Nunatak
Running the Crystal Empire wasn’t nearly as easy as the two royal ponies made it appear. Constant upkeep on the well-being of their ponies, continuing to work on morale, and even simply finding the time just for them to relax. Everything seemed like a chore but it had to be done. They were ever grateful that the ponies did listen well and often followed things without fuss.
Shining Armor let out a deep sigh from the balcony as he watched over the ponies going about their day. It had been exhausting to tend to them as well as his own filly. With how everything just kept piling on it almost seemed like he would never catch a break. He never thought being prince of the land would be tiring.
“Thinking about older days?” Cadance asked, her eyes showing dark circles beneath them while she smiled kindly. “Me too.”
“Heh, just wishing we could kick back a little is all,” Shining admitted and let out another audible sigh. “You look worse than I feel.”
“Thanks,” the pink alicorn said with her smile wilting before giggling. “You sure know how to cheer your wife up.”
“Sorry,” the royal stallion apologized and smiled a bit. “You do look really out of it though. Try getting some rest, honey. I’ll watch over things while you do. Maybe even get a nanny to watch Flurry for a while.”
“Only if you’re sure you can handle things while I take some beauty rest,” Cadance said though she was already turning to head to the bedroom.
“Of course! No problem!” Shining mentioned while he waited for her walk off and then slumped against the railing of the balcony.
As tired as he was his wife came first. There was the comfort of knowing that all the crystal ponies looked to be doing just fine. Unless some catastrophic event happened they probably wouldn’t notice if he took a small nap up there on the balcony of the castle. It would only be for five minutes. Or fifty, if he couldn’t help it.
It felt like he could pass out just standing up with how weary he was. Even the sounds of the many hooves below trotting along and sounding out were beginning to sound like distant rain. It was soothing. A bit too soothing in the fact that Shining Armor eventually began to nod off right where he was.
As he drifted into his own slumber, the unicorn could feel a cold breeze run by that nearly disturbed him. It was almost as if the wind was carried from lands of ice. His body shivered as he stayed leaning over the railing and trying to keep from waking.
There were ponies below talking about something. The words were mere mumbles from his spot above but they were not hushed. With his tired state of mind and attempt to sneak a nap in, Shining could make none of their phrases out either way. Nothing short of a calamity might wake the stallion, yet a calamity there soon was.
Ponies got louder as their voices raised. Mares and stallions alike crowded around one particular pony as they shouted out. They continued on as others began to shout back at them. Questions or accusations were lost in the jumble of sayings and soon the prince awoke.
“Ponies of the Crystal Empire!” shouted Shining from his position on the castle. “Tell me what ails you!”
“I saw it!” a single pony yelled back, waving a foreleg and indicating a northern direction. “I saw it out that way!”
Instead of wasting his energy to shout back and forth, Shining quickly ducked away from the balcony and hurried down the stairs. The movement got his body to kick out the tired feeling resting inside as he rushed to the front doors and out. Before him stood nearly all of the Crystal Empire with the lone crystal pony in front.
“What did you see? Please, keep it down. My wife is needing her rest,” the prince mentioned as he waited to hear what the ruckus was about.
“It’s out there!” the pony said and pointed with a hoof. “We can’t stop it!”
Shining gently pressed the pony’s foreleg down and stepped closer. “Easy now. Can you tell me exactly what it is? You aren’t making much sense.”
“The stone that which no ice can coat and no sun can heat,” said the nearly hysterical pony.
“What stone? Are you talking about the Crystal Heart? That’s nothing to be afra-” Shining tried explaining before the pony let out a screaming denial.
“NO! The Black Stone of the North!” the crystal pony raved before turning in circles. “We have to leave! It’s not safe here!”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let’s just calm down, okay? One step at a time. What’s this Stone of the North?” the annoyed prince asked, glancing around once he saw plenty of the ponies shift uncomfortably.
“You never heard of the legend?” the crystal pony asked, though he seemed to understand quickly. “Oh, that’s right.”
There was another cold breeze, almost like winter was a couple of months early. Shining saw them all shiver and look around cautiously. As worried as they looked he seemed to be the only confused one. Cadance and he had not been lost for years with the ponies during Sombra’s reign nor had they really looked into too much history the empire itself had. Perhaps he should have.
“So, what is it?” Shining asked again. He wasn’t enjoying having to pry answers out.
“It’s a bad omen! It’s the sign of something terrible coming. It’s never detailed what, but that one of from the outer planes will come to change things as they are,” the pony tried to explain while staring down at the grass.
“Where did you find this stone and what does it look like exactly?” the prince inquired and shivered again.
“North. Just barely within sight of the castle. You should be able to see it from your loft,” said the crystal stallion while he did his best to keep composure. “It’s… it’s black on the surface and surrounded by ice. I didn’t dare get any closer to see more. You would know it if you see it. Far different than any other stone in the area.”
“Okay. Well, for all we know, it might just be some rocks you mistook as this thing. I don’t think we should panic over a legend, of all things,” Shining said slowly then looked along the many faces of the ponies. “Everything is just fine. Relax.”
The ponies muttered to one another as they looked around and huddled a bit closer. Whatever the stone was of the vague legend surrounding it, Shining didn’t truly know but he did understand it was making his ponies fearful for seemingly no reason. Old mare’s tales shouldn’t be scaring ponies so easily. He wished Cadance was awake and then maybe she could calm them better.
Instead of wasting more breath, the unicorn prince turned and strode into the castle. It was his duty to make sure they were all safe. If some odd stone was scaring them so bad then maybe he could check it out himself. Sending any other ponies instead would probably be more of a hassle than he wanted, especially if they all knew of this supposed legend.
“Legend,” Shining mocked under his breath. It was barely a tale and yet all the ponies were afraid of it.
His hooves clopped along the slick floors of the castle and echoed out as he made his way through the halls and up the steps. Despite his earlier nap being disturbed so quickly he was particularly wide awake. Every step just made him groan when he looked up to see more in his path. Still, he had to look and see.
While he did eventually make it to the loft, he wasn’t happy about it. Half of him hoped he would find what the pony was raving on about. The other half wanted there to be nothing so he could take a nap after informing them. Whatever the case, he just wanted it to be done with so things could settle down.
Opening the door to the loft had him grit his teeth as an icy breeze swept out and over him. He couldn’t understand the change in climate from just a climb in the castle but pushed his thoughts away while he stepped inside. The room itself held just various boxes and trinkets stored for numerous reasons. It took him a good minute to navigate over to the window while magically moving objects to make a path.
The open window held no glass from the old design arches. He made a mental note to possibly change that later. The wind moved by the window as he gazed out and looked to the north as far as he could. Everything seemed normal but he didn’t want to just glance quickly in case he missed something.
Several minutes passed as he stared out at the grassy field then beyond. Many rocky surfaces were near the mountains, namely Mount Everhoof. It all seemed to look the same the longer he tried searching. Outcrops and cliffs just looked like ordinary stone.
It had been a good several minutes of him standing in the cold winds to the window until he finally spotted something that looked off. In an area before the mountains there was what looked to be a frozen patch of land and a small object in the center. The black dot was hard to make out completely though he was certain it was what the pony had been talking about. Even from the distance something about it didn’t seem quite right but Shining ignored the feelings.
If he had a telescope he could get a closer look without having to make a trek to it. Sadly, it wasn’t something he kept on hoof like his little sister did. In a small grunt, the unicorn turned and walked out of the room before closing the door. It felt a bit warmer being out of the wind though he knew making the walk to the area would be just as bad, if not worse.
His legs worked to carry him throughout the castle until he had found his old scarf that he had brought with him when they first arrived. It should be enough to let him make it there and back so long as he didn’t linger. As much as he wanted to wake his dear wife and tell her what was going on, he instead informed the guard at the bedroom door and insisted he only let her know if she wakes before he’s back. There was no reason to have her worry as well from not knowing what was going on.
The guard looked uneasy as he was told where Shining was going and what he was looking for. The prince could see it in his eyes. There was a fear lurking there but the guard was doing his best to not let it show. At least he was trying.
Wanting to get it over with, Shining Armor made sure the scarf was wrapped snugly around his neck and exited the castle. It would be a little bit of a run but he could make it there and back within reasonable time. His hooves worked as he galloped along and headed north while hoping to dispel any worry among his ponies in the empire.
•••••
Perhaps running the entire way wasn’t the best idea. Shining felt his legs ache by the time he got anywhere near the stone. His muscles almost burned but it did give him a good distraction from the growing cold. The one thing he didn’t like was trying to hunt for the odd rock despite it being a stark contrast against the white and blue.
He thanked Celestia when he reached a crest and saw it ahead. It was much larger than he expected it to be. From guessing, he thought it looked about the size of a house. The whole thing seemed off. Its angles were presented so perfectly but it still looked mostly like a chunk of rock to him.
The pointed looking top made it appear as if it were trying to point up to the sky. Had it fallen from there or just been covered by snow the whole time? Was it even anything special? Shining squinted as he tried making out details without stepping any closer.
For some reason, he didn’t feel like getting too close. Maybe the ponies had skewered the legend to some extent but the rock could potentially be dangerous somehow. He had no idea but taking precautions seemed like the better idea. Twilight would probably know far more on such a thing and even love to see it herself.
The thought made him smile. He should ask her opinion the matter. She was always the smart one of them and loved discovering new things. If she could set it in light that it was harmless and point out all the details then it might help calm the crystal ponies.
Shining looked away and rubbed at his eyes with his hooves. They stung a bit though probably from staring in the freezing cold so long. He could even feel a slight headache attempting to happen and turned away entirely to see how far his castle was. The sight was impressive as well as daunting.
He had run for far longer and farther than he thought. A good portion of the castle was still visible but all houses and anything at ground level were obscured. Possibly a hill between them, he assumed.
The discovery wasn’t exactly what he was hoping but it was something. He could at least head back and tell them of the stone and how he found no harm in it himself. Maybe state he’s bringing in another pony to look at it and determine if it’s safe to put their minds to rest. It wouldn’t be hard to write to Twilight and have her take a train to the empire, especially with the finding.
There didn’t seem to be much else he could do from his scouting trip. The rock was obviously there but other than looking a tad odd it didn’t seem to appear dangerous. Shining was a bit upset that he had run all the way out to get a close look and couldn’t do much else. The ponies would want some answer from him and he didn’t exactly want to feed their fears.
At least his wife was sleeping and didn’t have to deal with everything.
•••••
“When were you going to tell me?” Cadance asked, keeping herself stern as she walked around her lightly frost covered husband.
“I was honestly going to let you sleep through it if I could clear it up fast,” Shining answered and sighed. “Look, I know they’re scared and all but you’ve been worn out lately. Let me handle this, okay?”
“I don’t know. What if they don’t like hearing that this rock is actually real? You said they’ve heard of some legend, right?” the pink alicorn asked as she moved over to Flurry’s crib and rocked it lightly.
Shining was lost. He wanted to keep things under wraps if he could but Cadance had been waiting for him when he returned. Apparently a two hour long trek to the frozen land and back wasn’t exactly as quick as he had hoped. The unicorn was bombarded with questions upon returning with his wife barely able to tell them to calm down and await any news.
If he lied to them then they may not know the truth and just think one pony was going crazy. Though, if it did happen to be harmful to ponies then he would be to blame for them getting hurt. If did tell them, they might cause a mass panic and be uncooperative. Then again, they listened well so they could just be worried but relax with Cadance and him protecting them.
“Uh, yeah,” Shining mentioned, lost in his own thoughts on what to do.
“Then we can make a statement. Tell them that there is something in the north but don’t say what. Explain we’ll bring ponies in to help determine the origins and whether or not if it might be harmful,” Cadance told him while smiling sweetly to their daughter. “Besides, I rather make sure if it’s anything serious in the first place. It’s not just the crystal ponies we have to worry about anymore.”
“Yeah, I know,” the unicorn replied, lowering his head. “Our girl needs to be just as safe. I’ll write a letter to Twilight and have her come look. That sound good?”
Cadance merely nodded with a small hum while rocking their filly in the crib. Shining was still worried for his wife considering how tired she looked even after her rest. She shouldn’t be up and doing her duties. It pained him to know that he might have to come to her for more guidance if things didn’t work out, but he could only hope for the best.
Instead of asking her any questions, Shining Armor whispered his adoration for her and their filly before leaving the room. There were constant questions and answers running around in his head as he tried to think of just what might be asked so he could have a ready reply. His body shivered as he opened the castle doors and stepped out where the ponies of the Crystal Empire waited with bated breath.
“What did you see?” a voice called out in the back of the crowd. The ponies started to rabble loudly at the question, demanding an answer.
“Hey, hey! Calm down and keep it more manageable. I will answer everything I can if you keep yourselves under control,” Shining told them and moved forward, watching the crowd move back.
“Can you tell us if it’s there?” another crystal pony asked. While the group did nearly start up again they quickly quieted down with the guards ushering them back more.
“I saw an object. I don’t know what it was exactly but it did look to be a black stone of some sort,” the prince answered and watched as they reacted.
There were plenty of panicked phrases uttered and some asking what they should do. The majority, thankfully, seemed to stay mostly silent and waited to hear more. He at least had them listening and nopony was having some mental break.
“Is there a way to stop it?” came a question to his right.
“There is nothing to stop currently. As it stands, the rock is just that: A rock. If there are any other turns of events, I will inform you all with a public announcement. For now, we’ll be asking for ponies specialized in this field to help figure out if this thing is even dangerous,” he told them all. They looks of worry did lessen, but not by much.
“Should we stay inside until you say?” one pony asked, trying to push through the number of others in their way.
“No. There is no reason to change or act any different than usual. Everything is fine,” Shining assured them though he didn’t want to admit he had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he was greatly underestimating it all.
A dozen more questions came at him which he successfully managed to answer and calm the general public. Before long, he finally had to say it was enough for everypony to return and try not to think about it. Things would be far better once he got proper knowledge on the thing and could tell them.
Shining glanced back to the north and sighed. Twilight would know more on the rock and it would hopefully comfort the ponies to know about it. He could even write to a few other ponies that studied rocks and get their opinions. His little sister would know the name of their line of work, possibly even the names of some ponies themselves to call on.
The whole ordeal felt a bit messy but he felt he could sort it out. That black stone wasn’t going anywhere, though knowing about it only recently was mildly worrying. If he were to be honest with himself, the whole thing felt eerily surreal. Something felt out of place about it all and he couldn’t figure out what.
If the shape of the rock had disturbed him then he would have not been able to distinguish it properly. The triangular look was simple but it did seem vaguely weird. The color was exactly just a color. Black like the void of space but utterly fine otherwise. Then what was it that kept bugging him?
Shining pondered to himself quietly as he went back into the castle. His body let out a light shake from the cold air as he closed the doors. Why was it getting so cold lately?
•••••
It took Twilight Sparkle a couple of days to make the trip to the Crystal Empire. Her own duties and errands often wound up keeping her busy. The second she had a chance, she jumped onto the next train with a packed bag and eagerly awaited her destination.
Shining was waiting at the station with Cadance and Flurry Heart. The three of them were just as eager for Twilight to arrive as the citizens of the Crystal Empire had grown restless and more afraid. Nothing said could seem to calm them unless it involved that stone in the northern ice field. Cadance had barely managed to sleep with all the questions being asked.
Once the train made its stop and that familiar hiss sounded out, the doors opened and the purple alicorn nearly toppled over herself getting out. The suitcase followed along as she steadied herself and was greeted. Hugs were given all around and the ponies began making their walk to the empire.
“It’s kind of chilly, isn’t it?” Twilight asked as she gave a visible shiver.
“Yeah, it’s been like this for a few days. Just feels like it’s getting colder even though winter isn’t due yet,” Shining said as he watched his sister procure a scarf and wrap it around her own neck.
“So, this stone and all, I tried looking into it more when I had the chance but there wasn’t almost anything on it. It’s like your empire here just doesn’t have a lot on it outside of its own library,” the purple alicorn said as she trotted behind the couple.
“Hm, that is strange. Feel free to look through the Crystal Empire’s archives if you got the time. I’d appreciate anything to calm down the ponies,” the prince spoke while looking to his wife.
“I agree. The crystal ponies are getting far more restless. They seem to be so stressed over it,” Cadance replied while cradling Flurry with a wing.
“I’ll see what I can do. Is it pretty far away or have they been in direct contact with it?” Twilight asked, her magic levitating a scroll and quill.
“Only one has seen it. That’s how we know. I don’t really know if he touched it or anything. When I went to look myself I stayed a bit back,” Shining told her.
Twilight thought to herself as they walked and scribbled notes here and there on the parchment. Her focus stayed on the paper until they finally reach the empire itself and walked along one of the main roads to the castle. She could think of nothing that related to what was told to her. No stone she had heard of was known to be supposedly as dangerous as some legend states. Maud would probably figure it out in a heartbeat but Twilight couldn’t get in contact with her in time before leaving.
The group made their way to the castle as the crystal ponies tried asking more questions but were ushered aside by guards on patrol. The whole area had been needing to be kept safe so Shining had ponies put on patrol to keep from things getting out of hoof. As much as she wanted to ask, Twilight knew it wouldn’t help asking questions back to those wanting answers.
“You said you can see it from the loft?” Twilight asked her big brother and looked up along the castle’s spire.
“Mhm, you can probably set up a telescope and see it much better if you did that. Though, we’re going to take a trip to it instead,” he told her and nodded a thanks to his guards.
“You should probably get some geologists on it too,” the purple mare mentioned while watching a guard open the door for them.
“That’s the term,” Shining said to himself and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll look into that for sure. Thanks for coming to help, Twily. I really don’t know how to tell you how much this means to us.”
“Oh, it’s fine! The mystery about all this is certainly interesting enough to draw me in regardless,” Twilight said before giving a little laugh.
The group exchanged thanks a few more times before Cadance finally departed and carried the foal up the stairs while yawning. She had hardly said much during the walk and looked entirely out of it. The question coming to Twilight’s mind was answered before she could even turn her head.
“Cadance hasn’t been sleeping well lately. Between our daughter, the dumb rock, and the ponies in general we just haven’t had time to settle down. She needs her rest far more than I do,” Shining mentioned while he watched his wife ascend the stairway until she disappeared around the corner.
“I feel really bad for her. She looks so worn out,” Twilight said as her ears lowered.
“That’s why you’re here, right?” her big brother asked with a smile.
That smile seemed to infect the purple mare as she too grinned and nodded. It was up to them to put everything to rest and have the Crystal Empire back to normal. The sense of need and the fact she was called upon for her own knowledge on things warmed Twilight’s heart greatly. She would do everything she could to help.
“So, when do we begin?” the purple alicorn asked as she set her suitcase down.
“Right now. Bundle up because it’s only going to get colder farther north we go,” Shining told her and smiled. It was a smile that hid the doubt he still felt that anything would be fixed.
•••••
Shining was right, the area was indeed extremely cold. Twilight had bundled herself up a bit and it still felt like the icy wind was cutting through the layers of fabric. She didn’t complain though. Her mind was more set on the small crest ahead that the supposed black stone lay behind.
Once she looked into the frozen valley, her heart almost skipped a beat. The stone wasn’t like anything she had thought. Nothing round or orb-like at all. It almost didn’t look like a rock of any sort until she looked closer. The smoothness of the stone’s face was oddly devoid of any ice entirely though there were small erosion marks all around it.
The pyramid look it gave was something just as strange. If she didn’t know any better, she thought the whole piece looked new. Not only new but there didn’t appear to be any true breaks in the surface itself minus the possible erosion. The whole thing was formed or carved from one entire piece.
“This is amazing,” Twilight whispered to herself as she unfastened her telescope off her side and extended it.
While she tried getting a better look without getting too close the wind began to howl. Freezing gusts whipped around and stirred the snow up and down. It became hard to steady herself enough to focus in on the object but her stomach turned once she did.
Shining must have noticed the sudden change of look upon his sister’s face as he stood nearby. He gently shook her and looked to the stone before turning away. The sight didn’t sit well with him and even less than it had before.
“Twilight, what’s wrong? What do you see? Is everything okay?” the unicorn asked, shaking his sister gently.
“Those marks aren’t from erosion,” Twilight breathed out, her cloudy breath being swept away in the wind. “They’re carvings.”
“What do you mean? Somepony made this?” Shining asked, glancing to the black object and away again.
“I don’t know how else to explain it. There had to be a pony, or a civilization here many years ago that made this,” she tried to explain and looked down at the snow around her hooves.
“Are you feeling okay?” the prince asked while hoping silently he didn’t just put his own sister in danger.
“I’m fine. Just a small headache is all,” she replied and shook her head.
The two continued to study the oddity and the area around it. Is was beyond freezing for every step they took closer to it. No amount of layered clothing would keep away the cold unless they stepped back. Twilight did her best to copy down a few of the bizarre markings. Glyphs, runes, she wasn’t sure what they were entirely.
Once she got close enough to nearly touch it, Twilight felt her heart beating rapidly. The whole experience felt strange. Just being close to it almost gave her a sense that it was otherworldly. Something was wrong with it but she had nowhere near the information to be able and guess what that might be.
“I think we should head back in a bit,” Shining said as he watched his sister write feverishly on the parchment.
“Yeah, that would be a good,” she said back to him before walking backwards as if keeping an eye on the inanimate object.
It took him to shake her a bit before she broke her gaze on the black surface then closed her eyes. She had a pounding migraine and the cold almost seemed to feel like it was trying to freeze it in place. Her head turned to her brother as she was about to tell him her wish to depart when he stepped away quickly.
“What?” Twilight asked, afraid of his reaction.
“Your eyes, Twily,” Shining breathed out. “They’re… so dark.”
•••••
Twilight had insisted on setting up a proper telescope in the loft once they were back. Her eyes had taken on a ghastly darker tone at the site but eventually began to clear up some once they had reached the castle. Shining nearly forbade it but eventually gave in under the condition she report to them everything she learns and to check with an optometrist about her eyes.
The crystal ponies luckily missed the detail as they were more focused on asking their prince a number of questions that repeated. He ushered Twilight away while he distracted them and tried answering everything possible. It was hard to properly convey what he was wanting to but he did manage to tell them it was dangerous but only if they went out to it. The topic of the runes on the smooth surface was conveniently left alone.
Inside the castle, Twilight met with Cadance and tried passing the time with a little chatting. She could tell quickly the pink alicorn was in no mood for much idle talking. Those eyes could hardly stay open as she sat with her foal and mostly just watched and listened to Twilight. The stress of the empire was getting to her bad and she had no break from being a new mother either.
The purple mare eventually stopped and let the prince of the Crystal Empire head back to bed. With all the noise outside it was a wonder if anypony could get any rest around there. Twilight moved over to a decorative mirror and checked on her reflection. Nothing too out of the ordinary, though she could see what Shining meant about her darker eyes.
Just that second, the doors opened and Twilight gasped with a jump from the startling noise. Shining Armor walked in and closed them himself with a groan before he rubbed a hoof to his head and leaned against the giant entryway. He was beginning to look just as exhausted as Cadance.
“I don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to keep things under control,” he admitted and looked to Twilight.
“We’ll find an answer to it,” she assured him with a smile, though weak.
“Your eyes look a lot better,” Shining told her and stepped forward. “I was real scared for a bit there.”
“There were worse than this?” Twilight asked and went back to the mirror to check. “They would have been on the verge of nearly being black.”
“They nearly were,” said the prince while he looked away. “I don’t want you out there anymore, understand? We’ll call off the geo… gel…”
“Geologists,” Twilight said, her interest still in her eyes.
“Yeah, them. No sense putting other ponies in danger,” he told her while walking over. “Did you learn anything else from being out there? Anything at all?”
“I’ll have to use the telescope and your archives. I don’t even know if I can find anything new but I’ll try,” the lavender pony promised while she finally moved from the mirror. “Just try to let Cadance get the rest she needs. I think this whole thing is wearing thin with her, especially after Flurry.”
“I know. I’ll do what I can. Feel free to clear out the boxes in the loft and don’t be staying in there for hours,” Shining warned her. “That open window was cold the other day. I can only imagine how freezing it might be now.”
Twilight agreed and slowly made her way to the offered room they had given her for her stay. The headache had barely lessened but it was enough for her to think a bit more on the strange landmark. Nothing she knew of came close to being whatever that stone was. It had made her feel so unwelcome and odd when she got near as well.
Facts had been gathered but they merely glossed over the appearance of it and hardly much at that. It was an unknown thing in the center of a field that had possibly no right being there. It somehow had been either carved from a single piece of stone or formed that way yet neither looked entirely plausible currently.
Her magic drew the parchment she had written in and held it before her as she laid in bed. Those runes looked nothing like she had seen. No language or anything that seemed familiar in the slightest. To make matters worse, looking at the drawn figures only made her head hurt worse.
Twilight groaned and dropped the paper to the floor as she rolled over. It felt like the room was spinning. It all came to a dizzying halt only when rest was impossible to avoid and the darkness of her dream matched all too well with the black pyramid.
•••••
The next day had been a slow one. Shining had managed to get a telescope and worked on setting it up in the loft himself. The icy wind was almost unbearable when he finally got the stand to sit right. How Twilight was going to take notes or even stay longer than a couple minutes was anypony’s guess.
Curiosity did get the better of him once the instrument was set up accordingly. He had moved plenty of boxes out and had enough room to pace before he peered into the eyepiece. The snow and ice encroaching the outer limits of the empire was where it settled at first before he tilted it and started looking for the strange object.
Several cold and agonizing minutes passed before he finally spotted it. The thing sat exactly where it had been day after day. No ice had formed on it like it was nearly untouchable for everything. He was silently glad that Twilight as well as himself never touched it. Who knew what might happen then.
It only took under a minute for him to start feeling that pressure in his head again. The aching pulse of the headache stirred as he grit his teeth and tried to keep looking. He could have missed something the other two times, right? It would only be a minute.
“Shiny?” came the voice from the closed door. It was Cadance. “Are you in there? You’ve been gone two hours.”
Shining broke away from the telescope and looked back to the door. He hadn’t but looked into the telescope after setting it up. There was no way time flew by that quickly. The stallion rubbed at his eyes and looked around for a mirror but to no avail.
“Uh, yeah, I am. Just took longer to set up the telescope is all,” he lied and covered his face with a foreleg as he opened the door. “I just got this terrible headache though. I’m going to lie down for a bit, okay?”
“Okay, dear. Come on. Let me get you a blanket and you can rest your head,” the pink alicorn suggested as she started to lead him away.
Shining agreed and followed along while making sure she never looked back at him unless his eyes were covered. It wasn’t a complete lie. The burning migraine had been so bad that he thought he might pass out. Laying down to let things clear up would be a good idea in general.
As they passed Twilight’s room, Shining gave a knock to the door and called out to her. Once she replied he told her to be careful when checking the loft. Instead of worrying his wife any further he added that the cold air might be bad. He wanted so badly to get the headache to stop as he stumbled along behind his wife.
It wasn’t until they had made it back to their bedroom that he realized something while looking through the eyepiece. It had been set in a position just barely past the empire’s own limits. He had seen plenty of ice and snow. The cold was coming from the north and overtaking the land.
They wouldn’t have much time to figure things out at the pace it was going.
•••••
Twilight had slept most of the day and only awoke once she heard the knocking at the door. Her ears flicked as her head throbbed while she sat up and answered. Her brother had managed to work on setting up the telescope and told her to be careful. She knew he didn’t mean the temperature in the room to be wary of when issuing his warning but she understood. It was best not to worry Cadance any further if they could help it.
She waited a good bit before getting out of bed and getting things ready. Staying up there must be dreadfully cold and she didn’t want to be ill prepared for it. Donning most of the clothing she could, Twilight eventually slipped on her saddlebag and opened the door. Peering out yielded nopony else so she took advantage of having to avoid explaining herself and swiftly ascended the stairway.
There was a knot in her stomach, tightening and twisting with the disturbing feeling she got from getting closer to the room upstairs. Everything was telling her to move and run away but she couldn’t. She knew it wouldn’t solve anything if she ran. The crystal ponies were probably more scared than she was.
Forcing herself to keep moving, Twilight worked her way up the steps until she finally reached the door. Using her magic, the lavender alicorn opened it and felt the immediate cold blast of air. If the climbing didn’t wake her up then that icy gust of wind sure did. Her teeth clenched as she walked inside and shut the door behind her.
The telescope was perched just in front of the window with a small seat behind it. Nearby were a few boxes but plenty of room for her hooves to move around. She didn’t want to keep staring at the thing but she had to figure out what was going on. As much as she liked the mystery of it, the dangerous aspect of it made her want to just blast it apart and be rid of it.
Her quill and several pieces of parchment were pulled from her bag as she sat down and sighed. A trip to the archives would be a good idea but she wanted to make sure she didn’t miss anything vital. It wouldn’t be long. Just look and take notes then leave.
Twilight nodded to herself and thought of how her brother and his wife. They needed her to do this. It was the only way.
Slowly, the purple mare leaned in and swallowed her fear. Her eye peered into the lens as she adjusted the instrument carefully. Hooves kept the telescope steady as her magic pulled up the quill and parchment, ready to take notes. Only a small look.
Daintily, her note began as she tried to keep from looking too long. Only several seconds were needed before pulling back and reading over what was written. It never made her aching head any better but it kept it from getting agonizing too quickly. She did her best to jot down approximated size, location, and even further describing it the best she could.
Looking through the lens again, Twilight froze in place before panning the view to the surrounding area of the object. Her gaze was swapped between the area and the black stone before she pulled back wrote a bit more. How she had missed it when they were out there was a question she wanted to ask herself.
The stone wasn’t just any stone. It wasn’t sitting in a field. It wasn’t just what they saw. Twilight held a hoof to her muzzle as she tried to think clearly. Then it was like a coin dropped for her. A realization hit almost instantly.
What was sitting in the north from the Crystal Empire was a nunatak. Not only that, but it was far from natural. That field of ice was no field at all. It was in a frozen lake bed, just submerged and lurking. There would be no way it could be so new if that was the case. It had been there the whole time, just waiting for them to take notice.
From her position in the loft and the angle of the view, she could see the outline of the whole area and the small crest they went over surrounding the dark piece of unknown rock. Was it from before ponykind? Did ponies even make it? Was it something truly otherworldly?
All the questions filled her mind and her headache felt like it barely gave enough room for them. She hadn’t shivered for a bit as she stared at the thing and wrote off to the side. Her stomach felt like it had plummeted and her world flipped. She had to know more. There had to be more to learn.
•••••
Shining stirred awake as he laid in bed. His eyes slowly opened to notice his wife and foal absent from the room. Cadance had probably taken Flurry to another part of the castle as not to disturb him. He could feel his head still hurting but it didn’t seem to be any worse than before. The issue still worried him either way.
It was a task in itself to get up and work himself onto all fours without falling over. He felt a little sick but blamed it on the headache. If he wanted to keep sleeping then he would have just rolled over and tried to continue. Instead, he needed to check on Twilight and see how his sibling had come along in her findings, if any.
As he stepped out of the room, Shining could hear a light commotion from the front doors of the castle. It didn’t sound like a protest or even a demand for answers. It was almost like ponies were nearly screaming. The sound made him change his mind and hurry down to the front doors as fast as he could.
A quick check in the mirror showed he could hide the tiny of darkness in his eyes, though the rings around them might be harder to explain. Once the door opened he could see it was dusk and thought he might not have to bother hiding his odd happening. All thoughts of even worrying about it vanished when Cadance came rushing to him and hugged her forelegs around his neck.
“Whoa, what’s going on? What’s with the yelling outside?” Shining asked, carefully hugging the alicorn back.
“It’s the crystal ponies,” she said, trying to keep herself from crying. “They’ve… They’ve just… lost it. I don’t know. It happened out of nowhere. They’re scrawling on the walls and claiming that something had come.”
“What has?” the unicorn tried to insist but Cadance just shook her head.
The ponies had fallen into their legend completely. He had to snap them out of it but it would take a miracle to get them to come to.
“The Crystal Heart has stopped,” Cadance added quietly and hugged tighter. “They said it can’t protect us any longer.”
“Cadance,” Shining said, feeling his own panic rising until he remembered Twilight. “Hold on. I’ll go get Twi! She might have a way to fix this! She can confirm it’s just a dumb legend!”
Not wanting to pull away, Shining pried himself from his wife’s hold and quickly ran up the stairs. His hooves clopped along as he slammed each hoof down and hurried as fast as he could. The throbbing pain in his head nearly made him lose his step and take a very bad tumble to the base of the stairway. It felt like it was getting worse.
He did thank Celestia that he made it to her room without incident and rapped loudly at the door. His hoof probably sounded out throughout the whole castle with how loud it was trying to get her attention.
“Twilight!” he called. “Twilight, we need your help now!”
No reply came. Shining magically opened the door and looked around. His frantic run went all around the room before he hurried out and began to climb more stairs. The loft seemed like the only place she would be but he was hoping she might not be there. It felt like something wicked lurked in their castle.
“TWILIGHT!” Shining shouted as he ran up and tried to keep himself steady.
It was almost accidental when he reached the top and slammed into the door. The shock of the hit made him wince and nearly knocked the breath out of him with how unprepared he was. He could feel that migraine festering and reaching those tendrils deeper into his mind as he regained himself and looked around.
The loft was almost unrecognizable. Various runes were scribbled or practically carved into the crystal walls. Crude and disturbing, the symbols only hounded his mind relentlessly as he looked at them. Their confusing nature and odd look were nigh impossible to grasp with the state his mental health was in.
Twilight sat upon her seat before the telescope, silent and rocking back and forth. Her head stayed lowered, looking down at the instrument that was aimed directly at the cause of all the madness going on. Her hooves were spattered with ink and taking a look to those cursed symbols revealed to Shining that she had used a hoof to smear some runes.
How long had he been asleep? It was only a few hours, he thought. What all did she do or see? Had she learned more? He needed her help more than ever.
“Twilight, please. We need to go and tell the crystal ponies everything is fine. We need to tell them this is all just some hokey legend,” Shining said while panting and doing his best not to look anywhere but at his sister.
The incredible pain that surrounded him was immense. His mind felt fractured and his body numb. If he had to, he would pull her away himself. He couldn’t even hear himself think with how crippling the migraine was. It took a moment before he reached over to grab the alicorn and attempt to pull her away.
Twilight’s head turned to face him uncannily. Her eyes were as black as that stone with tiny dots of a white glow emanating from them and directed right at him. Those glowing pupils felt like they were boring holes into his mind as she stared and began to speak. The words that came out of her mouth were nothing he had ever heard before and nothing he ever wanted to hear again.
A strange language filled the loft in a slight echo as Shining backed away and held a hoof to his head. The room was spinning and he couldn’t keep his balance. With a stumble, the stallion dropped as he tried to sit up.
“Stop it, Twilight!” Shining yelled above her echoed tone.
“It has come,” she said simply. It was something he could understand. “It has risen and is here.”
“What are you talking about?! Snap out of it!” the prince called out as he tried to stand but his body refused.
“It is not pleased,” Twilight said, looking down at her brother as she spoke. “It wishes to be called its proper name. The name inscribed on it.”
Shining didn’t know what to say. He was scared he had lost his only sister to this thing and had no idea how to fight it off. The look from those eyes grew more uncomfortable by the second and made him look away only to find his head aching even more. Once his eyes looked around again he saw a makeshift book laying on top of the saddlebag.
The book itself was extremely crude. Parchment was layered together with two quills stabbed through the sides and woven in like a needle in fabric. They held the thing together but barely. Twilight reached a hoof over and grabbed it, flipping it open and leaning in closely.
“You will listen to its word,” she said before quickly changing to that unknown and horrific language once more. It sounded like chanting to some extent though the context and all were lost on the unicorn’s ears.
“Stop it!” Shining yelled over the strange sayings. “Just stop! Twilight, listen to me!”
“No,” replied the cursed pony. “You will listen. You will hear all it has to say. Then, you will call it by name.”
“What?” asked the stallion in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
Twilight stayed silent for a moment longer before closing the book. Her head leaned in closer to Shining’s as she looked past him and got just within a breath’s touch to his ear. When she opened her mouth and spoke, Shining Armor screamed. Mental anguish instantly filled his mind and spilled over. The prince’s sanity stood no chance of handling what was uttered to him in a tongue that no pony knew. For what Twilight said went beyond what any pony could comprehend.
She had spoken its name.
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9800656
Oh it's well underway~ Just working on finishing the last story then it's a matter of a few other little things. It should be up in October!
10842562
Nice! Can you tell me what story that one was? It was told to me by a friend, but I don't know the original or full story.
10842566
This one right here~
10843460
Thanks!
Shining Armor living in the CRYSTAL Empire and not knowing what a Geologist is was funny to me.
Welp, finally finished. I enjoyed the stories greatly, but for the most part it's left to the reader to decide what will happen ultimately and relies heavily on one's fear of what they don't understand. I guess it doesn't work to disturb everyone, but at least I see what your style appears to be.
10848559
Yes, that was the intent. I know not everything will be for everyone. So, I tend to go with what I enjoy or feel would be good for such ideas. Ambiguous endings can be fun and leave more open to discussion as well. I like it when a story is done but you can keep talking about it.
11167268
My god, you don't know how long I've been looking for that.
Thank you my friend!
Monk
“Come into my parlor, Ted. I have cookies!” -Reykan