//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Fall of the Crystal Empire // by Blaster Master //------------------------------// Chapter 5 “MURDERERS!” Sonatina screamed, “You’ll pay for this! GUARDS!” “Oh, I’m afraid the guards won’t be coming at your behest, dear Sonatina” Sombra said, sardonically “For me, however… GUARDS!” At Sombra’s command, half a dozen guards came in behind the queen, blocking her exit. Sonatina looked over her shoulder at the guards, and then back to Sombra. As the dark lord’s smile widened, Sonatina’s horn glowed brightly and she fired a blast of magical energy at Sombra. He deflected it easily, but as he was distracted with protecting himself Sonatina used her magic to rip one of the large decorative crystals out of the wall and hurl it at the guards behind her. They scattered to avoid the projectile, which shattered loudly and threw glassy shrapnel in every direction. Utilizing the opening in the ranks, Sonatina made a break for it. Sombra fired a dark magic bolt after her, but she rounded a corner and his magic attack blew off part of the wall instead. “Seal off the palace! Retrieve the queen!” Sombra barked at his soldiers as they picked themselves up “And find Cadance! Bring her to me alive and unspoiled.” The troops scrambled to do as they were bid. “Not you two!” Sombra yelled at a pair of the guards, “Come here.” The two approached their lord, waiting at attention for their orders. Sombra looked around, conspiratorially, and leaned in close to the guards. “I’ve received some news recently,” Sombra said, barely above a whisper, “It would appear that the king was recently assassinated. On top of all that, I’ve heard rumors that elements of the Crystal Guard were involved in the killing.” As Sombra turned his back to them, the two guards gave each other a curious look. “While despicable to believe such treasonous turncoats could be in our midst, it is a relief to me to know that there are still loyalists; like the stalwart Commander Citrine, who avenged his brave king by slaying a pair of the conspirators right here in the throne room.” The two guards were too surprised by Sombra’s words to notice the commander approaching them from behind, a Crystal dagger clenched in his teeth and cold steel in his eyes. *** Cadance was obeying her father’s command, trying to find her mother in the labyrinthine halls of the palace, when she got caught up looking out one of the many windows at the beauty of the city below. As the foal gazed at the shimmering beauty, a pair of guards approached her. “Princess!” One of them addressed, getting Cadance’s attention. “Have you seen my mom?” Cadance asked, “My daddy wanted me to find her.” “That’s not important now,” The guard said sternly, “We need you to come with us.” “Is something wrong?” Cadance asked, worried. “No, but Lord Som-” Suddenly the guards were picked up by a light blue magic field, lifted a few feet into the air. Just as the guards realized what was happening, the pair was suddenly and forcefully thrown through the nearby window. Cadance opened her mouth in a silent scream as glass flew. The guards screamed loudly, flailing uselessly against gravity. They hit the palace grounds eight stories down with a pair of distinct thuds. Before Cadance could even begin to react to what she’d seen, Queen Sonatina Mi Amore swept her daughter up with her magic and placed the foal on her back. She galloped away from the sound of more yelling. *** The queen hid herself and her daughter in one of Cadance’s play rooms. Sonatina used her magic to bar the door and then turned to her daughter, who was on the verge of tears. “Cadance,” Sonatina whispered, putting her hooves on either side of her daughter’s face “Look at me, and listen to me very carefully.” “Y-you k-killed them…” Cadance said, her voice quivering “Why did-?” “I know, I know,” The queen interrupted her daughter as she brought her in for a hug “But those guards were going to hurt you, Cadance. They were trying to take you from me and I would not let that happen.” “But, daddy wouldn’t-” “Listen to me, Cadance. This is going to be hard, but you have to listen. Your father is dead.” The filly’s world crumbled. The earth below her split in two and the sky above her shattered. She felt like someone had run her through with an icicle. “What? But I just saw him-!” “Cadance, Sombra killed your father. He’s killed a lot of other ponies in the castle too. He’s trying to take the throne. And for that, he needs the two of us dead as well.” Sonatina pulled away to look her in the eyes. “But that won’t happen,” The queen had steel in her eyes, “You are going to survive, alright? I can make a distraction and you can escape.” “No!” “If you can get out of the city, you can get help from Celestia and Luna to the south.” “I won’t leave you, mommy!” Cadance cried, tears streaming down. “You have to,” Sonatina said, her own tears running down her face, “You are so strong. I won’t let Sombra hurt you. But you have to go without me, ok? You have to live.” “I don’t wanna go…” Cadance whimpered, hugging her mother again. “I know…” Sonatina held her daughter as if a wind might whip her out of her hooves if she didn’t hold tight enough. Suddenly, there was a banging on the door and the sounds of shouting. Sonatina looked at the door, terrified. She scanned the room, looking for another escape route. No windows, no other doors. So she did the only thing she could. “Cadance!” Sonatina whispered sharply, “Hide in that chest!” There was a large chest filled with toys, which Sonatina emptied partly with her magic and Cadance jumped into. “I’m going to distract them, try to draw them away,” the queen said, resolutely, “When I do, jump out and run, ok? Just run straight out of here. Don’t be seen by anyone. Don’t trust anyone in the Empire, Cadance. Do you understand me?” “Yes, momma,” Cadance whispered miserably. She had just lost her father, and now she was going to lose her mother. But she vowed to be brave. But just because she was brave, that didn’t mean she was happy. “I love you, Cadance,” Sonatina said as she gave her one last kiss on the head and shut the chest. As she turned towards the door, planning to fight her way through the guards, the door was blasted off its hinged by a tremendous force. Through the remains of the destroyed frame came a figure that made Sonatina’s blood run cold: Sombra. “There you are,” Sombra said, menacingly, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you, dear sister-in-law.” A trio of Crystal Guards entered the room behind Sombra, their weapons at the ready. “Seize her,” Sombra ordered. The three rushed Sonatina, but her horn glowed as the many toys in the room where levitated up and flung at the guards like bullets. The guards were stopped in their tracks as the barrage of wood, metal, and crystal assaulted them, striking their unprotected eyes and legs. They tried to persevere, but were bombarded into submission, left lying on the ground in agony. Sombra, who had been casually protecting himself this entire time with a force field, shook his head with disappointment. “Tsk, tsk. Must I perform all the regicide in the palace myself?” “You bastard!” Sonatina yelled “I’ll kill you for what you’ve done!” Sonatina conjured a sword made of blue magical energy with her magic and swung it at Sombra, aiming to decapitate the lord. Sombra’s horn glowed and summoned a black mystical spiked mace blocked the blow. Sombra sneered and swung his own magical weapon. The two dueled back and forth, striking and parrying, their weapons sending sparks of mystic energy flying. While she was a strong magic user, Sonatina was still nothing next to Sombra, and before long his mace smashed her sword into nothing. Sombra swung his mace at the queen, and she summoned a crystal wall in front of her to block the blow. But her defense was for naught, as the mace smashed through the crystal barrier and slammed into Sonatina, sending her flying across the room. She hit the wall with painful force and crumpled to the ground in a heap. Sonatina raised herself up partly and her horn glowed again, creating a force field to hold Sombra at bay. Sombra stabbed her barrier with his horn and shattered the barrier effortlessly. His own horn glowed and Sonatina found herself lifted off the ground, the magical field around her pressing into her ribcage tightly. Inside the chest, Cadance saw the duel through the keyhole of the chest. She used every ounce of her willpower to keep herself inside and not rush to her mother’s defense. She had a hoof placed tightly over her mouth and tears ran down her face. She was powerless to tear her eyes away as Sombra killed her mother. “You won’t get away with this!” Sonatina said, weakly. “How droll and cliché,” Sombra sneered, “I’ve already won. Anypony of any importance who hasn’t sworn allegiance to me is lying dead as we speak. And everypony who will be taking their places are in my pocket. It’s a new age now, Sonatina, and you have no place in it. But I feel like you should know; Cadance does.” “If you hurt one hair on her-!” Sonatina was interrupted as Sombra’s magic closed in around her throat. “Perish the thought! I wouldn’t dream of hurting her! She’s my niece, after all, and the heir to the throne. And she also adores me. I’ve seen her as she watches my experiments; so much more open-minded then Luzra ever was, even at her age. And she’s so malleable… I’ll raise her like a daughter and by the time she’s on the throne, I’ll have her wrapped around my hoof.” “You’re… Sick…” Sonatina wheezed out, her face turning blue. “Don’t worry, Sonatina. I’ll break the news of your demise to Cadance gently. Goodbye.” There was a dry snapping noise, like half a dozen dusty twigs being stepped on. Then an unceremonious thud as the queen’s body was dropped to the floor. Sombra whirled around to the trio of Crystal Guards as they started to pick themselves up. “You three may be pathetic soldiers,” Sombra spat as his horn glowed, “But you’ll make exceptional scapegoats.”