My Shining Love

by DraconequusMaximus


Arrival

Three years, Three years since Shining Armor's life had been turned upside down. The queen of the changelings had returned with a small but elite force of soldiers. Cadence had been caught alone coming out of a council meeting. The changelings had developed soldiers with chameleon-like abilities instead of shape shifting abilities, she never saw it coming. Shining heard the scream but only arrived in time to see Chrysalis standing over a pale pink alicorn. The insectoid mare had an evil grin on her face as the last of Cadence's life energy leaked into her form and her horn dimmed. All he could do was stare in horror with with his mouth agape. When the queen began charging a blast from her gnarled horn Shining snapped back into action and created an impenetrable force field bubble. Instead of using it to protect himself he formed it around Chrysalis and began shrinking it steadily. He didn't even consider the morality he had learned growing up. He used all of his magic to compress it as tight as he could, he blacked out to the sound of muffled screams.

He woke up sometime later in front of the ghastly scene. All that was left of Chrysalis was crushed black carapace shards and disgusting electric green ooze. Her soldiers lay comatose with pained expressions and blank lifeless eyes, they had been shocked by the loss of the center of their collective hive-mind. The sound of hoofsteps could be heard behind him as he shakily arose, he didn't care about who was behind him. All he cared about was getting to Cadence. He held her in his forelegs close to his heart, she was as cold as ice and he could tell she wasn't breathing. Tears streamed from his eyes as guards flooded into the room.

The news hit the empire hard, nearly all of the crystal ponies adored her as she had the blood of the original ruling family that Sombra had killed. Several of the minor royals had escaped to Equestria to avoid Sombra's evil. The nation recovered slowly but steadily and Shining Armor became king. Though the nation had healed, Shining was still broken. He strengthened the kingdom's military and hired unicorn scientists to create miniature crystal hearts fitted into the armor of the crystal guard so they could use low level magic, even earth ponies. His rule became increasingly strict as he sank deeper into his depression. He cut nearly all ties with his family and would only speak to Luna and Celestia about trade agreements. He had even refused to see his sister. The kingdom prospered but happiness was dropping steadily. Shining kept the empire's weather dome lit with his own magic as the crystal heart faded after the first year of Shining's reign.

A few miles outside the Crystal Empire a tall purple, bipedal dragon looked upon the magenta dome with great sadness in his eyes. It was Spike, long time friend of Shining Armor, he had even been hatched by Shining's little sister. He had looked up to Shining as a kid, he had once been the perfect role model.

"Shining... you used to be such a great guy. I swear that I'm going to get you through this." Spike said to himself before he took to the sky on his new wings.

He reached the dome in nearly no time at all thanks to his powerful wing muscles. The dome had been modified to repel species other than ponies. Dragons being naturally resistant to magic allowed him to easily tear a hole large enough for himself to enter. The magical dome quickly repaired itself after he slipped through his makeshift door. He was soon met by several guards who pointed large spears at him.

"Evening boys. I'm here to see the king, is he available?" Spike said calmly as he towered over them. He let out a startled gasp as the head guard chucked a spear at him. The blade merely bounced off his nearly impervious scales.

"Now is that any way to treat the dragon that brought the crystal heart back to you?" Spike said as he wiped the sweat from his brow (he had never been at assaulted with a blade before & was unaware that it wouldn't effect him).

"Spike? You've grown much in the last few years. We didn't recognize you as the pudgy little guy that helped save us back then." The same guard said apologetically as he picked up his spear.

"Yeah, I had a growth spurt a year or two back. It really hurt and I nearly ate all the food in Ponyville. But anyway, everypony back home is getting pretty worried and Shining hasn't spoken to any of us since the attack. I wanna see him as soon as possible." Spike replied awkwardly.

The guard's expressions saddened a bit as they motioned for Spike to follow them as they marched toward the crystal city. Spike could tell the land was visibly more gloomy and dull than previous years since it's return. The state of the empire was heavily reliant upon it's inhabitant's happiness. Just looking around told him things were headed south fast. Spike didn't intend to leave until he set things to rights.