Crystals Grow on Rainbows

Panic would be a very big understatement for what followed. Screams of Sombra's return were strong and loud among the Crystal ponies. Rarity, short of fainting, was searching around hysterically in the off chance it was all just an elaborate prank. Celestia and Rainbow Dash were already speeding up towards the top of the tower to do the same. Everypony would probably be better off without Pinkie Pie running around at random to scream in their faces, but there wasn't really a way to stop her from doing so.

"Pinkie! Go check on the foals okay?" Twilight returned to the throne to examine the Crystal Heart. It had been untouched by Sombra's attack, yet he had to know that in an emergency Celestia could activate it too. Given the amount of screaming going on, she would probably have better luck working out his intentions in a quieter setting. "Girls! Upstairs with Pinkie Pie, we need to discuss a plan on finding Opal, and fast."

Upstairs, the ambient of fear drifted through the air like mist. News of Princess Opal's disappearance had spread through the city quickly. A bright ray of light from the top of the tower marked Celestia's attempt to reinforce the protective shield. Rainbow Dash in the meantime joined the others in the filly's room, Pinkie holding her twins while Rarity nursed Sky. "She's nowhere in the city, Celestia's heading back to Canterlot to round up anypony she can for a search. Did you manage to find anything here?"

Twilight was busy pacing in a desperate search for an idea. Opal could be anywhere in the north at all, they never did find the exact location where King Sombra had been trapped before. "I'm thinking. I just wonder how he got through the protective shield just like that, there were no dark crystals inside for him to hide in, we checked." Rarity passed Sky to Dash's hooves, taking a moment outside the room for air.

This wasn't just a random coincidence surely. He deliberately chose the coronation for a point of attack, when security would be at its tightest. Not for the first time, she found herself feeing regretful of being so eager for Opal to fulfil this task. Sure, nopony could possibly expect such a turn of events, and yet, they very well could. This was exactly the sort of thing that would happen to royalty, only she had never really considered that it would actually happen.

"Filled with pride, always telling others of how proud she is of her daughter. And yet, when the time comes for that daughter to prove herself, she panics, and worries. Without faith or knowing, and I thought you were better than that Rarity." Rarity's face darkened, she hadn't been berating herself that time. Trixie, looking rather mean spirited at that. Right now, Rarity couldn't care less about the sudden mood swing; nopony said horrible things about her parenting.

Her head remained steady in anticipation of a fight as she took a deliberate step towards Trixie. "What... are you calling me a bad parent? Because, I may not be one for violence, but I really will do some rather nasty things with a needle and thread if you do not explain yourself." Trixie smirked, deliberately daring her to continue. Twilight entered the hall at that point, shocked to find two of her close friends almost at the point of locking horns.

"Trixie... what are you doing? I'd ask the same of you Rarity, but from what I just heard... I'd rather not know." She didn't like the scene one bit; a standoff forming at a time like that would only give Sombra more time to attack. Both had reason to be edgy, but coming to blows with each other wasn't the way to let off steam at all. But Rarity had no intention of backing down from an insult like that.

"I'm merely drawing attention to the fact that ever since I came back from Vanhoover just a few months ago, Rarity has done nothing but say how competent and capable Opal Flame is. Now she frets about the Princess like a newborn filly. Is it wrong of me to say that such silliness is completely unnecessary?" That was the tipping point for Rarity. Silly was it, the concern she had for her child?

"Oh, it is on!" Nopony expected her to charge, especially not with such speed and force. But she did, knocking Trixie onto her back with a single rear of her head. It caused a lot of pain around the base of her horn, but the result was worth it. Seeing the self-important unicorn fall was enough to satisfy the built up resentment. But it didn't end there. Trixie was back up on her hooves in less than a second, taking her turn to charge.

Rarity planted her hooves down with the intention of holding her ground. The force at which their horns connected pushed her back several hoof-lengths still. "Both of you stop it right now!" Twilight began to pull both of them apart with her magic. To her surprise, Trixie was the one who forced her back. The struggle continued, both trying to throw the other off balance. It was causing Sky to cry, and Pinkie didn't seem to be far behind.

"You made a mistake Trixie. Nopony insults my daughter, maybe if you had a foal of your own you'd understand that." Trixie's eyes moved sideways for a brief moment, at Twilight. It was enough of a distraction for Rarity to rear up and hit Trixie's horn hard. She had intended to throw her concentration off; instead, the horn broke cleanly from Trixie's forehead. As it spun through the air towards the wall, it changed from a light blue unicorn horn, into a twisted spike of dark crystal. Everypony winced as it broke into several pieces, releasing a small cloud of black smoke as it did so.

Twilight didn't need another signal, tackling Trixie without hesitation. Every pony had been scanned for changeling status as a precaution, including Trixie. This time as Twilight's magic enveloped her supposed companion, the result was far different. Not unlike what had happened with Pinkie and her Changeling suit, the real one beneath her looked identical to the nightmarish ponies they had encountered before. Except the smaller, curved horn was now absent, replaced by a stump of the broken crystal. A Changeling, with one of Sombra's dark crystals for a magic horn. Rainbow Dash and Applejack moved to keep it pinned so Twilight could think for a moment.

"King Sombra and Queen Chrysalis... They're in this together. The dark crystal horn protected the changeling from my spell... and he hid in the crystal to get through the barrier. Then, the changeling would finish us off." So clever, had it not been for Rarity's protectiveness, there was a very real chance the changeling would have taken all of them out without a fight. But there were still questions that needed to be answered; some she had a pretty fair guess at the answers to. Trixie had been gone for some time on her trip to Vanhoover, and she hadn't seemed quite the same on her return.

"Twilight, if you're going to ask questions, could ya hurry up? This one's really strong." Twilight shook her head in a moment of regret before advancing again. Rarity was too stunned to speak about her actions, retreating into the room with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Trixie had looked at Twilight at the mention of a foal of her own. Surely though, Twilight wouldn't have...

A pained squeal caused another wince; Twilight was pressing her hoof onto the changeling's shoulder. Was she actually torturing the impostor!? "Where's Opal? And for that matter where's Trixie? You've got a very short amount of time before I turn you into tiny crystal pieces." The changeling glared at her with a terrifying grin. This wasn't like them at all. When cornered, more often than not they would struggle for freedom.

Even Dash found herself grinding her teeth at the terrible sound of its actual voice. "You won't do that... I'm too important to you now. As for my Queen and King, they have the lovely Princess safe. Enjoy the storm that is coming, green is such a pretty colour." Rainbow Dash and Applejack recoiled as Twilight's horn flashed brightly. The changeling beneath her squealed again as its body began to turn into pure crystal. There was a moment of disbelief that Twilight had actually carried out her threat, made stronger when she pounded the petrified changeling to dust. Rarity moved back to her side at that moment

"Twilight... be honest with me. When it said that it was too important to you, it didn't mean finding my daughter, did it?" Twilight glared at her as if it were an accusation, before she broke down into tears. She knew that they had become closer in the past few months, and that Twilight was especially excited to see Trixie return.

"I'm sorry okay! I was just so glad to see her again. But she seemed perfectly fine I swear! There was literally no difference between before she left for Vanhoover, and up until today! Which means..." The Changelings almost certainly still had her. She had gone and gotten herself pregnant with a half changeling, and no way of rescuing the real Trixie without a very long search just to start with.

Reality caught back up to the group as a changeling flew right through the window, punching through the crystal floor. Rarity raced back out of the room with Sky Dancer, followed by Pinkie and Fluttershy carrying the twins. "We have to move, there's changelings everywhere. They're punching through the protection shield with those dark crystal horns, everypony is retreating back here." Twilight was quickly becoming distressed, prompting Rainbow Dash to take the lead.

"We'll find our baby, you and me. Twilight's in no condition to run around the Frozen North, and they'll need everything here to defend the Crystal ponies." Rarity touched Twilight's shoulder in a moment of sympathy. Dash was right, this was their job, and theirs alone.