//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: The Path to the Crystal Empire // Story: The Unseen // by Shadow Beast //------------------------------// Queen Chrysalis sat in her throne as Verdugo took another look at the Crystal artifact. Her patience wore thin. “Does this have anything to do with our mission?” “Not quite,” the Queen replied with a sinister smile. “It has everything to do with it!” She pulled the crystal away from her and placed it behind the throne again. “You are to go to the North. Far North. There, the Empire shall rise.” Her smile grew wider. “Your team is tasked with its capture!” Verdugo did a double take, glancing and counting over her shoulder. “Even counting our goat, we are only six changelings!” The Queen chuckled. “Why do you think I granted you a breeder?” She waved them off. “Make yourself an army. But I want that Empire by week’s end!” “So that's our mission?” Verdugo scoffed. “Capture a place that doesn't exist with an army that doesn't exist either!” An unseen army in an unseen world. Chrysalis waved them off. “Your highness!” Starchy pleaded, stepping forward. “I am still hearing a voice in my head!” A shocked Verdugo couldn't tell which snout to watch closer. Chrysalis crooked Her head. “And ignoring it isn't helping?” Starchy shook his. “It just keeps coming back.” Chrysalis thought for a moment. Verdugo stepped between them. “I am so sorry about the breeder, your highness,” she pleaded. “He doesn't know not to--” Chrysalis put a hoof up to her. “No... No. This is something more. This ‘voice’ has been very chatty among new recruits lately...” She smiled and pulled the crystal back out. She placed it in front of the breeder. “Focus on it. Encourage it. Tell me exactly what the voice says about this.” Starchy peered into the crystal. The voice was silent. “Come on,” he thought toward it. “Why are you so quiet?!” You're focused. Good. Because I know how this world ends. And exactly how everyone in this room is going to die. Tell Her. “It said the Crystal Empire will reappear in a day’s time!” Starchy repeated. Good boy. The crystal flung itself away from the changeling and landed back behind the throne as quick as Her horn stopped glowing. Chrysalis was beaming. “I knew there was some unseen force manipulating My troops without permission!” She laughed. “Change of plans, changelings! Take your goat and your breeder and head North immediately! Take over that Empire and we may never need the love of ponies ever again!” The more things change, the more things stay the same. “Why do we need the goat?” Verdugo asked. “We don't need a breeder anymore...” “You have your exoskeleton still?” Chrysalis replied. “His ‘deer in the headlights’ routine will keep it on you.” Verdugo nodded. “Alright.” “And thank you, breeder,” Chrysalis called out to him. “If you survive this, I may name you something with honor to it.” She rubbed her chin. “I haven't named someone ‘Masquerade’ in a millennia...” She looked down at him from her contemplation. “Well?” She waved him off. “I'm still thinking! Come back when your mission is over!” Starchy quickly nodded and turned to catch up with the rest of the troop. The guards dropped Shadow at Verdugo’s hooves. Brucie rushed to his side, helping his still bleeding body off the ground. “No time for a doctor visit, I’m afraid,” Verdugo told him. “We’re due North. At the Crystal Empire.” “The Crystal... Empire?!” Shadow shook his head. “Why?” Verdugo trotted past him, ushering Brucie along. He dragged Shadow’s body along as the hind legs hobbled behind to keep up with them. The general turned her good eye to them as they continued to the exit of the castle. “We need to capture the Empire. We need to secure its unending resources for the Kingdom.” She nodded. “It’s time we were true heroes of our Queen once again!” ‘True hero of the changelings’ sounds like a terrible oxymoron. The feminine voice giggled for some reason inside Starchy’s skull. “What are you?” Starchy thought back at it as the squad took to the skies again. “Where did you gain this knowledge?” It's written on your hoof. As plain as your face. Traced in your broken heart. And your shattered memories. “What are you talking about?” I am talking about hope and destiny, two concepts much too foreign for you. Friendship, beauty, harmony. What do these mean to you? Starchy was as lost as ever. That’s what I thought. “Shut up.” Starchy shook his head and looked around for something to take his mind off of the voice. Brucie let Shadow go, and the bleeding changeling smiled as he stayed aloft by his own wings. His eyes caught only a glimpse of Verdugo’s smile, who quickly turned her head back north. His smile faded and he looked down at the trees again. “So why did Chrysalis pick on you?” Verdugo asked Shadow. “If you want to talk about it.” “I was just shocked She knew that about me,” Shadow explained. “That I had been to the Crystal Empire before it...” His voice trailed off. “Anyways, yeah, that’s about it. I know that the crystal She had was from the Empire, but honestly that’s about it.” “So how old are you?” Verdugo asked, turning her head back toward him. “The Empire’s been gone for a thousand years...” Shadow shrugged with his good shoulder. “That’s the thing... I don’t really know. This whole ordeal has brought some memories back.” He shook his head. “It’s almost unreal...” A smirk creased Verdugo’s snout. “Remember anything useful about the Empire?” Shadow’s only front hoof held his head as he winced. “There’s... there’s... something.” His body shook almost rhythmically. “It’s... a heart. Crystal... Heart.” He shook his head as his foreleg lowered back to his side. “There should be more, but I can’t remember...” Verdugo nodded. “Well, whatever it was, I'm sure it'll come back to you as soon as we get to the Empire.” She turned back to the north with a straight face. Can I tell you a secret? Starchy ignored the voice the best he could. It's a good one... “Verdugo,” he called out to her. “The voice in my head won't shut up...” “Does it have anything to say about the Empire?” Starchy shrugged and thought about it. The Crystal Empire was unseen by the world. No living creature knows or even remembers it existing. Starchy scoffed. “It says there's no way that anyone knows anything about it.” He glanced at Shadow, who seemed to be spacing out or focusing on some feature of the horizon. Verdugo watched Shadow for a brief moment. “Yeah, I figured.” The general stopped in mid-air, forcing everyone else to stop as well. She turned around and stared at Starchy. “How did you know how long it will be until it's back?” Starchy gulped and shrugged. “I... I have no idea. It just kinda came out of my mouth when the Queen called on me.” “And we’re all sure that this is a valid lead?” Dreary asked. Verdugo smiled at him. “The Queen believes it and ordered us to follow it.” She shrugged. “Does that really matter?” Dreary smiled back. “I suppose not...” She turned back toward Starchy. “But how did you know? The voice should only have access to what’s already in your head...” She paused. “Unless... Unless it’s a telepathic link and not the actual voice.” Her tone became more desperate. “Starchy, please tell me, how many voices have you heard in your head?” “Just the one,” he replied, unsure of all this “telepathic link” stuff. “Are you sure? Because if someone out there is talking to you telepathically and they know when the Empire returns...” Starchy scoffed. “The voice told me itself that there’s no way anyone could know when the Crystal Empire comes back!” “So it was just a bad lead,” Dreary noted. Verdugo shook her head. “No, Chrysalis never takes the voice seriously.” “Is this just a lot of reverse psychology playing back and forth?” Brucie wondered. “Only one way to find out.” The general flew faster. The group made it over a large mountain range, and on the other side laid a barren, frozen wasteland. “It should appear by the time we reach the center of this place.” She looked back at her team. “Guys, I don’t think I’ve had time to properly welcome our two latest recruits.” She landed atop one of the snowy mountains and beckoned the others to do the same. “Private, Shadow... I hate unexpected death in my ranks,” she admitted in a solemn tone. “Here’s the thing, as the Royal Executioner, those kind of deaths don’t exist.” She shrugged and smiled nervously. “Because every mission is a suicide mission.” She shook the nerves off of her back. “But today might just be different. We will not die for some random cause, but instead for the whole of the kingdom!” Am I hearing the murderer talking some sense? Verdugo continued. “If we can take this Empire, it will mean the end of a lot of problems back home. So... We all have to be willing to give it everything. That means everything.” She sighed. “I know this might sound a bit dark, but if some of us have to die today for this mission...” She forced a smile. “It will be worth it.” False alarm. “So what, are we first on the kill list for being new?” Shadow asked, trying to keep himself from shaking. “I’m talking about extremes here, pal.” Verdugo chuckled. “I’m going to make sure as many of you survive as possible.” A bright light shined behind Verdugo, as if the sun had crashed into the snow. Everything behind her was white, blinding light. Then, it faded. Beyond the cliffside, in the middle of a once barren wasteland lay an expansive empire, with a crystal tower shining in the middle of it. The changelings shook in excitement. If you’re really my friend, Starch... you’ll turn around. You’ll run away. Only then will you survive this day.