Chapter 1
Princess Cadance looked upon the city of Canterlot with great pride. Ponies worked with great spirit, not because they had to, but because they could. The smell of baked goods and delicious food wafted through the city, as if the grease of fast-food was banished from this utopia. Ponies shopped and shopped, emptying their wallets happily for high-quality goods. Princess Cadance sighed happily, knowing how happy the people were.
“Good afternoon, Princess Cadance” Princess Celestia greeted her, “How goes your day?”
“It’s going quite nice, everything is peaceful and well in Canterlot” Princess Cadance responded as Princess Celestia looked at the sights as well.
“Something I really love about Canterlot is the wonderful things that bring joy to all five your senses” Princess Celestia sighed happily.
“Yes, we can hear the working of happy ponies, the smell of food, the sight of happiness, the taste of happiness, and touch of nice clothes” Princess Cadance responded. She had remembered what Princess Celestia had taught her when she was adopted many years ago.
“How goes Shining Armor? The last I heard that he was sent to look after strange activity” Princess Celestia asked her niece.
“Yes, there was some rumors and a few stray photographs about crystals rising from the earth” Princess Cadance reminded her, “And there were a few cases of ponies going missing from the nearby areas”
“Ah, that’s right” Princess Celestia remembered as she poured Princess Cadance and herself a cup of tea.
“Many ponies are speculating that this could mean the start of something ominous, evil even” Princess Cadance responded as she took a sip of tea. It was a special kind of green tea, her favorite kind.
“There could be something malicious at foot, but in my best thoughts this might be some random magical mishap” Princess Celestia sighed as she also took a sip of tea.
However, as the two continued to chatter amongst each other, the door leading to the balcony slammed open! Catching Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance off guard, a messenger ran in. He was thin, with large glasses and sweat all over him, having run all over the castle.
“Princess! Princess! There are new reports of a mysterious castle made of crystals popping out of the ground! They’ve been spotted near Fillydelphia!” The messenger reported before collapsing on all fours due to pure exhaustion.
“Dear Equestria, does this mean that he’s back?” Princess Cadance worriedly asked Princess Celestia.
“This doesn’t mean anything, we need to investigate further into this matter” Princess Celestia reminded her niece, “We can’t go and start a panic among our citizens”
“Alright then, we must get to the scene as soon as possible” Princess Cadance sighed as she looked at the messenger.
“Messenger, do you know how long it would take to reach the scene by train?” Princess Celestia questioned the messenger.
“I guess it would take about a day” The messenger huffed as he passed out.
“Well then, shall we be off?” Princess Celestia asked Princess Cadence, who quickly nodded in agreement. She knew that Shining Armor was there, and he might be in danger.
That night, as the train sped down the tracks, Princess Cadance sat from her seat and watched the stars. She remembered the day she and Shining Armor first met. It was a night similar to this, on a train to be more precise.
She almost fell, with Shining Armor catching her. She remembered how they continued to talk afterwards, eventually ending in her marriage. That day and all other days felt happy, unlike what she felt now.
“Cadance, I’m sure that Shining Armor is okay” Princess Celestia calmly tried to assure Princess Cadance, “He’s been through much worse in the past, and I’m sure he’ll do fine now”
“I understand that, but since the day I married him, I’ve had some sort of metaphysical connection with him” Princess Cadance sighed as she pulled out a locket, revealing a picture of her and Shining Armor.
The next day, Princess Cadance and Princess Celestia had reached the affected area, seeing a few ponies relieved by the sight of the two royalty. However, some still looked frightened. When they reached the command tent, the commander sat, reading various maps.
“Your majesty, the troops went into the crystal fields and haven’t returned from their recon mission” The commander informed Princess Celestia, who scratched her chin.
“Should we go inside? We have no idea what awaits inside” Princess Cadance asked Princess Celestia.
“Yes, and I’ve brought a couple of royal guards to provide some cover for our entrance into his castle” Princess Celestia answered.
“Not to be rude, your highness, but how do you know the one who owns the castle is a he?” The commander questioned Princess Celestia, not trying to upset his ruler.
“Because I have a feeling I know who the owner of the castle is, and what he’s going to do” Princess Celestia responded grimly as she and Princess Cadance left the tent. Grabbing their guards, they began to advance the crystal field.
“These crystals don’t look like those that belong to the one you’re speaking of” Princess Cadance noticed as she looked upon the crystals.
“They do, but some of them do feel a bit different” Princess Celestia replied as she put her hoof on one of the crystal growths. It felt strange, almost like it had a pulse or a small heartbeat.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this” A Royal Guard gulped as all of the crystals began to glow strange colors. The colors shifted from white, to green, black, orange, and then back to white.
Stepping back from the crystal, a group of Royal Guard surrounded the crystal, pointing their spears at it. As Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance slowly walked towards the crystal, it began to crack. Not like that of a crystal falling apart, but more like an egg hatching.
“Good morning, Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance!” A voice boomed from the distance, “Welcome to the start of my new kingdom!”
“Who’s there?!” Princess Celestia demanded as the top of the mysterious castle began to glow with a black and red light. A pair of green eyes filled with a dark shadow appeared, and began laugh.
“Do you not remember myself? I sealed the Crystal Empire long ago, and now I come to seek power with a new army!” The voice cackled as Princess Celestia’s eyes widened.
“King Sombra! You will not enslave the ponies of Equestria!” Princess Celestia’s voiced boomed in defiance of King Sombra’s evil.
“Fine, then you have chosen death to all those in Equestria!” King Sombra laughed as the crystals that surrounded them began to burst, revealing strange creatures inside of them!
The creatures had a crystalline appearance, shiny and clear. They had four legs in an almost insect-like form, having a square body and a jagged head. They had no hair or nose, but they had red-gems or blue-gems for eyes and a mouth cut out of its head.
“What the hay are these things?!” A Royal Guard exclaimed as the creature with the blue-gem eyes opened its mouth, revealing a blue-gem. It then fired a laser-like blast from its mouth, cutting a Royal Guard’s spear in half!
“No way! Those things just cut through them like paper!” Another Royal Guard cried as four of the creatures jumped onto him, swarming and blasting him with their lasers.
“To all forces, we must retreat!” Princess Celestia declared as she and Princess Cadance began to lead Royal Guard through the maze of crystals.
However, as the group made it out of the maze, Princess Celestia had noticed six of the ten Royal Guards were no long with them. She put two and two together and ran with the others.
“Wait! I can see him!” Princess Cadance exclaimed as she ran back into the crystals.
“No! Cadance!” Princess Celestia called out for her niece, seeing a group of the creatures chasing after her in the maze of crystals.
Ignoring Celestia, Princess Cadance ran through the crystals. She moved gracefully, dodging through the unhatched crystals and the creatures that were spawned from them. Seeing past a horde of creatures, she saw the one thing she cared about most.
“Shining Armor!” Princess Cadance cried as she laid eyes upon Shining Armor’s unconscious body. He looked like he had been out for a day, probably by one of the creatures. Princess Cadance checked for a heartbeat, breathing a sigh of relief as she found one.
Picking him up on her back, Princess Cadance froze in terror as hundreds of the creatures surrounded her. Princess Cadance closed her eyes and hoped for a miracle as the creatures opened their mouths.
“Open fire!” A voice roared as green laser-like shots were fired upon the creatures, shattering them!
“What happened? Am I dead?” Princess Cadance whispered as she opened her eyes, seeing the creatures now shattered. However, one rose up and began to charge a beam, until it was destroyed by a green blast!
Almost dropping down the sky, a group of white ponies wearing a light body-armor and a special helmet came down from a strange gunship. The gunship had had a jet-like cockpit, along with a square body and missile launches on the top. Out of these gunships came more of these white ponies. Looking at them, they did have black manes and white bodies.
“Are you okay, ma’am?” One of the white ponies asked Princess Cadance. He seemed like the others, but he had a blue mane instead of a black mane.
“I am, but who are you?” Princess Cadance responded, then asking the pony the question.
“My name is CSLDR-2913” CSLDR-2913 introduced himself as he blasted a creature with a strange gun-like weapon, “But you can call me Commander Shrike”
As the rest of the white ponies finished destroying the creatures, Princess Celestia approached Commander Shrike and a group of the white ponies. All of them bowed to Princess Celestia, which made her raise an eyebrow.
“Just who are you ponies?” Princess Celestia questioned Commander Shrike.
“Your majesty, there is someone you should speak to, and we can take you to him in person” Commander Shrike answered, now showing a pre-recorded voice of the being.
“Hello, Princess Celestia” The voice greeted Princess Celestia, “My name is the Clonemaster, and I want to make you an offer”
(To be Continued)