The harsh storm was all that could be heard from within the confines of the crystal cottage. Lock Heart didn’t know what to expect when the curse was lifted, but she certainly didn’t expect it to be so cold. It had been so long since she could think straight; it should have been obvious now that she could think about it. The Crystal Empire was always like this, but without the crystal heart protecting them they were all doomed. Their only chance for survival would be if the king placed them all under his control again, but that would be a fate worse than death.
As the raging snowstorm outside continued to pile snow over their house and front door, Lock Heart huddled closer to her shivering son. If it weren’t for the freezing climate they were both experiencing causing her to shiver uncontrollably she didn’t think she’d be able to look at him without crying. After centuries of putting this teenage colt through unimaginable slavery and torture, was this how it would end? Buried in a snowstorm? She was ashamed to call herself a mother, how could she even claim to be one when she failed to protect her son from so many atrocities?
“M-m-m-mom?” Shatterstar asked in a shiver from beneath her as she covered him like a pony blanket.
“Y-yes honey?” She replied in the strongest voice she could manage.
“A-a-a-are w-we gonna d-die?” He asked in fear, to which Lock Heart responded with a fiery determination that seemed to reheat her entire body. She hugged her beautiful red-maned colt even harder than before as she felt a surge of energy deep within her.
“No honey, we’re going to make it out and we’re going to be safe.” She said with certainty. No matter how bleak she thought things were she could never let Shatterstar think the same. Hope and the will to carry on were something that she never wanted him to lose, even in the worst of times. Her words seemed to do the trick as Shatterstar stopped shivering and calmed down, but before Lock Heart could smile to herself in victory she realized that she too had stopped shivering. The house was no longer unbearably cold, just a regular cold, and it felt amazing.
“Mom? I feel so much better now!” Shatterstar exclaimed as he tried pushing her off of him. She slowly lifted herself off and allowed him to move freely, and as they stretched out and embraced their newfound warmth they noticed that the storm that had just been outside of the window had almost completely stopped. Lock Heart rushed to the window with Shatterstar coming up from behind her to get a look as well.
“Look, mom! It’s so pretty!” He exclaimed as he pointed upwards. Lock Heart followed his hoof and gasped at the brilliant and clear night sky above them, lit up by thousands of stars and the shining moon. Lock Heart could have sworn she could see a painting of a pony on the moon, but that was probably just a trick of the eyes. She and her son's ears both swiveled around as they heard the sound of heavy metal hooves marching through the streets of the empire. With their previously snow-covered door now completely spotless Shatterstar rushed outside to see what was happening.
“Shatterstar no!” Lock Heart yelled as she chased after him, however, once she reached him she saw him frozen in awe as he stared down the street. She followed his gaze and her eyes widened at the sight of an army of silver-clad ponies marching through the streets of the empire. At the front was a giant alicorn pony with black and blue armor and an ethereal blue mane filled with stars that shifted around like a watery mist. This was one of the princesses of Equestria who had tried to save them from Sombra so long ago. She failed then, but seeing her now she looked much larger and more menacing, so surely this time she couldn’t fail.
With caution still in her heart, she pulled Shatterstar away from the street and put him behind her. The ponies marched past them without even a glance in their direction, until finally the princess stretched out her wings and halted them all. Looking around Lock Heart could see other crystal ponies exiting their homes to see what was happening as well, and already they were beginning to cheer and cry tears of joy.
“EVERYPONY! STAND BACK!” Shouted the princess in a voice so loud that it seemed to shake the very ground. The Equestrian soldiers all started taking steps back as a shadowy cloud began to coil around the base of the crystal palace and rise upwards towards the balcony overlooking the city. Lock Heart would have backed up as well if she weren’t paralyzed with fear at the sight of King Sombra reforming atop the castle with green flames surrounding him. He laughed maniacally and blasted a ray of dark magic toward the princess who swiftly dodged it and took off into the sky towards him. From the impact point of his magical attack came two large spires of jet-black crystals that he hopped on top of to move freely at that height.
While the two monarchs battled in the sky, exchanging spells and threats, a struggle had broken out near the base of the castle. A small force of mind-controlled crystal pony guards had come out to confront the vastly superior equestrian forces without a shred of self-preservation. Before any of the crystal ponies had a chance to warn the equestrians that they were being controlled they had already been decimated in a hail of arrows and magic. As this happened Lock Heart covered Shatterstar's eyes and pushed him back inside.
“Mom!” He complained as he tried to wiggle out of her grasp and continue watching the fight between the king and princess.
“No Shatterstar, stay inside now!” She commanded firmly as she shut the door behind them. Rushing over to the windows she covered them all up and told Shatterstar to follow her to the back of the house. The battle raged outside as roars, explosions, and shockwaves rocked the house's foundations back and forth until one final blast echoed its way across the city. After only a few minutes of fierce battle, the noise had slowly ceased, and the city was eerily quiet. Though this should have been taken as a positive sign, Lock Heart couldn't stop herself from having a bad feeling about it. The silence was almost as deafening as the clashes of battle only moments prior, and that feeling of dread reached an all-time high when a heavy knock came at her door.
“Go, hide.” She told her son as she pointed to the cupboard in the kitchen. The knock came again, and this time it was much louder. Without responding she approached the window and carefully peeked outside to see who it was, only to see their neighbor, an old pony named Sly Craft, who was trotting in place outside looking strange, like a mix of confusion and excitement was overtaking him. Seeing that there was nopony else around, Lock Heart slowly opened the door just a bit to greet him.
“Hello?” She asked nervously.
“Lock Heart! You need to get out here! Bring Shatterstar too, because it’s a miracle!” He shouted in excitement to the mare. Lock Heart opened the door fully while the sound of another door opening in the kitchen signified that Shatterstar was curious as well.
“What are you talking about?” She asked the stallion.
“It’s over! That’s what I’m talking about. Sombra’s been defeated and the princess wants to address all of us. Come on!” He said with tears in his eyes before practically skipping down her steps and towards the castle, where there were hundreds of crystal ponies gathering in front of the tall and dark princess.
“What now? Do we go?” Asked Shatterstar who had sneakily joined his mother outside. Lock Heart didn’t know how to answer him, because frankly, she didn’t know what to think about this. They were finally free from Sombra, and with him gone, who would lead them? What would the crystal ponies do now? It seemed that there was only one place where these questions could be answered.
“I guess we need to go see what the princess has to say. Just stay close to me okay?” Shatterstar nodded his head in agreement and followed his mother down the street toward the castle. Once they had joined the cheering crowd at the center of the city, the princess raised her wings to settle everypony down. They all looked up at her in anticipation, waiting eagerly for what she was going to say next.
“Greetings, crystal ponies. Behold your Savior, Princess Nightmare Moon! Ahahahahahahahaha!" She laughed in a seemingly maniacal fashion that made Lock Heart, as well as many others, feel quite uncomfortable. In the end, they couldn’t fault their hero just for a strange quirk, right? That would be unfair. A pony in the crowd raised his hoof, and once the princess had stopped laughing she rolled her eyes and pointed at him. “Yes, you.”
“Umm, I thought your name was Princess Luna? And What about your sister Princess Celestia?" He'd brought up two very good questions that many ponies in the crowd agreed with finding the answers to. The princess, however, seemed to be scowling with a slight eye twitch. She glared at the stallion who had asked, and tremendous amounts of magic began to gather in her horn. “Haha! Never mind, forget I asked.” He squealed in fear at the terrifying sight of the princess.
“What happens now that Sombra’s gone? Who will lead us?” A pony who was dangerously close to Lock Heart and her son had shouted, gaining the attention of everypony there, including the princess whose horn slowly dimmed back down. Lock Heart slowly tried to move away from the stallion who had drawn everypony's eyes but found it extremely difficult to move anywhere. With a sigh, the princess seemed to accept the change in subject, much to the relief of everypony else, and answered him.
“Well, currently I have no intention of ruling yet another colony, once we find the crystal heart you will be free to elect a new leader.” At the mention of the crystal heart, many of the ponies gasped and started whispering to each other excitedly. Lock Heart could feel Shatterstar grab onto her tightly as he smiled. He didn’t know the crystal heart for as long as she did, but she just knew that the thought of it would certainly lift his spirits. The heart had a special connection to the crystal ponies, you didn’t need to see it to feel its magic wash over you.
“We will provide aid to all who need it, please stay gathered so the guards may do a count of how many there are. For now, I will assist in the search for the heart.” She said with a toothy grin on her muzzle before taking to the air and entering the castle from the balcony. The crowd all cheered her on in celebration as her soldiers began separating everypony into lines.
Lock Heart had seen the princess before, and she knew that she was acting very strangely, but she still had hope that things were finally turning around. “Let’s go get something to eat.” She said to her son who nodded happily in agreement.
Nightmare Moon walked through the halls of the palace as her soldiers destroyed everything in search of the heart. The crystal heart was one of the most powerful artifacts in history, and if she could find it she could use it to achieve a power far greater than any creature could ever hope to face. None would dare oppose her after that, and every single petty resistance both in and out of Equestria would be crushed.
“General Disarray, has any progress been made in the search?” She asked the bright saturated peach-colored pony next to her wearing onyx armor that had fur lining the back of its helmet. The pony had freckles on his face, a frizzy red mane, and glasses.
“For the crystal heart? No. For other items of value well…” He levitated a simple magic-infused emerald up to her eyes so she could get a good look at it. “That’s a different story.” He finished, prompting Nightmare Moon to give him a deadpan stare.
“It’s just a magic-infused gem general. Do not waste my time on silly jokes!” She exclaimed at the general who had recoiled at her outburst.
“No no no princess. This gem is naturally infused with magic. We found hordes of them in the castle vault, and since I doubt the crystal ponies figured out how to infuse gems with magic while they were enslaved for the last thousand years, I’d say that these came from the mines beneath the city.” He replied while adjusting his glasses and inspecting the gem up close.
“Why do you find this to be so important?” She asked, making him scoff at her.
“Are you dense? Naturally infused gems are-hrrk!” He was cut off as fierce gripping magic wrapped around his throat and sent him flying into the wall. Several of the nearby guards looked at what was happening and quickly fled the area, likely knowing that now was a good time to steer clear of the angry princess.
“What did you just say to me you worm!?” Princess Nightmare Moon asked through clenched teeth.
“Forgive me, princess! Forgive me! I was out of line!” He squealed as his windpipe was being crushed harder and harder. The princess grunted and dropped him on the ground where he gasped for air and thanked the princess for her mercy. After two minutes of labored breath Nightmare Moon growled in frustration.
“Well? Finish what you were trying to say. I don’t have all night.” The general gulped before fixing his glasses and composure while standing up.
“Well, princess, what I meant to say was that these gems are extremely valuable. Naturally infused gems are exceedingly rare in Equestria, only happening in conditions of extreme magical pressure after hundreds of years.” He pulled out a different gem that was also magically infused and floated the two next to each other for comparison. “No matter how hard a pony may try to infuse magic into a gem themselves, it always has a limit, but naturally infused gems are close to a hundred times as strong as the highest quality gems available to us today.” He walked around searching for something to test and eventually found a lone guard hiding in a corner and holding a light bulb. After taking it he placed it on the artificial gem which made the light glow brightly, then he placed it on the natural gem, and as soon as they made contact the light bulb exploded into a million tiny shards.
“You see? Think of the possibilities princess! Entire cities powered at a fraction of the cost, and spell amplifiers with some of the purest magic we can find. Don’t even get me started on the military applications.” He started gushing until Nightmare Moon zipped his mouth shut with magic.
“Please try to keep your excitement to a minimum. While I am certainly intrigued by this discovery our main goal is still the crystal heart.” She said before continuing her walk back to the throne room.
“Mmph mmph mm!” Nightmare Moon looked at Disarray with a raised eyebrow as he tried responding but only gave out a muffled phrase. She rolled her eyes and unzipped his mouth so he could speak. “As you wish.” He repeated much more clearly. The two ponies passed a few more guards who were searching furiously until they entered the throne room where pegasi and unicorns were searching every nook and cranny.
“Private Sentry! Report!” Disarray yelled at an orange pegasus guard who had his back turned.
“OH! Yes, sir!” He saluted and led them to the throne at the back of the room. “Go ahead Stone, show 'em what we found.” He told a grey unicorn mare next to the throne. Focusing magic into her horn she fired a powerful spell at a crystal at the top of the throne, the crystal absorbed the magic before swirling around and fading away.
“As you can see it’s absorbing magic, meaning it must be a catalyst for something. Regular magic has no effect so Stone thought that if you could try princess, you might be strong enough.” He explained, making Nightmare Moon frown and General Disarray cringe.
“What do you mean might?” She asked as she narrowed her eyes at the now nervous stallion and ever-inexpressive mare. The guard started babbling in fear as he tried to explain what he meant until Nightmare Moon began cackling. “Looks like SOMEPONY needs to develop their sense of humor.” She mocked.
"G-good one princess." Private Sentry said nervously as his partner joined his side. Wasting no more time, Nightmare Moon focused on the crystal and fired a bolt of her blue and black magic toward it. The crystal absorbed the magic and within moments the middle of the throne room had opened up to reveal a winding staircase leading downwards into a dark chamber.
“Oh Sombra, you sneaky demon.” Nightmare Moon chuckled to herself as she, the general, and the two guards began their descent. As they walked down the stairs and into the depths of the newfound chamber the female guard Stone illuminated the room with her horn. They descended further and further until finally reaching the bottom much to the princess' annoyance. They attempted to search the bottom of the pit, but all that could be seen was a plain, out of place, wooden door against the wall. General Disarray ordered Stone to open the door, but when the grey mare approached and attempted to open it the door shifted away at an incredible speed to the other side of the wall, making her expressionless unchanged face tilt in confusion.
“Here, let me try.” Sentry said as he lunged at it, only for the door to go straight upwards resulting in his face smashing into the wall. Several more attempts were made, with even the general joining in, and despite how amusing it was to see them repeatedly fail and run into each other like a bunch of stooges Princess Nightmare Moon's patience was running thin.
“Enough you imbeciles, look!” Nightmare Moon said as she pointed to the top of the door where a crystal identical to the one atop the throne was located. The guards picked themselves up and coughed in embarrassment as they stepped away from the door, making Nightmare Moon shake her head at their antics. Just as she’d done before, she fired a bolt of magic at the crystal, turning it black and making the door latch onto the wall with a loud crunch of the stone. Everypony present watched as it began to glow as if a portal had been opened behind it, and slowly Nightmare Moon approached the handle. Before opening it, however, she stopped and thought to herself about what she would do if she tried to hide something this hard. Not wanting to stumble into a trap herself she simply turned to the orange pegasus behind her.
“You there. Enter this door.” She said as she returned to where she was standing prior.
“What? Why?” He asked in fear and confusion.
“Because I command it.” She said through clenched teeth while flaring out her wings. The guard gulped and looked to his partner and general for help, but the general merely turned to look at something else while Stone continued to silently stare at him. With a sigh of resignation, he walked towards the door nervously while Nightmare Moon and the others stepped to the side to make sure they were not caught in any surprise blasts from whatever lay beyond the door. The guinea pig guard placed his hoof on the handle and hesitated while taking a deep breath. “Get on with it!” The princess shouted, making the young guard flinch and swiftly open the door, but what they saw was yet another wall behind it.
The guards sighed in relief while Nightmare Moon groaned in aggravation. “A dead end, I should have known. There’s no way he’d leave the crystal heart somewhere so obvious.” She remarked before turning to head for the stairs.
“Oh well, come on you two back to searching.” General Disarray said as he followed the princess, but after a few seconds, neither of them followed. Both Nightmare Moon and the general turned around to yell at them, but before they could they stopped and inspected the strange sight before the door. The grey mare was waving her hoof in front of the other guard's face, desperately trying to get the orange stallion's attention, while he seemed to be sitting in front of the wall and staring at it with an expression of fear. Nightmare Moon and Disarray walked back down the stairs as they watched him mumble to himself and shift in place.
“No, no I did nothing wrong! Why? Why are you doing this? Why do you hate me so much?” Tears began to flow from his sickly green eyes but all the while he never stopped staring at the wall. His words had started becoming less and less coherent, and soon he was openly crying and begging for ponies to listen to him. Nightmare Moon ordered the others to stay put as she watched the effects of the door unfold before her, its undoubtedly dark nightmare properties piquing her interest unlike anything else she'd ever come across. After having her fill of the guard's torment she nodded to the other guard who wasted no time in bucking the door shut and smacking the guard across his face, sending his helmet flying off of his head and revealing his dark blue mane. “What!? Where am I?” He asked in a panic as he fell to the ground and frantically searched around the room for familiar faces.
“Get a grip private and tell us what happened to you.” General Disarray said as he helped him up. Stone meanwhile picked up his helmet and put it on his head as she patted him on the back. The orange guard wiped away a few stray tears and started to explain himself as best as he could.
“I was back home, in Canterlot. Everypony there was screaming at me, telling me how worthless I was, how much they hated me. That they wanted me to leave forever because I didn't belong there. I-It was like my worst nightmare had come true.” His voice started shaking and Stone continued to pat him as her face showed very slight signs of worry. Nightmare Moon wasn’t interested in his well-being though, all she heard was 'nightmare'. She turned to look at the door once again, a sinister smile growing on her face. She may not have found the crystal heart, but as the leading expert on all things nightmare herself, she believed she had stumbled onto something even better. It’s one thing to have nightmares in your dreams, but if Sombra found a way to create living nightmares, then she wanted to know how.
“The search is over for now. Have as many of your ponies as you can start transporting the gems we have discovered,” The general and guards saluted as she quickly started flying up towards the top of the pit. “Time to let my new subjects know that I spoke too soon. This will make for an excellent colony.”