“Ugh.” Shade rubbed her eyes, trying to keep herself awake as she sat in a crystal chair. “Gods am I tired.”
“Same here,” Cadence said, notable bags under her eyes as she stared out an open window from the throne. “I hope Shining gets back soon with the girls.”
“Me too. The sooner he gets back, the sooner you can get some rest.” Shade sighed. “Taking things out of a page doesn’t usually make me so fatigued, especially the kind that lasts for days.” Her stomach growled at her and Shade sighed again, standing from her seat. “I’m gonna get a snack, do you want anything, Princess?”
“I’m fine,” Cadence said with a yawn.
Shade nodded and left the room. With a sigh as she closed the door, her eyes gained a transparent orange hue. “I feel sorry for whatever guard I end up getting,” she muttered to herself as she started to wander the halls for a guard. ”I can’t use a crystal pony, I’m pretty sure their positive emotions are what power the Crystal Heart so every one of them counts.”
It didn’t take long to find a guard. Shade gave a quiet chuckle before orange magic covered the guard for a moment. Shade casually approached the guard, who was unresponsive to her presence, before biting his neck. The bite lasted for only a moment. The guard gained a glazed look to his eyes and Shade no longer felt her hunger. She rounded a corner before the orange faded from her eyes.
Having gotten her ‘snack’, Shade started to head back to the throne room. Thunder was heard from outside and Shade saw the blue shield covering the Empire flicker for a moment. “Crab baskets,” she muttered. ”Cadence can’t last much longer. Her magic is better at defending Sombra than Shining Armor, so she’s been holding up the shield almost 24/7 after the first day or two. That fact that Shining can’t help only makes it harder for her to keep this up.”
“-you saw what's out there waiting for that to happen.” Shade entered the throne room in time to hear the end of Shining’s explanation. He was wearing the same captain’s uniform he’s been wearing, but now sported black crystals on his horn.
”He can’t use his magic now and Cadence can't distract herself with getting rid of the crystal.” Shade thought to herself.
“That’s why we’re here.” Twilight stated as Shade moved to the chair she had been using prior.
“Why we’re all here.” Applejack emphasized.
“Well, with Cadence holding up the spell and me keeping an eye out in the arctic, we haven’t been able to get much information from the Crystal Ponies.” Shining said.
“Crystal Ponies?!” Rarity yelled out, obvious excitement in her voice. She cleared her throat, a slight blush forming in her cheeks. “Apologies. Please, continue.”
“We have to hope that one of them knows how to keep Sombra out without Cadence’s magic.” Shining continued.
Shade sighed and tuned out the group, staring out toward the shield and the dark cloud pressing against it. She didn’t even notice that she was nodding off until she fell asleep.
When she awoke again, Shade found that she was alone in the throne room. She stood from her seat and stretched, allowing loud pops to come off of her back. “Sheesh, how long was I out?” She walked to the window and almost gasped at what she saw.
Crystal Ponies were keeping close to the base. Shade could see them socializing and stands that held games and food. “Oh, uh.” She gulped. “We’re close to when the shield falls and Sombra gets in-“ Shade stopped her talking suddenly.
Her eyes gained black irises and she sighed. “Took them long enough to grow paranoid or scared again.” Shade turned to the throne and charged a blast of magic. “Channel negative emotions. Fear’s an easy one to use.” Her black magic gained bubbles of green and purple before she fired the beam of magic to above the throne. A shadow casted over the ground in front of the throne and opened a trapdoor in a flourish of purple and green fire, revealing stairs leading down into darkness.
“I’d best hurry, before Sombra gets in.” She starts to go down the stairs and hears thunder go off, before giving the window a glance. “Shield’s down. All the more reason to hurry.” She continued going down in a rush, careful not to trip and fall down the staircase.
She made it to the bottom of the staircase and looked to the door. Approaching it, she attempted to grab the handle. The door rose from its place and slid along the wall to the other side of the door. Shade sighed. “Right, the door doesn’t open unless you hit it with dark magic.” Channeling more corrupted magic, she launched another beam at the crystal attached to the top of the door. The door slowly opened in response, showing a white light behind it.
“Here we are.” She approached the door and froze. The sclera of her eyes faded from white to green, in some kind of trance as she stared at the empty wall in front of her.
In the confines of a hospital within Canterlot, a unicorn stallion entered a room with a sigh. He had a white coat and black mane and tail, as dark as his pitch black irises. He wore a suit and tie that kept to his monochrome color scheme and on his flank was a cracked heart made of stone for a cutie mark.
The room stank of disinfectant and the room shimmered like it was just cleaned to perfection. The only window was kept closed, allowing only the lights to illuminate the room. Against a wall in the center of the room was a bed with a pony on it. Next to the bed was a heart monitor, showing a steady heartbeat with its slow beeping.
The unicorn approached the bed and took a seat on a chair next to it, looking at the pony occupying it. A pegasus mare with a pale green coat of fur and brown mane and tail. She was a teenager at best and had no cutie mark on her. She was asleep at the moment.
”Likely just gave her her medicine.” The stallion sighed. He gently took one of the teenager’s hooves and held it in his own, which were covered by blue single use gloves. “Any day now,” he whispered, closing his eyes. “Whatever god or spirit that’s out there. Please, allow her to get better. You’re her only hope.”
He stayed silent, just keeping the girl company for a bit. “It’ll be okay, Disgust.” He made a chuckle, empty of any mirth. “Oh how ironic that name is.” He frowned and stood from his seat. “I gotta continue work now. Money doesn’t make itself, and you need as much of it as you can get.” He turned away from the bed and made to leave.
Just as he reached the door, the beep of the heart monitor was much harsher all of a sudden. And it wasn’t a beep. No, it was starting to drone. The stallion froze. ”No…no, no, no, no!” He looked back and saw that a flatline was on the monitor. He charged out of the room. “She’s flatlining, she’s flatlining!” He yelled, terror obvious in his voice. His yelling got the attention of a nearby nurse. “Get Doctor Extreme Operation now!”
“Heart, get a defibrillator!” The nurse yelled to another nurse nearby. “I’ll get the doctor!” They left running to their goals.
The stallion took a seat on a chair outside the patient’s room. He knew he couldn’t help with this. “Keep calm. She’s not going to die, she’s not going to die.” He repeated this mantra to himself, trying to distract himself by saying these words. Nurses and the doctor ran into the patient’s room, but he left them well alone. He trusted them.
”They haven’t failed in helping her yet. Disgust will pull through. She always has before. She’s not going to die.”
“She’s not going to die, she’s not going to die.” The door suddenly shut in front of Shade, snapping out of her trance. She was on the floor with her arms wrapped around her head, staring at the closed door with tears trailing down her cheeks.
“This must be King Sombra’s dark magic. A door to your worst nightmare.” Twilight looked at the door with a frown. She turned to Shade and held out a hoof. “Are you okay?”
Shade scoffed and batted off Twilight’s offered hoof. “Of course it was an illusion. That nightmare’s already real and has run its course.” She stood from her spot on the ground. “Got any bright ideas on how to get through this?” She motioned toward the door. “Just past there should be the Crystal Heart.”
“Really? So I was right!” Twilight nodded. “I’ve got an idea of what can open this.” She charged her magic and a tendril of magic left her horn and channeled into the crystal above the door. With a rainbow-like glow, the door soon opened to reveal a white chamber.
Shade walked through without pause and turned to her left, starting on the spiral staircase. “Come on then. The sooner we get the Heart, the sooner this is dealt with.” She paused, recalling a snippet of information. “Say, Twilight. Do you happen to know any spells to reverse gravity?”
“Yes, why?” Twilight asked, followed by Spike as she came up to Shade.
Shade pointed up. “These stairs are awfully long and, as I said, the sooner we get there the better. The underside of the stairs look smooth and at the right slope for us to slide down, or rather, up.”
“You’re right!” Twilight grabbed Shade’s hoof. “Hold onto me Spike.” Spike grabbed Twilight’s leg and Twilight channeled her magic. The trio floated into the air and flipped upside down. They ‘fell’ and impacted the ground, slipping onto their rears before starting to slide ‘down’ the stairs. “Woohoo!” Twilight cheered.
Shade flinched suddenly as a spark came off of her horn. “Haystacks, Sombra’s magic has gotten into the Empire.”
“What?!” Spike yelled.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. I have distractions set up.” She closed her eyes and channeled some of her magic. “Although, I’ll need to modify the spells a little. We’ll be at the top soon so we won’t need to worry for long.”
In the outskirts of the Crystal Empire, vaguely pony-shaped creatures made of crystal walked out of the walls of crystal houses. They stared at the approaching shadow of magic and jumped into its path. The crystals making up their bodies were quickly becoming corrupted, but the golems held strong and tried their best to absorb as much magic as possible.
“Oh, that’s gonna give me a headache for a while.” Shade groaned. “Crystal golems are very new for me to use.”
“Wait, golems? As in the lost art of magic golems?!” Twilight exclaimed.
“Yes, golems, now stop asking questions. We’re almost there.” Shade looked over the edge and noticed an opening to the roof they were rapidly approaching. “Be ready to undo the gravity spell, Twilight.”
“Got it.” Twilight charged her magic and just as they left the opening, she released the counter spell, returning them to normal gravity. Twilight gasped. “The Crystal Heart!” The blue heart of crystal floated above a disk of dark crystal, peacefully in the open and waiting to be grabbed.
Shade rose from her spot on the floor, looking out to the ground below. “Rats!” Sombra’s corruption made it past her golems, infecting the crystal buildings and quickly heading toward the castle. “Quick, grab it!”
Twilight ran to the Crystal Heart and grabbed it. The disk below her flashed for a moment. “Shit!” Shade cursed, crystals quickly sprouting up from the edges of the disk. “It’s a trap! Quick, throw it!”
Twilight wasted no time doing so, before the crystal completely surrounded her. Shade saw Twilight teleport out of it, but she quickly disappeared in a second flash. “It’s no use Twilight. That trap won’t let you out.” She approached the crystal and crouched as she channeled magic into her horn. “I can take it down, but it’ll be too late by the time I finish.”
“Spike! You need to take the Crystal Heart to Cadence and my brother!”
“But-“
“Just go! There’s no time!” Spike looked between Shade and the Crystal Heart by his feet. He looked back and forth before picking up the Heart.
“You can slide down the side of the castle.” Shade commented. “The stairs will take too long.”
Spike nodded and quickly went to the edge. He found himself able to stand on the edge, so he started to run down the slope of the castle.
Shade paid him no mind, focusing on analyzing the trap and figuring out how to disable it. “I have to admit, this trap is an amazing thing for me to look at. Such complexity.”
“I’m all for analyzing stuff and admiring the knowledge it brings, but can you hurry up?”
“Hush Twilight. I’ll get you out when I get you out. It takes time to disable magical traps I’m not familiar with.” The two fell into silence. Shade was uncertain what Twilight was doing, but she was listening as best she could to what was happening below as she worked on the trap.
Soon, the castle rumbled. Shade’s concentration broke as the shaking quickly increased in intensity before a beam of light came up from the floor below them. Shade gasped and fell to her side, blinded by a sudden, searing pain. The black in her eyes faded to white and the pain faded. She closed her eyes and fell unconscious. ”I can’t stay out, that light might kill us otherwise.”
The trap dissipated into nothing, freeing Twilight. She barely even noticed that she was free with how blinding the light was. When the light faded, she didn’t notice her new crystalline coloring. What she noticed was Shade on the ground, unconscious.
“Shade? Shade?!” Twilight brought an ear to Shade’s chest and sighed in relief when she heard a heartbeat. “I better get her checked on.” She charged her horn and teleported the two down to the throne room.
Shade groaned when they landed. “Gods, don’t do that without a warning.”
“Oh thank Celestia! I thought you got into another coma or something.” Twilight helped Shade stand with an outstretched hoof.
“Hehe, that would be unfortunate.” Shade chuckled, taking the offered hoof and standing. “Hey…why do you look like you’re made of crystal?”
“I’m what?” Twilight looked over herself, finally noticing the change. “Oh! Fascinating. This must be a side effect of the Crystal Heart doing that shockwave of energy.” She looked at Shade. “And you’ve been affected too.”
“I have?” Shade looked over herself, noticing her own crystalline look. “Huh. Not a fan.” She frowned. “Too sparkly. I hope this isn’t permanent.”
“I’m sure it isn’t. Most magical effects are temporary, unless they’re constantly being powered in some cases.” Twilight shrugged. “I’m gonna go make sure everyone’s okay.”
“Have fun with that.” Shade gave a wave as Twilight began the walk to the square. “Hm…Let’s see. The next episode involving the Crystal Empire or the royal couple was…the one where they announce they’re having a baby?” She shook her head. “But that’s after Tirek emerges and is defeated, so maybe that episode is actually next? I dunno if he ever went to the Crystal Empire to steal all of its magic.”
Shade sighed. “Either way, I suppose I should start getting paranoid whenever Twilight becomes an alicorn.” She begins to walk down the halls of the castle. ”I should get some sleep.” She thought to herself with a yawn. ”I haven’t felt this drowsy since I was human, before this whole living as a changeling thing started. At least I’m the only one using the servant’s quarters.”
Shade stopped in front of a door with the word ‘Servants’ carved into the crystal. Inside was a room made of crystal like any other, with an entire wall covered in bunk beds. In the middle of the room was a small wooden table with chairs as well. Shade entered the room and let herself fall onto the nearest bed, barely getting herself under the covers before starting to fall asleep.
“I should really figure out why I keep having these blackouts,” she mumbled to herself as sleep took its hold on her. “It’s starting…to become…annoying.”
“Why didn’t we just fight him?!” A yell resounded the crumbling stone throne room. The red unicorn, Fury was fuming, his glare strong enough to make the sun seem cold in comparison. He and many other ponies were back in the throne room of the Castle of the Two Sisters. “We could’ve taken him! We didn’t need to rely on some stupid crystal that-!”
“Fury.” Fury stopped at his name with a growl. Another unicorn, one made up of monochrome coloring, shook his head from his throne, which had the mark of a cracked stone heart. “We cannot be too careful. While we cannot die, that doesn’t mean all of us are willing to go through the pain of having the host sustain injuries.”
“Father’s not wrong.” The grey, skeletal winged pegasus stated. “Mental pain was enough back when I was alive. Physical pain is no better in comparison.”
“But I wanted to taste his magic!” The orange earth pony colt whined. “He looked like such a good appetizer! Like an exotic dish that’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to try.”
“Gluttony,” a green pegasus said, her face a notably sickly green color. “Please stop talking about eating a pony’s magic. I’m gonna be sick.”
“So?” Fury questioned. “You’re always sick!”
A pegasus mare spoke up. “Now now. Let’s all calm down, okay?” She had a pale coat and a dark pink mane and tail that faded into a much brighter shade. The mark on her throne was a white heart wrapped in a blanket. “We should all have some rest like Shade. I’m sure a nap will be great for you all.”
“Uhuh, sure.” Fury rolled his eyes. “Old hag,” he mumbled.
“Oh? What was that?” The mare was suddenly in front of the red throne Fury sat on, a glint of magic in her eye as she leaned over the seated unicorn. “Could you repeat that?”
“U-Uh, nothing mom!” Fury stuttered, holding his hooves in front of him. “I said absolutely nothing!”
“Pfft, haha!” Another earth pony colt laughed from his purple throne, trying and failing to hold back his amusement. “I keep forgetting that you can actually feel something other than rage, haha!”
“Oh yeah? Let’s see you laughing while I burn you to a crisp!”
“Depression?”
The grey pegasus nodded and one of the bones for his wings snapped into an awkward position before stretching and moving like a snake striking its prey. The limb stabbed into Fury’s arm and the unicorn promptly fell asleep. Returning his limb to its usual position, Depression sighed. “I’m gonna take a nap now. Hopefully it’ll be a dreamless night tonight.” He and his throne vanished, fading from view.
“Sweet dreams.” The pink pegasus gave Fury a kiss on the forehead before walking back to her throne. The other thrones steadily faded away after she took her seat, all of them joining the realm of sleep. She sighed as she closed her eyes. “I wonder what the royal couple’s kid will look like.” She smiled as she too began to fade. “I bet it’ll be as cute as those two are together.”
The throne room was now empty of thrones, all except for two. The one who sat at a golden throne was covered head to toe in glowing chains, obscuring their appearance. But they thrashed and struggled, their movements silent despite all the chains. They refuse to rest like the rest. They must escape. ”Must bring order. Must. Bring. Order.” Above their throne was a balanced scale with cracks of gold littered around it.
The other throne was purple, different from the one the earlier colt sat at and just next to the door. In the seat was someone also covered in chains, these ones seeming to drain the light from the immediate space around them. Their only visible feature was a horn riddled with holes. They did not struggle. Instead, they slept in a much more restless manner, not fading away like the others on the thrones did. Above their throne was no mark. Just a crown similar to a certain Queen’s.