//------------------------------// // Four Minutes // Story: The King Is Dead, Long Live The Emperor! // by Bucking Nonsense //------------------------------// "What just happened?" Given that, until just a moment ago, Shimmering Radiance had been having an incredibly pleasant dream during her afternoon nap, her confusion was understandable. With no ceremony whatsoever, she was dropped from a five mile long table covered with cakes, pies and more into an office of some sort. The office in question was surprisingly well-kept, like that of somepony who spent a lot of time there, and took care to keep everything in its proper place. There was also an almost overpowering smell of perfumes, colognes and more, which almost, but did not quite, cover up the distinctive odor of urine that permeated the room. Behind an antique wooden desk, the filly was surprised to see... ...him. "I apologize for the abrupt summons, young lady," King Sombra said, "but I am afraid that there is not much time, and you're the only pony I can reach at this moment. I need your help to save the emperor." Her eyes still wide with shock, 'Urchin' took stock for a moment: King Sombra just summoned a five year old filly to save Pan, the one who had murdered him? Can you count how many things are wrong with that statement? Her eyes narrowing, she asked, "Why?" With a snort, the former tyrant stated, "At this moment, the Crystal Empire, neigh, all of Equestria, faces a threat far greater than anything you can imagine. Winter, King Of All Windigos, is camped outside of the city, and at his whim, all of the Crystal Empire and Equestria could be blanketed in an unending ice age. He has only stayed his hoof because he has found the emperor's actions to be interesting. If Pandinus Imperator dies, he'll lose interest, and he'll proceed with his plans unhindered." With a snort, he added, "My body will be restored in a thousand years, but it will be meaningless if I freeze to death within five minutes of coming back to life." So, he was doing this for selfish reasons. 'Urchin' could accept that. "Alright," she said, easing back into the admittedly quite comfortable chair. "What's happening, and what do you need me to do? Oh, and how much are you paying me to do this for you?" A small smile of approval crossed Sombra's face as he said, "A group of nobles who call themselves the Circle have conspired to place a death curse upon Pandinus Imperator. While Pan and the princesses recognize the threat of the curse, the only pony who could have realized the full extent of the threat is currently unconscious, and will be for some time." Her eyes widened in disbelief, Shimmering Radiance asked, "What exactly is the problem here?" A death curse? That sounded bad. Really, really bad... Sighing sadly, Sombra said, "The curse works in two stages: In its default state, it drains the life force of the victim until the individual in question is dead." Chuckling, the tyrant admitted, "The emperor's unique biology has bought him some time, and if the curse were to remain in its default state, he would have days before the curse could overpower him. However, the curse has a second stage, a failsafe, just in case somepony manages to figure out a way to stall it. After half an hour, it will change tactics, and instead of draining the emperor's life force, it will begin to stop his heart." Her jaw dropping, Shimmering Radiance asked, "How... how long ago..." If there was that short a span of time, then the emperor could be dead before Shimmering Radiance got to him! His eyes narrowed, Sombra said, "In this place, time moves differently, so we have hours, if need be, to ready ourselves. However, as soon as you awaken, you will have only four minutes to save the emperor. I'll be too busy elsewhere to walk you through this, so I must rely upon you to complete this mission on your own, with all possible speed, else all is lost." Crossing her forelegs over her chest, 'Urchin' said, "Challenge accepted. What do I need to do?" ----------------------------------- 4:00 Springing out of bed, Shimmering Radiance immediately began readying the spell that Sombra had taught her during the dream. It was a teleportation spell, and sadly, it had a very short range. Due to her youth and inexperience with magic, it was limited to a range of only three body-lengths. However, it was very quick, very easy to remember, and used very little energy to cast. It wouldn't get her where she was going in one jump, but... Poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof... She wasn't going to be making just one jump today... -------------------------------------- The dark force was getting properly peeved with the princess' persistent pursuit. It had understood that Celestia would be determined to capture and/or destroy the newly freed entity before it could do harm, but it was really getting annoying, having to dodge energy blasts like this. However, while the entity promised she'd leave Celestia and Pan alone, Luna had not set any guidelines on what 'leaving them alone' meant... or for how long. Time for the hunter to become the hunted. ---------------------------------------- 3:00 Had Gold Coin been drinking anything when Shimmering Radiance appeared in front of him, he'd have likely spit it out all over her face, inventing the spit take centuries before its time. As it was, his expression would have been priceless, had the situation not been so dire. With no explanation, or even a delay, the filly grabbed the colt, and with no further ado, they were off. Poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof... --------------------------------------- Celestia was taken completely off guard, when the mass of dark energy suddenly reversed its direction, and assaulted her. In less than a second, the... whatever it was had enveloped her. She could see and hear nothing, and within moments, she found herself immobilized. And then she heard it... 'Celestia...' -------------------------------------------- 2:30 Gold Coin and Shimmering Radiance were teleporting down the central stairwell of the Crystal Palace, moving from nearly to the top of the great structure to the ground floor. If they'd been moving on foot, it would be a trip of over half an hour at a walk. Instead, the breakneck pace they were moving at would have been almost suicidally dangerous without magic to assist them. But even at this speed, 'Urchin' feared that they might not make it in time... Poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof poof... Why were there so many stairs in the Crystal Palace? Honestly, it was simply atrocious. From what Sombra had told her, the tyrant had actually hated stairways himself: He could imagine nothing more irritating than having to go up and downs stairs for hours at a time... --------------------------------------------- For all her magical might, Celestia's mental defenses were not as air-tight as Luna's. The dark force had an all access pass to her memories, her most private thoughts, and was cheerfully pulling information from Celestia's mind to use against the elder alicorn. And oh, what an abundance of issues that she had... 'Oh, poor, lonely, pathetic Celestia...' "Stop it!" 'All this time, you've been looking after your little ponies, and what do you have to show for it?' "Stop it..." 'An empty bed each night. A sister who resents you for being better than her. Ponies who don't take you seriously. And after all you do for them?' "Please..." 'You show them so much kindness. So much leniency. You give them everything you can... and they walk all over you! They violate the laws you made in order to protect them, and think themselves great. They toy with dark forces that could destroy them in a heartbeat, and think themselves so clever. They throw every act of kindness in your face, and laugh at how pathetic they think you are when your back is turned.' "I don't want to hear this..." 'You hold the power of the sun. They should be thankful for every day you don't reduce their cities to ash! You are power beyond their comprehension! They should build statues wrought in the purest gold of your monumental visage, compose epic poems praising your magnificent beauty! Every other word out of their mouths should be praise for you, and only you! They should love you! Respect you! FEAR YOU!!!' "Please... no more..." This was magnificent. It was all so easy. Celestia, beneath that iron facade, was so weak inside that it was ridiculous. So abysmally weak, so long as you knew the right buttons to push So much power, in the hooves of somepony who never truly wanted it, but was too responsible to foist it upon another... normally. The irony was delightful. Just a little further now, and the dark force would hold both the power of Luna and Celestia... 'I could take it away from you, Celestia. All the power, the responsibility... the pain. Give me your power. I can use it far better than you ever could...' "I..." 'You could settle down, find a good stallion to be your husband. Live a nice, simple life. You know, the kind you once dreamed about before all of this responsibility was forced down your throat. You, the perfect little scapegoat, the sin eater who was always forced to choke down the bitter taste of power you never wanted. The responsibility no one else was willing to shoulder.' "i..." 'You could have a foal of your own. As many as you like, in fact. The one thing you've wanted all your life, but has been denied to you. Just give in, and you can finally be the mother you've always wanted to be...' "..." 'All you have to do is...' *SURPRISE, MOTHERPLUCKER!!!* -------------------------------- 0:30 Finally at the base of the Crystal Palace, with only seconds left, Shimmering Radiance was exhausted. The first time she'd ever used magic, and she'd done the equivalent of running a marathon.. But they were here, with time to spare. One final jump, and both Gold Coin and Shimmering Radiance stood before the Crystal Heart itself. Poof... Panting, she said, "I, Shimmering Radiance, by the power vested in me as a citizen of the Crystal Empire, and as Archduchess of the Golden Groves, do hereby nominate Emperor Pandinus Imperator the First, Ruler of the Crystal Empire And All Who Doth Dwell Within, for full citizenship, and all the rights that come with it." There was a deep hum, and the Crystal Heart began to spin in place. A few seconds later, a voice, soft and feminine, replied, "Your motion has been heard. In order for the motion to be carried, it must be approved by the current ruler of the realm, his chancellor, or another authorized representative, should neither be available at this time." At a nudge from Shimmering Radiance, Gold Coin said, "I, Gold Coin, am the acting chancellor for the Crystal Empire while my father is ill. I give my approval for this motion." Turning towards the filly, Gold asked, "Now, mind explaining what's going on here?" Before Shimmering Radiance could respond, the Crystal Heart suddenly released a flash of nearly blinding light. --------------------------------- The dark force fled, screaming, from Celestia's mind and body, badly injured. It had been blindsided, suddenly faced with two opponents instead of one. Celestia, once she had rallied, had suddenly transformed from a whimpering weakling into a ferocious assailant, bombarding the dark force with devastating blows. And as for the other... ...Who would have expected King Sombra to show up then and there? Thankfully, Celestia was not pursuing, or the dark force might very well have been vanquished in short order. The alicorn was... unnerved, it seemed, after how close the darkness had come to claiming her... --------------------------------- *My apologies for the intrusion, your highness.* "I'll forgive you for it, this time. Luna had told me a little of your involvement in recent events, but I'd not truly believed it until now. I am... indebted to you. That thing caught me off guard, and for a moment, the temptation to submit was almost unbearably strong." *You are, in the end, only equine, your highness. I... succumbed to similar temptations myself once, and I was nowhere near as strong as you are. Had there been another to lend me a helping hoof... Well, life is filled with what-ifs.* "Indeed." Celestia gave a long, weary sigh, then admitted, "I am too exhausted, mentally, to chase that thing down now. If it were to ambush me again, I do not think I could resist it." *Leave it be for now. We were able to strike a mighty blow against it, together: It will need time to recover, to lick its wounds. I doubt that it could do much now until it finds a host... and in its current state, it would only be able to take somepony with no will whatsoever...* "Very well. I shall deal with that abomination later." *Good. Head to the palace, events are transpiring there that may require your assistance. I'll keep an eye on that thing, and inform you of any developments.* "That will be most helpful. And Sombra?" *Yes?* "...Thank you. For saving me." *My pleasure.* -------------------------------- 0:01 Time fades even legend, and the origin of the Crystal Heart has been lost long ago. But its purpose remains: To safeguard the citizens of the Crystal Empire, and protect them from the dark forces that would do harm to them. Dark forces... like curses. ---------------------------------- Pan held Luna as she slept, the princess still not having regained consciousness. The changeling had taken the precaution of moving the wight's corpse to the side of the throne room opposite the two of them, but he doubted it was necessary: Whatever energy the wight had held had dissipated, having done its work. The changeling just wished that Luna would wake up, so the two of them could work out what had happened... and how to undo this stupid curse. He had to admit, she looked incredibly cute like this. The changeling idly wondered if this was what she had looked like before she'd become an immortal... Pan's thoughts were interrupted when he felt a sudden, stabbing pain in his chest for a split second, then it was suddenly gone, replaced by something else, something soothing. He was startled to find the sudden drain upon his life force and stockpiled love energy was gone in the same breath. And then, something else happened... ----------------------------------- Winter felt a sudden shock as his curse was suddenly dispelled from Pandinus Imperator. While not truly painful, it was a surprising occurrence: It had been centuries since somepony had found a way to disrupt the curse that didn't involve suicide... Still, the windigo was so enraptured by the newest player on the field that he was only momentarily distracted. This... dark force was incredibly interesting. For the first time in his existence, the father of all Windigoes licked his lips, not in hunger or anticipation of a feast, but from a lust of a different sort. If this was what love at first sight was like, Winter suddenly understood the emotion's appeal. He wanted this entity, not as a meal, delicious as it might be, but for radically different reasons. Eternity is a rather long time to be alone, after all... ------------------------------------- For the first time in years, Pan suddenly felt free of the burden of Winter's curse. It was as if a weight, one carried for ages, was suddenly off of his back. He could scarcely believe it. What had just happened? Luna stirred suddenly, and opened her eyes. After spotting Pan, she rose quickly, her expression one of great concern. "Pan? Are you alright?" Pan tilted his head to the side questioningly, then said, "I was going to ask you the same thing. You had us worried: Your sister only started chasing after that... whatever it was after I told her I'd look after you. We were both worried that..." Before he could say more, Luna asked, "Are you certain you're alright?" Chuckling, Pan said, "I've never felt better. Something just happened that removed the death curse... and took care of Winter's curse in the bargain. I'm not sure what, but I'm not about to question it. Why do you ask?" "You... you've stopped glowing," Luna said, "And... your carapace is turning white." Uh oh...