Fall of the Crystal Empire

by Blaster Master

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

“What did you say?” Sombra asked with his teeth clenched in barely contained fury. Floating in front of him was the captain of the Crystal Guard patrol that had lost Cadance. He was held in a magical grip by Sombra’s magic not-unlike the one Queen Sonatina found herself in a little under a year ago.

“I-I-I said…” The captain choked out, trying to speak as his entire body was squeezed, “There’s… No way she… C-c-could survive out… There… She’s probably… Already…D-d-dead…”

Just as the captain was turning blue from lack of oxygen, the king released the stallion, who fell to the throne room floor in a heap, gasping for breath.

“Captain, am I an idiot?” Sombra asked nonchalantly.

“What?” The stallion asked, confused.

Sombra teleported from his throne to right next to the prone captain, looking down on the captain with a furious scowl on his face.

“I asked you if I am an idiot,” Sombra hissed, his deadly voice sending a chill down the guard’s spine, “Answer my question.”

“NO! No, my liege you are not an idiot!” The captain cried.

“Then why do you think I’d stand to let Cadance go on the assumption that she will die in the Northern Wastes?” Sombra’s eyes burned with furious purple energy and his tone was colder than the most frigid tundras of the North, and yet he still did not raise his voice, “Until I see her frozen body at my feet, I’m going to assume she’s alive out there, right now, heading South to inform those damned Alicorns about what’s been happening here. That must not happen. Now get out of my sight!” Sombra teleported back to his throne in a flash and sat down angrily.

“She must not be allowed to escape! You will personally lead a search party into the wasteland for Princess Cadance. Or her body, I don’t care which. And you will not return without her. Or you’ll wish you’d had the mercy of freezing to death…”

***

Cadance had been walking for days through the snowy wilderness, heading south. She kept her direction straight, ironically, with the help of the lessons her uncle had taught her about how the sun rose in the east and set in the west. Being a Crystal Unicorn born of the Crystal Empire, Cadance was naturally tempered against the cold, and combined with a spell her father had taught her that kept her warm, she was able to avoid dying of the cold. At least for the moment.

But Cadance’s journey was far from comfortable; she had no food, only snow for water, and a long, long way to go. She walked and walked, wishing more than ever that she had her father’s powerful and graceful wings. She wished those wings could wrap around her and keep her safe. More than anything she wanted to wake up and see her mother and father, press herself against them, feel their warmth against her skin, and know that the last year had all been a dream.

But this wasn’t a dream. She was miles and miles away from help, starving, tired, and her magical energy was running out. When it did, it wouldn’t take long for her to collapse and freeze. She’d learned from her uncle about the effects of hypothermia; about how when somepony’s core temperature went down, they begun to suffer from decreased heart rate and blood pressure, loss of musculature coordination, and organ failure. And she knew that if she didn’t find help soon, that would happen to her. She’s become overcome with fatigue, collapse into unconsciousness on a snow bank, and never wake up. Like she was drifting off to sleep…

But she refused to give up. Her mother’s words repeated in her head like a drum beat:

You have to live.

You have to live.

And so she went on and on, mile after mile. Over frozen lakes and hilly tundras Cadance walked. Until finally, her magical energies wore out and she could no longer keep herself warm with magic. She wrapped her cloak around herself as she went, but it was soaked in moments as another blizzard began to roll over Cadance. The wind screamed into her face and she shivered violently. The princess pressed on, her progress becoming slower and slower, until she finally collapsed. Cadance crawled a while further, but eventually, her limbs became too numb to even move. She just lay there, shivering as the cold set into her. As things began to grow dark, she saw bright lights. And she wondered if this was it… Her death. But then there were concerned voices behind the lights and she knew she was safe.

She fell asleep.

***

Luna quickly trotted to the Canterlot Castle Infirmary. She had heard the news, but couldn’t believe it... As Luna went to open the door to the infirmary, they were violently slammed open. Behind the doors was Celestia as Luna had rarely seen her. The sun princess seemed to glow with fury and a grim scowl darkened her face. It was the kind of look Luna hadn’t seen her older sister wearing since Discord’s reign of terror. Celestia stormed past Luna, who only just got out of the way in time to avoid being trampled.

“What has happened, sister?” Luna questioned, “What-?”

“We fly for the Crystal Empire,” Celestia stated with cold anger, “Tonight. Assemble the Royal Guard.”

“Sister! Speak unto us!” Luna demanded “Tell us what transpires!”

Celestia turned to face her sister and her expression had not softened.

“The king and queen are dead. They have been for nearly a year.”

Luna’s eyes widened in horror, unable to believe one of their closest allies had been slain without them having a clue.

“But the letters from Luzra…”

“Faked,” Celestia stated, turning away from Luna and continuing her march “By their new king, to throw us off his scent.”

Luna hurried after her sister, trying to keep up.

“How does thee know?” Luna asked “Is it true Cadance is-?”

“She’s in there. Some travelers picked her up half frozen to death on the northern border. They took her, nursed her back from the brink and contacted the Royal Guard. I had her flown here as quickly as possible. She woke up a little while ago and informed me of the situation in the Empire.”

“And what is the situation?” Luna begged, desperate for information.

“The situation is that Sombra has murdered his brother, seized the throne, declared martial law, and used dark magic to solidify his hold over the Crystal Ponies. He’s been torturing his own people for a year and we were completely in the dark. We thought we told thee to go assemble the Royal Guard.”

“Sister, that sounds like madness!” Luna interjected “Sombra would not do this! Cadance is a dear filly but if she is as thou say, she may have her facts wrong, her mind addled by what has happened to her. We should not act so hastily! We can organize a scouting party to-”

“WE MARCH!” Celestia thundered, her voice rattling the windows, as she spun around to face her sister, “TONIGHT! SOMBRA WILL PAY FOR HIS CRIMES BEFORE THE SUN SETS TOMORROW! Now cease thy inane prattle and do as we have bid thee do!”

Celestia turned and continued her trot. Luna did not join her.

Luna’s face burned red despite her blue coat. She felt her frustration grow in her heart, felt like she wanted to yell back at her older sister, but she resisted. She gritted her teeth and turned off to go summon the Royal Guard.

***

King Sombra stared at the Crystal Heart. It glittered serenely in the moonlight and it perfectly reflected Sombra’s glower. At the king’s hooves was a scroll he’d received from his spies in Equestria. The Princesses were on the move, along with a small army of their Royal Guards.

And they were heading north. Heading for him.

So you found a way Sombra thought, Somehow you found a way to see through my subterfuge, block my magicks, escape my empire, and tattle on dear Celestia and Luna. I suppose I underestimated you, my niece…

It didn’t really matter if she had managed to slip from his grasp for the moment, she’d die in due time. He would make sure of that. But first he needed to defeat the Princesses of Equestria who were coming to overthrow him, and that was no easy feat. Which brought him to the Crystal Heart’s holding area. It was the one thing that he knew for certain would stop them, maybe even kill them. But he needed to be able to use it for that.

“Open,” Sombra ordered the Heart.

It didn’t respond.

“Activate!” Sombra commanded.

It still didn’t respond. It never did before, why should it now?

Sombra finally got angry and fired a blast of magical energy from his horn into the Crystal Heart. The Heart deflected the energy and left no damage.

“HELP ME!” Sombra shouted at the Crystal Heart, “You are the most powerful weapon my brother ever had! And he was a fool! I am a genius! I am a conqueror! I AM A KING! I deserve everything my brother ever had and more! Now help me!”

The Crystal Heart did not answer the dark king.

After a few seconds, Sombra finally turned around, heading for the stairs. But he gave one last look back at the uncooperative stone.

“Fine, then. Plan B it is…”

Comments

[Ese Wey]

im liking this story even more as the chapters pass