"I don't see anything out of the ordinary, Captain." Shining Armor stated, eyeing the creature inside the dome.
"We're having a bit of trouble with the creature, Your Highness." the captain saluted, his hoof lightly thunking against his helmet as he did so.
The Crystal Prince face-hoofed, groaning as his hoof slid down his face.
"Just...nevermind...what's the problem?"
"It's trying tell us something," the crystal captain said hesitantly, pausing for a moment "but...for the life of me, we just can't tell what it's saying."
"Have you tried translation spells?" Shining asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Everyone in our arsenal, sir."
"Alright...uh..." Shining Armor said, hesitating as he thought on what he should say.
Not wanting to alert the other guards in the vicinity to the plan formulating in his head, the newly-crowned prince whispered into the captain of the guard's ear. The captain's eyes widened, almost fearful as he backed away from the prince, unsure if he should follow the order just directly given to him.
"S-Sir? Are you sure?" he asked, trying not to show any sign of weakness to his superior- one little slip could cost him is job.
"Yes, Captain, I am." Shining replied, not a bit of doubt showing in his voice, though coming to a furious broil in his mind.
The captain nodded, and his horn glowed, releasing the blue-skinned creature from its prison.
It glanced around its surroundings, down at the curious equines surrounding it, whom were now a safe distance away, the diameter of the ring having grown quite larger in the few seconds it took to set the creature free.
The pyromancer made its way through the sea of crystal ponies, waiting with baited breath to see what would happen. The ponies side-stepped the creature, all-too-eager to get out of its way as it walked towards the Crystal Prince.
Shining gulped, wondering if this was the best possible decision he could've made. He suddenly regretted releasing it in such close range of civilians, chastising himself for his rookie mistake concerning hostile prisoners. It loomed over him, its terrifying mask staring blankly down at him, preventing him from detecting what it could possibly be thinking- would it kidnap him? Take him hostage as revenge for capturing it in the first place? Or-
*GLOMP*
Shining struggled to breathe as he wriggled in the creature's thickly padded arms. The crystal guard jumped into action, already far too late to save their beloved prince from his fate.
"Er, you're welcome?" Shining stated, staring up at the dark face of the creature.
The creature released him, and made a strange gesture with its hand, the thumb sticking out, with the rest of the fingers curled in, against the fist.
Given the creature just gave him the bear hug of a lifetime, Shining took the gesture to be a friendly one, and coughed into his hoof.
"Well, Cadie and I are sorry-"
Shinging recieved a polite jab to the ribcage from his wife, forcing the stallion to wince as the wind was knocked out of him.
"We're sorry." Shining rasped.
It seemed to accept his apology, and it turned and went on its merry way, humming a merry tune as he went.
Pausing a moment, it stopped right next to a mare standing beside a fruit cart. It stared at her a moment, before it raised its index finger, then touched the mare's forehead.
She screamed as she fell to the ground, writhing in pain as the flames spread over her body and burned. Shining leapt into action, as did the guards, as they proceeded to chase down the pyromancer. It took notice of them just in time, and began running, fleeing for its life as the crystal guard gave chase to it.