//------------------------------//
// Crystal Corpse 
// Story: The Substitute Demon 
// by Reykan 
//------------------------------//

The train had been left behind two days ago, the old rails having fallen into disuse and disappearing under the layers of snow.

The drones weren't made for this temperature and had stayed behind as well.

After a night spent shivering against the alicorn in a cold tent, even Pandinus and Twilight had been sent back. The enchanted bracers and  clothing were only able to do so much, and the farther they pushed north, the more biting the cold became. Eventually even the queen would freeze, bracers and burning love or not.

'Fuck, if it wasn't for the pegasus resistance to cold I'd probably have started getting frostbite already,' Cimmerian thought as he pushed on through the snow.
Even he wasn't attempting this trip without gear. He'd taken a thick cloak of some sort from the thestrals, the hide of some beast they'd hunted in the past keeping the majority of the chill off of him and preventing the snow from soaking his fur. On his back was a large saddlebag with dried fruits and meats, enough to last at least two weeks as long as he wasn't a pig, as well as a cold-weather tent he'd acquired from an old equestrian outpost near the tracks on their trip north. After the first day he was thankful for it all, as his legs were becoming damp and starting to feel cold, the first time he'd felt such since before this mad experience began. If he'd ended up soaked to the bone over his entire body, including his wings, and been forced to sleep in the snow he'd be in big trouble.

Why wasn't he flying though? Because the driving snow made it impossible. He was by no means an expert at flight even with the lunar alicorn's memories, and with them being sealed at the moment his flight was mediocre if not outright bad. Add the fact that the wings of planes were what tended to ice over first, and he wasn't willing to risk the limbs in such a way. They would stay tucked under the cloak until he needed them.

The city was supposed to be only three days from where he was let off so he pushed on until the temperature started to drop noticeably. Then he blasted the fluffy snow away with a burst of magic and set up his tent, allowing it to almost be covered on three sides while the entrance was facing away from the snow. Checking his compass and making sure he was still heading north, he stepped inside the tent and sighed in relief as he dropped his wet cloak in a special bin. He dried himself with a towel before moving to set out a sleeping mat and blanket. It had been a while since he’d checked on the Temple, so maybe...







The area around the temple was full of lights as the alicorn drifted through the dream-world. Pinks, yellows, whites and blues, all of them dreaming peacefully in spite of his absence.

‘And why wouldn’t they, with a queen nearby and their enemy routed?’ He thought.

The small cave that had become the behemoth’s lair was quiet, only a few changeling guards sleeping as they prepared for their shift that night. The same was true of the temple. A few more turned out to be ponies or griffons sleeping in the infirmary, healing up from new and old injuries. He called for the dreams of several ponies, watching them float by before he dismissed each, finding the pink dreams too personal for a visit like this. He’d also managed to avoid slipping in to such a dream so far and had no intention of starting now.

Landing lightly in a dream that was half connected to the changelings, he watched as the Alicorn of love did what she loved most. Teaching a foal simple games.

“Sunshine Sunshine, ladybugs awake.”

He blinked in confusion as the song was shared. Was that really something to teach a foal, or did she just not see anything wrong with it?

The little queen, Amare, noticed him first and ran closer, squealing and giggling all the while. He picked her up and gave her a bop on the nose before turning to her mother.
“Zelus not sleeping yet?

“No, something happened with the mare, Trixie-“
“Sapphire” Amare chirped, giggling at her mother’s frown.
“-and she’s having her checked over by the doctors. Apparently the plates and other changes reacted to the love-bath Zelus took with her and the queen’s in a tizzy. Trixie doesn’t seem to be in any danger at this time though, just an odd reaction to the emotion.”

“Odd how?”

“Best you see for yourself,” Cadance sighed, bringing up a view of the hospital wing from the eyes of a nearby drone before cocking her head and sending a notice to the hive that she was borrowing its eyes.

Cimmerian frowned as the drone stared at Trixie, as well as the form of Pandinus as the queen currently behind the wheel hovered like a mother hen over the unconscious form. There wasn’t anything physically wrong with the mare as far as he could see. In fact she looked perfectly healthy.
“Her scars are faded. The plates look like they connect a lot more cleanly.”

“Yes, and while the doctors are sure the issue will fade in time and she’ll wake up once her magic stabilizes, Zelus is panicking. And she’s been making the rest of the hive a bit nervous.”

The dark alicorn nodded, fading from the dream and settling into a familiar form inside the temple. For the first time in several weeks, the dark armor shifted as it was brought to life once more.







Zelus stroked Sapphire’s cheek, wondering where it had gone wrong. Love was a powerful thing, and had healed two other ponies so far of so much damage. So why didn’t it help her Sapphire? The changeling parts of her form flowed with power, certainly, but the unicorn parts, the bits that made her unique?

The doctor said she was recovering now, but he also knew the damage she’d seen. The burned flesh, the cracks that had developed in the unicorn’s horn.

The fact that her heart had stopped.

The griffin and pony doctors were baffled, putting out an order that ponies were to avoid large amounts of love. While low amounts only ever produced a strange euphoric stunned state that quickly passed, the next worry was that larger amounts would cause similar situations. So the fountain was watched now, a few changelings nearby to make certain no pony overdosed on love. But what happened to Sapphire wouldn’t happen to them. She knew it now. It was the changes that the Nightmare had pushed on the pony-drone that were the reason for the bad reaction to the love-bath.
The plates were practically glowing with power even two days later and she was reluctant to pull the energy away when the skin around the plates was healing at such an accelerated rate. Several plates looked smaller, others larger. In some places it almost looked like extra plates were growing, in another a plate had actually fallen off completely, exposing raw skin that had only a very light covering of fur just starting to grow.

She heard the clanking of metal on the floor behind her and she growled. The nurses should have known to keep the soldiers out by now, and most injured soldiers wouldn't be walking in with their armor still on.

"Well hello to you too."

Zelus blinked and turned to look at the voice, finding herself face to face with a shadow wearing one of the armors Cimmerian kept in a lower room, one that had become a religious location for thestrals and ponies alike.
"I...sorry, I'm a bit-"

"She doesn't look too bad," Cimmerian said, his voice having an odd echo as the armor walked beside the bed Sapphire was sleeping in. "The plates look healthier than ever, her skin doesn't look irritated...actually, it looks like- wow."

The armored shadow shifted a blanket and exposed the plates sitting on her back, revealing that where before a jigsaw of plates covered the back, now the mare's back-plates were closer to what he saw on most changelings, while the plates on her legs were cleaner and formed a proper defense now. Frowning, she watched the shadow shift the mare, revealing what looked like underdeveloped wings sprouting from her back, barely visible even to her eyes.
"Amazing. It's like it corrected the failed grafts and even shifted the plates. No, not shifted. She grew new ones. It's...but why? How? She's not really a changeling so-"

Zelus didn't answer, too lost in thought as she stared at the tiny diaphanous protrusions. They weren't there the last time she looked. Nor did the plates look so clean. The stallion was correct; it was like her body was...correcting the grafts.

"I'll talk to Pulmonus about this. She might now something about it or at the very least be able to tell us if everything is growing properly. I'll definitely bring her back."

Pulling the blanket back over the sleeping mare, he turned towards her with an odd, shadowy smile.
"Sorry, Zel. Cadance showed me the damage and I wanted to get a closer look. It's actually not half as bad as I thought it was, though her horn still looks bad. Probably the overload of magic? How are you feeling, anyway? Enjoying time with your kids?"

"Yes, they've been wonderful," she replied, her gaze still drifting to her drone. "I um, I've been spending time with them but right now they're being watched by a clutch-nurse."

"Zelus, she'll be fine," he soothed. "She's in good hooves and the nurse will tell you the moment something comes up, good or bad. Get some sleep, you're not just keeping Din's body for her. I don't want to hear you're stressing that form any more than it needs to be, got it?"

"Shit."
She'd completely put it out of her mind. She still ate, the pull was too strong to ignore at this point, but she certainly wasn't sleeping as much as the doctors and nurses asked and many of them she'd outright threatened when they'd tried to separate her from Sapphire. Now she'd need to get them to look over her sister's form to make sure she hadn't abused it too badly.
"I'm so sorry, I was completely caught up in-"

"Z, it's fine. I get it. You're nervous. Have the doctors look you over, get some food and drink, then get some sleep. And make sure you get a bath, too. Remember what I said. Trust them to do their job. They're the specialists, right? They're doctors for a reason."
An armored hoof stroked her cheek, the cold metal feeling strange with the gesture it was used in.
"You're not really on vacation, you're just swapped out from one job to another. Enjoy the quiet and the things we've built, and get ready to swap back with Din before too long. This wont last forever so get your time with the hatchlings in now."

The armored shadow turned and left, leaving her with the not-quite patchwork drone. A single changeling medic stuck her nose in after the stallion left and Zelus gave a put upon sigh.
"Bring me a decent meal and fetch me someone to check me over. I'm...I need to go to bed."







Cimmerian shifted his ethereal shoulders, feeling strangely cramped after being in the armor. Maybe he'd have to get the armor adjusted? How the heck did it impact him like this, anyway?
'I mean I get that the sizes are different, but I'm not even physically wearing it. Why would it actually impact my sense of self? Why would it make me feel cramped?'

Moving to return to his form quickly, he was flying by several dream orbs when he thought he recognized a few.
One of the dreams even felt like it was waving at him, which was confusing for all of five seconds before he grinned and entered the dream.
“You’re looking much better.”

“I feel better,” Pinkie said. “Is Twilight okay?”

“She’s staying on the train leading to the Crystal Kingdom. We were going to go there to check on it but everything’s covered in a raging blizzard. As it stands I’m going it alone, while Din and Twilight keep a tag on me to pull me back if I ask them too. The frozen north in late winter is no place for a changeling.”
“How is the everyone doing?”

“Well AJ and Big mac are already looking into repairing the busted trees and planting new ones, Rarity was reading fashion magazines for three days straight before passing out in her old work-room, Fluttershy is staying with me and thinking of donating her cottage to the bunnies since they're basically a self-sufficient civilization at this point, and Rainbow's...lost."

"She's confused and doesn't know what to do ? It doesn't surprise me considering the situation."

"Oh, she knows what to do at the moment, but clearing the sky over a mostly empty town doesn't take that long. It never did before, but she was training to be a member of the Wonderbolts. Now, she doesn't really know what to do with the extra time. I mean, she could do her training again, but if the Wonderbolts no longer exist, there's not a big reason for her to train."

"Oh come on, you're telling me that even if the group was disbanded or fell apart she wouldn't be willing to restart it? If nothing more, I'm sure Celestia and Luna would be more than happy to help her bring them back. In fact, Celestia would probably let her do that."

Pinkie thought for a moment before smiling.
"I'll let her know. I'm sure that will cheer her up a bit and she'll start training again right away."

"Honestly though, hearing what I have about her, she doesn't sound like a militarily-inclined mare."

"You don't seem like a stallion that would be willing to stand up and lead."

Cimmerian stared at the mare for a moment, his jaw working soundlessly before he frowned.
"And what would you know of me? It's not like we've spent that long together."

"I'm pretty good at reading ponies, mister," Pinkie said, giggling. "And you don't really act like any of the ponies I know of that do that for a living. You feel more like...a repairpony? I dunno, I feel repairpony and an accountant or something like that."
Trotting closer, she gave a tentative sniff before grabbing his foreleg and licking it.
"Hmm, repairpony with a hint of bit-smarts. Aged...well that's odd, usually I can taste the-oh! That's right, you said you were stuck for a while. Okay, that explains the weird stretch I taste."

The alicorn could only stare, his mind hitching on the oddity of her, whatever it was she was doing before pulling his leg away.
"That's uh, you ever offer clinics? I know of about three million people back home who would love to attend one. Get a translator and you could probably book a few seconds with every living human being on the planet."

"Nah, I'm good. Most ponies don't listen to me anyway, and just because you're good at something doesn't mean you'll be happy doing it. I mean Princess Celestia always tasted of gardener and-" the mare leaned in closer, whispering conspiratorially "Cats."

"You're calling her an old cat lady."

"Shh! She'll hide them if she thinks we're on to her!"

"Mare, you're insane. Keep your friends safe, okay? And don't be afraid to visit or write if you need to. Especially you. You take it easy, you hear me? That's an order, and if I need to get Celestia or Luna to enforce it I will."

"You're no fun," Pinkie pouted, crossing her forelegs. "I've been sleeping almost as much as Dashie used to. It's boring."

"Suffer a little boredom now and make your recovery. I'd be very disappointed to hear if you push yourself and get hurt again. I'll send Mist if I have to."

Watching as the alicorn started fading from the dream, Pinkie giggled.
"Threatening to send a friend to see me again? It's like you don't even know me! Bye!"







Stepping out of his tent and beginning to collapse it early the next morning, Cimmerian caught the shadow of a looming tower deeper into the blizzard that was still raging. It was a jagged tower, with several smaller spires that rose around it. Anything more was blocked by the blasting winds and the blinding snow.
'Still, good to know I'm closer than I thought I was.'

As he stowed the tent and began to walk towards the spire, a lone thought was echoing around in his head.

Where was the shield that Twilight had mentioned?


After walking for another few hours, the cold was beginning to intensify even more when he heard the clack of his hoof striking something. Cimmerian stopped, using a bit of magic to clear the snow away from his hooves to reveal an odd pink crystal under his hooves.
Curious, he dug out the crystal more, throwing snow and ice about as he dug into the deeper and more packed snow. What he found made his heart sink.

Deep under the snow and ice he'd found his first sign of civilization, aside from the looming tower he was approaching. He'd uncovered the roof of a house made entirely of crystal.

Worried, he stared digging a path down into the snow, circling the house until he found a door. It took a bit of magic finesse, something he was admittedly lacking in, but eventually the locked door was opened, letting him step into the house where he looked around, hoping not to find any bodies.

He did find one, a young looking stallion in the upstairs bedroom. But in spite of the cold, or perhaps because of it, the body wasn't rotting. Cimmerian frowned, stepping closer to the pony. The crystal pony's body was strange, and made him begin to second guess himself. Could the body decay? Was it even a corpse or was the pony in some sort of hibernation?

"I knew I should have asked Cadance for more information on this place," he grumbled as he walked back out the door and to the surface. He'd already heard the place disappeared for a long while, but at that time it was a curse. If this was the same thing, well, curses usually didn't save your life. Not in his experience, anyway.

Stepping back out in to the blizzard, he turned to walk back towards the tower when he noticed a figure nearby, standing in the snow. It was tall, thin and black, a changeling queen from what he could tell. But most queens didn't have glowing crystals sprouting from their shells, or had glowing blue eyes. They didn't exude power like this, or have a few floating crystal shards for a horn.

It's glowing eyes locked on him before it spoke, a deep power present in its tone.
"Who are you who disturbs my children's slumber?"