33: The Alicorn Amulet

PONYVILLE, FOURTH EQUESTRIA

"It is good to see you here," Zecora, the zebra who made her home in the seclusion of the Everfree Forest, told Lyra and Bon Bon as she set teacups before each of them at her table. Bon Bon and Zecora then sat down as quadrupeds usually do, with legs folded under, upon the benches surrounding the table; Lyra chose instead to perch on her rear, letting her hind legs dangle off the front of the bench and her forelegs rest upon the table. It was a quirk she had taken up ever since reading fantasy stories about the creatures called "humans."

"Hang on," Bon Bon replied, confused. "I thought you were the one that rhymed all the time."

"While I once did speak just in rhyme," Zecora answered, "it was a challenge to do all the time. And to keep my pentameter iambic, we'll say was…even more difficult. Now, what was the question you had?"

"You know a lot of things that are…not well known by most ponies," Lyra began.

"The mystical and magical are interesting to me," Zecora affirmed. "As are the practical aspects of life. I have made a point of learning all that I can. Much like, if I remember correctly, you have made a point of collecting tales about humans."

"Then I wanted to know," Lyra went on, "if you knew whether or not there was anything…beyond Equestria. Beyond this whole world. Even beyond the sun and moon!"

"Lyra saw some strange ponies in town," Bon Bon clarified. "They were talking about things like that. And they were talking to Trixie Lulamoon. As far as I know, after that, she hasn't been heard from. I don't think her show has turned up in any of the towns. And usually, when Trixie tours, she makes sure all of Equestria knows where she's going to be next."

"That is indeed strange," Zecora agreed. "As for what lies outside this world, that is something that I have wondered for myself. Many nights, I think that there absolutely must be more than we see, because it simply does not make sense to me that existence should be so small. But I have very little concrete evidence of what is out there."

"But you do have SOME evidence?" Lyra, picking up on that, leaned forward with interest.

"Perhaps, and perhaps not," Zecora said. "I do not know what I have found. It was something that fell from the sky during a meteor shower. If there is anything beyond Equestria, I believe, it would come from the sky. And it has a magical aura to it. The only problem is, I cannot tell exactly what sort of aura. It is something I wish to find out for myself at least, but I do not know what more I can do to experiment on it."

"Well, can you at least show us?" Bon Bon asked.

"I would not have brought it up had I intended to keep it a secret," Zecora replied. She got up, crossing the room to a locked chest. Lyra and Bon Bon followed her as she took a key from a nail in the wall and unlocked it, pushing the lid open. When the three of them saw the contents of the chest, they all gasped, but Zecora was the only one to reel back in horror and cry out, "NO!"

"What's wrong?" Lyra said, regarding the objects with interest.

While nopony present knew exactly what to term the glimmering crystals, they were in fact Dark Matter. Zecora was not concerned with the Dark Matter, or with what was in the chest at all, for that matter. She was far more concerned with what was missing. "It is gone! But how can this be?"

"What's gone?" Bon Bon asked. "Were you robbed?"

"This is not good at all," Zecora continued, shaking.

"Just tell us what's wrong already!" Bon Bon asserted.

"This chest is where I keep the most mystic and powerful items I have found," Zecora explained. "The crystals are only some of the things that are supposed to be there. There was one other item, and it is missing! It could spell doom for all of Equestria!"

"It can't be that bad," Lyra said.

"But it is," Zecora rebutted. "Do you not remember when Trixie appeared in town bearing the Alicorn Amulet?"

"Was that that necklace that made Trixie go all evil and crazy and put the big barrier around Ponyville and try to take it over?" Bon Bon asked.

"It was worse than that!" Lyra cried. "She…she did SCARY things! She took Pinkie Pie's mouth away, remember? And she glued Snips and Snails together by the horns! Don't you remember?"

"I remember her trying to make servants out of all of us," Bon Bon grumbled. "But it was that necklace's fault, so I don't really think she meant it."

"It was indeed the fault of the Alicorn Amulet," Zecora clarified. "It drives the wearer mad! You will recall that because the Amulet can only be removed by the wearer due to its magical lock, Twilight Sparkle and I devised a plan to convince her to trade the Amulet for a fake that she believed more powerful. The counterfeit talisman was made from my doorstep. And in return, I took the Alicorn Amulet to keep safe and ensure that nopony would ever find it and misuse it again. I believed myself a fitting guardian."

"But what does that have to do with—" Bon Bon stopped midsentence. It clicked. "Wait. You're saying someone stole the ALICORN AMULET?"

"WE'RE ALL DOOMED!" Lyra cried.

"We must spread the word immediately," Zecora said. "Everypony must know that there is danger in their midst!"

Zecora, Lyra, and Bon Bon left the house at a run, making their way back toward town at top speed.

---

THE FROZEN NORTH, FOURTH EQUESTRIA

Discord stood in the midst of the freezing plains, waiting. In his lion paw, he held the Resurrection Stone, ready to give it another spin. In his birdlike claw, he held the Alicorn Amulet, which had been a cinch to steal from Zecora. He regarded the Amulet with interest. It had served him well during his reign, though even he hadn't realized its true power at first. He had accredited much of its power to its wearer. Not that its wearer was worthless. That was why Discord stood in the Frozen North in the first place. But still, the trinket was far more valuable than Discord had originally perceived.

He hadn't known where it had come from. He had only learned about it through the existence of its wearer, whose deeds of infamy had attracted his attention. There was no real explanation as to where the Amulet had been forged. It was made of a silver-black metal, set in the center with a glimmering crimson gemstone and topped with the head and wings of a carved alicorn, hence the name. As Discord turned the Amulet over and over in his claw, he realized that he recognized the metal from which it was crafted. It was most definitely mithril. That pointed at first to the Mines of Moria on Middle-Earth, but that certainly wasn't the only place such a thing could have been forged—and why would the dwarves of Middle-Earth make it, anyway? That made even less sense than Discord was willing to believe—that it was forged with the emblem of a being found mostly in the world on which it ended up, and that it was made with the intent of granting the wearer great power but great insanity. The metal had been exported to many a world, though.

For a moment, it crossed Discord's mind that perhaps this had been forged in a certain homeworld of gods that had a close connection to Middle-Earth. In fact, he could think of someone in that divine land who would most certainly have found entertainment in forging something like that…

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard hoof-falls on snow. He looked up. The Changeling he was waiting for had arrived.

"And to think I had plans of my own to come here," Chrysalis remarked slyly, "when I received your invitation."

"Chrysalis!" Discord put both his talismans away in Hammerspace before charging forward to stare her directly in the eyes, to stroke one clawlike finger down the side of her cheek. Chrysalis, used to this, rolled her eyes. "How is my favorite Queen of the Changelings?"

"Dispense with this," she barked, and Discord backed off two paces. "I could be much better. My loss of control over Rapunzel left me dissatisfied. I realized that if I wanted to truly have dominion over these princesses that Maleficent has informed me about, I needed to finish what I began so long ago. That is why I wished to come here in the first place." She shot a glance into the distance; all that was visible was more snow and ice, but in that direction, if one went far enough, there lay the Crystal Empire. "For Princess Cadance. This time, she will not escape from me. And perhaps it was fate that we did not meet again until the reappearance of the Crystal Empire. Its population is even larger than that of Canterlot, and its entire essence contains so much more love to devour! If only…"

"If only it weren't for that Crystal Heart," Discord filled in for her. "Let me guess. Its existence refines the love of everypony in the Empire and makes it that much more delicious to harvest, but so long as it stands on its little pedestal in the palace and so long as the Crystal Princess keeps it full of love and magic—"

"I can't get near!" Chrysalis finished. "The Crystal Heart acts as some sort of repellent against those with unkind intentions. I have sent brigades of soldiers to try and penetrate its defenses, but it is as though they hit a barrier at the edge of the Empire!"

"It seems there was only one pony who was ever able to get near the Crystal Heart long enough to remove it," Discord said dramatically, "and in the end, even he was destroyed by standing too near it when it was replaced in that pedestal. Oh, if only he had the same power he had when he first approached it! But I suppose that doesn't matter. He's dead now."

"Don't speak to me of Sombra," Chrysalis hissed.

"Oh, and why not? You two made such wonderful apprentices during our reign! With him in charge of making sure the Empire didn't pump the atmosphere of Equestria full of happiness, you in charge of deceiving hapless ponies with the Changeling act, and me in charge of the entire world, we made the perfect team! And three better friends were never found in all of history!"

"Sombra and I hated each other," Chrysalis spat. "What warped version of history are you remembering?"

"It's called poetic license, dear Chrysalis."

"The times you made me work with him were the times in my life I revile most! He encouraged hatred and destroyed the love I needed to absorb before I could use it to become powerful! And atop that…the fool could barely speak. He was an aggravation the likes of which I have not yet found a match to! I am glad he is dead and gone!"

"Shame," Discord remarked. He made a great show out of doing a double take, then smiling broadly: "Oh, I forgot to mention! I found a handy little stone on Fourth Earth that allowed people to summon shades back from the dead, and I fixed it so it brings the dead back in entirety!"

"YOU WOULDN'T!" Chrysalis barked.

"Oh, come now, Chrysalis." Discord pouted. "You don't miss the old days, with the three of us working as a team—"

"WE WERE NOT A TEAM! You and I were a team, and you and he were a team, but he was REPULSIVE!"

"Even if he could get rid of the Crystal Heart for you?"

"And then what? Devour it? Rid the Empire of its greatest source of love and therefore my power?"

"Eating the magical means to preventing evil in that civilization…are you sure you haven't confused his methods with mine?"

"I don't even want to know what you ate," Chrysalis said flatly.

"Oh, nothing. Just a few reforming spells that were barely effective and probably unethical. Please, Chrysalis? Let me bring him back!"

"No."

"Please?"

"NO!"

"Well, then, I suppose I've got no choice other than to completely ignore you. After all, I have a Resurrection Stone, and you don't!"

Chrysalis gritted her teeth. "You fool…"

Discord summoned the stone, clutching it in his claw. It glowed brightly. In a brilliant flash of light that toned down to a cloud of darkness, the figure of a well-muscled unicorn, black with a luxurious black mane and a beaming red horn, formed between Discord and Chrysalis. As his figure became more clear, it was easy to tell that he wore a plated armor collar and a matching greave on each leg. A silver circlet rested atop his head, and a red cape trimmed with white fur flowed down his back. His eyes were closed at first; they opened to reveal green "whites" around red irises—which, Discord now realized the more he thought about it, had probably not always been red. Purple smoke, pure darkness, leaked out from the back edge of each green-and-red eye. Finally, the unicorn, upon realizing where he was, opened his mouth to laugh a deep, throaty laugh, revealing two sharp fangs.

"SOMBRA!" Discord cried happily, as though welcoming back a long-lost lover. In keeping with that, he quickly moved to Sombra's side and threw his birdlike arm around Sombra's neck. "How are you feeling, now that I've brought you back to the land of the living?"

"Hehehehehehehhhhh…" Sombra laughed. "Alive…"

"PERFECT!" Discord cried in glee.

"Explain," Chrysalis demanded. "Exactly WHAT did we need him for?"

Sombra turned to face her for the first time. He growled in the back of his throat. "Chrysalis."

"Yes," Chrysalis said through gritted teeth. "I Chrysalis, you Sombra." She turned her gaze to Discord. "He absolute fool for whom my loyalty is waning."

"You know you love me," Discord retaliated. "Now, I wanted to ACTUALLY explain what I've called the two of you here for, if you didn't mind."

"I would absolutely love to hear this," Chrysalis droned.

Sombra just gave another laugh. "Hehehehehehehhhh…"

"As you both know," Discord said, "This version of Equestria is somehow emotionally controlled by the Crystal Empire. The happier the Empire is, the happier Equestria is. If the Empire is infected with hate and evil, then the rest of Equestria is just how I like it: in chaos! If we had that Empire back, now that it's in its full glory, we could turn this world back into the way it was when WE ran things! And yes, Sombra, I would reinstate you to the throne of the Empire…just like I did last time…after what I might mention was a completely unnecessary and overly gory show of destroying the last Crystal Princess. But it got the job done, so I guess I can't argue with the results."

Sombra gave a great bellowing laugh: "HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Chrysalis rolled her eyes.

"Now, as you both know, the Crystal Empire is currently run by Pwincess Cadance, Awicown of Wove!" Discord mocked. "And each of you has a personal grudge against her, if I remember correctly. After all, Chrysalis, she blasted you back to your home kingdom without so much as a how-do-you-do. And Sombra, well, she DESTROYED you. Chrysalis, you want control over Cadance and the other princesses of her status in this multiverse. Sombra, you want her throne. Like it or not, you two have a goal in common."

"Crystals," Sombra said with a nod.

"I don't like where this is going," Chrysalis sighed, "but you do have a point."

"The only thing standing in your way of getting revenge on Cadance and taking the Empire by force," Discord pointed out, "is the Crystal Heart. Which would currently repel both of you if you tried to enter. But, Sombra, there was something that allowed you to get close enough to it the first time that you could take it down and hide it. Back when I gave you that assignment, I didn't know it would actually create a barrier. When you broke out of the ice to try and reclaim the Empire this last time around, that something was gone. Almost like it had been taken from you after Celestia and Luna zapped you with their little Elements to avenge their little crystal friends…and then stored in a curio shop for years and years until some selfish little unicorn purchased it and tried to use it for the menial task of taking over a small town."

Sombra's eyes widened.

"That's right!" Discord cried, producing the Alicorn Amulet. "I've brought back your—"

"MINE!" Sombra tackled Discord, ripping the Alicorn Amulet out of his hands with his teeth before using magic to fasten it around his neck, the lock that only the wearer could undo clicking into place.

As Sombra backed away from Discord, allowing him to stand again, Discord came to a realization. Back when he had recruited Sombra to the task of holding the throne of the Crystal Empire, Sombra had been this way since their first meeting: less then eloquent, far less than sane. Discord began to wonder if Sombra truly had always been that way. After all, it had been recently proven that the Amulet drove the wearer insane. Perhaps Sombra had been meeker, kinder, able to speak in sentences of more than one word, before whoever had forged the mysterious trinket had given it to him. It was true that Sombra was still the way Discord knew him when the Amulet was off in the later years, but perhaps, by that time, the Amulet had eaten up too much of his mind—it was too late to turn back. Discord made a mental note to try and figure out where that Amulet had REALLY come from. It was disconcerting for Discord to think that the whole time, he and Sombra had been playing into someone else's hooves by using it.

He shrugged it off. "Well, Sombra, you can most certainly go back and take that Heart again now. But if you want to stand any chance against Cadance and Shining Armor, I suggest you two stick together."

"What about you?" Chrysalis asked angrily. "Are you abandoning us?"

"Excuse me!" Discord placed his hands upon his sides angrily. "I'm currently juggling several worlds, contemplating various resurrections, doing analysis on what paths would plunge which parts of the cosmos into the MOST chaos, and, lest we forget, trying to bring the rest of the Old Ones out of hiding. All you two have to worry about is one little empire."

"Point taken," Chrysalis replied resignedly. "Sombra. It seems we must work together if we are to succeed."

"Yes," Sombra agreed.

"Good luck, my little ponies!" Discord cried before disappearing in a flash of light.

"Seeing as I have more of a mind remaining intact," Chrysalis said immediately, "I should be the one to coordinate our strategy. I will first need to gather my army. Then you will use your powers to shield me from the Crystal Heart so that I may enter the Empire, displace the Heart, and feed upon the love of the Crystal Ponies. All their love will give me strength, and I will be able to capture Cadance and hold her permanently."

"NO," Sombra growled emphatically.

"Do you have a better idea?" Chrysalis asked condescendingly.

Sombra raised his head to the skies. His horn glowed a bright red, sending out a beacon. It took a while for the response to occur, but when it did, Chrysalis was stunned. The form of white horses appeared in the wind, ghostly, snarling like wolves. She recognized these as a very special sort of Echthros, one she could not recall anypony ever having completely controlled before.

"The windigos," she gasped.

Sombra looked down from the windigos to stare down Chrysalis. "Hate," he emphasized.

"You would drive the Crystal Ponies apart with hate and ravage the Empire with the windigos?" Chrysalis clarified.

"Yes…"

"And Cadance?"

"Die."

"And the Crystal Heart?"

"Eat!"

"You FOOL!" Chrysalis roared. "From where would my army derive its power THEN, if the Empire was frozen by hate? And what would prevent Cadance's powers of light from being passed down to a cosmic successor upon her death?"

Sombra shrugged, then laughed.

"I want to lead MY army into the Empire instead," Chrysalis bellowed, "and feed upon LOVE!"

"HATE!" Sombra roared back.

"LOVE!"

"HATE!"

"LOVE!"

"HATE!"

"Between love, between hate…" a voice calmly sang. "Shake the silence back, but it's too late! And it haunts you, and it haunts you, it's a love/hate heartbreak…"

"DISCORD!" Sombra and Chrysalis yelled in unison annoyance, turning to stare at the returned draconequus.

"Sorry," Discord said with a grin. "Just had to get that one in. Now I'm really leaving." He faded away.

Chrysalis sighed. "It seems that neither of our plans will work on their own. We truly must pool our resources. My powers with yours. Your windigos with my Changelings. I will find a way to spread hatred among the Crystal Ponies, and you would do well to find a way to let me gather enough love that I can gain power. Can we at least agree on that?"

"Agree," Sombra said with a nod.

---

THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE, FOURTH EQUESTRIA

The sun had dipped below the arctic horizon of the snowy plains that lay outside the borders of the green grass and temperate winds of the Crystal Empire. The juxtaposition of the Empire's enchanted summer and the surrounding Frozen North's eternal winter allowed the subjects to be able to witness glorious sunsets that reflected off the white snow and towering ice peaks without having to leave the comfort of warmth.

Cadance and Shining Armor stood out on the balcony of the palace, watching the sunset from on high. Even after the sun went down, they kept watching as the sky blackened and stars appeared, one by one. Down below, the Empire's night life kicked in; some went to bed while some trotted out onto the streets for the most fun they'd have all day.

"Good thing we have the day off from proclamations tomorrow," Shining Armor said, looking up at the stars. "No bedtime for us!"

Cadance smiled. Shining Armor could be such a child sometimes…and she loved that he was able to retain so much of his youth. "That's assuming no important emergency news comes in from Canterlot."

"Nah, that's probably not gonna happen. Tomorrow, you and I are free!"

"I'm glad," Cadance admitted. "I actually got a little nervous delivering today's speech. I don't really understand it. I've never been nervous like that before, but to tell you the truth…it made me a little sick."

"Hey, it happens. Some times, you're just gonna feel more confident, and some times, you're gonna feel more scared. Whatever happens, you always do great." A motion in the sky caught his eye. "Hey, a shooting star! Wanna make a wish?"

"All right," Cadance said, looking up to see the star in question, a bright light careening across the sky.

"Now remember," Shining Armor said, "no telling what the wish is, or it won't come true!"

"I remember," Cadance said, eyes still on the celestial object. "Wait…Shining Armor."

"What?"

"Look at it."

The star wasn't making its way across the sky as most shooting stars did. It seemed instead to be getting closer to the planet, glowing brighter as it fell. Eventually, it was briefly visible as a certain shape that wasn't a star at all.

"Did that look like-?" Cadance began.

"A boat!" Shining Armor finished.

The falling, glowing boat landed somewhere out in the snowy plains, to the west. Cadance and Shining Armor looked downward. Nopony else down below seemed to have taken that much notice of the boat. Then they looked at each other.

"Should we—" Cadance began.

"We should," Shining Armor answered.

The subjects of the Crystal Empire were slightly surprised when they saw their prince and princess barreling down Main Street at top speed, but they eventually put the thought of it aside and returned to their business.

---

Cadance and Shining Armor were able to find the boat easily by tracking the position in which they'd seen it fall. They could ascertain a few things from it. The vessel itself was about the size of a fishing boat, but constructed to resemble a miniature medieval galleon, with wood paneling and a mast with a sail. It had landed rather gracefully in the snow instead of crashing; it was completely upright. A blue glow was visible from within through the portholes. The gangplank of the boat was down, and two ponies had just disembarked from it.

The taller was an earth pony—no wings, no horn—and was built lankily, with a coat of light green. His thick chestnut mane was only as long as the base of his head, and his tail was also short, thick, and brown. A Cutie Mark portraying an intricate jeweled crown stood out on his flank. His brown eyes flickered around as he took in his surroundings with confusion.

His shorter companion, a mare of a soft purple coat, was a unicorn. Her mane was also chestnut brown, but a bit shaggier and a bit shorter; the same could be said for her tail in comparison to his. A few freckles stood out next to her bright green eyes. Her Cutie Mark, oddly enough, resembled Celestia's—a radiant golden sun.

"Hello!" Cadance called out.

The green stallion gave a start, looking up in surprise to see the royal pair finally coming to a stop before them. "They just talked," he said in surprise. "Well, I guess this explains why we're horses, then. Don't tell me…everyone…here…is a talking horse."

"But you know what that means, don't you?" the purple unicorn cried happily. "This means we're in THEIR world! Where THEY came from!"

"I take it you're not from around here," Shining Armor said.

The two newcomers exchanged glances. "We're…um…" the green stallion attempted, grasping for words.

"Don't worry," Cadance reassured them. "We know plenty about what's out there. Though it is a little weird that you came from the sky. The last time we saw a ship take off for other worlds, it was over the sea."

"I think that only happens if you're traveling with the Mists," the purple unicorn theorized. "We used a Dark Matter crystal, so our ship works differently."

"Hang on," Shining Armor said. "How do you know about the mists? And…" It began to click in his mind. "Exactly WHOSE world did you say you landed on?" He beamed with anticipation.

"Okay, so this is probably a long shot," the green stallion replied, "but do you happen to know anyone named Rainbow Dash—"

"Or Pinkie Pie—" the unicorn continued.

"Or Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, or Twilight Sparkle!" Shining Armor cried gleefully.

"They're some of our very best friends," Cadance explained.

"And I'm Twilight's brother!" Shining Armor added.

"How did you meet them?" Cadance asked.

"They came to our world," the purple unicorn said. "And let me tell you, they helped us out of a pretty tight spot! It was because of their travels that we decided to make our own ship in the first place!"

"How were they?" Cadance asked. "Were they all right?"

"I'd say so," the green stallion replied. "I mean, they kind of helped us kick a bunch of superpowered evils out of our kingdom…"

"We haven't seen them since then, though," the purple unicorn added. "They moved on to other adventures. So we took the Dark Matter crystal they left us and decided to have some adventures of our own!"

"I will say that Rainbow Dash has excellent taste in literature," said the stallion.

"And Pinkie Pie really knows how to cheer a friend up," the unicorn added.

"But what's Dark Matter?" Cadance asked. "They didn't have any of that when they left. I don't even know what that is."

"Well, they got it from…get this: one of the bad guys that wanted to take over our kingdom," the stallion explained, deadpan. "This sorcerer turns up, announces he's going to destroy everything, my wife here knocks him out with kitchenware, proving she's amazing as usual, we have a beast of a time dealing with the magical weaponry he left around, and when he comes to, he and Twilight turn out to actually be some kind of weird friends, and he gives her the crystal. Go…figure."

Events were starting to sound familiar and match up with the narrative of the letters Cadance and Shining Armor had received from the traveling crew. They began to have an idea of who stood before them.

To make sure, Cadance initiated introductions. "I'm sorry," she said. "We should have introduced ourselves. I'm Princess Cadance of the Crystal Empire."

"And I'm Prince Shining Armor," Shining Armor added. "We're married. What're your names?"

As Cadance and Shining Armor had expected, the unicorn replied, "I'm Princess Rapunzel of Corona!"

"And the name's Eugene Fitzherbert," the stallion added. "Prince of Corona. Occasionally known by the alias of 'Flynn Rider.'"

"It's really nice to meet you," Rapunzel emphasized.

"It's nice to meet you too!" Shining Armor gushed.

"So this…Corona," Cadance said for clarification. "It's not a pony kingdom, is it?"

"No," Rapunzel said. "In fact, it was kind of hard to believe that Pinkie and Twilight and their friends were actually really ponies until we came here. Back home, we're humans, and so is everyone in our kingdom."

"Well, our captain of the guard is a horse," Eugene added, "but he's kind of a weird horse."

"Hey," Shining Armor realized. "You probably don't have anywhere to stay."

"We can stay on the boat for the night," Rapunzel said. "We have it outfitted like a little room."

"Well, if you wanted to come to the Crystal Empire for the night instead, we could arrange for you to stay in the palace," Cadance offered. "And whatever you decided, we'd be more than happy to help give you an official tour of the Empire tomorrow, or as much as you can see in a day. We have a day off tomorrow, and since this is your first time on a new world, it might be fun to have a bit of a guided tour."

"What do you think?" Rapunzel asked Eugene.

"Conference on the other side of the boat?" Eugene replied.

Rapunzel followed him to the other side of the boat. There, Eugene whispered, "Do you think we can trust them?"

"I don't know," Rapunzel admitted. "But right now, they're the only people—er, ponies—we know here. If things start to look suspicious, we can break off."

"All right. Let's go for it."

They returned to where Shining Armor and Cadance were waiting. "We decided that if you're offering," Rapunzel said, "we'll go with you to the Crystal Empire!"

"Awesome!" Shining Armor cried.

"Let's go," Cadance suggested, "before it gets too late."

The four set out.

"I realize you might not have wanted to trust us," Cadance said. "After all, we only just met. Thank you for at least coming this far with us."

"Hey, what are the odds we'd run into another Changeling queen?" Eugene joked.

Cadance visibly stiffened. "That's right. They DID say you met…her."

"Met who?" Rapunzel asked. "Chrysalis?"

"Yes," Cadance answered.

"We've had bad dealings with Chrysalis in the past," Shining Armor explained. "She tried to take Cadance's shape and marry me, then use the love everypony gave her to take over all of Equestria."

"Déjà vu," Eugene remarked.

"She did almost the exact same thing to us," Rapunzel clarified. "I think we can all agree she's nasty."

"Hey, look," Eugene said, "we already have something in common!"

---

By the time they reached the Crystal Empire, Cadance, Eugene, Shining Armor, and Rapunzel had swapped many stories, learning more about each other. Rapunzel and Eugene were distracted once they entered the Empire and saw every glimmering building, every beaming light, every pony rushing through the streets eager to be somewhere.

"It's beautiful," Rapunzel gasped.

"We'll show you all over tomorrow," Cadance promised.

At last, they made their way to the great spire that was the crystal palace at the center of the Empire. Once inside, Shining Armor and Cadance informed several members of the Crystal Guard that they were entertaining a very special guest.

"They'll lead you to the guest bedroom," Cadance explained. "Have a wonderful night, and sweet dreams. It was very nice to meet you today."

"You too," Rapunzel said in return.

"Sweet dreams!" Shining Armor called out as he and Cadance made their way to the royal bedchambers.

Once Rapunzel and Eugene were settled into the large bed in the guest chambers, they gazed into each other's eyes awhile, getting used to each other's new face. "So," Eugene said, "not bad for our first landing, don't you think?"

"I just can't believe it," Rapunzel replied. "It's even more beautiful than home! And Cadance and Shining Armor…well…"

"What about them?"

"Don't they kind of remind you of…us? Well, not exactly. But the way they greeted us…that's how I'd want to welcome any visitors from another world, now that I know there could be. And the way they talk about the Empire…they care about it more than just ruling it from a distance."

"Now that you mention it…yeah, they are kinda like us. Sort of."

"We should probably go to sleep. Big day tomorrow."

"Probably."

"Eugene?"

"Rapunzel?"

"We're in THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE. We're here. We made it."

Eugene couldn't help but beam as broadly upon hearing that statement as his wife did upon making it. "As I said: not a bad first landing."

They exchanged goodnights and "I love you"s before dropping into exhausted sleep.

---

Chapter 33:

· The elephant in the room: why didn't I have Zecora rhyme? I'm not against characters with rhyming tics in general. It's just that Zecora…when she was introduced as the Token Zebra, which was obviously a metaphor for race, she came with a lot of traditional African stereotypes. Even the fact that she's all "mystical" probably has some Unfortunate Implications, though as of "Magic Duel," I actually came to appreciate that trait, as I thought it was cool that there was somepony out there who possibly knew more magic than Celestia and it was the one who was most often pushed aside at first. Zecora is a character with a lot of potential—she just came with Unfortunate Implications. I thought the very least I could do was to take away the rhyming. It just doesn't feel right to me and makes me a little uncomfortable. I know that's not the way most people, especially hardcore bronies, feel, and I'm not even always as on top of social justice as I could be when writing these things and have probably left things in that are as bad or worse, but my fic, my rules. Anyway, I hope I did the explanation well enough—the Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion was fun to pull.

· Dark Matter falls from the sky sometimes! It just…does, okay! (Well, in KH, we do have "meteor showers"…)

· The Alicorn Amulet was featured in the episode "Magic Duel." What we know about it canonically: it comes from a mysterious source that nopony really knows. Whoever wears it gets impressive, near-godlike power, but it slowly turns the wearer evil and crazy. When the wearer uses it, his/her eyes glow temporarily red. And finally, it has a magic lock; only the wearer can take it off. In the episode itself, it was wielded by Trixie. In the end, Twilight and Zecora tricked Trixie into swapping it for a fake, so I thought it reasonable that Zecora probably took it to keep it safe.

· Now, there is HUGE fanon about whether or not the Amulet is connected to Sombra because they have the same color scheme (black/silver/red). I decided to play on that. Not to mention Sombra's eyes have red irises… Everything I say here about him getting the Amulet when he was younger and it turning him evil and crazy is COMPLETELY my fanon. But it really makes sense to me. Also, there's the whole matter that when he was younger, he was able to move the Crystal Heart, but when he returned, the Crystal Heart vaporized him. He had to have had some kind of advantage over it the first time that he didn't the second, right? Again, completely my fanon, but the Amulet makes sense.

· Droppin' some crossover referencing with mithril. Mithril is actually found in many franchises other than LOTR…but the origin story I have planned for the Alicorn Amulet involves one that never mentioned mithril, not really. It's just something I think would be…connected. But yes, I'm setting up that someone else forged the Amulet a long time ago (or a short time, depending on the timefuckery involved) for his/her own purposes…

· This is the first time I've written Discord with characters I like to ship him with since I decided he's in relationship anarchy. So I'm going to try to portray him as more flirtatious and anti-monogamy. I actually ship him with both Chrysalis and Sombra, as you could probably tell…but I do NOT ship Chrysalis/Sombra. It just never spoke to me. And they each run on different ideals (love vs. hate), so I thought it would be fun to make them enemies.

· Dear…GODS, I love making fun of Sombra. The canon reason: his lines consist only of growls, evil laughter, and one-word phrases. There became fanon that he couldn't speak. I decided to push that along with "the Amulet made him insane," and made the characterization you see here…insane and only capable of one-word sentences. Another reason I like putting him at odds with Chrysalis. She's very eloquent and mentally sound. He's…not.

· But the one thing Sombra and Chrysalis have in common? Cadance whipped both their asses.

· I don't know if the Crystal Heart really does form a barrier against evil. I just know that its very presence vaporizes Sombra. Also, I saw a hilarious comic once about the Crystal Empire being a "bug zapper" for Changelings. So that's where that came from.

· Windigos are creatures that appeared in the ep about Hearth's Warming Eve. They appear as horses made of wind and freeze nations that are filled with ponies that fight too much. They seemed like Echthroi material. I thought it would be cool to ally Sombra with them because they're both associated with the Frozen North.

· Discord quotes some lyrics from "Love/Hate Heartbreak" by Halestorm.

· I have plans for characters I want to ponify. Anyone who has both flight and magic powers? Possibly alicorn, but I may end up picking either unicorn or pegasus just to keep from having too many alicorns. Gods? Alicorns. Mozenrath? Alicorn, just because. If I made all princesses alicorns on top of that, that's too many freaking alicorns. And that's why Zel is not.

· Zel's Cutie Mark is the sun emblem of Corona; Eugene's is Zel's crown. Eugene's was hard to pick, but I thought the crown represented both his royal status and his background as a thief (as that was his greatest theft).