since she had begun to believe that light would reveal little of interest unless it was a trap. She was cautious enough with her own magical light to avoid such things.

Feeling the need for a change of pace, Gleaming Shield switched her horn light to a soothing hue of blue. It was not so colorful that it hurt her visibility but just enough so that it made the underground labyrinth that much more bearable. She was beginning to understand, even by a small amount, why Tempo was against entering the tunnels. It grew old after the first minute and mind-numbing after the next five. At least the mare could exit any time she wished.

The tunnel went on and on just like the last one had until finally Gleaming Shield could see light ahead of her. It hurt a bit at first since she had gradually become accustomed to the darker tunnels but she accepted the more open air with relief. The tunnel she had just exited was apparently another path to the underground hall. She then began to suspect that the other twenty-two tunnels were all the same. Either it had been some vain attempt at architectural artistry or the former queen wanted to maximize the possibility of a prisoner going down to the hall.

Each of those tunnels would need to be individually traveled to ensure that one of them did not hold an extra room or corridor. The monotony of it was enough to make her more tired than she really was. In any case, being top-side, Gleaming Shield thought it worth the effort to check up on her alicorn companion. Where was that pink-coated-?

Her head turned just in time to see the pony in question tackle her to the ground.

"Ow! Rock floor, remember!" the mare complained as she reached a hoof to sooth her aching back.

"Sorry, it's just that it feels like it's been forever since I last saw you." The prince flashed a frown as he apologized and levitated the mare back onto her hooves.

Gleaming Shield gave a deadpan response. "It couldn't have been more than..."

The pink stallion, however, noticed her pause in thought. "Exactly. Something feels off about this place and I don't mean all the nasty devices or the fact that it's a giant floating rock in space."

"...like we're on a completely different measurement of time?" the mare tried to complete the alicorn's suggestion.

"Exactly. I've been getting weird vibes about it and that," he pointed a hoof to the sun, still peaking around the edge of the planet. "Proves it."

Gleaming Shield focused on the ball of light. It hurt only a little to look at since it was mostly hidden but, even from the small portion still present, she could tell that it wasn't moving. Or rather, the sun hadn't moved at all since their arrival.

Tempo cleared her mind with his next suspicion. "I don't think Queen Oscura made this place just to ensure imprisonment. I think she used this place as a testing ground for...other things..."

4 - Through Bad Times

If marriage meant that one went with their spouse through good times and bad then this was definitely one of those bad times. In fact, the bad times amounted to so much time that Gleaming Shield wondered with annoyance if she had been slighted by fate at the wedding. King Nymphamos has apparently been a bad omen. If the changeling had been good enough to fool me, Gleaming Shield thought, then perhaps I would have been better off with him. A good lie might actually be better than a bad truth.

The white unicorn mare frowned at her own humor. Better off with the changeling? If that was supposed to be laughable then it was a blessing that she didn't have a cutie mark in comedy. Thinking of such things, though...had she ever seen a cutie mark for comedy? She felt like she might have but wasn't sure...

"Gleaming Shield!" rose the voice of the pink alicorn stallion in front of her. She had slipped in thought and Tempo had to raise his voice to snap her out of it. That was odd, since she was quite certain of her own attention span. Why had she been so thoughtful lately?

"Hm?" she weakly responded.

"Tell me what you think," he spoke more calmly.

She didn't have to think long since she had already come to the obvious conclusion. "Time alteration spells. The queen probably tampered with time here. I imagine this place is perfect for that kind of thing. The worst that could happen would be molecular breakdown of the immediate environment. Who cares about a rock floating in space? I can only assume that she accepted whatever risk might come to herself - there's no escaping personal danger when you want to fool around with magic."

Tempo just nodded minutely as he listened. Her theory voiced, he responded in turn, "Probably too arrogant to think harm could come to her anyways...but she succeeded to some degree. That's obvious."

"So does this mean what I think it does?" Gleaming asked worriedly. Her eyebrows deepened as she took in the implications.

The stallion wasted no time in confirming. "Yes. The movement of time on this rock is different. I don't know if that means that time has stopped elsewhere or if time is simply on a different scale."

"One minute here is a second in Equestria?" Gleaming Shield suggested logically.

"Could be...but it would probably be a lot slower than that if I took a wild guess. Maybe the queen was fiddling with time magic so that she could control the world through it. But that's just speculation and it doesn't help us." He subconsciously gave a short whinny of frustration.

"If she succeeded and this place really is a hypothetical 'bubble of infinity' then why didn't she use that kind of magic with the crystal empire...?" Gleaming Shield trailed her question even as the answer came to her.

Both the stallion and mare exclaimed together, "The Crystal Empire!"

Gleaming's face contorted, "She probably had future plans for her time magic...but ran out of time to use it..."

"How ironic," Tempo gave a single pip of laughter to mark the moment. "But we can't waste any more time on this. We have work to do!"

His wife's eyes narrowed as she sensed a tone of reduced seriousness from him. It was a skill that he had started to notice and it was both amusing and annoying. Maybe there was some truth to spouses being able to read each other's thoughts and moods. He certainly didn't think that he had made any indication of the "work" he had planned.

"You know something?" Gleaming finally asked.

"I know lots of things..." Tempo started a cold sweat.

"I think there is something else about this rock that's messing with our heads," she stated flatly.

Was that an indirect jab? "I'll admit I have had some wandering thoughts..." he relented cautiously. One had to be careful about wording one's words when Gleaming Shield got into one of her no-nonsense confrontational hissy fits.

"Same here. I can't focus quite right and there's something nagging at the back of my mind," she said with a tone of suspicion.

"Like how beautiful you are," he tried one of his award-winning grins.

The mare just narrowed her eyes and frowned in lack of amusement. "I'm being serious right now."

"How do you do it?"

"Do what?" she asked quickly - suspecting some lame question. The stallion needed to get with the times. They were in a very bad spot at the moment!

"Keep thinking about some way out...you never seem to take a break," his voice finally started to indicate a sober attitude.

Gleaming Shield did not consider that a question for deep thought. As a Royal Guard, she always knew where her hooves were at. "By not sticking my head in the clouds like you alicorns," she kidded. "Honestly, it's because I love you. I don't have a crush on you. I'm not infatuated or lusting after you. I love you and that means I have a head on my shoulders and the ability to use it. I know where my priorities are and the first one is getting us safely off of this trap world."

Her words kind of hurt and felt warm at the same time. Only Gleaming Shield could be sweet to him with such harshness. Not lusting? Well sure but that was only about two degrees away from a burn. He was going to have to improve his exercise routines and blow her away with a reformed physique.

"Stop," the mare interjected his mental planning.

"But how-"

"I know that look, Tempo. You know what I find attractive right now? Focus!" she poked him in the side with a hoof. The sober attitude of his was fleeting, after all.

Goodness sakes! She really can read my mind, the alicorn thought. Marriage must be magic or something...

"Alright," he relented. "I think you're right. But not in the way that you think you are. This place is having an effect on us but it's not because of some spell concocted by Oscura. It's the same problem we had at the palace."

Gleaming Shield jolted if only by a little at his words. She thought she had things figured out only to find that her husband already had the situation down pat behind his goofball composure. "Well, of course, I still want time for the two of us not to be bothered by unending crises-"

"And this is that time, Gleaming," Tempo declared absolutely.

"Huh?" the mare voiced with confusion.

The pink pony held all the confidence of the blazing sun (even though the celestial object was trying to hide out of sight). "Our magic is sufficient to keep us safe here and provide all that we need. The time distortion will ensure we are not shirking anything important back in the Empire."

The unicorn was shocked and just a tiny bit angry. "No! This place is dangerous!"

"More dangerous than the Empire? More dangerous than Equestria? In case you forgot, we've been facing life or death back there," the alicorn's humor turned a dark corner.

"This rock is not a vacation resort," Gleaming returned.

"That can be changed."

"You mean by turning torture devices into ferns? Don't think I can't see what you did over there," she waved a hoof accusingly to the seeable distance where his earlier work stood visible.

"Ah...yeah..." he smiled fakely at being caught.

"This isn't an argument, Tempo. Why would you even consider staying here?"

The stallion returned to a grave expression. "Because I finally see an opportunity for us not to get bothered. It's not like we're shirking duty, Gleaming. Equestria has probably seen all of one second in the who-knows-how-long-we've-been-here."

"That's another problem. Time feels too vague here. I can't recall measurements of time - like how long I've walked in those tunnels or even how long we've been standing here talking to each other like a couple of foals!"

The intensity of Gleaming Shield's complaint made the stallion lean backwards a bit. She was correct with her point but Tempo didn't feel like escape was exactly a cure for their long-term problems. Not anymore. "What's getting you so fired up?"

"I'm not getting fired up!" she bit back. "I'm getting frustrated with your lack of help. I want off this rock and I want that vacation that we've been denied for the umpteenth time. I don't want an adventure and I don't want seclusion. I want..."

Tempo saw something in her eyes change. The fire bled away and water took its place.

"...I just want...the good times..."

The vows they had traded...

"Can't we just..." Gleaming Shield started to cry. "...just have some good times..."

· · · · ·

Tempo knew what he had to do. He made a vow to the mare in front of him and he would let Equestria burn before he broke it. He was a prince and he had a responsibility. He was a husband and his wife was crying.

It wasn't easy all the same. He wanted some time off and the opportunity was in front of him. He saw no reason why Gleaming Shield couldn't just accept their predicament and make do with what they had. She was making a fuss because she wanted a seaside resort, right?

No.

Tempo looked away from her to take in the stars. They occupied all of what should be the Equestrian sky. But he only looked for a moment to take in their beauty and calm himself. Dusk Shine always calmed down when they stargazed together and it might have rubbed off, if only a little, onto the alicorn.

His voice was gentle when it finally came out to respond to Gleaming Shield. As gentle as it had been those many days before when they had been reunited at the wedding. "We can have those kind of times, dear," he laid a hoof on the mare's shoulder before bringing her into a hug.

He whispered in her ear, "So let's get out of here and start having them."

It was not the hug that he gave or the hug that she deepened, but rather his self-sacrifice that turned her tears from sadness to happiness. It was a reminder of why they ended up married. They had differences in opinion sometimes but one of them would always relent for the sake of the other. Gleaming Shield held Tempo firmly in her hooves knowing that he was stubborn, careless, ridiculous...and the stallion that cared about her the most.

There was always something deeper about mere words than their obvious meaning or content. They carried weight in terms of relationship and they could make or break a marriage the same way they could make or break friendships. Sentiment could be just as important as action. The white unicorn was relieved in the assurance that her husband would still compromise for her sake and would do so not only in the easy moments. And so Gleaming Shield held the embrace until Tempo ended it.

"I think that's all the love we'll need," he grinned.

Before Gleaming Shield could inquire his meaning, she both recalled and re-experienced the moment that ended the Changeling invasion. Tempo activated his special talent's trump card as the two of them lifted into the air and were absorbed in a sea of magical light. Finally, they would be going back to the Empire!

The light increased and almost seemed to compact before it blasted outwards and bathed the entire prison world with its warm hue. It flooded past the torture machines and over the cliffs and crags. It flooded into the tunnels and through the underground hall. It went out of sight and it was mere moments before the couple was lowered back down. Gleaming Shield touched the ground gingerly with her hooves.

"Wait..." she began.

Tempo was beaming with a smile greater than ever before.

"Why are we still here?!" the mare exclaimed in panic.

Tempo snickered. "Did you think we were going to teleport?"

"Obviously!" Gleaming cried.

"If we could just teleport back to Equestria then don't you think I would already have done that?"

The unicorn almost replied before realizing that she didn't have anything to say.

The pink prince spoke in her stead. "Well putting that aside, the magic seems to have given us a lead. I received some valuable information from that light wave that just happened. I suspect-"

"Is light wave the official term here?" Gleaming raised a brow.

"Yes, I'd explain it except that your tiny unicorn brain wouldn't understand..."

The mare punched him in the shoulder to which he uttered a perfectly verbal "ow."

"Anyways," he winced. "The wave showed me something. In my head, I mean."

"Must not be difficult, since your head is so empty," Gleaming sniped.

If they had just had an emotional turning point in their relationship, his wife was now showing absolutely no sign of it. She was back to her straight-up disposition. He had to smile at it. She was something of a rock - even if that was a term most considered more fitting to the husband. "Anyways," he tried to get back on track. "I admit I don't have much control over that spell. It seems to have given me only a vague idea of what to do next. It showed me that there is a room we have not been to in the tunnels."

Gleaming Shield gave a lopsided expression in return. "So tell me why we didn't just do this from the start or why our panacea spell couldn't just teleport us out? It doesn't seem like too much of a stretch to me."

There was a great pause as the pink stallion considered her words.

"Hey, love isn't a get out of jail free card," he winked.

5 - Give and Give

Gleaming Shield had been a bit "take-oriented" even if it made sense to get off of the dangerous space rock of torture and time-space experimentation. It didn't matter how rock-solid the reasoning was, the fact remained that she had certain demands for her husband and failure to comply would lead to serious relational issues. Wasn't that the nature of marriage?

The white mare didn't have to ponder that question because, quite frankly, she was tired of pondering questions in the first place. Yes, she loved Prince Tempo. Yes, she would give up anything that he asked her to. Yes, she would die for him. Case closed.

Those kind of issues were dealt with even before marriage. If they were not, then the relationship was not likely to last. So Gleaming Shield knew quite soundly in her heart and head that, as they raced almost recklessly through the tunnels, her relationship with Tempo was even more unbreakable than it had been when they exchanged "I do" with each other.

"Ever feel like you're being thrown for a loop by your own magic?" she kidded the alicorn racing ahead of her through the badly lit tunnel.

He gave a snort without looking back. "I'd say you have no idea, except that you do."

"Heh, no kidding..."

They reached the large underground hall that housed the horde of crystals. Here, Gleaming Shield stepped in front of her gawking stallion so she could lead him to the room's center pathway. He slowly followed her and closed his eyes in concentration when he finally got over the shear mass of wealth that the hall contained. He thought hard to remember the correct door - the correct tunnel - which held the spare room. A smidgeon of magic helped clarify the way but he wasn't sure it was by his doing or merely the mystery of the magic itself. For all that unicorns used it for, their understanding of it was surprisingly low (or narrow and biased as dictated by one's point of view).

"Maybe Oscura was betrayed by her own magic," Gleaming mused as Tempo took the first few steps in the right direction. He started for the far side of one of the smaller piles of red crystals. "Some of the high-level texts speak of magic that shouldn't be used or even sought out. Advanced time manipulation was one of the mentioned taboos."

It was a surprisingly far distance to the target door, as the limited visibility of his horn light failed to give a good sense of depth to the room. Or perhaps it was some magic about the room itself. Tempo didn't look back to regard the mare but answered her all the same as he picked up the pace. "We might never know. But unless either of us plans on fooling around with dangerous magic, I really don't think it matters."

Gleaming Shield "humphed" as she replied, "We get enough problems without making them ourselves."

Tempo stifled a laugh and the two of them reached the end of the small deep-red crystal stash. Now they could see a doorway that lead to another tunnel. It one of the twenty-something tunnels that Gleaming Shield had found but one that she hadn't passed through. The mare couldn't help making a remark as they entered the new hewn-in-rock corridor. "I don't think I'm a fan of big places any more."

Tempo didn't respond but resumed leading them down the, yet again, endlessly straight and long tunnel. It didn't take the unicorn long to remember that the pink alicorn in front of her had some serious underground trauma. He had cringed at the tunnel entrance top-side and had been less cheery than usual. Well, it would all be over soon so she knew she needn't worry.

A side passage appeared just as Gleaming was about to ask if time had somehow looped. The tunnels all looked alike and had no defining features to tell one whether or not they'd actually done any traveling in the first place. The side passage was only visible when they were nearly past it and it looked only a bit narrower than the other paths. It was short, however, and ended abruptly with a heavy iron door. Tempo attempted to push it open but was obviously struggling. He often did well to mask his lack of physical ability by avoiding situations in which he'd have to show it. Carrying her and flying downwards just might have been the limit of his strength.

Some mares only liked a stallion that could lift twice his own weight, but Gleaming Shield wasn't one of them. She liked Tempo for who he was - all of who he was. The couple was different to be sure. After all, they were practically the anti-typical pair. The stereotypical role of strong male and weaker female was reversed for them. Gleaming Shield, a strong Captain of the Guard. Prince Tempo, a pampered but gifted Royal of Canterlot.

After they escaped back to the Empire, Gleaming Shield would be the one in charge of pampering the stallion. After all, Tempo would be far more exhausted than her. She also owed him for giving up a unique vacation opportunity. The possibilities were not beyond the unicorn's ability to imagine. With their combined magic, the rock world could be made liveable and even enjoyable. And, in spite of past worries about stability, it could be made a very safe place. Perhaps that was something to consider when they got back home...assuming either of them still had the desire to mess with it. That was a very unlikely scenario. They would doubtlessly find many better and less traumatic places to relax.

Gleaming Shield stepped up alongside her husband and gave a determined shove against the iron door with both hooves. It flung open with zeal, as if it had merely been waiting for the mare to touch it. Tempo gave his mare a sheepish look. "It's been a long day..."

The white pony just grinned as she looked back into the room and took record of its contents. A series of desks with scattered scrolls and books on them. Only a single chair was present and it was set before the largest desk. The room was lit already with magical lamps and it was well lit indeed, as the contrast from the darkness brought a dull pain to her eyes. Light flooded the room to ensure nothing could hide in darkness. The same light bathed the bookshelves that rested against one of the walls. Probably a necessity for the subject being studied, Gleaming thought. There's only one thing that this room looks like. It's a study!

The pink alicorn stepped into the room and looked quickly over the scrolls that were laid open on the desks. "Aha. They're all on time-space theory and taboo applications."

Gleaming Shield tried to take inventory of what laid on the shelves, but the texts were far beyond her level. They might even prove hard reads for her younger brother.

"Gleam!" the stallions voice shocked her out of a troubled concentration. "Look at this."

He was pointing to a scroll that had been pinned rather harshly onto the stone wall. It was like a blueprint, only the item was familiar to her. "That looks like the cage in the main hall."

"The old symbols on this read 'portal' and 'protected.'" he read seriously. He really did have a handle on odd subjects. Old languages were just such an example but then Gleaming Shield figured those were the kind of things that a prince was made to learn. She couldn't call it useless knowledge in their current predicament.

"It just looked like a trap, though - like the other things on the surface," she commented.

"Hmm...maybe she wanted it to look that way so that no free-roaming prisoners would use it. They probably couldn't have read this thing even if they had access to the study. Which does remind me...it's odd I didn't see a lock on the door."

"Oscura was as arrogant as they come. She probably didn't lock anything at all because she thought she was unbeatable."

Tempo had to shrug. It was true enough from what they had seen of the evil queen. "Well this picture shows three crystals and labels them as the 'key.' It probably means that-"

"-we use those three crystals and it teleports us out." Gleaming Shield finished with a hopeful smile.

"Or we get it wrong and it flash fries us," the alicorn added as he read from the small print on the diagram.

The mare's face might have gone white if it was not a naturally pale color. She remembered what happened to that crystal that she had thrown into the cage. "Anything else?"

"Yes, unfortunately. There's a note that refers to a journal. We're going to have to find it."

The mess of books, scrolls, and journals in the room was not lacking in volume, so Gleaming Shield hoped for a lead of any kind to ease their search. "Anything that indicates which one?" she asked as she moved to look across the shelves.

"Crystal Engineering: R3M1."

Gleaming Shield shot the stallion a look. "Seriously?"

Tempo, however, didn't have the aura that indicated he was attempting humor. He was telling the truth as he moved over to one of the desks to look through its chaotic pile of paper material. "Yes. And I hope that doesn't mean there are a lot of journals just on crystal engineering..."

"Found it!" the mare shouted enthusiastically as she magically tore a beaten journal from one of the bookshelves.

Tempo jerked around to face his wife and stared open-mouthed in disbelief. Her luck was astounding.

She laid the somewhat thin book on the main desk of the room and cracked it open. The pages were yellow and made a crinkling noise as they resisted separating from each other. The journal was written in the same archaic language as the diagram, so Tempo had to read it. It took the stallion a few more seconds to walk over to her as he was still admiring the fact that he was, apparently, married to lucky number seven. He did, however, get over it and replaced Gleaming Shield's place in front of the book. She moved to the side, lacking the ability to make use of it herself. Leafing through one page and then five, he groaned. "Oscura sure loved her contraptions," he mumbled.

Gleaming let him read until she could take it no more. She wanted the escape that the journal tempted them with. "So what do we do?"

"Well..." he replied slowly as his eyes continued to read the lines of page thirty-something. "We need an emerald in the first slot and a sapphire in the third. Then we pull the fifth lever from the left in the control room and...insert a..."

He flipped back a few pages. "An opal in the second slot," he continued. "Then the fourth slot will open and we have to set the machine to accept an onyx - then insert one into the slot."

When he took his eyes from the book, he saw the unicorn sitting next to him with a face that screamed "I hate life."

"Hey, I didn't make this stupid thing! You can blame Oscura for inventing the portal as a Rue Goldberry device."

"Ugh," the mare groaned. "But I thought you said the 'key' was only three crystals."

"And it is," the alicorn countered. "But the 'key' is apparently just the primer. The fourth crystal is variable. It," he interrupted himself to look back at the journal and double-check what he read. Returning his attention forward to the other pony, he resumed, "It's the fuel for the portal that's specific to the item and destination."

"Alright," Gleaming breathed as she sat up. "Let's just get going. Where's this control room?"

Tempo turned back to the book, only to pick it up in his magical grip and take it with them. "It's more of an alcove, actually. It's half-hidden near the portal."

"Death cage," Gleaming corrected flatly. "But I won't argue if we can reset it and get out of here. By the way...what happens if those directions don't work?"

"We will be carbon scoring on the floor," Tempo answered happily.

"Right."

· · · · ·

The unicorn and alicorn were back in the main hall in short order and it was still as dark and dreary as when they last passed through it. In fact, it seemed even more foreboding somehow. It was that fact, in no small part, that quickened their pace to the upraised platform at the end of the hall. Rather than ascending the stairs, Prince Tempo lead the way around to the left side. He directed the light from his horn to a particular spot in the back wall to reveal a cleverly concealed alcove. The darkness hit it just right (in reaction to the illumination from the alicorn) so that it was hard to find. Tempo revealed it all the same and they took a few steps into it to see a wall of sockets, levers, and a single console-like stand that was home to a collection of knobs, dials, and buttons.

"Was any of this actually necessary?" Gleaming frowned.

Tempo hesitated a second and then grinned. "You know how crazy overlords are..." he nudged his wife.

She rolled her eyes and took note of the positions of the sockets and levers. Quickly she found the ones that concerned them. "Let's just do this. I'll get the crystals."

"I saw sapphire and emerald earlier but I don't know about the other two."

Gleaming Shield lit up her own horn to guide her through the darkness as she turned back out of the alcove. "I'll find them," she replied as she left.

Prince Tempo forcefully turned his attention away from the swaying hips of Gleaming Shield as she slowly faded into the darkness. By the time her light was no longer visible, he was studying the controls on the alcove's console. He figured out the obvious ones but had to refer to the journal he had taken for the others.

6 - The Crux

First knob: Three notches from the left.

Second knob: Two from the right.

First button: Pressed.

Third knob: 2.3.

Fourth knob: 4.0.

Fifth knob: 0.5.

Second button: Pressed.

Third button: pressed.

The dials now read 20, 45, and 90. Whatever that meant. All Tempo could glean from the journal was that those were the numbers necessary for the cage mechanism to be set for teleportation to the Crystal Empire. The notes also alluded to other teleportation locations but the stallion didn't feel like tempting fate to discover them. Now, he simply waited for his mare to return with the items they needed. He trusted her to be able to pull it off and she trusted him to read the journal correctly and set the machine right.

He stood there quietly and turned to face the gaping darkness that was the rest of the main hall. He stared into it sadly and knew what it all meant. He knew that Gleaming Shield was racing through it. Perhaps the whole ordeal had forced them to meld ever more as a team. But then again, if Tempo didn't already trust the mare then he probably wouldn't have married her. He felt something in that moment and knew it was more than trust. There was always that feeling of love that he had for her, but this was something more furious than that. He wanted to be everything that she needed...everything that she wanted...

Shaking his head, he reminded himself not to get lost in thought.

He did what he was supposed to and so did she. He waited for what he assumed to be a good five minutes before he could make out her light fade in from the mass of black that was the massive dark hall. Whatever length of time it had really been had definitely seemed fast. The hall was huge and she hadn't even known where the last two crystals were. He, of course, assumed she had them with her.

Once she was close enough to call out to, he did so. "How did it go?!"

Gleaming Shield appeared to quicken her pace for some reason and she was soon within the light of the alicorn's glowing horn. Her own light extinguished and she walked briskly to him. Tempo noticed four crystals levitating behind her, glowing in her magical grip, just before the mare hugged him. "Welcome back," he felt obligated to say. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing new," she replied as she slipped away from the embrace. "This place is still creepy and I still want out."

"Ditto. But I think we can actually do that now," the pink pony commented as he took in the four crystals that levitated towards him. Gleaming Shield kept them in her grip and waited until Tempo started giving her instructions before she moved them into position. "Alright. Emerald," he trotted over to the socket on the far left wall of the alcove.

"Here," he pointed to the empty spot. The mare nodded and stuck the crystal into place. A green magical light started to emanate softly from cracks in the wall that neither had noticed before. "I hope that means it's working right," Tempo chuckled darkly.

The mare shot him a mean look. "Do not tell me that you're winging this."

The prince giggled like a foal. "Well of course I am, honey. I'm an alicorn, remember?"

He stretched his wings out and fluttered them playfully. The opal that the mare threw at him would probably leave a mark for a few days. At least it didn't knock him out, which is surprising when considering the fact that it hit him between the eyes. He did, however, had to pick himself back up off the stone floor. "Alright..." he moaned. "Sapphire...here..." he weakly pointed to a socket after the next empty one.

Gleaming Shield's magical aura faded from the stone once it clicked into place. The light from the cracks glowed brighter and took on a mixed hue. It wasn't a color one would expect from matching the colors of the crystals. The green glow had simply taken on a nasty brownish sickness. She could only hope that's how it was supposed to be and that the contraption wasn't broken. Oh Solaris, if it was broken...

Prince Tempo stuttered painfully over to a lever on the opposite side of the alcove. "Fifth...here."

He flipped the lever before returning the the sockets near Gleaming Shield. "Opal."

The unicorn levitated the third stone in front of him and he noted, slightly upset, that it was indeed an opal and that it was what had violently kissed his skull. He mentally swore revenge on the stone (and by no means the mare). "Hard to find?" he asked his wife.

"Actually," she started. "Not at all. I found this one first in a random pile. The onyx was the trouble child."

The alicorn nodded and pointed to the second wall socket, which the female used to house the offensive opal.

"Hidden?" he inquired again as he winced once again from the sting of pain emanating from his face.

"Not really. But it was hard to distinguish from the regular black crystals that are all over the place. I don't know what they are but they're not onyx. Can't be. I wouldn't have known the difference though if it wasn't for my brother's friend. He had one...what was him name again..."

"Elusive?" the pink stallion guessed.

"Yes! You have a good memory..." Gleaming commented in praise.

Tempo just sighed, however. "Names. I was always expected to remember everypony's name. Still am."

Gleaming Shield had noted in the back of her mind that nothing obvious had happened when the opal had been placed. Now, she followed Tempo as he walked slowly over to the alcove console as he related his woes. "Over half the ponies I meet, I never see again. But I'm required to remember all of their names. And they're all a bunch of nobles that don't even give a feather about me - let alone Equestria. But if I don't remember their names then 'oh no I'm not good at my job.'"

The mare let him vent. She had her own complaints about being a guard captain and, besides, it lightened the mood that the dark room was forcing on them with the nasty colored glow. The prince changed the subject to read the dials on the console aloud. "15, 37, 122."

Gleaming Shield was about to ask the meaning when her husband nodded to himself and punched one of the console buttons with his right fore hoof. There was a grinding sound from somewhere below their hooves and the glow lines on the walls turned a solid purple. A forth slot appeared on the wall near the third slot.

The unicorn looked to him again to confirm and he nodded. "Onyx goes there."

She steeled herself and hoped to Artemis's moon that it all worked. The onyx levitated towards the indention in the wall and almost seemed to get sucked into it in the last second. There was a click and the glowing lines began pulsating.

"We're all set. Now we just get in the cage and see what happens," Tempo tried to say as happily as possible.

Gleaming Shield could not be more nervous than she was at that moment. "See what happens?!"

"Well, I'm not sure about the trustworthiness of anything on this rock and certainly not a journal written by the late Queen Oscura. It's a risk we have to take," he reassured her in his own way.

She gulped one last time and accepted it. As a guard, she knew that some risks could be fatal but were required all the same. "Either we get our vacation or we-"

"Get our vacation," he interrupted her. "As burn marks on the floor."

She started to smile at his first remark than frowned at his second. "You want to keep quiet now, prince charming?"

He nodded in a goofy manner and let the mare lead him by her light out of the alcove and up to the cage device. She had to admit to herself that it was hard to make herself open the cage and step in. But Tempo, ever the loving spouse, came up beside her and curled a wing over her back. One glance between them was enough for her to know that he was with her. Even if they died, he was with her.

It was two steps after they had entered the cage side-by-side that the door triggered. It clanged loudly behind them and made the pair jump if only by a molecule. The inscriptions in the floor ignited and their vision blurred. The floor seemed to drop out from beneath their hooves. The event ended quickly with no ceremony or hype. It was just the kind of emotionless and cold feeling one would expect from one of Oscura's inventions.

· · · · ·

Tempo laid flatly on the cold floor, his hooves splayed outwards in exhaustion. His wife fared no better with her hair a tad frazzled and her spirit in dire need of rejuvenation. Needless to say, she was sprawled out in the same manner of the stallion beside her. Neither spoke for a long moment. When they did, it was not with as much cheer as they thought they would have.

The alicorn breathed a loud sigh as he turned over to lay on his back. He raised his hooves to the tall crystal ceiling of the hall that they had been gracelessly dumped back into. "From now on I'm using a detailed trap analysis spell on every building we go into," the husband finally voiced.

"I'll double check for you," the wife replied.

"Starting here!" the stallion wasted no time or breath in lieu of impending exhaustion - if he didn't already have it.

The unicorn knew what he was beginning to do. Some spells (typically mass-scale ones) were prohibited from use due to their severely draining effects on the user. Neither of them cared about migraines or strains at this point, however. Nothing was going to take them on another messed up adventure like the one they had just gone through.

She could see Tempo wince significantly as he completed the mass magical analysis. He proceeded to groan in an obviously painful fashion and then zapped her with a beam of light from his horn. "You should be able to see all the traps with that mental map," he forced from clenched teeth.

Gleaming Shield gave her acknowledgement and wearily got onto her hooves to begin her task. Tempo was now wiped out from heavy use of magic. His eyes once again held the defeat that they had during the crystal heart incident. She had the same look during their wedding - a result of using the mass shield. She would wear it again after disarming the thirty other traps she now knew were scattered in the royal palace.

But she would not trigger any of them. None would see the light of day this time.

Prince Tempo vaguely knew that the white unicorn had run off down the corridor. His whole body hurt and little more than pain was capable of going through his mind. So he laid on the cold floor for what seemed like hours while mere minutes past. More than thirty slipped by before a very haggard looking Gleaming Shield ran back into the hallway. "Done!" she tried to exclaim but failed as it merely eked out of her mouth in a wheeze. Her head hurt as much as the legs that had carried her like lightning through the palace.

Tempo tried once to get to his hooves but failed. "Ugh..." was all he could say.

"...I agree," the mare joked as she fought fiercely to stay on her hooves.

"I don't think we can pack for our vacation right away," the stallion finally managed to say.

"You know what?" the tough mare decided as she finally hit her second wind and regathered her strength. "I don't want to go anywhere! And I for sure don't want to think about Oscura's little bit of Tartarus we got to experience. Can we agree not to talk about it?"

The prince tried to laugh and stopped when his head throbbed sharply. "...uh-huh..." he settled to say.

Gleaming Shield stepped closer to him and tried to activate her magic. It failed since it was too drained from her vigorous trap extermination activities. The spark from her horn even hurt a bit. She sighed and resolved to accomplish her job via brute strength alone. She was still a guard captain even if her magic was temporarily gone.

Tempo tried to discourage her when she started moving him onto her back but quieted when it had no effect. "Where are you taking me?"

"The bath. We both need to take one before getting some sleep," she replied flatly.

The pink alicorn grinned weakly in his reduced state. "Still a mare under all those layers of tough hide..."

She gave him a rough shove in return. It wasn't easy getting him onto her back and she would have to drag him somewhat since he was simply too large for her body size. "I'm too...tired...to answer that right now..."

Tempo closed his eyes as a gesture of "ditto" and didn't realize that he fell unconscious until he was later forcefully awoke by his completely drained spouse. "Bath," was all that came out of her mouth as her face disappeared once again from his view. When he turned his head to follow her, she was limping a few hooves distance away to get into a hot pool of water that was nestled nicely into the floor of their massive royal bathroom.

He waged a war of will to keep himself conscious and get his lead-weight legs to move him to the water. "Is this really a good idea?" his raspy voice surprised him. His body was apparently spent in every possible way.

"Yes," Gleaming Shield breathed smoothly. But the alicorn didn't know if it was a response or merely an exclamation as the mare slipped into the warm water. She disappeared for only a second before resurfacing her head, which was the only visible thing above the water's surface.

"I don't want to pass out and drown," Tempo found the energy to whine as he got to the the edge of the bath. He could just fall right in...

"You're...not going to drown...you big baby..." the mare slowly countered as she sighed herself away with closed eyes.

"We're back. Isn't that enough?" he prodded the water with a front hoof.

"Hey, you want to get some shut eye or not?" she asked more roughly as she opened her eyes. It was just as difficult for her as it was for him to keep from falling asleep. In and out, she tried to keep herself in line. "You're not going to bed like that."

"I feel like expiring," Tempo moaned again.

The Captain of the Guard had just about enough. "Then wash and expire in bed."

He would have nodded off again right there if she hadn't reached over and pulled him unceremoniously into the water. It was warm and soothing but surprising all the same at first. What came next was a quick but entirely sufficient scrubbing. The stallion accomplished none of it, as the mare had to do it all for him. He was a royal do-nothing and she stated as much. It was good-hearted though, because she knew that he had done just as much as she had. They were both exhausted and in pain.

She tried to quickly conclude the washing and drying and the trip to the bedroom was short, as it was nearby. But she had to grit her teeth as her second wind left her and she was racked with exhaustion nearly to the point of nausea. She made it, though, and so did her husband. He dragged his hooves for sure but he shambled to the bedroom on his own.

It didn't take the pair five seconds to slip under the covers and embrace slumber. Sweet, delicious twelve-hour slumber.

7 - Dreams as Reality

Prince Tempo awoke drearily. His body felt refreshed and yet...heavy. He had slept longer than usual and his legs were sore for some reason. None of it could compare to the dream he just had though. And the dream could not compare with the reality he had lived before it. The incident with Oscura's trap and the rock world in space had been no dream - though it was surreal all the same. It was a chapter in his life he felt better about forgetting and only his curiosity about the time theory made him want to think about it at all. He checked the time and did some quick recollections and estimations.

Ten minutes. That's how long they had been away from the current world. He knew they spent more than that trapped on the rock, but he didn't know exactly how long they had been there. As Gleaming Shield mentioned, time was vague there. It felt odd and Tempo didn't want to relive it. Curiosity relieved, he decided firmly to forget it and move on. Besides, other things were of more importance right that instant...

He ruffled the sheets that he was still under to find the mare that was curled up on the opposite side of the bed. He was going to have to find some way to keep her on his own side. She had too much of a habit of rolling off to the other end. The bed was just too ridiculously huge. And it was supposed to be a "marital" bed too. That was only true if "marital" meant that each pony was required to stake out a tent on opposite sides of the globe. His wife's blue mane was just visible in the cold distance as an indication that she had settled the far-away lands.

He hadn't, of course, realized that his hooves were cold until he approached the mare and tried to embrace her. How they had gotten cold under the sheets was beyond him but they were cold all the same. He could hear her mumble and stir in her sleep and was sure that she said something to the effect of "dumb Tempo." He took it as a statement of affection rather than whatever reality had in store for him. He was married. He could dream.

Gleaming Shield did, in fact, awake. She had slept as much as he had and was indeed just as sore as he felt. Her eyes opened lazily but she made no effort to turn or speak.

"Want to know what time it is?" the pink stallion asked softly.

The mare mumbled something that he couldn't catch. "What was that?" he had to ask politely.

"I don't care," she muttered louder than before.

"Somepony's being a grouchy riser," Tempo couldn't help but kid as he stretched his wings over to the white unicorn. The feathers waved back and forth across her sides in tiny motions and the mare let out an "eep" instantly. The sheets flew up in the prince's face as Gleaming Shield shot out from under them. She was an easy pony to get out of bed since she was so ticklish. Sometimes it was hard to keep her in bed when they were both asleep and his wings would touch her involuntarily. It was one of the many unexpected things that came about in the relationship between the winged and non-winged ponies.

"Tempo!" she complained back at the pile of sheets she had left. It was after a few tosses of the soft bedding that the alicorn's head popped up.

"What?" he cooed innocently but flinched and closed his eyes when his wife readied some sort of attack with her horn's magic...

It never came and he opened his eyes again when he heard a deep breath. Only, he was too late to prepare for the incoming hooves. Gleaming Shield launched herself back into the bed and collided with her husband - an act that sent the two tumbling right off the other side and onto the floor. Tangled in the roughly mistreated sheets, they both laughed.

"We going anywhere?" the pink one finally asked in the darkness beneath the heavy blankets.

"If this is about the vacation then forget it," the white one responded. "We'll just get into some unspeakable trouble again."

"Like we did yesterday in the hallway?" he grinned even though his spouse couldn't see him. He didn't want to bring up their little space trip but he couldn't quite ignore such a recent example either.

"Pfft. I think I'm already in enough trouble being married to you," she countered.

Tempo didn't say anything at first. He didn't have to, but he eventually said it anyways. "I don't care what we get into...because I know we can get through it together."

Gleaming Shield could tell that he was being serious for a moment and, as an answer, hugged him within the dark void under the sheets. He returned it and held it until his stomach growled. "Hungry?" the unicorn asked the obvious.

"And it's getting hard to breathe under here, too."

"Tempo?"

"Yes, beautiful?"

"You can't see me right now."

"You're still the same, right? Unless you just got hit by an ugly stick."

A jab to his ribs was what he expected and exactly what he got.

"Can we have somepony make us breakfast and just eat it in here?" Gleaming Shield returned to the subject at hoof.

Tempo thought it over for only a second before agreeing to the idea. "I'll make it happen," he confirmed as a thought struck him. We finally get some time off...

There's no chance that catastrophe can strike in the royal bedroom, right?

Author's Note

And thus it was in the seventeenth year of the reign of Prince Tempo that a decree was carried throughout the Crystal Empire: that every male foal two yea- are you still reading? Well thank you but you should take a break or something. You deserve it.

This fimfic is the result of much much work. I intended it to be more of a sappy one-shot and then it turned into this drawn-out semi-serious affair. Goodness gracious me. Well, I hope you enjoyed it!