The Crystal Rebellion, often called The Breaking of the Heart or King Sombra’s Defiance, reached a worrying crescendo on the waning days of the year 493. An ever growing group of crystal ponies looted and rioted in the Crystal Empire- petty crime at first, but growing bolder and more violent each night. They had partnered with umbrum, it was said, shadow ponies who seeked to take back the land ponies had robbed from the wild north. At the head of it all was someone no less than Sombra, a powerful red-eyed warrior with the dark fur of moonless evenings. This so-called king, along with his rabble, were proud of their northern heritage, and considered the North’s alliance with southern Equestria offensive. “These ponies have grown soft and compliant,” he’d preach, every night, “and depend on their pretty princesses for protection. But not us, of the howling winds and icy rivers. What do Celestia, Luna and their ilk know of us, of the snowy mountains they pretend to rule? The North will no longer bow to the Queens in the South! Down with the false queens, and down with the usurper they’ve sat over our throne!” And each night, many and more would flock to him, questioning The Everfree’s feeble grasp on the Northern Empire.

Princess Amore took her leave of The Everfree, and her beloved, to deal with these rebels; if Sombra hoped to find the princess ‘soft and compliant’, he’d be sorely disappointed. “Give them hell,” Luna had said to Amore at the harbor, to see her lover off to the north, “and return to me safe and sound.” The crystal knight left her with a promise and a kiss, and went on her way.

The rebels proved to be more troublesome than the princess originally expected; their shadow tricks and dark magic eluded even the best of the Empire’s knights and wizards, and with the help of the numerous Umbrum, Sombra’s ragtag gangs steadily swelled into a proper army. The Crystal Empire’s population was fairly small, and soon enough Amore was having trouble defending her ponies from the rising rebellion.

Down south, things were faring little better. Celestia’s attempt to open up to Luna had gone quite badly, especially after Sombra’s uprising in the north became known to the princesses; the Solar Queen’s affections for him only made the ordeal messier. The Nightbringer, having felt constricted all these years, would not let her older sister meddle in her personal relationships, and learning that Celestia had kept this matter of the mirror a secret to Starswirl and Luna herself only added salt to the wound. “You’re jealous,” she hissed to Celestia after no less than an hour of arguing, their shouts ringing throughout The Everfree’s halls. “You’re used to having everything you want served to you on a silver platter, and you just can’t stand me having something myself, for once.”

“I know of love as you do, Luna, I understand-”

“You know nothing of love, or you would not oppose our union!”

Celestia was taken aback. “Am I not a pony who deserves to be cherished, like Amore dotes on you?” She asked, so very softly.

“You? Cherised?” Luna bared her fangs, the darkness of night pouring out of her with every choked word. “Everyone loves you! Adoration and worship, you’ve always had it all to yourself, leaving me to fend for scraps like a dog!”

“The batponies love you,” Celestia said thickly, but her heart wasn’t in it. “Your people devote their lives to you.”

“And my people are underground, neglected and afraid, all because of your sun-loving subjects.” Luna straightened then, looking at her older sister with contempt. “I should not have expected you to understand. How could you ever understand me? The Light made us both, but we are not the same. You’ve only ever known the Day, and I am of the dark.” It is reported that Luna gathered her batpony hirelings and companions and departed for Starsgrace within the day, refusing to speak to her sister further.

Days passed. Word of the Crystal War, now a fully fledged conflict, reached southern Equestria; Luna would visit The Everfree often, on the basis of discussing how to deal with the rebels, but the Sisters only disagreed more. Celestia, who had done some light research on the mirror with Amore (rudely interrupted by Sombra’s attack on the Crystal Keep), was of the belief that there was a magical solution to Sombra; surely there was a way to have the twin Equestrias reflect each other in truth, and restore balance. With enough time, Celestia declared, she’d be able to turn this Sombra around, and have him become the noble, honorable king she’d met and loved beyond Starswirl’s portal.

Queen Luna disagreed. She was of the mind that Sombra was simply an enemy to be fought with wing and hoof and spell, and this talk of the mirror (which only reminded her of all the secrets Celestia had been keeping from her) was a waste of time. Up north, Amore reluctantly agreed, but told them both that whatever they did, they’d need to do it fast; resources and fodder were running low in the Empire, and the princess feared for the safety of her ponies should the Crystal Heart be threatened. Without its magic, the wild north would rush back into their little oasis, consuming all they had built.

None of it would matter, in the end.

up north, war breaks out. down south, the breach between the sisters grows. silver lining: amore looks great in her armor