Princess Cadence sighed in boredom,
"Shining, want to go out for a picnic?" she said with a half smile.
"Sure! Just let me tell General Swain that i'll be gone for awhile." he winked.
"Alright. I'll just be waiting here." She nuzzled him before he parted. Sighing again, she made her way to the kitchen to prepare their dinner at the park. As she passed by a mirror, she notices her mane is frizzled. She quickly rushed to the washroom for her brush. She then face-hoofed remembering that she left it in her chamber. She looked out into the hall to see if anypony was there. Safe and clear, she quickly galloped down the hall that lead to her chambers. She suddenly felt a little shake but stopped at little moments. Ignoring the seismic activity,she continued and eventually reached her chamber. The ruptures became more powerful each time it struck. Cadence quickly finds cover on her bed since she thought it was an earthquake. The ruptures became so violent, she was sure her brain wobbled with it. Suddenly it stopped. She counted to 15 incase it would start up again. Finally feeling safe, she made her way to the washroom to pamper her mane.
Skarner could see the glint! Its so close!He let his rage fuel him through his last efforts to reach the top.
He thrashed out, spilling bits of crystal everywhere. Relentless, he finally merged out from the sewers of the city. The floor bursted in his wake, causing a couple of crystal ponies flying. Citizens scream in terror and fear as Skarner blindly bashed houses and destroyed neighborhoods. Immediately, he encountered several guards who put up resistance on the crystal being. Skarner slashed all of them at once, knocking them all down unconscious.
"Where are you Sombra?!" he cried as he smashed through a kiosk. He then encounters more guards, this time they're elite. Skarner breaks off little shards of crystal and barrages them until they all fell. Pegasi guards then try to pin him down from atop, while unicorn guards tried to maintain him too. The other guards charged with their heavy nets and spears. Skarner lashed his tail knocking away the pegasi guards, whipped his pincers left to right smacking guards. he then sunk to the ground to lose the nets that enveloped him. He came back up behind the surprised guards then he caused a fissure by his magic, causing them to tumble. Satisfied of the downed guards, he made his way towards the castle. Reeking havoc upon his path and anything that stood against him.
"Swain!" Shining called out,"I've been loo-..." he was interrupted by Swain
"No time sir! Theres a rampaging crystal beast in the city!" he quickly said, "We need immediate reinforcements, it's extremely dangerous!" then he turned to the exit. Swain was the General of the Canterlot Army, he was famously known to repel a gryphon attack with the ratio 1:5 of forces. Now an officer, he has retired to the Crystal Empire's army. His coat is very dark green, his mane is very short and very dark blue. His red eyes displayed fatigue, but full of terror. Oh his left shoulder plate, stuck out a branch for his companion,Beatrice who is a 6-eyed crow, to stand on. He had a cane for his right hoof to keep him balanced on his old legs. The unicorn had an aura that frightens nearby civilians.
The prince sighed, then he turned to a courier that has just entered the room.
"Teemo!" the small and young courier turned his attention to Shining,"Inform Princess Cadence that I will be busy."
"Yes sir!" the courier rushed towards the stairs leading to the upper levels of the castle. Shining quickly made his way towards the armoury.
Skarner continued to hold of guards, but more and more keep blocking his way. The guards barely had much scratches on him. Then a particular pony caught Skarner's attention. He had a bandana covering his muzzle with a strange bird on his shoulder. The guards made space between both of them and Skarner patiently awaits for whatever was about to happen.
"Son," he gestured to Skarner," have you ever heard of the saying 'the early birds guts the worm'?"
"Enough of your mockery," Skarner frowned, "lead me to your prince or get out of the way." he snarled at the old pony.
"No need, im here." Shining entered the dilemma. "If you're a creature of speech, then you should be capable of wisedom, then you should be capable of reasoning. Before anypony gets hurt, I would like to talk this over with you... peacefully."
Skarner kept his frown.
"I will not hurt anypony unless you let me 'see' the real prince."
"I'm afraid im the pony you're looking for."
"You are not Prince Sombra!!" He then charged at both Swain and Shining. Swain quickly stomps his cane, emitting a set of runes appearing around Skarner. The runic symbols than turned bright and bind Skarner at where he is. Shining then dispelled Skarner's magic causing him to drop his pincers and stinger. Swain's horn lightened as he casts a ball of green flame. As the ball reached Skarner, the ball was absorbed by his body then began to cause tremendous pain. Skarner clenched his muzzle. He then broke Swain's binding and suck beneath the floor. He has escaped. He emerged underneath Swain,forcing him to step aside to regain his balance. He struck his stinger towards Swain but missed him. Beatrice then flew in front of Skarner, and glared into his eyes. Her glare brought Skarner to his knees as her glare sapped his energy. The guards surrounding the crystal dreadnought quickly tried to hold him down, causing him to break his stare at Beatrice. Realizing the situation, he lashed out on the guards knocking them all away. He turned towards Swain and slashed the pony. He grimaced in pain and backed off. Shining then used his magic to hold him down.
"Stop!" Skarner turned to Shining, "If it's King Sombra you're looking for, he's been vanquished awhile ago." Skarner first stared at the captain, then looked down in thought.
"Civilian, if you lied to me. I will personally tear both of you apart." his frown softened. Shining gently let him down as Swain recovered from his wound.
"You're quite a powerful creature. How did you end up here?" Swain asked.
"Why thats Skarner!" exclaimed one of the crystal ponies, "He's the personal elite guard of Queen Terra!"
" 'Was'," he corrected the civilian, "I saw her die in front of me." Skarner then had a sad expression on his face, "I must avenge her, for it was her last wish; my promise to her."
"Im very sorry, but you do not need to worry about him anymore. Neither should you be rampaging around here just to seek audience with him. Queen Terra would've told you the same."
"I do apologize to all the damage I have done." said Skarner to maintain his honour.
"Well you have caused guards to lose their lives. So your punishment shall be severe."
"I understand."
"First of all, you'll be repairing the damages you've caused to the city." Skarner nodded, "Second, you'll spend time in the crystal cellars. We'll decide how long soon. Third, I would like you to perform regular patrolling since you were a formal guard." the crystal pony simply nodded."Lastly, you will join the army and train unicorn guards with combat magic, assuming you're most adept with it. Do you understand?"
At first Skarner questioned this demand, but shook away the thought.
"I understand captain."
"Good. You will start repairing the city, both the sewage and housing." Skarner nodded and immediately got to work. Shining turned to eagerly tell his princess what happened today.
"Dear Celestia!" Shining turned to see the awestruck Swain, "It appears your punishment isn't 'severe' at all so far."
"What do you me-..." his jaw dropped as he witnessed the crystal pony at work. His horn shone brightly as crystal shards flew here and there. He placed back the pieces that were bashed off of buildings then smoothened their surfaces. The crystal repair-material flowed out of the hole where Skarner first emerged. Shining was stunned at Skarner's amazing ability to multitask. Not too long later, Skarner finished and the city looks perfectly the way it used to look. He turned to Shining,
"Whats next sir?"
"Uh... " he turned to Teemo who was watching the whole event. "Teemo! Will you bring Skarner to Sgt. Poppy, she'll give her briefing to Skarner's patrol area."
"Yes sir!" he replied with glee, then sped off as Skarner had trouble keeping pace.
"How much time do you plan to make him do?" whispered Swain.
"About 7 months, and will you help us in preparing the funerals for the 3 dead guards?"
"Most willing sir." Then departed from the captain. Shining made his way towards the castle entrance. What a day! Can't wait to tell Cadence! I wonder if we can still go on that picnic... He facehoofed, I was supposed to tell Swain that I would be busy! He silently cursed to himself.
He approaches Cadence's chamber, tip-toeing to be careful not to leave sounds giving away clues to his approach. he opens the door to find the princess snoozing on the bed. Quickly, but silently, he made his way towards her then leapt onto the bed beside her. Surprised, the princess yelped.
"Relax hun, its me!" she smiled at him then planted a kiss on his cheek.
"What took you so long?"
"Oh my, where to start?" she leaned in to listen to him easier, "Swain alerted me of a crystal beast rampaging on the streets..."
Cadence gasped at the news.
"Did anypony get hurt?!"
"Yes,48 wounded and 3 dead." his smile faded quickly. As well as her's.
"...so go on..."
"Well we had a very intense battle, me and Swain, with this thing... then once we finally had a sure hold of him. We reasoned things out--oh yes, he could talk-- and he apologized, then we found out that he was Princess Terra's personal guard!"
"Princess Terra?! But she's been slain before King Sombra's rule!"
"I guess he's been there at the time too. So then i proposed his punishments and guess what I offered him."
"How did you punish him?"
"First, to repair all of his damages, then do regular patrols assigned by Poppy, then spend his time in the crystal cellars. The last one was that he was to join the Crystal Empire's army and start off by training unicorn newbies."
'Wow!"
"But you see, he repaired all the damage that he caused in probably less than a minute! And geez, did he wreck havoc down there!"
"Ookay..." Shining notices her lack of enthusiasm then chuckled.
"Guess you had to be there to admire his works."
"And all that within 2 hours?"
"2 hours?! Felt like almost the whole day!" he paused then realized, "We can still go on our picnic!" he said with glee. She laughed at his enthusiasm.
"I guess thats true, i'll get our dinner for the park ready." she got out of bed and walked towards the door and turned down the hall leading to the kitchen. "I'll meet you at the entrance in about 40 minutes." she said, then winked.
"Slow down young one!" Skarner said over his panting as he tried to keep pace with the fast scout. His name is Teemo, his coat is pale brown. He has brown spots surrounding his eyes, and his mane is valiant orange. He has dark brown irises, and has a cap with goggles and an orange feather. His cutie mark is a boot with wings, representing his swiftness and cunningness. A telescope hung around his neck, and he carries a sack of scrolls and food.
He said nothing, but slowed a bit so the crystal pony could catch up. He lead him through pillers and trails he has never seen before. Probably because he's been slumbering for so long.
They stepped forth through an open door which leads them directly to the briefing room. There, a party of guards were receiving a lecture from a very young girl!
"...and so your group..." She gestured to a trio of guards, "will be exibiting section 12." she pointed to a large rectangle at the map behind her. "Any questions? Get outta here!" she concluded. The guards all got up to leave while Skarner and Teemo made their way towards Poppy.
"Ah Teemu!" she hugged him very hard, "Hows the field doin'? Oh and wheres Tristy?" She winked.
"Haha, Trist is loungin'. The field is boring as usual, not that we want something to happen of course."
"Mhm cool, and whos this guy?" she turned her attention to Skarner, "somekind of crystal-crystal pony?"
"He's a former guard of Princess Terra back in the days, he now serves Shining and he wants you to appoint him a patrol area."
Poppy tapped her head in thought.
"Come 'ere," she gestured to follow her, "Whats your name brother?"
"Skarner ma'am."
"Don't get formal with me, it makes me feel like a tyrant. But around Shining, you address me as ma'am. Y' hear?"
"Sure thing Poppy."
She lead him to the map and pointed at a rectangle.
"You'll be assisting other guards here, they are patroling the mountain beyond the Wolfria plains. This place can be dangerous, but we do lack guards there so it would be be ideal for the likes of you."
Skarner nodded.
"Exactly how many others are there?" Skarner asked.
She paused for a moment.
"3. 1 is a scientist, another is a gunner, and the third one is a special ops agent." she rolled up the map, "The first guy's name is Dr. Lucious, the gunner's codename is Caitlyn, although her real name is gears. The agent prefers to be called Kennen."
"When do I leave?"
"Now if possible."
Skarner nodded in acknowledgement, then went to part from the door, Teemo also followed him as well.
"Hold on Teemu, don't you wanna hang out so more?" Poppy winked at Teemo.
"Eh... sure." he quickly went by Poppy side and began their conversation.
Skarner shrugged, then continued his departure.
Why would anypony station guards here?! No enemy would even imagine planning their invasion here! Skarner complained, he approached a dim orange light indicating the campfire of his patrol site. The freezing winds blew against him as he trotted through the snow. 2 ponies were standing guard, and exchanged questioning glances as they saw Skarner's silhouette. Skarner held up his badge as soon as their features were visable. They nodded and gestured him into their hideout.
They ducked under a curtain that protected them from the mountain winds.
"Fellow guard, tell us your name." asked the pony with a large hat.
"I am Skarner."
"You look mighty strange for a guard, more like a crystal dino!" she giggled, "Im Caitlyn," she bowed then pointed to a pony with spectacles, "That Dr. Lucious..."
"Ehm, just call me Luio please." and gave an awkward smile.
"And thats agent Kennen." she gestured to the silent pony only revealing his eyes.
"It is my honour to meet you all." Skarner bowed.
"Please, make yourself at home." she gave another smile. Caitlyn had a large, purple with gold linings hat attached with sets of spectacles. She has a mane that was brown and her coat is lavender. Her eyes are also purple. Her cutie mark is cross-hairs representing her sharpness and skill in dexterity. And not to mention her sharp observative skills.
"Oh my!" Luio rushed to Skarner in admiration, checking out all of his features, "What kind of being are you?! Yo-you must be one of those rare beings...uh uh... The Bracken!" he jumped with glee in sudden realization. Then dazed in thought, "Your kind is supposed to be extinct...". Luio had a brown coat with a short dark brown mane, he wore spectacles at his right eye. His cutie mark was a beam of light, representing enthusiastic and positive, and resourceful.
"My kind... I miss my kind..."
"Oh, im sorry i ever mentioned it."
"Its alright Docter..."
"Please just call me Luio, and i am curious to know the history of the Brackern." he suddenly stood up have a weak smile, "If tha- thats okay with you of course!"
"It's okay... alright, where to start?" Kennen and Caitlyn also gathered around Skarner to hear his tale.
"Back before I met Queen Terra or the Crystal Empire..."
"Skarner! Get those crystal batteries on now!" screamed Igneous, "They are advancing!"
"On it!" then Skarner dashed away down the line. He readied his horn as he used his magic to whir up the crystal machines. He fed it energy and soon it was able to last on it's own. He moved on to the next machine then the next. Once he reached the last machine, he watched as the machines barraged crystals that left behind magic residue. Their attack was once again, useless.
"They're falling back! Victory for the Brackens once again!" Igneous screamed with pride, our soldiers roared in pride as well. The Bracken were unique beings that held a skill to allow their life essence into crystals. This allowed many arcane potential which left them with immense power. Although a passive species, they will not tolerate any beings that dare threaten their kind. There are those who seek to learn from the Bracken, and those who wanted to steal their power.
"Well done Skarner, you have once again won us another skirmish with these contraption that you've invented!" Igneous patted Skarner on the shoulder, "Say... what do you think about becoming more than just a scientist... perhaps an honorary Captain in our military forces?"
"I would be most honoured!"
"Great!"...
"...And so then I eventually became their most prized warrior."
"Intriguing! Please continue!" said Caitlyn with glee.
"Mhm, but everything changed when we were involved in the Rune Wars."
"Rune Wars?! Holy hay! That war raged in almost all of Equestria!" remarked Luio.
"Your statement is true. However, war also marked the Bracken's endangered status..."
"Get these civilians purified!" yelled Skarner over the cries of bracken civilians.
"We aren't prepared for this! They have us now!" said a soldier as he broke down in terror. Skarner tried to help him regain reality.
"Yes, I fear we may have to resort to... hibernate... gather the other leaders, we must discuss matters that will decide the Bracken's fate."
The soldier got up on his legs and saluted, he then dashed off.
While he was dealing with that, Skarner tried his best to fight off the poison that infected the poor bracken. Unfortunately, the poison resisted crystal magic and killed the poor civilian. Skarner, careful not to infect himself, helped to carry him away to the deceased. When the Rune Wars started, it was between the kingdom of minotaurs, and the elementals. The Brackens had no interest in war, but research and mining. Of course, the war allowed the jeopardy of alliances therefore leaving the Bracken vulnerable to any large attack. The Bracken were confident since they've been through these kinds of attack before but this time was different. The elementals released a poison into the Bracken's crystal depot, infecting many of their supplies. The infection dulled the Bracken's ability to herd crystal, so long enough exposure caused the being's soul to separate with the crystal, causing death. The infection spread madly across the Bracken, killing off 3/4 of their population.
"Ugh!" Skarner screeched in frustration on his lack of action against the infection.
"Grand Master Skarner!" a group of brackens called out, one of them was Igneous. Igneous' crystal carapace was shaped like a tiger, and since the Bracken didn't take the appearance of ponies, they had no cutie mark. The other four are Sulphate: a mighty golem, Bollian: a unique splice of eagle and a hornet, Cathode: an ape-like being, then Bonanza: the crystal dragon. "You called?" said Sulphate.
"I have gathered you all here in desperate times... which calls for desperate measures. I have come up with the solution to preserve our kind."
"And what solution do you have in mind?" replied Bonanza.
"We initiate hibernation." they all gasped.
"Skarner, you do realize the time it takes to do such a thing!" remarked Cathode, "We can fend off the Elementals!"
"Don't be foolish! We can not fight against this plague." Skarner sighed, "I fear the extinction of our kind, and this is our only resort."
"I agree, we haven't been able to save even one civilian!" said Igneous, Skarner nodded to him.
"We will need to be as efficient as possible to maximise the amount of lives we can save." the leaders all nodded in agreement, but with sad expressions. Then Bonanza glanced up at Skarner,
"If we hibernate, we will need someone to awaken us..."
"Yes, I will volunteer, but only I will volunteer. I will slumber higher than our kind so that i will be the first to awaken. If I were to be satisfied with the environment, i will awaken the rest of the Bracken. Reviving our kind."
"Most bold, but most risky."
"Indeed, now lets go! Time is precious!" they all nodded and left in a hurry. Skarner did too.
"Oh dear!" Caitlyn gasped, "What happened next?"
"We lost 500 more lives out of the remaining 1200." Skarner replied.
Luio and Kennen yawned.
"Perhaps, we should rest. Tomorrow will be severe. The weather has been acting up! So we'll need all of our energy!" remarked Luio.
"But we'll be anticipating for the rest of your story Skarner." Caitlyn added in.
"Agreed." said Kennen. They all prepared their beds and tucked themselves in. Each daydreaming about Skarner's story. Then about whatever their mind desired.
All of a sudden, an ear-piercing screech echoed into the hideout.