//------------------------------// // The Crystal Empire - Part 1 // Story: The Story of a Royal Guard: A Change of Seasons [OUTDATED] // by Himntor //------------------------------// Where do I begin? I suppose I should begin with introducing myself. I'm Swordulan Thunder Shield, but prefer to be called Sword Shield as I always thought 'Swordulan' sounded ridiculous. I am a unicorn pony born of Canterlot and a Lieutenant in the Royal Guard under the command of Captain Shining Armor. I have a light brown coat, orange and yellow mane and tail and light blue eyes. My cutie mark is a sword crossing down a shield with six stars surrounding it. If you haven't yet, I highly suggest reading my first story, as you might be confused for where we are at this point, but I'll give you some details. The story began with me as a young colt, I had always wanted to become a powerful magician and studied day and night learning about magic and trying new spells. My father had other plans, however. His father before him, or my grandfather, was a grand hero in the Royal Guard, and the previous Captain. Because of a leg injury my father had gotten in his younger days he was not able to join the Royal Guard himself, and so he looked down to me to live up to my grandfather, as he could not, and signed me up for training. Eventually I finished training, while it was a struggle I still made it through. Afterwards I was signed up for the School for Magically Gifted Unicorns and began training in the use of magic in a more professional manner. The years went by, and I eventually wound up in the Royal Guard. First order of business; create my own weapon. I managed to build a sword, as sword fighting using magic techniques was my special talent. What I did not know about my newly created weapon, was that it was more powerful than I had anticipated. I had enchanted my sword using three crystals, and because of that I quickly learned that I could manipulate the sword with magic very easily, almost easier than it is for a normal unicorn to use levitation magic. I was able to transform it into many shapes and sizes, and could fly on top of it like a surfboard, along with many other tricks. During my time in the Royal Guard I had many duties. For the most part, I guarded a wall, but I also had acted as a personal guard for Princess Cadance for a while, and became a good friend of hers. I was taken off from being her personal guard by Captain Shining Armor to train two new recruits, and every now and then working with the Captain in some small matters. After reviewing my progress with the Royal Guard Shining Armor promoted me to Lieutenant, mostly to help him coordinate the Royal Guard better. I also encountered many enemies in my service, including Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis's changelings and also a pair of Hydras. That should be all you need to know up to this point. Now let's go to where we left off from the previous story. We had just left Canterlot, myself, Shining Armor and Cadance, the two of them being newly weds. I was sitting in the driver seat of the carriage, using my sword to pull it with magic. It was quite an eventful wedding, all of Canterlot had shown up to see Cadance and Shining Armor. There had also been earlier trouble with the changeling queen, Chrysalis, but she was long gone by now, at least that's what I had been told. I wasn't present when she was defeated. It was shortly after dark, the crickets had just begun chirping. "Quite the day it's been, hasn't it?" I said and looked back through the window towards Shining Armor and Cadance. "It sure was. The best wedding ever," replied Cadance and gave Shining Armor a small kiss. "Well, I don't know about that, it stressed me out almost more than I can handle, but I'm glad it turned out okay," I said, trying my best not to dampen the mood. I looked up at the stars and gave a sigh. The night time sky always gave me a sense of security, and yet also a sense of vulnerability. I could be hidden and safe under it, or I could be susceptible to being ambushed. My training as a Royal Guard has improved my eyesight (Not to mention the amount of carrots I ate), and so I highly doubt I would miss seeing an ambush. Even if I did, what foolish monsters or ponies would attack a wedding carriage holding two of the most powerful ponies in Equestria? Let alone a Princess. And then there's also me, of course. Agh, what am I thinking. No ambushes. No problems. I cleared the thoughts out of my head and continued to focus on pulling the carriage with my magic. My mind kept being sidetracked to earlier events however. "I'm sorry I couldn't have prevented your imprisonment, Cadance, I wish I could have done something more to help," I called back to Cadance while thinking about what happened just a few short hours ago. I knew I could do better then this, I knew I could have saved somepony, done something to help, but in the end I always came too late. "It's alright Sword Shield. Everything turned out perfectly fine," said Cadance. "She's right, you have no reason to blame what happened on yourself," Shining Armor added. I thought for a moment about Shining Armor's statement. "No, your wrong. I have plenty reason to blame it on myself, I even denied Celestia to blame in on herself. Like I've said before, it's my duty as a Royal Guard to protect Equestria and the Princesses. If I can't even do that, then what good am I? I'm glad everything in the end turned out alright, but the fact that I let it happen still upsets me," I replied sternly. There was enough guilt in me, and I didn't want Cadance and Shining Armor trying to put it somewhere where it didn't belong. But I still did not want Shining Armor and Cadance feeling like I was insulting them. "I'm sorry... I don't want to cause any further grief for you two. I'm just having a bit of a rough time lately, I hope you understand," I said apologetically. "What's the matter, Sword Shield?" asked Cadance. It was expected, she was always one to try and make things better. "Nothing, I just don't like being unable to do my job. There really isn't much more than that," I responded, trying to stray away from the subject. "Alright, we understand," said Cadance. I went back to focusing on driving and tried to set my mind on other things. "So what do you two think you will do for your honeymoon?" I asked trying to lighten the air. "I don't know, we haven't really had time to think about that," answered Shining Armor. "Well for your sake and mine, don't do hang-gliding. I really don't want to have to save you if you fall again," I joked. "Don't worry, hang-gliding isn't on the list. I wasn't meant to fly through the air, like you do," reassured Shining Armor. I wasn't sure what Shining Armor had against flying, but he definitely had no problem falling. "Well good, and for your information, if I tried to fly my sword like a hang-glider I would plummet to the ground. The only thing that keeps it in the air is my magic. It's still metal, so trying to 'glide' doesn't necessarily work out," I remarked. Shining Armor and Cadance chuckled at my statement. "Even if we did go hang-gliding, I can still fly and if Shining Armor fell I would catch him," added Cadance. "Thanks dear, that's exactly what I wanted to hear," replied Shining Armor sarcastically. The carriage ride from then on was rather quiet. Shining Armor and Cadance continued to converse about future plans while I continued to pull the carriage with my sword. --- The next few weeks were uneventful. Shining Armor and Cadance had finished their honeymoon, though I hadn't heard much about it. I was at my new post in the Canterlot castle's throne room. Celestia was doing some paperwork when suddenly the door burst open and Swifty, one of the recruits I trained a few years back, rushed in. "News from northern Equestria! Uh, Your Highness," said Swifty to Celestia. Northern Equestria? I hadn't ever been there before. I wondered what sort of news it was. "Yes?" asked Celestia. "I am simply to tell you that... IT, has returned," said Swifty gravely. Celestia gasped and suddenly seemed very worried. "Find Princess Cadance and Shining Armor!" she demanded to one of the guards next to her. "Yes Your Highness," Swifty and two other guards ran off to find Cadance and Shining Armor. Celestia pulled out a scroll and started writing, "My dearest Twilight, you must come to Canterlot at once..." I wondered what all the fuss was about. It wasn't like the Princess to be so worried about something, but if she was worried, everyone was worried. A few moments later, Cadance and Shining Armor arrived in the room. "Celestia, what's going on?" asked Shining Armor. "I need both of your help. The Crystal Empire has returned." "The Crystal Empire?" asked Cadance. "Yes. My knowledge of the Empire is limited, but a thousand years ago King Sombra, an evil unicorn, took over the Empire. He was ultimately overthrown by me and my sister, banished to shadow in the Arctic north, but I believe he has returned. The Crystal Empire contains a powerful magic, if King Sombra has returned he will seek out to take this power, and Equestria will be in grave danger. I need you both to go immediately and protect the Crystal Empire. Cadance, you will need to cast a shield of love around the Empire to protect it. Do whatever you need to," explained Celestia. This task seemed blown far out of proportion for just sending two ponies. I stepped up next to Shining Armor, "I wish to go as well, I'm sure I can help in some way your highness," I volunteered. "I can vouch for him, Celestia," said Shining Armor in support. "Me too," said Cadance. "Very well, you can go as well. Twilight and her friends will also come later, but I need you three to go ahead and get everything settled in," said Celestia. "No problem, Celestia. We're on our way," said Shining Armor. Cadance, Shining Armor and I immediately headed for the train station. A train had been saved just for us alone. "Sword Shield, would you be able to fly ahead of us to scout out the area around the Crystal Empire?" asked Shining Armor before getting on train. "With how far away it is? No, my magic can't get me long distances when flying. Canterlot to Manehatten is near my maximum distance before my magic gives out and I fall," I answered. "Alright. When we get there Cadance will use her spell, I'll need your help to scout the outside of the Empire for any sign of King Sombra," said Shining Armor. "Roger that Cap'," We boarded the train and were sent off alone. Almost felt like a suicide mission to me, but at least Twilight and her friends were coming later. I entertained myself messing with my sword on the train, playing with its shape changing abilities. I changed the sword's shape to cover my entire body except my eyes and a few air holes to breath, and 'hovered' (Being encased in a metal sword was very immobilizing, so I had to levitate myself) into the car Cadance and Shining Armor were in. "Look, I'm Iron Pony!" I said with a huge grin, although they couldn't see it. The both of them stared at me for a moment and shook their heads. "That doesn't look very safe," said Cadance. "You just gotta ruin the fun," I sighed and took the 'armor' off. I must've looked ridiculous having already been wearing my Royal Guard armor. After a six hour train ride (messed with magic for three hours, bored to death the other three) we finally arrived at the Crystal Empire. We stepped off the train and into the snowy wasteland. Shining Armor had packed some snow gear for himself and Cadance, but I hadn't even thought of that. "Anypony know a heat spell?" I asked, my legs began to shiver. "Don't you know one? You did go to the same Magic School Twilight did, right?" asked Shining Armor. I rolled my eyes, "Yes, I did, but my heat spell wasn't all that great." "Can't you use your sword? You always said that using magic on your sword was a lot easier," suggested Cadance. An interesting theory. I nodded and brought out my sword to test her suggestion. I touched my horn onto the blade and cast the spell, making the sword hotter and hotter until it was able to singe my hoof to the touch. It produced enough heat around us all to keep warm, so I shaped it into a flat wall and held it above our heads. "That should keep us warm and the snow out of our face," I said. "Good, let's go before the blizzard gets worse," said Shining Armor. He led the way into the Crystal Empire. It seemed very grey and brown as we entered, none of the 'crystals' seemed to shine or sparkle, and the most strange of all is that there was no snow in the Empire, it was all on the outside as if there was some sort of magic keeping the entire city warm. "The place seems deserted," I said. There were no ponies to be seen for miles, just houses. I wondered if the place really was deserted, it has been gone for over a thousand years after all, did the populace die off? Just as I thought that, a pair of eyes peeked out of a window then immediately hid again. So this place isn't empty after all. What kind of powerful magic can make an entire Empire disappear for a thousand years? "This place gives me the creeps," I remarked. "I agree, I don't like it here. Cadance, can you do your spell yet?" asked Shining Armor. "We need to get in the middle of the city for me to get the whole Empire, otherwise some of it might get cut off. The castle is right in the center, let's hurry up," answered Cadance. The three of us picked up the pace and headed straight for the Crystal Castle, it looked like one big tall pointy tower with a large courtyard at the bottom. Not as fancy as anything Canterlot had, but it was definitely convenient. We made it to the base of the castle and headed inside and up the spiraling staircase. We got to a balcony overlooking the entire Empire, and Cadance cast her spell. A bright light blue shield encompassed the city, and once it finished spreading the entire town seemed to come to life. The crystals began to sparkle in a beautiful blue hue, all the grey and brown seemed to vanish, and green, purple, yellow and blue soon became the dominant colors. "Wow," said Shining Armor. I nodded in agreement, "I can see why they call it the Crystal Empire now." The sun was going down quickly, and so we spent the evening exploring the castle and Shining Armor had me scout out the town on my sword for any Crystal Ponies, but I found none. After the sun had gone down we found a pair of empty rooms in the castle to stay in. "I can't go to bed," said Cadance. Shining Armor and I looked at her curiously. "Why not?" asked Shining Armor. "I have to stay up to keep the spell going, if I go to sleep I might end up turning it off, we can't let that happen." explained Cadance. Shining Armor nodded in understanding, "I'll stay up with you." "Me too," I added. "No, you both need your rest, I'll be fine," insisted Cadance. "You'll be lonely. Me and Sword Shield can take shifts staying up, I'll take the first," said Shining Armor. He walked over to Cadance and put a comforting hoof around her neck, then looked back at me, "You get some rest. I'll wake you when I'm ready." I gave a salute, "Goodnight Captain, Cadance." "Goodnight," they both replied. I walked into one of the castle's bedrooms and sat down on the large princess sized bed. How amazingly soft this is! I felt around the blankets and pillows wondering whatever I had been missing out on. I needed to get me one of these beds for my house back in Ponyville. I tucked myself under the blankets and turned off the lights using my magic and quickly fell into dream land, but just as quickly fell out, waking up with a jolt. I sat up in bed, my whole body was sweating. Nightmares. Horrible nightmares. But I don't remember them, I don't remember one single fact about them, but I remember having them. Shining Armor opened the door and the light from beyond it lit up the room. "You're awake? I wasn't expecting that. Anyway, I'm done staying up, you can come talk to Cadance until morning," said Shining Armor holding his hoof towards the door. I looked at him for a moment and got out of bed, "Shining Armor... there's something wrong." Shining Armor looked at me strangely, "What is it?" "Nightmares... horrible nightmares. I don't remember them, but they were there. I went to sleep so fast, it feels like I've only been asleep for a minute, but judging from you being here it's been much longer," I explained. "It's probably just you, come on out, you'll be fine after a drink of water," suggested Shining Armor. I shook my head, "There's something wrong with this place Shining Armor. Feel free to go to bed, but I'm just gonna say you won't like it. I don't think I can sleep here until this whole problem is solved." Shining Armor sighed, "If you say so. I'm going to try and get some rest anyway, Cadance is waiting for you in the throne room." He left into his own bedroom and went to sleep. I walked into the castle's kitchen for a quick glass of water and then to the throne room where Cadance was waiting. She was sitting on the throne, still keeping her magic going. She looked tired. I tried to put a smile on my face, "Hey Cadance, you doing okay?" Cadance put on her own smile,"Yeah, but I've been better. You?" "There's something wrong with this place, this castle. I can't put my hoof on it, but it's there, even with your magic going," I answered. "I know what you mean, I can feel something wrong too, but I can't find the source. Hopefully when Twilight gets here tomorrow... I mean, today, she can find and fix it," said Cadance. "Agreed, having Twilight would be helpful," I said, trying best to hide the envy in my voice. It was always Twilight and her friends to come and save the day, the first time being the Nightmare Moon incident. I had tried to stop Nightmare Moon myself, but came in only just to see Twilight and her friends use the Elements of Harmony on her and bringing back Celestia. A second time was when Discord attacked. Discord manipulated me and made me quit the Royal Guard on a whim, thankfully Cadance got me back to normal and I was able to get reinstated. Shining Armor had me scout out Ponyville to check on Twilight's progress, only to see her and her friends give up and toss aside the Elements. I told Celestia what happened and she sent her student's reports on the Magic of Friendship back to hopefully jar her memory and finally stop Discord, which she did. I at least played a small part. The third time was the changeling invasion just a few weeks before now, Cadance was somehow impersonated by the Queen of the changelings, Chrysalis. It was Twilight who saw through Chrysalis's impersonation and tried to warn everyone, but no one believed her, except me. I was suspicious the whole time, but never made any accusations. In the end, Twilight rescued Cadance and allowed her and Shining Armor to stop the changeling invasion. Sure it wasn't Twilight who saved everyone that time, but she still played a large role while I stood at the sidelines, unable to do my job as a Royal Guard. I can't but help feel slightly envious of Twilight and her friends. I shuffled my hooves around unable to think of what to say next. Thankfully Cadance broke the silence for me. "Have you been able to learn any new spells with your sword lately?" My ears perked up, I always loved showing off some new tricks, "Well there's a few things. A few days ago I learned a buoyancy spell that works with my sword that lets it float in water. It only last's for a few hours, but I'm able to transform my sword into a boat and use it like that if needed. I'm not sure I'll ever need something like that, but it's good to know I can do that." "Fascinating, are you able to transform your sword into anything you want?" asked Cadance. "Anything I can think of, yeah. If needed I can even turn it into a mini-shelter." I took out my sword and transformed it into a small hut with a door to demonstrate. "That's very useful, I'm sure a lot of unicorns would love to have something like that," said Cadance. I thought for a moment, "Yeah... I'm sure they would, but I'm not sure how they would recreate something like this. I used the crystals in the hilt to enchant it and I learned that it let me do all these crazy things, but some reason I don't think it's supposed to be that simple." "What do you mean?" asked Cadance. "I mean there must have been some outside force of magic at work. Magical items don't just increase your power, not without corrupting the unicorn using said items. I'm not corrupt though, at least as far as I know. I know enchanting an item can decrease the amount of effort it takes to cast spells on, but not in the amount it did with my sword, there would need to be an outside source," I explained. "I've heard that crystals are able to contain lots of power, but not in the way you explain it. You say there's an outside force, can you think of what it might be?" So many wonderful questions. "I can hardly begin to speculate what it might be, except for one detail about when I enchanted the sword, in which a few seconds after I had enchanted it the thing practically burst with energy in a non-volatile explosion. I thought that was natural in the process of enchanting an item, but after doing some research on it I found nothing about bursts of magic or energy. I think something happened to the sword in that moment that's unable to be explained entirely. There aren't many possible explanations, but I'm not smart enough to figure those out. I'd need somepony like Starswirl the Bearded to help me with that." "Maybe Twilight can help you with that, she knows her magic, and is a lot smarter than you'd think," suggested Cadance. "Uh, yeah... Twilight might be able to help," I looked around the room and tried to locate a window, "I wonder what time it is. Be right back, Cadance." I walked out of the throne room and to the castle balcony. It was still dark, but I could see a hint of light in the sky. The sun was rising. I let out a sigh and walked back into the throne room. "The sun's rising. I'm going to wake up Shining Armor, we've got some work to do until Twilight gets here," I said. "Alright, be careful out there," said Cadance. "Hey, you know me, I'm always careful, it's the Captain I'm worried about." I let out a short laugh and walked out of the throne room and towards the room Shining Armor was sleeping in, hoping he wasn't having the same nightmare problems I had. I opened the door to his room and peeked in, "Shining Armor? You awake?" There was no answer. I walked into the room and switched on the light to see Shining Armor tossing and turning in bed, as if he was having a nightmare. "Shining Armor! Wake up!" I rushed to the bedside and tried to shake him awake. "Gah!" Shining Armor sat up and looked at me, but his eyes were wrong, they were all green with a purple smoke coming out of them. "Captain! Snap out of it!" I yelled. Shining Armor shook his head and blinked a few times, his eyes returned back to normal, but he was sweating and shaking. "You... you were right. There is something wrong with this place, but I can't remember," said Shining Armor. He slowly got out of bed. "Are you alright?" Shining Armor rubbed his neck, "I'll be okay. Assuming since you came to wake me up the sun's come up?" I shook my head, "Not yet, it's coming but it's still very dark. I thought we might want to get an early start, and see if there's anything out there." "Then we better get moving. I want to know what exactly we're up against. Fly ahead of me and meet me at the train station," ordered Shining Armor. I gave a salute. "Yes Sir."