The Alicorn Ring

by Dull Mist

The Crystal Palace

The Crystal Palace

One by one, the ponies let out a panicked yell, dropping what they were holding and running frantically for the nearest exit Ponies ran into and tripped over one another, screaming at the top of their lungs in an effort to get as far away from me as possible.

I looked around helplessly. W-what the hell is wrong with them? I thought as I watched two ponies fight each other over who was going to get out of the door first. They were trying to shove themselves through the same doorway at the same time until one of them punched the other in the head, clearing the way for her. The other one just blinked dizzily in the midst of all the commotion.

Wait...didn't Celestia say something about Sombra being in the Crystal Kingdom? Taking over it or something like that? Before I could stop myself, my hand flew up and smacked me in the forehead as hard as it could. Damn it all...

I felt a tugging on my shirt and looked down to see a wide eyed Twilight. “Come on! We need to go!” she said loudly, just barely making herself heard over the riotous cacophony. She pointed to where I could see the others quickly retreating. “We need to find my brother!”

I nodded, and the two of us took off. My long legs allowed me to move faster than her, but I made sure to slow down enough so I wouldn't be leaving her to fend for herself. It would be incredibly awkward if I had to explain to the others that I lost her in the midst of a frightened riot.

All around us, debris and junk were flying through the air as the hundreds of hooves pounded against the wooden floor, almost making it seem like a earthquake was assaulting the station. There were a few moments where I had to duck to avoid getting hit in the head with a flying piece of trash or luggage, and where I had to leap over some poor, unsuspecting pony that had gotten in my way. They squealed as I ran past them, some even going so far as to roll their eyes into the back of their head and faint dramatically.

I rounded a corner that I had seen the others disappear to, shortly followed by an out of breath Twilight.

“Are...are we safe?” she huffed. I looked around. We were in a small hallway that went further into the station, one that was thankfully devoid on any more panicking ponies. From the other side of the corner, loud voices could still be heard, their strange words completely incomprehensible to me except for one word that was repeated over and over again.

“Sombra! Sombra!”

“I think so...” I muttered. “But I don't know where the others are.”

It was then that I heard a sharp rapping against a nearby door. It opened by a crack and I bright green eye peeked out. “Psst! In here ya'll!”

We looked at each other, and Twilight shrugged, stepping forward and quickly slipping inside the door. After a moments hesitation, I sighed and followed.

It was dark, musty, cramped, and smelled like chemicals. I quickly came to the conclusion that we were hiding in a janitors closet.

“Is everypony alright?” Rarity's hushed whisper said from somewhere close by. It was too dark for me to see anything.

A few murmurs of assent, and one terrified squeak, followed. Next to me, someone sighed.

“Good.” Twilight's voice. “Now we should probably-”

“What the hay was all that about?!” another voice cried out angrily that I recognized as Rainbow Dash. “One moment, everything is fine, and the next, there's a riot!” There was another frightened squeak, and I could almost see Fluttershy shaking where she stood in this cramped, dark closet.

“I think they heard Kael mention Sombra, and got kinda panicky about it.” said a strangely muffled voice that must have belonged to Pinkie Pie. I couldn't help but wince, and was grateful that it was too dark for anyone to see my guilty expression.

“That must be it...” Twilight said quietly. “although that really shouldn't make any sense! The translation spell doesn't, or at least, shouldn't extend to anypony else besides us!”

I blinked. That's right, nobody else but them should be able to understand me. Even when I say their names in my own language, they hear them being said in their own. How then...?

The sound of a frustrated groan filled the closet. “It might just be yet another effect of the ring that's interfering with the spell, or maybe even because of the large amounts of magical energy in the Crystal Kingdom.” she sighed. “Or it could be something else completely that makes even less sense that I couldn't hope to understand. As far as we know, it could have been a freak occurrence, or it might happen again.”

There was a long silence. “Really?” came Applejack's voice, deadpan. From her tone, I could tell that she must look very unimpressed.

“I said that magic was unpredictable, didn't I?” Twilight snipped back, sounding very irritated “Look, right now, we just need to worry about finding Shining Armour. He knows where we need to go better than I do.”

“Actually, he's in here with us.” Pinkie Pie chirped, her voice still muffled for some reason. “I saw him outside in all that mess, so I brought him along.”

“What? Really?”

“Yep. Say hi, Shining.”

An unintelligible, but decidedly male voice cut through the darkness.

“Shining!” Twilight cried. “How did you-” There was a bump and the sound of clattering metal, and her words stopped. “Ow! Oh, hold on, let me give us some light...”

A second passed, and then a dim, lavender glow started to emanate from Twilight's horn, casting the small room in a purple light and just managing to illuminate the faces of everyone. For what it was worth, they all seemed to be alright, if not a little shaken. Pinkie Pie in particular seemed to be just as carefree as ever, although I realized that the reason that her voice was sounding strange was because there was a bucket over her head.

There was one face that wasn't familiar though. A pony, slightly taller than the others and with a pure white coat and a blue mane stood across from me, his eyes widening as he saw me. To his credit, he seemed to only be surprised by me, not scared as so many others were.

He murmured something under his breath as he stared at me. There was a look in his eye that made me uncomfortable, a look that told me that he was unsure of whether or not he should examine me as though a child would a curious animal or if he should lock me in a dungeon as far from pony civilization as possible.

“Shining, this is Kael. Kael, this is my brother, Shining Armour.” Twilight said perfunctorily. I said a weak greeting that he returned with a raised eyebrow and an unconvincing smile that didn't touch his eyes.

“Please darlings, can we save the pleasantries for later?” Rarity pleaded, obviously distressed. “A dusty broom cupboard is no place for a lady, and furthermore, there's spiders crawling up my leg!” Twilight looked down, the lavender light emanating from her horn revealing a number of small spiders scurrying across the floor and away from the light, and she grimaced.

“Good idea.” she said, opening the door to the cramped space. “We should go somewhere a little bit less cramped.”

Shining Armour said something, and Twilight nodded in reply as she and the rest of them stepped outside, shortly followed by myself. “That will work.” she replied.

Once we were all outside, and once Pinkie Pie had removed the metal pail from her head, Shining Armour started to walk and motioned for us to follow him, saying something in his language likely to that extent. The others nodded and voiced their assent, so I walked after them, my ears and ears open for anymore ponies who may find my presence to be...disagreeable.

We didn't manage to go five steps before a loud squeal cut through the air.

“Pinkie Pie, there's a mouse in your mane!” a distressed Rarity cried, hopping away from her pink friend as fast as her hooves could carry her. The mare in question blinked, and then rolled her eyes up, peering at her curly pink locks. True to Rarity's word, a small grey rodent was poking out of the top of her curls, its little nose twitching.

“Oh, that's just Chewy.” she replied calmly, walking along as though nothing were amiss. “He moves in there from time to time when he wants some time away from home.”

Rarity gaped at her friend, a look of pure, abject horror on her face. She was still for a few seconds as her friends passed by her, but a quick shake of her head brought her back to reality, a slightly disgusted expression the only indication that something was wrong.

I glanced curiously at Fluttershy who was, once again, hovering beside me. Somehow, she managed to interpret my curious look without a word.

“We're going to the palace” she said in her demure, quiet manner. When I looked nonplussed, she explained further. “The Crystal Palace.” she said, as though I was supposed to be familiar with it.

I took a breath to speak, but decided otherwise. I would discover our destination eventually.

The station, thankfully enough, was almost completely devoid of ponies, save for a few curious ones who had probably come in to see what all the fuss was about earlier. Pieces of trash lay dejectedly as we walked through the halls, ignoring curious stares as we did. Following Shining Armour, we quickly came upon the double doors that marked the exit, but before he stepped through, he paused and looked back, speaking to the group and looking wary.

“He said that, if we run into the guard, we should leave things to him.” my ever helpful pegasus friend murmured in my ear. He got another round of nods, and with a tired sigh, he opened the door and stepped through, us following close behind.

I wouldn't be surprised if the streets were teeming with guards, although I really hooo... My thoughts trailed off and took a strange turn as I stepped outside of the station. Holy shit...

My worries were briefly forgotten as I stepped outside and was greeted with a sight the nearly knocked me off of my feet. Outside of the station, much unlike how it was in Ponyville, ponies of all ages and colours swarmed cobblestone streets, many of them sporting the same shiny, almost shimmering look on their bodies. Stalls were set up on either side of the road, the cries of merchants barely managing to be heard over the din of raised voices and hoofsteps. Surprisingly enough, I managed to catch a few words being of english as the ponies spoke, words such as “flugelhorn” and “berries.” It seemed that the altering effects that the ring, or The Crystal Empire, or whatever the hell it was, had on the translation spell extended to me as well as others.

What struck me as even more surprising then suddenly finding myself in the middle of a bustling city was the actual city itself. To put it simply, it was beautiful.

Crystal was everywhere. Shops and buildings made entirely of the stuff lined the streets, their dazzlingly intricate design that seemed to almost be gilded with gold and silver, and over them, towers and spires that gleamed in the sunlight in all colours of the rainbow stretched into the sky. Everywhere I looked, there was another breathtaking site, large statues of ponies and fantastical beasts made of smooth crystal, architecture so intricate that it hurt my eyes to simply look at, and towering buildings that dwarfed Ponyville's in both size, presence, and beauty.

What really held my attention, however, was the absolutely massive structure that I saw directly ahead of me down the street that the station opened up to. It was shaped in a way that almost reminded me of the Eiffel Tower, four massive legs on the bottom that held up the rest of the body. It was made almost entirely out of white and blue crystal, standing well over everything else at a height that looked as though it would rival some of Toronto's tallest skyscrapers. It absolutely glowed with presence, everything from the main tower to the spire that jutted out from the side almost seeming to make its own light. That must be the Crystal Palace...

A nudge on my elbow brought me back to reality, and I saw Fluttershy looking at me worriedly. “Is everything alright?” She must have mistaken my awestruck look for discomfort.

I gulped and nodded. “Yes.” I replied quietly, not managing to say much else besides.

“We should probably get going then. We don't want to lose them.” she said, pointing down the street where I could see the other ponies moving away from us as I stood here gaping like a fool. I bit back my amazement for a moment, there would be plenty of time to ogle and gape on the way there, but I also needed to focus on not losing my way through this crowd. Granted, I was a lot taller than any of these ponies, and could probably find my way without too much difficulty, but I still didn't want to take any chances.

I nodded at Fluttershy and the two of us hurried after them, a small, rebellious part of me actually kind of wanting to go and explore this strange new land.

---

The Crystal Palace was a half an hour walk away, made so because Shining Armour insisted on taking us around some back roads and alleys that would let us avoid most of the crowds. Funnily enough, unlike in the station where I had been noticed almost right away, most ponies seemed to ignore me completely, walking right next to me without even a glance.

I commented about this to Fluttershy, and she responded with a smile. “You're probably not the most unusual thing that they've seen this week.” she admitted. Considering where they lived, I found that to be quite believable.

As we neared the palace, there were fewer and fewer ponies on the streets. The buildings that were once made of decorative wood, metal, and crystal now seemed to be made of nothing but crystal; multicoloured and multifaceted structures made of calcite, quartz, and amethyst that had doorways, windows, and chimneys sticking out of them. It seemed that we had left the busier, market area of the city and had moved to a more residential one.

“Incredible...” I muttered under my breath as I stared at one such house made of a rosy pink crystal. I could vaguely make out my reflection, blurred and refracted in the wall. “This is simply incredible.”

“I know.” Spike replied, looking around as though he were a child in a candy shop, licking his lips eagerly. This got him a stern look from Twilight, and he deflated a little bit.

Rarity took notice of this, and with a light laugh, stroked the dragon's green frills with a hoof. “Oh, don't fret Spikey.” she cooed. “If you manage to go the entire trip without eating anypony's property, I'll let you take something out of my personal supply of gems.” Spike immediately perked up at this and smiled adoringly at the unicorn.

As we approached the palace, I realized something troubling. Due to the fact that the palace itself stood on four long stilts, elevating it off of the ground, how were we going to get inside? I could see a large, double door on the front that served as the entrance, but it was about 20 feet too high to access.

The leader of our unconventional troupe, Shining Armour, didn't seemed to be the least bit concerned about this, so I simply waited, content that such an obvious design flaw couldn't have been overlooked.

So enraptured was I with magnificence of the tower itself, the way it gleamed with purpose and magic; I could imagine no other way it was created than with some fancy spellcasting, I failed to notice the two ponies who were standing alone in the dead centre of the courtyard. They were bigger than most that I had seen so far, and far more dangerous looking. On their heads lay helmets that left their faces open, but covered everything else with a thick layer of steel, a bright blue plume sticking out of the top. Shiny, interlocking metal plates covered their chests and withers, and held in the crook of their hooves were long pikes that almost came up to my own height, a dark blue banner just underneath each blade billowing in the wind. In the middle of the empty courtyard, they looked somewhat ridiculous, but they stood stone still, evidently with a purpose.

Only the movement of their eyes indicated that they were more than statues. Their eyes darted from one pony to the next, gauging potential threats in the time it took to blink before moving onto the next one. When they looked at me, I felt my breath catch in my throat, and when they looked away, I had to repress a sigh of relief. Unlike many of the others that I had come across, they did not look they were going to be running away screaming from anything, least of all me.

Shining armour exchanged a few words with them, and then, like clockwork, they raised their long pikes in unison and brought them down onto the cobblestones with a resounding crack that split through the air. They repeated the gesture again, and then once more.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I felt a small tingle, like a fly was trapped inside my skull and was buzzing around without a care, trying to get my attention. Just on the edge of my senses, I could detect a small noise, like the ringing peal that lingered after sharply striking a bell. All was quiet, and all was still.

And then, in an instant, that changed. From the ground in between the two points that the guards had struck their pikes on, a large, jagged crack appeared, shortly followed by another, and then another, and then a few more until finally the smooth stone was criss-crossed with fractures. With the sound of rock grinding against rock, and with the ground shaking underneath me making it difficult to stand, the fractures split open to reveal many long horizontal lines of crystal rising from below the ground, raising in a way so that the ones behind were slightly taller than the ones in front until, from out of the ground, rose a solid staircase of blue crystal leading straight up to the doors.

Shining Armour nodded to the two armoured ponies, and after a few more words, set up the stairs. I took a few seconds to recompose myself before I followed, alongside the others.

The look of amazement on my face must have been noticed by him, as he shot me an odd glance. He muttered something quickly to Twilight, who giggled in response. “He's just not quite used to it yet.” she muttered to him, just loud enough for me to hear.

Well, excuse me your highness if I, a creature from another dimension, act a teensy bit odd.

Shaking my head, we reached the massive double doors, stepping off of the stairs and onto the platform. The doors were already opening, surprisingly silent for their size, revealing the immaculate interior which was every bit as impressive and beautiful as its exterior. Behind us, a loud groaning noise appeared, and the crystal stairs slowly started to sink back down into the ground disappearing one by one underneath the stone, magically resealing itself so that it looked no different than it did before.

Since when did drawbridges not become enough? I wondered as I watched the impressive display magic and strategic thinking.

“Come on...let's follow them.” a small voice from my side said, nudging my shoulder forward. Looking towards it, I saw Fluttershy looking at me with her big blue eyes.

I blinked. “Right. Sorry.”

She smiled. “It's okay.”

Large red banners hung off of the wall, just barely hanging off of the ground, each picturing the same symbol, a blue heart surrounded by golden stars. Several spiralled columns wider than myself ran from the ground to the vaulted ceiling, a massive golden chandelier hanging precariously in the centre of it.

As the double doors closed behind us, Shining Armour stopped moving and turned to face us in the middle of the wide hall. He said a few quick words to his sister, who nodded and screwed up her face in concentration.

A blindingly bright light flashed from her horn, making me see stars for a moment. I was about to ask her what the heck she was doing, but was interrupted before I could.

“Thank you Twilight.” Shining Armour said. “This will make my job a bit easier.”

I blinked as he looked at the rest of us, his face serious. “I've already been debriefed about the situation in a letter from the Princesses, and although I don't really understand it, I understand that you all are, unsurprisingly, in the middle of it yet again, albeit with one member extra.” That was me, I supposed.

He sighed dejectedly. “In their letter, the princesses told me that I was simply to give you the resources that you needed to get you to the crystal palace and let you on your way, and that I wasn't to accompany you. Now, I'll be honest here, but the thought of that makes me want to pull out my tail with my teeth. I'd much rather come with you, but I know that if I did against Celestia's and Luna's wishes, my wife would have my head.”

There was a chorus of giggles from the girls, and I could see Shining Armour grin slightly. “Truth be told,” he continued. “since the Crystal Kingdom's return, much of the surrounding land is still uncharted, the most recent maps and records of them being over a thousand years old and lost to time, so we've been trying to chart as much as we could. However, we've had no luck in finding Sombra's castle, the Obsidian Castle, nor do we want to find it. It's an incredibly dangerous place, which makes it even harder to let my own baby sister go there without me.”

Twilight huffed irritatedly, but he ignored her, the grin on his face widening almost imperceptibly, yet still managing to look serious.

Pinkie rose her hoof, waving it in the air, and Shining Armour eyed her warily. “Yes Pinkie?”

“How are we supposed to find it if it's lost?” she asked. “I lost my sunglasses a week ago and I spent hours looking for them, but no matter where I looked I just couldn't find them, and a lost castle is probably a lot harder to find than a lost pair of sunglasses, even if I did manage to-”

“”Good question.” he interrupted, cutting the hyperactive pony's words off hastily. Pinkie Pie managed to say “They were on my face the entire time!” before falling silent once more.

“As for how you are going to find it, that's the reason you are here in the first place.” he lowered his voice and eyed his surroundings. “But before that, you need to promise me that you will never speak of what you see in here, not to anypony. There are secrets in this castle that can't be allowed to be revealed, except to a select few.” He looked at us imploringly. “I need your word.”

There was some surprised muttering of “What the hay?” and “My word!” from the ponies, but Shining Armour managed to draw a vow of secrecy from each one of them, even little Spike. They were all looking a lot more unsure of themselves, I could see, even Rainbow Dash's cocksure grin wilting a little bit as Rarity fiddled with her curls nervously.

Finally, he looked at me, and I gave a start when he realized that he wanted my word as well. Who did he think that I was going to tell? Even if I could communicate without the aid of a translation spell, within a week or so, I'll either have returned home, or have been taken over by a malevolent sorcerer. Either way, I'll be far to preoccupied to let loose any royal secrets.

I kept my thoughts to myself. “I won't tell a soul.” I told him earnestly. He breathed a small sigh of relief and nodded, satisfied.

“Alright then. Good.” he said heavily. “Follow me, and I'll show you where secrets go to die.”

---

The walk through the palace was almost as long as the walk to the palace. We came across what I assumed to be servants and staff of the palace through the halls, but we were largely ignored. At first, I tried to count the turns and take note of any special landmarks so that I could find my way back if I got lost, but with the dizzying array of colours and designs, I gave up after only a few minutes. They must find find a lot of skeletons of ponies who starved to death while looking for the bathroom.

Eventually, we came to a stop in a room that was comparably small compared to the others, but still fairly large in general. It seemed to have no other purpose than to showcase works of framed art depicting ponies in regal suits and dresses posing dramatically and looking off into the distance thoughtfully.

“Oooooh, who are all of these pretty ponies?” Pinkie Pie cooed, gazing wide eyed at the pictures.

“Former Princes and Princesses of the Crystal Kingdom.” Shining Armour replied, paying the pictures around him no mind. “On the surface, this room was built to showcase their portraits for the public to see, but in reality, it was protect some of the Crystal Kingdom's most valuable, and dangerous, secrets.”

“You hide all of your secret stuff in a room filled with pictures of stuffy ponies that literally anypony can access at any point in time?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking at Shining Armour as though he had grown an extra horn while Rarity huffed at the stuffy ponies remark. I had to admit, it didn't make much sense to me either, although he merely smirked.

“Who in their right mind would visit a place that had nothing but pictures of 'stuffy ponies'? Even when the occasional pony does come here, usually it's only because they're lost, otherwise they are watched the entire time.” He looked back at the befuddled pegasus and smiled. “The best place to hide something is in plain sight after all.”

Rainbow Dash hmm'ed and nodded thoughtfully. “Well then where is all this secret stuff you keep talking about?”

“Right here.” Shining said, stopping in front of the largest portrait in the room that stretched from the ceiling to the floor, a positively ancient stallion clad in red and purple velvet robes sitting stiffly on a throne and looking as though he was glaring at us. On the wooden frame of the picture, there was an inscription.

“It says, “What is a ruler's greatest duty?” Shining said for my sake. “It's supposed to promote thought to the ponies of what the rulers of the Crystal Kingdom should do to rule effectively.” Without turning, continued. “What do you all think the answer to that is?”

There were some confused murmurs and thoughtful hums. Finally Rainbow Dash responded with “To protect the nation from invaders!”

“To make sure that nopony lives in poverty.” was Rarity's response, not taking her eyes off of the painting.

“To make sure everypony is happy!” Pinkie Pie squealed her reply.

“I guess to supply their citizens with enough food and water.” Applejack said, scratching the back of her neck.

“To preserve and encourage the acclimation of knowledge for the benefit of pony kind!” Twilight said proudly, beaming at the portrait.

“Ummm...to keep eveypony happy and healthy, I suppose...” Fluttershy answered.

Finally, all eyes were turned towards me, and I realized with a start that they wanted to know what I thought about it as well. “I...haven't the slightest idea.” I admitted.

Shining Armour nodded. “Well, those are all good answers, but none of them are completely right. The truth is...” he took a breath, and then continued speaking as though entirely from memory. “A ruler's greatest duty is to know what truths are too dangerous to exist.”

And then, to everybody's great surprise, the picture of the regal looking pony nodded at us grimly before shimmering like a wall of mist and disappearing, revealing a heavy stone wooden doorway in the wall behind it.

“Oooooh...” came a chorus of fascinated voices.

“It's a bit outdated,” Shining Armour said with a hint of distaste. “But in essence, it's true.” He walked up to the door, grasping the heavy iron knocker, and banged it on the wood three times. “There are secrets behind this door that the general populace can not know about. Artifacts and magical scrolls too dangerous for the eyes of any but the princesses.” The door slowly slid opened inwards on grinding hinges to reveal a dark, wide hallway lit by wall mounted candles that bloomed alight.

“Neato!” Pinkie Pie said, bounding forward and sticking her head into the opening and looking around. “It smells like the Cake's basement in here!”

Shining Armour sighed, and Twilight Sparkle patted him on the back.

“Well what are we waiting for?” Rainbow Dash said, eagerly darting forward. “The sooner we get what we need, the sooner we can send Kael home.”

I felt a small warmth bloom in my chest at her words, but it was muffled slightly at the prospect at of walking into that creepy looking corridor. Shining Armour's words ringed in my mind, and I suddenly found my feet to be a lot harder to move than they were before. A small squeak at my side told me that I wasn't the only one feeling the same.

“Yes, let's get this over with.” Shining said, motioning us forward. “I want to get this finished as quickly as possible.” Fluttershy looked at each other for a moment nodded, following the others as they stepped through the opening, Applejack calling to Rainbow Dash to not be so impatient, and Rarity bemoaning the the fate of her coat in the mildewy hallway. Twilight and Pinkie Pie seemed to be completely unperturbed, excitement shining in their eyes, although I suspected for different reasons.

“Just make sure that you stick with the group.” Shining Armour said as the door rumbled to a close behind us. “This is the last place you want to get lost in..and don't touch anything!”

---

“Let's see here...” came Twilight's inquisitive voice, peering through a thick glass box at what lay inside. “The Necromancer's Guide to Grave Robbing, by Rickity Stick.” she tilted her head to the side. “Sounds...interesting.”

Shining Armour sighed. “Yes, very, now could you please not get too close to it?”

“Hold on just a second...” his sister mumbled back, focusing her attention to another glass box with another old tome encased in it. “Ooooh! The Beginner Basilisk Breeding Guide for Budding Beastmasters! Fluttershy would like that one!"

The butter yellow pegasus shuddered from where she stood beside me. “I really wouldn't...”

“Twilight dear, as much as we may like to, we can't stop to examine every forbidden tome of unspeakable horrors that we come across.” came Rarity's voice. “Keep in mind our purpose for coming in here in the first place, hmm?”

The purple unicorn sighed. “Oh, alright.” she replied as she reluctantly turned away from the sealed away books and joined us as we made our way further through the assortment of books and bric a brac.

“Really darling, you must keep your head in the game.” the white unicorn chastised gently. “We can't afford to lose our focus at every turn we make.”

“There was a book on the sewing techniques of Griffin Blood Priests.”

“Really?! Where?!” Rarity replied, making a mad dash back for the room filled with books. Luckily, Applejack managed to catch her by the tail with her mouth and pull her back, the fashionista's hooves scrabbling wildly on the ground for a moment before she realized what she was doing.

Letting go of her tail, Applejack smirked. “What was that ya said about focus there Rarity?”

Rarity huffed, her cheeks glowing red. “Yes, well...I never said I was without weakness, did I?”

There was a chorus of laughter, even a few giggles coming from Fluttershy, but I couldn't bring myself to laugh. I was too focused on Shining Armour, our only guide through these tunnels, partly because I desperately did not want to lose him, but mostly because the expression on his face worried me.

His mouth was drawn into a thin line that grew even thinner as the girls chatted and laughed. Worry lines creased his eyes, only growing more pronounced as we walked further and further into the catacombs. I recalled what he said earlier, about the dangers of our mission, and a lump formed in my throat.

Looking for a distraction from my worry, I searched for something to say to take my mind off of it. “So...what is this...thing..that you said would help us?” I asked him tentatively.

Without even slowing down, he answered. “It's a fragment of crystal that, like that ring of yours, is imbued with Sombra's magic. However, unlike that ring, it is connected to him and only him, and as such, it is constantly attracted to him.”

“I see...” I replied. “And is it...dangerous?”

He sighed, the lines around his eyes becoming more pronounced. “I don't know.” he admitted. “Tests have been done on it, but the only thing that we can determine is that it's filled to bursting with incredibly dark magic, although it seems mostly stable.” I frowned at the his use of the word mostly, and he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “We are taking a huge risk by letting it out of the safety of the palace. If something goes wrong with it, then the results could be...well, I'm sure you can imagine.”

My mouth turned dry, and I nodded. “Right...I'll make sure nothing happens to it.”

He nodded. “Good.”

The next few minutes, I walked in silence, absorbed in my thoughts until our procession came to a stop. “Here it is.” he announced, stopping in front of what looked to be a box made entirely out of metal sitting on a pedestel, a padlock as big as my hand keeping it sealed. Without any preamble, he lit up his horn, and the padlock clicked open, the door gliding open silently. Almost immediately, that small, tingling sensation in the back of my mind seemed triple.

Illuminated by the dim light coming from the wall mounted candles, a misshapen shiny black lump, about the size of my fist, was floating in the middle of the box, the light reflecting off of each facet as it spun lazily in the air All in all, it seemed like a fairly unremarkable piece of black rock.

Gingerly, Shining Armour reached in and withdrew it with the crook of his hoof. “This is all that remained of him when he and the Princesses last fought years ago.” he said softly. He turned to look at us, his eyes stony. “This is how you'll find him.”

“How does it work?” Twilight asked, eyeing the little black lump.

He set the rock down on the ground and stepped away. “Watch.”

For a few moments, nothing happened, but then, seemingly of its own will, the rock started to slowly slide across the floor, edging further away from me and closer to...

“AHHH! It's coming after me!” Pinkie Pie squealed, leaping into the air and darting behind Applejack, who looked bewildered. “I'm so sorry Mr. Rock! I swear I'm not a rock farmer anymore! I'm sorry if I smashed any of your friends and family!” the pink pony trembled, causing Spike to giggle from where he sat on Twilight's back and the rest of the girls to roll their eyes.

“Uhh...” Shining Armour muttered. “Right...Well then. Moving on.” he cleared his throat. “All you need to do to find the Obsidian Castle is move in the direction that the crystal is moving. It's being attracted to the strongest source of Sombra's magic that is left in the world, and it will show you where to go.”

Levitating the black lump and depositing it in her saddlebags, Twilight nodded. “Sounds simple enough.” she replied. “Don't worry Shining, we'll take care of it. And of ourselves.”

For a moment, Shining Armour looked pained, but it passed quickly. “That's good to hear.” he said, giving her a small smile that quickly vanished. “Alright, we have what we need. Let's get out of here before Pinkie starts prostrating to it for forgiveness.”

“I don't even know what that means!” the pink pony in question announced cheerfully.

---

Shining Armour ushered us through the hall dark and cramped halls, quickly coming to the wooden door that we entered from. He took a moment to peak through a eyehole, and when he determined that the coast was clear, opened the door to the room of paintings. When he shut the door behind us, it was immediately hidden by the same illusion of that huge painting, the scowling pony looking down at us just as before.

“Well, we have what we need, so there's no use hanging 'round anymore. ” Applejack said. Rarity nodded alongside her.

“Indeed. We have food to last us and any other supplies we might need, not to mention a way to find Sombra's lost castle.” she gave a dazzling smile. “I dare say that we're quite ready to be off on this little adventure.” Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie grinned at one another.

Shining Armour nodded grimly. “Alright then. I won't hold you any longer.” his mouth twitched. “Just...promise me you'll be careful.”

Twilight laid a hoof on his shoulder. “We will be. Remember, we know what Sombra is capable of just as well as you do.” She smiled supportively. “We helped defeat him, remember?”

Her brother gave a tired sigh in response. “I remember...I just worry. These circumstances are a little bit different than last time. There's more unknowns.” He shook his head. “Nevermind. Just let me show you the way out of the castle and you can be on your way.”

Twilight nodded. “Lead the way.”

---

The sound of steps on the hard floor, presumably also made out of crystal, was the only thing that could be heard as we made our way back to the entrance, our minds and thoughts focused on the task that lay ahead and very aware of the . Each step, clear and sharp as a bell, reverberated through the wide corridors, seeming to get louder with each passing second. In fact, my head started to ring painfully with the sound.

I shut my eyes tightly. Every sound seemed unnaturally clear and loud. Everything from the sound of our walking to the sound of of breathing or talking sent felt like it was amplified ten fold, and I had to resist the urge to put my hands over my ears.

“Futile...”

My eyes shot open. I looked at the ponies, but none of them were looking at me.

“They won't help you...”

I blinked and looked away. Their mouths weren't moving, so that voice couldn't be coming from any of them. It didn't even sound like them. It was more of a wet, raspy whisper, like two pieces of old, rough stone sliding across one another. My finger that had the Alicorn Ring on it twitched.

“They can't even help themselves...”

My breathing began to quicken and I sweat started to bead my brow. My head felt like it was going to split in two by now, as though somebody was repeatedly taking an axe to it. Shut up. I thought. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

“The mouse can not stand against the lion...”

“Shut up...” I growled under my breath, even my own voice sounding amplified in my head along with everything else.

“It can only accept its fate...and be devoured.”

“Kael? Are you alright?” a voice asked from next to me. I looked to see several multicoloured faces looking up at me with concern. I smiled weakly.

“Yeah, I'm great. Why?” I asked, thankfully managing to keep my voice steady despite the this massive, inexplicable headache that I was now sporting.

“Ya just seem a little pale is all.” Applejack replied. “More so'n usual that is.”

“It must just be the light.” I replied easily. “Don't worry, I'm fine.”

“Devoured...”

I hope we can find it in time. I thought desperately as I walked. For my sake as well as theirs.

Author's Note:

If this were an actually published book series (ha!), this would probably be the end of the first book. It would be titled, The Alicorn Ring: Totally Not a Lord of The Rings Ripoff.

Things should become a bit more interesting from here on out, so that's something to look forward to. I guess.

Comments

[Apocryphal Frost]

They seriously outlawed Necromancy? Did they just outlaw every kind of magic that might be deemed as "dark?"

So...I'm guessing that Celestia is keeping the fact that she can use the same kind of magic as Sombra a secret? You know, wouldn't want to be seen as a hypocrite.

[Blade Star]

I read that book on sewing practices. I particularly enjoyed [REDACTED] and found [REDACTED] most interesting. I just wish they hadn't outlawed the process of [REDACTED]. All in all a good read.*

*Post censored by Crystal Imperial Guard - Intelligence Branch.

[Dull Mist]

3494359 Don't we all?

[Ninjahzzzz]

3492908 Stupid fucking light mages,Outlawing all the fun bits.......Healing magic aint gonna fucking help when a fucking manticore is trying to eat ya,But a demon summon,Blood whip,Or good ole' fashion blast of death magic will.....Why is it dark magic is called bad,When its allways better?

[Strat]

3494587

It can't be that evil if you are using your own blood, and don't let the demon escape.

[Ninjahzzzz]

3495825 Personally i just legally buy blood...it isnt all that expensive,And as for the demons,I just bind them,and only summon imps and the like to swarm targets