//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Broken // Story: Rainbow is Magic S2: Shadow over the Crystal Empire // by aceotaku //------------------------------// Deep beneath the massive castle of the city, ponies worked within darkness, without break, with a small handful of tools. The only sounds in the darkness were those of the ponies digging away at the hard rock...and, currently, the voices of a group of newcomers speaking to one of the experienced workers. Rainbow Dash stared at the pony before her and the others, eyes still locked to the gemstones in place of the Crystal Pony’s own. “W-what’s going on here...? W-what happened...I mean...” “It is the eyes, yes?” The pony spoke dourly, chuckling humourlessly. “Working down here, with no light, no safety procedures, well, we need some way of seeing down here, right? So the King gave us new eyes...it wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience. On the plus side, they give us better sight than our old eyes ever did.” Applejack looked around, noting the expressions of the other miners. “You...seem pretty good humoured despite everything, especially compared to the others here.” “You’ll find I’m only one.” The pony said, frowning a little. “Our King’s rule hasn’t been kind to us Crystal Ponies, a lot of us have forgotten the old days, and barely remember little about themselves.” “Crystal Ponies?” Twilight asked. “Is that what you’re called?” “Mhmm, Crystal Ponies of the Crystal Empire.” The pony nodded. “So, like,” Rarity raised a hoof, “that’s like different from a pegasus, a unicorn and a earth pony?” Again the pony nodded. “Pretty small for an ‘empire’, though.” Rainbow muttered. “Empires aren’t usually restricted to a single city.” “Oh the empire used to be much, much bigger.” The pony answered. “Lots of cities in this region were built under the banner of the empire...of course, that was back when the Emperor ruled and not King Sombra.” Rainbow blinked. “So Sombra wasn’t always..?” She shook her head. That question wasn’t really important, she didn’t need to know more than that, however there was a more pressing question to ask. “What happened when...when the King took over?” “Even I don’t remember to well...” The pony replied, shaking their head. “A scream...no...a roar rang out from the castle, causing everypony to look...and then a tower of shadow rose up from within, splitting into several offshoots that flew to the distance, after which we saw what I can only describe as several black explosions over the horizon...likely the other cities of the Empire...and then the King’s giant wings spread out from within the castle and surrounded the city...and we were trapped here. Anyone who tried to escape or fight back were fought by the guards or captured by the King himself...you’ve likely seen his strange magic...and, afterwards, we were stuck down here.” “What happened to the Emperor then?” Applejack asked. “You mentioned him before but...we haven’t seen anyone like that...” “To be fair, we haven’t exactly been able to sightsee.” Pinkamena said, working at smashing at the rock walls with her hooves. “Yeah, I’ve been working and listening, I’m not idle like you guys.” She shrugged, punching a large boulder in half, revealing a glittering geode. The Crystal Pony ignored the interjection. “We don’t know what happened to the Emperor...we haven’t seen him, the Empress OR their daughter at all...” “Daughter?” Rainbow asked. “Mhmm, the sole heir to the empire, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. She was a real sweetheart...shame to think what Sombra could’ve done to her and her family...considering they were so close.” “H-huh...? What do you mean..?” Rainbow frowned, mind working as she listened. The crystal pony looked upwards in thought, their expression inscrutable. “Well you see, Sombra was hatched by Princess Cadenza and she raised him as her pet...” The pony groaned, clutching their head with a hoof, gritting their teeth in pain. “Nnnng...S-sorry sir...I-I’ll go back to work sir...” Suddenly the pony turned, picking up and pickaxe and started to picking at one corner of the rocky cavern. Rainbow blinked, eyes wide. “W-wait! W-what just happened?” Rainbow looked back to the empty shadows, suddenly keenly aware that something, somehow, was watching her. And if SHE was feeling that...how would these poor crystal ponies feel? Chrysalis trotted from behind, making Rainbow gasp, having forgotten about the changeling during everything. “Something is wrong... Don’t you feel it? Something...something is watching us...trying to get into our heads...fill us with fear...and despair.” She bit her lip, gazing at the working crystal ponies. “Like them. Something has gotten inside them, forcing them to work or else...or else...I’m not sure, but it’s not good.” Rarity gazed at the changeling wide-eyed. “How can you tell...?” Chrysalis looked surprised at that. “You mean, you can’t? Hmm must be a changeling thing...” She trotted forward, horn glowing with magic as she fed some magic into the head of a Crystal Pony as they worked, the pony letting sighing in relief before gasping in surprise. “Shhh...Just go about your business, I’ll help you...” The Pony turned to her in disbelief, taken aback. “Why...?” Chrysalis simply smiled, moving to use her magic to help carefully lift some loose gemstones from the rocky wall. “You...can use your magic?” Rainbow asked, amazed. Chrysalis blinked. “I suppose I can. What, you can’t?” Twilight glared in annoyance. “Changelings are weird.” She sighed. “No, we can’t, Chrysalis, it’s kinda why Rainbow hasn’t tried anything.” She looked at the pegasus apologetically. “Sorry Rainbow, but you’re kinda the magical heavyweight here.” “Well I mean we couldn’t risk Spike or Cadance’s safety anyway, otherwise I’m sure Applejack woulda bucked that King in the face, dragon or not.” Rainbow chuckled. Applejack blushed and huffed, turning her head. “Well Ah never! Ah’m a lady!” She then muttered under her breath. “But yes Ah would have, or at least tried.” The shadows around them rumbled as the crystal ponies turned to them. “W...why are you...? You should be scared...?” Rainbow blinked and nodded. “Well yeah...I was scared...terrified even but...now it seems kinda silly, we’ve got friends waiting for us, we shouldn’t just resign ourselves to...to slavery. So...” She turned to her friends, smirking confidently, “Let’s figure out a plan to get out of here, and free all these ponies.” The one they spoke to earlier looked over to her at those words, while the others looked away. “You...you make no sense...we live to serve King Sombra...no other reason.” Rainbow frowned and turned away from the hopeless ponies, focusing on cooking up a plan, her eyes on the closed gateway, the only entrance and exit to the tunnel. She stepped over to it, placing a hoof towards it...and then leapt back as shadowy tendrils whipped out at her, making a few small red gashes appear on her face, shoulders and forelegs. “HOLY...!” The tendrils shrank back into the shadows, as if never there to begin with. “Okay...direct approach, not a good idea.” She turned her head and called out. “Hey Chrysalis, care to help me out here?” Chrysalis frowned. “Umm...I’m not sure what I can really do. I...don’t really know any offensive magic, and...well...I don’t want to just leave these ponies to suffer...” Rainbow gave her a sympathetic smile. “Don’t worry, you keep on doing what you’re doing. You’re doing more for them than I can.” Twilight trotted forward, starting to mine beside Pinkamena. “Well, I can’t exactly help out with magic stuff either way, I might as well help lighten their loads a little too.” Fluttershy glided over to some Crystal Ponies, smiling. “And I’ll sing a morale boosting song!” PInkamena groaned. “Please don’t.” Fluttershy ignored her and began to sing, loudly and beautifully, Pinkemena responding by shoving some rocks into her ears to block the noise and focus on mining. Applejack trotted to a group of crystal ponies working farther back in the tunnel. “Well, if we’re going to dirty our hooves, Ah might as well too, though mah hooves are NOT made for this sort of labour...” Regardless she picked up a pickaxe and started picking away. Rarity shrugged and trotted around the tunnel, looking for any way she could help. Rainbow smiled, happy to see her friends doing what they did best, turning to the shadows watching them. “I know you’re watching us...now you see? You may have the Crystal Ponies under your thrall, but not us. We’re NOT going to just do what you want!” The shadows simply glared at her before turning their attention elsewhere, knowing this was merely a momentary reprieve. No matter what, they couldn’t escape. -------------------------------- Cadance trotted down the empty, dark halls of the castle alone, looking around. In her wandering she found herself outside the castle, blinking to herself in surprise. Not just that she managed to find her way out of the castle, but that no-one stopped her; no guards, let alone Sombra himself, had tried to keep her inside. This raised alarm bells in her head but she decided to accept it, this would be her best shot at finding the truth. Not to mention, she might be able to enlist some help in rescuing everyone. And thus she trotted forward, heading down from the castle down the city street, finding herself in the same street they first found themselves in, if the still untended to wreckage of their train was anything to note. She looked around, noting the streets were more deserted compared to before, and she walked to a house, knocking on the door. Noone answered. Cadance frowned and started to knock again, making sure to knock louder. “Excuse me! Please come out! There’s something I’d like to discuss with you. Does the name Mi Amore Cadenza mean anything to you?” After a long while, the door creaked open, revealing a pony with a muted colouration to her mane and coat, her eyes downcast and empty looking even as she looked at Cadance, her expression and devoid of any feeling...no, more that it was devoid of any feeling beyond crushing despair. “Princess...Cadenza...?” She croaked out quietly, distantly. “That name...how do you...know it?” Cadance bit her lip, trying to figure out how best to broach the subject, but then decided to ask something she felt was more important to know. “Are...are you happy here? With...with Sombra as your king?” The pony stared at her, uncomprehending. “Hah...ppeee...?” She groaned, closing her eyes as if in pain. “Why are you all hiding?” Cadance continued. “I saw so many ponies out here before, where did they all go?” “We...we must not do anything to incur the king’s wrath...we must avoid doing anything lest we anger him...we...why did we come out...? That would only make him angry...” She shivered, starting to look scared. “We...we have to...have to stay out of the way...we...” Cadance wrapped her hooves around the clearly distressed pony, trying to comfort her. “It’s alright...I...I’m going to fix this...no pony should be so frightened within their own home...” The pony tilted her head, uncomprehending of the action being performed on her. “There’s...there’s nothing to do...if we had the Crystal Heart, maybe but...” The pony gasped in pain, clutching at her head as she jumped back from Cadance, cowering close to the ground. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to mention it...!” Cadance stared, eyes widening as she saw sparks of blackened magic appearing around the pony’s head. “I...I won’t ask anymore!” However, the pony’s words did catch her attention, so Cadance had to ask SOMETHING. “That...that thing you mentioned...w-where is it? I-I won’t ask anymore and will leave you alone, just...just tell me where it could be.” “N...no...c-can’t...please...don’t anger him...p-please...please leave...” The pony whimpered, Cadance hesitating a moment before she nodded sadly and then turned and trotted away from the house, giving the pony one last glance as the pony weakly closed the door in front of Cadance, the Princess sighing sadly before she began looking around once more at the town, frowning as she saw no one was even trying to come out and help even as one of their own neighbours was suffering. She walked towards a house, knocking on its door. “Hey! Open up! I need to talk to you! One of your friends is in pain and needs help!” She was starting to babble, caught between her need to help the pony she spoke to and her desire to learn more about this strange city. But as she knocked, no one answered. She moved to another door and knocked, but again, no answer. She tried again and again but still no one answered, but from the way they peered from the edges of their windows she could tell there WERE people inside. It seemed that seeing what happened to that one pony had been enough to scare them off from talking to her at all, nor did it seem to inspire them to help the pony in pain. In fact, just the opposite. Whatever Sombra did to these ponies, it was truly serious. But, maybe, if she got the Crystal Heart she could somehow fix this, and make up for her moment of cowardice back when they first encountered Sombra. She still couldn’t believe she left her own student and her WIFE behind to save her own hide, even if it was in a brief moment of terror, no matter what the reason it was inexcusable. And if Sombra was apparently mistreating his own subjects to the point they seem to have lost everything a pony needs, who knows what he could be doing to Rainbow and Chrysalis and the others... She shook her head, trying to clear it. Her mind and emotions were all over the place. She had found something, if vague, to focus on, and for some reason she was sure it could save everyone, not just because she read about it in a book or because a townspony mentioned it. She just had an inkling of...something. If only she knew more about the Crystal Heart, where it was, what it could do to help... Cadance stood in a special room of the castle, her father by her side; the pony resembled her greatly aside from his lack of a horn and his masculine features. In front of them, raised on a specialised dais, was a heart shaped crystal that floated a few inches in the air as it gently spun, glowing with powerful magic. “So...this is the Crystal Heart, Daddy?” Cadance asked. The stallion chuckled and smiled as she nodded. “Indeed. This crystal protects us. We found a powerful crystal buried deep beneath the castle, empowered it with our magic and carved it into its current shape. We keep it here to best utilise its magic. With its power, the harsh weather and cold of these lands is no concern for us, monsters are kept at bay, and through it we are connected to our the other cities that form our Empire.” He looked at the young filly. “And one day you will succeed me and rule the Empire, and it will be your duty to protect this Heart, for it is the very heart of our empire.” The stallion chuckled lightly at the fairly obvious metaphor. A voice spoke beside Cadance. “It looks delicious.” Cadance giggled, turning to the dragon. “Oh Sombra, don’t be silly! You can’t eat that! It’s important!” Her father nodded. “Indeed. To you, Sombra, it looks like a snack, but for us..its our very lifeblood. If we didn’t have the Crystal Heart, everything you see just...wouldn’t be able to survive.” He gave Cadance a warm smile. “Now, Cadenza, I will teach you how to use the Crystal Heart...” Cadance gasped as the memory ended. “I...I know where it is...? I know what to do...?” A determined grin grew on her features. “I...I can save everyone...” She ran back into the castle that Sombra stood within,running down hallways till she found the stairs leading upwards, rushing upstairs as she made her way special room, emboldened by her freshly discovered memories. The Crystal Heart was here. She knew what to do. Once she saw it, she would remember the rest and then...! Her heart sank deeply as she entered the room, eyes filled with horror and despair as she saw the state of it. The room was massive and rounded, the ceiling decorated with murals depicting Smart Cookie and other notable leaders of the Empire, their faces ruined by deep gouges into the crystal walls. Before her was a dias, besides which were shattered stone pieces that clearly resembled a pony. A stone face looked up at her in frozen terror, unmistakably the father she saw only in hazy memories, one who she never got to know beyond them. The sight was enough to drive her to near tears, and she hoped it was JUST a broken statue and not... But worst of all, she saw the pieces of the Crystal Heart, the supposed core of the city, the thing that would protect it...shattered to pieces completely. She collapsed to the floor, clutching it in her hooves. “Did you really think I wouldn’t DO anything about the one thing that would destroy my plans?” Sombra’s voice broke in, shadows filling the room as the vile dragon’s shadow stepped forward from the walls, red eyes gazing down at the Princess. “Did you think I’d be so STUPID?” Cadance turned to the shadow, tears falling from her eyes. “...Is this...is this where...?” “You father? Yes, he fought so hard, he even froze you in crystal and sent you flying from here with his magic...” Sombra growled spitefully at this. “He ran here, of course, in one last ditch effort to stop me...you should’ve seen his face when I destroyed the Crystal Heart with own claws before shattering HIM .” He chuckled darkly, gazing at the scattered pieces of stone. “It was EASY.” Cadance shivered, clutching the fragment of the Heart to her chest, trying very hard NOT to look at the grisly remains of her own forgotten father, her teeth gritted angrily as now memories flashed through her mind rapidly, revealing more and more her childhood shared with the dragon before her. “WHY!? Why DO all this!? You...you were my FRIEND! I...I hatched you myself! I took care of you! I...I LOVED you!” She flinched back as Sombra stabbed his sharp talons deep into the floor in front of her, his snarling face inches from her own. “LOVED me!? You know NOTHING! For YEARS I was nothing but your pet, a...TOY that everyone else found amusing! I read so much about how great and powerful dragons were, but instead of flying high in the sky I was down HERE, in the COLD, being MOCKED by weak little ponies with their vapid, STUPID smiles and CHILDISH lessons of FRIENDSHIP! You claim you LOVE me? Well I HATED YOU! Because of you I knew only PONIES, never the grandeur of DRAGONS!” Cadance stared at him. “You MURDERED MY FATHER because of petty PRIDE!? And what of the people down below!?” “They shall suffer, ALWAYS and FOREVER! It’s not just YOU, Cadance, ALL ponies are a BLIGHT upon me! I shall prove I am superior to them by making them FEAR ME! They shall serve me, mine food for me, and I will always be able to see the fear in their eyes and know that I am FINALLY better than them, finally better than YOU!” Sombra grinned sadistically as he pressed his face closer to Cadance. “And now, by letting you on this little misadventure, I can finally satisfy myself with the despair in your eyes RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT!” Cadanc hung her head low, sobbing into her hooves. “You’re a MONSTER!” Sombra grinned widely. “No. I am KING. And you WILL remember that. ALWAYS.” He laughed coldly as he faded back into the shadows, disappearing from her sight. Cadance clung to the useless Crystal Heart fragments, sobbing helplessly. “Cadance?” She looked up, seeing Spike walking over to her, briefly distracted from her hopelessness from seeing the beautiful blue dress he was wearing. “Spike...? what...?” Spike sighed, folding his arms over his chest, looking aside. “Sombra...wants me to be a girl so he can marry me...or something...” “Ex...cuse me...?” The Princess tilted her head, puzzled. “I...couldn’t have heard that right...” “Turns out I didn’t know a lot about dragons...and turns out the one guy I find who could tell me something about them is an insane obsessive who wants me just cause I have scales like him...” He looked around. “Just between you and me...I think he might be a bit of a manchild...” He looked her over, frowning. “What’s wrong...? What did he do to you...” Cadance bit her lip. “Just made sure I knew how hopeless this is...what I lost...Spike, this is my home...I...I am supposed to be this city’s ruler...” She gazed at her father’s remains. “Sombra...took my whole life from me...” “I don’t really understand a whole lot about what you’re talking about...” Spike laid a claw onto Cadance’s shoulder, giving her a reassuring look. “But even so, you gained a lot in return... You got me, you got your aunts, you got Rainbow...and you got your wife. You got to see a whole lot...” Cadance nodded. “it’s true...I DO have that...but still...”She sighed. “Spike...what can we DO? Our friends, my WIFE, is locked up WHO KNOWS where, the townspeople down there just have lost all hope, and...” She bit back a sob. “I’ll never get to know who he was...” “Huh?” She pointed at the broken stallion on the floor. “That...that used to be my father...I never got to know him...and now...I never will...” Spike stared wide eyed at the pile of shattered stone nearby, paling. “Wait you mean...like...I hope you mean a metaphor...” He looked at the pink pony hopefully, only for his expression to fall as she shook her head, Spike inching further from the stones as he tried to look away, looking horrified. The pair were silent for a while, Spike overwhelmed by the increasing gravity of the situation, Cadance staring downwards sullenly. “...We have to do something.” Spike said at last. “It was bad enough when he was keeping us all prisoner, and saying Hurricanist things, and treating his subjects like garbage but...this...this is too heavy. I don’t really understand everything you’re saying but...we can’t give up. We NEED to do something about him, here and NOW.” Cadance held up the shattered pieces of the crystal heart in her hooves. “...this was supposed to be an artefact that could have saved this city but...Sombra destroyed it YEARS ago, it lost all traces of magic.” “Is there a way to fix it?” Spike asked as he gazed at the fragments, his belly grumbling at the sight of the delicious crystal. “Like, you could use like magic or something?” “I can feel my own magic Spike, it’s part of my special talent. Ever since we got here my magic has grown weaker and weaker and I can’t get it to come out. It..it’s possible that it might be the same for the others...” “What you mean...Sombra’s got some sort of...magic draining power or...or something?” Cadance nodded. “It’s ONLY a theory, but it makes sense. Our magic stops working the INSTANT we get here, and even the Elements became dormant and lifeless. If...if Sombra has the power to do...THAT” She gestured to her father’s remains, “to a pony, then who knows what he’s capable of?” Spike flinched. “Stilll kinda creepy we’re just talking like this in front of a...look, how about we uhh leave this room and go somewhere else, I’m kinda uncomfortable....” Cadance nodded, giving her father one last sorrowful glance. “I’m so sorry...” As she rose she held the fragments close to her chest, for some reason not wanting to part with them. “Cadance.” Her father’s voice spoke up in her ears. “Be strong. You are the Empress of the Empire. You and the people have the power to save the Crystal Heart. YOU give it the power to save others, nothing else. You may not be able to use your unicorn magic, but Sombra’s power cannot hold back something that’s in your BONES. You are not just a unicorn. YOU are a crystal pony. Sombra cannot take that from you. Go down, down below to the mines. Seek help, rally the cause. Use that which you’ve forgotten. Save the Empire. I believe in you.” Cadance gasped, looking around, eyes wide. “He said Cadance...” She muttered. “That...that couldn’t have been a memory...? But then...it couldn’t possibly...” Spike looked up at the Princess. “You...alright?” Cadance blinked, her expression, while still lacking confidence and still sorrowful, had a hint of hope in her eyes. “I...maybe? I...I might have gotten some sort of idea...I’m...technically not a unicorn...so maybe there IS something I can do...” “Excuse me, what was that about not being a unicorn...?” “I said TECHNICALLY, and not the point! I...I don’t know how but I just KNOW where we can go to get help! Follow me!” Cadance trotted ahead as Spike hurried after he, still confused about all this. -------------------------- In a starry void filled with bubbles showing the past and present, a pink stallion stood, his long curly pink mane flowing over his shoulder. The stallion gazed into a bubble showing Cadance and Spike running out of the old room the Crystal Heart had been held in. He turned to a much, much larger, shadowy figure behind him. “Thank you...for allowing me to do this...” “I am afraid you cannot do this again...” The Old King said. “There are rules I cannot break. I can find loopholes, but that’s it. I’m so sorry...” The Crystal Emperor shook his head, smiling. “it’s quite alright...it was just good to be able to speak to her one last time...” “There will come a day when you will get to see her again...but we can only hope it’s not soon.” The Old King sighed. “It still won’t be easy. A ‘pep talk’ isn’t going to be enough to defeat the power Sombra has stolen...” The Crystal Emperor smiled. “I have faith. My daughter is strong, smart and, most importantly, has many friends as well as someone she loves. They will save the Empire. I know they will.” The Old King smiled softly. “I believe in them too.” He looked up at the bubbles, or perhaps ‘windows’ would be a better description, and gazed at the little ponies. Cadance and Spike running through the halls. Rainbow and her friends in the mines. Celestia and Luna flying to the north as they had grown worried. The soldiers on the remains of the train outside the empire, desperately trying to charge through the massive pillar of shadows the Bearers and Princess were thrown into. “Fight him, my little ponies.” The Old King prayed. “Win.”