Crystal Empire, the northern neighbour country of Equestria under the gentle rule of both Princess Cadance and her husband Shining Armor, and nation with a tragic past. Over 1000 years had it been cursed to nothingness only because of one pony’s selfishness and madness. Of course the curse was now finally broken, thanks to the braveness of a young dragon and the Elements of Harmony, but the curse had still left behind its scars and managed to destroy the culture and history of this once shining empire almost completely. Not even its own citizens were able to remember much about their home country, nor their own pasts. The most information they had was from old books and diaries that had been spared from the insane king’s fury, and sadly it wasn’t that much.
But the Empire managed, and little by little crystal ponies started to remember thing and new books were found from the rooms, which Sombra had hidden or sealed with his crystal magic.
And to Shining Armor’s great annoyance and misfortune, the most of these kinds of rooms were inside the Crystal Castle. Yes, he was well aware of the fact that the castle was the most likely place, since royalty usually had a lot of information and secrets to hide and the castle had once been the unicorn king’s home, something that Shining tried his best to forget, but it still didn’t made him feel any better whenever he was forced to wait patiently on side while those few crystal unicorns did their best to undo those numerous spells that had been used to hide those rooms from them.
Just like he was doing right now while two of them slowly studied completely original looking, plain wall that he had passed thousands of times during his way to the throne room without noticing anything unoriginal. If someone had asked from him, it still looked and felt like a normal wall, but in that very same morning two of castle’s servants had suddenly decided to remember that there should have been a some sort of room or rooms (one of them had been talking about a single bedroom while other one waffled about king’s personal library and study) in this exactly same spot, which no one hadn’t cleaned over a thousand years.
“Anything new?” Cadance asked from her husband when she entered inside the small hall, her gaze following how two unicorns discussed with hushed tone as they scanned the crystal formation with their glowing horns.
“As far as I have understood, they are sure that there is indeed some kind of open space behind the wall,” the former Captain of Equestria’s royal guards told her with a bit worried tone. “Right now they are just trying to locate any possible curses and/or traps that might have been cast on it before they are even going to try to undo Sombra’s spell.”
The mare wrinkled her muzzle just slightly when Shining’s words reminded her about the accident the last secret room had caused. Three of their seven mages, the only known unicorns who had mastered the art of crystal magic, had been injured, one of whom was still in the Royal Hospital recovering from the very serious injury that sharp crystal shard, which had pierced her stomach, had caused. It was only miracle that young mare had even survived over her first night, but luckily now it seemed like within couple months she would be almost as good as new.
“But that is not the only thing that is bothering you,” Cadance simply noted, knowing Shining well enough to notice when he was hiding something from her.
“No,” the stallion admitted still continuing his staring contest with the wall. “Something in this whole situation just doesn’t feel right. The doorway was hidden so much better compared to other hidden passages. There have always been hints; taste of the magic in the air, weirdly placed furnitures, markings on the maps… But this time, nothing. Nothing at all…”
“Almost like he truly wanted to make sure that no one could find it,” the Princess of Love finished his sentence now understanding the reason behind the white unicorn’s suspiciousness. “You are worried that he left something dangerous in there.”
Shining nodded his head seriously before his glare finally softened and he turned to look at his beloved wife. “It will probably be nothing unusual. Just another room full of old documents or paintings from your ancestors. Or who knows: maybe we will finally find those lost crown jewels your aunts mentioned.”
“Oh, yes,” the pink alicorn chuckled thinking about the portrait of some late king of the Empire, which they had found last month. “That crown will suit you perfectly.”
The stallion grimaced. “You know, if that monstrosity is truly there, we could always melt it and tell everyone that it was never found, right?” he asked hopefully, making his wife grin grow even wider than before.
“I don’t think so dear,” she told him causing stallion to let out defeated groan. “It’s an important part of the Empire’s culture after all.”
“Excuse me your Majesties,” the slightly older of two crystal unicorns spoke politely as he moved closer the royal couple, who immediately gave him all their attention. “We would now like to try to break the wall, so could you please move somewhere safe or at least activate a shield spell if you wish to stay.”
“Are you sure it will be safe?” Cadance asked worriedly. She truly wished to avoid the precious accident, not only because the Empire already had some problems because of lack of unicorns, and pegasi too, but she was also honestly worried about two crystal mages’ wellbeing.
The brownish red stallion simply nodded his head but Shining was able to notice his slightly unsure posture when he started explain the situation to them. “There were only some very advance hiding spells and confuse jinxes, nothing we weren’t able to undo, but the problem is that… well you see your Majesties… We weren’t able to locate any kind of damaging or dark magic on the wall.”
Cadance and Shining shared a surprised look. This was something unheard. Whatever had happened to the mad unicorn before the fall of the Empire it had made Sombra the creature of pure dark magic, causing every single spell he had cast to ooze it, no matter how simple it was. “Are you saying that this spell isn’t Sombra’s doings?”
“It’s the most likely theory,” the other unicorn, an ice blue mare with lavender mane, admitted while approaching the other three ponies. “Or then he did it before he went nuts.”
The older crystal pony let out a frustrated sigh as he turned to look at his partner annoyed look on his face. “Didn’t we already talk about this, Frost Gem? There was never a such a thing as “a good Sombra”.”
“No one has born to be “evil”,” Frost Gem argued and pocked the stallion with her hoof. “It’s not like he just appeared from nowhere to curse our home. He was probably just another normal citizen of the Empire just like you and me.”
“Well yes, but I still don’t believe that he would have done it to his own home country. And don’t you remember his coat? Sombra was clearly a foreign conquer so there is no way he would have been able to made this wall while being “a good person”.”
“And how you explain his superior skills with crystal magic skills? Huh? Huh?”
“I don’t know. Maybe some naïve idiot like you taught him.”
“Ahem.” Cadance cleared her throat to get the two arguing unicorns attention. The fight between them was clearly old and would probably go circles for hours unless it was interrupted on time. “You mentioned something about wanting to try break the wall, didn’t you mister Jasper.”
“Oh, yeah, right,” the red pony chuckled nervously and started quickly to drag his partner towards the magical crystal formation, not caring the younger mare’s protests.
“Thanks for taking care for that,” Shining said sheepishly as he created a shield around him and his wife. “Lately there has been so many similar fights between guards that I don’t know if I can stand it anymore.”
The pink alicorn sighed sadly. “They are only trying to understand what happened to them when Sombra cursed the Empire,” she said, her voice full of sympathy. “It’s only natural them to get upset about it when all they have are just vague memories and inexact reports.”
“You are probably right,” the white stallion agreed as he followed how the wall in front of them started to glow in the colours of the crystal unicorns’ magical auras. The stone groaned and let out series of loud crackling sounds while the small spiderweb cracks started to appear on its once so smooth surface, and to their relief, neither of the royals was able to see any clues that could refer to a possible explosion.
Slowly the crystals began to crumble into the twinkling dust that shined in the all possible colours of the rainbow. It was a beautiful sight, but also took a lot more energy than two crystal mages had expected. Whoever had created the wall had clearly been very skilled and powerful unicorn. Finally Frost Gem couldn’t keep the spell up any longer and she signalled to her friend so they could drop the spell at the same time, this way avoiding a possible magic overexertion.
“Well that wasn’t much,” the stallion panted heavily and gave the wall, which now had a hole through which an tall adult pony would barely be able to squirm through, a frustrated look. Behind it seemed to be some sort bright staircase which were the most likely leading up to one of the castle’s many towers. It was hard to tell much more though, since there still had a pretty large amount of crystal dust in the air, making the hole itself and the area behind it a quite blurry.
“Yeah….” the younger pony sighed as she used her hoof to dry sweat from her forehead. “What do you think Fire Jasper. Should we ask others to come help or are we just going to try again after a little break?”
“I could also go investigate the area right now,” Shining Armor suggested. The royal couple had moved closer to study the process that the two unicorn had made. With the couple strong flap of her wings Cadance created a small flow that blew the dust away, revealing familiar slightly purple tinted white crystal walls, the identical colour that had been used in the many other rooms inside the castle, and several darker sooty torch holders that had been burnt out moons ago. All four ponies deepened to think what would be the best option to do next. Of course, they were interested to find out what kind of secrets this new tower hide inside but there was also the huge risk that if something happened to them in there, it wouldn’t be sure that auxiliaries would be able to come through the narrow hole fast enough.
“I don’t think you should go alone Shining,” Cadance said to her husband. “What if there is traps up there? Or ceiling falls?”
“If you are trying to say that you want go there with me, Cadance, then that’s not gonna happen,” the white unicorn told her a bit harshly. “I’m a trained soldier. Have a little faith on me.”
The mare gave just gave the male pony a blank look. “And how do you explain that instead of me it’s always you who needs to be saved?”
While the married couple continued their squabbling with each other whichever them should or should not go through the hole, the two crystal ponies shared a look; one of which was clearly amused while other one was more awkward, unsure what they should to do.
“Isn’t love suck a wonderful thing?” Frost Gem giggled behind her hoof earning a clearly not amused glare from her companion. “What? Did you really expected them to stay in the honeymoon state forever?” the mare asked now with teasing tone.
“I just think that it’s improper from subjects to push their muzzle into their rulers’ relationships. Or anypony else’s to be exact,” the red unicorn bridled with an annoyed matter.
“And since when you have been the Empire’s love expert?”
“Oh, it’s just part of a mare instincts,” the younger crystal mage winked and grinned a slightly flirty way. “We can feel it when there is love in the air, you know.” And after seeing how the stallion’s naturally red cheeks turned in the darker color than they should, Frost Gem let out yet another amused giggle and hit good naturedly her friend on the shoulder, which the stallion answered with rolling his eyes, even though anyone could have seen a small smile sneak through his otherwise stoic expression.
“Are those your so called instincts giving you any ideas how to stop them?” he finally asked after the married couple had continued their arguing over ten minutes.
“Oh, you bet,” she answered with sly smirk and she started to walk towards the newly revealed stairs talking with a loud voice. “I think you are right Jasper. It surely would be better if their Highnesses stay here while we trained professionals take care of dangerous mission like this.”
“Absolutely not!” Cadance and Shining Armor shouted in union, identical shocked expression on their faces, causing Frost to smirk towards the crystal stallion triumphantly. Celestia clearly wasn’t the only royal pony with obsession towards protecting their suspects with all cost. The immortal mare was so paranoid that even her royal guards were hardly given any more dangerous tasks than the everyday police forces faced.
“We all shall go. Together.” the former Captain of Guards announced sternly after frustrated sigh and ordered the near servant to go inform the castle’s guards about their plans before walking to the hidden stairway, his wife and the two mages soon following him.
Just like every other stairs that leaded up to the castle’s high and sharp towers, this one followed the walls with spiraling motion. The staircase was a little dark without the light of burning torches, but the natural light that came through the stained windows was more than the four ponies needed. Everything seemed to be completely original, but as soon as they had made their way around the very first turn, they saw something they hadn’t expected to see. Or at least with so many numbers.
“Are those all portraits?” Cadance asked her gaze following the line of the paintings that hung on the wall between every second crystal torch. Every single of them showed at least one crystal pony wearing expensive looking jewelry and familiar looking crown that was cowered with colorful crystal and gems that shined in the every color of the rainbow.
Shining grimaced out of disgust as he recognized the missing Crown Jewel. “Your ancestors I bet,” the stallion pointed out and continued climbing, not showing anymore much interest towards the paintings. That doesn’t mean though that the three other ponies weren’t allowed to admire the over thousand years old masterpieces that, despite the tight layer of dust on them, were in excellent shape.
“The late king and queens shall always guard their children sleep….” Frost Gem muttered under her breath as she stared at the painting from a beautiful pink crystal unicorn with brilliant amber eyes, making her friend to look her over his shoulder with a confused expression.
“You said something?” the red stallion asked, but the mare just shook her head, tearing her eyes from the painting.
“Naah. Just phrase from some old poem I just remembered. Nothing to worry about,” she promised to him with a forced smile. The stallion gave her a suspicious look but then struggled his shoulders and hurried after the princess who had just disappeared out of their sight. Before following him though, the pale blue mare glazed quickly towards the royal pony’s portrait one more time, only to shake her head again and gallop after the three other ponies before she would lost them.
The frozen eyes of the kings and queens who had once ruled the Empire followed the quartet as they continued make their way up to the tower. Most of them seemed to be normal crystal ponies, but the group also saw some crystal unicorns and pegasi, even some Equestrian ponies, on their way to the top. After a several minutes of climbing they finally reached on the small flat where the ponies found themselves staring the blue crystal double doors. The doors surface, which time had dimed, were covered with complicated carvings from anything to whirling snowflakes to playing ponies, but still managing to give the Crystal Heart in the middle of it all the attention the magical relic deserved.
“Well that surely is one important looking door,” the white unicorn pointed out as he studied the object in front of him, then moved aside to make room for the two mages who he knew to be way more able to detect any possible harmful spells on it than he would ever be. The awestruck looks on the blue and red crystal unicorns faces were quickly replicated with more serious looks as they made their way past their princess, after giving her a small apologetic bows, while summoning the scanning spell that they had surely been practicing more than enough during the months Crystal Empire had spent rebuilding itself.
The duo continued to walk around the flat, occasionally pocking the walls and floor around the door with their hooves, telling each other words and numbers that made no sense to either Shining Armor or Cadance, even though both of them had more advanced magic users than regular unicorns. Though Shining was pretty sure that his sister would have understood every single technical term that the duo used and without doubt waste their time with complicated questions about the theory behind their spells. Finally the lights on the mages horns faded away, neither of them looking happy about results they had gotten.
“Maybe we should redo the spells one more time,” Frost suggested looking unsurely her partner who was currently gritting his teeth out of pure frustration.
“We already did it four times, Forsty. And the last round was so advanced that I swear I was able to detect the aftertaste of the door’s builder’s carving spell. The results are correct. They have to be…”
The mare bit her lower lip. “Well, it does suit on your theory that the room was hidden before Sombra’s takeover…”
“Nothing this time either?” the alicorn princess asked behind them from the side of her husband.
Jasper turned to look the royal couple and shook his head. “Not even single spell since the door was last polished over thousand years ago, your Majesty,” he told her before pointing the slightly outward projecting stone near the end of the stairs. “Though that one seems to activate some sort of mechanic spell that will make stairs move on their own.”
“So no more climbing.” the blue mare smirked trying her best to break tension that had fallen in the room and shook her hooves dramatically. “Thank Heart for that. My hooves would have died if I had to walk even one more stair.”
The joke had only a little effect and soon the four ponies were again staring suspiciously the door, each of them deep inside their thoughts, trying their best to figure out what was the best possible way of action in this situation.
“Do we have any other choice but open it and see what happens?” Cadance asked from the white stallion next to her, who clearly seemed to like the idea even less than letting his wife to come in the tower at all.
“I guess not…” he finally admitted with defeated sight, then motioned the two other unicorns to move closer him.
“Can either of you use magic through a class 9 shield spell?” Shining asked from them, causing the duo to give him confused looks.
“It depends what kind of spell you have in your mind, your Highness,” Frost Gem told him doubt in her voice. “But if you want us to try push the door open under your shield then… What do you think Jasper, ready for a one more challenge?”
The stallion rubbed his chin as he thought the idea. “In theory it could be possible… Though breaking the wall already took the most of our energy and the scanning spells didn’t help the matter at all…”
“I can do it,” Cadance said a happy smile on her lips. “I haven’t used my magic today that much and I did help you a lot with your shield spells while you were practicing on Royal Guard academy’s entering exam.”
“I’m not saying that I don’t trust you skills, dear, but we are now talking about a class 9 spell. Are you sure you can control a levitation spell through it?” Shining commented, only earning blank look from his wife.
“I’m an alicorn. What do you think?” she said sarcastically, pointing both her horn and wings. “And remind me again which one of us managed to keep Sombra away from the Empire?”
The stallion huffed out of annoyance then gave the pink mare playful nudge while creating his trademark shield around them and their two subjects.
“Charmer.” Cadence chuckled and slammed the stallion with her tail before she too light her horn up, neither of them noticing how Fire Jasper hit the back of the Frost Gem’s head so the younger mare would stop her soundless puking pantomime.
Slowly, soft cornflower blue aura appeared around the double doors and the alicorn princess started carefully push them open, which they did with little resistant, leaving only half circular shape on the dusty floor behind them. After Cadance let her spell wade away, the four ponies waited several minutes in heavy silence in case the action had trigged something, but when nothing happened Shining Armor lowered his shield and asked his wife to give one of her shoes to him. For a moment the three other ponies looked the blue maned unicorn like he had become crazy, but since Cadance had learnt trust her husband’s judgment during those many years she had known him, she gave him the golden slipper without bigger questions.
Without any bigger acts, the royal unicorn simply put the shoe on the stone floor in front of his hoof, then gave it a small kick, sending it to spin through the now open doorway. Only after his little test didn’t show any kind of effect the soldier let himself to relax and turned to look his companions a slightly smug smirk on his muzzle.
“It seems that your theory might actually be a correct one, Mr. Jasper.” the crystal mage muttered his thanks to him with awkward bow. “But let’s still be careful in case the person who hid these room left a nasty welcome gift to wait us.”
The four ponies made their way inside a slightly larger room, Cadance picking her shoe on the way, which seemed to be an anteroom of some sort. Unlike the staircase, the room’s rich garnet walls were decorated with bright colored wall cloths presenting the landscapes around the Crystal Empire, all way from its southern boulders to the frozen mountains of the north. There were also a couple more portraits that showed the very same couple from the last painting they had passed before reaching the end of the stairs. This time though, their family immortalized with them.
In one painting particularly, along the gently looking green and blue crystal mare and her must darker Equestrian unicorn spouse stood two still young unicorns. The younger of two, an ocean blue mare whose coat held the same crystal like shine as her mother’s, sat in front of her parents her eyes holding the laughter that only carefree soul was able to held, but still carrying her crown, which Cadance noted to be the same one she wore during official celebrations, with the pride of a true royal.
The familiar looking stallion next to her held almost identical colors as the older unicorn behind the younger mare. His gray coat was maybe only couple shades paler and unlike his father, the prince had comped his black mane with the similar manner as most crystal ponies did. He had though inherited most of his mother’s sharp features and his green eyes carried the same color as his younger sister, though stallion’s gaze was way more serious than the mare’s playful look.
“I… I remember these ponies!” the now excited Fire Jasper said suddenly, gaining the attention of the whole group as he started to point the ponies on the painting. “That’s Queen Blue Jade and her husband, Prince Cuervo. I used to serve them during my first years as a royal mage... The mare is their daughter Princess Cerceta. A sweet filly, a bit prankster though. She left the Empire several years before the curse because of her marriage with some Equestrian minister, if I remember right. And that is her older brother Crown Prince Som….” the words froze on the red unicorn’s lips as his eyes widened out of sudden relation and horror. “Oh…”
This surprising reveal made the four ponies stared the painting of late royal family in the new kind of light. Saying that they were confused was way too mild expression to describe their mixed feeling right now. The ponies in the painting looked so happy, not even mentioning how different the young Prince Sombra looked compared to his corrupted form they had seen all those moons ago when Shining and Cadance had first arrived to the Crystal Empire.
“But if he was always meant to be a king… Why he did he make his own ponies and country suffer so much?” Cadance finally asked, her watering eyes never leaving the frozen eyes of stallion who she now knew to be part of her own family.
The white unicorn on her side shrug his shoulders. “Maybe he become power-hungry and couldn’t wait till his parents passed away,” he suggested darkly, but the explanation didn’t seem to satisfy the crystal ponies.
“No…” Frost shook her head furiously. “I remember it now… Sombra had already been a king many years before stealing the Crystal Heart. A good king… But something happened to him… Something bad...” Then like a weathercock in wind the mare’s depressed expression changed to triumphant smirk and she turned to look at her partner, making the red stallion swallow nervously. “Which reminds me… You owe me an apology, Mister.”
“A verbal one?” he asked hopefully which only made the other unicorn’s grin grow even wider if possible. Jasper might not remember knowing the mare during the time before the curse, but he had learnt fast that the young crystal unicorn could be worse than any demon from Tartarus if she wanted to be.
“In your dreams.” the blue mare let out a devilish giggle to poor Fire Jasper’s great horror. But before Frost Gem had time to continue torturing her fellow crystal pony, Princess Cadance cleared her throat, once again returning her subjects attentions back to the task on the hoof.
Frost chuckled sheepishly, “Oh, right… Should we go and checkout what is in the next room?”
“That would be desirable,” the former Equestria’s captain agreed blankly, while making mental note to ask guards keep the young mare away from her sister’s pink friend whenever the Keeper of the Elements would come to visit in the Empire again. The stallion’s decision was even more tightly sealed when, to his great horror, the blue mage bushed still closed crystal doors open before even checking if there had any curses on them. While Fire Jasper was busy scowling his younger partner, who just gave him an innocent smile, Shining rubbed his temples, already feeling how painful headache started form on the back of his head.
“Shining! I think you should see this,” Cadance’s shaken voice come to the stallion’s ears from inside the room that Frost Gem had opened, snapping now worried unicorn out of his thoughts and make him gallop after his wife who had must have wandered to study the space behind the door while he hadn’t paid attention. It seemed to be an old bedroom where the different shades of green seemed to be the controlling colors, instead of the Empire's traditional blues and reds, making it seem almost foreign in the eyes of the royal unicorn who had already get used to the pale colors that were present everywhere in his new home country. There was also dark wooden desk surrounded by huge bookshelves made of this same material, which had once been something so expensive and rare inside the Empire that only the wealthiest ponies had been able to afford luxuries made of it.
But where was Cadance? Shining Armor’s eyes jumped around the room, seeking the pink princess, whose fur should have shined against moss green walls like a lighthouse on the ocean. Finally he found her, half hidden behind partly opened door on his right side, staring something that the stallion wasn’t able to see.
“Cadance, please, don’t wander off like that,” he almost begged, not even noticing that he sounded like over protective mother. “There is still a high change that this whole tower is cursed. Even more so now when we know that Sombra has the most likely been here before.” While talking, Shining had walked around the door only to find out that his wife had been looking yet another portrait from Sombra, although in this one, the dark unicorn seemed to be a bit older and he was wearing the crown of the Empire’s king, which (to Shining’s great pleasure) made him look ridiculous, and red velvet cloak with white fur trim that seemed to be the same one they had seen him to wear for a brief moment when the Crystal Heart had forced him to return to his solid form. On Sombra’s side sat an unnaturally tall, pitch black mare with dark cerulean mane and loving green eyes.
It was easy to tell that she wasn’t a pony. Not only she had a weird shaped horn that reminded Shining from a saber, but there was also two fangs that peeped under her smiling lips and her sclera held pale green tint that any normal pony could not possibly have. And even though the mare’s blue velvet cloak, Shining was sure he could be able to find pair of insect like wings under it if he had been able to remove it from the painting back.
“You gotta bugging kidding me…” the stallion groaned, his eyes now as wide as plates.
“Is everything okay, your Majesties?” Fire Jasper asked, cutting his lecture short and moved from doorway to there where he was able to see what was bothering the royal couple, Gem on his heels, but suddenly froze when he once again recognized the ponies on the painting. And even though Shining and Cadance couldn’t see it, the sight of black mare made Jasper grin like a fool.
“Ah, yes. Another face I’m familiar with,” he noted happily. “She, your Majesties, is the lovely spouse of King Sombra who was once known as the Jewel of the North, Queen -” but before the unicorn managed finish his sentence, both Cadance and Shining Armor spat the changeling’s name out like it had been poison on their lips.
“Chrysalis.”