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// Chapter 4: A Shining Hope 
// Story: Land of the Lustrous: Battle for the Crystal Empire 
// by Kyetta Cubid 
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After finding the School Building of the Lustrous, some of the Crystal Ponies decided to Refuge there until the Attack of Sombra was over with. Some were also Families with the Guards, happy to see they were safe. That put some smiles on the Lustrous' faces, happy to see they were missing them.

"Gotta admit, never seen a Gemstone smile like that before?" Applejack replied to Bort, who gave a small smile, until they stopped. "I'm just happy to see they're back with their family. Giving them some Hope, we might have a change for them to be more braver." They replied, as Diamond gave a small giggle, knowing they were happy. "Just as long as they have the will to fight with us!" Spinel said.

"Shining Armor! Are you here?" They then heard a voice of another Pony. He was a Unicorn with a Orange Coat and Deep Red. He also had a White mark going down his nose and was wearing a Cape and Glasses. He also had a small goatee. Next to him was a bit of a larger creature, almost the size of a Gemstone. They were green with some style to it, having a dark green underbelly, Purple back, Purple eyes and Two Bug Horns. The Gemstones were interested in the Bug one.

"Sunburst! Thorax! Glad you two are here!" Shining Armor then came to them, happy to see them both. "We heard about what happened to your sister and wife." Thorax told him, which made him look down. "Anyway, about the letter and who these are, allow me to introduce..." "Don't worry, we know about them. Spinel, Bort and Diamond." Sunburst remembered their names from the letter. "The Greetings is all ours! And we think your also connected to the plan." Spinel said, as he looked at them. "What about the Gemstone who took the Crystal Heart? Phos?"

As in perfect moment, Phos came back, with the Crystal Heart. "Sorry I'm late. I forgot where I put this thing." Sunburst didn't believe they they have the Crystal Heart. "I don't believe how you all have acquired the Crystal Heart, the centre piece to the Crystal Empire and a Symbol of it's love." Sunburst was surprised as he took the heart from Phos. "Thank you, Phosphophyllite! The Empire had you in a great gratitude!" "Well, I like to just be called Phos, but my full Gem name is fine too!"

Shining then thought of something else. "What about Flurry Heart? Is she ok?" He asked, as Thorax gave him a smile. "Why don't you ask her yourself?" He said calmly as he brought out a Young Alicorn. She had a light Pink Coat and a Purple with Teal highlights in her Mane. She also showed to have Teal eyes. Shining was happy to see his Daughter again and gave her a hug. "I thank you two for protecting her." Flurry then looked at the Gemstones, who were confused on why she was now looking at them. Bort then tried to spook her, only for her to end up giggling. "I don't understand these creatures!" "Aren't we all?" Spinel Answered them, as Phos wanted to tell them about the production in Weaponry, shelter and Army. "Can I talk to anyone who isn't... well." Phos asked, as the Gemstones then followed them to the Lake, which was frozen Solid above.

"Well, there goes somewhere to swim!" Spinel joked a little, as they saw the Jellyfish underneath were still active. "Ok Phos, how's production?" "Ok, Since we have many more, the Sheltering has become a little smaller. We still have our Weaponry, so we'll be safe there." Phos said, as Diamond wanted to know something. " What about the Armor and Weaponry for the Solders?" "Obsidian is doing as quick as they can!" "And Antarcticite?" Bort asked. "They're awake, but still trying to get their strength up!" Phos answered. "If we're still preparing, so are they. They still have powerful Magic users, but they don't have anything we have, and we all know who it is." Bort replied as they look at Spinel. "Don't ask. Carbonado!" "If we wanted to ask them, remember, they're pretty Tough!" "Don't ask me! I feel like this ice is more tougher then I thought!" They then heard the voice of another Gem. They were a light Pink with some white. They also had a toolbelt around their waist.

"Halite? Why are you here?" "Powers going off. Need to get some Jellies!" Halite said, as they tried to break the ice, only for it being harder as they thought. "Dang, this Universe!" "Well, sorry for you being here!" Rainbow Dash and the other came towards them, as Rarity was interested in Halite. "And what Gemstone are you?" "That's Halite. Once Doctor and now the Fixer of the School." Spinel introduced them. As Halite wanted to introduce themselves, Rarity wanted to know what Halite was. "What Gemstone are you?" "Like their name, they're Halite, or Rock Salt." Bort said, as Rarity felt some of the Salt on her hand. "If Salt Bae was here, it would be his lucky day!" Pinkie Pie said, trying to make a little joke.

Shining was telling Sunburst and Thorax about how he got freed by the Gemstones and how they got some of the Army and Mane 5 back. "And when Cinnabar slammed Relentless Rust into my Armor, It rusted it away and snapped me out of my trance." He told them about how he got free. "However, after the Guards were too much to handle, Twilight's friends then used their magic, but without my sister, it was too uncontrollable. They did reflect it off Spinel, which created that shockwave, but almost shattered them." They didn't think Spinel and the Gemstones could be that brave to fight off Sombra's forces, but the Shockwave part got Sunbursts attention. "That Shockwave part. I-I heard about it once, in a Book!" He then remembered a book back at his place, that was inside the Crystal Empire. "And to get said book!" He then thought, as he remembered the Gemstones.

As the Gemstones and Mane 5 returned back inside, they were then faced by Sunburst, Shining and Flurry. "Anything we can help you with?" Spinel asked. "Since Phos took the Heart, maybe also a sigh that you went to the Empire. We need you all to go back and retrive a book back at my house." "Well, we'll love too, but we still need to look out for any attacks." As they were talking, Flurry then remembered leaving her toy Snail back at his house, just before Sombra's attack. "Whammy!" Shining and Sunburst heard she wanted her toy, as Sunburst remembered it was still at his house. "I wan my Whammy!" She complained, as Spinel wanted to know what she wanted. "What's a 'Whammy?" "It's her Stuffed Snail. I guess us being in a Hurry might of forgot it." "I wan my Whammy!" She kept complaining, as Spinel got into the arguement. "We'll be happy to get the book! Nothing else!" Flurry then got upset, she then whailed, which made everyone cover their ears. Some of the Gems survived, but Phos ended up shattered.

Spinel then sighed. "You want us to get it? We'll get it!" They then yelled out some other Gemstones. "Zincon! Bentioite! Euclase!" Spinel yelled out, as three Gemstones came down. Shining remembered Zincon, but was introduced by Two Blue Gemstones, one having a Solid Blue while the other was Half Blue and Silver, also being Heterochromia like Spinel. "This is important to this guys Kid! We have to not find a Book, but also find the Kids Snail Toy!" "A Snail? Yeesh, we're screwed!" Benitoite sighed. "Not that Snail, a Toy Snail!" Zincon replied. "Makes since now!" Euclase said, which made them giggle a little bit. "You Three are coming with me while Bort and Diamond fixes up Phos." Just before they left, Shining and Sunburst then wanted to talk to Kongo, but didn't want to bring in Flurry. "But about Flurry, we don't want to bring her in to the talk with Kingo, if she'll..." Spinel then sighed, as they yelled out two more Gemstones. "Amethysts!" Two more Gemstones then came out, both being Purple with hair Styles mirroring one and another. Shining then gave them Flurry. "You two watch the Kid while we're gone!" Before one of them spoke out, they already left. They then looked at Flurry and then each other.

In the Crystal Empire, Spinel and the others didn't have a challenge sneaking in, but did find Sunburst's house. It was Crystalized from the outside, making it hard for them to break in. Benitoite looked at some wanted posters with Spinel, Bort, Diamond, Phos, Morganite and Goshenite on them. "Your really making this guys life more harder." Benitoite said to Spinel. " Well, just be happy I brought this." Euclase said, as they brought out a Shield with a Power that had a picture of a Pillar falling apart. "Collapsing Crumble!" They then smashed the Power on the door, breaking it down. "Nice thinking." They all then headed inside and looked around, seeing the many books Sunburst owned. "You got to be kidding me!" Zincon said as they looked around the many books. They weren't having much luck, but Sunburst did tell them which book it was. 

Euclase was looking around, but then tripped on some books and fell on the floor. "Oof!" The other Gemstones looked to see if they were ok, as Euclase got back up. "Don't worry, I'm fine!" They replied as they kept on looking around. As they were on the floor, Euclase found a Pink Snail Stuffy under the table. They grabbed it, thinking it was what Flurry wanted. "Finding this thing is going to take forever!" Benitoite said, since they were in a House full of books. Spinel was about to call it quits, until one caught his attention. It was a Black Book, with a Prism that was shining a Rainbow from the light. They picked it up and looked at it. "This could be the one!" Spinel thought, thinking they found it. "Don't worry about the Snail. I already found that!" Euclase said, as Spinel was happy to hear. Once that was one, they returned back to the School, not getting caught.

Back at the School, Shining and Sunburst was having their talk to Kongo, who wasn't Meditating, but was thinking. "We thank you, Kongo-Sensei for allowing us to create a Resistant's here. You have no idea how much this means to us." Sunburst replied as Kongo looked down at him. "Resistant's is a strong work here. Even with no Lunarians attacking us, we'll happy to have an army too! Those Crystal Solders are pretty tough, but some of My Gemstones are more Tougher than you think!" "But with the Armor making and Weaponry Forging taking as much time as we thought, we're lacking time!" "But the book Spinel and the others will come back with, it'll tell us all the answers we'll need about what the girls did to Spinel." Sunburst replied, as Kongo heard about that.

Meanwhile in another part of the School, Bort and Diamond were done collecting Phos Pieces and letting Halite fix them, they went to meet up with a Gemstone they needed much help from. They opened the door, finding a Black Gemstone training inside a dark room, with some light coming from the window. "Bort. Diamond. Come in, if you wish." Both came in, as they kept their Space. "Heard about what's going on and what happened. Why come to me?" "Carbonado, we need all the help we need in order to get back to our world!" Diamond begged them, as they looked at the Gemstone. "What are we facing?" Carbonado asked, as they headed outside their room and looked at the Crystal Empire. They looked at the Spire. "Doesn't look like any type of Gem we ever seen. Pretty unknown of it's Hardness or how to break them, but for how much it has effected that Empire, it's possibly corrupted and can effect any Type of Crystal, except us. I know you two have been close to that Empire and came out alive." They then decided to go back into their room. "If you need a real fight I need to be in, you know where I am." Carbonado said that as they closed the door.

Back down in the main hall, Spinel gave the book to Sunburst as he then looked through the pages and found the page he was focused on. "Here! This is an old prophecy about the Elements of Harmony! It says here if their power is conversated on something like a Reflective Gemstone or Mirror, it'll end up as a Powerful Beam of Light that can burn though everything. Unlike their past battles, from Nightmare Moon and Discord, this can destroy the dastardly of hearts." He said, which then interested Shining Armor, the Mane 5, Kongo and the Gemstones. "Spinel only controlled a little of their Power, which was uncontrollable to them. Once we get Twilight back from Sombra's control, they might have a better chance to control it, saving the Empire and all of Equestria!" Spinel looked at Ming and everyone else, which they then sighed. "If it'll save your world and get us back to ours, we'll all do it! You need our help, we need yours!" Shining was pleased to hear that, as he then remembered Flurry was with two other Gems.

He headed to the room he was Refuging in and checked on her and the Amethysts, seeing nothing bad has happened to them both. Both then looked at Shining come in. "Shining Armor, a pleasure to see you." Amethyst 33, one one with their Right eye showing, replied. "Here to see your Daughter, we see." 84, the one with their Left Eye showing, added. Shining was glad to his Daughter was happy, as She then gave her a little hug and lifted her up. "Time for bed, little one." Flurry pouted, but gave a yawn, blushing a little. "Too much excitement for one day, isn't it?" He then placed her in a crib and was about to leave. "Good night, sleep tight, and don't let Sombra Bite!" He joked a little, as he left his Daughter alone, but was scared about Sombra. Just then, the door of the room opened, as three Figures came in, which were Euclase and the others. Euclase went over to Flurry and gave her Whammy. "I believe this is yours?" Flurry was happy to see Whammy and snatched it from Euclase. "Whammy! Thank you." She thanked Euclase as she drifted to Sleep, which Euclase gave a smile as they left her alone.

Sunburst was looking at the pages of the book, wondering how it'll work. "Anything yet?" Kongo came over, along with Thorax. "Everypony is safe and looking well. These Gemstones must have many, but I could only count 26." "This Place is their home, but many have been taken by Lunarians, who want to turn them into Weapons and Jewellery!" Kongo replied, as Sunburst then told them about how much he looked into this far. "I've been looking through the Book for a while, and behind the pages still doesn't make sense! It say's here 'The Pieces of a Prism is by the sides'. This has me stumped, because it's just showing up as a Pyramid, even as a Prism is a Triangular Prism. They actually show a Rainbow Light." Both didn't know how he knows that, as he places his head on the table. "Don't ask!" "Maybe we should get some sleep? It's been a pretty log day for everyone, right?" "Maybe your right. Cinnabar will be doing their Patrol soon." Once they all split up, a small gust of wind folded a part of the Book, which showed something they missed.