(The Crystal Empire, Crystal Palace)
Bright orange wings flapped in the night air as an armored Pegasus flew over the gemstone houses of the Crystal Empire. His breaths were heavy and his body tired after a long, exhausting day, but he didn’t show it. Instead, he pushed himself over those last few houses, the Crystal Palace looming just ahead of him like a spire of light amid the shadowed Empire.
It wasn’t his first flight back home in this state, and he doubted it would be his last. As the search for Chrysalis’s last holdout continued, he found himself constantly having to fly back to report on the search teams’ progress. The constant thaumatically-charged blizzards outside the city shield made comm-crystal chatter nearly impossible, so the old-fashioned way was required.
He tilted his wings to slow down, then descended from the air towards the main courtyard under the Palace, where a burly white Unicorn was waiting patiently. His hooves soon touched the smooth pavement, and he tucked his tired wings close to his sides as he trotted over to the Unicorn, saluting once he was near enough.
The Unicorn saluted in return and said, “Evening Flash. How was the search today?”
Flash Sentry, captain of the Crystal Praetorian Guard, lifted the helmet off his head and wiped the sweat of his brow. “Total bust, just like every other day this past week, Shining.”
The Prince of the Empire sighed and shook his head. “Luna’s mane, these Changelings are persistent. I don’t know who trained them in stealth and hiding, but they’re good. Very good.”
“Gonna be honest, Shining, I don’t think they’re on the slopes anymore,” said Flash. “Maybe they were at one point, but we’ve seen no evidence of them still being around, save for a few bodies buried and permanently frozen in the snow. Let’s face it, they’ve either moved on, or they all froze or starved to death.”
“Where would they go?” Shining countered, staring past Flash towards the outer edges of the city beyond. “The Yaks? They’re too isolated, too suspicious, and too suited to the cold. The Yaks would know if there was something amiss on their territory. The only other choices are north and south, since we’ve already ruled out the west. Down south has warmer climates, but is too heavily populated. And up north...” Shining shivered.
“Frost giants, or worse,” Flash said quietly.
Shining nodded. “Exactly. They have to be close by. The Empire may be hostile, but it’s got the largest concentration of love energy thanks to the Crystal Heart and Cadance, something they desperately need right now ever since we seized their camp and freed their prisoners. The last we saw of the Changelings, they were heading straight to Mount Everhoof. There has to be a cave somewhere they found, they can’t just disappear like this, especially not up there in that weather.”
“I wish I shared your certainty,” Flash sighed. “Give me a moment to rest my wings, and I’ll be back up there searching the next sector.”
Shining shook his head. “No. You’re tired, get some rest. The search teams can continue without you, so start fresh in the morning.”
“I’m fine, Shining,” Flash insisted.
Shining held up a hoof. “Ah-ah, none of that. This is an order from your Prince, and a request from a friend. Get some rest, you need it.”
Flash gave him an annoyed look. “You’re too ugly to be my mother. What’s gotten into you? Ever since that whole incident with the Crystal Heart and those monsters, you’ve been walking on eggshells around me. You used to always push me to my limits when I was your lieutenant, but now you keep trying to get me in a bed. I’m flattered dude, but you’re a married stallion, and also soooo not my type.”
“You got shot, Flash!” Shining hissed, ignoring the jab. “Right in the chest, too! It could’ve killed you if that crystal zombie...thing aimed just a few centimeters to the left.”
“Yeah, and the Changelings healed me in one of those pods,” Flash reminded him.
“Exactly! Changelings, and not the good ones. These ones meant harm, and we have no idea what that does to the Ponies inside it. Heck, the other Ponies came out traumatized!”
“I’m still standing, aren’t I?” Flash retorted, glaring at Shining. “Where’s your faith in me?”
Shining sighed and put a hoof on Flash’s shoulder. “You know you always have that, Flash,” he said quietly. “But I nearly lost my best friend that night, and I didn’t even know it. I just...I just don’t want to feel that again.”
Flash’s eyes softened and he pulled the Unicorn in for a tight hug. “Hey, it’s okay dude. That was never your fault, and what’s done is done. I’m fine, you’re fine, your family’s fine, everything is fine. Neither of us will lose each other. Remember our oath?”
Shining grinned. “Live as kings, die as mad lads?”
A hoof whacked Shining’s head. “The other one, you maniac.”
Shining chuckled as the two of them broke the hug. “Only three things are allowed to kill us,” he recited. “Old age, our wives, and each other.”
Flash nodded. “I don’t plan on kicking it anytime soon, Shining. You don’t have to worry about me so much.”
Shining shrugged. “Eh, still gonna do that. But I get you.”
“Good.”
The two of them stood in silence for a minute, watching the stars above shimmer down on them. Luna’s crescent moon was bright tonight, and it gave the Palace above them an ethereal glow along its crystalline walls. For a brief time, both of them forgot the cares of the world, and simply took in the moment.
Then Shining turned to Flash and said, “But seriously dude, get some sleep. Eight hours at least.”
Flash rolled his eyes skyward and started to walk towards the Palace entrance. “Yes, mom.”
“Thought you said I was too ugly to be your mom?” Shining called after him.
“Dude, my mom’s one ugly old nag,” Flash laughed, waving a wing. “Seeya tomorrow, Shining.”
Once Flash was gone, Shining sighed and let a smile emerge on his face. Turning away from the city, he trotted over to the center of the courtyard, where a heavy amount of Praetorians stood in a circle around the Crystal Heart, now encased in a small shield maintained by three Unicorn mages.
After the whole debacle with the Changelings and the otherworldly crystal in the old, now ruined Crop Duster plantation, it was deemed a necessary security measure to keep the Crystal Heart even safer than it was before. The Empire was still reeling from the aftermath of that incident, and both Shining and Cadance had decided that enough was enough. Already a more suitable location was being constructed in the upper levels of the Palace, much like it had been during Sombra’s old reign, with one small difference: a decoy Heart, crafted from the same crystalline material and specially-designed to have a similar thaumatic signature would be placed in its old resting place, to reassure the Crystal Ponies and to also throw off any would-be thieves.
However, for now, the real Heart still floated in the courtyard until the new location could be properly fitted with better security systems and stronger thaumatic conduits. To that end, an entire platoon of Praetorians were stationed at the Heart, ten of them visible at all times and the rest hidden around the courtyard, ready to defend the Heart at a moment’s notice.
As Shining passed the guards by, one more Unicorn came into view behind the Heart. The bright, slightly frizzy mane was unmistakable, as was the starry mages robe he wore, and Shining hailed him as he came close. “How goes it, Sunburst?”
The Unicorn scholar didn’t respond at first, and instead adjusted the glasses on his snout and looked down at the notebook encased in his magic, frowning and marking down a few notes on its scribble-covered pages.
“Sunburst?”
“Resonance still low; recovery level...stabilizing...sort of. Hmmm...”
“Sunburst!”
“Gah!” the frazzled Unicorn yelped, dropping his notebook and taking a step back as he blinked rapidly at Shining. “Geez Shining, w-warn a stallion next time you do that, please?”
“Sorry buddy,” Shining said as he picked up Sunburst’s notebook and hoofed it over to him. “How’s the Heart tonight?”
Sunburst sighed and readjusted his glasses once more. “Well, it is recovering from the energy siphoning a while back, but it’s slow going. It’ll take months before it’ll be back to full strength, which means we’ll still need to take it easy on the shield.”
“We’ve still got a lot of Changelings out there, Sunburst,” Shining reminded him.
“I know that, but if we tax the Heart again, it’ll suffer a mana burn. I-I-I don’t even know what would happen if it does, but I can guarantee you that it won’t be good.”
Shining raised an eyebrow. “Big boom?”
Sunburst shivered, and not because of the cold. “Faust help us all if it does...with all the energy the Heart has, even at its weakened state, a mana burn of that size...it would be catastrophic, cataclysmic even. Enough to vaporize half the Frozen North and parts of Yakyakistan and Cloudsdale, to say nothing of the fallout effects. Radiation poisoning, ash clouds, intense seismic activity, you name it.”
Shining blinked, his expression teetering somewhere between resignation and calm disbelief. “...Riiiiight, let’s take it easy on the Heart for a while. How long would you recommend?”
“At least three months, give or take,” Sunburst replied, glancing down at his notes and closing the book. “By then the risk of a mana burn should be negligible, if not outright nonexistent.”
Shining cringed. “Would there be any way to boost its recovery speed somehow? Maybe a Crystalling or two, or a Crystal Fair?”
Sunburst shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt to try, I guess. You’ll have to talk to the Crystal Ponies about it, though. It’s their Heart, and they’re its true caretakers. We’re just the guards.”
“I’ll set up a meeting with the community leaders tomorrow.”
Sunburst nodded, and the two of them fell into silence as they watched the Crystal Heart slowly spin on its pedestal, hearing a low thumping noise coming from deep within its core. It was nowhere near as sickly-sounding as it was before, which was relieving to hear, but it was still slow and weak. And yet, its continued pulses seemed to warm the hearts of both stallions somehow, as if the Crystal Heart was letting them know that it was grateful for the both of them and their fellows for nursing it back to full strength.
After a moment, Sunburst let out a yawn and looked over at his Prince. “So, heard any news from Equestria lately?”
Shining grinned. “Oooh, like you wouldn’t believe. Which would you like first, the weird news, the crazy news, or the crazy weird news?”
Sunburst rolled his eyes. “Surprise me.”
“Otherworldly Dragons have deposited an entire city into Halflinger Grove, and are now in the process of negotiating an alliance with Equestria and the Eastern Lair. Celestia, Starlight Glimmer, and a few others are already out there.”
Sunburst blinked, and then removed the glasses from his snout. “...What?”
“That’s just the weird news; it gets better. Remember our old pal Thorax? Turns out he’s now the King of the Changelings that rebelled against Chrysalis. Not only that, but according to Twilight’s last message to me, there may be more Changelings out there. LOTS more. She’s gone with Thorax and a couple of her friends to find them.”
“What’s the crazy weird news?”
“Twilight’s still single,” Shining answered.
“...You’ve lost me.”
“I know?! It’s insane, right? You’d think that having the Princess of Love as a sister-in-law would change things, but nooooo, she’s still stuck in her books. This big bro’s still gotta wait for his own brother-in-law.” He paused, putting a hoof under his chin. “Or maybe a sister-in-law? She does hang out with a lot of girls...that Rarity mare’s kinda nice.”
Sunburst sighed, putting the glasses back on his face. “Well, as interesting as it sounds that there’s more Changelings out there, I think I’ve had enough of Changelings to last me a lifetime. I’m more interested in those Dragons. Did you say they came from another world?”
“Yup! Big ol’ portal, smack-dab in the middle of Halflinger Grove. I bet the Frontier Colonies are already complaining about having to share it,” Shining laughed. “Let them, I say. They could use a swift kick in the rump.”
“Confirmation of other worlds beyond that of the Mirror Portal...” Sunburst sighed wistfully. “I so wish I was there right now. This is an unprecedented turn of events!”
“You sure you’re not just saying that because a certain pink mare with a lovely shade of cyan in her purple mane is there now while you’re stuck up here shivering?”
Sunburst’s face turned red, and he pulled his robes tighter around his chest. “I-I-I don’t...I mean that...she...”
Shining snickered, putting a hoof around Sunburst. “Oh relax, dude, I’m just teasing.”
“L-Leave the teasing to Princess Cadance, please...”
Shining nodded, letting him go. “Message received, sorry if I was out of line.”
“N-No, you’re fine,” Sunburst replied, shaking his head. “Um...speaking of which, how is she?”
“Who, Cadance?” Shining asked. At Sunburst’s nod, Shining grimaced and replied, “She’s...recovering still, like the Heart. She hasn’t been the same since that crystal...thing attacked the Empire and invaded her dreams.”
“How so?”
“Well, I’ve tried to help her as best as I could, and for a while it seemed to be enough. She was smiling, she was happy, and she was starting to put the incident behind her. But lately...lately she’s been more distant,” the Prince answered, glancing away and frowning. “She’s more clingy around Flurry Heart, more prone to jitters and jumping at the slightest sounds, and very sleep-deprived. She hides it well, especially in public, but...I can tell.”
“It sounds like she might need some help,” Sunburst murmured, tapping his head. “You know, up here?”
Shining nodded. “Like I said, I’ve tried helping her, and that includes sessions with the Empire’s psychiatrists, but it hasn’t helped much. I told her about the crystal monster, and although she never saw him, she one day asked me to describe him to her. When I did, it was like she froze, and her gaze became haunted. There’s no doubt in my mind, Sunburst. He might not have spoken to her or revealed himself to her, but his mind touched hers when he gave her that vision, and she thinks she can still feel him.”
“Did you tell her that you smashed the thing against the side of Mount Everhoof?”
“Yeah, but she doesn’t believe me, and the recent news about the Dragons to the southeast hasn’t helped either.” He glanced at Sunburst. “Some of them even match the descriptions of those in her dreams. Just this morning she told me...” His voice trailed off, and his eyes became distant.
“Told you what, Shining?” Sunburst asked, his voice lowering to a whisper.
“...She told me that it’s only gotten worse.”
There was a shriek of warning, and a flaming boulder hurtled through the air, smashing into the tower above her and sending it crumbling into dust and debris on top of her. With a grunt, her horn lit up in a bright blue beam, and a large dome shield encompassed her and those who followed her, protecting them from the flames and the falling stone.
Flurry wept in her mother’s tight embrace, but she didn’t scream. She knew her mother was protecting her, but she didn’t know why everything was falling apart around her, or why Ponies were suffering. She didn’t know why everything smelled like fire.
Cadance glanced down from her shield and hugged Flurry closer to her chest, whispering small words of encouragement and strength to her daughter, hoping that it would be enough. As she did, the Ponies around her huddled closer, fear in their eyes and their bodies shaking from exhaustion. They had all been running for what felt like hours, and their pursuers were relentless.
Around them, Canterlot burned; its once proud towers and armies had been reduced to ruin, and its populace sent fleeing into the surrounding hills and plains, only to be hunted down like vermin.
Shadowy figures moved through the streets like wraiths, slaying all those they came across. Their blades were sharp, their movements swift, and their intention clear --- they wouldn’t rest until every last citizen and soldier of Canterlot was dead. Upon their breastplates were emblazoned the predatory eagles of Trotsylvania, and the steel wings on their backs glistened with the blood of both the innocent and the strong.
And they were hunting them, they and their cruel allies from the southern wastes and beyond. They were hunting her.
Cadance didn’t know where Celestia, Luna, or Twilight were, or where Shining was, but at the moment it didn’t matter where they were. All she knew was that Flurry was with her, and that she had to get her Ponies to safety.
“Come on!” she cried over her shoulder, dropping the shield as the last of the debris fell away. “They’re not far behind!”
“They’ve found us!” a yellow-furred noblemare shrieked, stumbling over a pile of bricks as a Winged Hussar clambered over a ruined roof and fired a crossbow bolt into her gut, sending her falling to the ground dead. Many more soon joined him, moving across the roofs of Canterlot City like winged angels of death and leering at the fleeing citizens.
“This way!” Cadance shouted, running down the street ahead of her and firing a bolt of magic behind her at their pursuers. The bolt slammed into a Winged Hussar and sent him screaming up and over the houses and into the lower levels of Canterlot below. Seeing their comrade meet such a grisly end only enraged the Winged Hussars even further, and they shouted in unison as they ran her down.
The sound of flapping wings brought Cadance’s attention to the skies, and her mouth opened in silent horror as several Pegasus Hussars encircled the fleeing Ponies, holding readied crossbows in their hooves.
“Loose!” a guttural voice bellowed, just as Cadance threw another shield up in front of her and skidded to a stop.
Several Ponies managed to dive into the shield with her, but the rest were not so lucky. Pained shouts met her ears as the remaining civilians outside the shield were riddled with steel bolts, some of them barely even managing a gasp of air as fell to the ground in a scene that chilled Cadance to the bone and would forever be etched into her memories. She covered Flurry’s eyes and ears as they fell, feeling only sorrow for those she couldn’t save.
“She’s cornered!” the Hussar commander yelled in triumph. “Take her!”
Several Hussars dropped down from the roofs and surged towards her shield, bearing all manner of weaponry. They had no intention of taking prisoners, and they cared little for the few wounded Ponies that lay bleeding on the ground. Enraged at the loss of their friends, the few Ponies that had joined her in the shield reared on their back hooves and charged at the enemy, heedless of their own fate.
“What are you doing?!” Cadance shrieked helplessly. “Come back!”
“Get out of here, Princess, we’ll hold them off!” a burly Earth Pony stallion called back over his shoulder, slamming into an oncoming Hussar and pinning her to the ground. “Go, get to--argh!” A long, curved blade erupted from his back, and he slid off his opponent as she pulled her sword out from him and flipped back onto her hind legs, narrowing her eyes at the Princess in disdain.
Cadance watched as one by one her little Ponies fell, all screaming at her with their last breaths for her to flee before it was too late. Young or old, it didn’t matter, they fell the same way.
She hated to leave them; as a Princess, it was her duty to protect her subjects and defend her kingdom. But this was not the Crystal Empire, and these were not some mindless rabble of Timberwolves. These were Ponies fighting Ponies, and they didn’t care whose blood they spilled. They had madness in their eyes and darkness in their hearts, and the blood dripping from their blades told her all she needed to know. They would never stop hunting her, or her daughter.
Her daughter...
Sparing only a brief glance down at Flurry, Cadance spun around and galloped away, using her wings to give herself a boost.
“After her, Hussars!” the commander roared. “She’s the last one! She and her spawn are all that’s left of the loyalists!”
Cadance’s eyes narrowed, even as tears poured down her face and her teeth gritted in concentration. She doubled her speed, focusing her gaze on an alleyway quickly coming into view. She would lose them in the back alleys of the city, and make her way to the caves. There would be plenty of hiding places there. They would never get her, or her daughter! Not this time. NOT THIS--
Instant, burning pain suddenly shot up her left hind leg, and she shrieked and tumbled to the ground, rolling to a stop in the dust and ash. Stunned, she cracked her eyes open and saw smoke in the crimson skies above her, and her head rolled over to the left. Hussars were gathering nearby, and they were grinning from ear to ear, knowing that they had beaten her.
Her eyes widened as she saw something more, however. In her fall, she had lost her hold on her daughter. Flurry now lay trembling on the ground, staring up fearfully at one of the tall, bipedal Hussars that now stood before her. His sword was sheathed, and his gleaming armor was unblemished from the blood and dirt that surrounded him.
Her instincts took over, and her vision turned red as she slammed her forehooves to the ground. She would crawl if she had to, but she wouldn’t let that monster touch her daughter. She clutched at the ground and pulled herself forward, only to scream once more as something sharp and heavy clamped down on her hind legs and squeeze.
“Going somewhere?” a malevolent voice hissed in her ear almost gleefully, and the pain in her ankle increased.
Cadance almost looked over her shoulder to see who it was, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of her daughter as the Winged Hussar bent down and picked Flurry up with a hoof, holding her to his chest almost lovingly, as if she was a delicate flower that could break at the slightest touch. Her breath hitched, and she looked up to the hidden face of her daughter’s captor. Her heart pounded in her chest, and there was an odd ringing in her ears.
“Don’t worry Princess,” the voice whispered to her. “She’s in good hooves. Don’t you recognize him?”
The Winged Hussar lifted a free hoof up to his helmet and took it off, revealing the bright-eyed, smiling face of Flash Sentry.
Cadance’s pupils shrank to pinpricks, as memories flooded into her mind. “No...”
Flash smiled at her and closed his eyes, leaning forward and kissing Flurry’s forehead ternderly, just as green flames enveloped him, revealing a red-finned Changeling. He pulled his head away and opened his eyes, revealing blood red coronas and yellow pupils with black centers. His mouth opened, revealing large fangs and a forked tongue.
History was repeating itself, and Cadance’s heart shattered as she watched the Changeling take her daughter away from her. Again.
“NO! Flurry Heart!” she shrieked, pulling at the ground and powering up her horn, only for the pressure on her legs to increase. The intense pain broke her focus, and she cried out once more as her stinging tears splashed against the stone under her.
“Now now, Princess, stay your horn and heed my words,” the voice murmured. “What you see before you is merely a vision. A possible future, you may say. It isn’t real.”
“Who are you?!” she growled as she wept, straining her neck to look behind her. “Why are you doing this to me?!”
“Why else? Research,” the voice hissed back with a laugh, before Cadance suddenly felt her entire body being dragged into a darkened alley with unnatural force.
She screamed once more as the pain in her legs flooded into her entire body. Flames licked around her as the light at the end of the alley seemed to fade. The red flames grew into massive bonfires, and soon her vision was filled with them. She was burning, burning, BURNING...!
And then suddenly the pain vanished, as did the flames. It was as if a cool wind had blown past her, and suddenly there was a bright light behind her. The pressure on her legs was gone, replaced by the soothing, soft touch of large wings.
“Cadance, oh Cadance, what is happening to you...?” a deep, sorrowful, motherly voice whispered. She felt somepony lie down next to her and nuzzle her face. “Never, in all my long life as a Dreamwalker, have I ever seen such darkness and despair coming from one solitary soul.”
“Aunt Luna,” Cadance whispered, her voice hoarse. “Help me...please...”
Luna looked down at her, and she embraced her niece, both of them trembling. But Luna’s quaking was not from sadness, but from rage. This abomination of a nightmare had gone on for long enough, and it had done something unthinkable: it had broken Cadance. Her sweet, loving niece had been reduced to a sobbing mess in her embrace. Not even her previous vision had broken her this badly. To see such a strong soul and mind laid low...it was enough. It was more than enough.
It was a declaration of WAR.
“Stay here, Cadance,” Luna commanded, her eyes sharpening to thin slits and her mouth growing fangs, even as shadows licked at her heels. “Aunt Luna needs to kill something.”
“W-What?” Cadance moaned, looking up at Luna, only to see somepony else staring down at her. Somepony she thought was gone forever. “No...”
“Be not afraid,” Nightmare Moon whispered, gently running a hoof down Cadance’s cheek and wiping away her tears. “This nightmare will be over soon, for the both of us.” Without another word, the Princess of the Night got up off the ground and marched down the alley, her eyes now glowing pure white and her face filled with deep-seated anger. With every step she took, black flames were left in her wake, and as she swept her large wings to either side of her, lightning seemed to form at their tips.
The Hussars at the other end of the alley all readied their weapons, glaring at the intruder even as Nightmare Moon licked her lips and smirked. “I must congratulate you, Malice-spawn. ‘Tis been a long, agonizing time since I last felt a nightmare such as yourself in my realm,” she hissed, her voice echoing off the sides of the ruined buildings. “And you picked the wrong mind to occupy. What shall it be first, hm? The eyes, the neck, or the heart?”
The Changeling growled at her and unsheathed his sword, pointing it at her with a daring look. “You know not what you face, Dreamwalker. I once devoured your kind and made the rest service me as cannon fodder...” he hissed, and Cadance’s heart froze. It was the same voice that she had heard before.
“The eyes it is, then,” Nightmare Moon remarked with a dark chuckle. “Much slower and more painful that way. It’ll be highly amusing for me to hear the nightmares scream for once.” She launched herself at the Changeling, barrelling through the Winged Hussars and sending them flying into the air, turning to dust as the lightning on her wings arced in the air towards them.
Just before she could reach her opponent, however, the air around her suddenly grew cold; cold and dark, like a blizzard created from Sombra during his reign in the Frozen North. Somehow, she shivered, and that startled her. She stopped in her charge and slowed to a stop, looking around her as a swirl of shadows formed like a funnel in the sky, reaching down all the way to the Changeling before her.
Before either of them could react, two claws as black as night and chilling as ice stretched out from the shadowy clouds and grasped the Changeling’s neck, snapping it to the side a split second later. The Changeling flopped to the floor like a boned fish, and the swirling shadows coalesced into a dark form about the size of a Pony, only formed completely of inky darkness and swirling black flames. Bright white eyes opened on its horned head, and it roared, sending the remaining Hussars fleeing. The creature then grabbed the Changeling’s dead body, threw it into the air, and opened its mouth, sending out a stream of black flames that incinerated the body.
Nightmare Moon actually gasped and took a step back. The rage, the hate, the righteous fury that radiated off this monster...it was unfathomable, horrific, and cruel.
It was pure evil.
As the charred remains of the Changeling fell to the ground once more, the creature took to the air on wings of shadow and roared once more, his voice reverberating throughout the burning city of Canterlot, extinguishing every flame and sending every enemy soldier tumbling to the ground. When he spoke, his voice was like that of a legion, and all heard him and felt fear in their hearts.
“Demons of darkness and perversions of dreams, heed my words!” he bellowed. “Too long have you laid waste to the minds the innocent and tormented them with deception and fear! Let it be known that this world is under my protection, and all those who live in it, friend or foe, will no longer suffer under your cold grasp. I have fought and slain much worse things than you, and I have stared into the eyes of evil itself and made him know true fear. I am the last voice of the Dark Stygian, and as the night is my witness, I will be the last voice you ever hear.”
His eyes glowed and, as if some divine being had thrust forth its arm of judgment, every enemy and nightmare, no matter where they were in the dream, was set ablaze with black flames. None were left standing, and all were turned to chaff before the monster that hovered before them. Only Cadance and Nightmare Moon lay unscathed, as well as the trembling form of Flurry Heart, who remained where the Changeling had placed her on the ground, her large wings covering her face from fear.
It was over in moments, and soon there was silence throughout the ruined city. The flames and the attackers were gone. The bodies and carnage had vanished. All that remained were the three Princesses and the newest intruder, who floated back down to the ground with a soft, tired sigh. By this time the shock had worn off of the Princess of the Night, and her Nightmare Moon form had faded away to reveal Luna beneath, staring slack-jawed at the creature of shadow that stood before her.
He blinked slowly and turned his gaze to Flurry Heart, who peeked out from under her wings to gaze at her would-be savior. He simply nodded to her, putting a claw to his chest and bowing his head. “Be at peace, little one. You may not be real, but your love for your mother is. Go to her, and ease her troubled mind,” he commanded in a low, yet somewhat benign tone.
Flurry Heart didn’t need to be told twice. Without any hesitation, she took off down the alley, embracing Cadance when she got close and cooing into her chest. Cadance clutched her tightly and wept, the tinniest trace of a relieved smile forming on her face.
Luna, however, narrowed her eyes at the newcomer and spread her wings, advancing towards him slowly. “I don’t know who or what you are, but you are not welcome here, nightmare. Go now, ere my magic destroys you.”
“Nightmare?” the creature asked, turning towards her with a dark look in his eye. “You’re one to talk, oh sorceress of shadow and bone.”
“I mean it!” Luna hissed, stamping a hoof on the ground and cracking the stone beneath her. “Leave my niece’s mind!”
“Not until she is cured of the evil that torments her.”
“The only thing that’s evil here is you!” Luna yelled, charging up a powerful bolt spell and taking to the sky.
“BE STILL!” the creature commanded, pointing at her with a talon.
“You would dare command me, the Princess of the--” Luna’s magic suddenly flickered and went out, and she gasped. “--Night?” Confused, she floated back down to the ground, staring at the creature with wide eyes. “How...how did you...?”
To her surprise, the creature was just as confused as she was, and he stared at her with a look of incredulity. “That’s not...that can’t be! That should’ve banished you, unless...no, that’s not possible...!” he muttered.
“The only way you could’ve cancelled my magic in the Dream Realm was if you were--”
“A Dreamwalker?!” they both cried, pointing at each other. Instantly the shadows and black flames fell away from the creature, revealing a Dragon with scales as black as obsidian and eyes as white as snow staring at her.
Both of them sat on the ground, shock written on both of their faces. Neither of them said anything for several moments, nor did they even notice Cadance walking up to them with Flurry carefully balanced on her back. She glanced between the two of them, bewilderment in her eyes. “Aunt Luna?” she asked. “What’s going on?”
“I thought I was the last...” Luna whispered at last.
“And I thought...” the Dragon murmured. “I...I thought...no, I was certain that I would be the very last.”
Cadance’s eyes suddenly widened, and she spun her head towards him in a double take. “Wait a moment...I know you!” she exclaimed.
Startled, the Dragon looked up at her. “I beg your pardon?”
“You’re one of the Dragons from my dreams!”
Remembering herself, Luna stood up and hovered over to her within seconds, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “Cadance, are you sure?”
“I’m positive!” Cadance declared, pushing past her and pointing at the Dragon. “I don’t know you’re name, but I’ve seen you before in my visions. You’re one of those new Dragons from that city, aren’t you?”
The Dragon nodded and stood up. “Yes, I am. My name is Blackout, captain of Warfang’s Rangers. And, until tonight, the last Dreamwalker of the Dragon Realms.” He bowed his head towards her. “I...must apologize. I had not intended to cause either of you any harm or terror, but I am unaccustomed to dispatching nightmares through any other manner. It is all I know, I’m afraid.”
Cadance took a step towards him, shooting glances around her at the ruined city. “You...certainly do it well.”
Blackout frowned and hung his head. “It is nothing I’m proud of, but thank you all the same, Princess.” At Cadance’s confusion, he pointed to the large, curved horn on his head. “The horn and wings give it away.”
“You’ve seen an Alicorn before?” Luna asked.
“Yes, one Princess Celestia,” Blackout replied. “Just before the negotiations began today she explained who and what she was. Judging by your similarly-styled Cutie Mark and flowing mane, I would assume you are her sister, Princess Luna, correct?”
“Well yes, yes I am,” Luna replied, standing taller and planting a hoof against her chest. “Princess Luna, Diarch of Equestria, Princess of the Night, and Walker of Dreams, at your service.”
Blackout dipped his head towards her in respect. “And I am at yours, Princesses.”
“Well, now that introductions are out of the way...” Cadance began, then paused. She took a deep breath, counted to five, then whirled around to face Luna and cried out, “Where were you?!”
“C-Cadance?”
“You promised you would help me with these visions, but they’ve only been getting worse,” Cadance hissed. “Every day, every night, I see them. And each time they’re more real than before, and that...that...that DAMNED VOICE keeps speaking to me! Torturing me! Who is he, Luna? Why is he so fixated on me? Why does he keep showing me these things? Where. Were. You?”
“Cadance, had I known it was this bad, I--”
“IT’S YOUR JOB TO KNOW!” Cadance thundered, tears pouring down her face. “You have one job as a Princess, just like all of us: protect your fellow Ponies, no matter what! You have a gift, Luna, one that allows you to walk through the Dream Realm and be in the unique position to help and protect those you love. Why aren’t you using it?”
“What do you think I’ve been doing?” Luna retorted, growing stern. “Every night I go out and calm the minds of thousands of our little Ponies. Thousands, Cadance!”
“You’re supposed to be protecting all of them!” Cadance argued, poking a hoof into Luna’s chest. “How many Ponies are there in Equestria and all the other independent nations, Luna?”
“What does that have--”
“How. Many?”
Luna’s stern gaze fell, and her mane seemed to lose some of its luster. “...Five hundred million, give or take.”
“And you only protect a few thousand of them,” Cadance whispered, her breath hitching. “You can’t even protect your own family, your niece...your GRAND NIECE! You weren’t there the night the Changelings stole her from her crib, you weren’t there to comfort her when she had her own nightmares after Chrysalis captured us, and ever since that day you haven’t been there for me when I was being tortured. What happened, Luna? A-are you so blind to our suffering...?”
Luna stared at her niece in silence as Cadance backed off and turned away from her. Luna’s wings fell and whatever words she would’ve said in her own defense died on her lips. Her niece’s words echoed in her mind, and she fought back bitter tears, remembering those same words she once spoke to her sister.
How have thine eyes not seen, nor thine ears heard? Art thou truly so blind?!
Cadance sniffed and broke down into more sobs as she felt Luna’s large wings wrap around her. She then turned back to the elder Princess, the misery in her eyes as clear as day. “Oh, F-Faust...Luna, w-what have I done? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean--”
“You have nothing to apologize for, dear niece,” Luna whispered to her, her eyes closed and her head shaking slowly. “The fault...is mine and mine alone. In my haste and eagerness for news from the Dragon City, I have been negligent and slothful in my duties, and you have suffered alone because of it. How many more are out there, still suffering from nightmares and horrors unseen, that I have also been blind to?” She opened her glistening eyes and looked at Cadance. “You are right to accuse me.”
“No.”
Startled, both Princesses turned to Blackout, who had sat quietly listening to their argument. He was staring at the cobblestone under him, idly scratching a rune on its surface. Luna narrowed her eyes at him. “What?” she asked.
“No,” Blackout repeated, shaking his head and looking up at her. “She has no right to accuse you. Yes, it is upsetting that it took you this long to respond to her calls for aid, but to accuse you of being blind? To imply that you have not been doing your job as a Princess, or that she is more important than anyone else? No, nothing is more insulting.” He slammed his claw against the rune, and the cobblestone cracked as he stood up.
“This does not concern you, Dragon,” Luna snorted. “I know my guilt, and I--”
“What guilt?” Blackout interrupted her. “Do you truly believe yourself to be guilty of something here, other than tardiness? A tardy guardian is a terrible thing, but a lazy or blind guardian is worse. You are neither lazy nor blind, and tardiness can be cured as easily as ignorance.”
“You speak as if you know much on the subject,” Luna observed.
Blackout nodded. “I am a Dreamwalker, and I have seen, heard, and fought things that would chill the bones of those who live in the waking world. I know more than anyone else the burdens we take upon our shoulders, Princess Luna. You are one Pony amidst an entire world, cursed with being its sole protector.” He turned towards Cadance. “And you...you have a right to be angry. You have suffered in the silence of the night, at a time when your mind should be most at peace. You feel sad and afraid, and you want to lash out at someone or something, and have something to blame for your suffering.”
Cadance sniffed and nodded.
Blackout’s gaze softened. “I understand that pain more than you could ever know, my lady. But the anger your feeling is directed at the wrong person.” He pointed a wingtip at Luna. “Princess Luna has always ever sought to protect you as best as she can, because she loves you and can’t bear to see you be hurt. I beg of you to not destroy that love or to say anything you will regret. She may not be a perfect protector, but up until now, she’s all you ever had.”
Both Princesses stared at him as his words rang in their minds. They found themselves turning their gazes towards each other after a moment, deep sorrow within both of them. The full weight of Cadance’s lambasting fell upon her, and her eyes glistened. Luna, meanwhile, could only recall how her own decisions led to a thousand years of no protection for her Ponies during the night. It was almost enough to make her weep.
Blackout closed his eyes and sighed once more. “I can feel both of your respective pains, though I don’t know from where they come. All I can offer is words of encouragement to you both. You live in a realm of peace and mercy, despite having a few sour grapes on the vine. In the few days that I’ve been on this world, I have already visited many dreams and cast out many nightmares. You, Princess Luna, may be a greater Dreamwalker than I: you protect thousands from their inner evils every night with little heed to your own sanity and safety, because those you love are worth more than anything. And as for you, Princess Cadance...this vision is unlike anything I have seen on this world. You have a strong mind and heart to be able to withstand such madness for so long, when so many far older and wiser have fallen victim to the darkness. Take heart, both of you: you’re no longer alone.”
Cadance glanced away, shame in her eyes. “I...I didn’t mean to put her down, or to make her feel like she was unappreciated. I just...I don’t know what’s wrong with me, or what’s causing these visions. I’ve never felt so alone or so scared, not even when Chrysalis had thrown me into those mines under Canterlot.”
Luna wiped a tear away from Cadance’s cheek, a hint of a bitter smile forming on her face. “I know that feeling well, Cadance. Fear is nothing to be ashamed of, especially if it is of the unknown. It is but a temporary thing.” Moving towards her, Luna wrapped Cadance up in a tight embrace once more. “I’m sorry I did not come sooner, dear niece. This will never happen again.”
Cadance gave her a weak smile and kissed her cheek. “I’m sorry too, Aunt Luna.”
Blackout let a small, almost invisible trace of a smile appear on his face, and he returned to scratching runes into the cobblestone as he gave the two Princesses some space. Flurry, who had crawled away from her mother, moved over to him and sat down a couple meters away, staring at him with wide eyes. Blackout’s smile grew, and he winked at her, causing her to giggle.
The moment of laughter brought both Princesses back to reality, and they separated, looking back to the Shadow Dragon. “Well, ahem, that was...a rather awkward introduction,” Luna murmured. “Blackout, allow me to introduce to you my niece, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or ‘Cadance’. She rules the Crystal Empire, a kingdom in a region known as the Frozen North just above Equestria, alongside her husband Prince Shining Armor.”
“Well met, Princess Cadance,” Blackout said. “And I suppose this little one is your daughter?”
“Yes,” Cadance replied, smiling. “Well, a dreamscape version of her, anyway. The real Flurry Heart is safely inside her cradle by my bed.”
“She’s beautiful,” Blackout remarked with an amused huff as Flurry pawed at his side.
“And quite the hoofful,” Luna chuckled. “Come, little Flurry, give your great aunt a hug.”
As Flurry bounded over to Luna, Cadance looked back at Blackout and said, “There is still something that confuses me, Blackout.”
“Then I will try my best to help,” the Shadow Dragon replied, nodding towards her.
“How was I able to see you in my visions before your city arrived on Equus?”
Blackout raised an eyebrow. “You saw me before we arrived? When was this?”
“The night before your city arrived,” Cadance replied, recalling what her husband had told her. “My husband said that there was a creature that had arrived ahead of you that night; some entity of great power residing in a dark purple crystal. He claimed to have been from another world, and that he had given me my original vision, the one in which I saw you.”
Blackout hummed and stroked his chin. “Strange, I have not heard of anything like tha--” He froze, inhaling sharply. His jaw opened slightly, and his breaths seemed to quicken. “Did...did you say it was a dark purple crystal?”
Cadance blinked and tilted her head to the side. “Yeees?”
“What did it look like?” Blackout demanded.
“Well, I...didn’t actually see it myself, but from what my husband told me, it was small and had a spiralling pattern, and dark energies seemed to swirl inside. And whoever was trapped inside it, they seemed very malicious, toying with him and his soldiers as they fought a battle of wits against one another.”
“A Dark Crystal...” Blackout mouthed. “It can’t be!”
“What is a Dark Crystal?” Luna asked, stepping closer to the two of them.
“It is an unnatural device crafted for one purpose: corruption of all it touches,” Blackout explained. “They were created by a powerful monster known as--”
Luna’s form seemed to shimmer suddenly, and she groaned. “Ponyfeathers...” she muttered.
“What is it, Luna?” Cadance wondered.
“The real world,” Luna replied with an exasperated sigh. “There’s a guard at the door, and it sounds urgent. You’ll have to carry on without me for the time being.”
Cadance nodded. “I’ll see you later, then.”
“Are you sure you’ll be alright tonight, Cadance?” Luna asked, putting a hoof on her shoulder.
“I’ll be fine, auntie,” Cadance replied, nuzzling Luna’s neck. “I think...for once I can say that and believe it.”
Luna nodded in understanding and looked down at Blackout. “Take care of her, Dragon, and answer every question she has for you.”
“That is my intention,” Blackout replied, although he still looked greatly troubled.
Luna nodded once more and then vanished in a flash of light, leaving Cadance and Blackout alone. Flurry had disappeared as well, and yet Cadance didn’t seem to mind.
The Princess of Love turned back to Blackout. “You were saying?”
Blackout sighed. “Do you recall when I said that I had stared into the eyes of evil?” At Cadance’s nod, he continued, “His name...was Malefor.”
Though the name was unfamiliar to her, something about it made her involuntarily shiver. Malefor. Something about that name was unnerving, although she couldn’t place it. “And this...Malefor...” she murmured. “He’s been the one showing me these visions?”
“It’s possible, although unlikely,” Blackout answered, but he sounded unsure of his own words. “Two heroes, Spyro and Cynder, destroyed him in the heart of our world just moments before we were transported here. And yet...the presence of Dark Crystals would seem to suggest that at least part of him survived. Only he alone can control the Dark Crystals, because they were made with his essence and by his hand.”
“Well, either way, we don’t have to worry about him,” Cadance said, waving a hoof dismissively. “My husband assured me that he had smashed the crystal against the sharp cliffs of Mount Everhoof. Even if part of this Malefor destroyed the destruction of your world, he certainly didn’t survive his brief stint on this one.”
Blackout shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s incorrect, Your Highness. Dark Crystals cannot be destroyed by normal means. Only through the use of an Element only we Dragons possess, known as the Aether, can they be broken. To my knowledge, only Spyro, Cynder, Malefor himself, and perhaps the Guardians of Warfang can use Aether. This was why Malefor feared Spyro and Cynder so much, because their mastery of the Element rivaled his own. If there is indeed a Dark Crystal here, it’s still out there on that mountain, unharmed by your husband’s attempts to break it.”
“And if the Dark Crystal is unbroken...” Cadance whispered.
“Then the entity inside it is still alive as well.”
Cadance recoiled in horror, and continued backing up until her back was pressed against a wall. “He’s here...he’s in my mind! He’s the one giving me these visions of the future! He told Shining as much when they faced each other.”
“If he was here, he won’t be for long,” Blackout vowed, stepping closer to her. “He knows now that I am watching over the dreams of those living on this world, and that...scares him.” He grinned, revealing sharp fangs.
“How can you say that?” Cadance asked him.
“Because, Your Highness, when I stared into the eyes of evil itself, it was evil that was afraid that day. I gave Malefor a reason to detest Dreamwalkers forever, and he has not forgotten me or what I did to him.” He hid his fangs once more, and bowed before her. “Your aunt was right, Princess Cadance. Malefor will no longer trouble you on this night nor any other night, now that he knows I will be watching over you. On my honor as a Ranger and my word as a Dragon, I swear to you that you are safe. You will no longer see visions of a ruined future, only dreams of your precious daughter growing up and bringing you joy.”
The city around her seemed to fade, and Cadance’s mouth opened to speak, but no words emerged. Instead, the world around her seemed to stretch and flash, and the last thing she saw before darkness overtook her was Blackout giving her a knowing smile.
(The Crystal Palace, royal chambers)
One eye cracked open, and then the other. Darkness met her gaze, and she groaned as she turned over to her other side, spying Shining’s silhouette standing mid-step in the middle of the room, having a guilty look on his face.
“Cady?” he whispered.
Cadance let out an involuntary yawn and stared at him. “Shining, what is it?”
Shining walked over to her and sat at the edge of the bed, kissing her on the forehead. “I’m sorry to wake you, but Sunburst needs you to come down and do another power transfer to the Heart. It’ll just take a moment, and then you can go back to sleep.”
“Mmm...” Cadance sat up slightly and yawned again, looking bedraggled and more exhausted than ever.
It was a sight that nearly made Shining Armor’s heart break. He put a hoof on her side and asked, “Cady, are you alright? You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. He’ll understand.”
“No...no, I’ll be there,” Cadance murmured, sitting up further and stretching out her wings. “Just give me a minute...”
Shining nodded and slipped off the bed. “Of course.”
As Shining trotted over to the cradle in the corner of the room to check on Flurry Heart, Cadance rolled herself out of the bed and crept up to the dresser, staring at herself in the mirror like a zombie. She then placed her forelegs atop the dresser to steady herself and looked down, seeing the small photo of her, Shining, and Flurry at the hospital just after Flurry had been born. Both parents looked tired, but more happy than they had ever been before. Poor Shining looked like Twilight during that whole Smartypants doll incident.
Her forelegs began to tremble as her eyes fell upon Flurry Heart in the photo --- sweet, innocent, beautiful Flurry Heart. She was the light of her life and the fire in her heart. If anything were to happen to her, she...
“Cady?”
Shining’s voice was the last straw, and Cadance collapsed at the dresser, weeping into her hooves as her entire body quaked. Her husband was at her side in an instant, holding her in his forelegs and nuzzling the top of her head.
Powerful Alicorn or not, she needed him now more than ever.
“Shining,” she whispered past her sobs. “It’s over...the nightmares are over...”
“Shhhh, Cady. Don’t talk right now, just let it out.”
“N-No, I need...to say this.” She looked up at him. “Luna and a Dragon, they came to me tonight. Together they ended my nightmares for good.”
“That...that’s great, Cady!” Shining exclaimed softly, kissing her forehead. “I’m happy for you.”
But Cadance wasn’t finished. “It was the same Dragon,” she continued. “The same black Dragon from the first vision. His name is Blackout, and...he’s a Dreamwalker, just like Aunt Luna.”
“Remind me to throw him a parade if he ever visits the Empire.”
Cadance cracked a smile. “I will.” Then her smile disappeared and her eyes fell. “There’s something else...something he told me.”
“What is it?”
“Do you remember that crystal entity? The one that you said you, Sunburst, and Thorax encountered at Crop Duster’s plantation?”
Shining grimaced. He had thought that they were finished with that part of their lives already. “Yes, I don’t think I’ll ever forget him. What about it?”
“He’s not dead.”
He raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“Blackout, the Dragon...he said that what you encountered was a Dark Crystal, a powerful magical artifact from his world. It can only be destroyed by a specific form of magic only a few Dragons from his world possess. You only slowed him down, but the entity inside the Dark Crystal is still alive.”
Shining’s eyes narrowed. “And you’re sure you can trust this ‘Blackout’?”
“He saved me, Shining,” Cadance answered, wiping away her tears and standing up straighter. “He and Luna worked together to vanquish my nightmares, and...Luna trusted me to his care after she left my dream. Blackout told me that he knew who the entity was: Malefor, a dangerous monster that threatened his world. He was supposedly destroyed, but it looks like a part of him survived somehow and landed here.”
Shining’s face went pale, and his pupils shrunk. “Cadance...” he murmured. “Do you realize what you’re saying? That...that thing killed an entire platoon of well-trained Praetorians, and toyed with the rest of us. And he did that all within a few hours of him being here, on top of severely weakening the Empire’s defenses for months! If he’s still out there, and has had plenty of time to grow and regenerate his power, then we’re all in grave danger.”
“Then, Prince Shining Armor,” Cadance declared, eyeing him with a smirk, the last of her tears having been wiped away. “While I help Sunburst with the Heart, I think it’s time you start doing what you do best: protecting our family, our friends, and the Empire.”
Shining matched her smirk with one of his own, and he leaned forward and pecked her on the lips. “Let it never be said that you don’t know how to defend your little Ponies,” he said. “Are you sure you’ll be alright?”
“I think, for the first time in a long time, I’ve never felt better.”
He nodded. “Alright then.” Turning away from her, he trotted over to the door and cracked it open, revealing a burly Praetorian Pegasus standing guard outside. Taking care not to wake Flurry, he whispered, “Sergeant Lens Flare, rouse Captain Sentry and tell him to meet me in the war room. Tell him that his orders have changed, and that it’s not just Changelings we have to worry about now.”
“What else is there to worry about, Your Highness?” the sergeant asked, already taking to the air.
Shining paused, and then answered, “A monster.”
(Warfang Temple, Blackout’s quarters)
Like two white stars in the depths of space, Blackout’s eyes shot open and shone out in the darkness of the room. A gentle breeze swept past him as he lay curled up on the cushioned bed, the curtains blowing inwards and forming waving shadows cast by the moonlight against the walls. Glancing down, he saw Spotlight lying down next to him, her tail wrapped around his and one of her wings draped over him like a blanket. Her eyes were closed, and her chest rose and fell with steady, slow breaths.
He looked back at their intertwined tails and grimaced, wondering how he was going to escape her embrace, only for the Light Dragoness to roll over in her sleep and stretch like a cat, clawing at the air and unwrapping herself from Blackout’s body. With a deep sigh, she returned to her sleeping, and Blackout let out a breath he had been holding.
Leaning forward, he gently kissed the top of her head, making her smile in her sleep. He couldn’t help himself; she was just too adorable for the world around her.
Once he was sure she wasn’t stirring anymore, he rose up from the bed and stretched out his wings and neck to get the kinks out, and then stepped out onto the balcony, feeling the cool midnight breeze against his ebony scales. He rose up to his hind legs and place his claws on the railing, looking out over the city far below. Only a few lights were still flickering in the windows of some of the buildings, as most of Warfang had decided to call it a day early after the abysmal first contact with the Frontier Colonies only hours before.
As his eyes drifted over the city, he found them slowly being drawn to the north, where he knew a certain pink Alicorn lay in her bed, recovering from her visions. His lips curled into a dark frown as his thoughts returned to that fateful meeting between them, and the revelations that it had resulted in. If what she said was true, and if there really was a Dark Crystal in that far-off region of ice and snow, then Warfang was in serious trouble. He had to warn someone.
The sounds of feminine laughter met his ears, and he glanced down to the right of the balcony where the Temple’s guest chambers lay. A light shone out from Princess Celestia’s room, and from the sounds of it, she was entertaining a guest. Blackout was not one to eavesdrop, but for once, curiosity overcame him, and he leaned in closer to listen in.
“...No wonder Spyro and Cynder like her so much, she’s reminding me of them the more I hear about her.”
Blackout raised an eyebrow; that was Terrador’s voice.
“Spyro and Cynder...are they yours? You talk about them in high regard, and with great pride.”
The Shadow Dragon smirked as he heard Terrador cough and hastily reply to the contrary. It seemed that the two leaders were getting along quite marvellously, and Blackout was satisfied that whatever they were talking about, it was nothing he needed to hear. He decided then that ruining a quiet, heartfelt moment with dark news would be in poor taste, especially after such an already disastrous day. He would let the Guardians and the remainder of his team rest before giving them the bad news in the morning.
Turning away from the balcony, he walked back into his chambers and cast a quick glance towards Spotlight, who was now sucking on the corner of one of the pillows like it was one of the Moles’ lollipops.
With a roll of his eyes, Blackout moved to join her on the bed once more, only to pause mid-step and tense up. Something was off; he couldn’t see them, but he could feel the pair of eyes watching him. Mentally preparing himself for an attack, he grounded his claws to the floor and whirled around, only to freeze when he saw whose face the eyes belonged to.
“Greetings, Blackout. I hope you don’t mind me intruding on your evening, but I needed to speak to you face-to-face, as it were.”
Blackout relaxed and sat down on the floor. “Princess Luna? You’re far away from home.”
The Princess of the Night chuckled and emerged from the shadows. “I am, in fact, still safely in my chambers in Canterlot. I am speaking to you through an astral projection of myself. Even Alicorns cannot teleport so far as to cross an ocean.”
“Fascinating,” Blackout whispered, glancing Spotlight’s way to make sure she hadn’t woken up. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Well, first of all, I would like to apologize for abandoning you and my niece in the dream,” Luna replied. “One of my Lunar Guards came to me, bearing an urgent message from my sister. I’m now fully aware of the situation at Warfang, and the unfortunate intervention by the Frontier Colonies...as well as other things.”
“It’s a poor situation to be caught up in,” Blackout admitted.
“Quite so, my friend. But rest assured, we in Equestria are preparing countermeasures of our own should it come to that. The Frontier Colonies may be aggressive enough to pick a fight with the Dragons, but even they wouldn’t be mad enough to provoke the Diarchy and the Royal Equestrian Legion. It is a fight they would never win.”
“That is very generous of you, Princess.”
Luna dipped her head, her long, flowing mane bouncing along with the motion. “It is the least I could do for a potential ally. However, I did not come just to tell you of our backup plans. I came to ask you about--”
“Blackout...?” a groggy voice called out from the bed. “Why is there a pretty blue mare in our room?”
Blackout shook his head and looked back at his mate with a smirk. “Sorry Spotty, didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Don’t mention it...three hours of sleep is enough for a week for me anyway,” Spotlight quipped as she stretched herself out and yawned.
Luna smiled. “And who is this, Blackout?”
Blackout helped Spotlight off the bed and wrapped a forearm around her. “Princess Luna, allow me to introduce Spotlight, my lieutenant in the Rangers, my mate, and the most beautiful Dragoness in two worlds.”
Blushing at the compliments, Spotlight let out a quiet gasp. “Another Princess?”
“’Tis a pleasure to meet you, Spotlight,” Luna said, bowing her head.
“O-Oh, that’s okay,” Spotlight replied, bowing low in return. “Wow, you’re just like Blackout, huh? Tall, dark, and mysterious.”
Blackout huffed. “I’m not that mysterious.”
“Nor that tall,” Luna added, causing Spotlight to giggle and nod.
“Ugh, already the ganging up begins,” Blackout moaned, rubbing his forehead with a claw. “Please continue, Princess.”
“Right, of course. Ahem, as I was saying, I wanted to ask you about what my niece had told you in her dream that made you so concerned?”
Spotlight raised an eyebrow. “You met Blackout in a dream?”
“He is not the only Dreamwalker in this world,” Luna replied. “I happen to be the guardian of dreams on Equus, and for a while I was the only one, until ‘Tall, Dark, and Mysterious’ over here decided to make his grand entrance by literally burning away an entire dreamscape full of nightmarish hordes.” She smirked and pointed at him with a wing. “He even made a whole big speech and everything. Rather melodramatic, I’d say, but tasteful.”
“Heheh, sounds like him alright,” Spotlight laughed, lightly punching Blackout in the shoulder.
Blackout huffed again but didn’t refute the claim. Instead, he scratched his chin and answered, “You recall that your niece described to me a dark purple crystal, correct?”
“Yes. I believe you called it a ‘Dark Crystal’?”
“That is correct,” Blackout said with a nod. “Such abominations of nature were created by a monster known as Malefor, a villain that sought to destroy our world, and nearly succeeded had it not been for the efforts of Spyro and Cynder, two heroes of the Dragon race.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second,” Spotlight interrupted, holding up a claw. “Are you two saying that there’s a Dark Crystal somewhere on this planet?”
“Well, we know the general area of where it is, at least,” Blackout replied. “After Luna had left her dream, her niece, Princess Cadance, told me that her husband had encountered a Dark Crystal, as well as a malevolent entity residing within it. He had thrown it high up in the mountains of the Frozen North, thinking that it was enough to destroy it, but that is false. The Dark Crystal, and the entity within, still lives, biding its time to strike once more.”
“I believe I heard something about this,” Luna remarked. “There was a report that passed my sister’s desk not long ago about an...incident that happened just before the Crystal Empire was attacked by Changelings. It’s a long story, but suffice it to say that we retook the Empire and that all is well once more, but the aftermath of the incident with this ‘Dark Crystal’ still lingers. The main source of the Crystal Empire’s power and defense, the Crystal Heart, is now severely weakened thanks to the entity in the Dark Crystal. It was siphoning energy from the Heart, using it to power itself and twist the minds of the Ponies it had enthralled, turning them into mindless creatures of crystal. In the end, it was Prince Shining Armor who had destroyed the Dark Crystal, or so he had thought.”
“Unfortunately, due to the nature of their creation, there is only one way to destroy a Dark Crystal,” said Blackout. “They were created using a corrupted form of the Element of Aether, and must be destroyed by the purer form of Aether. Very few Dragons possess the ability to harness Aether, which made dealing with Dark Crystals supremely difficult during the war.”
Spotlight, who had fallen quiet during Luna’s explanation, suddenly lit up with a bright smile. “Hey, actually, there’s one other way to break them down.” She looked up at Blackout, meeting his quizzical gaze with one of giddiness. “My Element: Light. Its power can break the thaumatic bonds that hold Dark Crystals together.”
Blackout stared at her for several long moments, his mouth slowly dropping. Luna raised an eyebrow. “Light?” she asked.
“Yup!” Spotlight exclaimed with a grin, lifting up a claw. A ball of white light formed within it, and she tossed into the air and bounced it on her head a few times like a balloon, even rolling it on her shoulders and across the ridges of her wings. “Pure as starlight and as warm as summer, and Dark Crystals hate it like it was a plague. Undead don’t like it much either.” She tossed the ball into the air once more and raised herself onto her hind legs, snapping her jaws shut around it and licking her lips. “Also tastes like mangoes!”
Luna let out an amused chuckle. “You remind me of my sister when she first learned how to move the sun. The joy in her eyes and the pranks she pulled on mother and father...ahhhh, memories...” Spotlight giggled in response.
Blackout, however, remained stunned by her revelation. “So...that’s why he wanted you dead...” he whispered under his breath. Neither of them heard his words.
Clearing her throat, Luna raised a hoof. “Well, anyway, this is all well and good, but what does it prove? If there’s just one Dark Crystal in this world, and if we have a means to destroy it now, why not just do so?”
Snapping out of his reverie, Blackout turned his gaze back to the Alicorn. “It’s not that simple, Princess. You see, based on the descriptions your niece gave to me, I have reason to believe that a part of Malefor’s soul is inhabiting that Dark Crystal, which makes dealing with it even more dangerous than that of a normal Dark Crystal. His power is great, and he is an intelligent foe. He will know how to defend against our attacks.”
“But all this is conjecture,” Luna insisted. “All we have is hearsay about who might reside within that crystal. I’ll admit, it’s very possible that it is this ‘Malefor’ person, but we have no proof of that.”
“You’re right,” Blackout admitted. “But we shouldn’t take that chance. Tomorrow I will be telling Spyro, Cynder, and the Guardians about what I have learned. We will decide what to do then.”
“Aw, you don’t have to worry about that, they’ll back you,” Spotlight declared, standing up straighter. “There’s a Dark Crystal out there, and it’s already hurt people. We need to destroy it, and we need to make sure that Malefor’s works can’t hurt anyone else.”
Blackout nodded. “I hope the Guardians will see it your way, because I certainly do, and I believe Spyro and Cynder will as well.”
Seeing that both Dragons were in accord and feeling satisfied with the results of their discussion, Luna gave them both a warm smile. “Playful, yet possessing good sense and courage. Yes, you definitely remind me of Celestia, and perhaps a certain party planner from Ponyville.” She then turned her gaze to Blackout. “And you...you remind me of myself: observant and cautious, yet having a strong heart and mind. I could use someone like you on my Lunar Guard. Your Dreamwalking gift would be of great use in guarding the dreams of my little Ponies.”
The Shadow Dragon shrugged. “I appreciate the offer, but in my time as a Dreamwalker, I have learned one very important fact: there are innocents on both sides of a border. I have sworn to protect all life from the horrors of the mind, whether they be friend or foe, not just one nation. I am right where I need to be.”
“Forever in my line of sight, so that he doesn’t do something stupid,” Spotlight quipped, nuzzling his neck even as he grunted in annoyance.
Luna nodded in understanding, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “Fair enough. In that case, I look forward to working with you in other ways, fellow Dreamwalker. Sleep well tonight, you two.”
Blackout dipped his head towards her. “And I you, Princess Luna. May the night bless you, and the stars guide you.”
Luna’s form shimmered and soon vanished, melting into the shadows behind her on the wall. For a brief moment, Blackout swore he saw the silhouette of a mare winking at both Dragons from the wall, before it too was gone.
Spotlight let out a small gasp as she stared at where Luna once stood. “She wasn’t real? And was that shadowmancy?! Ancestors, Blackout, she really is just like you!”
Blackout smiled and wrapped a wing around her and pulling her back to their bed. “Yes, it appears she is.”
It seemed that every day they spent on Equus, more and more parallels were discovered --- Cheetahs and Abyssinians, magic and Elements, and now Light and Shadow. It was truly an amazing thing to behold.
As the two Dragons curled back into bed and returned to their slumber, however, Blackout found himself wondering what more parallels their worlds had, and hoping beyond hope that some things would never be the same between them.
His eyes closed, and his mind returned to his eternal stewardship of the Dream Realm. But his thoughts remained on Cadance’s words, and on the future that was to come. An unease settled over him once more, and as he entered a young foal’s mind to banish a minor nightmare, all he could think about was the vision that Cadance had seen, and the ruined city on the mountain.
Somehow, he doubted that his hopes would come true.