"Spike, can you hand me the book on obscure history?" Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, asked her draconic assistant, using her magic to hold ten books, and her right hand holding another two, with the book she wanted being on the shelves just out of her reach.

"Sure, Twi," Spike responded. The young drake wore a simple green shirt and purple jeans to match his scale color. He unfurled his wings, which he had gotten a week before from one of Twilight's spells, which did it's job of giving Spike wings he should have started growing when he was ten years old, and he was fifteen.

He flew up to the shelf that contained the book Twilight, who wore a light purple t-shirt with a knee-length skirt of the same color, wanted and retrieved, handing it to her as he landed.

"Thanks, Spike," Twilight said as she took the book in her left hand and made her way to a nearby table, setting all of the books down on it, opening the book Spike had gotten her.

"What'cha looking for, Twilight?" Spike asked as he took a seat on the opposite side f the table, a whole stack of "Power Ponies" comics coming down with him.

"Just doing some research for Cadence on the Crystal Empire, seeing as how she doesn't have the time to do it herself."

Spike really didn't hear her, seeing as how he was now engrossed in his favorite comic series. "That's good," he said in an absent minded way.

Before Twilight could start reading, though, she heard a knock on the door. "Come in," she said, annoyance in her voice, but it quickly turned into anger when she saw who it was.

"Oh. Hello, Rarity," Twilight said with venom in her voice. "What do you want?"

"Hello to you, too, Twilight," Rarity said, her voice neutral. The fashionista wore a black designer shirt with accents of white at the end of the arm length sleeves and similar colored desinger pants. "I came to ask Spike if he wanted to help me find gems."

Hearing Rarity's name and voice brought Spike out of his comics. He looked to Rarity and said, "No, Rarity. Twilight and I still haven't gotten over what you and the others did, and I'd rather not have anything to do with any of you, especially you, Rarity. You did break Twilight's heart when you took her one love, after all."

"In short," Twilight said, "get out, now. The only reason I tolerate you or the others in the castle, Rarity, is because I can't destroy the thrones, and I mean can't. Once I find out how, you all can move out."

"Twilight, any of us could move out, but we don't want to," Rarity said, being as stubborn as Applejack. "It's been five months since then, and we were friends for nine years before that."

"Key word: were, Rarity. Really, it's you I hate the most. You knew I loved Rainbow, but you insisted on having a relationship with her. After I had my heart broken by her when she rejected me. I could have forgiven her for that, but then you come along and the two of you announced to everypony that you were together. What made you be that cruel?"

"We thought you were trying to prank her."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Rarity, let me spell this out. I'd been living in Ponyville for nearly nine years, and was friends with the two ponies who pranked the most, and I never once pranked any of you except for Nightmare Night, and that was only when Luna came to town."

"And we realize that now, but then, we thought you were trying to prank her. Why can't you just see that we're sorry?"

"Because, along with you two, the others didn't even try to cheer me up, except Pinkie, the only one I still consider a friend." Twilight then returned her atteniton to the book. "Now, unless you want a book, please leave."

Rarity crossed her arms and said, "Hmph. I see that you're a lost cause, then. Good day, and, as Rainbow would put it, I hope you cool off. You need to accept the fact that Rainbow and I are a couple, and nothing but us can change that." She then turned around and left the room.

"Why are the ponies in this town so stubborn?" Twilight said in frustration as she opened the book.

"To be fair, Twi," Spike said, "you did kinda lash out at those two to start off with. Yeah the others didn't try to do any thing, which they should have, but the way I see it, everone was at fault to some degree." When Twilight glared at hi in anger, he rose his hands and said, "Just saying," and returned to his comics.

Twilight just rolled her eyes and began to read. As if that were the only thing that destroyed our friend ship.

. . .

Just out side the library, Rarity walked to  where Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rainbow were waiting. She walked up to Rainbow and gave her lover a hug and a peck on the lips.

"So, ah'm guessin' it didn't work," Applejack asked. The farmer wore a dirty pair of jeans and a white shirt under a brown mini-jacket

"Unfortunatly not, Applejack," Rarity replied. "Both she and Spike are still mad at us, Pinkie the least, and Rainbow and I the most, the rest of you because you didn't try to cheer her up."

"Well, she did yell first," Fluttershy said in her classic shy tone. She wore a green shirt with a knee length blue skirt.

"Well, of course she did, silly," Pinkie, wearing a blue shirt and red, knee length shorts, "but I'm the only one who even tried to cheer her up. If I hadn't, she may be even worse then she was a week after she yelled at you two."

"Damn it, Pinkie," Rainbow, wearing a black shirt and red work out pants, said, geting a playful slap fromher mare friend for cussing, "why do you have to be right?"

"Because if I don't, who will be," the pink mare said with a smile. "Besides, some one in this group has to look at this from as clear a view as possible."

"She's correct," Rarity sighed. "I just wish there was a way to make things up with Twilight."

"Well, ah hate ta say this, but we can't force her ta be friends with us again. We need ta let her make that decision her self," Applejack said in a defeated tone.

"What I want to knw," Rainbow said, "is why we haven't told the Princess yet?"

"Twilight already told them about it," Pinkie. "She told me, and said they were hoping we would fix this ourselves."

"Well, it can't happen unless Twi wants it," Applejack said, and the five of them began to talk about lighter subjects, but their minds were still on Twilight.

. . .

Back in the library, Twilight had found the section of the obscure history book that related to the Crystal Empire. "That's interesting. It says here that the last ruler of the Empire before Sombra had a daughter, but no one knows what happened to her."

"Knowing what we do about Sombra, he probably killed the both of them and hid it from the history books," Spike said, his attention still mainly on the comics.

"Yeah, probably," Twilight said, but wrote it down on a nearby peice of paper any way, so that she could see if the Crystal Empire had any thing on it when she went to the Empire to tell Cadence what she found. She turned back to the book and continued reading.

A minute later, she said, "Not much on Sombra's early life, or even what he did when he wasn't terrorizing his subjects."

"Why are you interested in that, Twi," Spike said, looking up from his comics with a raised eye scale.

"Because every ruler from that time would want their personal life recorded so that they would be fully known by the others, even if it was just the morally good stuff. Even Celestia and Luna were like that back then, so why not Sombra?"

"Because the crystal ponies were terrified of him?" Spike suggested.

"Spike, we both know that there were even worse rulers then him, Sombra's just the most famous because he made the Empire disappear."

"Yeah, fair point," Spike said. "Going to see if the library in the Empire has something on it when we go there?"

"Yeah, if I have the time, seeing as how we're going there during the crystal festival."

"Hey, at least we're going to have fun while we're there."

"Hopefully the others won't be there," Twilight said.

"Twilight, if they're there, they're there. Besides, Cadence is probably going to invite them, if only so they can participate in the events and booths they always do."

"In that case, I hope Cadence doesn't invite them in the castle." Spike just rolled his eyes at Twilight's stubborness, and returned to his comics.

Crystal Empire-meanwhile

". . . And make sure that the booths still make it easy for ponies to move through the streets."

"Yes, your highness," a gray crystal pony wearing what could be considered the sterotypical librarian outfit said before bowing and leaving the throne room.

Princess Cadence, wearing an ankle length pink, white, and red dress with elbow length sleeves, rested her hed on her hand as her assitant left the room. "Why is it they want a different configuration for the fair every year, even if it's just different booths in the same spot," she asked no one out of annoyance. "I'd rather deal with the changelings again."

"Well, that should be easy," her husband, Shining Armor, who wore the cerimonial guard outfit he wore on their wedding day, said, "seeing as how we've become allies with them."

"I know that, Shiny. Remember which one of us here arranged for the peace talks," Cadence said, glaring at Shining.

It had been three years since then, and Equestria, the Empire, and the changeling hive that had attacked Canterlot were still working things out, but the important stuff was taken care of, and ponies and changelings were still adjusting to this.

Holding his hands up in a defensive manner, the prince said, "I'm just saing, it'd be easy to arrange a reenactment of Canterlot."

"Yeah, but I don't think Chrysalis would like to reenact her greatest failure, especially given how long it's been since then. Honestly, Shining, sometimes, I think you were born just to be a bad pun, given the difference of the connotation of your name and your behaivor."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked angrily

Cadence giggled. "Just that you're cute when you're mad. I'm surprised that little jab still makes you mad."

"Well, coming from you," he retorted, "it sounds like you want a divorce because I'm not what you thought I was when we married."

"Please, if it was that, I would have asked for one a long time ago," Cadence said jokingly, which got a laugh from Shining.

"Yeah, I guess so," he said when he stopped laughing. "So, what's next?"

"Just need to invite Twilight, Auntie Luna and Celestia, as well as Twilights former friends and psudeo-friend."

"They still haven't worked it out, huh?"

"No, and fom the looks of it, it's going to be that way for a while. At least we were able to help take Twilight's mind off it some what with us asking her for some history on the Empire," Cadence said. "She never could resist studying, that filly."

"Nope. Not even during brekfast when we were younger."

From there, the two continued to prepare for the up coming rystal fair, including sending invites out to their friends and family. By the end of it, Luna's moon had risen in the sky, and the two had retired to ther bed room.

Cadence wore a silk night gown that went perfectly with her skin color, while Shining wore old clothes of his that barely fit. The two climbed into bed, and Cadence said, "Night, Shiny."

"Night Cadence. Love you."

"Love you too," the alicorn of love responded with all her love for SHining. SO why did she fell like it had shrunken from last night? Next Chapter: Journey Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 53 Minutes