It was supposed to be a customary maiden ride on the brand new Pony/Yak Railway, We leave Rutherford Station in the morning, arrive in Yakyakistan in the Evening, stay there for the night, and the next morning we ride back on the path we came from now with Prince Rutherford and his entourage joining us, ending it all with another night in Equestria, before sending the Yaks back to Yakyakistan via the railway while we stay behind.
It all went to shit when midway through our travel back from Yakyakistan, a city appeared in an explosion of rainbow-colored magic, prompting Prince Rutherford to laugh heartily at the sight before jumping out of the moving train into the frozen tundra as he ran towards the city while screaming about adventure.
I had no choice but to follow him. If anything happened to the Yak leader after he stepped onto my train, it would be my head getting the blame for his hardheadedness. I had no option but to jump after him and run into the frozen wastes, you see. It was my only choice!
After we arrived at the city, I sent Celestia a letter describing what we found, which caused her to send Cadance and Shining Armor over to help.
No guards, by the way, just those two.
Luckily Rutherford's entourage came with us, and a few letters got some BBF employees to make their way to the city as well.
Four days have passed since Cadance and Shining Armor arrived, and six days have passed since we made it to the Crystal Empire in the first place.
We've been trying our best to find a solution to the biggest issue we currently have, that being none other than King Sombra.
His unique physiology makes any normal magical barrier useless against him, he could just pass through harmlessly as if he's nothing more than air. It's only thanks to Cadance's unique magic that Sombra can be kept out of the Crystal Empire.
But Cadance is only a temporary solution, she cannot hold the barrier forever, not because she'll run out of magic, but because she'll run out of stamina. She cannot just create the bubble around the Empire and then refuel it every so often as Shining Armor did with Canterlot.
Cadance needs to actively supply the barrier with magic at all times, meaning she cannot sleep, lest she opens the barrier for Sombra to return.
This gives us plan A: According to the library here, There exists an event known as the Crystal Fair, where every year the Crystal Ponies come together to renew the spirit of Love and Hope so the Crystal Empire can flourish.
The centerpiece and main attraction of the fair is a Crystal Heart.
Now, many ponies might imagine that this Crystal Heart is simply a statue of a heart made of crystal, as is almost all the buildings and statues already in the Crystal Empire.
However, as someone who's had the privilege of listening to a senile Deer King talk about Crystal Hearts in the past, It could only be assumed that this Crystal Heart is an actual relic, like the Heart of the Everfree or the Elements of Harmony. And if we go by the very colorful description, it should theoretically be what we're looking for, with the renewal of love and hope being a charge for the Barrier of Love that should surround the Empire.
If all the Crystal Ponies give it their love and hope and positive emotions and all that cheerful stuff, the barrier would hold strong enough until the Crystal Fair the next year, where the cycle of joy and happiness continues.
Which brings us to a problem.
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"Starlight, have you found the Crystal Heart yet?" I asked my bodyguard as I stood over a table, a small mountain of documents in front of me.
"If I found the Crystal Heart I wouldn't be standing behind you about to tell you that I haven't found it, would I?" Starlight Glimmer rolled her eyes at me as she walked over to look at the papers I was going over.
"Don't get sassy with me," I told her, "How's plan B going?"
"Plan B is preparing well, I still think that you should try searching for the heart yourself," Starlight told me.
"I can't do that, And besides, Celestia said she's sending the Elements of Harmony, they'll be able to just blast Sombra away and leave us with all the time we need to find the Heart without worry," I told her, "If Celestia decided that this is the best course of action, who am I to argue with it?"
"You're a Prince, you're supposed to argue with her decisions!" Starlight pointed out, stomping a leg onto the floor to get rid of the frustrations that we were all feeling after these last few days.
"She has ruled over Equestria on her own for one thousand years, Starlight," I shook my head as I spoke, "She is the one sitting on the throne, with a crown on her head, making all the important choices. If she said she's sending the Elements of Harmony, I need to trust her judgment."
"But you don't trust her judgment!" Starlight yelled, and I had to quickly raise a soundproofing bubble around us.
"Hold your tongue, Starlight." I looked at her from the corner of my eyes, "Your words border on treason,"
"Don't give me that crap!" Starlight waved her leg around as if swatting away a fly, "You keep doing this! You have a plan and idea on how to solve something, you tell it to Celestia, and then she goes ahead and does the bare minimum effort to achieve it! She sent Cadance and Shining Armor without any Guards!"
"Then she must have a plan of her own, Starlight, you need to learn to trust your leaders, They can only keep hold of their rule for as long as they have by knowing what they're doing. If Princess Celestia thinks that this is the best course of action, then so be it."
Starlight spluttered, waving her legs around as if wanting to say something, before she simply sighed and walked away, returning to her job.
I let out a tired sigh of my own as I dispelled the soundproofing illusion and returned to my own work, my leg moving to pet the golden Plunderseed that set beside me.
I had to prepare Plan B.
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Rarity made last-second improvements to her hair by fluffing it as she walked toward the gathering of white tents, watching ponies wearing BBF-issued vests walk around, carrying crates and boxes of so many different things.
She spotted berries that glowed like gemstones, wool that shimmered like crystals, and fabrics that she would only imagine must cost a hefty fortune outside of the Empire.
And then her nose twitched, an unfamiliar smell entering her nostril, the scent of spices and steam mixing together to pull her towards a particularly large tent.
"Jorgen! Is the Cloudberry Brew ready?!" Rarity heard a heavily accented voice yell out from inside the tent.
"Almost!" Another voice responded with the same heavy accent, "How goes the Brunost we asked to be delivered?!" The voice yelled in return, the loud call traveling over the sounds of sizzles and clangs from inside the tent.
"It arrived an hour ago! The Ponies said they got chased by the Shadow King before they reached the barrier! Was a close one!" The first voice replied with his own yell.
Rarity couldn't help but peek into the tent.
What she saw was a pair of large woolly beings standing over large pots and pans, a pair of white chef hats on top of their horned heads, as a small group of ponies ran around them, fulfilling the orders they yelled over the sounds of food being made.
"Sven! Who is that behind you?! Is that a new worker? Come in come in!" Before Rarity could respond, one of the woolly beings pulled her into the tent and put her hair in a net, "We're almost done with the Pea Soup, Sven will tell you what to do!" The being shouted in her ear before he pushed her towards a large pot of green liquid.
"Don't just stand there! Stir it! This food needs to be ready before the sun sets!" the other being, Sven, told her with his loud voice before he turned away to yell at another pony once Rarity started stirring the pot.
"I JUST WANTED TO SEE THE PRINCE!!!" She screamed in her mind as the green soup below her bubbled and spun.
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"Are you sure? Absolutely sure?" Twilight Sparkle asked a citizen of the Crystal Empire, her coat and mane were dulled in color and dropping as if the misery that surrounded her was physically dripping into her fur.
"I'm sorry..." The dulled pony said, her voice monotone and tired, "I wish I could help you... But I can't remember anything before King Sombra came to power-" At the mention of the Unicorn King's name, the pony's eyes closed, as if experiencing a bad memory, "And I don't want to remember anything about the time he ruled over us." She shivered in discomfort at the mere thought.
Twilight leaned over to Spike, whispering from the corner of her mouth, "King Sombra's spell must be why their coats aren't... Crystally."
"Have we really been gone a thousand years?" The Dulled pony asked.
"Yes..." Twilight responded with a look of worry.
"It feels like it was just yesterday..."
"If you think of anything, even the smallest thing," Twilight said.
"Of course..." The dulled pony said tiredly before closing the door and returning to her home.
"Well, that was a total bust," Spike said as he turned around and started walking to the next house.
"Maybe the others are having better luck." Twilight tried to uplift the dour mood that seemed to seep into every aspect of the Crystal Empire.
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"Way to protect the Empire! You know anything about it?" Rainbow Dash asked loudly, her wings flapping as she flew in place, tapping a dulled Pony on the chest to get her attention.
"I wish I could help you... Truly..." The pony said tiredly as she walked away from the Pegasus.
"Come on!" Rainbow Dash said as she caught up with the mare, shadowboxing in front of her, "You've got to know something!"
"But... I don't have any information..." The pony said before walking away.
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"Oh, Umm, Excuse me?" Fluttershy tried to get the ponies' attention, but the few ponies out on the street simply walked past her without even acknowledging she was there, "Oh, hello. I was just wondering..." Seeing nobody listen to her, Fluttershy walked to a nearby pair of ponies who sat at a table at what must have been a cafe.
Fluttershy raised her hoof high above her head, ready to slam it down onto the table to get the two ponies to notice her, only to pause midway through, "I'm sorry, you two look really busy..." She told them before flying away.
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"Time to gather some intel!" Pinkie Pie whispered to herself, her head and front legs wore a black sweater, a pair of night-vision goggles rested on her forehead, and a black balaclava covered her head, causing her fluffy pink hair to spill out from beneath the forehead of the mask and the back of her neck.
Jumping across buildings, she searched for intel she could use to solve the question Twilight asked.
"Who doesn't like research papers?" She repeated the question her friend asked before their group split apart, her eyes focused on a large grouping of tents in the distance.
"Perhaps they know something!" With a plan in mind, Pinkie Pie sneaked her way toward the white tents.
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"I got nothing so far!" Joining her friend beneath the towering castle of Crystal, Rainbow Dash told her friends all the information she managed to learn.
"I didn't get any answers..." Fluttershy told her friends.
"I Found Prince Pirate Wizard!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she popped up out from between Spike and Twilight, still wearing her black sneaking outfit, "But I didn't talk to him, his security is too high!"
"You!" Rarity bit her tongue in order to stop herself from yelling at Pinkie Pie, "I didn't get the chance to ask the Prince what he learned, but I did make sure that tonight's dinner is going to be fabulous~"
"I didn't think you could cook." Rainbow Dash said with a flat tone, eliciting a scoff from Rarity.
"Sorry Twilight, these Crystal Ponies seem like they all got collective amnesia or something," Applejack told the group, "Only thing I was able to get out of 'em was something about a library,"
"Huh?!" Twilight Sparkle focused on Applejack as she said the last word of her sentence, "A Library?! Why didn't you say so?!" She asked with a brilliant smile.
"Eh~ Thought I just did." Applejack smiled as she watched her friend run towards the library, "Not over there, that way!" She smiled as she watched Twilight turn away from where she was running before continuing to gallop towards where the Library actually was.
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"So many ponies here..." Fluttershy whispered as the group made their way through the maze of tents, getting closer to the Library in its middle.
"And Yaks too, I wonder what they're doing here also?" Applejack asked as the group finally made it to the large crystal building that was the Library, climbing up the stairs that sat between two crystal Griffon statues.
Twilight Sparkle ignored the chatter of her friends as she opened the door to the Library, the sun entering through the window high above her causing the crystal bookshelves to shine in an ethereal light.
It was almost Heaven for a pony like her.
Rarity gasped as she spotted a pony standing in front of a table in the middle of the library, her voice catching the pony's attention, causing him to turn and look at who entered the Library.
"Ahh, The Elements of Harmony, We were expecting your arrival!" The Blonde Unicorn said with a confident smile on his handsome face as he fully turned to greet the group of six mares and a baby Dragon.
"Welcome to the Blueblood Foundation's temporary Crystal Empire Headquarters," His smile was almost blinding, "Do make yourselves at home~"
"I think I'm gonna' collapse~" Rarity fanned her face as she fell to the side, her legs latching onto Applejack's back for stability.
"Prince Blueblood?!" Twilight Sparkle exclaimed at the sight of the Unicorn.
"One and the same~" The Prince smirked at her, "Hello Librarian~"