//------------------------------// // Ch.5 Judge, Jury and Executioner // Story: Equestria: Darkness Rising // by Shocks //------------------------------// "..This.. cant be real " Maria was gawking at the beautiful architecture that was the Crystal Empire, her head swiveling around to take it all in. She had an almost childlike wonder as she looked over each building and its unique design, each seeming to be impossibly made by crystal. The array of colors the city gave off was also not to be ignored. From deep ruby reds to glorious bright sapphire, to even the most elegant amethesyt, each color perfectly accented each other to make the city a true beauty, it unmatched then anything Maria had ever seen before. Of course, this did not include the massive Eiffel tower like structure that lay at its heart. Its overall color was an astounding aquamarine that seemed to truly glow in the radiant sun, it seemingly casting little to no shadows toward the surrounding areas. Its four archways were perfect and elegantly crafted, and it seemed to soar into the sky, reaching a height she had to assume would be hundreds of feet, if not thousands, in the air. As it continued upwards away from its four bases, it displayed a large balcony with some type of golden railing, surrounded with what appeared to be another massive crystal, if the building was constructed from multiple pieces of course. God, they couldn't have carved that thing from one crystal right? Right?! As her eyes traced upwards, the building's structure soon changed. As it rose in height, two spires rose from its sides, slimming down the massive center slightly, its color scheme changing slightly to a deep topaz. Again as it approached the very top, two additional spires broke away, slimming down the palace to form an almost arrowhead like appearance. Finally, the structure's beauty finished off as it ended in a spearhead formation, with a gem the size of a small building adorning its center. How someone could build something of that size and magnitude, cupelled with its incredible beauty astounded her. Then again, we've built buildings just as tall, but then again they weren't made out of fucking crystal! "Keep moving creature" ,she felt a blunt poke to her rear end that nearly made her want to whirl around and nail the offending jackass. However, given her situation, she quickly stifled her growing anger, and instead chose to glare behind her at the small horse keeping pace behind her. Actually, to call it a horse would have been insulting (as they found out numerous times), because although it was equine in nature, it looked nothing like a horse. For starters, its general body shape was way off , its legs were much thicker and less defined than average horses and its muzzle was comparatively smaller, making it look, surprisingly, cuter. It was also puny in comparison, it barely stood three and a half feet tall, save for its armor. Yes, armor. The white coated horse had gold plated armor that started with a blue star at their chest to gold armor till all the way till the tail, covering most of their sides as well. They even had some type of golden shoes on as well that adorned their hooves. What really took the cake was the large, roman style helmet that sported a blue plume at its top,and the helmet covered most of the equine's face, save for its muzzle, and its unnaturally expressive blue eyes, which at the moment, were glaring right back at Maria. It was somehow managing to hold a spear in its leg, its blunt end raised, ready to poke her again. "If you do that again, I'm going to stick that in a place the sun don't shine" She said, trying to keep her voice as sweet as possible. This threat didn't go unnoticed, as several other 'guards' of the group's escort tensed up, causing the whole procession to stop. Her and her friends were in a diamond formation, Cole and Jon on the left and right, and her and Vince at the rear and front. Surrounding them in a semicircle were twenty or so of the horse guards, each looking like a clone of the one behind her, save for a few grey clones, but all were displaying a stoic or wary expression. What truly struck home was that some actually had horns and wings, like the unicorns and pegasi of myth! Even more, some were actually flying above the group! How can they fly on those things? Theres no way they can get enough lift for that! The absurdity of the situation hit Maria once again, and nearly drove her into another panic attack. Weve been arrested. By talking. Fucking Mythological Horses. With Armor. What the fuck!!! Even now, they had yet to see single other human, and had only seen these guard horses and the ....crystal horses. That fact alone nearly made her loose it there and then. The cities residents, the small equines, actually appeared to be made of Crystal. Their bodies sparkled and they seemed almost translucent! Each even sported some unique brand near their rears, but she had absolutely no clue how the hell any of that was possible. How any of this was possible..... "I said. Keep moving" the horse said again, its eyes narrowing at Maria. Choosing to count to ten instead of replying to the guard, she let out a deep sigh before walking again, the procession continuing on towards the palace. Attempting to keep her mind off the maddening fact that they were prisoners to talking equines, she looked over each of her friends. Vince, who was at the front of the group, had his arms and legs in cuffs. Unfortunately, when the freaky horses first approached them, he was either in shock or pissed off that someone tried jamming spears at him. Either way, he had punched one in the muzzle, resulting in him being dog-piled by the small equines. Now, he just glaring forward, seething in repressed anger. Cole, had been unusually quiet in their time since their capture. He had glanced at her and Vince a few times as they walked, and he looked like he always wanted to say something, but instead chose to shake his head. He was probably still in shock. Jon, was probably the worst. He had a strange grin on his face as he walked, and actually tried making conversation with some of the horses, only to receive a snort in response. She had no idea what was running through his head. As they continued down the large street, the normal hustle and bustle of the crystal ponies was interrupted, many being pushed to the very edge of the street to allow the group to pass. Maria was able to make out a few hushed whispers through the clip-clop of the guards feet on the pristine crystal road. "What...are they?" "Such strange creatures....." The hushed conversations around them didn't little to alleviate Maria's mood, it feeling like they were on parade as trophies or some kind of freakshow. It appears Jon shared the same thought, but decided to react differently, instead waving to the equines as they walked, causing a few shocked gasps and more whispers. "Jon", Cole started, "What are you doing?" "Nothing much, just waving" He replied casually. Maria face-pawned. "We know that Jon. We mean why" "Oh!" He realized, "Well, just enjoying the ride is all" Vince, roused from his own thoughts, raised an eyebrow to his brother, confusion on his face. "Ride?" "Well, ya. This is a dream. None of this is real. You arent real, they arent real" he pointed to a few guards, who raised their own eyebrows at this," I gotta say, ive only lucid dreamed a few times, and this one takes the cake." His grin grew as he looked around. There was a momentary pause as the grouped walked in eerily silence. Then.. "WHAT?" all three of his companions said simultaneously. Jon simply shrugged at their reactions. "Sorry, but you are, well you guys are, not my real friends. Cant do anything about it. Honestly the others in my last dream reacted allot better. "Bro", Vince stated, looking his brother dead in the eyes. " This. Is not a dream", he said, Lifting up his shackled arms. "Of course it is. I mean, that's a freaking unicorn right there! " Again pointing to one of the guards, who eyed the human warily. "And there's pegasuses!", motioning to the ones hovering above the group, " Or is the term pegasi?" he wondered, scratching his chin in thought. "Its Pegasi" one of the white coated guards spoke up. "Oh cool, thanks". The guard just nodded his head slightly. "Jon, we are not a dream. This is real. It is happening!" Maria deadpanned, raising her arms around her. The guards continued to watch the exchange with mock interest, many not really listening. "Riiiight, and this cute little horesy knight in armor is real" Shocking almost everyone in the group, he reached down and grabbed one of the unicorn equines, pinching it on the cheek. "Whos a good horesy? Huh?" All the friends were left slacked jawed. "Yes he is! Yes his is!" The remaining guards had a mix of disgust, shock, and a few actually were tying to stifle laughter. "Does someone want a sugacube?" The guards eye twitched involuntarily. "Jon", Cole said calmly, "Let go. Of the talking pony" While Vince and Maria were watching in almost a trance like state, Cole was well aware that many of the guards were growing very hostile, and were moving inward. "Oh! So your a pony huh? Who's a good pony! Yes you is! Yes you-" In a blur, the unicorn smacked his hand away with a hoof, and turned sharply on Jon, his horn inches away from him. Suddenly, the horn was encased in an azure glow, causing the other three friends to go wide eyed, as the guard smirked triumphantly at him. Seconds passed. Nothing happened. The growing look of confusion on the unicorns face was a stark contrast from Jon's bored expression. Licking his fingers slightly, Jon placed his fingers over the horn, and extinguished the glow like a lit match. There was a small fizzle sound as the glow dissipated, Jon feeling slightly tingly all over his body. The small equine's eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he crossed his eyes, attempting to gather exactly what just happened. Cole watched as Jon looked at his hand curiously, flexing and un-flexing the muscles. Looking around, he realized the remaining guards had stopped dead in their tracks, frozen in unparalleled shock. Many had their jaws well on the floor or just dumbly hanging open, with pupils shrunken to pinpricks. He was beginning to sweat at the heated tension slowly building. "Huh, that was weird" Jon muttered, turning back towards the group. The human's small statement seemed to snap the royal guards out of their stupors. "S-SEIZE THEM!!!" Barely anyone in the group had time to react before they were rushed by the frenzied troops. A rather small scuffle later, all in the group were heavily shackled, and the guards were keeping at a distance, their spears raised threateningly at the group. Most of the friends were stirring in repressed anger, save for Jon, who had broken out in hysterics from the revelations. " That hurt! That actually hurt! B-but this is a dream! T-This isnt pooossible! This cant be happening!!" He cried, his breathing heavy and erratic. "Im not here! Ya! Im in my bed, asleep. Heh heh, wake up". He pinched himself. He was still in the same place. His heart rate nearly doubled as he began to hyperventilate. "Cmon, wake up!" He pinched again, harder. Still nothing. "DAMMIT WAKE UP!" He dug his fingernails into his right arm, actually braking the skin in some places. The group had been watching up hushed silence now grew concerned at their friends destructive outburst. "Bro, calm down, its alright. Its gonna be fine" Vince said in a low voice, his brothers safety at the forefront of his mind. "Calm?! HOW THE FUCK CAN YOU BE CALM?! We have been captured by talking fucking horses! Goddamn horses! How are you not freaking out?!" "Hes just doing a better job at hiding it" Maria muttered under her breath. "THIS IS BULLSHIT! Let me out you horse freaks!" At this, Jon struggled against his shackles, throwing his weight around in an attempt break free from his prison. He just needed to go, needed to be anywhere but here. "Easy Jon easy! You need to settle down man, your not helping the situation" Cole tried to place a comforting hand on his shoulder, but Jon slapped away the offending appendage. "Fuck you Cole! For all I know your in league with these goddamn horses!" "We are ponies creature" one of the spear-wielders said. Jon whirred toward the guard, his glare locking with the guards own. "Fuck you too you mutated freak!" "Enough!" The shout was enough to stop all in their tracks. The loud outburst came from another large group of ponies moving directly toward the group. Most of friends noticed quickly that they had now entered a large square, the crystal palace looming over them ominously. Maria craned her neck to take in the shear size of the structure. "Wow", she all but whispered. However, the large group approaching them made their presence well known. It looked like someone had taken a crayola box and chose a color for each pony. From bubblegum pink to snow white, the entire spectrum of the rainbow was easily displayed in this new group. Three ponies stepped forward, followed by six more behind them, each wearing a strange type of jewelry. "So. You finally showed yourselves" A large white stallion in purple armor snorted angrily. He was slightly blocking the pink pony next to him, who happened to be wearing a golden crown. This pony seemed to have a mix of anger and fear in her eyes, but stayed focused on the group. The third pony, an equally large grey stallion, eyed the group over quickly. Vince, Cole, and Maria all realized that whatever was going on just became much more serious. No one appeared to be messing around, and the white stallion looked like it was ready to skewer them on its much larger white horn. Unfortunately, Jon was still in a bit of a mood. "Who the fuck are you?" "Who the fuck are you?" Cadence slightly recoiled as one of the creatures finally spoke. After weeks of horrifying nightmares of these creatures, the torment she could not escape, here they were. And yet, she didn't feel all that scared. Nervous certainly. Worried? Yes. Afraid? Terrified? Somewhat if any. Now actually seeing the beings in front of her, she was surprised to see they were rather different.They didn't have black bodies, although the overall body structure was the same. They were bipedal, and they were tall, one even standing just as tall as her Aunty Celestia. They're skin was rather pale colored, save for two which had a more brown tint to it.Interestingly enough, they all wore clothing an even had some type of saddlebags on their backs. That's when she noticed two appeared eerily similar, their faces nearly identical. One appeared to be completely different from the other three and was also much shorter. A mare possibly? Her musings soon ended as Shining took a defense step in between her and the creatures, completely blocking her with his body. "Watch your mouth!" the crystal prince rebutted, knowing the original comment had carried an insulting tone. The creatures seemed to stir at the stallions commanding tone, save for the one who spoke out. "Ya? What you gonna do you freak?! Make your horn glow? I'm so fucking scared!" the creature roared back, Cadence wincing at the sight of the creatures mouth. In her short glimpse, she spotted several pointed teeth. Her basic instincts where kicking in as she realized she was in the presence of a predator. She noticed Twilight's group had also tensed up as well, Fluttershy shaking slightly. "Jon, shut the hell up!" the shorter creature hissed out, its voice caring a feminine tone. Its definitely a mare! Cadence thought. The shorter one made an attempt to kick the larger one but was stopped when the guards tensed up on its chains. "Uh, if its alright with everyone, can I ask why we are under arrest?" the tallest one spoke out, surprising everyone including its companions. Shining Armor was the first to acknowledge the tallest one, not at all intimidated by the creature's stature. "Don't play games with us" he approached the creature, "We know you are minions for King Sombra!" The creature for its part looked at Shining with a confused stare. "King Sombra?" it asked. The white stallion only glared up as it fanned innocence. "Like I said. Don't play games. We know your here to try and conquer the empire!" "What is this guy smoking? For that matter, what am I smoking?" the other creature asked. While she wanted to continue watching the exchange between her husband and the creatures, Cadence's attention diverted to Twilight and her friends. Twilight trotted to Cadence side while her friends formed a semicircle around the duo. "Twilight, were you able to find anything on the creatures?" Cadence asked hopefully. Up til now, they had only been going by her dreams, now they had some answers. Twilight cringed as she eyed her brother continuing to communicate with the creatures, the guards holding their chains tightly. "Yes. They're apparently called humans, if the book I found is correct. Cadence..", Twilight lowered her voice to barely above a whisper, "They're meat eaters! I wouldn't believe it myself if I they weren't right in front of me! Fluttershy even says their teeth are that of a carnivore! Not only that, but the book stated they are known to be tricksters. Cadence, we cant trust them!" Twilight finished, again eyeing the exchange worryingly. Cadence too felt the exchange take on a darker tone as the creatures silently watch Shining as he talked to the tall one, they're beady eyes tracking his every movement. They had yet to make an major movements against their guards, they seemed complacent for the time being. These were not the creatures of her dreams, and that worried her. If they were much smarter then they looked, they would be a much more dangerous enemy. "Twilight, get the elements ready. I'm going to gather the citizens. The crystal heart defeated Sombra once, it should have no problem stopping them" . Maria was having a bad day. Correction, she was having the worst day of her life. Hopefully. First, a normal day of hiking with her close friends turns into a life or death situation with them trapped underground. Then they barely escape a shadow monster only to be captured my talking multi colored ponies in armor. To top it all off, it didn't even seem like they were on Earth because she was very certain someone would have noticed the large crystal city with talking ponies in it. And now they were being interrogated by a slightly larger pony in purple armor. She had come to a realization. She was sore, tired, injured, possibly delusional, and most importantly, angry. Correction. Pissed! The longer the white stallion spoke to Cole, the more the red hot feeling in her grew. It was radiating across her whole body and she was forcing back the feeling to release this building pressure. "-id you really think it was going to be that easy?" The stallion eyed Cole warily. "I don't have any idea what you are talking about. Frankly, I'm pretty sure we are surprised as you are" Cole replied calmly. "I already said don't play games! We know everything so you can drop the act! " Shining Armor yelled. Before Cole could reply, Maria decided she would speak for them. "He is telling the truth you ass! You think we wanted to come to pony land!?" She snarled, taking some joy in the as the feeling in her calmed some. However, it quickly spiked as Shining directed his attention to her. Despite her being the smallest in her group, the pony was still dwarfed by her. The stallion's eyes narrowed as he looked up to her, hers narrowing in return. "Lie all you want. The evidence says otherwise" He stated. "Evidence?!" She said, "What fucking evidence?!" The burning inside of her was beggining to reach a cresendo as she fought against the cuffs on her legs and arms, her muscles straining at her restraints. She did manage to edge her face closer to Shinings, careful of his horn. Shining would not take the challenge sitting down as he butted heads with the taller creature, smirking as his protected head pressed against its own. Maria barred her teeth as she felt the pain rock her head, and the feeling nearly exploded then and there. For a moment, the entire echange between the two went dead silent, casuing worried glances from the other firends, save for Jon who was starring at the ground as if it had insuklted his mother. Shining's eyes narrowed into slits as the creature showed its fangs, the malicious intent evident. "You won't get to her. You won't torment my wife ever again" he whispered coldy. Maria returned his death glare with one of her own as she replied quietly. "I feel sorry for the person that married an ass like you" she smirked as he adopted a surprised expression. "Be quiet you-" Maria didn't comprehend his next words as the feeling in her boiled over, spiking to a massive crescendo. She felt all the pressure release from her at once, erupting out of her body. Shining barely caught the look of her irises flash crimson before he was hurled backwards, rag dolling across the crystal street like a child's toy, rolling to a stop nearly 20 feet away. In his place lay a jagged black crystal, it spiked edge glinting in the vast sunlight. It seemed the heated tension had left the entire area, replaced with a deathly silence, save for the sound of Maria's heavy breathing, her gaze solely focused on the prone body of Shining Armor. Her irises blood red surrounded in a sea of sickly bright green as she sneered at the fallen stallion. "Holy shit" "How?" "What the fuck?!" The surprise from her friends snapped Maria out of her fog, the feeling flowing away as if it had never been there. She looked to the fallen stallion, to the massive crystal, to her own hands. She hadn't remembered anything of the past seconds, had she done this? What was this!? One mare though, clearly saw what had occurred, her body moving on its own to reach the fallen pony. "BBBFF!!"