//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 - Lord Shadow // Story: Crystal Empire Chronicles // by Northern Course //------------------------------// The king had sorted through many details for the day. Weeks had passed since the birth of his daughter. Gifts from aligned kingdoms and empires, continued to arrive. A thoughtful gift from various homelands he had once visited in the past, but all gifts were just horrible remainder in the end of the one thing that was missing. Of course the many creatures and ponies that came to arrive with these gifts had many ways with no exception of showing their apologetic nature over such matters, as if the gifts had become nothing more than insults on part of the queen’s condition. The king continued to power through the day none the less. His eyes growing ever more tired as the day continued... Why am I so tired? Stratege thought as his eyelids closed slowly over the day. The gap between dream and reality almost blending. Stratege… Oh Stratege… Wake up will you, the empire isn’t going to run itself “Are you ready my king?” asked Precise, snapping Stratege out of his dream. A confused look on his face before understanding his situation. “Yes, of course. Now seems a better time than any” Stratege said standing himself up from the throne, trying to shurg off his tiredness. “Okay… so how do we get to the centre of the palace? I’ve never seen it” said Precise, as the confused thoughts ran through her head. Stratege stepped to the centre of the throne room. As Stratege set himself into place, the guards of the palace saw forth to stop and remove ponies in the area. The king’s horn lit and a magical spell drew from it. The king pointed his horn in the direction of the throne, and a magical beam shot out and hit the large pointed crystal that sat on top the throne. The crystal turned from its ordinary purple crystal colour, to that of a shade of crimson. The shine of the crystal spread through the room, as part of the floor began to disappear in front of him to reveal a long spiral staircase down. Precise looked down the centre area of the staircase, and tried creating a light with her horn, one that was powerful enough that she might be able to see the bottom. No matter how hard she raised her magic level, the bottom seemed to remain nothing but a shadowy pit. “What is this?” Precise ask. She couldn’t see a bottom. Which was ridiculous, it seemed to go farther than even the crystal palace would allow so. “Where does all that space come from” asked Precise. “It is true it is at the centre, but you must understand the inside of a crystal is very different once one questions the ability of magically applications” Stratege said, trying to explain the difference between the inside of a crystal, and the meaning of “the inside of a crystal”. “What… is with… all the… stairs?” said Precise taking long breathes in between, as she tried constructing a complete sentence. “Think about how exhausted you have become already, how well do you think a prisoner with little strength and magic would fair?” said Stratege. “Serious…ly?” Precise said trying to catch her breath while still trying to keep up with Stratege’s pace. “We could have teleported, but it looked like somepony wanted the exercise” said Stratege pointing out that Precise was the first one walking down the stairs. Precise looked nearly ready to smack the king with her readied hoof fist because of that remark. At the bottom of the stairs there was a small open area with a single door on one of the walls. A cell door to be exact. From the opened bars of the cell, the first sight any pony could see was an exceptionally dark room. There was no light source to been seen anywhere within the cell. Looking closer, one could make out the lines of a dark figure, which could be seen was the centre point of a great number of chains that filled almost every spot of the wall. When the glow of Stratege lit up horn reached out to illuminate the figure, it revealed a pony. He had a deep black coat, clear that it was much darker than a normal coat, from the roughness and dirt covering it. This pony’s piercing purple eyes, shined through the deep blackness of the cell. Almost hypnotising, in a way. “Ah, so the “king” returns” Shadow said, “You shall speak only what I want to hear from you” Stratege replied. His voice lacking any of his normal compassion heard in his regular tone. “Don’t you mean “we”?” Shadow said, as he turned his attention to Precise. Her Presence jolted some reaction in him. He was looking at Precise very carefully. His eyes met Precise for a moment, and that moment was enough for Precise to take two steps back. “Tell me. Was it a filly or a colt?” Shadow suddenly asked. He didn’t smile, he didn’t smirk, but his head lowered by just the slightest. “Why?” Stratege spoke out loudly, still trying to keep a level and calm mind, but the very question drew blood from his lip. A way to hold the anger at Bay, for what little it could do. “Very simple. She gave birth to a Pegasus. I’m sorry” Shadow said, words that shocked Precise. Not the answer, but the apology. Precise interrupted, the small gap of silence “Your binding spells should stop you from using magic. Yet you elude you did this to the Queen. How?” "Guess?" Shadow taunted back. “You did a good job at locking away my magic I must say” Shadow said as he tried to produce some form of magic spell. The power from his horn backfiring and the power spreading down to his body, causing him pain from the visible magic surge. Enough power to drop one of his front knees down. Giving a moment to catch his breath, he raised himself back up to the position the chains allowed him to stand in. After being able to breath normally, Shadow finished his answer “But now is now. 8 years ago is a different story” “Then Why? Why didn’t you just…” “Kill her” Shadow interrupted. “I thought about it. It would have been so easy” said Shadow, as a smile appeared on his face and his there was a glimmer in his eyes for just a second. Once the second was over his smile dropped and he shakes his head back and forth in a quick motion. “No, that was wrong. Sky was like a daughter to me, and no matter how hard I... We try… we can’t kill family. Or so it seems” Shadow said picking up one of his long chains that dragged over the floor. Stratege stood with every fiber of his being telling him to blast Shadow with a powerful spell to shut him up, at the very least. His mind however held him back. No let him talk; remember how he loves to do that his mind repeated over and over as a reminder. “Even if I did kill her instead, what does that solve?” Shadow asked. “As kings we are forced to make sacrifices for the good of the empire. You failed to see that and so I took matters into my own hooves” Shadow continued. “That curse has caused an endless sleep that she will never wake from. No pony can break it. If they could you wouldn’t be here” Shadow said bluntly put. Shadow however tilted his head upward, as if he remembered something important. His lips formed to make a smile, as he slowly said out the words “Although, Shade could…” “Shade is gone” Stratege said as he interrupted Shadow. Shadow raised an eyebrow in what Precise could only guess was suspicion “Interesting… Then I suppose you want me to cure her then?” There was no response from any pony outside the cell. Aside from the crushing of the ground underneath Stratege’s hoof. “Very well, if you could unlock the cell along with all these cuffs and show me to her…” Shadow was saying just before he was cut off. “No” was Stratege’s immediate response. Stratege locked eyes with Shadow, and shouted out with a disgusted tone “There are no ways out of this for you. You will never see the light of day again. I would rather see you dead than let that happen” “Of course you wouldn’t. Certainly not today, certainly not tomorrow, but days turn into weeks, then months and years. Sure, you’d rather see me dead, but what about Sky?” said Shadow “I think my point have already been made very clear to you” said Stratege with that same disgusted tone. “It has” Shadow said, turning his head away from them. As Stratege and Precise left to leave, placing their first hooves on the stairs, Shadow gave his last words “I think we’ll be seeing each other again, at least, sooner than last time” Shadow yelled, loud enough to make sure that Stratege and Precise heard these words. Shadow sat back down and continued to do what he had for the past 8 years. What little activity he had. Thinking, planning, and playing with stones and his chains. Whatever took up his time, because waiting was the only thing he could do. Although through the strange winds that travelled through the smallest of openings and into his cell, echoes of voices were carried on these winds. Voices that reached the ears of Shadow, and voices only he could hear. “Look whose back to talking again” Shadow said with a greeting but smug tone. Moments passed as Shadow listened to echoes, the wind blowing softly through what hair that could move. “Oh no, quite the opposite in fact” Shadow said with a small smile. The wind suddenly picked up speed. Shadow was forced to close his eyes, and a harsh screech, almost like nails on a chalkboard did the echoes become. “I know because he lied” Shadow screamed back at screeching whispers. “He’s my son, he’s a good liar, but just not when he’s lying to me” The winds suddenly returned to their calmer state, until the winds died down completely, and Shadow was left his cell. “Time and patience, we still have a long way to go” Shadow said with a calmer tone. “We’ll both get what we want then” Shadow said he felt through his long dirty coat to an amulet he wore around his neck. His hoof felt over the front, which was rusted, and felt cold and hard. His hoof finally settled, centred on the small diamond shaped slot that was to have fitted a large crystal.