//------------------------------// // Transition // Story: Shards of Hatred // by ChaoticHarmony //------------------------------// ---- Shards of Hatred ---- ---- Chapter VIII: Transition ---- Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, known to those who followed her as the Crystal Princess and known simply as Cadence by those she held close, trotted down the steps that led up to her throne that dominated the room. One glance down would be enough to worry her a few hours ago but now the sizable cracks that spider-webbed through the colorful crystals that had been carved eons ago and enchanted to never wear down. Despite this, the cracks still spread without end through the once-beautiful throne room, racing up and down the walls in some mad dash to tear apart the palace. “Princess!” The wearied alicorn turned to see one of the newer guardsponies frantically clawing at his helmet in an attempt to perform the formal bow. After a few moments of scrabbling for purchase on the smooth surface, the colt soon abandoned any attempt at formality as panic threatened to overtake him. “The Shadow’s forces are—“ “Please, soldier, refer to Sombra as he is called.” Cadence pointedly stressed the evil unicorn’s name, ignoring the pathetic-sounding whimper that came from the soldier’s mouth. “Giving him a name like ‘The Shadow’ only intensifies the fear he wants you to feel.” “Yes, Princess. As I was saying, The Shado—“ The recruit made a visible attempt at fortifying himself against Cadence’s forceful stare. “Sombra’s forces have been concentrating around the eastern perimeter. My commander sent me back to tell you that he feels that they will strike there next. He asks that more forces be sent to aid our company in holding that part of the wall.” At that last part, the recruit’s voice faded into silence as the Princess’s face darkened at the thought of what she was going to do. “Soldier,” Cadence winced as the soldier recoiled violently from the barely suppressed anger and bitterness in her voice. Softening her words, the Crystal Princess continued. “Please send word to all of the outer companies.” Turning away, Cadence slowly began to ascend the steps back to her throne, preparing herself to hold a meeting with her military leaders. “And… what should this message contain?” Without turning around and with her watery gaze set on the highest Crystal of her throne, Cadence released the words that had tried to settle themselves in her stomach. “The Crystal Empire has not yet fallen. Hold the line, no matter what the cost.” After the soldier’s salutatory phrase, the door’s slam was the only sound that filled the room, echoing back and forth like some sort of sick representation of all the ponies she had ordered to lay down their lives. Oh, where are you, Shiny? The first feeling that returned to him was pain. Lots and lots of pain. So much pain that he wouldn’t be surprised if he had been force-fed a dozen gallons of ice-cream in his sleep. He wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and scream with the agony that throbbed in his stomach but he could only lay there in the blackness that enveloped him. After what seemed like an eternity in the dark and quiet, a soft murmur reached his ears, garbled into incoherency by whatever was stabbing him in the gut. He focused on the words that floated about in the darkness, his mind deciphering the language of the world of the wakened. As he gears in his mind turned, the constant thread of sound divided into five individual voices, all of them filled with worry. “Oh, I hope he’s okay.” “Oh my goodness, when he wakes up we should throw him a waking up party!” “Uh, Pinkie, Ah don’t think that’d be a good idea. Ain’t that right, Dash?” “Sorry, Pinkie, but AJ’s right. I’ve seen stuff like this before, all he needs is a nice rest before he’s ready to fl- er, I mean do dragon-y stuff again, like helping out in your boutique, right Rares?” A moment of intense silence followed, within which he strained to hear any sound. After stretching to what seemed like the clouds in the skies, he could only just hear the sounds of soft tears being shed. “Rarity, you okay?” “How could I possibly be okay when my Spikey-Wikey is like this? Of all the things that could happen, this is the worst possible thing!” Despite his predicament, Spike could only imagine Rarity throwing herself onto the hospital couch. “First our dear Twilight has disappeared into thin air and now poor Spike is unconscious in a hospital bed!” A fluttering of wings passed over the sobs and the sound of soft humming filled the room. Just as the sobs quieted another sound took their place over the humming; a slamming door. “Is he awake yet?” “Ah’m sorry, sugercube, but he ain’t moved a muscle since we got here.” “Buck it all!” The sound of wood breaking cracked across the silence that had come after the new pony’s curse, followed swiftly by gasps from the five mares that were occupying the room. “Isn’t there some way we can wake him up? I need to know what happened to my sister!” Hooves seized his pain-wracked body and jerked him around for a few seconds of agonizing pain, until the weight was suddenly thrown away. “Mister Armor, please do NOT handle my Spikey-Wikey like that again or I will rip you to pieces.” Spike had never heard such venom and anger in his crush’s voice before, its barely contained fires of fury sending chills down his unmoving spine. Another tense quiet followed Rarity’s words, broken only by the ragged breathing done by the stallion now revealed as Shining Armor. Said stallion took in a breath and let it out through his mouth. “I’m… sorry. I’m just worried about Twily.” “We are too, Shinin’ Armor, but there ain’t nothin’ we can do ‘till Celestia gets here to fix… whatever is wrong with Spike. We jus’ have to wait for the Princess, that’s all.” Spike could hear the pain in everypony’s voice, and he wanted more than anything to move, to make a sound, to give them all some kind of signal that he was there, but he could do nothing but lay there, absorbed in the agony that was trying to eat him from the inside out. Princess Celestia stood on the rooftops of the city that she had grown up in, staring down at the many different tiles that covered the roofs. Her hooves clicked and cracked along the terra cotta as she slowly cantered over to the edge of the building and looked down into the street. It was empty, something that Canterlot’s streets were never called during the night. “Where are you, agent of hatred?” She shuddered as she whispered the old phrase to herself, something that had never been said by a ruler of Equestria in roughly a thousand years. Another wind washed over her, bringing with it the chill of the night that weaved between her feathers and the hairs of her coat. Spreading her wings, the goddess of the sun lifted herself from the rooftop and launched herself towards another, her head swiveling side to side as she searched the streets below. In the distance, she could spot her sister doing the same, barely visible in her element of darkness; a mare transformed into shadow itself. Any luck, Tia? Her sister’s voice surprised her with its sudden intrusion into her mind, seeming like a shout in the silence of the night. Celestia could sense the worry that filled her sister’s words. Unfortunately, no. We must continue the search, sister. Celestia’s hooves clattered onto the roof that she had been aiming for, shuddering only slightly as her weight settled back onto them. Wasting no time, the princess swiftly made for the edge of the building and stared down at yet another empty street, filled with only an oppressive air of abandonment. She stood there for what seemed like ages but was in reality a few seconds before spreading her wings and bending her knees in preparation for yet another take-off. “Help, p-p-please. Anyp-pony.” The weak voice was enough to snap her wings back to her sides and draw her eyes back down to the street below, where a pile of loose stones were only slightly shifting around. A jolt of fear for the unfortunate creature trapped underneath the rubble, her hooves propelling her off the roof and onto the street with her horn gleaming in golden light. Lifting the rubble, Celestia was greeted with a sight that she had seen only during times of unrest and after the occasional accident; it was the sight of a pony dying of wounds. “Who did this to you?” The phrase left her lips involuntarily as she lifted more of the rubble from the stallion, freeing him from his prison of stone. “P-p-p-princess! Th-thank the heavens.” The pony took a ragged, labored breath before continuing. “It was… it was… a mare… sh-sh-she looked almost l-lik-ke yo-your-“ A fit of coughs erupted from the stallion, leaving Celestia to stand helplessly over his body as it slowly entered the realm of the afterlife. “Who? Who?!” She nearly shouted the words into the pony’s face, despite the glaze that was forming over his eyes. “Who did this to you?!” Silence was her only answer, accompanied by another wind that whistled over the silent city. With the same suddenness that surrounded the last moments of the stallion’s life, tears ran down in rivulets from her eyes. However many ponies she had seen die, Celestia had never been able to accept the death of one of her subjects. However, she wasn’t allowed a chance to mourn. Sister! I have… I have found the agent! Anger boiled deeply within Celestia, going past the point of intense heat into an icy coldness. The flames froze where they were, becoming beautiful and jagged crystals of rage. You… Sister I believe you must see this with your own eyes. The view of the street and the stalion’s corpse were obliterated as another image forced its way into her vision, an image of a pony whose appearance stopped her heart for a beat. The mare’s body was lavender in color, possessing a dark blue mane with a purple and pink highlight streaking through it. This is… Twilight Sparkle, is it not?