//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 
// Story: Of Love and Crystals 
// by Pnakotic 
//------------------------------//

Olive Branch snapped back to reality quickly, Twilight had been able to shut the door releasing him from the spell.  “Hissss *click* *click* hiss.”  Olive Branch said before realizing he was in his native form, transforming and clearing his throat, “Sorry… wait how did you break out of that spell?”  He asked a startled looking Twilight.

“Oh… um it released me when you tried to close the door, it took a minute or two for me to recover enough to shut the door though.”  Twilight looked up at the crystal above the door, “It must be one of the traps Sombra set for anypony who sought the Crystal Heart, a door which shows you your greatest fear.”  Upon seeing Olive Branch’s rather distraught behavior Twilight asked, “Are you ok?  What did you see?”  She put a hoof on his shoulder, this time with actual concern.

Olive Branch tried to explain but the words died in his mouth, letting out a long drawn out sigh he finally spoke, “Perhaps some things are better left unsaid.”  Not wanting to remember the vision he urged her onward, “Come on we’ve wasted enough time here, do you have any idea how we can get past this door?”

Twilight gave him a worried look but didn’t comment further, “I have an idea, stand back.”  Channeling a beam of love energy Twilight broke the spell on the door causing it to open to another room.  Holding out a hoof Twilight turned to Olive Branch, “Let’s stay together this time.”

With a nod Olive Branch took Twilight’s hoof and the two traveled through the doorway.  On the other end was a white room filled with stairs, lots and lots of stairs.  “How are we going to get up all of these in time?”  Twilight asked with her mouth agape.

Changing his form to once again include wings Olive Branch stated, “We fly of course.”  Before Twilight could object Olive Branch picked her up and carried her through the air up the stairway.  The flight was long and tiring but finally after several thousand or so (Olive Branch lost count) stairs they reached the top.  Letting Twilight down gently Olive Branch immediately collapsed to rest his wings, “Remind me not to do that again anytime soon.”  He commented.

“Uh… thanks for the flight it was um fun.”  Twilight said with a slight blush and a sheepish smile, “Anyway, it looks like this is it.”  She said pointing to the center of the room where the Crystal Heart floated.  Without waiting Twilight rushed ahead to grab the Heart.

Something seemed off to Olive Branch it seemed all too easy, “Twilight!  Wait!”  He shouted too late.  As Twilight touched the heart it flew from her grasp, the circle around her expanded in upward with crystals, trapping her.

Twilight tried frantically to escape the prison, but even teleporting didn’t seem to work as she was immediately sucked back in.  She searched for the Crystal Heart, peering through a small hole in the crystal prison she saw that it had landed near Olive Branch who was trying desperately to reach Twilight but was being blocked by the hatred filled crystals at every turn.  Twilight realized she wasn’t going to be able to get out of the prison in time to save the empire or her friends and family.  Twilight looked back to Olive Branch, “Forget about me!  Grab the Crystal Heart and take it to Princess Cadance!”  She shouted.

Olive Branch’s eyes met Twilight’s, nodding Olive Branch and he picked up the Crystal Heart.  He immediately he felt the power within the artifact, power enough to make a god jealous.  Peering into the Crystal Heart Olive Branch sensed enough love energy to feed the entirety of the swarm for centuries, perhaps millennia.  He would be a fool not to bring this back to the hive, he would as a return a hero.  Or better yet, if he absorbed the heart himself he would wield power unlike any had seen before.  He could overthrow the ponies, making his queen’s effort look like that of a foal’s.  The swarm would have their love and he… he would be a god.

Olive Branch glanced back up at Twilight who now had a worried look on her face, perhaps she’d realized the same thing he had.  “With this I could be the savior of my kin… no longer would we need to hide in the shadows.  No longer would we have to beg and steal to survive, we could simply take what we need… no, demand it!”  Olive Branch said slamming his hoof down on the floor, the volume of his voice increased along with his zeal.  “Tell me, tell me why you ponies deserve such power and we do not!”

“Olive Branch, please… please don’t do this!”  Twilight begged.

“No!  This power should be ours… should be mine!”  Olive Branch looked once again into the Crystal Heart; he knew what needed to be done.

Tapping into the power of the Crystal Heart Olive Branch vanished…