The Crystal Vanguard

by Skarner

Chapter 14: These Hooves of Mine

"...the miles to go before I sleep.

The miles to go before I sleep."

-Excerpt from A Walk in the Woods by Robert Frost

He cackled maniacally. Never before has he experienced so much joy. Ionia has fallen, but not before him. However, he did not mind at all; he has dreamt of Ionia in ruins since that day. The day that the master chose another to advance in their training, instead of him. The master told him that he had too much darkness in his heart. Ever since that day, he decided to harness the darkness as his ally. Soon, he became the master of shadows. Each day, he wouldn't practice on dummies or mannequins, he would prey on his own villagers. Truly darkening his heart after each kill. The kill would be swift and thoughtless; no pony deserved anymore of Zed's time.

Zed...

It's weird how he thought of that name. His master abandoned him and placed him last on his training priority, just as if he was the last letter of the alphabet: Z.

"Please! Let me live! I'll do anything!" A bloody armoured stallion cried beside him. Zed almost forgot that he was busy killing an Ionian soldier. He had his duel-bladed gauntlet deep in his chest. With haste, he retracted his blade, but also severing the soldier's neck, causing him to gargle blood as he choked for air. Soon enough, the soldier did not bother him any longer.

Zed wore a full-dress of iron armour, including the crimson red drape covering the back of his neck and through his shoulder plates. He had two large glaives symmetrically attached to his back. His helmet was similar to the crusaders design from the dark ages, only his eyes glowed red. Neither his cutiemark or his mane and coat could be seen, including his tail (which is an odd sight).

He stared into the distance, soaking in the sight of the fallen temple which was Empress Karma's pride and joy. Unfortunately, the scenery had an additional sound of a lone crying filly. Zed sighed and tracked the noise. He didn't have to wonder far, to find that there is indeed a little teal filly stuck under rubble. She cried harder when she sighted Zed. Perhaps everypony in Ionia knows Zed. The filly fought and bucked, but to no avail. Zed mused at watching this filly; there was nopony around, and she is so helpless. He unsheathed his blades on his left gauntlet...

"Freeze!" cried Akali from behind. Her coat was grass green, and her mane was coal-black. Her cutiemark resembled the symbol of the Kinkou Order, or some may call them the shadow warriors. Zed wasted no time to engage, and flung his right glaive at her. Then another pony appeared in front of her and parried the glaive with his two katanas. Zed leaped to retrieve it, and came down on the newcomer with his blades pointed. Unfortunately, he was kicked in the gut by Akali, interrupting his attack. She also delivered a slash from her kamas, which he was able to block with his gauntlet blades. He landed on his hooves, and he was ready to strike again.

"It's over Zed." Shen said. His coat is a solid midnight blue, which matches his clothing and armour. He wore a mask that revealed only his eyes. He also had the symbol of Kinkou.

"Oh but it has only begun." Zed snarled, then he sent a shadow clone with blades blazing to cut past the two who stood in his way. Akali and Shen avoided the attack by shifting to the side, then retaliated by dashing Zed. However, he replaced himself with a shadow clone, making their attacks useless, unless they targeted the real Zed. Before they could react, the clone slashed in a 360 turn, wounding Akali and Shen. Despite their blooded shoulders, they turn to face Zed who was already right behind them. He slashed down at both of them, but they were able to hold the blades away from themselves with their own.

"Why do you kill the innocent?" Akali said through her teeth, "You still have a chance for redemption."

"Seeking alternatives is a sign of weakness." Zed replied. He shoved them back towards his shadow clone who performed the same slash attack, scathing Akali's back. Shen was able to block the shadow blade, so he turned to fling his spare katana at Zed. He groaned in pain as the blade was lodged in his right fore-leg. Akali leaped from where she stood and kicked Zed's left fore-leg, rendering him off-balance. She swiped at his shoulder, then she performed an uppercut with her other blade on his side. Now exposed, she used her inner earth-pony ability to create a shroud that hid her from even the most trained eyes. Zed, however, knew this trick by heart, and concentrated. Right when she reappeared, he swung his glaive, hitting her at the chest. She stepped out of the fray to avoid any more major wounds.

Shen dashed forward, stabbing Zed-- a shadow clone. Suddenly, 2 other figures close in from different directions, and they all stabbed Shen. Unable to handle the grimacing pain, he fell to his knees. He observed his own blood, gushing from his guts. Zed stood over him, preparing to deliver the final blow. Fortunately, Shen held up his katanas, holding off the blade that will soon split his head in two if he didn't act soon.

A pebble hit the side of Zed's helmet, drawing his attention to the one who threw the rock.

"Leave him alone!" Cried the filly, "You big bully!"

"Run child run!" Shen warned through gritted teeth. However, she threw another pebble, hitting Zed's shoulder.

"That's cute" He commented. He reached back for his final glaive and flung it at the filly. She was barely able to yelp when it hit her.

"No!!" he shoved Zed's bladed gauntlet and attempted to slash at his chest, but he was countered by Zed's quick stab from his free hoof.

"That's adorable." He said. Before he could react, Akali stuck both of her kamas in his back, then leaped over him and Shen while still holding on, to send Zed flying. Once he recovered, he discovered that Shen, Akali, and the filly were gone. All that remained were tattered flesh and pools of blood.

Shen carried the bloody body of the filly on his back, planning to give her a proper burial soon. He turned to Akali with sorrow eyes.

"Where are you Yi?" Akali rasped in tears, "Where are you Kennan?"

---

"Think we've lost him father." Shyvana panted. They have flew far from where they were, unaware of their current location.

"I think so too." His stomach growled, "Shall we find something to eat?"

"Definitely."

"But wait, where are we?"

They observed the area; grassy, wide and flat, sufficiently warm, clearing of dirt ahead of them, but no drake.

"Father, we have flown over the Thorn Mountains, right?" asked Shyvana.

"Yes we have. Into barren territory, or rather the outskirts of the forest;no drake lives here." he scratched his chin, to realistically consider this. The sky wasn't bright, and nor was their hopes.

"Than where shall we begin?"

"I'm not sure, and i'm really sorry for making you scavenge all that food, only to be put to waste."

"It's alright father. Let's focus on hunting for now."

"Agreed."

With the sun blocked by the numerous clouds, it was hard to tell that it was getting late. However, they searched about, within large bushes and trees for anything that can be consumed for efficient nutrition. Zarg was milling about in tall grass, but all he could find was inedible weed. He then found a small nest of Humming Runners (a splice of humming birds and mice) but decided to spare them since there was an obvious bunch of newborns. They were far too small to be sufficient anyways. He resorted to digging in the dirt clearing, searching for gems and minerals instead of meat or berries. Unfortunately, he was never a good with rocks. He despised getting his talons dirty, and especially the sound that talons make when you scratch a hard stone. With determination to feed himself and Shyvana, he dug harder and deeper, and to avail, he was lucky to come up with a pair of diamonds, and several rubies. He huffed in pride, and brought them to Shyvana... if he could find her.

"Look out!" she appeared from above, carrying a large black bear.

"Show off." he commented. She laughed as she dropped the bear upon the dirt clearing.

"Why am I never included in these food hunts?" a new voice spoke.

"For Illitheas' sake! How do you keep finding us?!" yelled Shyvana, "Quick, to the skies!" she called to her father, but he was held back by the talons of Burdac.

"You won't run from me no more!" he yanked Zarg to the ground, not landing softly at all. He clawed his wings, tearing apart the skin in between the limbs. Zarg screamed on agony, and kicked Burdac off of him. As he stood on his feet again, Shyvana landed valiantly beside him, prepared to side with him in this fight.

"No Shyvana--he only wants me--not you." he said lowly.

"Wrong Zarg!" interrupted Burdac, "Your family is the one who has forsaken me, so it's every drake who has your blood."

"I'm tired of hiding father," Shyvana began, "I'm tired of leaving you. I'm strong enough to stand beside you this time, but i'm not strong enough to be alone again. "

"Fine..." her words hit him deeper than anyone could've thought, "Let's do this."

"With pleasure!" Burdac pounced, firstly at Zarg. They traded a couple of deep scratches before they tumbled onto the ground. Shyvana tried to pry him off her father by biting into his neck, and yanking him back. Due to her size, it will prove to be impossible. Upon Burdac noticing this, he grabbed her neck with his spare claw, and threw her back a small distance. Unfortunately, her head hit a boulder that just so happened to be there. Zarg used his claws to stab the abdomen of Burdac's belly; a dragon's soft spot. He roared in pain, then threw himself atop of zarg, gaining advantage. He slashed constantly at Zarg's face, making it hard to counter attack.

Shyvana shook her head to shake off the dizziness, and flew up. She looped to gain momentum, and dived right into Burdac. She stood atop of him, so she had the advantage, and began swiping at his face and biting through the soft parts of his neck. He breathed a torrent of green flames in her face, throwing her off-balance. He knocked her off with a slash of his claws, and turned to meet the charging father. Zarg was knocked over by the brutal tail swipe from Burdac, brandishing a large gash on his ribs. While he took time to catch his breath, Shyvana recovered and pounced at Burdac, but before she made contact, she transformed into her pony-form, leaving Burdac confused. She grabbed onto his neck and climbed up to his head. Burdac tried to shake and claw her off, but her size was convenient enough. Once she was on his head, she transformed back into dragon-form and pinned his head down to the ground. She moved her mouth in position to snap his neck, just like her prey. Burdac acted to counter; he arched his tail, just enough to grab hold of Shyvana's neck and strangle her. With his new advantage, he wasted no time to wait, and positioned himself to snap her neck.

With haste, Zarg clawed Burdac's head and shoved him off of Shyvana.

All three were covered with patches of blood. They were panting hard from their exhaustion, and they limped with the limbs that were hindered. Shyvana, who was still trying to recover from her hard-pressed strangle, stepped back, letting her father take him down.

"Come on old drake! Show me what you got left!" Burdac taunted. Zargonath made a mighty battle-cry before he charged headfirst. Burdac did likewise. They clashed mid-way and wrestled for a test of strength. Unfortunately, Zarg was overpowered by Burdac and was taken advantage. He couldn't do anything else because he was pinned down by a slightly larger and healthier dragon.

"I'll kill you!" cried Zarg. They were his last words as Burdac made quick work of snapping his neck. In the meantime, Shyvana was already charging to save her father, but was too late. She stopped in her tracks, to take in what happened before her.

"Father..." she said softly. Sudden images of their time together, from recently and in the far past. One image was when they painted a glorious picture that still hung in the western kingdom castle. Another was when Zarg brought home a rare 6-hued gem, bearing all 6 colours of a rainbow. Renewed with new energy and strength, mainly from her anger, surged through her veins and body. Her eyes snapped open from her flashbacks, and engulfed herself in flames, without hurting herself.

"You shall pay for what you have done!" she cried. Her voice was unfamiliar, it sounded like two as if it was layered with a deeper voice. She roared loudly and furiously swiped at Burdac. He was getting knocked left to right, with searing hot claws. Now realizing that he is satisfied with his achievements for today, he flew up and quickly disappeared into the evening sky. She experienced sudden exhaustion before she could attempt to fly after him, leaving Shyvana to break into a heap of tears.

She cried non-stop for 10 minutes before she brought herself to cry even more over her father's dead body. It seemed like the forest that surrounded her was purposely silenced, proposing respect for the fallen. Her heart pained so much, to the point she transformed into her pony-form without intention. She curled up underneath his wing, trying to cry herself to sleep with his remaining warmth. She ignored the fact that his wings were dripping blood all over her.

3 hours later, she ran out of tears, and her body began to shake furiously; not from the cold, but from the utter shock and despair.

"Over here!" The voice of a pony yelled from a distance. Shyvana didn't care if they found her and took her prisoner for whatever reason.

"Move move move!" the shouts came nearer, and they seemed to be numerous.

"Hold!" Shyvana knew that nopony could see her under Zarg's wing, so she remained still, but her constant sniffling gave herself away.

"I'll investigate." a feminine voice announced.

"Of course ma'am."

She can hear the hooves slowly beating the ground, and how they came closer and closer.

"Go away!" cried Shyvana in a very shaky voice, "Leave me alone!"

"Are you a foul creature?" she replied, "Or are you a pony?" Those words... they really set off the remaining anger in Shyvana. Her answer to that was both; she was a foul creature who is also a cowardly pony. She morphed into her dragon-form and lowered her head to the mare.

"I SAID: LEAVE ME ALONE!!" Shyvana screamed, causing the ponies to have sirens in their ears. She swiped in front of her, creating a torrent of flames in her path, frightening the ponies into arms. They backed off, creating distance between themselves and angry dragon. She managed to not let her anger lash onto innocent ponies, and instead release it on herself. She once again, broke down into a heap of tears.

Ever seen a dragon cry?

"Let me handle this." a new pony in gold and black armour approached. He got in front of the mare to make his point clear, "She is obviously innocent."

"Yes my prince." she backed off and joined the rest of the royal guards

"DO I HAVE TO SAY IT AGAIN?!" Shyvana roared.

"I'm here to help." He said. He came closer, but kept a safe distance.

"DON'T COME ANY CLOSER OR I'll RIP YOU TO SHREDS!" she breathed fire in front of the armoured pony, warning him to back off.

"Please calm down... we're sorry for disturbing you."

"No, no..." she calmed down, gradually slowing her breathing, "It was wrong of me to snap at you--but please--leave me alone."

"Allow me to introduce myself: I'm Prince Jarvan, and the one you screamed at is Vayne." Vayne prodded at the ground with her hoof and looked away, trying to ignore their conversation. "So what's your name?"

"*sniff* Shyvana." her breathing softened.

"That's a lovely name." his words caused her to blush a little, "We're here to help and we just want to know what happened here. Whenever you're ready, you can come tell us."

"What's the use? You're all frightened by me."

"That's no true. Right fellas?!" he turned and called back. It was obvious that they were all quivering in fear, with spears still pointed at Shyvana. Except Vayne of course. "Okay fine, but you can always come to me. Okay Shyvana?"

"Okay."

---

He sighed, he didn't get to spend much time in Canterlot after he has been found by the guards. He was supposed to be stationed at the Crystal Empire, and it technically meant that he deserted his post. So here he is, riding in the same car with Skarner. He too was moved to be stationed at the Crystal Empire; orders by Prince Shinybutt. Name by Twitch. Luckily, Luio was able to transport his ingredients/supplies with him for his ultimate plan!(even though it's really not that impressive)

"So..." said Luio to break the silence, "How's life?"

"Not bad. Not Good. How about you?" Skarner replied.

"I'd say the same thing."

"I see."

"So, did they say why you're going back to the Crystal Empire?"

"Yes. They are sending the remaining elite royal guards there to another continent, so they lack defences there."

"Interesting. Where do you think they are sending them to?"

"Well, definitely not the griffon or dragon kingdoms, perhaps the moon?" they shared a hearty laugh before the conductor told them it was time to get off. Luio lifted a large box with his magic, containing things only he knows, and set it upon a large carriage that awaited the expected package. The ponies driving the carriage grunted. in reaction.

"What's in there? Rocks?" one of them commented.

"Why yes!" said Luio with a bit of glee, "How did you know?"

"Gee, lucky guess." he replied sarcastically.

"Alright fellas, to the castle!" and so they slowly trotted their way to the crystal castle. Luio was trailing right beside them, making sure everything is fine. Skarner took a glance around and observed the shops and houses that shone brightly. The crystal ponies that smiled and laughed. The bright and blue sky, decorated with small puffs of clouds.

"I guess, this is my home now." he said.

"Than this is a pretty cool home you got mister." a young filly spoke behind him.

"Yea! It's all shiny an' sparkly!"

"And wicked!"

Skarner turned to face the 3 fillies, and found an orange pegasus with a purple mane, a yellow filly with a strawberry red mane and a matching bow behind her head, and a white unicorn with mane that is pink and purple. He chuckled,

"Indeed the Crystal Empire is most impressive." he took a glance at the glorious city, then he turned back to the fillies who were not where they were anymore. Instead, they were awing at a crystal sculpture display. "What are your names young ones?"

"A'm Applebloom!"

"I'm Sweetiebelle!"

"And i'm Scootaloo!"

"And we're..." they said and gasped in unison, "THE CUTIEMARK CRUSADERS! YAY!" They smiled wide at the stunned Brackern.

"Hey, why are you more shinier and crystal-ier than other crystal ponies?" asked the curious Applebloom.

"I'm a Brackern. An ancient race whom are literally made of crystals."

"CoOoOoL." they said in unison. Just then, Prince Shinybutt arrived at the scene.

"Skarner! There you are!" he took a moment to comprehend the scene before him, "So you're babysitting my sister's best friends' little sisters? No problem than, assuming that they left them to you for an important reason. I'll leave you to your duties. Farewell Skarner."

"What?" said the dumbfounded Skarner. Shining either didn't hear him or rather ignored him. Finally realizing what happened, he slowly turned to the fillies.

"OHMYGOSH! CAN WE GO SEE THE CRYSTAL PONIES?!"

"NO NO! LET'S GO SEE THE JOUSTING TOURNY!"

"PFFT! I'D RATHER GO EAT SOME CRYSTAL BERRY PIES!"

"Oh how fortunate I am." Skarner said with glum.

---

Meanwhile...

"Yeah. There!" Luio pointed to the centre of his chamber for the stallions to place the box down, "Perfect, just put the thing down now."

"Here?" one of them asked to make sure.

"Yep. There." said Luio. He thanked the ponies and paid them his due once they were finished, then Luio went to open up his stuff. He levitated all sorts of things such as crystals and rocks. He trotted over to his studies again to ensure that he was ready to begin his construction. He pulled open the blueprint that he has been working on in the past month, although the blueprint needed a name badly. As he re-analyzed the construct, he realized, that he was missing a lot of items to truly complete his plan. For now, he would improvise and kick-start his plan.

5 hours later...

"Ain't he a beaut'." He stepped back to admire his work once again, relieving his mind with a sigh. He smiled wide and had the urge to bounce giddily. He was really excited that everything will go as planned, although he expected some minor hiccups on the way, just like now. He regretted not obtaining these items earlier , but it's a good thing he can do it now. Luio strapped his saddlebags and trotted out the door. Unfortunately, there was only one place in the Crystal Empire to find certain gems and larger specimens of the void crystals,

"...The Crystal Plateau." Luio read the welcoming sign. The plateau was located south from the Crystal Empire, just in between the mountain barrier that separated the empire and the rest of Equestria. The place used to be the elite guards' headquarters, until the complaints that it was too cold finally convinced Queen Terra. Luio has heard that the plateau was rich with resources... and that it was ridden by the Void. Therefore, there were royal guards guarding the area, in case the Void planned to mobilize yonder.

Luio exhaled, telling himself to pony-up; he can take on large Void creatures if he were to encounter any. Although they are quite spooky. Unfortunately, his plans to sneak into the plateau was shattered; there was only one passage in, and it was a cave. He would have to climb and fly over the mountains to reach the plateau, which would take days. He hid behind a large bush, peeping through gaps in between the tree limbs. He observed the peculiar guard at the entrance; pink fluffy boots, pink crystal shield, pink crystal mallet ,heavy pink crystal armour; there wasn't much to comment, other than the fact that he stands out. The guard stood vigilant, posing a great challenge to sneak past him in broad evening. Luio weighed the choices:

Fight your way in.

Try to sneak in anyways.

Go home and try again tomorrow.

Ask politely to let you through.

Ask threateningly to let you through.

He was a civilized pony. He took a deep breath, and casually walked towards the guard. As the guard finally took notice of him, he casually trotted towards Luio. They both placed a smile upon their faces and prepared to shake hooves in greetings. As the guard came closer, he had a brown mane and tail, and sapphire blue eyes which matched his coat behind his armour. His cutiemark was almost similar to Skarner's; it was a blue crystal shield, whereas Skarner's was a simply a blue crystal.

"Greetings!" he hollered, "What brings you around dear?"

"Just wondering..." said Luio. As he got closer, he teleported behind him tripped the guard onto his back. Luio charged up his horn, in case he had to resort to true violence. He pinned the guard's legs on the ground, and aimed his horn precisely at his head. "Look bud', I don't want to do anything serious. So you're going to let me through without any trouble, or i'll blow your brain all over the grass." The guard simply shrugged, not intimidated by his threat at all.

"Please darling, anypony can go through, the catch is that I have to escort you the whole time." he winked.

"Oh..." he blushed in embarrassment.

"It's alright, allow me to introduce myself: I'm Taric, the gem knight. Also, may I please get up now? You're starting to make us seem bad."

Author's Note:

My internet provider stopped working :C

so i wont be active for very long, but i'll make it up with FULL chapters ;D

really really sorry!!!

Comments

[KRissCHu573]

.
.
.

When I said make stuff fabulous...I meant the classic skin fabulous, not the other team fabulous....

[Skarner]

2840924
Fear not, as fashion trends do change spontaniously

;)

[KRissCHu573]

2849355 Okay...*not-trusting look* I trust ya.

[Skarner]

2849492
Still though
5th age armour too good for ya?

[KRissCHu573]

2854684 If I am to be honest I would have had Emeralds.