In the silence of the throne room where Michael sat he heard the sounds of the wind and howling of Sombra outside the shield. He at this point decided to meditate to keep his energy reserve in check so he could focus his power on the shields defense. He had no idea what Cadence was going through when she held up the shield and now he was taking to full brunt of it. This Sombra was a powerful @#$hole if he could give Michael this big a headache.
His silence was interrupted tho when he heard voices from the corridor and in came the mane 6 including one Spike and Shining armor combo. But as he opened his eyes he noticed Shining had some black stuff coating his horn. He got up slowly keeping his magic focus on the shield as he walked over. Shining noticed a certain pony missing from the room then. "Where is Cadence. I thought she was holding the shield and speaking of which why is it blue?" Michael smiled at that and raised a hand. "Wait what? Its yours?"
"Guilty as charged. I took control of the shield to let Cadence rest. She looked like she needed it. Now i know how she felt. Minus the sleep depression." Michael said rubbing the back of his head.
"How did you make that shield? Only me and Cadence..." Shining started but was interrupted
"I didn't make it. I took control of her shield away from her and now I maintain it. Also I took every precaution against anyone else taking control unless I allow it. Speaking of which what happened to your horn?" Michael asked poking it and getting a little shock in return.
"Sombra did something on the way here and now he can't use it." Twilight spoke up as the girls looked at Shining in worry.
"I guess that means I can't ask you to fill in for me."
"I'm afraid not." Shining said.
"Well I guess it doesn't matter. When Cadence is ready I shall return control to her. In the meantime you girl...and spike should go and search for information on how to stop Sombra. When Cadence returns I shall help." Michael said taking a seat again on the floor.
"I talked with some of the townsfolk myself in my free time before I got you all. I couldn't get anything out of them. Try asking around and see if you can get where I couldn't." Shining said and the girls nodded and ran off with spike right after them. "Speaking of which what should I do?" He asked Michael.
"Your of no use with your horn like that. Head to the infirmary and see about removing those crystals from it and then go to your wife. She needs you now." Michael said and Shining nodded and left him there. At that Michael returned to his meditating. He felt more pulses in his shield as Sombra pounded on it.
Time passed and Michael heard hoof steps again. He looked up and saw Cadence had returned. "Feeling better?" He asked as she smiled and nodded. "Good." He got up and looked up at the shield.
"I can take the shield back now if you want to go help the others." She said as Michael noticed Shining had entered the room.
"Alright then." Michael prepared the spell to transfer control back to Cadence as she prepared to take control. All of a sudden a pulse passed through the shield making Michael lose focus as the shield shattered and Cadence got hit with the brunt of the magic making her become dizzy. "Uh oh." He ran to the window and saw the dark clouds in the distance. Sombra must have hit the shield as they were transfering power.
"Quick we need to get the shield back up." Shining said as he went to his wife's side. By then she had recovered and was working quickly with her magic. As Sombra got closer her magic flared up and the shield became active again tho unbeknownst to them it pushed Sombra back and cut his horn off as it fell inside the shield. Michael looked out the window again to see Sombra getting pushed back by the shield as he sighed in relief.
"That was close." He said looking back at Cadence and Shining who nodded in agreement.
"Lets not do that again. I think i'll just hang on to the shield for now." Cadence said with a nervous smile.
"Agreed. I suggest you 2 head for the balcony."
"Ok it would be good for us to oversee the festival." Shining said as he picked Cadence up to her feet.
"Festival?"
"Yeh. Twilight found out that the kingdom had a protection system. An artifact known as the crystal heart. It is said to be powered by the joy of the crystal ponies so they plan to put together the annual crystal fair to bring up the ponies spirits to power the heart."
"Wait they already have the crystal heart?" Michael asked.
"um no they made...one...uh oh." shining then realized what Michael was getting at.
"uh huh I don't think its that simple that you can just make a crystal heart. They must have had one that was specifically designed to work. When Sombra ruled he must have hidden it somewhere but..." Michael's train of though was interrupted then as Twilight and spike came in running for the throne. Michael looked back at Shining and Cadence and they nodded before they headed to the balcony.
Michael walked over to Twilight and saw he staring at the crystal behind the throne. "Let me guess. You found out about the heart." Twilight turned and nodded.
"Yeh tho it was actually Rainbow who figured it out when one of the ponies remembered it."
"So...why are you here?"
"Simple. I heard a riddle from a Crystal pony about the wear about of the heart. I think its here." She said. Before Michael could say anything else Twilight started to focus her magic in her horn which then became dark purple. It then shot out to the crystal. She broke the magic off as the crystal glowed and the floor gave way to a stairway. Michael looked to the stairs then back to twilight. "Something the Princess showed me."
"That was dark magic. You shouldn't be using it."
"I'm fine. I only use it in short bursts." She said catching her breath as she started walking down. Michael noticed Spike wasn't following and didn't question it.
He decided to take the quick route and jump down the gap in the middle of the circle stairs. He fell for awhile before landing at the bottom gently using his wings The first thing he noticed was a door with a crystal adorning the top. He heard a grunt and some thuds from above and noticed Twilight falling down the stairs. He waved his hands to stop her decent and lower her down to the bottom. "Thanks." she said as she landed on her feet.
"You guys ok down there?" Spikes voice echoed from above.
"Yeh were fine spike." Twilight called back up as she examined the door. She figured it could open the same way as the crystal but before she could begin casting she felt Michael flick her horn disrupting the magic. "Not again. Besides i don't think Sombra was that stupid to use the same opening spell as everything else." He said as magic enveloped his hand and he shot it at the crystal making it glow bright. The door clicked opened revealing outside. Michael noticed the shield faltering. "Oh no. That disruption earlier must have weakened Cadence when she redid the shield. We need to hurry."
"Right." Twilight said as they proceeded through the door.