Return

The Crystal Kingdom

The next morning seemed like any other to Twilight and Celestia.  Neither of them knew of the events that had occurred back in Canterlot the night before.  A confused Shining Armor was captured, and thrown into imprisonment, and now the entire city of Canterlot was out of Celestia's control.

Twilight quietly drank tea with Cadence and Celestia, as the sun slowly rose.  "Why so slow today?"Twilight asked.

"I thought it would be enjoyable to watch."Celestia responded as she sipped neatly.

"So,"Cadence spoke, "How's Shining Armor?"

"Just fine.  The city may be in high alert, but he can definitely handle this."Celestia responded.

"Plus he has Princess Luna to help along side him."Twilight added on.

"That's good to hear.  It feels weird not having him around."Cadence stated.

"I know how that feels."Celestia responded.  "When Luna left, there was always something missing.  It's good to have her back after so long."The sun was had just then risen above the horizon, as ponies begun to flood the streets of the Crystal Empire, bringing the dormant city to sudden life.

"It's good to see you're alright, as well as the Crystal Heart.  You never know what that insect is up too."Celestia said.

"Who knows what she's up too."Twilight responded.  As the sun rose higher, Twilight looked at it, casting a spell to protect her eyes.  As she looked, she noticed a small object in the sky, and it seemed to be flying toward them.  "Hey...what's that?"

"I don't know."Cadence responded.  A few feet away, a telescope pointing towards the sky was resting on the balcony.  "Use this."She levitated it in front of Twilight.  Twilight looked through it, adjusting the knobs to sharpen the image seen through the lens.

The deep blue object begun to take clearer shape.  Twilight felt her stomach tighten, praying it wasn't what she thought it was.  As she turned the knobs slightly more, the object became clear, and what Twilight saw frightened her.

It was Princess Luna...

"Princess Luna?!"She exclaimed.  "Why is she hear?"

"My sister?  What is she doing here?"Celestia immediately took flight, letting her tea fall to the floor.  Cadence wasn't far behind, as she quickly took chase.  The two flew and reached Luna in the matter of seconds.

All three of them wished they had seen Luna in a happier state...she was terribly injured.  Her eyes were half open, as she fought to sustain consciousness.  "Sister!"Celestia exclaimed, supporting her injured body.

"What happened?"Cadence asked frantically.  Luna did not, and could not speak, as she heavily in and out.  Cadence helped to support her, giving her a rest from the long expedition up north.

"We must get her back quickly."Celestia said as she begun to fly, carrying Princess Luna, who seemed to be half awake.  Twilight watched in horror as she saw the state Luna was in.  Blood covered a portion of the back of her right ear, trickling down slowly into her fur.

As soon as Cadence and Celestia landed, Twilight opened the doors into the castle, and led them in.  Luna was quickly put down on a nearby sofa, where she begun to close her eyes.

She continued to breathe heavily, and put a hoof to her head.  "Princess..."Twilight said, "What in Equestria happened?"

"It....it was Chrysalis."She responded weakly.  Cadence gasped in horror, and fear.  "All this time...she was hiding right under our noses.  Every one of the guards...a changeling."Luna paused to breathe.  "I couldn't fight...Shining Armor was no where to be found...I managed to get away...but only barely."

"That diseased insect will pay..."Twilight said in an angry tone.

"Calm yourself.  Get some bandages from the drawers over there."Cadence said pointing to a small drawer.  Twilight, quickly retrieved them, and gave them to Celestia.  Luna turned her head, revealing the wound for everypony to see.  On the bottom of her right ear was a small gash, where a little blood bled out.  Celestia quickly used a disinfecting spell, and put a bandage around it.

"I was sleeping in my chamber, when I heard shouting...it sounded like your husband."Luna turned to Cadence.  "He sounded in need of help, and when I went outside, there was nothing but a torrent of changelings running down the hall."She said, as she felt a tear form in her eye.  "A few saw me, and alerted the rest.  So many of them chased me down.  I led myself to a room, where Chrysalis herself was standing..."

Flashback

"Oh look..."Chrysalis said, "It's the terrible Nightmare Moon."Chrysalis walked towards Luna, as the changelings held her down.

"It's Princess Luna..."She responded.  "What do you want?"

"Is that a trick question?  You know what I want."It was true.  Luna knew exactly knew what Chrysalis wanted.  The love of Equestria.

"Let me go!"Luna squirmed, and quickly broke free from the changelings.  She immediately bolted away, before a few changelings jumped on to her back like cheetahs hunting gazelles.  She took off, and flew toward a stained glass window.

The changelings tried to stop her, and failed.  All of them jumped off in fear of being impaled by a shard of glass.  Luna burst through the glass head first.  She felt a sharp pain behind her right ear, and immediately felt slightly dazed.

She looked back at the castle, seeing none of her guards, only Chrysalis and her changelings.  The highest tower, was suddenly turned into a massive bonfire, as green flames engulfed it.  The roof burned bright, as Luna watched the castle fall.  She knew she must find Twilight and her sister quickly, and flew north under her stars and moon.

End Flashback

"Chrysalis had the entire city of Canterlot under her control, and it won't be long until she begins to move here."Celestia said.

"I'll go put the city on high alert."Cadence said.

"No..."Celestia said, stopping her, "that will make it more vulnerable.  She'll know we're waiting for her if we have every guard on duty, and do the same as she did with Canterlot."Cadence took a moment to think.

"You're right...but what does that leave us with?"Cadence asked.

"I say we go back to Canterlot as soon as possible.  We must retaliate!"Twilight begun sounding like her brother in the royal guard, immediately taking command.

"Patiente my dear student.  We mustn't rush this."Celestia responded towards Twilight's sudden aggressive tone.

"But three of us can easily beat her."

"Twilight."Luna caught Twilight's attention.  "We can't just go to Canterlot and take it back over, not with the size of Chrysalis's army of insects."Twilight looked at Luna with anticipating eyes.  "Trust me Twilight...I've seen what she can do...and we are not ready.  Even you aren't ready."Luna said.

"But I can beat her!  My magic ability has doubled since the last time she was here."Twilight pleaded that they go into immediate action.

"The answer is NO Twilight!"Celestia snapped, startling Twilight.  "You may think you're ready to fight...but I can see you are not.  You may hold the magical ability of an Alicorn, but it is clear you lack simple logic of an ordinary pony."

Twilight was left astonished, and completely upset.  Celestia had never been that way to her.  She had never snapped at her in an aggressive tone.  Nor had she ever pointed out one of Twilight's weaker sides in such a way.

Twilight had nothing else to say, and could only stand in shame.  Celestia saw the error of her ways, but knew it was for the better.  Cadence saw Twilight's shame, and put a hoof around her neck.

"There's no need to feel ashamed Twilight.  Not everypony is perfect."She said trying to cheer her up.  Twilight only stood up, and walked away with her head low.  "I guess you really got to her."Cadence said to Celestia.

"I know..."Celestia responded once Twilight exited the room, "I hate to act that way to anypony, but in times like this, we must be careful with our actions..."