Thiemo couldn’t believe his eyes as he gazed at what was in front of them. A city of epic proportions stood right in the middle of the snowy landscape. There were green fields at the borders, with a few single houses here and there, which then transitioned to the first larger complexes closer to the centre, which could be apartments, stores, or other facilities. Some of them were connected by bridges that spanned from the upper floors of one building to the other. Behind them were even taller buildings, skyscrapers almost. But that was all exceeded by a majestic, tall, white tower in the middle that wrapped the entire city in a magical dome. It was just shy of touching the clouds, if there were any. Everything was made out of crystals and shone in the various colours that the city emitted as well as from the stars that ignited the night sky. The ponies, like Estoc and Twilight, grinned as they saw the faces of the newcomers.

Very softly, so much that she almost fell from the dragon, Thiemo shook the filly in front of him without taking his eyes of the sight. Wouldn’t his right arm be hanging in a loop that he formed out of a sleeve of his coat he would have held her. “Hey, dad! Stop that!” she just complained after a while, but all he did was to point up front. They stood on a small hill so they could overlook everything.

The filly freed herself from his hand and slowly followed Thiemo’s gaze. Just like Amaryllis and him, her breath was cut short, and her face turned comical the way she looked in amazement. “Seeing the faces of newcomers never gets old.” Spike chuckled.

“Like you were any better. Who was it that thought after the first minutes of his stay that he was dreaming and was in a large candy shop?” Twilight grinned as Spike scratched the back of his head with a claw. “You even nibbled at one of the houses.”

“Thanks, Twilight. I thought you wanted to keep that a secret.” With a huff, the dragon began to move again and slid down the hill. Laughing, the rest of the group followed.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the outer borders of the magical dome that enclosed the Empire. Thiemo carefully stepped off Spike’s back, the dragon having stopped for now. The snow stopped abruptly at the dome and transitioned into soft, green meadows. A few single houses stood here and there before the city centre emerged in the distance. The houses seemed to belong to various farms and plantations. Light came out of the windows in the darkness, and from time to time, a shadow would rush around. “Fascinating. That shield not only keeps out unwanted visitors, but also the weather? I guess it regulates itself inside the dome?”

Twilight stepped next to Thiemo, who carefully reached a hand out to the magical shield. “Well, not quite. It keeps no one out.” Without further ado, she stepped through it, and her hooves immediately landed on the stony path on the other side of the shield. Thiemo had seen more of them from afar already, and they all seemed to lead towards the centre. Basically, it was a fool-proof to not miss the palace. “Come on, it’s much warmer inside.”

Spike followed Twilight, as did Lyra, Applejack, Estoc, and Rarity. “Ah, it feels so good to be out of the cold. My magnificent coat couldn’t have stood it much longer.” Hawk rolled her eyes as she stepped through as well, with the sleeping Heart on her back. “Come on, darling, it is completely harmless, and you will feel better right away.”

“This shield is a defence mechanism, right?” The ponies nodded. “It should, well, keep out evil?” Again, they nodded.

“Come on, dad!” Aura shouted from Spike’s head. “It only tingles a bit.”
Thiemo didn’t believe in heaven or hell, but this barrier was basically Petrus who decided who would enter the paradise. What would happen if he didn’t meet the pony’s expectations of morality? Would he turn into ash? Would a magical bolt be shot through his body? “Was anyone ever… struck with it?”

To his surprise, it wasn’t Twilight who answered, but Amaryllis next to him. “My mother. It is a similar spell to the barrier that cast the changelings out of Canterlot and scattered them to the four winds, isn’t it?”

“Oh, for Pete’s sakes. Come on, ya two. The princess would never put a spell around the city that would harm anyone!” Applejack shouted, a bit annoyed before leaning over to Twilight. Thiemo could have sworn that she whispered something like, ‘She wouldn’t, right?’ into her ear.
Thiemo gulped and took a step forward, his nose now directly in front of the barrier.

“Here goes nothing,” he said to give himself some courage and put his left hand in front of his eyes. He took a deep breath and took another step forward and through the barrier. For a few seconds, he only heard the chirping of crickets, and then he opened his eyes. The purple barrier was behind him, and Twilight and the others were now standing in front of him. Happily, he jumped on the spot. “Ha! Take that, you stupid barrier!” A bolt hit his finger, making him pulling back his hand.

“Now you, Amaryllis. If even that crook gets through, you surely can too,” Lyra motivated her.

“Hey! As former leader of an entire criminal organisation with…” Thiemo stopped and quickly counted the members on his healthy hand. “Never mind.”

All eyes turned towards Amaryllis, who was still standing in the snow on the other side of the barrier and shivering slightly. Somehow Thiemo could understand it. Her mother had surely told her about what had happened. It was the kind of barrier that had took the lives of hundreds of her siblings. “It can’t be that bad if he can still joke around like that,” he heard Lyra saying to Twilight. Amy did the same as Thiemo and took a deep breath before elegantly jumping through the barrier.

Thiemo let out a relieved sigh. “See? No problem,” he said with a smile. But Amy didn’t respond. Her eyes began to rapidly dilate. She then looked over to Thiemo, jumped again, and threw both her forelegs around his neck before forcefully pushing their lips together. Surprised, the human took a step back to balance the sudden weight that pushed against him. But as quickly as it happened, it was over. Amaryllis pulled her head back, but not without taking a bit of Thiemo’s lower lip with her fangs, so that he could now taste a bit of blood. She fell back on all fours with a dreamy smile on her lips and a glossy look in her eyes.

“Everything is so colourful. So warm.” She giggled, and with a few quick flaps of her wings, she took off, left the path, and landed in the grass. Then she began to roll over the soft ground like a little child.

Twilight and Lyra immediately were at Thiemo’s side and looked just as confused over to the changeling princess. “What’s wrong with her? What happened?”

“No clue,” Thiemo answered Lyra. “But not a second after she stepped through the barrier…” Quickly, Thiemo averted his eyes as Amy presented herself to him, with her legs pointing high into the air and her tail swishing aside. “Yes.” Actually, he was used to it – clothing for ponies was optional. Still… did she just wink at him? A cough came from Rarity behind him, followed by a painful yelp from Estoc.

Thiemo didn’t move, so Amaryllis turned back to rolling around in the grass. “It’s like her primal instincts were taking over, like…”

“Like she’s an old stallion that had too much salt?” Hawk finished Twilight’s sentence. The Princess just nodded. “I’m not an expert, but usually a few good friends keep you from doing something stupid when you had too much, right?” To make her point, she adjusted the sleeping Heart on her back. “I would, but I’m a bit busy here.”

Thiemo looked at Amy romping in the grass. “Maybe I should pass as well.” His face was still a bit red. “Because of my arm.”

“Sure, Casanova.” Lyra grinned and jabbed her hoof into his side. “Rarity, would you help me?”

“Of course – we can’t just leave the poor thing there, darling.” The two approached her on the meadow. Thiemo saw them softly speaking to her before Amy just nudged her muzzle and jumped away.

“Why is she acting like that?” Twilight had sat down and stroked her chin. “I mean, it makes no sense. Why would the barrier do something like that?”

“What exactly is the deal with the barrier?” Maybe he could use his limited knowledge to bring some light into the subject. But if even Twilight Sparkle had no idea, things were looking grim.

She thought for a moment, then stomped on the ground. “Nothing, that’s it. It only has two functions: protecting the Crystal Empire from those that want to harm it and the relentless weather conditions. Nothing in that spell could cause that.”

Well, the barrier was just the result. “And what keeps the spell up? I mean, the shield is huge and is basically glowing with magical energy. If I would switch my vision here, it would be like staring into the sun. I doubt that it can supply itself with energy.”

“Like everything else, it is powered by the Crystal Heart,” Hawk answered.

“Crystal Heart?”

“It is basically a gigantic generator. It turns the hope and love of— That’s it!” Twilight jumped up and grinned over both ears. “Amaryllis is a changeling!” Hawk threw a questioning look at Thiemo, who could only reply with a shrug for which he was immediately rewarded with pain. “Don’t you understand? The Crystal Heart runs on love, love that the population gives to it. It sucks in these emotions and turns it into magical energy.” Now Thiemo began to understand.

“Of course. Love is in the air.” He laughed. “The Crystal Heart is gathering love continuously, and in return, provides the town with magical energy. The air must be overflowing with emotions. She is intoxicated, intoxicated with love. Literally.” Thiemo remembered their arrival in Fillydelphia. Back then, Amy had been dizzy from the emotions of the crowds as well and had staggered around at first. The difference was that there had been mixed emotions there. But here, the Crystal Heart filtered the love.

“What’s going on out there?” Lights appeared behind the windows of the surrounding houses and Thiemo saw a few ponies standing in the light of their lamps and the moon. However, they were different from any pony he had seen before. Their coat was shimmering, sparkling, like they were made out of crystals themselves.

Another door opened. “Honest ponies are trying to sleep here!” Two ponies, a mare and a stallion, came out of one of the houses closer to them and eyed the group with sullen eyes.

“Would somepony explain to us what’s going on here? We just brought our foals to bed.” Twilight turned around to them, and they immediately bowed, recognizing her instantly. “Excuse us, Princess, we didn’t recognize you in the dark.”

“Oh, hold on.” Twilight’s horn glowed for a moment, but instead of her beginning to glow with her light, the road underneath them began to glow. “I forgot to turn on the street lights.” Fascinated, Thiemo stared at the road. Like the rest of the town, he now noticed that the road was made out of crystals as well. “And we are sorry for the noise, but my friend is here for the first time and was a little… incident with the barrier.” The two crystal ponies looked at each other in worry. “Nothing serious, we will be on our way soon.” The two nodded and quickly looked over the group before bidding them goodbye and making their way back into their house.
No panicked screams? No ponies that barricaded their houses? No ponies screaming blood and murder? Those two had looked at him and ignored him. That was something new in Thiemo’s book.

“Twilight!” Lyra came back, followed by Rarity. Behind them floated a seemingly sleeping Amaryllis. “We got her,” she declared, sounding a bit out of breath.

Rarity snorted indignantly. “We? I carried her, and we didn’t even catch her either. She just fell over due to fatigue, the poor thing. Any idea what is wrong with her, Twilight?” Since the chase seemed to be over, the crystal ponies slowly and grumpily made their way back into their homes.

“She’ll explain it to you on the way to the hospital,” Hawk threw in before the Princess could start to explain. “I don’t like to admit it, but I think it would be best for all of us to be checked. Some of us are hurt, and we were exposed to dark magic. Who knows what consequences that might have had?” Rarity placed Amaryllis on Spike’s back and next to Aura, who began to play a bit with the wings of the sleeping princess.

Maybe he should just leave his mouth open. It would be much simpler than closing it every time again. Just as they had passed the suburb, the scenery changed from single farm houses to complex apartment buildings that reminded him a lot of modern Dubai. The buildings were large crystal complexes. That alone shouldn’t surprise him anymore, but the automatic doors did. Blinking signs in crystals in front of stores that they passed, crystals on poles serving as street lights that lighted up everything in front of them, and finally a floating trash bin that soaked in everything it passed.

“I’m beginning to understand what Celestia meant in the recording when she said that without the Empire they wouldn’t have stood a chance against Amissa Heaven,” Thiemo mumbled, confused. It was like they had travelled to Equestria a hundred years in the future. A large crystal plate at a house showed an advert for a flower store. Maybe two hundred.

“There’s the hospital!” Twilight shouted over her shoulder back to the others. Thiemo’s eyes turned up front where said building stood. It was a six story tall building constructed from crystals (obviously), with a big red heart in which a white cross shimmered in the middle. Twilight aimed directly for the entrance and through the doors that opened automatically for her. Without making a sound, the door swung open and gave sight into the reception area. A round counter stood in the middle of the hallway. Behind it was a pegasus mare that didn’t seemed to be used to the nightshift yet. She slept peacefully, and a bit of saliva dripped from her mouth onto the crystal counter.

“Twilight, I’ll go back to the palace and report that I have found you,” Spike explained in front of the door. It was clear that he wouldn’t fit through there. “I’ll see you later.” Twilight levitated Amy and Aura from his back. He flapped his wings and disappeared in the night. The surge of air that followed swirled up a few papers on the counter and woke up the sleeping nurse.

A bit confused at first but then wide awake, she grabbed the papers in the air before she noticed that she was being watched. “Oh. Uhm… hi? How can I help you?” Hawk stepped past Twilight and nodded at her comrade.

“She’s probably sprained a wing and is very exhausted. The human’s right arm is disjointed or broken, and we all have multiple cuts and bruises. And we all have been exposed to dark magic.”

The nurse blinked. “Oh!” Then she quickly disappeared down the hallway. The sound of an opening door followed. She must have woken up the rest of the night shift before she returned to them. She had fixed her blue mane a bit on the way and had placed a cap with the hospital’s symbol on it. “Please excuse me, but it happens so rarely that we get patients at this time and…” And finally she saw Twilight. She quickly scrambled to bow but slammed her head against the counter.

Twilight grimaced a bit in sympathy. “Please, don’t go to any trouble.”

The nurse picked her cap back up and straightened her yellow coat. “Uhm, sure. Everypony with minor injuries, please go in the room over there. A few of my colleagues will be with you shortly.” Applejack nodded and picked Aura up on her back. Hawk and Twilight placed their load on one of the empty beds in the hallway before they went together with Lyra, Rarity, and Estoc into said room, which left Thiemo alone with the nurse. “I have to inform our specialist for other species. One moment.” The mare went over to the bed where Heart was lying. “I’ll be right back.” And with that, she pushed her down the hallway.

Thiemo leaned against the remaining bed with Amaryllis in it. His marefriend lay there happily and snuggled into her pillow with a smile on her lips. Carefully, he stroked her mane a bit out of her face, whereupon she grabbed his hand and clung to it like it was a cuddly toy.

“Sorry that you had to wait.” The nurse came back and saw how Thiemo tried to free his hand. “Do you need help?”

“Uhm… no thanks.” Thiemo had freed a finger and began to tickle Amy’s chest. The changeling princess giggled a bit and let go of him. The nurse nodded and stepped behind the bed to push it away. He felt a bit bad for her, but she didn’t seem to struggle with pushing the large beds. After all, Amaryllis easily fit into it.

“Over here.” She began to move Amy, this time down the corridor left to the counter. Despite the walls being made out of crystals here as well, they seemed far warmer in their slightly red colour. The doors instead were not automatic here and were made out of a bright material and ornamented with the large red heart and a number one in the corner. They stopped in front of a large double door, and the nurse pushed a button at the wall. Was that really what Thiemo thought it would be? Time would soon tell.

“So, you are not a bit surprised to see a human and a changeling?” he asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

“Should I?” she countered and tilted her head a little. “There are over a hundred humans living in the Empire, and as far as I know, a few changelings too. Rare, yes, but nothing that we haven’t seen before, Mister…?”

Hundreds? Other humans? If his shoulder hadn’t been aching so much, he would have skipped the hospital right there and then and began to search for them. However, he decided to wait until dawn. “Thiemo. And who do I have the honour of speaking with?”

“Tender Care.” A quiet bell rang, and Thiemo’s expectation was confirmed. It was an elevator. They rode up into the third floor where Tender made him sit down in a doctor’s office before she disappeared with Amaryllis further down the hallway. He looked over the room that reminded him a lot of a normal doctor’s office. A wooden desk with chair, a couch in the corner and shelves filled with books, and drugs in labelled brown glasses. On the wall hung posters, with the interiors of gryphons, diamond dogs, and even humans. Just as he was about to inspect the posters further, the door behind him opened. Unfortunately, he was in the radius of the door and was pushed back on the couch.

“Sorry, I didn’t see you there.” He looked over to the door that a woman had just closed again. It took a few seconds for him to comprehend what he saw there. For starters, a human. And secondly, a female one. Thirdly, one that wore a white scrub, a scrub that wasn’t even closed. She had dark skin, making her look like an East Indian if they had been on Earth. With a smile, she went past him and didn’t seem bothered that Thiemo’s eyes were stuck on her halfway-visible cleavage. She sat down at the desk and crossed her legs so that the view wasn’t that revealing anymore. “So, do you want to get started? I’m Doctor Meena. I’m going to ask you a few questions. We’re going to make a file on you, so it would be appreciated if you would answer them honestly.”

Thiemo averted his eyes and looked into her face for the first time. Dark shoulder-length hair, brown eyes, and a red dot on her forehead. A bindi, as it was commonly called in Hinduism. “T-The dot,” Thiemo stammered. “Does it have a meaning?”

Meena grinned and stroked her hair aside so the dot could be seen clearer. “It is a reminder of my culture where I grew up as a child. It means that I am married.”

“From Earth.” Her eyes widened.

“No… t-that can’t be.” She almost fell from her chair and took a few items from the desk with her. “Earth? You are from Earth?” So he wasn’t the only one that landed here. With a sigh, Thiemo began to tell her a bit about his story. From time to time, he stopped as his eyes wandered down. While he was talking, Meena began to look at his arm, which was only disjointed. After she set it again, she began to tell her story. As Thiemo expected, she came from India to Albion when she was ten years old. Just like him, she had simply disappeared in a moment. That had been thirteen years ago. She was found by a few gryphons that had a camp near Trotterdam. After the Crystal Empire reappeared, something he wanted to ask Twilight about later, the gryphons brought her here. She was adopted by a pony family and had lived with them since.
“That explains your clothes then. Or rather the lack of it. That can happen when growing up with them.”

She smiled. “They also aren’t necessary here in the Crystal Empire. There is no real winter, so the temperature is always pleasant, even without a coat.” Thiemo nodded and leered at her cleavage again. “Hey, my eyes are up here. Not that I’m not charmed, but I’m taken.” She pointed at her forehead. “Ponies don’t think it’s a bad thing if you look at them; they take it as a compliment. I had to get used to a lot of things. For example, mares are in charge here.” What? Hold on. “I always knew my father as highest authority, and just like that, everything was upside down. Reminds me that I had waited forever, wishing my husband would ask me out. All that time, he was waiting on me to ask him out.” She stopped. “But it’s nice to know that I’m not the only one with that problem.” She stood from the couch and picked the chair from the ground, giving Thiemo a good look underneath her short scrub that reached to her hip.

Again the door opened, but this time no doctor or nurse came in, but Amaryllis. She looked around the room and saw the bent-over Meena and the deep blush on Thiemo’s face. “It’s not what it—”

“Mine!” she screamed as she jumped on him.

Author's Notes:

And we are closing chapter 3! And what a chapter that was. A raging demi-god, undead and a story long forgotten.
JBL was a bit surprised and ... angry that there was another human from earth. I like to hear you opinion about that. All I will say towards that topic is that there is, again, a reason for everything and it will be explained later on.

Also, who noticed a similarity in names lately? There is a story behind that as well. Like Meena said she traveled with griffons. Hope you can already guess a bit of what has taken place when she was younger. If you didn't, let me say it again: Griffons...

Next week we will have another intermission. Something for the lulz. After that there may be a 1 week pause. Gron is working his ass off but he still has school and a real life. Not that I didn't try to punch that nonsense out of him but it seems it didn't work.

So, leave comments and thumbs to feed the author. Remember, authors are mystical creatures who lives of stuff like that.

And BTW: Over freaking 700 thumbs! You're all crazy people!

Thanks to Gron for translating this chapter.
Special thanks to JBL for proofreading and editing.

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