“Spike!”
“No Twilight, I'm not giving it up and that's final!” Both Princess Celestia and Luna watched as Spike and Twilight argued over what would happen with the sword of light ever since it had been revealed during the changeling invasion. They had called the unicorn in for a different reason but they hadn't had a chance to explain it to her since they had been arguing constantly. The two were surprised that the young dragon had found it in the first place and that neither had recognized it the few times they had seen him with it in prior times.
Before the argument could escalate any further the solar alicorn stepped in. “Now Twilight, as powerful as the weapons of light are, it would cause more problems if we had it than if we left it with young Spike. The other races are already uneasy that my sister and I have two of them and if they heard we had acquired a third then they would riot. In the past dragons always wielded it in battle so it is appropriate that it remains with Spike. This is not why we called you here though, Twilight.”
Twilight calmed down a bit as she settled in to listen to her mentor why she was there. After explaining how they were sending her to the Crystal Empire to help her brother as a test, with a bit of a light show showcasing some of the history, they watched as they left the throne room before sighing. “I really hope that she can do what we could not all those years ago. Yet things may be even more complicated than even we know if what I recently heard was true.”
“Well they'd have to be if the Empress is still alive after all this time. Even I remember how the story went out about what Sombra did to her before he took over but it seems as if it may have been worse than that.” The princesses turn to see Xellos looking out the window at Twilight and her friends walk over. Luna growled at seeing him but was stopped from advancing on him when her sister brought a wing into her path.
“Calm, sister. He was the one to realize who the changeling queen really was and distracted her in the end. Though I have to wonder just what it is that he is planning to do about this situation.” Celestia looked over at the monster as he stretched his arms out.
“Oh just the usual. Follow along, offer advice that may or may not be helpful, just the usual. Considering you just sent your student to take a test while lives are at risk things are bound to be entertaining.” The alabaster mare's eyes narrowed at him while her sister mouth quirked upwards for a moment before she schooled her expression again. Celestia didn't notice this though as her attention was full on Xellos.
“I have my reasons for why I do this and I'm sure you know that as well with what you've hinted at.” The princess remembered what he had let slip in the past and hoped to fully confirm what he knew and was surprised to be rewarded this time.
“Yes, yes. You and your little alicorn plan. Still you'd do better to teach her how to say no otherwise your so-called nobles will just run all over her. Anyways I'd better go since I have a train to catch. I'd rather not have to fly all the way up north through all the weather up there.” As he vanished Celestia just shook her head before she realized that there was another in the room that hadn't known about her plans until she cleared her throat.
“So sister. Is there something that you aren't telling me that I should know?” With a wince Celestia turned back to see he sister looking at her with a raised eyebrow. With a sheepish grin the princess turned towards her sister.
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Aboard the train Xellos kept out of sight and kept an eye on the group of mares while keeping hidden. Of course he knew that he couldn't hide from Pinkie Pie that easily but she wouldn't give him away that easily as she appreciated the value of a surprise. As their talks weren't of any interest to him his mind drifted back to what he remembered of the Crystal Empire, though as he was still relatively new to his abilities back then he was never able to get far into it with the power given off by the crystal heart. The food he was able to get though was still delicious even that far out.
After reminiscing on that and looking forward to more he also thought on how the princess was dealing with all of this. Despite how he acted around her he didn't really blame her as something happened when the empire vanished that erased it from the minds and books at the time. He didn't know why he wasn't affected, but the princesses were to the extent where they could only remember events they were personally involved in near the end. There were probably others that remembered as well, such as the dragons, but he had never bothered to search for them even if they would tell him.
Another part of his mind was also focused on what he knew from his old life and how much of it would be admissible. His presence alone would change things, but his actions during recent events may just be enough to send things completely off the rails. His thoughts on it were only momentary as there wasn't much really that he knew and not knowing was more entertaining as well.
The train soon arrived at the northern station and the six mares and solitary dragon disembarked just as he remembered them doing. Differences made themselves known rapidly as when Shining Armor arrived to escort the group there were two additional ponies with him. With his curiosity piqued he moved in to listen while staying invisible to them.
“Things are really bad out here Twilight. Cadance and I came out here with a full company of the Royal Guard and we've already lost half of them with most of the rest injured. Corporal Red Shirt and Ensign Flash Sentry here are the only two in good enough shape to travel right now. When the empire returned it didn't do so alone and there have been monsters congregating in the area ever since. We need to get back to the city now before they find us.” The mares look worriedly at each other before following the prince consort with the two guards bringing up the rear. Xellos followed along after them but, now that it was pointed out, kept an eye out for other monsters which he could faintly feel in the distance. There was something else as well but he couldn't tell what it was as it hung about like an oppressive fog. It wasn't until he heard the screaming below him that his eyes focused on what was going on with the group he was following.
When the screaming started the mares stopped to turn and stare at the pony caught in the dark fog that had rolled up on them unawares. Their horror intensified as they watched Flash Sentry caught in the grips of the fog with his eyes rolling in panic. Red Shirt backed into them as the flesh on the pegasus' face began to melt off of him with his eyes following not long after as they dripped out of their sockets. Moments after it had begun all that was left was a skeleton standing before them, jaw opened in a silent scream and wings spread, as the fog drifted down and started advancing towards them again. They tried to run from it but they soon found that they had been surrounded with no way to escape.
“Stand back! We're under attack again!” Shining armor through up a shield around the group that contained them completely in a sphere allowing them to keep running. As the fog came into contact with his shield he winced before his eyes widened as he saw a blackness creep up along where it initially touched as it ate through his shield. He quickly threw up two more but the second was quickly suffering the same fate as the first and they were still a good distance from the city. As he was about to panic himself a staff fell from the sky ahead of the group and pulsed once clearing a wide area of the fog. Rolling to a stop as they passed it they all turned to see a bipedal figure stepping out from somewhere between them and the main portion of the fog. “Xellos!”
The mares stared in shock at the figure before them that had protected them from whatever it was that was attacking them. Without turning towards them he raised a hand above his head and a small black cone formed in his hand, quickly extending into a spear-like shape, before he turned and threw it to his left. As it passed through the fog it dispersed it in a long corridor before a black shadow wrapped around it, stopping it. The force of it's passing still cleared the fog further ahead revealing to them the form of King Sombra. Xellos didn't even look at the mares as he finally spoke. “This is not a fight that any of you can handle. Twilight, you need to hurry and find the heart of the empire or else all of the world will die.”
Raising his hand before the purple mare could respond he pulsed out a wave of energy which sent the shielded group flying towards the city. With the distraction out of the way the monster turned towards the menacing figure that was slowly advancing on him. “So we finally meet King Sombra. Or should I be calling you Death Fog now?” The only response he got was a deep menacing laugh from the unicorn.
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“Xellos! What are you doing!? What is the heart of the empire!? Xellos!” Twilight banged her hooves on her brother's shield as her friends tried to drag her into the barrier around the city. The last view that she saw of the monster was him materializing a dozen more spear while preparing for battle. Once inside she turned to her friends in anger. “We need to go back and help him!”
“Twily we can't. I may not trust him but I do know that there is nothing we can do. A lot of good ponies lost their lives trying to stop him already and right now the only chance we have to stop him is to find out how to fix this country.” Twilight's head fell at her brother's words but she looked up when she felt a hoof on her shoulder to see Corporal Red Shirt.
“I'll stay and keep an eye on things, ma'am. If anything happens I'll bring word to the palace.” Looking at the stallion Twilight slowly nods before moving towards her brother. As the walk off she turns back to to see the earth pony guard pull off his helmet, revealing his red coat and black mane as the enchantment dropped, before wiping a hoof across his head before putting it back into place. The last thing she did before heading into the city was wish him luck and hope that he would survive whatever happened out there.
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When the stallion passed back through the barrier the sight that greeted him was beyond his expectations as a horde of monsters had arrived and joined King Sombra in the battle against Xellos who was throwing more of the conal spears at the monarch, which only shattered on impact. The monster was able to keep many of them away as a swarm of smaller black cones spun around him, shredding any that got close, but they were still distracting him a bit from the more important fight. Sombra himself floated around menacingly while trying to engulf his enemy in his fog with little success.
The battle continued like this for hours with everything remaining in a stalemate between the two. The group of monsters had been taken out yet Xellos wasn't unscathed as he had been clipped a few times leaving his clothing ragged and torn. The two faced off against each other as they examine their opponent since their previous attacks haven't been having much effect. “Well this has been interesting. You're obviously stronger so I can't hurt you, but I'm just too fast for you to hit. Still, you're rather disappointing to have been able to defeat the princesses and rule an empire all those years ago. The power must have burnt out your mind over the years and removed any cleverness you had.”
As he spoke he didn't notice the ground behind him starting to blacken and bubble as crystal forms started to claw their way out of the ground. Even more began to form under the skeleton of the pegasus and crawled up it until it completely covered it. Xellos noticed it as the eyes light up with a sickly green glow and turned towards him as he was grabbed form behind by more crystalline forms. “Of course, I could be wrong.”
Sombra began to laugh evilly as Xellos struggled to break the grip of the crystal golems before his head jerked upwards sharply. With his form being restrained Xellos didn't have a chance to dodge as pillars of crustal burst from the ground at angles to pierce him through the sides of his chest, suspending him in the air. He let out a scream of pain which intensified as the fog swarmed in and engulfed the left side of his body, eating away at it.
Red Shirt observed all of this from just outside of the barrier and on seeing this prepared to turn back to let the others know when he saw something else approaching. “Oh this can't be good. Why would they be here now?”
As Sombra prepared to deal the finishing blow a burst of green energy slammed into his head sending him back a few paces. As if it was a signal the attack summoned a rain of green energy that bombarded Sombra and the crystal forms holding Xellos. “Heh, about time that you showed up.”
The observing stallion didn't blink as the changeling swarm, more than were even at Canterlot, unleashed everything they had on the crystal monarch. “Destroy him my children! Take your revenge on him for what he did to us and take back what is ours!”
As one the swarm dove towards the black unicorn in a rain of green flames. While stunned from the surprise attack, Sombra quickly recovered and began summoning more crystal creations to deal with the new threat. Red Shirt had no idea what was going on and there was only one thing for him to do. “The Captain needs to know what is going on.”
The stallion rushed through through the barrier into the city as fast as his legs could take him. It didn't take him long to reach the palace as he nearly broke records for his speed and the eyes of his fellow guards, all injured, and Shining Armor, who was on the balcony, turned towards him as he skidded to a halt in front of the prince consort. Princess Cadance was there as well but she was swiftly failing from the fatigue of holding up the shield. “Sir! We may have a problem! Changelings, too many to count and more than attacked Canterlot are outside of the shield! They appear to be attacking Sombra!”
A wave of whispers went through the room as word spread of his news. Shining Armor's eyes widened as he turned towards his wife as she collapsed from the strain of holding the shield. Turning towards the balcony he looked out over the city to see the shield dropping revealing the battle in the distance. While he knew his own shield was worthless against Sombra, the changelings were another story as he powered up his horn and fired a pulse of energy into the air. Once it reached its peak the energy expanded into a dome around the entire city as the stallion turned towards the guard. “Get back out there and keep track of what is going on. Get back here as soon as anything changes.”
Turning back after the stallion took off again Shining Armor looked out over the city once again. While he couldn't see what was happening with any detail he could still see the changeling army steadily shrinking in size. Hearing screaming from above he noticed Spike falling from the tower above him with something in his grip. Cadance saw it as well and felt something from the object held by the dragon that filled her with energy.
A crazy plan filled the minds of the two but the end results was everything that they hoped for as the crystal heart was returned to where it belonged. There wasn't any time to celebrate though as there was still the threat of the changelings outside of the barrier to deal with. The Bearers of Harmony, along with Shining Armor and Cadance, eventually made their way out to the edge of the new barrier created by the crystal heart to meet with Red Shirt who was waiting for them.
“Report, Corporal! What has been going on out there!” The stallion glanced back at the arriving ponies before turning back to resume observing the changelings.
“I'm not sure, sir. Ever since that wave of energy came through and obliterated Sombra the changelings have just been wandering around aimlessly. I haven't seen that other creature that started fighting him either. Wait... Something's happening...” The gathered ponies watched as a small group of changelings started advancing on the city carrying something between them all. Shining Armor took a defensive pose before he noticed that they were also carrying a white flag.
The seven mares let out a gasp as the group neared the edge of the barrier allowing them to identify what, or rather who, they were carrying. It wasn't just the fact that it was Queen Chrysalis, but that she was in such a poor condition the it was a wonder that she was alive. While her legs had holes in them, they weren't supposed to be large enough that said legs were barely attached nor were the supposed to be dripping blood. Much of her body was also missing as well, as if something had bitten large chunks out of her yet despite all that she was still managing to raise her head tall, though her voice was weak. “Princess Cadance, I wish to speak with you.”
The group inside the shield look at each other a moment before the pink princess steps forward. “What do you want?”
While the princess wasn't overly hostile, she was far from friendly in how she spoke to the changeling queen. Chrysalis sighed at the tone she was met with as well as the emotion she could feel from the princess before she weakly spoke. “I suppose I deserve your scorn, but please don't take it out on my children or deny them from their home. Everything I have done has been for them and they don't deserve your hate.”
The queen's words were interrupted as a coughing fit overtook her body, which sent blood to the snow below, before vomiting up a torrent of blood. The mares gasped in shock at seeing this, though Fluttershy and Rarity fainted at the sight, while the nearby changelings moved to assist their queen until she waved them off. When she began to speak once again her voice had lost much of the strength that was in her voice before. “Sombra, with help from those monsters, did this to us and banished us from our home. You won't have to worry about me for much longer, but please, take care of them when I am gone, I beg you.”
Princess Cadance's eyes narrowed at the queen for a moment as her horn lit up before they widened again at what she sensed. Instead of the lies she was expecting she felt complete sincerity from the changeling and could even feel her life fading fast. Looking around at the other changelings she noticed many of them gathered at the barrier looking in and many had tears in their eyes, those of joy. As she looked from face to face her own started to soften before she looked over at her husband.
“You really aren't thinking of?” She slowly nodded to him causing him to sigh as she turned back towards the changeling queen. With a slow nod to the queen the princess silently gave her word to watch over the survivors after she died. With a sigh of relief all the tension in the queen's body went out of her as she gave up struggling to stay alive now knowing that her children would be safe once she was gone. The life quickly faded from her but she had enough energy for one last line.
“Thank... you... my... daughter...” With that the queen of the changelings finally took her final rest after the centuries of protecting those dear to her after having been cursed with the life they had led. Her final words though shocked the gathered ponies as they looked at each other as the surviving changelings let out a keening cry of grief at the death of their ruler.
“What the hay did she mean by that!?” The others looked at Applejack and shrugged before they all snapped their heads around at the chuckling behind them.
“Shouldn't that be obvious? Queen Chrysalis really was Empress Amore, the last ruler of the Crystal Empire before Sombra took over with what now seems to have been the help of other monsters. And with Princess Pink there being the direct heir of the empire it means they really are family.” Turning around the mares saw Xellos, but what they saw made them turn green, though Shining Armor was more at the thought of his wife being related to the changeling.
“Xellos! Your arm!” The monster looked down at his left arm where the gazes of the mares were focused and at the blackened hole left there.
“Oh don't be such a baby, Twilight. Limbs grow back.”
“No they don't!”
In response the biped only chuckled as he looked over at one of the changelings that had cautiously entered the city and was speaking fervently with one of the crystal ponies that had been gathering since the princess had come to the city's edge. Xellos winced as a pulse of energy came out from the crystal heart while the eyes of the mares widened as they so the black form of the changeling get peeled away, revealing a crystal pony stallion, yet he still retained the wings he had as a changeling though they were now whole and more iridescent.
“Well that is still uncomfortable, but not as bad as it used to be. Interesting that the heart can do that as well, even with it being slightly tainted by the negative emotions that ran rampant while Sombra was in charge. Still at least you won't have to worry about the monster possessing Sombra any more now, but I think it's time for me to leave. I won't be able to heal well being this close to the heart.” Before they could stop him he waved to them with his right arm, which had two glowing talismans attached to it, and disappeared from sight.
Cadance noticed something on the ground where he was and grabbed it with her magic to find an old locket made of crystal. Opening it she was surprised to find a picture of not only Chrysalis, but also of a pale yellow stallion with empty white eyes on one side of it. She realized that the stallion was blind but she forgot all about it when she saw something that caused her to drop the locket causing Shining Armor to take notice of it.
“Cady? What is that?” Picking up the locket in his own magic his eyes zeroed in on the picture that had shocked his wife. In it was a tiny pegasus filly but what surprised him the most was how much it looked like Princess Cadance.