They Never Knew

by SilverEyedWolf

The Heart of the Matter

I had dark dreams that night, full of black smog and vaporous green eyes. The hour I spent resting ended with me waking on the cold stone floor, looking through the now open window into a vast green sea. I started to roll back onto the thin pallet on the floor, but stopped when I saw Celestia sitting near the window, back to the eye and staring at a letter she was in the process of writing.

She looked up as I approached, a thin smile flashing across her lips before they delved back into their frown. I sat beside her and she handed over her half-finished letter, her graceful script interrupted where she’d run out of ink.

I looked it over, frowning myself. After rereading it twice, I turned my questioning gaze to her eyes.

“Celestia, is this a plea for help?”

She sighed, leaning back against the stone wall under the window. “Why are you awake, Spike?” she asked in a whisper, rubbing her closed eyes. “I suspect it’s for much the same reason as mine, and eventually Luna’s. That,” she said, waving above her head, “Is invading our dreams. There’s a stronger sheildcaster than I, and I can have her hold against Sombra until I can get the Elements of Harmony roused and ready for battle.”

“You think the six can do something we five cannot?” I asked her.

Celestia raised an eyebrow, corners of her mouth lifting with it. “You seem to have more confidence than you should. I wonder who it’s placed in…”

“You,” I told her, resting my hand on her wrist. “And Luna. With Dawnbreak on the team as well, I feel like there shouldn’t be anything undoable for you.”

She turned her wrist, lacing my fingers between hers and leaning on me. It was odd, having someone still taller than me when I almost towered over everyone else. Odder still when that person laid her head on top of mine, a soft sigh escaping her mouth.

“Comfortable up there?” I asked, smiling in spite of myself. I felt her nod, and laughed quietly. After a few minutes I was started to ask her a question, but a gentle snoring stopped me. Suppressing the laugh, I slowly stroked her loosening fingers.

Sometime during that night I managed to fall back asleep, and this time dreamed only of a field of orchids and lilac bushes.

The exact time I woke up was hard to pinpoint, as Sombra’s dark clouds only allowed a thin grey light to pervade the city. This thin light worked all of its magic on this throne room, the reflective crystals only doing so much. The not-darkness of it was stifling, and I found myself struggling to breathe.

Looking down I discovered the true reason for my predicament; Luna had crawled over sometime last night, and the two Princess were snuggling across me. It would have been sweet, had Celestia’s upper half not been draped across my torso, shoulder deep in my diaphragm.

Trying not to wake either of them, I managed to shift down and slide about a foot before Celestia giggled and disentangled herself from Luna, stretching her back and shoulders with a wince or four.

Luna remained oblivious to the world, curling upon herself and pressing her back to my leg. Scooting away, I stood up just as Celestia laid a coat across her sister. Feeling as though I’d earned my own turn, I lifted my hands towards the ceiling and tensed my back, sagging slightly after the crackling of my spine ended.

“Careful dragon. I know at least sixteen people who would dislike anyone snuggling up to the Princesses, much less both at the same time.”

“Not my fault,” I told Shadowfall. “One falls asleep on me, the other joins when I’m already asleep and can say nothing. Talk to the snugglers.”

A soft laugh echoed through the room, before a warm crackle announced the beginnings of a fire. I looked around, curious because we hadn’t brought any sort of food that needed to be warmed and the room wasn’t cold enough for a superfluous flame.

It seemed that someone had been out, as a small clutch eggs had gathered into a basket by the fire now roaring in the fireplace. A few green herbs had been gathered into the same basket.

“Apparently Sombra was smart enough to put a bunch of livestock into stasis with the people,” Dawnbreak called from his place in front of the kindling-less fire, holding a pan with a long handle, and a similarly advantaged fork. The fire gleamed with a strange, pale yellow color. “A few of them left the basket by the door sometime in the night, or the early morning.”

A knocking came from the locked door, and a shy voice, unintelligible through the thick wood. Looking around and receiving four nods, I walked to the door and opened it to a crack, peering through the darkness of the hallway.

A small woman stood there, wearing a dark green dress and a strange necklace gemmed with a piece of dark hematite. She shivered continuously, even as she jumped to attention in front of the open doors.

“Hello, uhm, sir conqueror. We of the Crystal Empire welcome and thank you for your releasing us, and we offer you lordship and…”

I widened the gap of the door and held up a hand, palm extended to slow the flow of words. The woman’s eyes widened and a small scream escaped her lips as she dropped into a kneel, sitting on her legs and plowing her forehead into the floor.

I snapped my hand back to my side and knelt beside her, gently touching one of her shoulders. She twitched, but stayed where she was on the floor. She was whispering something rapidly; it sounded like some sort of religious chant, the way she was repeating, “Forgive me master,” under her breath.

“Hush now,” I whispered as soothingly as I could. “I am not Sombra, I will not hurt you.” Her chant stopped, replaced by a ragged breathing. I touched her other shoulder, and encouraged by her lack of flinching, I gently pulled her into a kneeling position.

Tears streamed down a face covered by dirt, her eyes screwed shut. Slowly I pulled her up to her feet, and led her into the room and next to the fire. Celestia and Luna gave ignored looks, but the egg sitting in a bowl by the fire was not disregarded.

I shoved the warm bowl into the young woman’s hands, and when she tried to protest, I picked up a spoonful of eggs and held it under her nose. Eyes tearing up again, she took the silverware and started shoveling the food as I walked across the room to the Princesses.

“You and women, Spike,” Luna said, shaking her head wearily to hide the coy smile.

“Ha ha, dear,” I deadpanned, staring down her blushing gaze. “I’m pretty sure she’s a representative, she called me a conqueror and tried to make me a Lord or something,” I said, watching Dawnbreak scoop more food into the woman’s bowl over her protests.

“How rude, you’re not even the royalty,” Celestia said with a smile, beckoning us while she walked over to the woman. We sat around her, the ladies on either of her sides and I in front of her on part of the stone hearth that wasn’t enveloped in fire.

She quickly laid the empty container aside and stared at a stone between my feet, at least not shivering anymore. Celestia cleared her throat, casting a smile directly into the side of the girl’s head.

I sighed before taking over the dead conversation, saying, “Okay then. We’re not conquerors or anything like that. We’re not interested in enslaving you like Sombra, so please don’t be afraid of us.”

The woman shrunk away from me, Luna glaring a hole into my left temple. I shrugged, and then motioned to Celestia.

Nodding, she asked faintly, “So, why are you here, besides to proclaim us rulers?”

She leaned away again, but spoke up at last. “I am… was, the head of the Emperor’s housekeeping staff. Because I had experience handling S-Som… the Emperor, I was chosen to welcome you and… And to see what it was you wanted from us.”

We shared a look, and Luna said, “We don’t want anything from you, dear. We came to free you, and rid the world of Sombra.”

The woman glanced quickly at Luna, then swung her eyes all around our group, presumably taking in the armor and weapons. She met one of our eyes finally, asking Celestia, “Truly? Freedom and death to the Emperor?”

We all nodded in tandem, and her expression seemed to shatter in upon itself, tears and wailing muffled as she latched onto Celestia and wept into her coat. Celestia wrapped an arm around the girl’s shoulders and gently rocked the both of them back and forth.

Taking a small advantage of the situation, I pulled the basket over and peeked inside of it, only to toss the empty container to the floor with a small scowl.

The maid heard the noise, and turning to see the empty wicker bowl, she looked into my frown and at last smiled. Pulling herself away from Celestia and wiping her eyes on the collar of her dress, she bowed and made her excuses, through my assertions that I was fine. She closed the door firmly in the middle of my protesting.

We mulled around for a minute, wondering where she was going, before we decided to follow her. Pulling open the door, we were greeted by the darkness of the hallway again. Last night we hadn’t noticed it, but even in day no light permeated.

Walking along the wall, I tugged at what I’d assumed to be an old drapery, only to bare a window that had been bricked over from the outside. Strangely enough, the window still opened into the hall, and I ran a hand over the cold bricks.

Picking at the old mortar, I eventually wriggled a brick loose, pulling it into the hall with my fingernails. Reaching through the hole, I pulled more and more bricks into the hallway until the hole was large enough to see through. Poking my head out, I discovered I was looking down into the courtyard.

Vaguely padded footfalls announced the return of the housekeeper, carrying another basket of eggs and garnish. She looked surprised to meet us in the hallway, but I cut off any objection she might have had with a question.

“Is there anyone in the courtyard right now?”

For a moment her eyes glazed over and she wobbled on her feet, but the moment quickly passed and she shook her head.

“N-no, the Emperor forbade us entering the square directly below the castle and doing so gives us an awful headache. We dislike even approaching it.”

The five of us shared a look, but Celestia shook her head and I shrugged.

“So, you’re sure no one’s down below us?”

An impatient frown creased her face for a second before it smoothed away again. “Quite sure.”

With a shrug, I shoved the remaining blockage out the window, showering the snowy street below with stone. The window was much larger than the tiny hole I’d managed in the stonework, and I was now fully able to see the entire city on that side of the castle.

I heard two fleshy smacks, and turned to see the Princesses with their hands pressed to their eyes. I grinned and leapt backwards out the window, flaring my leathery wings and winding my way down to the street.

The lady had been correct in that everyone seemed to avoid the courtyard beneath the castle, and the snow wasn’t even disturbed besides the stones. I looked around the street, and seeing no one, flew back up to the window.

“How many are dead?” Celestia muttered through the flesh barrier of her hand.

I rolled my eyes at the back of her hand. “C’mon guys, open up those windows. I’ll push on the outsides this time, just try and get a brick out and then move. Let’s light up this dusty old tomb a bit.”

…………………………………………………………..

“Is it warming up, or am I working too hard?” I asked as I shed my last coat, tossing it through the window I’d just emptied of rock.

We were near the top now, Luna and I working the windows still while the others set off to set up the remainder of the castle. It was mostly busywork, but we were waiting on Sarheen, the housekeeper, to come back from the impromptu meet that had been called between all the survivors.

“The shield Dawnbreak set up either ups the temperature inside of it,” Luna mused, dropping her own heavy coat on top of mine, “Or the cold in entirely a fabrication of Sombra’s, and blocking him blocks the cold.”

I perched myself on the windowsill, looking through the shield and into the darkness of Sombra’s clouds, his green eyes dancing furiously around the shield as we worked, an occasional lightning bolt flashing across the shield.

“You think all of the cold we crossed is because of Sombra?”

Luna shook her head, leaning against the sill I stood on. “No, it’s more likely that he makes it much more extreme than it should be. We’re far to the north, but it is still summer.”

We stayed there for a while, staring out into the storm of Sombra. He seemed to feel us watching, and ceased his flitting to stare hatefully back.

“Come on then,” I said, falling a few feet as I pushed away from the window, until my wings lifted me back up. “We’re only a story or so away from the top of the tower, may as well see what’s on top of it.”

Luna shrugged, nodding. “Sure, but we’ll both have to fly it. The only stairs in here go down, not up.”

I nodded, starting to say something inviting before the sky was rent by noise and electricity. Looking through the shield, I saw Sombra’s eyes sitting directly across from us, large nebulous teeth gnashing as he peppered the barrier with blue bolts of plasma.

“He really doesn’t want us going up there, does he?” Luna said, stretching her wings and her grin.

The fogbank face stopped dropping the electricity as soon as we started flying up, opting instead to glare at us… pleadingly? The eyes were almost begging, as much as a swirling mess of green could beg.

We reached the outside of the top of the castle, but instead of a spire there was a room, bare to the wind and weather but for a small roof. Though Luna had said there was no stairs up from the room below, I could see steps descending into the tower below.

“What’s that?” Luna asked, pointing towards a pedestal in the middle of the wall-less room. I looked for her, and almost lost my altitude. “What, what is it?”

“Uh, it’s a giant diamond… heart. It’s just a massive crystal heart.” Swooping closer, I looked over the room in further detail.

Luna started to land, but I grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her away, keeping her hovering outside the room. She tried to swat at me, but I ducked around her and pointed to the floor.

It was crisscrossed with running, black ink, forming and dissolving runes and circles ceaselessly. It seemed to have a sort of mind of its own, following both Luna and I as we swooped around the tower. I was barely conscious of the necromancer outside the bubble covering the town as I looked all over the floor.

“Luna, is there any of this gunk on the ceiling in there?”

She did a strange half flip, looking up at the roof before she righted herself again. She shook her head, frowning at my sudden, delighted grin.

Flapping twice, I gained a couple more yards into the sky as I spun away from the tower. Stretching my wings, I circled quickly, straight towards the tower. Tucking in my wings, I bulleted towards the heart, weaving between the four arches. I easily snagged the heart, ink flying towards me from the floor. Balling up, I fell between two more arches before falling into empty sky.

Spreading my wings again, I glided away from the top of the tower, now incased by goopy black ink. The ball sent out short spines, but they quickly froze, then disintegrated. Catching up with me, Luna and I traced lazy wheels as we returned to the courtroom of the crystal castle.

Celestia looked up as we swooped into the hallway, wand held up as she tore away the rotting carpet on the floor, baring the stone underneath. Tearing off the chunk and rolling it tightly, she toted it over to the window, lowering it gently to the rubble of the courtyard.

She turned and stared at the crystal heart in my arm, looking at Luna, confused. “What’s that? Something you grabbed Ditzy?”

I held it up to the window, admiring the sunlight streaming through it and into the heart. “Maybe, but Sombra seems awfully interested in it.” I held the heart out the window, tossing it from hand to hand. The giant green eyes plastered themselves to the shield, somehow bloodshot and wide as I tumbled the crystal between hands.

“Cut it out,” Celesta said, frowning. I cradled the giant gem and pulled it back in through the window. Sombra’s face visibly relaxed, the eyes pulling away from the shield to gaze upwards into the sky.

I turned to Celestia, holding out the crystal. “Here, I don’t think I should be responsible for this, especially if it’s important.”

She frowned and muttered something about not wanting to be either, but she took the heart and tucked it into her elbow.

“Maybe Sarheen knows something about it?” I asked, pointing at the gem.

“Oh, she’d better,” called a wizened voice from the end of the hallway, no longer dark. An elderly woman strode down the hall, long cane thumping along with her right foot. “I know most of us are still a bit hazy after who even cares how long in stasis, but the Crystal Heart is damned near the most important thing in this entire country.”

As she reached the three of us, the older woman looked around at each of us in turn, then held her hand out to Celestia. Crackling at Celestia’s face, the woman chuckled, “Just a touch dear, I’m not taking it.”

With both hands, Celestia extended the Crystal Heart. Handing me her cane, the older woman extended her right hand, slowly stroking the center of the heart.
Change poured over the woman like oily fire, her hair flying into a large bun nestled on top of her head. As the light of the transformation fled down her face, the dust and dirt melted away like ice, revealing a slightly wrinkled, pale face with fierce tawny eyes and a hawk-like nose. Her back straightened with loud pops, and she stretched her legs experimentally with similar retorts.

And I finally saw why they were called Crystal Folken. Her skin gleamed brilliantly for a moment before shattering into thousands of gleaming facets, each capturing and reflecting the meager light until she shone.

“There now, isn’t that better,” she said aloud, as if to herself. Then she grinned, sticking her hand out as though to shake Celestia’s. “My name is Saelea, and I am the currently elected official for the Folken. I can tell you exactly what to do with the Crystal Heart.”

Author's Note:

Apologies if this is crap, I'm tired and this is damn near unedited.

Comments

[SilverEyedWolf]

5415010

Well, yes. Because Pinkie Pie

[Animated Rarity]

I love this story

[SilverEyedWolf]

5626762

I'm sorry

[Animated Rarity]

5626766 why?

[SilverEyedWolf]

5626779

Mostly because I'm purposefully ignoring this thing. The last few times I've tried to write on it it's pissed me off enough to break something. I'm working on a HiE story that's going well though.

[Animated Rarity]

5626788 as in a human shows up in Equestria?

[SilverEyedWolf]

5626869

Yes, that exactly.