The three ponies heard nothing but the sound of their hooves clopping against the smoothed pavement of Canterlot. It had been a long journey so far; walking to the city rather than taking the train was tiring, but the train hadn’t been in service in years now – the tracks littered with vines and overgrowth would take weeks to repair. But it seemed rewarding enough at this point, as they’d found Canterlot to be so empty that they could sleep in an abandoned shop to pass the time and recharge. By this point, however, they had rested up and continued their journey.
Finally, they began to approach the entrance of the Crystal Empire. The three of them sped up at the sight and eventually reached the castle, which looked to be crumbling from wear and lack of upkeep, with heavy hearts and lumps in their throats. “Should we go inside?” Sapphire finally broke the silence, asking what they were all thinking.
“I think there might be something inside that could help us,” Sonar stated confidently, and his motivation pushed all of them to keep moving.
Slowly, they started up the worn stairs, and Fire Bolt felt a heavy sadness that cut deeper than the numb facade she had put on for so long. Akin to depression, the emotion felt so much more oppressive in a place that was meant to be powered by the joy of many ponies. Now, she stood almost alone, immensely sad and missing the purpose that used to drive her. It made her sick.
Bolt eventually pushed open the two front doors, which creaked in pain with each inch. The hallway that was exposed looked absolutely decrepit, moonlight shining in from the broken walls and shattered stained glass. Cautiously, the three of them continued, Fire Bolt flying a foot or two above the ground in caution.
Everything in the hallway had a long shadow cast upon the stone wall behind it, making it difficult to actually pinpoint the exact source of the moonlight gleaming upon it.
At the end of the hallway, a vast portrait decorated the walls and ceiling, clearly having been painted by somepony following the fall of the Crystal Empire. The paint portrayed a pony with two horns sprouting from the sides of his head like an antelope’s, his ribs exposed and dark eyes peering upon the lonesome three. It almost seemed like his shadowed eyes followed their movements in the most sinister fashion, filling each of their souls with a creeping sense of dread.
When the Crystal Empire fell, it was a loss of hope for many across Equestria. The promises of protection from Cadance and Shining Armor through the power of both their own love as well as the feelings of joy from the Crystal Ponies themselves quickly faltered, as the Nightfall somehow seemed to penetrate the perfectly strong and unfaltering force field that protected the Crystal Empire. It confused everypony involved, as neither Cadance nor Shining Armor could sense the permeation of the Nightfall past their field. The panic caused a sense of instability amongst the Crystal Ponies and therefore the Crystal Heart, which eventually shattered in a fiery explosion of death and terror. However, no bodies had been recovered, as everypony seemed to just vanish, including the Princess and her guarding husband.
Regardless of their knowledge of this tragedy, the three of them pushed forward past the decorated doors into the heart of the castle, where the Crystal Heart was shattered into fragments scattered across the floor.
It was silent for a long moment. The heavy emotions of devastation crashed over everyone at the sight; it felt almost like looking at a mass grave – a mass grave that had never once been visited nor respected.
Suddenly, Sapphire and Sonar flew into action, gathering the pieces that they could find and eventually pushing them into a shape that looked almost proper – a single shard simply could not be located, but Sonar used his magic to fuse the puzzle pieces into a tattered remnant of the Crystal Heart anyways. The sound of a thumping heartbeat filled the room as the Heart pulsed with light, and a wave of relief and joy washed over the three ponies. “You feel that?” Fire Bolt inquired. “The Crystal Heart feels restored. It’s like… It’s like before Cadance left.”
The sentiment plunged the room into silence, the heartbeat fading into nothingness as Sapphire gulped loudly, generating the feeling that something was now very wrong. “It… I mean, it was like that. I think we awoke the Crystal Ponies again. You hear that? Maybe they can help us.”
Fire Bolt suddenly did notice the sound; she couldn’t decipher words but the murmurs of conversation sprung from beyond the walls of the castle amongst the clopping of many hooves. At this realization, all of them raced out of the room, down the hall, and back out the doors with a renewed passion, tears springing into Fire Bolt’s eyes with the realization that they could be a step closer to normal. What met them on the other side of those creaky doors, however, was a picture of terror.
The Crystal Ponies arose, alright, but it seemed they weren’t meant to be. Reanimated corpses of dozens of ponies littered the streets, moaning in what sounded like a pained pull from the throat, sparkling with a dark magic that didn’t look like it was supposed to be attached to such death.
A stallion mosied by the stairs of the castle, both eyes seeming to have been chewed out by mites, with a horrid limp and a groan that bounced around Fire Bolt’s head repeatedly. Burn wounds littered his body, the flesh and fur barely hanging onto the bone. “Oh, dear Celestia…” Sonar murmured. “We need to break that heart again.” Sapphire stifled a gag. The stench that had filled the streets was crushing; a foul scent of agony and death. The scent’s overpowering nature brought tears to all of their eyes, and Fire Bolt snapped out of her trance to run back inside to safety. Sonar slammed the doors shut behind the three of them, as although none of the reanimated ponies seemed to pose a threat so far, that could change at any moment – this was entirely uncharted territory.
After the doors slammed shut behind them, the heavy silence of the castle's interior enveloped the three of them once again, broken by the heavy panting of each petrified pony. The echoes of the reanimated ponies' moans were muffled through the strong walls of the castle, but the memory of the horrifying scene outside lingered in their minds.
Sonar leaned against the door heavily, his breaths coming in quick, shallow gasps. "That was... I've never seen anything like that," he whispered, his voice tremulous. “I can’t even fucking see, and I’ve never seen anything like that.”
Fire Bolt felt herself crack a smile, and Sapphire burst out into adrenaline-fueled laughter. “What was it like for you? You know, sensing them?” Bolt asked over the fading remnants of Sapphire’s giggles, leaning back on the doors as well.
Sonar’s eyebrows furrowed, a twitching smile still tugging at his lips as he considered how to articulate the experience. “It’s like…” He licked his lips, taking a breath. “It’s like finding somepony where they’re not supposed to be. I don’t think I can describe what I was picking up from them, but there’s certainly a lot of ‘em.”
“You think this has anything to do with that, uhh… that missing piece? Like, maybe they did die in the explosion, but maybe they’d be able to like, rest peacefully or whatever with the Crystal Heart intact,” Sapphire suggested, stretching their legs and wings.
Sonar Moonshadow nodded, still clearly deep in thought. “That’s got to be part of it… It’s worth a shot. We’ve got to find that last piece of the Crystal Heart.”