My eyes adjusted to the familiar dark office of Starlight Glimmer’s, as I realized I was inside of her body once more. The mare was hard at work at her terminal, furiously typing up a message that was being sent across the company.

“Sugar Belle, I need you to get my personal things together. I’ll be taking a leave of absence from the company. Issue the lockdown command on the bunkers,” she said into a microphone. No response. “Sugar Belle, do you read me?”

“I am afraid your receptionist has been taken into custody,” a male voice replied.

My host glanced up and scowled as she took in the intruder to her office. It was a unicorn stallion with an orange coat dappled with white. His beard was impressive and well maintained, a set of gleaming spectacles set upon his forebrow. He wore a robe that marked him as a high ranking officer of some military organization.

“You’re not Ministry,” she said. “Who are you?”

“I see you don’t quite recognize me, Starlight Glimmer,” the stallion said casually. “I”m not surprised. We lost touch many years ago. I am here on official business from the Crystal Empire.”

Starlight’s eyes widened. “Sunburst? Is that… it can’t be. You were a scholar. A bookworm.”

“We all have to adapt to survive,” Sunburst replied carefully. “Now again, I am here on official business. We have reason to believe that your company is in possession of technology that you should not have.”

“What my company has access to is none of the Crystal Empire’s business. I’ve heard what you ponies have been doing. Stealing tech and weapons from honest hard-working business. I don’t know how you do it without drawing the ire of the Ministries,” my host said with a larger scowl on her face. “Well, you can’t have my company. I’ve worked too hard for my goals to let it all go.”

“Yes… your goals include the subjugation of Equestria subjects, brainwashing. What you like to call ‘equality,’” Sunburst said. “I’m sure that Princess Luna would love to hear all about you. Or has she already? Was that why you were in such a hurry?”

“I received… intelligence that the Ministry of Morale was going to raid the main facility today,” Starlight said, gritting her teeth.

“Yes… well that’s not going to happen of course. When they arrive, there will be nothing for them to raid. Guards, seize Miss Glimmer and escort her to my private skiff. She will be… useful,” Sunburst said.

Starlight protested as two large bipedal creatures entered the office. I’d realized I’d seen them before, as part of Deathless Crystal’s army. My host shouted and struggled as they grabbed her, placing her in chains and forcing her out of the office. Sunburst walked in front of her as he spoke on some form of intercom device.

“Are the bunkers secure? Excellent. Issue the transmogrification command and send them back to the Empire. Leave no trace behind. As for the building itself… burn it to the ground. Make it look like an accident,” he said aloud.

Starlight’s eyes widened as she was pushed up the stairs to the roof of the office building, where an air skiff waited quietly. My host was shoved onto the skiff roughly, Sunburst stepping up next to her. The skiff lifted into the air as the building below began to crumble to nothing. Starlight gasped as she heard screaming from below.

“But… all those ponies down there!” she shouted up at Sunburst.

“Is that caring I detect?” Sunburst asked, a wry grin appearing on his face. “I wasn’t aware you cared for anyone, Starlight. You will see soon that none of this matters. What matters is the goal. What matters is the end.”

My host grimaced and watched as her life’s work burned before her eyes. She closed them, and the memory went dark.

My eyes opened to darkness, the soft chill of the air biting into my coat. I pulled my blanket tighter around me, sighing as it subsided. I missed Rocky. I missed his scent, his warmth. Everything about him. I’d only had a little time understanding that before his death that the things that we truly loved we only knew after they were gone. I sighed again.

We’d made two days of progress towards the coordinates that Dusk had sent us, taking us back east towards Equestria. As we’d crossed over into new territory, the area around us got visibly chillier; snow peppering the mountainous terrain.

I thought hard about the memory orb I’d just come out of. I’d watched it several times since our trip had began, trying to understand why Deathless Crystal would be carrying such a thing. The only conclusion that I found myself coming back to was that Deathless Crystal was actually the stallion in the memory, Sunburst. It felt strange though, as Starlight Glimmer had said, he had been a scholar, not a warrior. And yet, somehow deep down I knew I was right. Had Deathless Crystal kept it because he wanted to remember who he was? Or was it because of Glimmer herself? I couldn’t tell.

Light broke over the mountain ridges, bringing forth a chilled and damp morning that pervaded all of us. I groaned and sat up, my joints aching from the cold as I started gathering my gear together. I pulled on the necklace I’d welded together around my neck. Hanging from it was a piece of metal, a part of Rocky’s cybernetics that I’d kept. It felt comfortable, like he was still with me. I sighed and turned to find the others setting up to have breakfast.

Everypony seemed to be in… well… actual good moods for once. Despite how serious our mission was, there was a livelihood to the conversation. I noticed that Lightning and Coconut sat much closer together than normal, eyeing each other and giving tiny smiles. I was happy for them. They deserved it.

Velvet sat quietly nearby, feeding on her own terms while the two alicorns chattered amongst themselves.

I felt a hoof on my shoulder. I looked up, seeing Heartshine. Her eyes looked baggy but she appeared to be in better sorts than a few days ago.

“How’d you sleep?” she asked.

“Alright,” I replied softly.

“You watched the memory again,” she stated.

“I did. I keep hoping I’ll find something there that might give me some idea who Deathless Crystal was and why the Empire is so aggressive,” I said.

“Starry. Sweetie. Sticking your head into the past doesn’t help you see the future,” Heartshine said, sitting next to me. “A wise pony told me that once. It’s advice I need to start taking myself, so don’t go thinking I’m a hypocrite for telling it to you.”

I chuckled softly. “Wouldn’t think of it.”

“Good. Now listen. Are you sure about this whole plan? If we’re caught by the Empire…”

“I know. I know the consequences. But if we don’t save Dusk, if we do nothing… then it’s all going to happen just the same,” I explained, annoyance creeping into my voice. “We have to do something.”

Heartshine smiled. “There you are, Starry Night. I was afraid you were losing your conviction, but I can feel it rolling off you in waves,” she said.

I blinked. “Wait what? Was that a test?” I said.

“Maybe just a small one. If we’re going to get through that block All’z’reth placed inside of you, it’s going to take a lot of chipping away at it,” Heartshine said. “The only way we’re going to do that is going to be a little bit at a time. Little tests like that show you’re making progress.”

“I’m still a little annoyed that it was a test.”

“You’ll get over that part, Sweetie,” Heartshine said with a giggle. “Later when we stop we’ll try a meditation exercise. I’ll see if I can connect to your heart and work on the blockage directly. How does that sound?”

I nodded eagerly. Any attempt to bring the dull feeling up and away was a solid attempt in my book. I glanced down at my PipBuck. The automap was still pointing head on to the coordinates that Dusk had given us. The Empire was still days away. I had to hope that it was not too late to save him.

“We should probably go over some sort of plan,” Lightning said as he stood up.

“Considering that we know nothing of what the Empire’s patrol routes look like, we are going to need to be highly careful approaching the Empire proper,” Golden Chalice said. “If we can get a good look at their patrols we should be able to come up with an illusion spell to make them see us as they are.”

“We have to assume that the Empire knows about Deathless Crystal,” Velvet said. “Which means they’ll know who it was that did it. They’ll be patrolling for us. We need to be ready to fight.”

“That’s why I want Chalice and Shimmer to take point on each side of the main group the further we get into Empire territory,” Lightning said. “Their defensive capabilities are bar none. If we’re ambushed, they’ll know about it and will be able to react.”

“Agreed,” Shimmer said.

“I would prefer not to engage combat if at all possible,” Lightning said. “Our goal is infiltration. We have to assume the Empire has communication channels. If they get back around, we’re going to have a much harder time with our disguises.”

I grimaced, taking another bite out of the rations. We were treading into dangerous territory now. Things were only going to escalate from here on in. I glanced over at Heartshine, listening intently. I worried about bringing her along, that if something happened to her then Mom may never… No. I shook my head at the thought. If we did nothing, if we allowed the Empire to wield their might against the Wasteland… it was like Dusk said. There’d be nothing left.

We finished our breakfast and began packing together our gear before setting back on track. I felt the unwieldy weight of Rocky’s sniper rifle strapped across my side. Despite how large the gun was, I couldn’t have left it where it might get scavenged. The time might arrive when I would have to use it.

We kept trudging forward, gritting our teeth as the wind kicked up here and there, making the biting chill even more painful to walk through. The ground beneath became harder to walk on as the ice set in, making it slick. Several times I nearly slipped out from underneath myself.

Hours passed as we walked, silence reigning supreme over the group. The two alicorns walked on each side of us, their eyes cautiously scanning the frozen weather for any danger. I myself kept scanning my E.F.S. for anything out there that could be potentially dangerous, but there was nothing, not even any wildlife.

We stopped at a ridge just above a small sloping valley. In the distance we could see more mountainous terrain and farther beyond that I could make out a massive spire of ice. My eyes widened as I realized that it could only be one thing. The Crystal Empire. I scowled slightly. That was where Dusk was being held.

As I glanced down over the ridge I nearly doubled over trying to scramble back before I was seen by a group of what appeared to be ponies far down below us. I hadn’t even seen them on my E.F.S.! They appeared to be clad in black armor, their faces obscured by breathing masks not unlike Coconut’s Ranger armor. Their eyes however, were a pale glowing green. They all carried battle saddles with what appeared to be high tech energy weapons mounted from them. All told, there were at least five of them marching in order.

“A patrol,” Lightning whispered. “We’re lucky they haven’t spotted us yet.”

“Yeah…” I said. “Look at their armor. Could we use that to disguise ourselves if we captured it?”

“Maybe. But look at their weapons,” my brother replied. “That’s some serious tech.”

I grimaced. He was right. The Empire’s technology appeared to be a hundred times more powerful over our own.

“So we get the drop on them,” I said, returning to where the others waited. “Chalice, Shimmer? Do you guys think you can do an invisibility spell of some sort?”

“I can,” Doctor Shimmer said. “But do you think they will be fooled by it? Their technology can likely see through such a veil?”

“Only one way to find out,” I said. “If we can pick them off one at a time, and use the weather to our advantage…”

“It’s risky,” Velvet Kiss said. “But reward prefers risk! Or something like that. I don’t know, it’s an old saying.”

“Well, we’d better plan this attack quickly,” Coconut said. “They are headed up the ridge at a fairly brisk pace.”

I grimaced. “Alright. Here’s what we’re going to do then. Shimmer, I want you to create a sphere of invisibility in this area. I’m going to hang up the ridge a bit and take shots at them to get their attention. As soon as they pass through, we’ll ambush them. Try to take them out without damaging the gear too much.”

“I’ll come with you,” Heartshine said. “I might be able to help spot for you.”

I nodded, motioning for her to follow as we made our way further up the ridge. We found a spot that was nice and shielded from view, watching as the others disappeared in thin air. Thanks to my E.F.S. I could still track their movements as they hung back behind a large rock nearby. I lifted Rocky’s rifle off my back with my magic, setting it up on the ridge. I peered through the scope, aiming it at the hill.

“You think this is going to work?” Heartshine asked calmly.

“I think no matter what we do, it’s probably fucking crazy, so might as well go the full nine, right?” I said, settling on the cold ground.

“Starry… I know you’re having a hard time right now but…” Heartshine started to say.

“Shhh…” I whispered. “They’re coming up the hill.”

I glanced through the scope, confirming what my E.F.S. already knew to be true. The patrol group crested the ridge, seemingly unable to see the others as they marched past the rock. I angled the sniper rifle with my magic, and breathed out as I squeezed the trigger with a flourish of telekinesis.

The shot struck the leader of the patrol, glancing off the hard crystalline armor. The desired effect had been achieved. The patrol scattered, shouting in rough voices as they tried to ascertain where the shot had come from. I ratcheted up a second shot, striking the leader again. I cursed under my breath as I realized the bullets weren’t doing a damn thing. It wasn’t even penetrating. But it was doing what I wanted it to, which was distracting them.

A shimmering shield erupted out of nowhere as Golden Chalice and Shimmer ambushed the patrol group. Magical energy flew everywhere as the two alicorns wielded their might and the Empire soldiers tried to fire their energy weapons back. One of the soldiers lifted into the air and dropped as Chalice growled loudly.

The others joined the fray, appearing out of nowhere on the other side of the patrol group. Velvet Kiss assumed the form of a monstrous looking bear, swiping at two of the patrol members. They went down hard, unmoving. Within mere seconds, the patrol had been dispatched, lying on the ground. I blinked.

“Holy hell. That actually fucking worked,” I uttered aloud.

“Confidence,” Heartshine said knowingly. “That’s all it takes, right?”

She placed a hoof on my shoulder and I felt her magic run through me. A bright smile appeared on both of our faces. I felt as if I could do anything, proud of the ponies who were with me. A tinge of sadness streaked across my heart as I glanced down at Rocky’s gun. In some small way, he’d helped with this victory.

We trudged down the ridge towards where the others waited, the Empire’s soldiers lying upon the cold ground. I stepped up to their leader, pulling off his helmet after finagling with the clips that held it on. I grimaced and did the same to the others with my magic. It was as I suspected. They were all ghouls. These ones looked different than Deathless Crystal had. Their body was hard, almost crystalline in nature.

I looked up to talk to the others when a hoof grabbed my leg. I yelped as I pulled back, the unmasked ghoul starting to pull himself up using me. He snarled and growled, his teeth gnashing. My horn lit, sending a bolt of telekinesis into its face. It impacted, punching a clean hole in the ghoul’s head and dropping it to the ground.

Gunshots erupted as the other ghouls started to get up as well. One of the ghouls tried to latch onto Golden Chalice, but the alicorn merely shrugged it off with a flourish of telekinesis.

“Shit…” Velvet said aloud. “Those fuckers were feral.”

“Or at the very least on the verge of feralism,” Doctor Shimmer said carefully as she stepped up next to me. Her careful eye examined the body of the leader. “This armor appears to be giving them some sort of solution in their breathing masks. When you disengaged it…”

“You mean, the Empire actually has a cure for feralism?” I asked.

“A cure that only lasts as long as one is on it, I fear,” Shimmer replied. “As soon as they took their first breath of actual air… the solution must have stopped working.”

“Is there a way to um… disable that feature in their armor? We’re going to need that stuff to get inside the empire,” Lightning intervened.

“Maybe,” Coconut said from beside him. “But it’s going to take some time to look into. We’d better move their bodies and make camp somewhere warm.”

“Agreed,” Golden Chalice said. “My coat is already freezing from standing here too long.”

I shivered slightly, nodding as I latched onto the patrol leader’s body with my magic and began dragging it along. We walked along the ridge until we found what appeared to be a large cave. After determining it to be empty and abandoned, we settled inside. With some dead wood we made a fire as we assisted Coconut in removing the Empire soldier’s armor.

I walked over to the mouth of the cave and looked out across the landscape. The Wasteland here was frozen everywhere, ice and snow covering just about everything. In the distance, the Crystal Empire stood, towering over everything and anything. As the sky began to grow dark, the Empire lit up, shining across the land.

I pulled out Sunburst’s memory orb. Despite what Heartshine had said, I still felt there was something to it that could give us some idea of what to expect in the Empire. I inspected the orb carefully, turning it over in the small metal carrier it was held in. Something drew my attention, a button of some sort on the carrier. I pressed it with my magic and something within the memory orb… changed. A different swirl of coloring appeared.

My eyes widened. What had just happened? I reached out with my magic to activate the orb, allowing my mind to fall into the world of the past once more.

My eyes adjusted as I realized I was still in Starlight Glimmer’s body, but the memory I was viewing was most assuredly different. I was still on the air skiff, but now I was outside of Equestria. The air was colder, and in the distance through my host’s eyes I could see the Crystal Empire looming.

“It’s quite beautiful, really,” a male voice said from next to me.

My host glanced over to see Sunburst staring off at the Empire in the distance. His eyes were focused on it like a hawk.

“What happened to you?” my host asked. “I… I remember you used to be kind.”

“One might say the same about you, Starlight,” Sunburst replied casually, never once taking his eyes from the Empire. “Brainwashing ponies into serving you, taking away their cutie marks, sabotaging Ministry operations. The Starlight I remember was nothing like that.”

Silence fell between the two ponies. For several seconds they sat there as the Empire loomed ever closer.

“This war… it gave me perspective,” Starlight finally said. “Equestria is sick. The virtues we all used to live by… they’re dying. We have to do what we can to survive… to adapt. Equality allows us to be the same, so we can learn the ways to adapt again.”

“We understand each other then,” Sunburst said, turning to glance at my host. “You will appreciate the Queen all the more once you meet her. Our goals are not too dissimilar, Starlight. We too believe that Equestria’s death is near.”

“Then why muscle me here? Why destroy my company and steal my assets?” Starlight hissed loudly.

“Would you have come otherwise? We’ve had our eye on you for some time, Starlight. Your magical prowess is bar none, save for the Princesses,” Sunburst said. “I’ve been working on a project for some time that you may be able to assist us in completing.”

The skiff descended, landing on a platform that extended out from the tallest spire of the Empire. My host stepped off, her eyes wandering all around. Outside of the Empire, the city only appeared to be frozen over, but inside the city was warm and bustling, filled with activity. Starlight could spot several large factories all around the city. Sunburst motioned at the guards as he nodded at Starlight.

“How did you…?” she asked.

“Holographic imaging technology. The world sees what we want it to see,” Sunburst said. “We’ve been… apart from Equestria for some time now you see. Now, we must be heading inside. We do not wish to keep her Majesty waiting.”

My host scowled, but nodded regardless, tearing her gaze away from the city below to follow behind Sunburst. As they crossed inside the cold winds subsided, replaced instantly by immediate warmth. The two ponies, flanked by the strange bipedal guards, made their way through the long ringed hallway until they finally stopped in front of a massive throne room. Sunburst knocked on the door.

“Enter,” a voice said from beyond.

Sunburst grimaced, pushing the door open and allowing Starlight in after him. My host’s eyes widened as she took in the room she’d stepped into. A great crystal throne arose at the far end of the room, just beyond a grand war room round table. The vastness of the room didn’t frighten my host as much as the mare seated upon the throne did.

Her poise was regal, but her gaze was downright menacing, her sharp eyes trained on the two ponies before her. Her wings spread out on each side, and her horn glowed softly. The alicorn queen of the Crystal Empire was terrifying to behold. On her side further down the dais, a younger looking alicorn female glanced up out of boredom. Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw Sunburst.

“Archmage Sunburst, you have returned from your mission,” the elder alicorn said. “I assume you were successful.”

“Of course, my Queen,” Sunburst said. “Risk favors reward, after all. All of Equality Incorporated’s assets are firmly within our control. The media will see it as a Ministry operation. The Ministries will deny it of course, but no risk is posed to our operations here.”

“Excellent,” the alicorn said. She turned her attention to my host. “And you must be the infamous Starlight Glimmer. I’m grateful to get to meet with you finally. I am Cadance, Queen of the Crystal Empire.”

“I’m aware of who you are,” my host said with a grimace. “You took my company from me, my life’s work. Why?”

“Come with me. I will explain everything,” Cadance replied. She glanced down at the younger alicorn and Sunburst. “Sunburst, Flurry, go on then. I shall listen to your debriefing later.”

The younger alicorn nodded, taking Sunburst by the hoof and walking with him towards the throne room’s entrance. My host glanced back, noting how excited and animated the younger alicorn was with the older unicorn. She turned back to Cadance, who motioned for my host to follow her. They walked in silence to the balcony where they stood looking over the grand empire below.

“We share the same thoughts, you and I,” Cadance said softly. “Equestria as it stands today is dying. The greed, the corruption, the hate… it’s all accelerating us towards something big. The end of the world is coming, Starlight. I can feel it in my bones.”

“And you want to what… stop it?” Starlight asked.

“Hah. You think me to care about what happens to Equestria? No, Starlight. I don’t want to stop the end of the world. Nothing can stop the end of the world. What I want to do is simple, and far more selfish. I want to save my Empire from this destruction,” Cadance said.

“How…?”

“Lifetimes ago, a unicorn by the name of Sombra ruled this Empire with an iron hoof. He used powerful magic to make the Empire disappear for thousands of years,” Cadance replied. “I want to do the same. I want to make the Crystal Empire disappear, so that when the end does come… we will be safe. I want to ask for your help to do this.”

“Why me? I’m nopony.”

“You are talented in magical areas that even Sunburst can’t reach. Your magical prowess is something we need to achieve our goals,” Cadance said softly. “Or would you rather go back to being second fiddle to Twilight Sparkle?”

My host looked down at her hooves and sighed before looking back up at Cadance. The alicorn smiled slyly, almost as if she already knew the answer before her host did.

“I’ll do it.”

My eyes fluttered open as I came out of the memory orb, struggling to wrap my head around what I’d just seen. Somehow whatever spell that Cadance had mentioned, the Crystal Empire had managed to recreate it with the help of Sunburst and Starlight Glimmer. But, the Empire soldiers we’d seen thus far had all been ghouls. Something must have happened to turn them that way.

I turned my attention back inside the cave. The others were sleeping it seemed. It was still dark outside. The bodies of the Empire patrol lay just outside the mouth of the cave, frozen still. Their armor lay back at the end of the cave, splayed out and separated. I breathed a sigh of relief as I returned my gaze to the outside world.

*crunch* *crunch* *crunch*

Something moved upon the snow outside of the cave. I scowled, looking to my E.F.S. A friendly target moving towards us? What could be out there that’s friendly? I stood my ground as the crunching sounds got louder. My horn lit up slightly, ready to attack at a moment’s notice.

“Starry, it’s me,” a voice said in the darkness as Heartshine appeared. “I was just out trying to gather more firewood in case we needed it.”

“Oh. Geez, sorry,” I said as I delit my horn. “I didn’t realize you’d left.”

“That’s alright. Gave me an opportunity to try this out a little,” the pegasus mare said, stepping into the light. She appeared to be wearing one of the suits of armor. “Don’t tell Coconut, she wasn’t one hundred percent sure on everything, but it works just fine.”

“It’s covering your wings?” I asked, intrigued by this development.

“Yeah, it seems like it was designed mainly for the crystal ponies, and none of them appear to be pegasi. But the armor is pretty roomy so…” Heartshine replied. “I’d better get out of it though before Coconut wakes up.”

The armor hissed softly as it separated easily, allowing Heartshine to step out of it with relative ease. I grinned, igniting my horn to carefully carry the armor back to where the other suits were sitting. I glanced back at Heartshine.

“So did you get firewood?” I asked.

“Most of the trees in the area are too wet and dead to make for good wood. I think what we hit last night was it,” she said with a sigh. Her eyes dipped down to the memory orb. “You were watching it again, weren’t you?”

I nodded. “Except this orb has multiple memories stored on it. I think they belonged to someone who was close to Deathless Crystal, or rather… who he used to be before the war,” I said. “The Empire somehow… removed themselves from Equestria before the end of the war. Some sort of spell.”

“That’s why nopony ever saw it before now?” Heartshine asked, taking a seat next to me.

“Except for Dusk. Where he comes from… the future… this all happened. The Empire returned… and they were responsible for a war that ended the world… for good,” I said, trying to let Heartshine process as much of this as she possibly could.

“So you’re saying… the current Empire is from an alternate timeline? A version of the world where they destroyed the world with their technology?”

I nodded. Heartshine sighed loudly and glanced down at her hooves. A moment later she she brought a hoof up to rub her temple.

“Fuck. That’s messed up,” she said after a few moments of silence. “And Dusk… he traveled through time to try and fix things?”

“Yeah.”

“Sounds like he didn’t do a very good job,” she deadpanned.

“Heh, yeah I guess you’re right about that,” I said. “So what now? You can go back to sleep if you want.”

“We have time. I’d much rather focus on you, Starry,” Heartshine said softly.

Heartshine smiled softly and reached across, placing a hoof on my shoulder. Instantly I felt her magic connect with my own. It was getting easier with every touch she gave to me, almost as if she was truly helping to remove the empathic block on my heart. I returned her smile and sighed deeply.

“Your heart aches for feeling,” Heartshine said. “Every time I channel my magic through you I can feel it yearning for more. It wants to be set free, but the blockage strangles that yearning.”

“How… how can we remove it?” I asked.

“I have an idea, but it’s potentially risky,” Heartshine explained. “Up until now we’ve just been chipping away at the block, hoping to weaken it. But it’s not working. We need a more… direct plan.”

“I’m listening.”

“Channel your magic into mine. Mix it with my powers and we can attack the source directly within your mind,” she said.

“What’s the downside to this not working?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well… I could get theoretically lost inside your mind and go completely braindead,” Heartshine said nonchalantly. She grinned. “But hey, what’s a little risk, right? We have to try something.”

“I guess… I just don’t want anything bad to happen to you or anyone else,” I said, glancing down. “I don’t know if I could take that.”

“That right there shows that our work has been having some impact, it just needs that little push,” Heartshine said. “This might be good for both of us.”

I grimaced, but nodded after a moment of silence. “Alright. We’ll do it… together.”

Heartshine nodded, scooting closer so she could position herself as close to me as possible. She reached out with both of her wings, wrapping them around my neck in an awkward hug. I could feel her magic moving through my body, soothing and painless. I lit my horn, seeking the source of that magic, allowing mine to mix and mingle with it.

“That’s it, I can feel your magic,” Heartshine whispered softly. “Now, close your eyes and imagine your heart.”

My eyes opened to a vast plane of stars, scattered across the horizon for miles upon miles. There seemed to be no end to it. I took a step forward, testing the gravity of the situation, finding that there seemed to be no issues with moving. I glanced about, noting that I was alone. Where was Heartshine?

“I’m here,” a disembodied voice said from the nether. A lime green mare appeared out of the darkness. “Well, not here physically per se, more like here in spirit.”

“What is this place?” I asked.

“Your mind, or rather, the entrance to your heart,” Heartshine said calmly. “We must be quick. We need to find the blockage.”

I turned my head to one side and my eyes widened as I focused on the idea of the blockage. I saw it. “I… I see it.”

Settled several feet across from us was a large door, wrapped in massive vines. The vine-work was black and slimy looking, constricting the door tightly. Mixed throughout the vines were various creatures. I recognized them all. Mom. Dad. Rocky. Lightning. Every thing or person I had truly felt love for in this world. The vines were squeezing the life out of them. They called out in unison, a cacophony of sorrow.

“It’s like… a tree,” I said aloud.

“The heart generally is regarded as a tree-like structure,” Heartshine said. “As a Heartmender, I’m able to prune the branches of the heart to keep it healthy and help ponies through their pain, but I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean… this kind of blockage is unlike any empathic heart condition I’ve ever seen. Whatever this All’z’reth did to you, it’s on a whole other level,” Heartshine explained. “We need to be careful here. This growth… if it’s allowed to continue unchecked… it will probably kill you. The only thing we can do here is approach, and go from there.”

I nodded as I cautiously approached the tree, trying to get a feeling for how best to proceed. The voices of my loved ones howled in anger, almost as if they sensed my approach. Shadowy goo dripped from the tree into nothingness below. I grimaced. I had to do something, but I wasn’t sure what I could do.

The tree answered for me, as some of the shadowy stuff slid off in front of me, congealing into the form of a pony. My eyes widened.

“M-M-Mom?” I stuttered.

“Where were you, Starry?” the form of my mother asked harshly, her one eye piercing my very soul. “Where were you when I needed you the most?!”

“I… I…” I said, tears forming in my eyes. “I had to…”

“You left! You went off and let me die by myself!” the shadowy form screeched. “Selfish little brat!”

“You let me die,” another voice said. Rocky’s form appeared next to her. “I trusted you to uphold the rules of the challenge, and you let me perish in combat.”

“But I… that... “ I stuttered more. Tears streamed down my face, staining my cheeks. “I didn’t…”

“You’ve let everything and everyone you’ve ever loved down,” the voice of my brother said from the other side. “You don’t deserve to love. You don’t deserve to feel.”

“Starry! You need to listen to me!” Heartshine called from behind me. Her voice was faint, distant. I could barely hear her. “Don’t listen to their lies! Don’t let them turn you away! That’s what they want! They want you to submit to their will, to allow the pain in your heart to kill you! But you can beat it, you can be stronger. You have the willpower, I can feel it deep inside of you! Push through! Summon your fiercest memories of your loved ones!”

I blinked, realizing that she was right. The shadowy figures were playing upon my fears, using them to try and debilitate me. I needed to be stronger than that. Stronger than I thought I could be. I gritted my teeth and focused my mind as the shadow forms continued to berate and demean me. I latched onto memories of my family, of my friends, of my love. Rocky and I laying together for the first and only time. My mother’s caring embrace. My brother, for all his goofiness, and how he stood behind me in times of need. I summoned them all to the forefront of my mind, drawing on their strength and peace.

“Give up, Starry Night. You will never find peace, never find true happiness,” Velvet Kiss’ voice said as her form appeared. “You will never be free of me.”

“I… WILL… NOT!!!” I shouted, channeling the magic of my memories into a spell that attacked the forms all at once.

The shadowy creatures shrunk from the magic as it grasped a hold of them and pulled them from the tree. I felt Heartshine add her magic to my own, bolstering it with her own powers. As the last of the shadows dissipated, I felt the tree begin to grow before me, grander and taller than it had been before. My eyes widened as the door opened, and then everything turned white.

I awoke with an ache in my heart. An ache I hadn’t felt in a long time. I sat up slowly, taking in everything I was feeling. All at once I felt everything that had been repressed by All’z’reth’s spell. My tears flowed freely as I realized how much I truly had loved Rocky, how much I missed my mother, how much I loved my friends.

I could feel again.

I sniffled loudly as the tears stopped coming. At first I thought that we’d been unsuccessful, and that the block was returning, and then I realized that it was Heartshine. The mare was holding onto me, embracing me and telling me that it was going to be okay. I pulled away from her and smiled softly.

“You… you did it,” I said. “You helped me get rid of it.”

“No… you did most of it, Starry,” Heartshine replied softly.

“I wouldn’t have been able to clear them all away without your magic,” I said. “You can help ponies, Heartshine. You’ve always been able to. You just… you let the bad stuff get to you. You did something good here. I can feel again, because of you.”

Heartshine glanced at her hooves for a moment and then her eyes met mine. I could see there was still a lot of hurt in them. But even so, I could see understanding. She nodded.

“Perhaps there’s still more work for me to do out there,” she said. “Perhaps we can still save this world, one pony at a time.”

I smiled softly, glancing out at the frozen Wasteland. “You’re right about that,” I said. “Now let’s go get the others up. It’s time we made for the Empire. I can feel it.”

I stood, heading back into the cave where we found the others just beginning to stir. After a quick breakfast, and assurances from Coconut that the suits of armor were indeed safe to wear, myself and the other normal sized members of our group began piecing them together and putting them on. Within a half hour we all appeared to be members of a Crystal Empire patrol group.

“We should reach the Empire within the day,” I said. “Barring no other obstacles, of course.”

“We shall use our invisibility charms to conceal ourselves alongside you,” Golden Chalice said. “It’s clear that their technology is incapable of piercing the veil, no matter how seemingly advanced it is.”

“Speaking of, do the guns they carried still work?” I asked Coconut.

Coconut shrugged and turned towards a nearby tree. Her mounted blaster came to life, tearing into the tree and turning it into ash. “Looks like it,” she said.

“Good. Our goal is clear. We get into the Empire, we locate Dusk and we get out,” I said. “Once we’re out, we get the hell out of Dodge and back home to warn everyone about the Empire.”

“And if shit goes south?” Velvet said.

“If shit goes south, we do what we can,” I said. “We should get going. The Empire isn’t going to stop and wait for us.”

The others nodded and we turned, heading down the ridge into the frozen valley, the spires of the Crystal Empire looming over all. Surprisingly, the armor we wore kept us fairly warm, even as the wind began to pick up. We walked in silence, not wanting to give away our secret to anyone that might be watching us. We shuffled onwards, not sure what to expect when we reached our destination. We had to only hope our disguises would be good enough to get us inside. I wasn’t sure where exactly Dusk’s time prison would be, but based on our last communication he was in danger. Had the Empire finally managed to break through to him?

The valley sloped downward more as we finally came out of the mountains and over the next set of ridges. I stopped cold as I took in the valley that encompassed the Crystal Empire. The city was massive. A giant wall extended all around the circular city, made completely of crystal. From our distance, I could see spires of guard towers ringing the entire thing. The inside of the city was behind a shimmering shield of energy, but it looked still very much like it had in Starlight Glimmer’s memory. In the center of the city, a large spire extended into the air, much larger than any other structure.

“The palace,” I muttered. “That’s gotta be where Dusk is.”

“How do we even get across to there? Look,” I heard Lightning say from beside me.

My eyes drifted down at the terrain surrounding the wall. The entire place was sitting on top of a massive glacier lake. It looked near impossible to cross. Not only that, there appeared to be many lifeforms either below the surface of the water or ringing the shore according to my E.F.S. I grimaced underneath my visor. There was no telling what was down there or how to get across.

“Look,” Velvet said, pointing to the air.

A skiff hovered in the air, speeding out of the city towards the ridge we were huddled on. A group of Crystal Empire patrol guards stood on it, silent and stoic as it approached.

“That’s our ride in,” I said. “Get ready to put your game faces on. Chalice, Shimmer, you’re probably going to need to fly alongside us.”

“Got it,” Chalice whispered.

The skiff continued along until it reached the ridge about twenty feet off from where we were standing. We marched forward along as the inhabitants of the skiff took notice of us. The leader of the patrol motioned for the rest of the patrol to continue on.

“Patrol twenty-four B, acknowledge,” he called out. “State your business.”

My mind raced. Shit… what do I say? I thought frantically.

Patrol twenty-four B, passcode six-five-three-six, a voice I recognized as Doctor Shimmer’s appeared in my head. I blinked. Since when could these alicorns use telepathy?!

“Um… Patrol twenty-four B, passcode six-five-three-six,” I said. “Returning to base, sir.”

“Your patrol was assumed lost, soldier,” the other patrol leader said. “What happened out there is that Celestia-forsaken Wasteland?”

“We were attacked by some Wastelanders and were stuck and unable to check back in,” I said, trying as best as I could to sound business-like. I patted Rocky’s rifle on my back. “Managed to bag a souvenir from one of them though. If you don’t mind, we’d like to take the skiff back and report back to command.”

The patrol leader looked back at the skiff. “Of course, soldier. I’ll leave you to it. I must be off on my own patrol.”

I nodded as we made our way towards the skiff. “Thank you. Good luck out there. These Wastelanders are tough, but they can’t stand up to the might of the Empire,” I replied.

I took a tentative step onto the skiff, followed by the others. Although I couldn’t see them, I could feel the alicorn sisters’ presences as the skiff rose into the air and circled about and began to head to head back towards the Crystal Empire. As it flew across the lake, I could see the creatures that I had seen indicators for on my E.F.S. They appeared to be crystalline water horses of some kind, their eyes demonic in nature. I grimaced, wondering why the skiff was flying so closely to the lake as my eyes drifted back to where we’d disembarked from.

The other patrol leader was still there, watching us calmly. My eyes widened.

“This is a trap,” I said aloud. “They fucking know we’re coming.”

“Well, you’re not wrong about that,” Velvet said. She pointed a hoof towards the walls of the Empire.

My head turned in an instant, noticing several massive energy weapon bays begin to open up along the wall. A blast of energy arced out from one of them, intent on colliding directly with our skiff. As it was just about to hit, an energy shield appeared out of nowhere, deflecting it.

Golden Chalice and Doctor Shimmer reappeared from each side, their horns blazing as they tried to push away the energy blasts coming our way.

“Shit shit shit! They’re trying to blast us out of the sky! And this fucking thing is getting lower by the second!” Velvet shouted. “Getting us closer to those things below!”

“Coconut! Try to override the auto pilot,” I said. “We have to keep this thing in the air and turn away from the Empire before we’re blown to bits.”

“On it!” Coconut called back as she knelt next to the skiff’s control panel. She ripped it open and began tinkering with the wires.

Below, one of the strange crystal water horses leaped out of the water and slammed into the skiff from underneath, nearly taking us all overboard. I growled under my breath and focused on it, sending a blast of energy at it with the mounted rifle. I missed. More of the creatures began approaching the lower we flew.

“Coconut…” I called out. “Need an answer here!”

“I’m working on it!” she shouted.

Outside of the skiff, the two alicorns howled as they kept throwing shield after shield up to try and deflect the continued attacks from the wall. It was a war on two fronts, and we were quickly losing both. There would be no way we’d be able to keep this up if we couldn’t get control of the skiff.

Velvet and Lightning took point on the rear of the skiff, firing downwards into the lake to try and stem the creatures from attacking. It was only going so well, as many of the creatures just shrugged off the blasts of energy. Heartshine stood next to me, and although I couldn’t see her face, I knew she was worried. I grimaced.

“Heartshine, see if you can help Coconut,” I said. “I’m going to try and deal with the guns.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it!” Coconut shouted as the skiff suddenly began to wobble. “It’s under my control!”

“Take us up!” I called out. “Pull away from the lake!”

“Got it!” Coconut exclaimed as the skiff began to rise and pull upwards sharply.

The whole thing lurched as one of the larger water horses struck it from below again, wobbling the whole thing even more. I heard a shout and a cry for help as I watched Velvet Kiss tumble overboard. The changeling mare free fell towards the glacier lake, shrieking as she did.

“Velvet!” I called out. “Coconut! We have to go down and get her!”

“I’ve got her!” Doctor Shimmer shouted. “My sister can handle the guns, I’ll get Velvet!”

The midnight blue alicorn tore away from the skiff her wings folded as she dropped through the sky towards Velvet. As she reached her she struggled to envelop her in a telekinetic field. I couldn’t do anything but watch as she grabbed her and began to pull back up.

Suddenly one of the water horse creatures leaped out of the air and slammed into Shimmer. With a quick turn, the alicorn fell backwards and Velvet continued to fall towards the water below. More of the creatures began to leap and attack Shimmer as she tried to ward them off with her magic. One of the creatures lunged upwards and extended its jaw, biting down hard on the base of one of Shimmer’s wings. Blood spurted and Shimmer began to fall next to Velvet.

“Velvet! Shimmer!” I shouted. “Coconut! We need to go down, now!”

“I… I can’t! The skiff is locked again! It’s like they overrode us!” Coconut called back.

“They’ve stopped firing on us!” Chalice said, turning her head back as she took in the scene below. Her eyes widened. “Sister! I’m coming!”

The green alicorn soared downwards headed towards the other two ponies as the skiff leveled off in the air. I grimaced under my mask as I could only watch and not help. My gut wrenched as I watched Chalice move closer only to be rebuffed by the sheer ferocity of the creatures. She shouted raggedly as she tried to push past them, taking a few beatings herself before pulling up.

“SISTER!!!” Chalice roared as both Velvet and Shimmer hit the water.

In mere seconds the creatures were on Shimmer, biting and gnashing at her as she thrashed about to try and escape. It wasn’t enough to escape the monsters. Blood soaked the ice and water as the alicorn went limp.

“SISTER!!!!!!!” Chalice cried out.

Her magic rained down terribly upon the beasts, beams of telekinetic energy ripping through them, but it wasn’t good enough. Shimmer was already gone. Chalice snarled loudly as she soared downwards, blasting through every creature she saw to reach her sister’s broken body but it was already too late. It had begun sinking into the glacier water, a bloody stain on the pure waters. Chalice turned back upwards and began flying back towards the skiff before the creatures could get at her too.

I felt a lump in my stomach and began scanning for any sign of Velvet on my E.F.S. There was nothing. Strangely enough, the monsters hadn’t even gone for her at all. My gut told me that it was the armor, maybe somehow the creatures recognized the Crystal Empire soldiers. I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that Velvet was gone, and that it was my fault. No… Velvet knew this was going to be dangerous. She knew the risks.

“Velvet’s… gone,” I said aloud as Chalice landed on the skiff. I couldn’t even believe what I was saying.

“And so is my sister,” she growled. “The Crystal Empire will pay for this. No one kills one of my sisters and gets away with it.”

I pulled off my helmet as the others did. Heartshine’s face was streamed with tears, a tiny trickle of blood coming from her nose. I could tell this was not good for her.

“There’s not much we can do right now. If Velvet survived… she’ll get out of there. She’s crafty,” Lightning said before turning to Chalice. “I’m… I’m sorry about Shimmer.”

“Thank you…” Chalice responded. “I can’t… I can’t begin to tell you how much her death pains me. We were… connected.”

“Coconut, can you get control of the skiff again?” I asked, stepping up next to her while my brother consoled the poor alicorn. I couldn’t stop to grieve. We needed to get out of this situation.

“Negative. Even if I wanted to, I can’t override their override,” she said. “We’re headed right for that big spire.”

My eyes flashed to the spire. “The palace. Just… just great,” I said with a grimace.

The skiff silently kept going as it passed over the walls of the Empire. Below I could see the wall guards simply looking at us as the skiff flew overhead.

“What’s the plan?” Coconut said, glancing at me.

“I…”

I looked over at Chalice, who was fuming and staring angrily at the spire before us. I looked at Heartshine, who sat quietly, brushing the blood away from her nose and the tears from her eyes. My heart ached over Shimmer’s death, my new-found feeling kicking me right in the ass as I struggled to not buckle over and start bawling myself. The truth was, I wasn’t sure what to do. But I knew we couldn’t let the Empire beat us. Not here, not now.

“I don’t know,” I said. “But we should be ready for when the skiff lands. We may have to fight them off to gain control of it again.”

“Oh, they’ll feel my entire wrath,” Chalice said heatedly. “I will make sure of that.”

The spire loomed closer as the skiff rose upwards towards a platform. In the back of my mind, I recognized it as the same platform that Starlight Glimmer’s memory had taken place on. The skiff set down with a large hissing sound. Nopony was around… yet. As soon as we touched down, the door at the far end of the walkway opened and out strode… an alicorn.

Chalice roared as the skiff touched down, jumping off and her horn ablaze with powerful magic. The other alicorn, one I realized quickly enough that it was a ghoul alicorn, merely smirked as her eyes and horn glowed brightly, defusing Chalice’s magic.

“Now now, that will be quite enough of that,” the alicorn said with a raspy voice. “We don’t need to get violent.”

“Your creatures killed my sister!” Chalice shouted. “I have every reason to be violent!”

The alicorn ghoul tittered as if Chalice had told some form of joke. Her magic extended outwards, locking Chalice at each leg so she couldn’t move.

“Guards, take these prisoners to the royal brig. Mother will be very pleased to see that they are being dealt with appropriately,” she said. “I shall deal with the alicorn personally.”

Behind her several armored crystalline ghouls stalked forward, pointing their weapons at all of us. I scowled as I stepped off the skiff onto the platform.

“Ah,” the alicorn ghoul said. “You must be Starry Night, the one who killed Deathless Crystal. It’s such a pleasure to finally meet you. Mother is simply dying to meet you as well. Suffice to say, if you make things difficult… I will kill you. All of you.”

I grimaced, glancing at the others. I didn’t see any other way out of this with Chalice out of the way. I nodded and surrendered my weapons. The others walked off of the skiff next to me and did the same.

“Excellent. Now, let us be off. History as they say… awaits,” the alicorn ghoul said with another titter. “No time like the present, after all.”

Author's Notes:

And we're almost close to the end folks. Just a few more chapters, that's all.