//------------------------------// // Chapter Five - Updated // Story: Kingdom Hearts: Star Swirl´s Legacy // by NightmareShredder //------------------------------// Chapter 5 – Fall of the Crystal Empire First day on the job, and Emerald Feather had already been posted to the Crystal Heart. That never happened normally, but today was anything but normal. When the sky broke apart, Princess Cadance and Shining Armor had doubled the patrols throughout the Crystal Empire in order to keep the citizens calm. That left the mint-green pegasus and another rookie, a red earth pony Emerald didn't even recognize, to protect the magical artifact. "That was quite the happening last night huh? Never thought that my first day guarding the Crystal Empire would be so exciting." said Emerald. It couldn't hurt to get to know the pony whose shift he was sharing, could it? He could watch the perimeter of the Heart's azure glow just fine while he talked. "W—What? Oh yeah sure. … Exciting and stuff." Was this guy serious? Emerald was pretty sure he'd caught the other guard dozing off. "Are you alright back there? You sound tired." "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just, this would have been my first day off in weeks. My wife and I had a whole day planned, then I get kicked out of bed and marched off here." "Gotcha. Just … try to stay awake a little longer okay?" Emerald said. "What's your name, by the way?" No answer. He turned around, only to see no trace of the red pony. "What the—" Just then, Emerald felt a strange sensation beneath his hooves. He jumped away just in time to see it turn black, and to avoid a clawed arm grabbing at the air where he had been standing. "Oh, we got a fighter here, have we? Well, the better you are, the better for me!" A monster, bigger than any animal Emerald had ever seen, pulled itself up out of the darkness. Its bulky body stood on two way-too-short legs. With its huge arms and strange face it looked like a mixture of a gorilla, bear and cat. The pegasus tensed and dropped into a ready stance. "Who are you? What do you want?" "I'm here to steal your precious Crystal Heart of course! And I'll turn all you cute little ponies into Heartless while I'm at it," the creature said, grinning all the while. Emerald had heard enough. He grabbed his spear, and leapt at his foe. He did not get far, though. Another enemy jumped out of the darkness and pulled the weapon out of his grip. Surprised, Emerald was unable to dodge the cat-bear's huge fist. The impact crushed the air from Emerald's lungs and flung him across the square. He tried to catch his breath, but coughed and writhed as his ribs stabbed him inside. "Don't worry about the pain, little fella. It'll be gone any second now," said the cat-bear, plucking the Crystal Heart from between the two spikes that held it suspended. The strange dark creature, that had first attacked Emerald now loomed over him, staring down with dead, yellow eyes. The cat-bear put a huge hand on Emerald's chest and everything around him went black. "Fall back! Reform the defenses. Everypony gather in the throne room!" Shining Armor yelled, driving his soldiers before him. He had to build up a defensive line before the enemy reached Cadence. They were attacked without warning. Just as the panic was cooling down, guards and citizens started to disapperear, and strange black creatures appeared all over the Crystal Empire. Ponies flocked to the Crystal Heart, but found it had disappeared. Without the Heart, the shadow-like monsters were free to roam the streets, attacking any pony careless enough to cross their path. Even the Guard wasn't safe. Lemon Amber had strayed from his patrol and been ambushed. By the time Shining Armor arrived to help, Amber was surrounded. The monsters pinned him down, tore open his chest, and ripped out something glowing and crystal. Shining Armor would never forget Amber's gurgle in that moment. Dark, tarry sludge gushed from his mouth and eyes, covering him in seconds. He rose again as one of them, deformed, bulky, and gnashing his new sharp teeth. If Shining Armor hadn't witnessed it himself, he would hardly have believed the monster had once had been a pony. Only a few of his soldiers remained now, driven back into the castle. The creatures had appeared mere hours ago, and he was on the verge of losing the Crystal Empire. Shining Armor shoved away insistent memories the changeling invasion of Canterlot. He ran into the throne room, joining the two dozen guards who were already there, and together they slammed the doors shut. "Don't let anything through! Block that door with anything you can find! All unicorns, shield spells!" Orders given, he ran to Cadence, the Princess of the Crystal Empire and the love of his life. She met him halfway and threw her hooves around him. Her horn glowed a familiar warm blue. "You're safe! I was so worried." "Me too." He stroked her mane, then pulled away and looked up at her horn. "Is that the spell you used against Sombra?" he said, hope in his voice. Cadance nodded. "I can stop them coming in, but I can't get rid of the ones already here." "Then you have to go! They're converting the crystal ponies somehow." Something heavy slammed on the door from the outside. "What about the spell we used on our wedding day?" Another thud on the door sent the guards reeling. They barely managed to brace themselves in time for the next strike. Shining Armor had learned two lessons that day. One was that he'd do anything to protect Cadance. The other was to always trust his sister. She needed to know what was happening. It hurt Shining Armor to trick his wife, but he pulled her close and touched her horn with his, just like the spell required. His magic, however, slipped a yielding blue crystal block under Cadance's wing. He and Cadance had found it in one of Sombra's old labyrinths. The mad king's research notes said he'd stolen the teleportation gem—he called it a Star Shard—from Star Swirl the Bearded himself. Sombra had abandoned it when he couldn't figure out how to make it to take him where he wanted. But the only place Shining Armor wanted Cadance to be was far away from here. Somewhere safe. "Shiny, what are you doing? You can't! Stop this right—" The magic of the block cut in, turning Cadance to a ball of light and sending her bouning around the room and out the window. Shining Armor sighed in relief and turned around. It was time to join his soldiers. They held the doors shut with all their might. Six unicorn guards had merged their magic together to form a glimmering shield of light. He galloped over to them and added his magic into theirs. He could feel the flood of enemies pressing against their last stand. It seemed to pay off. It took a few minutes, but the pressure against the double doors slowly died down. The guards visibly relaxed, the unicorns hanging their heads and the earth ponies and pegasi slumping against the doors, exhausted, but grateful for the reprieve. Shining Armor's hope was short-lived, however. From the other side of the doors came a voice, somehow more forceful than all the invaders' battering. "Meteors, judges from the dark, turn this wall into an arc. Crush, destroy, tear them apart! Turn this crystal into shards!" Shining Armor threw up a shield, but was only fast enough to cover his ponies. The door broke apart, battering the shield with crystal splinters and overwhelming magical force. The shield fell, and Shining Armor with it. He lay on the floor of the throne room, gasping for air, pain throbbing through his body. All the guards he could see had fallen too, some burned, some bruised, one with a crystal shard sticking out of his chest. Where the door once blocked the way stood a gaping, jagged-edged hole framing an impossible figure. It stood there, looking down on the beaten and broken ponies, a cold smile on its face. A demon from the deepest abyss of Tartarus, admiring its work. It was tall, clad in a black and violet robe. Horns curved like Tirek's jutted from its head. Its yellow reptile eyes stared down at the defeated unicorn. He turned his head to glare back up at it. "Now look at that. One of these vermin still has strength enough to move. How … unusual!" The cold, female voice sent chills down Shining Armor's spine. It was calm, soft even, but void of any mercy. "I am Maleficent," she declared. "As the new Queen of this empire, I will rule over you ponies. From now on, this shall be a realm of darkness!" Shining Armor answered with all the strength he could muster. "W— We will never bow to a monster like you." "Oh, I think you will." Maleficent smirked confidently, her eyes narrowed. "Pete! Throw this one in the dungeon! He will make a fine Heartless." Shining Armor's consciousness slipped away as a huge figure loomed over him.