The Grand Galloping Gala is coming up, finally a time for a breather from all the drama in Quartzy's life. She brings Cute Curiosity, her little Cutesaurus, as her plus-one. The Wonderbolts are present as well, Soarin & Spitfire with their daughters Flame Burst and Muddy May. While there, Quartzy introduces her girlfriend to others, like her distant cousin Prince Léon.

Quasimodo Quartz: "Umm... hello, Prince Léon. I am -" Prince Léon: "Princess Quasimodo Quartz. Yes, I know of you. Word has reached us back home of your accomplishments in the Crystal Empire." Quasimodo Quartz: "/blushes/ Yes well... I have been dealing with some problems. But, I would like to introduce you to my marefriend, Cute Curiosity, the chief librarian of the Crystal Empire." Cute Curiosity: "Uhh, g-good evening, Prince Leon." Prince Léon: "Hmm... /kisses Cute Curiosity's claw-hoof/ Enchanté." Cute Curiosity: "/blushes/ You have quite the dashing physique, Prince Leon. You must be quite the charmer to the ladies." Prince Léon: "/blushes embarrassedly/ If - If you're coming on to me, Miss Curiosity, I must say that I'm flattered, but I'm spoken fo - " Cute Curiosity: "CanIscanyourskeletonpleaseI'dliketoknowmoreaboutAlicornanatomyplease~!" Prince Léon: "...beg pardon?" Quasimodo Quartz: "Ohh, I'm terribly sorry, Prince Leon. She... gets like that. It's... her idea of an ice-breaker." Cute Curiosity: "Offer still standing~"

(One idea that we’d kicked around was that Prince Léon would be revealed to have been assigned female at birth. Quartzy realizing in hindsight that she could have opened up to him via letters to support one another, but not lingering on it.)

Flame Burst in her dress for the Grand Galloping Gala

Moonlit Bloom in her dress for the Grand Galloping Gala

Quartzy is swimming in love and congratulations at having been coronated as crown-princess, though she still hesitates to accept this. Royal Beauty meets with her 'nemesis' Cascade Glimmer (Fancy Pants & Fleur-de-lis's daughter), and their long-standing hatred of each other ends with the pair of them making out in a corridor. Flame Burst meets Honeysickle, a mysterious young Unicorn mare, in a corridor at the Gala, not wishing to take part in this, least of all with her hated and "retarded" little sister "Wormy".

Flame Burst: [having extracted herself from the festivities] /sigh/ Where the hell are you, Sugar? Mysterious Unicorn mare: Sugar Rush...? Oh yes, your marefriend! A real catch, isn't she? Flame Burst: [jumping] Gah! For the love of Celestia, don't scare me like that! And... how do you know she's my marefriend? [angry] Have you been stalking me?! Mysterious Unicorn mare: I happened to notice the two of you entering this Gala hoof-in-hoof. You were walking noticeably slower than her. I can put two and two together. Flame Burst: [rubbing her foreleg ruefully, grumbling and glancing aside] Hmm... Maybe... Mysterious Unicorn mare: My name’s Honeysickle, by the way.  Flame Burst: Flame Burst. And, don’t you mean ‘Honeysuckle’? Honeysickle: No it’s definitely Honeysickle. [looking at Flame Burst's wings] Well... look at how stunted your wings are. You must be a very poor flyer. Flame Burst: [baring teeth] Screw you, you bitch! It's a genetic problem and I can't do anything about it! [ears droop] Is it any wonder I don't have my cutie mark yet...? Honeysickle: Funny story; my elder sister has a much fuller set of wings. Strong, broad, able to carry a great deal of wind beneath them... Flame Burst: [glowering] If you think that that's going to make me want to be your friend, you're not helping your case. But Faust above if I wouldn't prefer you as my little sister. Honeysickle: [chuckles darkly, using her magic to unhook her dress and remove her contact lenses all at once, revealing heterochromatic eyes with black sclera] Flame Burst: [jaw drops as Honeysickle's wings unfurl] Honeysickle: [grins savagely] No... No, you really don't.

Honeysickle

So yeah, this Honeysickle is revealed to be Muddy May's shadow, her equal and opposite from a world of Shadows. In this world, there are “shadows” of people from the world of light, who bear basically the opposite personality traits and who carry traits that are lost in ponies of light (Honeysickle’s elder sister, Flame Burst’s Shadow, has the full wings that Flame Burst lacks because of a birth defect). This was an idea for a project that StarryOak wished to do before and that I proposed bringing into Ask Prince(ss) Quasimodo Quartz.

Anyway, Honeysickle kidnaps Muddy May and retreats back into her shadow-world, the Princesses of the Crystal Empire entering as well with Flame Burst, Sugar Rush, and Angel in tow.

In the shadow-world, Quasimodo Quartz meets her Grady Twins-esque shadows, one a pony and the other a changeling. The pair of them are aloof and arrogant, utterly despicable in their unjustified self-assuredness. Quartzy realizes that her self-doubts are not bad, but perhaps overblown. The shadow of Flame Burst is a snivelling grovelling servant to her little Alicorn sister Honeysickle, and Flame Burst is utterly furious that Shadow Burst has the full majestic wings I mentioned earlier, trying to pull them off.

Honeysickle: For being my elder sister's Caster, you are remarkably dull-witted. A Shadow bears those pieces which the Caster lacks. You were born with stunted growth in your wings; therefore, Shadow Burst's wings are full, and powerful. Whereas I am brilliant and canny... /smirks evilly/... and the single worst example of a pony you could ever meet.

Shadow Burst, Flame Burst’s Shadow

Honeysickle's evil plan is to turn the worlds on their heads, make the shadow-world dominant over the world of light.

Honeysickle: We are the Shadows. You are the Shadow-casters. Your identity is intrinsically contingent on our own... and yet, it is nothing that happens to us that determines when Shadows are born, live, or die. It is you Shadow-casters who ensnare the breadth of our lifespans. It is my intent to change that, however much Amalgor may loathe that intent.

She holds Muddy May captive, seeking to twist the knife in the sides of both Flame Burst and Muddy May.

Honeysickle: [holding Muddy May in her magic] It's true, isn't it, "Flamey"? You said it; you'd rather have me as a sister, rather than little "Wormy" here. Flame Burst: [teeth bared] YOU LET MY SISTER GO! Muddy May: [almost crying] Flay-Burrs...! Honeysickle: [grinning savagely] Tell her, or she dies. Did you not say that? Flame Burst: [eyes widen] /gasp/ Honeysickle: Clock is ticking, 'Flay-Burrs'~ Flame Burst: [tearing up] I... I...! [beat] Flame Burst: ...it's true, Muddy. I did say it. Muddy May: [lips quivering] F-F-Flay-Burrs...? Honeysickle: [lets Muddy May loose] There, was that so hard? All you had to do was break her little heart. But really, what does it matter to you? After all, you'd rather have ME as a little sister. Remember, it was you that said it.

Flame Burst sees past her insecurities about her tiny wings and lack of a cutie mark, rising to Muddy May's defense and pounding Honeysickle down, with aid from Angel and from her Shadow who despises Honeysickle. Flame Burst earns her cutie mark in protecting the ones she loves, and she does indeed love her sister deep down. Honeysickle attempts to salvage her grand plan by gloating to the neutralized gods and goddesses of Equestria who'd been drawn into her shadow-world, but is laughed down by Luna...

Honeysickle: I'm afraid you've run into a small roadblock, all of you. I am evil, more than anything anyone has ever faced. You'll kneel before your Shadows and become the true Shadows. I am your new ruler, one beyond you. Luna: /laughs/ Honeysickle: [pauses, glaring] What did you say, Worm? Luna: You... You really think that you're the most evil being that has ever been? [smirking] Honeysickle: [stomping hoof] I AM! May I remind you who is captured here? Luna: Oh yes, powerful, one who has to neutralize us to cast us down is truly all-powerful. Honeysickle: I AM POWERFUL! I AM YOUR NEW- Luna: I have been more evil than thee, long ago. And yet, I lost. Honeysickle: And that's why I'm the better. I won't! Luna: That's not the point. You're not more evil than anything that has ever been. Discord was once dictator of the world, cruel and horrible, for times immeasurable, beyond time and above any of us in power. Discord: I wasn't going to point that out. I was enjoying the show. Honeysickle: SHUT UP! Luna: I attempted to create eternal night as NightMare Moon. I almost doomed the entire world to die in the cold, unrelenting night.

So yeah, Honeysickle finds out that she's actually quite low on the Sorting Algorithm of Evil after all. And that's how she's defeated.

Meanwhile, Quartzy is engaged in a deal-with-the-devil scenario with Amalgor, the most powerful entity in the shadow-world, who attempts to barter a trade of Quartzy's undesired Changeling traits with something of his body parts. Quartzy refuses, a great moral victory and acceptance of what she is. Especially given that Amalgor is the Shadow of Starswirl the Bearded, having bartered so many pieces from so many other creatures over the years that he's effectively his own being, a draconequus of his own making. But since Amalgor had been cheated by a Changeling known as Simbad in ages prior, a Changeling of the hive of Chrysalis's grandmother, he's nursed a special resentment towards Changelings. But as long as Quartzy refuses to engage in his game, he is effectively powerless at making her a lesser being.

Amalgor

Simbad, for his part, was alarmed at the breakdown of Shadows entering the world of light, fleeing from his solitude in the castle in Everfree to warn everypony of the pending disaster. This was the breaking of the wish he’d made to Amalgor as reward for beating the shadow-draconequus at his own game. His “eternal freedom” from the hive meant he would never die, but seeing the Shadows return to the world of Shadow-casters... he flew to Canterlot posthaste. He was wary of Quasimodo Quartz at first, the great-granddaughter of his old Queen, but he followed her back to the Crystal Empire regardless.