//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Father, the World is Ending 
// by LockandKeyHyena 
//------------------------------//

“Father, the seventh day is nigh and the Demon King’s return is imminent. We must act quickly lest his magic begin to warp the very fabric of our reality, leaving us as nothing more than emotionless husks, bound to serve his evil will for the rest of eternity.”
“That’s lovely sweetie.”
Shining Armor took a sip of his morning coffee and didn’t look up from the newspaper.
“I will return shortly, the artefact has gone missing- I suspect interference from agents of the Demon King. Stay vigilant and don’t die.” Almost as an afterthought, she tacked on a, “Love you dad.” Before promptly leaving the kitchen.

Flurry Heart was just that sort of child. 

Eccentric and a bit queer (although perhaps not just in the way he meant, if her penchant for the goth aesthetic and the scene that came with it was anything to go by), a far cry from the bubbly and destructive infant he had raised, his teenaged daughter had grown into a fatalistic, macabre, and in all honestly, still quite destructive young mare.

And her imagination! Oh her imagination! Despite her flat affect, Flurry Heart could immerse her father in wild and fantastical stories, from the one she used to tell him through tears about the scary monster beneath her bed to her more recent dalliances into dark fantasy. Shining Armor chuckled to himself as he remembered her retelling of a story she must have read in some old book about the ‘secret passages’ under the castle that lead to a ‘hidden chamber’ with supposed countless ‘demonic’ articles. 
She certainly was rather attached to that tale, what with her refusing to drop it or move on to a different story in the past few weeks. Odd. Hm.

Shining Armor gave a shrug and reached out to take another sip of his coffee.



“Father, I have retrieved the artefact and am entrusting it to your care.” 
Flurry Heart shoved a medium-sized bejewelled amulet in front of him, black in colour and shaped to the likeness of an alicorn princess. Shining Armor gasped in delight.
“Dearie, did you make this? It’s wonderful!” He moved to reach out for the neckpiece, but his hoof was quickly slapped away. “Do not wear it. Under any circumstances.” Her expression was characteristically serious and her tone held not a waver of uncertainty. “To do so would be to unleash untold chaos and destruction upon the land, it corrupts the user, granting them immense power in return for their soul.”
“Alright sweetie, I won’t. I wouldn’t want to break something you worked so hard on!”

The look his daughter gave him was withering.
Nothing was out of the usual.

Shining Armor looked back down at his newspaper. CRYSTAL PRINCESS REVEALS ALL - KING SOMBRA’S RETURN? read the headline. How unusual, his wife was on vacation at the moment- she shouldn’t have been able to talk to the press. Oh well, she was full of surprises- that was one of the reasons he married her.

Turning his attention back to the amulet, the unicorn turned it over in his hooves, it was immaculately crafted and shone beautifully. It was different to Flurry Heart’s usual fashion, rather than ornate black lace and intricate metalwork it was sharp, steel, and all edges. The red gem in the middle gave off a distinctly uneasy aura that made him feel rather ill if his eyes stayed on it for too long.

His daughter truly was a fantastic artist. 

He could talk for ages about her talent in creating dark crystal sculptures, even if they tended to pop up in the most inconvenient of places and she was keen on destroying them before he could get a proper look. It was surprising that she had been so open about sharing her newest creation, what with how embarrassed she usually was about sharing her art.

She was really coming out of her shell.
He was so proud of her.



“Father, the day has come! The Demon King has returned! Send your guards to their stations and retrieve the artefact! We may need to resort to its’ evil powers in the battle to follow.”

Just as soon as he put his coffee down, a dark, menacing, and entirely imaginary presence blasted its’ way through the wall of the palace.

Shining Armor let out a sigh.

Flurry Heart loved her games, when she was younger she ruled over kingdoms of cardboard boxes and abandoned toilet rolls. Now she had truly outdone herself, crafting intricate illusions and transforming the crystal palace into one of the gothic castles out of the cheesy romance novels she pretended not to love.

“Dear, don’t you think this is going a bit far?” Shining Armor casually asked as he dodged another illusory blast from the imaginary King Sombra standing upon a throne of dark crystal that once was his own.
“Don’t misunderstand me!” He continued as the apparition let out a frustrated cry, “The voice acting is incredibly impressive! And the detail you’ve put into the castle is incredible! I don’t want to stifle your creative flow, but-“
He was interrupted as his daughter shoved him out of the way of another blast, leaving a smouldering crater where he once stood.

His daughter’s gaze hardened, “Father, I require the artefact.” Knowing better than to argue with her while she was in the zone, Shining Armor hoofed over his daughter’s creation without a second thought. Hesitating only slightly, the young alicorn clasped the amulet around her neck.

Letting out an unholy shriek, she began the levitate off the ground in an impressive display of magic. He would be so proud if she weren’t currently in the process of destroying their home in the name of a game of pretend.
Sighing, Shining Armor watched as his daughter vaporised the Demon King without a second thought.
“Alright, that’s enough pretend for today young lady.” His tone was stern as his daughter’s expression snapped in his direction. 
“Who dares question me?!” She bellowed, eyes glowing red.

Sigh.
Teenagers.

“I’m not going to ask you twice, missy! Put the illusions away and clean up this mess this instant!”
His daughter blinked once, expression perplexed, before slowly returning back down to the floor and removing the amulet. Blinking a couple more times, Flurry Heart shook her head and looked around, breathing out a sigh of indeterminate emotion.
Spotting her father, her expression visibly brightened and she trotted towards him, embracing him in a tight hug.
“The evil is vanquished, thank you for your assistance, father.”
“Of course, sweetheart. You won’t be thanking me while you’re cleaning up this mess though!”

Flurry Heart sighed again, but pulled her father in for a tighter hug.