Of Love and Crystals

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Epilogue
Chapter 3

Prologue

Twilight looked up from the letter Spike had just received, “The changelings? What is the princess thinking? Doesn’t she remember what happened?” Twilight thought aloud. Twilight paced back and forth across the library, ignoring the letters recommendation to be seated upon reading it.

Spike scratched his head in thought, “I don’t know Twilight, maybe the princess has a good reason for helping the changelings. Also didn’t she say to trust her?” Spike argued.

“Well… yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea, I mean what if they try to take over Equestria again. Just because the princess is a goddess doesn’t mean she’s omnipotent, she couldn’t know what they’re up to.” Twilight argued back.

“She also said you wouldn’t believe her.” Spike said deadpanning slightly, “Maybe you should at least try to get along with the changeling who’s coming here, or at least not freak out and call him evil without any evidence like you did last time.” Twilight blushed embarrassedly at the mention of her past actions.

“Ok fine, I’ll keep cool this time, but I’ll be watching this ‘Olive Branch,’ if he so much as says anything that even hints at him being a spy I’ll throw him out of Ponyville myself.” Twilight said grudgingly, “Now I should probably tell the girls the news of this upcoming arrival, when does it say he’ll be arriving?”

Spike flipped to the second page of the letter which detailed when Olive Branch would be arriving as well as where he was staying, “It says he’ll arrive in three days, he’s also staying in the small house just down the street, the one that was just recently renovated.”

“Excellent, that’ll give us plenty of time to prepare for his arrival.” Twilight said, schemes already running through her mind. Without further ado Twilight headed out the door towards her friends respective dwellings.

As soon as the door shut Spike let out a sigh and went back to sweeping the bookshelves, “Why can’t anything normal ever happen around here?” As soon as he thought back on the events of past days he added, “Well comparatively I guess this is pretty normal.”

Three days later…

This was horrible! Three days had past and Twilight hadn’t been able to prepare at all. First she’d gone to Rarity due to her boutique’s proximity to the library, unfortunately the clothing designer was up to her neck in work – it was the start of a new season of fashion after all.

Next, Twilight had located Rainbow Dash who was napping on a cloud, Rainbow seemed eager to help at first but after hearing that the princess had put her trust in the changelings her enthusiasm tapered off. Rainbow argued that if the princess thought it was alright then maybe Twilight should trust her. After getting a reassurance that everything would be fine Twilight continued on unhappily.

Twilight had stopped in at Sugarcube Corner to find Pinkie, upon mention of the changeling coming to live in Ponyville Pinkie let out a large gasp, “You mean there’s going to be a new pony in town… do you know what this calls for!?” Pinkie said excitedly.

“A Party?” Twilight said with a sigh, of course that would be her reaction.

“Yes! Ooh I’ll need to get streamers and balloons and candy and… WAIT! Do changelings like candy?” Pinkie asked, her speech reaching an incredible pace, “We can’t have food he won’t like, that would make him said.”
“Um, I don’t know what changelings like… or even if they eat anything at all.” Twilight thought aloud before catching herself, “Wait… that isn’t important, don’t you see, we need to make sure this changeling isn’t a threat to Ponyville.”

“Don’t be silly Twilight, nopony could be such a meanie mean mean-pants after one of my parties. It just isn’t statistically possible!” As if to support her statement Pinkie pulled a graph out of nowhere detailing the inverse relationship between meanness and Pinkie parties. With a sigh of defeat Twilight left Pinkie to her party plans.

After Sugarcube Corner Twilight had headed to Sweet Apple Acres to inform Applejack of the situation, similarly to Rarity, however, Applejack was incredibly busy preparing for an upcoming harvest. Applejack did promise Twilight that if this changeling did cause trouble she would make him regret it. Satisfied, Twilight had then gone to Fluttershy’s house.

On second thought perhaps that had not been the brightest idea, at the mere mention of changelings Fluttershy had cowered in obvious terror. Thinking fast Twilight had reassured Fluttershy that she didn’t have to worry about it and that she would be completely safe. After calming down the yellow pegasus slightly Twilight had headed back to her own home, unhappy with the lack of support she had with this issue.

“Ugh, it’s like the wedding all over again, they just don’t believe I’m right about this being a problem. But it doesn’t matter, because I am right and I’ll show them all that this changeling is not to be trusted!” Twilight ranted when she had returned to the library.

“Oh boy, here we go again.” Spike had said sighing.

Chapter 1

Olive Branch arrived via pegasus drawn chariot, while he could have flown by himself Celestia had insisted he travel as such. Olive Branch was hesitant to leave Canterlot, he hadn’t had a chance to read through the massive library in its entirety nor did he feel completely safe without one of the princesses’ presence, there was still a heavy suspicion about changelings after all. Nevertheless, if Celestia thought this would be beneficial for him and his education, as she put it, he would try his best.

First order of business would be to find the mare named Twilight Sparkle, Celestia’s own personal student. Olive Branch was a bit hesitant to meet new ponies, but Celestia had assured him that Twilight was one of the kindest mares there was. He had been informed that Twilight lived in the local library, which was located in a tree not far from the building Olive Branch was staying in. It would be nice, he supposed, to have a somepony to have a more academic discussion with. Olive Branch considered stopping there first but then he thought he might as well check out the building he was staying in. While changelings didn’t need much space to live in it would still be nice to know what accommodations he had been afforded. Olive Branch entered the cozy building and searched for the light switch…

“SURPRISE!” Came a chorus of voices as soon as he turned on the lights, Olive Branch was left with his mouth agape at the scene. Five mares had decided to throw him a party to welcome him to Ponyville… wait make that six mares, there was a purple one off to the side who he hadn’t initially noticed, and oddly she had a look of unhappiness on her face. From left to right there was a blue pegasus with a rainbow colored mane, with a yellow pegasus hiding slightly behind her. In the center was an ecstatic looking pink pony who was bouncing up and down, an orange earth pony who was giving him a glare of suspicion but she looked friendly for the most part. Finally, there was a white unicorn with a rather obnoxious looking hair style, seriously that must have taken hours to prepare.

Composing himself as best he could Olive Branch asked, “Well I know I didn’t make the most subtle entry into town, but I didn’t expect a full on welcome brigade when I came to town, who might I ask are you girls?”

In response the pink pony bounced forward and said, “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie and this is Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Twilight and we threw this party just for you.” At the mention of her name Twilight let out a huff to signify her lack of amusement, “Oh don’t mind Twilight, she’s in an itsy bitsy bad mood. But anyway when I heard you were coming to town I was at first all like *gasp* but then I realized that if you’re a changeling than you must be pretty far from home, and if you’re pretty far from home that might mean that you don’t have many friends around here. So I planned this party and invited some of my bestest friends so that maybe you could become friends with them too!” Pinkie finally finished, a huge grin was on her face as she waited for Olive Branch to reply.

“Wow thanks, my name is Olive Branch by the way, I was sent here by Princess Celestia to learn more about pony culture, so that I could help my queen and country in diplomatic relations.” Olive Branch said introducing himself, “It sure is nice to…”

“Pony culture huh? Why so you can infiltrate it better, or is it so you can earn our trust only to stab us in the back?” Twilight snapped, raining on Pinkie’s parade.

“What? No! That’s not it at all!” Olive Branch said his previous smile quickly replaced with a frown.

“Hmph, look you may have everyone else fooled, even Princess Celestia, but you can’t fool me. I’ll be keeping an eye on you and your schemes waiting for you to slip up.” Twilight said as she exited the building, slamming the door behind her.

“Wow that mare and subtlety don’t mix do they?” Commented Rainbow Dash, to which Applejack shook her head.

Rarity stepped forward, “Listen, darling, I know that wasn’t the best first impression but do realize that dear Twilight has not had the most kind interactions with changelings in the past.” Rarity continued on to explain how Queen Chrysalis had imprisoned Twilight in the massive cave system below Canterlot and that Princess Cadance had been Twilight’s brother’s bride to be. Add that to the fact that Queen Chrysalis had nearly ruined Twilight’s relationship with her brother, mentor and friends and Olive Branch began to see why the changelings where held with such contempt by her.

“Maybe I should go apologize to her; it’s the least I can do after all the hardship she’s had to endure at my kin’s hooves.” Olive Branch thought aloud.

“It wouldn’t do you any good sugar cube, when Twilight gets in one of these moods she needs a bit of time to cool off. Besides, we still have a party here to celebrate.” Applejack said.

“*Sigh* fine, but first thing tomorrow I’ll go talk to her, hopefully I can start to build some sort of a bridge.” Olive Branch said finally. This day might be one for the history slab on poor interactions with ponies, though at least the other five mares seemed welcoming enough.

The party proceeded with a much more somber atmosphere than was initially intended. Eventually though, as the five remaining mares broke the ice a little bit the atmosphere did indeed brighten; however, Olive Branch couldn’t get Twilight off of his mind; she couldn’t see him as anything more than the cruel image that far too many ponies held of changelings. Olive Branch couldn’t blame her though; if ponies had done the same to him he couldn’t rightly say he would trust them either.

After the party died down and the mares had said their respective goodbyes, Olive Branch kindled a fire in his fireplace – the season was getting cooler after all. Olive Branch sat and watched the flames slowly eat away at the wood as he contemplated what to say to Twilight, and possibly more importantly how to say it in manner that didn’t get him thrown out of Ponyville. Perhaps he could simply explain the necessity of their previous actions, no that wouldn’t work. While Celestia had accepted that answer she was, for the most part, a third party in the event. Twilight had been not only a direct victim but she was also emotionally attached to both Cadance and Shining Armor. Perhaps a simple apology without attempting to justify the swarm’s actions would work, there was always the chance that she wouldn’t accept the apology but it would at least lay the foundations of building some manner of a relationship between them.

As he watched the last of the embers die down Olive Branch sighed, maybe this was the destiny of the changelings: to be distrusted wherever they go. Sure, Pinkie Pie and her friends had accepted him for the most part, but wasn’t that just because the princess had been the one to send him here. If he’d come here without such strong backing would they still greet him in so friendly a manner or would they expel him immediately? Did they even now see him as an acquaintance or as a deceiver and a parasite? Shaking his head to clear his mind of such dark thoughts, it wouldn’t do him any good to stew his way into a depression, besides if that was the fate of his species than he would strive to change it. Noting that the hour was growing late Olive Branch extinguished the remainder of the embers and headed to bed for the night.

Chapter 2

The next morning Olive Branch stood outside of Twilight’s library, hesitantly he knocked on the door his head filled with all the possible ways this could go wrong. Maybe she’d go easy on him and let him leave with a warning or maybe… Olive Branch’s thought process was broken when a small purple dragon answered the door. “So you must be the changeling Twi’s been talking about for the past few days.” The dragon said.

“What gave it away?” Olive Branch asked surprised at how easily his façade was seen through.

“One: you don’t have a cutie mark, might wanna work on that. Two: I haven’t seen you around the library before and Ponyville is a pretty small town. Both those things considered it wasn’t too hard to figure out.” The dragon crossed his arms with a smug triumphant look on his face, “By the way the name’s Spike.”

“Well… nice to meet you Spike, by the way is Twilight around I’d like to talk to her, I feel like we got off on the wrong hoof yesterday and I’d like to apologize.”

“I figured you’d come and see her, she seemed pretty upset yesterday, changelings aren’t on the top of her favorite creature list – I should know I watched her write it. Anyway, she isn’t here right now, but you can wait inside until she comes back.” Spike stepped aside to allow Olive Branch inside.

Olive Branch gave Spike a skeptical look, “Are you sure that’s a good idea, I mean I’m not sure she’d be very happy with me being inside her house and all.”

Spike looked thoughtful for a moment before replying, “Nah, it is a public library after all, she probably won’t be too upset.” Only slightly reassured Olive Branch followed Spike inside, only to be awestruck by the amount of books crammed into the house-tree. While the changeling swarm did have a large collection of history, inscribed on large stone tablets, they lacked any writings on other subjects. Scanning the shelves Olive Branch saw books on philosophy, fiction, life improvement and even romance.

“You wouldn’t mind if I read a book while I waited would you?” Olive Branch asked enthusiastically.

“Of course not, as I said it is a public library after all and I’m pretty sure you count as part of the public.” Spike said dismissively as he went back to his chores around the library. Olive Branch looked through the shelves and spotted a book titled: The Relation between Magical Theory and Philosophy by Star Swirl the Bearded. Olive Branch picked up the book with his magic and sat down at a nearby table. The book was rather engaging (for a scholarly changeling such as himself) covering many of the thought processes of the era. It was very different from the texts he was used to; instead of a strict recount of the events of the past it covered the theory behind them. Olive Branch was fairly amused with the book, during his rather brief stay in Canterlot he had read mostly history books in an attempt to catch up with the time period; it was nice to expand his reading topics. The next thing he knew an hour had passed and Twilight had entered the room with a rather irate look on her face.

“I thought it was fairly clear that I didn’t want to talk to you.” Twilight said.

“Please just hear me out.” Olive Branch said with a pleading look on his face.

“Why should I? I doubt such courtesy would be given to me were I in your place either by you or your queen.” Twilight snapped at him.

“You’d be surprised, the queen is not as antagonistic as you think, and you don’t even know me how could you know how I’d act?” Olive Branch countered.

“Because you’re a changeling, all of you are cruel and manipulative jerks!” Twilight argued.

“We’re not all like that, very few of us are in fact. What you saw of us were acts of desperation, not malice, please let me at the very least apologize for you and your family’s poor treatment at our hooves.” Olive Branch begged.

“Why would I believe you to be sincere? It’s not like you give a damn about us ponies anyway, to you we’re just another meal to be eaten and thrown away.”

“That’s not true…” Olive Branch said meekly realizing the trap he’d fallen into.

“Oh really? Then tell me what would have happened if your invasion was successful, would not all my friends and I along with all of Canterlot be wrapped up in pods like Celestia was, waiting to be harvested like a crop?” Twilight said angrily. And there it was: the ugly truth; that was indeed what would have happened if the changelings had been victorious. Stallions, mares, foals none would have been spared a life of captivity.

“You’re right,” At Olive Branch’s admission Twilight’s glare intensified, “but nor could you possibly understand the desperation of the time. I saw it myself, all of us did, larvae dying from malnutrition, the young and the old alike collapsing from starvation. If something was not done soon than the entire swarm would have faced extinction, none knew this better than the queen. Believe me when I say she cares for her kin as much as Celestia cares for her ponies. Now, I will admit that our actions were overly drastic and again I apologize for the suffering you faced, but I will not tolerate you calling my queen and kin monsters for looking for food!” Olive Branch realized that he was shouting and quickly regained his composure.

Twilight’s anger subsided to a mix of empathy and regret, “I’m sorry… I hadn’t realized… I didn’t know how desperate your situation was.” Twilight tried to imagine being in Olive Branch’s place, tried to imagine watching her friends collapsing from hunger, the thought made her tremble. Next, she tried to imagine holding a foal as it crumbled in her hooves, Twilight shivered further. He was right she couldn’t imagine such suffering, such desperation. And now an entire race had come crawling back begging for the means to survive and Twilight had treated them worse than dirt. She couldn’t help but feel slightly ashamed of her somewhat hasty generalization. Twilight noticed tears had formed in her eyes, she also noticed that Olive Branch had put a comforting hoof on her shoulder, “I accept your apology and I hope you accept mine, I shouldn’t have acted so rudely before getting to know you… I should have listened to the princess.”

“Hey, hey… there was no harm done, I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I was just so tired of everypony passing judgment before even looking at things from my viewpoint.” Olive Branch said comfortingly, “Now I hope we can start over, my name is Olive Branch.” Olive Branch extended his hoof toward Twilight.

“Twilight Sparkle, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Twilight shook Olive Branch’s hoof sealing the introduction. Twilight voiced a question that had been running around in her head for a while, “I have to ask, why didn’t you come to us for help first, why all deception and aggression?”

Olive Branch sighed, “It shouldn’t have gone like that, but in short let me say that our previous interactions with ponies led us to believe that such diplomacy would merely be a waste of time.” Olive Branch continued to explain how the stone tablets had told of a cruel pony king named Sombra, who had spurned the changelings request for help and had, rather violently, expelled them from his realm.

At the mention of the stone tablets Twilight seemed to perk up, “So you’re saying all your history is written in stone, not in books or scrolls?”

“Yes and each tablet contains the queen’s recount of a hundred years’ time period, the library containing them all is massive, but unfortunately our knowledge is limited to only history whereas yours,” Olive Branch motioned to the bookshelves around him which covered a menagerie of subjects, “covers many fields.”

“Still it must be quite a sight, I would certainly like to see it one day.” Twilight said ecstatic with the prospect of the wealth of knowledge contained within such a library.

“I have no doubt that you will someday…”

Chapter 4

Two weeks passed, Twilight had begun to tutor Olive Branch on pony culture. The lessons progressed quickly for Olive Branch was a quick study and had a lust for knowledge that could rival Twilight’s. The two had made fast friends even after their initial rough period; this was for the most part due to shared interests.

One afternoon as the two sat studying Spike entered with a letter for Twilight. After thanking Spike Twilight broke the seal and read the letter, her expression quickly changed to one of panic. After noticing Twilight frantically pacing the room talking to herself in a near incoherent manner Olive Branch decided it to interject. “Is something wrong Twilight? What was on that letter?” He asked with concern after seeing Twilight’s abrupt mood shift, for all he knew another disaster could have befallen Canterlot or elsewhere.

“Oh it’s terrible! Oh I’m so unprepared, I can’t fail! Not now!” Twilight said resuming her gathering of materials.

“What’s terrible? What aren’t you prepared for?” Olive Branch asked; his own panic level rising.

“I have a test! From Princess Celestia herself!” Twilight’s pupils shrunk to near pinprick size, “I need to go get ready, oh I’m so unprepared!” Twilight galloped off to another room, she was followed by a mess of random supplies being pulled along in her magical aura.

“I don’t get it… it’s just a test isn’t it?” Olive Branch asked himself, he was then pulled aside by Spike who explained how nervous Twilight got, especially when it involved Princess Celestia. “I still don’t get it, isn’t she Celestia’s personal student… wouldn’t she have tests all the time?” Olive Branch sighed, “I guess I better get the rest of her friends, they’ll probably want to hear about this.”

After gathering Twilight’s five friends, who were all oddly understanding of the entire ordeal which lead Olive Branch to think that this had happened before, the group returned to the library. Twilight, meanwhile, had stuffed her saddlebags past capacity, to the point where scrolls and quills stuck out of the top. “Don’t you think you’re overreacting just a bit Twilight, I mean it is just a test.” Spike said drawing the purple unicorn to a halt.

“Just a test? Just a test!? Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria, has asked for my presence in Canterlot and you want me to believe it’s just a test!?” Twilight’s magic flared as her emotions ran rampant.

Spike quickly grabbed a set of pillow armor and an armor helmet from somewhere, “Um… Yes.”

“I’d say she’s taking things pretty well, considering.” Applejack commented.

Olive Branch could have sworn the entire library jumped out of the ground with the resulting magical discharge. “So I take it we’ll be on the next train after her?” He asked which was followed by a chorus of yeses.

A few hours later, in Canterlot…

Twilight entered Celestia’s throne room; she was passed ways with Princess Luna on the way in. Luna gave Twilight a knowing glance and a smile before exiting the room. Continuing on Twilight approached her mentor, “You wanted to see me? To give me a test? I brought my own quills and plenty of paper to show my work.” As Twilight removed her saddlebags a large roll of paper fell out and unrolled across the floor to come to a stop in front of Celestia. “Sorry, sorry!” Twilight apologized profusely as she feebly attempted to roll the paper back up with her snout.

Celestia rerolled the paper with her magic and repacked it in Twilight’s bag, “This is a different kind of test,” Celestia paused hanging her head slightly before continuing, “The Crystal Empire has returned.”

“The Crystal Empire…” Twilight searched frantically through her books, “I’m sorry I thought I’d studied, I don’t think there’s anything in any of my books…”

“There wouldn’t be,” Celestia said which caused Twilight to look up from the book she was desperately searching through, “few remember it ever existed at all.” Celestia pulled a crystal from a nearby pedestal with her magic.

“As I recall most of your records disappeared along with the empire itself.” Said a familiar voice, one Twilight wasn’t sure she’d wanted to hear again anytime soon. Queen Chrysalis appeared seemingly from out of a shadow and strode up next to Celestia.

“What are you doing here?” Twilight asked with more than a little bit of venom in her voice, her last memories of the queen were not that friendly.

“I asked her to come here Twilight.” Celestia said diffusing the conflict which threatened to develop, “My own knowledge of the empire is sparse; Chrysalis’, however, is fairly expansive. Up until its fall the changelings were in direct trade with the empire.”

“Come now Twilight, it is all water under the bridge is it not? Mares such as us are beyond such petty prejudices.” Twilight wasn’t sure but she thought she could almost hear a hint of mockery in the queen’s voice.

“Returning to the situation at hoof,” Celestia said in an attempt to move the conversation forward, “about a thousand years ago a unicorn named Sombra, whose heart was as black as night, crowned himself king.” Celestia floated the crystal to a rest in front of Twilight, with a burst of magic the crystal projected an image of a giant tower, one that if proportions were correct dwarfed Canterlot’s royal palace, and a city surrounding it. The city was beautiful at first but quickly changed as the crystals which made up the structures turned black. Images of ponies bound in chains beneath the great tower were displayed next. Finally, an image of two alicorns, Celestia and Luna themselves, were portrayed sealing the king in an icy tomb. Celestia continued, “While ultimately the king was defeated, the Crystal Empire disappeared entirely shortly after it.”

“At first we tried to treat with the king.” Chrysalis explained, adding to Celestia’s account, “He seemed to oblige, sending the swarm many crystals full of what we assumed was love as a show of “good faith,” too late did we realize they were filled instead with hatred. Hate is as poisonous to us as it is to a relationship, nearly all who fed upon the tainted crystals died within a few days.” Chrysalis let out a sigh, “I was foolish back then, to accept such kindness at face value. In retaliation I led the remainder of the swarm in an attack against the wicked king and his army of crystal constructs. The losses were devastating, the swarm was knocked so far back on its hooves that it took generations to recover.” Chrysalis’ expression turned to one of dark satisfaction, “I did, however, manage to wound that wretched king before being forced from the field.”

“But how was King Sombra able to fight off the entirety of the changeling swarm, surely numbers alone should have almost guaranteed your victory?” Twilight asked.

“As I mentioned his treacherous deception had decimated my swarm, aside from that he had his own army of golems constructed out of magic resilient crystal, but even with all these things you are right, we should have been victorious. The greatest power he had at his disposal wasn’t his treachery or his army, however, it was magic. Tell me Twilight do you know what ley lines are?” Chrysalis questioned.

“Of course, ley lines are the streams of energy which encompass the planet, beings such as unicorns, alicorns and changelings tap these lines in order to perform magic.” Twilight explained giving a definition straight out of the dictionary.

“Indeed, now if you were to trace all of the ley lines across the planet you would realize that all of them converge directly in the center of the Crystal Empire. Being able to tap such tremendous power is what gave King Sombra the edge over the swarm.” Finishing her explanation both Chrysalis and Twilight turned back to Celestia.

Celestia continued with a nod, “When the empire is filled with hope and love those emotions resound throughout Equestria,” Celestia channeled magic through the crystal which refracted a spectrum of light throughout the room, “this also allows changelings to sustain themselves without need for a direct source of love. If hatred and fear take hold, however,” Celestia’s eyes glowed green with dark energy and struck the crystal with a bolt of magic which caused its shadow to spread across the room, multiple other dark crystals grew from the shadow it cast. Celestia’s eyes glowed again, this time with her natural golden energy, with another pulse of energy she shattered the dark crystals, “This is why I need your help finding a way to protect it.”

“You want me to protect an entire empire?” Twilight said in awe.

“It is as I said a different kind of test,” Celestia said, replacing the crystal on its pedestal, “but one I’m certain you will pass.”

“How do I begin?” Twilight asked.

“By joining Princess Cadance and Shining Armor in the Crystal Empire.”

“My brother is there?” Twilight asked excitedly.

“Ah yes, them, do send the newlyweds my regards.” Chrysalis said jokingly.

“Also, your friends from Ponyville will join on this quest as well. Additionally, you should bring Olive Branch. It will behoove you to have one who is sensitive to the magic you are trying to protect along with you after all.” Celestia led Twilight to the exit.

“But what if I fail?” Twilight asked nervously.

“You won’t, I have the utmost faith in you Twilight.” Celestia reassured her, “Just remember it must you and you alone who ultimately assists Princess Cadance and Shining Armor in protecting the Crystal Empire. Now go, the fate of Equestria is once again in your hooves.” Without further ado Twilight departed for the train station to meet up with her friends and to depart for the Crystal Empire.

Back in the throne room Celestia and Chrysalis were joined again by Luna. “You play a dangerous game Celestia,” Chrysalis commented, “if Twilight fails a new age of strife will no doubt be ushered forth.”

“Sister, I must agree with Chrysalis on this you are staking a great deal on Twilight.” Luna added, “Perhaps one of us should have accompanied them, to ensure success.”

“Well I’m not certain Cadance and Shining armor would take very kindly to Chrysalis’ help, they still have a ways to go before they forgive you for nearly ruining their wedding and relationship. As for you Luna I must beg you to have faith, with their combined effort Twilight and her friends should easily be able to overcome this challenge, and when they do we will know that Twilight is ready for the next level of study.” Celestia said.

“Hmph, and ponies call me manipulative,” Chrysalis retorted, “very well Celestia I will trust you in this matter, I pray I will not regret it.”

Chapter 5

The train pulled to a stop in the frozen north of Equestria, a fairly short walk away from the location of the newly returned Crystal Empire. Twilight and the others disembarked and after a few complaints on the cold climate, which they honestly should have expected, the group continued onward to meet up with Shining Armor. After a brief reunion and a few skeptical looks towards Olive Branch from Shining Armor the group continued.

The walk seemed pleasant enough until the group heard howls on the wind followed by a menacing dark fog-like creature. Panicking they ran for safety within the shielded Crystal Empire, Shining Armor fell back in a valiant attempt to buy the group more time. After passing through the shield Olive Branch noticed something strange, he felt full. Reexamining the shield he saw it for what it truly was, it was not so much a shield as it was a wall of pure love energy. ‘Whoever cast this spell must be tapping the ley lines; else it would surely have failed.’ Olive Branch thought to himself. He shuttered at the ramifications of using so much energy, the caster would have to make themself a pure conduit of energy which would wreak havoc on their body.

Olive Branch’s thought process was disrupted when Shining Armor was flung through the barrier, onto Olive Branch. “Shining Armor! Your horn, are you ok?” Twilight asked with concern. Shining Armor attempted to use his magic but only succeeded in giving himself a headache, shaking and hanging his head he indicated such.

After examining the growth out of Shining Armor’s horn Olive Branch used his knowledge of crystals to explain the problem, “The crystals have taken root in the crevices of his horn, whenever he attempts to use magic the crystals send extra energy to key parts of his horn which results in a cascade failure and magical backlash to the brain, hence the headache.”

“Can you remove the crystals?” Twilight asked hopefully.

“I’m afraid not, the process is extremely complex; it entails removing the roots of the crystals without damaging the horn itself, a very precise use of magic would be necessary else he would most likely lose use of his magic permanently. The princesses or the queen would be able to cast such an intricate spell, but I myself am unable to.” Olive Branch explained.

“It’s fine, there are more important matters to attend to at the moment,” Shining Armor said, “we need to see Cadance, she can fill you in better than I.” Without further ado the group rushed to the giant citadel in the middle of the empire.

Upon entering the throne room Twilight and Princess Cadance performed a rather unusual greeting in Olive Branch’s mind. He couldn’t take his eyes off Cadance; just looking at her with his magic senses was like looking into an energy nexus. She must be the conduit, he thought, no wonder she is so tired, the magical strain must be overwhelming, even for an alicorn.

Shining Armor whispered the identity of Olive Branch to Cadance. Turning to face Olive Branch with a death glare Cadance spoke, “Know that if the situation was not so dire and for the fact you arrived with Twilight I would throw you from the citadel this instant, parasite. But, for now I have bigger problems than a single changeling.”

Shining Armor explained how Cadance was using her magic to spread light and love throughout the empire, and how his own magic, when it was functioning, had been countered by Sombra’s. Twilight determined that if they were going to do anything about the threat they would need to gather additional information to which everypony agreed. The group headed out to ask, or interrogate in some cases, the time-lost citizens of the Crystal Empire.

Olive Branch wandered the street meeting with little success in finding any useful information. The ponies here, presumably through overexposure to the ley lines magic, had developed some sort of magical sense similar to that of a changeling. In short it meant they could see through the magical aura which made up Olive Branch’s disguise. While the citizens of the empire hadn’t been the main target of the war of ages passed they most certainly had been affected by it and thus were loath to help Olive Branch. Continuing on down the road, Olive Branch stumbled upon a building which looked similar to a library. ‘Now this is some good news at least,’ Olive Branch thought, ‘there might be some knowledge of the king or more importantly his weaknesses recorded here.’ Spying Applejack nearby Olive Branch rushed over and informed her of the library’s location so that she might relay the information to Twilight. Olive Branch probably could have told Twilight himself but he wanted a chance to search through the library beforehoof.

Browsing the shelves Olive Branch found many books which covered multiple interesting topics, most notably was a collection of spellbooks (or tablets rather) which had most likely been taken from the changeling swarm, Olive Branch made a note to investigate those later. He did not, however, find anything related to King Sombra. ‘Typical,’ he thought, the king had obviously put a censor on any knowledge related to himself. Before too long Twilight and her friends arrived and almost immediately began to nearly tear the library apart, making Olive Branch cringe.

Finally, they happened upon a book detailing a fair which was held to reinvigorate the ponies of the Crystal Empire. The ponies took this as the key they were searching for. Olive Branch, however, was skeptical, could a fair really be the means to defeating an entity as powerful as Sombra. Olive Branch thought of discouraging them from throwing a fair in hopes of a deus ex machina, but truthfully he had no better ideas at hoof so he went along with their plan.

After presenting the idea to Cadance and Shining Armor and getting approval the group quickly began preparation for the fair. Olive Branch stayed with Twilight to make the preparations, the crystal ponies still seemed wary of him and he did not want to give them any further provocation. “And finally, the fair ends with the presentation of the Crystal Heart, so I carved a heart out of some spare crystal I found to symbolize that.” Twilight said finishing her explanation.

“Um… Twilight.” Olive Branch said, he thought he remembered reading something about a Crystal Heart in the swarm’s library but he couldn’t quite recall what it was. It seemed like there was something more to the Crystal Heart than it being a symbol of love and unity. Perhaps…

“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash shot out of the sky towards them and quickly covered the makeshift crystal with a cloth, “I think we have a problem, the Crystal Heart is an actual artifact!”

“Wait how could I have missed that?” Twilight wondered reviewing the book on the Crystal Fair, “There’s a page missing!” She said, revealing the torn margin of the last page of the book.

“Ah! I remember now! The Crystal Heart is a focus for the ley lines, when placed at the bottom of the citadel it focuses energy from across all of Equestria.” Olive Branch said reciting what he’d read once.

“What does that have to do with the mood of the crystal ponies though?” Twilight asked.

“The ponies here have been partially assimilated by the surrounding magic, it affects them and most likely they affect it. Should the crystal ponies channel love through the ley lines that will be projected, the same goes for fear though.”

“So that’s the point of the fair? To make the crystal ponies happy enough to channel love instead of a darker emotion?” Twilight asked for clarification.

“Indeed, therefore we need to find the real Crystal Heart before they realize we don’t have it.”

“We don’t, I do.” Twilight proclaimed.

“What do you mean?” Olive Branch asked with a look of shock.

“Princess Celestia sent me here to solve this by myself, therefore I need to find the Crystal Heart by myself and bring it to Cadance by myself.” Twilight explained.

“That doesn’t make sense, why then would she send all of us here and not just you? At the very least take me, my senses might help to find the Heart.” Olive Branch reasoned.

“Fine,” Twilight conceded, “But you better not lift a hoof to do anything other than help look, got it?”

“Okay, fine, we’ll do it your way.” Olive Branch agreed, “We should probably look over the citadel first, it’s the most likely spot Sombra would have kept it. He probably wanted to keep a careful watch over it if it was indeed the key to his defeat.”

Chapter 6

The two searched the citadel for a few hours, after being fruitless in their search they returned to the throne room to think of where to look next. “Wait!” Twilight shouted, an idea coming to her mind, “This isn’t King Sombra’s throne room, there’s no way he’d have a design this… cheery.”

“You’re probably right, although it is also possible he just had a very eccentric interior decorator.” Olive Branch said sarcastically. Twilight gave him a deadpan look at turned her focus to the crystal at the head of the throne. Concentrating she unleashed a dark bolt of energy, her eyes glowed green from the blatant use of dark magic. Startled Olive Branch jumped back, “Woah, woah, woah! Watch the hate magic that’s practically fatal for changelings.” He stammered frightened.

“Sorry.” Twilight apologized; her efforts did not go without reward though as a large stairwell was uncovered in the middle of the room, “It seemed to work though.” She commented with a nervous smile.

“Right, anyway let’s get down there and…”

“No, I’ll go alone, you’ve done enough, and besides this is my test not yours.” Twilight said insistently.

“Oh no you don’t, there’s no way you’re going down there alone.” Olive Branch argued.

Twilight turned to him, “Please,” she said putting a hoof on his face, “I need to go alone.”

“Oh… ok.” Was all Olive Branch could say as Twilight turned away and rushed down the stairs, his illusionary pupils dilated to abnormal size. Several minutes passed before Olive Branch shook his head to clear his mind, “A charm spell… clever girl.” After modifying his form to include wings he dove down the hole after Twilight.

Fluttering to a stop at the bottom of the pit Olive Branch saw Twilight sitting in front of a door which opened to a wall, her back was to him. “I suppose you think that was a rather cute trick, stunning my love receptors with a charm spell and all.” Twilight did not respond, instead she let out a choked sob. Perplexed Olive Branch strode up in front of Twilight, only to see that her eyes were glowing green again. Recognizing her symptoms Olive Branch searched for the source of the waking nightmare spell. Noticing the open door he moved to shut it only to be blasted by its trap spell as well.

Olive Branch awoke in an unfamiliar forest, the first thing he noticed ways that he was hungry, starving in fact. He felt like hadn’t eaten in weeks, desperate he searched for any form of nourishment even the smallest morsel would do. Finally, he came upon a small town; surely there would be some manner of love to consume there. He felt a great source of love from a nearby house and without forethought broke in through a window.

It was glorious, he drank, he feasted, he… wait… coming to his senses Olive Branch looked down at what he was feeding off of. He panicked when he beheld his source of love, a small foal; in his haste he had made a grave error. Generally feeding off of children was restricted, they had such fragile life forces that feeding off them quite often proved to be fatal for them. Checking for life signs Olive Branch despaired when he found none, this was bad, this was very bad. Suddenly the door flew open to reveal two ponies, presumably the victim’s parents. Upon seeing the changeling standing over their deceased child the mother began screaming, the father looked ready to charge. Thinking fast Olive Branch leapt from the window, screams of “Monster!” Following close behind him.

So caught up was Olive Branch in running that he failed to notice some debris in the road. He tripped violently; landing on his back he heard a sickening crunch as his left wing took most of the impact. Rising again to his hooves took note of his surroundings; many of the lights were lit in the surrounding buildings now, most likely the occupants had been roused by all the commotion. It wasn’t long before a mob was out for his blood, screams of “Monster!” sounded again, this time from many directions. Olive Branch ran, but every alleyway was soon filled with ponies. Surrounded he collapsed hopelessly as the mob closed in.

Chapter 7

Olive Branch snapped back to reality quickly, Twilight had been able to shut the door releasing him from the spell. “Hissss *click* *click* hiss.” Olive Branch said before realizing he was in his native form, transforming and clearing his throat, “Sorry… wait how did you break out of that spell?” He asked a startled looking Twilight.

“Oh… um it released me when you tried to close the door, it took a minute or two for me to recover enough to shut the door though.” Twilight looked up at the crystal above the door, “It must be one of the traps Sombra set for anypony who sought the Crystal Heart, a door which shows you your greatest fear.” Upon seeing Olive Branch’s rather distraught behavior Twilight asked, “Are you ok? What did you see?” She put a hoof on his shoulder, this time with actual concern.

Olive Branch tried to explain but the words died in his mouth, letting out a long drawn out sigh he finally spoke, “Perhaps some things are better left unsaid.” Not wanting to remember the vision he urged her onward, “Come on we’ve wasted enough time here, do you have any idea how we can get past this door?”

Twilight gave him a worried look but didn’t comment further, “I have an idea, stand back.” Channeling a beam of love energy Twilight broke the spell on the door causing it to open to another room. Holding out a hoof Twilight turned to Olive Branch, “Let’s stay together this time.”

With a nod Olive Branch took Twilight’s hoof and the two traveled through the doorway. On the other end was a white room filled with stairs, lots and lots of stairs. “How are we going to get up all of these in time?” Twilight asked with her mouth agape.

Changing his form to once again include wings Olive Branch stated, “We fly of course.” Before Twilight could object Olive Branch picked her up and carried her through the air up the stairway. The flight was long and tiring but finally after several thousand or so (Olive Branch lost count) stairs they reached the top. Letting Twilight down gently Olive Branch immediately collapsed to rest his wings, “Remind me not to do that again anytime soon.” He commented.

“Uh… thanks for the flight it was um fun.” Twilight said with a slight blush and a sheepish smile, “Anyway, it looks like this is it.” She said pointing to the center of the room where the Crystal Heart floated. Without waiting Twilight rushed ahead to grab the Heart.

Something seemed off to Olive Branch it seemed all too easy, “Twilight! Wait!” He shouted too late. As Twilight touched the heart it flew from her grasp, the circle around her expanded in upward with crystals, trapping her.

Twilight tried frantically to escape the prison, but even teleporting didn’t seem to work as she was immediately sucked back in. She searched for the Crystal Heart, peering through a small hole in the crystal prison she saw that it had landed near Olive Branch who was trying desperately to reach Twilight but was being blocked by the hatred filled crystals at every turn. Twilight realized she wasn’t going to be able to get out of the prison in time to save the empire or her friends and family. Twilight looked back to Olive Branch, “Forget about me! Grab the Crystal Heart and take it to Princess Cadance!” She shouted.

Olive Branch’s eyes met Twilight’s, nodding Olive Branch and he picked up the Crystal Heart. He immediately he felt the power within the artifact, power enough to make a god jealous. Peering into the Crystal Heart Olive Branch sensed enough love energy to feed the entirety of the swarm for centuries, perhaps millennia. He would be a fool not to bring this back to the hive, he would as a return a hero. Or better yet, if he absorbed the heart himself he would wield power unlike any had seen before. He could overthrow the ponies, making his queen’s effort look like that of a foal’s. The swarm would have their love and he… he would be a god.

Olive Branch glanced back up at Twilight who now had a worried look on her face, perhaps she’d realized the same thing he had. “With this I could be the savior of my kin… no longer would we need to hide in the shadows. No longer would we have to beg and steal to survive, we could simply take what we need… no, demand it!” Olive Branch said slamming his hoof down on the floor, the volume of his voice increased along with his zeal. “Tell me, tell me why you ponies deserve such power and we do not!”

“Olive Branch, please… please don’t do this!” Twilight begged.

“No! This power should be ours… should be mine!” Olive Branch looked once again into the Crystal Heart; he knew what needed to be done.

Tapping into the power of the Crystal Heart Olive Branch vanished…

Chapter 8

To reappear on the balcony where Princess Cadance had just recently collapsed from exertion, the shielding spell had finally taken its toll on her as she lied in a near comatose state. With the shield gone the sky turned dark, down below the ponies screamed. Upon seeing the Crystal Heart Cadance became reinvigorated. Passing the Heart into Cadance’s magical aura Olive Branch spoke with a ragged voice, “Take it, take it and save your ponies.” After giving him a brief questioning glance Cadance took off with the Heart.

Olive Branch felt a massive surge of power as the ley lines were focused with the emotions of the crystal ponies. In a great flash of light King Sombra’s darkness was obliterated, along with the reborn king himself. The ponies around him had crystalized due to the magical flux, Olive Branch absorbed the same amount of energy yet he remained unchanged.

‘At the very least,’ Olive Branch thought, ‘this may have improved Princess Cadance’s opinion on changelings.’ But the greater question remained, why had he given away such power? Was it out of loyalty to his friends? Probably not, his loyalty to the swarm would always supersede that. Perhaps it was that he didn’t trust himself with such power, or perhaps he knew the swarm wouldn’t, in the end, truly benefit from having the Crystal Heart. In truth he didn’t know why.

“Olive Branch!” A now crystalized Twilight entered the room and wrapped Olive Branch in a suffocating hug, “I knew you’d do the right thing.”

“Twilight…” Olive Branch sighed, stopping Twilight’s speech with a raised hoof, “I didn’t decide to help you until the last minute, and in fact I still don’t know why I helped you in the end.”

“Well… that doesn’t matter does it? All that matters is that you did help, right?” Twilight said encouragingly.

“I suppose, but still I should have helped my kin over yours. At least that’s what part of me says.” Olive Branch said, still conflicted over the matter.

“But you did help them, by helping us you’ve secured an alliance as well as good standing for the changelings, I promise you that.”

Olive Branch thought on Twilight’s words for a few minutes, finally he decided it was time to move on, “Twilight we’d best get back to Canterlot, I’m sure the princesses as well as the queen will want to know what happened here.”

“You’re right,” Twilight said, her ears drooping slightly, “I just hope Princess Celestia isn’t too upset at me for failing her test.”

“Failed? How so? Your actions lead directly to King Sombra’s defeat and the restoration of the entire empire, how is that a failure?”

“While that may be true it was supposed to be me who delivered the Crystal Heart not you.”

“Fear not, I have no doubt that Princess Celestia will see that your actions were just as important if not more so than mine.” Olive Branch argued.

“I hope you’re right.” Twilight said unconvinced.

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. Shining Armor immediately began coddling his younger sister while Cadance had a word with Olive Branch, “It seems I’ve misjudged you, Olive Branch, and for that you have my apologies. I was afraid you were here only to sabotage my efforts, and because of that I treated you poorly without reason. I hope you’ll forgive me…” Cadance said.

“There was no harm done, milady, but I believe there is another whom you ought to offer forgiveness to. It may not seem like it but she does desire to build bridges not burn them.” Olive Branch pleaded kindly.

“I’ll… consider it, there is a great deal of bad blood between us, but if Chrysalis is willing to let that go than I suppose I will try as well.”

After many farewells, and in Twilight’s case reassurance, the group headed back to Canterlot.

Epilogue

The train ride passed without incident, after a few hours the group arrived back in Canterlot and headed straight to the royal palace. Upon arriving at the gate they were quickly ushered to a courtyard to await an audience with Princess Celestia. A few minutes passed and Twilight was allowed inside, the others waited outside the door so that the audience would be private.

“Come to me.” Olive Branch heard his queen’s voice like a whisper in his head, excusing himself from the group he allowed the whispers to lead him down a hallway to a cathedral which if memory served was the same one which Queen Chrysalis had been defeated in the invasion.

Opening the large door Olive Branch saw his queen waiting for him, with a bow he addressed her, “You wished to speak with me, my queen?” The queen motioned for him to rise and take a seat.

“Indeed, I too am curious of what transpired in the Crystal Empire. It seems the ponies believe you to be a hero, delivering the Crystal Heart in time to save the empire.” After giving Olive Branch a piercing glare Chrysalis continued, “Yes, I can see it in you, you have touched the Crystal Heart. But that leads to a question, why did you not see fit to take its power for yourself?”

“I’m sorry, my queen, I…”

“Do not apologize! I merely asked why you did it, I was not scolding you.” Chrysalis snapped at him.

“But I thought you would have wanted me to bring the Heart back to the swarm, so that we could have its power.” Olive Branch said confused.

“If I wanted more power there are amulets, orbs, and artifacts aplenty which grant such “power” but I’ve come to realize that this is not what I nor my subjects need.” Chrysalis explained.

“I don’t understand, shouldn’t we want the power to take what we need rather than ask for it?” Olive Branch argued.

“In the short term we would indeed have what we want but after a time we would find ourselves inevitably at war once again. Had you taken the Heart for your own you would have ensured not only the elimination Princess Cadance but also the element bearers as well. Equestria’s defenses would be crippled as Celestia would need to shift her full focus to battling Sombra, leaving the remainder of Equestria ripe for the harvesting. But such a harvest would not last forever, in time the ponies would retaliate, causing a multitude of problems for us.”

“We would still have the power to dominate them though… wouldn’t that be enough to wipe out any hope for their resistance?”

“It would be that way for a while, yes, but as I said there are many artifacts of power in this world and they would undoubtedly find one and use it against us.”

“And in response the swarm would gather its own artifacts of power. The battles would escalate, with both sides wielding greater and greater power.” Olive Branch said, realization dawning on him.

“In the end both sides, and possibly the entirety of Equestria would be devastated.” The queen looked at him expectantly, “Now do you realize why the swarm does not need such power?”

“Yes, my queen.” Olive Branch said meekly, ashamed for not realizing this on his own.

“Do not look sad, for you have accomplished a great feat this day.”

“What do you mean, my queen?” Olive Branch asked looking up at his queen.

“On this day you have not only secured peace for our nations but also given the ponies a hero, one that a few months ago would have been unheard of. Furthermore, you have altered how ponies see our kind, proven us in their eyes if you will. Thanks to you we have peace and the opportunity for prosperity, and that is a greater power than any artifact could have granted.” Chrysalis looked down at the former librarian with pride, “Thus for your service and acts of heroism, I name you my ambassador and grant you all the privileges that entails.”

“Thank you, my queen, but what will I need to do?”

“It is to my knowledge that you currently reside in Ponyville, learning about pony culture and their politics and the like. You will continue doing so; if at some point a crisis arises, which I have no doubt one will, you are to resolve it to the best of your ability. Additionally, I would like a report on any major events that happen and what you have learned from them.”

“It will be done, my queen.” Olive Branch said with another bow. They continued talking for a time before Olive Branch was dismissed.

“Go now you don’t wish to miss your train, my loyal subject.” Chrysalis said, as Olive Branch exited the room she let out a sigh, “I see now why Celestia is so lax on titles, it is a bit grating to hear them every other sentence.”

Olive Branch headed back into the courtyard to see that Twilight had emerged from her meeting with Princess Celestia. Based on the fact that she didn’t look miserable Olive Branch assumed she had passed her test. He considered heading over to congratulate her but was dissuaded when they broke into song. “Eh… maybe I’ll just meet them back at the train.” He decided before slipping away in the opposite direction.

Chapter 3

Twilight lay in bed later that night; her thoughts were abuzz with what she had learned earlier that day. She though back on her actions of the previous day and about how rude she had been to Olive Branch, heck to her friends too. She should do something to make it up to him, thinking for a moment she came up with a plan to help Olive Branch learn more about pony culture, it would only take a few adjustments to her schedule. After working out the necessary changes in her head Twilight finally let sleep take her. Her dreams, however, would prove to be as turbulent as her thoughts had been.

Twilight stood victorious, the changeling Queen Chrysalis lay defeated at her hooves. After Celestia had fallen Twilight had challenged the fiend who had defeated her mentor. The battle had been surprisingly easy, after seeing Celestia overpowered Twilight knew she stood no chance in a direct match of magical might. Thinking on her hooves she had cast an invisible reflexive barrier so that when the queen’s attack struck it was redirected back at her. The effect had been the best Twilight could have hoped for, Chrysalis had been caught off guard at the sudden reversal of her own power and had taken the blow full force. She had collapsed and fallen from the dais, rolling to a stop in front of Twilight.

Twilight readied her magic to deliver the final blow; with a single spell she will have saved Equestria once again. She would be regarded as a hero; there would probably even be a stained glass window or something memorializing her victory. All she had to do was cast one simple spell, Twilight’s horn glowed with energy all she needed to do was release it. “Can you do it? Can you kill a mother whose stolen food for her children?” A voice echoed in her head. Twilight faltered, looking down at the queen in front of her, she now saw how tired she looked, how weak she was. The worst part though was her eyes, behind the veil of anger and hatred Twilight could see sorrow, sorrow so great she feared it might consume her simply by witnessing it. Twilight’s magic faded along with her willpower to perform the deed, she hung her head with a sigh.

“What are you waiting for? Finish me!” Chrysalis begged, “Please, I could not bear to rot in a dungeon watching my subjects die a slow death! Finish me!”

Twilight shook her head, “No, there must be a better way, we could work something out, it doesn’t have to end like this.” Twilight offered a hoof to help Chrysalis to her hooves knowing full well she was defenseless against any spell the queen might cast at her. “Please…” she pleaded. Finally, Chrysalis accepted her hoof and allowed Twilight to help her up to a sitting position.

“Twilight…” Princess Celestia’s voice sounded behind her, Twilight turned to see that the solar princess had recovered from her defeat.

“Princess are you ok?” Twilight asked with concern.

“I’m fine, but are you? Why haven’t you dealt with the queen?” Celestia said her tone turning to one of anger and disappointment. “Have you forgotten what she’s done? Her crimes toward you, your brother and Princess Cadance?”

“No I haven’t, but that doesn’t mean she deserves to die!” Twilight argued.

“That is not for you to decide, that judgment belongs to me.” Celestia said with a tone that brokered no argument.

“But…” Twilight tried to explain but fell silent when Celestia glared at her.

“I, Princess Celestia, Co-ruler of Equestria, hereby sentence Queen Chrysalis to death.” Celestia gave Twilight an expectant look, “Now Twilight fulfill the sentence, execute her!”

Twilight turned to Chrysalis with a frown on her face; Chrysalis returned her look with that of one who had accepted her fate. Twilight shut her eyes; she didn’t want to see the result of her spellcast. Her horn glowed once more with magic, a moment passed, sweat dripped down her brow as she stood there ready to unleash the deadly blow. With a sigh Twilight dispersed the magic once more and turned back to Celestia, her head hung low as she was unable to meet the princess’ glare. “I’m sorry… I… I can’t do it.”

“Then it seems… that I know exactly what kind of mare you are, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight looked up in confusion to see the white alicorn in front of her had faded away to be replaced with a dark blue one.

“Princess Luna? What are you doing here…?” Twilights thoughts died off as she looked around to find herself not in Canterlot but rather in a large field. Twilight grew frantic with confusion over the sudden scenery change.

“Fear not Twilight Sparkle, this is merely a dream, you are asleep presumable at you home in bed.” Luna said comforting the panicking mare.

“So… that was all a dream, it wasn’t real?” Twilight asked confused.

“It was indeed a dream but it was nonetheless real, Twilight. It was indeed a test for you; I was curious how you would perform given such a situation.” Luna explained.

“A test? Then what would have happened if I’d killed Chrysalis?” Twilight asked.

“Then I still would have known exactly what kind of mare you were, though I think I prefer the result you chose.” Luna paused, “The point of a test, however, is to show what you have learned. So tell me, Twilight Sparkle, what have you learned?”

Twilight thought for a moment before replying, “I’ve learned that there is no black and white distinction between good and evil, nor is everything always as it first appears. It’s always necessary to look at every side of a conflict before believing you’re right, because more often than not you won’t be. Finally, I’ve learned that it’s important to give others second chances, even if another pony doesn’t believe they are deserving of one.”

“A lesson well learned. Tis a lesson that, unfortunately, many ponies never learn.” Luna said nodding with approval.

“Hmm maybe I should write this in a letter to the pr… heh heh… I mean Princess Celestia.” Twilight laughed nervously as she caught her mistake a bit too late.

“I am sure she would like to see it.” Luna said with a smile, ignoring Twilight’s error, “Now I believe you’ve earned a good night’s rest. Sleep well Twilight Sparkle.” Luna vanished as she finished speaking leaving Twilight to more peaceful dreams.

Twilight awoke the next morning with a vivid memory of her dream from the previous night. After breakfast she had Spike take a letter:

Dear Princess Celestia…