//------------------------------//
// The Crystal Empire 
// Story: The Monster from the Stars 
// by HoltBrony 
//------------------------------//

	The Crystal Empire was recovering from last nights earthquake; its buildings and inhabitants glistened in the sun. The damage from the tremor was minor, some buildings had cracks on their walls and one or two crystal ponies had sprained ankles. 
Princess Cadence and "Prince" Shining Armor were helping their subjects repair the damage. Shining Armor shook his head from fatigue, The late night tremor had awaken everyone, and all the crystal ponies had dark lines under their eyes.
Shining Armor and his guards were repairing a house, the soldiers held two pieces of a crystal house's wall together. The Unicorn prince's horn glowed purple as he cast a spell, and the cracks in the building began to close on their own. Shining Armor wiped his brow of sweat he looked up to his men, "Alright that's the last building men go have some refreshments on me". 
A silver maned, brown coated guard turned to his Captain, "Sir will you be joining us?"  Shining Armor shook his head,  "No, Surehoof the wife and child are waiting for me to get back". 
Surehoof smiled "Of course sir give her Majesty our best". Surehoof's armored frame trotted to the nearest cafe with his fellow guards laughing and smiling.
Shining Armor walked down the street near his new home, and he breathed in some air content with his life. As he continued to the palace he received many thanks from the people whose houses he fixed. Due to him being one of the few unicorns in the empire, he was called upon to do many magical tasks in the empire.
As Shining Armor walked past the Crystal Heart, spreader of love and hope all over Equestria, and remembered when he Cadence, Twilight, and Spike defeated King Sombra years ago. Two guards opened the door and Shining saluted them and walked inside. 
Shining Armor made his way through the halls of crystal, a sight that never got old. But no time for sightseeing he wanted to see his daughter Skyla and his wife Cadence. After a hard mornings work all he wanted was some quality time with his family before he would be swept away by captain duties, and his wife by her princess duties. 
As he entered the throne room he looked around only a few guards were there. Shining Armor walked up to the guards standing by the throne he asks,"Capricorn, have you seen princess Cadence?".
Capricorn, a orange coated stallion nodded and said,"Yes her Highness and princess Skyla are on the balcony enjoying some lunch and tea". Raising a hoof pointed to the western balcony, and Capricorn Said, "Her highness saw you on your way in and had a sandwich and cold water prepared".
Shining Armor followed the hoof and nodded at the guard, "Thank you Capricorn keep up the good work", Capricorn saluted and returned to standing at attention. As Shining Armor walked out to the balcony a light breeze of air hit him. Cadence was laughing with their daughter Skyla over the story of how Shining and her met.
"Was daddy really that clumsy and awkward around you?", said Skyla, tears in her eyes from laughing. Cadence nodded in confirmation. Shining Armor walked up to his wife, and he placed a kiss on her cheek. 
"So how are my two favorite princesses doing?", said the unicorn stallion. Cadence smiled her yellow and purple mane shining in the sun, "I was just telling Skyla of the song you wrote to win me over as your date to the dance".
Shining Armor sat down in his chair, "Oh yeah that certainly was a dance to remember". His eyes turned to Skyla "And what has my little princess been up to?".
Skyla brushed her blue and purple mane out of her eyes and said, "Well mommy helped some ponies at the clinic, and I played with the children in the street while she worked". She looked down a half frown on her face, "The other children always treat me different and go easy on me". Skyla blew her mane out of her eyes and sighed, "It's no fun when I'm the only one trying to win". 
Shining Armor and Cadence exchanged a look that said, "She is going to have to get used to that". Cadence looked to her foal, "Well Skyla you are the princess of the Crystal empire other kids will treat you differently". 
"Yeah", Shining Armor began "tell you what Skyla, I'll let you come with me on my walk around the city, and.. we could go visit the ewe petting pens". Cadence smiled at her husband's plan to cheer Skyla up.
Skyla almost jumped out of her chair little wings flapping, "Really daddy I won't have to go to school for today?". Shining nodded his blue white mane bobbing, "Yes you won't but tomorrow its back to school".
Skyla smiled her mane over her snout "Thank you daddy I'll get some snacks packed for us from the chef". Her tiny hooves tapped on the stone floor as she galloped to the kitchen her tiny wings flapping as she went.
"That's a very nice thing to do for Skyla", Cadence smiled at her husband and placed a hoof on Shining Armor's. Cadence looked at her husband "So dear what was the damage from the quake".
Shining Armor scratched his chin with his hoof, "Well about thirty homes damage ranging from small cracks to gaping holes". A look of concern crossed Cadence's face "I hope you aren't too tired in repairing that many homes". 
Shining waved a hoof, "I'm fine its not nearly as taxing when I had to maintain the shield for our wedding". He sat back he was full on his sandwich and was preparing for taking care of his daughter on a trip through the city. He sat up and stepped off his chair, "I should get ready for me and Skyla's bonding time see you when I get back". He kissed Cadence on the forehead and walked toward the exit.
The throne room door opened suddenly as a Surehoof came panting into the room, "Your majesties there is commotion at...", Surehoof saw Shining Armor knocked over at the sudden opening of the doors. Surehoof ran up to his Captain, "Your highness I.I.. I am so s..s..sorry I did not know..". Shining Armor held up a hoof for silence. 	
"Never mind me I'm fine... what is it you wanted to say to me and the princess". Surehoof nodded and began helping Shining Armor up. Cadence walked up to the two stallions a look of concern for both he husband and what all the commotion was over.
"Well you see your Majesties there is an alicorn at the outskirts of our city, and he requested to meet you both by name". Shining Armor and Cadence looked at each other "He?"..., "We shall go meet this alicorn lead the way Surehoof", they moved at a refined gallop to the outskirts of the city. 

- - - -

Grithumbar landed on the outskirts of a city of ponies both of which where of a crystalline nature. As Grithumbar walked down the street more and more ponies stopped what they were doing and stared at him . Grithumbar shook his head in suppressed anger Ugh everywhere I go people stare at me. 
As he got a few yards down the street a group of pony soldiers left a table they were sitting at and walked into Grithumbar's path. Grithumbar cocked an eyebrow, and then he smiled, "Oh good an escort, can you fetch me your ruler a..", he raised a metal clawed hoof to his chin, "..Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor am I correct".
A silver maned, brown coated pony walked up to Grithumbar barely coming up to his shoulders. "I am Guard Surehoof of the Crystal Empire Royal guard" Surehoof continued "Who are you and why have you come here". 
Grithumbar tilted his head, "Oh! am I supposed to be intimidated, where I am from I was the Captain of the Royal Guard". He stomped a hoof and the ground shook "Now if you would be so kind as to not waste my time, and fetch your rulers to come here". He stood menacingly over Surehoof, "And I don't like to be kept waiting". He growled through his teeth, the atmosphere quaked from the concussion.
As Surehoof disappeared out of sight galloping for the palace; Grithumbar let out a laugh at how fast the pony could run. The guards that remained around Grithumbar took fighting stances, and Grithumbar's eyes moved over each of them, summing up the level of a threat they posed. 
"That is pointless; if I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead, but I don't feel like starting a conflict". Grithumbar took a battle stance, "Unless you want to give me a reason to". The guards backed up, and got out of their battle stances. Grithumbar snorted, "I thought so", he stood tall like a monolith. 
Then from the crowd ponies began talking in muffled tones but Grithumbar could hear them all clear as day. He tuned into the conversations going on around him.
"What is an Alicorn doing here?",  whispered a Green mare to her Blue mare friend. "How does he know their Majesties"?
"Who knew Alicorns could be so scary, Princess Cadence is nothing like this", a mare murmured to her husband. "I don't know dear all I've heard of is good things of the princesses". 
"I thought there were only female alicorn's in our land". a young mare asked an elderly stallion. The aged stallion turned to the young mare. "There was a time where male and female Alicorns ruled the world in peace and harmony, but that is another story my child".
Grithumbar closed his eyes I've heard enough he listened for the approach of the rulers. He reopened his eyes as he heard the trot of three ponies and rustling of the feathered wings of a pegasus. 

- - - -
 
As Cadence and Shining Armor came up to the crowd they saw the visitor. The black coated Alicorn was massive as big if not bigger than Celestia, and looked very warlike covered from head to hoof in armor. His piercing eyes were crimson red, and upon closer inspection his coat was a scaly hide of ebony. This new Alicorn seemed more like a dragon than a pony from his webbed wings to his muscular tail. A mane of fire burned bright on his thick neck, and the fire did not burn him in the slightest.
His red eye moved over them up and down, and metallic hoof claws tapping the stone street as he walked up to them. He stopped just a few feet from them, and he moved one of his forelegs over the other and bowed. "Hello Princess Cadence", the alicorn's eye moved, "and Prince Shining Armor so nice to meet you two". 
The alicorn straitened and put a metal hoof on his breastplate "My name Is Grithumbar Worldbreaker, I am new to this world, and I am quite tired from my journey". He put his hoof down gently, "I make the request that you let me stay in your kingdom". 
Over the crowd rose the voice of little Skyla "Daddy where did you go"? She pushed through the crowd and fell in front of her parents. She stood up and looked at her father, and opened her mouth as if to say something then stopped when she saw Grithumbar. 
The Alicorn froze, staring at the young filly as if he saw a ghost. He mouthed out the word "Elexis" slowly he walked toward Skyla, and lowered to be eye to eye with the little filly. "Hello little one what is your name"? 
"My names Skyla whats your name". She tilted her head, "Why are you looking at me like that is something on my face"? Skyla began to fix her mane, and Grithumbar shook his head.
"No its just you remind me of my sister". Grithumbar lifted his head and looked off into the distance as if lost in a memory. The ponies around him stood in silence around him not knowing what to do with the spaced out alicorn. 
He came back to reality with a shake of his head and sighed. Then Cadence saw his eyes inside those pearls of red she saw a deep pain and hurt."Well Grithumbar would you like to come to our palace, and perhaps you can enjoy some refreshments and food"?  
The black alicorn nodded " Yes that would be nice". As they began to walk down the street a path opened through the crowd to the palace. As the group trotted down the street Grithumbar passed by a brown crystal stallion, and he paused sniffing the air. The Alicorn stood waiting his eyes following Skyla. When she was farther down the street; his red eye slowly moved to the brown crystal stallion. 
Shining Armor turned around to look at the alicorn, "Is something wrong Grith...". The brown crystal stallion saw his throat ripped out by the jaws of the mighty black alicorn. The brown coated stallion held his hooves to his throat trying to close the gap; his neck burst with a fountain of blood.
The ponies around the corpse gasped in horror as their friend began bleeding out in front of their eyes. Grithumbar spat out the throat of his kill and with a bloody smile on his maw said, "Think you could fool me with that trick?" As Grithumbar said those words a green fire enveloped the corpse; morphing the brown coated pony to a dark green insectoid pony. 
Grithumbar's tail wrapped around the dead insectoid pony lifting it off the ground. Then continued walking as if he had swatted a fly, and was going to throw it away. He ignored the crowds panic at his actions.	
Shining armor walked up to Grithumbar looking at the insectoid corpse wrapped in his tail, "A changeling, but how did you know?". Grithumbar dropped the corpse and tapped it with a hoof, "It smelled different...like a bug, and I heard multiple heart beats", Grithumbar licked his lips of the changeling blood, "I didn't notice it earlier because I wasn't looking for it, but when he smelled different than the ponies around him", 	
Grithumbar motioned a hoof to the ponies gathered around him. "I then used my other senses to compare his vitals to the ponies around him, and when they didn't match up the only conclusion was that he wasn't a pony". 
The alicorn's eyes looked at Shining Armor "Which would mean it was pretending to be one, therefore was a spy, and a threat to my kind hosts". He smiled at the unicorn prince, "And I couldn't let my hosts have a spy in their midst". 
As Shining Armor walked down the street behind the black alicorn. They would have to make sure to not upset this alicorn. A grim thought grew in Shining Armor's mind; When there's one changeling there are hundreds more.

End of Chapter 2