Keeper of the Crystal Heart

by Cerulean Voice

Love Conquers All... (part two)

“Hurry, Luna! We have to get there as fast as we can!” Aura cried. The cold night air whistled past her ears as her magical chauffeur stared ahead. The Crystal Princess let out an involuntary shudder.

“Yes, child, I know. We would be there faster, but it takes a great deal of concentration to hold you all. I am lucky I can fly, support you all and talk at the same time. My Element assists me, but it does not grant me limitless power,” Luna explained. The moon had sunk towards the horizon, signalling dawn’s approach. At least, it should have by now. Has everypony forgotten to raise the sun? Or… Luna shook her head at the chilling thought. “It is not far now. Once we round that mountain in the distance, we will be in Unitopia once more. Just a few more minutes and—”

“Luna, what’s that ahead?” Valencia interrupted. “Looks like some kind of odd raincloud…”

Luna and Aura squinted their eyes and examined the dark mass in front of them. Before they could do so though, a cornflower-coloured shape streaked through the air toward them.

Cirrus returned to the group, having scouted ahead. Able to take advantage of the crystal corn, and unburdened as he was, he had zoomed ahead at breakneck speeds to suss out the status of the city. He shook, though from cold or fear it was impossible to tell. “We've got a... problem, everypony!” With the girls all staring at him, he turned around to face the dark cloud. “Changeling ambush at twelve o’clock!”

“Changelings?” Aura yelped. “How many?”

Cirrus shot a grim glance back to her. “Fifty, at least. Maybe more.”

Valencia’s eyes widened. “Fifty? How are we supposed to contend with that number? We’d better surrender, we’re horribly outnumbered.” She trembled in Luna’s magical grip as the gravity of the situation descended upon the group.

Luna frowned. Surrender? She would give up that easily?

“No. We can do this. We have something they don’t.” Luna turned her head to Aura, surprised to hear the words from her mouth. She noted, with interest, the uncharacteristic fire in the filly’s eyes. “We have power,” Aura continued, “power that they won’t be expecting. It may be dangerous to use the strength of the Heart against them, but we also have our crystal food. We can catch them unaware; they won’t be expecting a fight at all from a party so small as us.”

While Valencia and Cirrus looked uneasy at the prospect of a real combat situation bearing down on them, Luna smiled. A filly of royal blood, willing to fight to protect the ones she cares about. This is the sort of princess I would gladly serve. Alas, she’s too important to risk her safety like this. “Aura, though I greatly admire your valiance, I must insist that you do not engage these foes," she commanded. "You are not their target. I am. We must find a way to get you all to safety.”

“But I’m prepared to stand up to them now, Luna! I have to protect—”

“You can protect Clover by listening to me, here and now,” Luna insisted, interrupting the princess. “These changelings have been dispatched to take me out, not you. There is a high likelihood that they will not be expecting any other ponies in combat, so there is no need for any of you to get involved. I am going to set you down on the ground now. You, Valencia, Clover and Cirrus will make your way on hoof back to the city. I shall keep these monsters busy for as long as I can but in the meantime, it must be you who returns to aid my sister.”

Luna’s eyes glowed as she tapped into the power of Magic, conjuring a spherical, midnight-blue shield around her body. “Go now. Whatever you do, do not stop running. Celestia needs your help!” Lowering them all to the ground, Luna shut off her levitation spell as four sets of hooves hit the grass. “Unitopia should be only a half-hour’s gallop away. Get moving!”

“Luna, you can’t do this alone! You need us—” Aura’s protests were swept away by the sudden wind gust, generated by Luna’s large wings as she took flight once more. “Luna!” she cried. “Come back!”

As Luna’s image grew smaller in the twilight, Aura kicked at the ground in frustration. She turned to Cirrus. “What are you waiting for, Cirrus? Fly after her and stop her! She needs our help!” She shook the pegasus roughly, but Cirrus stood resolute, shaking his head.

“Luna’s right, Aura. We’ve gotta get back to the city pronto—who knows how much trouble her sister could be in? She could be our only hope in stopping this invasion.” Cirrus took a breath and placed a hoof of his own to Aura’s cheek. “Besides, aren't your family there too? Your parents are royalty, correct? If anything, they’ll be the first ones targeted, if they haven’t been already.”

Remorse crossed Aura’s face. How could I have forgotten about my family? she wondered. She turned her gaze to Valencia. “Well, I suppose you agree with Luna and Cirrus?” The mare nodded in response.

“Yes. Luna can look after herself, considering the fact that she holds just as much power as you do after a hoof-full of crystal berries. We’d just better get back to the city and sound the alarm! I have an idea how to get there much faster, though.” Valencia took a berry from Aura and placed it into the mouth of the still-unconscious Clover.

Clover stirred briefly, registering the foreign object in her mouth. As she gently chewed and swallowed the berry, her eyes opened suddenly. Her coat took on a gentle glow, not as radiant as the others’ but nevertheless more than obvious. She sat up, beaming at her company.

“Hello, everypony. Did I miss anything?”

* * * * *

Celestia frolicked through the forest clearing, the warm sun bearing down on her exposed back. Violets, orchids, roses… everywhere she looked, there were beautiful plants and flowers. As she spread her giant wings, her sister joined her in the clearing. Luna’s smile radiated joy and laughter while she sprinted up to Celestia and tackled her in a playful hug. Laughing, Luna got to her hooves and stared down at her sister, who was still trying to get up herself.

“Hey, silly filly, what was that for?” Celestia asked the younger, smaller pony.

“Do I need a reason to give the greatest sister in the world a heart-felt hug?” Luna continued to giggle, even while she shot a tickle spell at Celestia.

“No—stop—cut it out—hahahaha—really Luna, stop it—ahahaha—”

Luna pranced over to the elder alicorn and looked into her eyes.

And booped Celestia on the nose.

“Tag! Come and get me!” she yelled, taking flight and releasing the tickle charm. Celestia’s ragged gasps returned to normal almost instantly.

"Oh, it, is, on, Luna!" Celestia bellowed, spreading her own wings and chasing her midnight-maned counterpart.

“Wonderful! I knew your dreams and memories would be tasty, Celestia, but not like this! You've an astonishing amount of love for this sister of yours, haven’t you?”

Celestia’s eyes snapped open. The first thing she registered—after the unwelcome voice—was her upside-down position in a strange, green-tinged pod. Beyond the encasing, she could see the changeling queen sucking on a strand of some potent-looking green fiber. A fiber that stemmed from the pod containing her. As Mantissia continued to slurp up whatever the pod was producing, Celestia felt herself growing steadily more cold. It was subtle, barely noticeable, but she could tell that something was wrong.

A wave of shock passed over her as she remembered how she’d come to be in her unfortunate position. Why didn't Loyalty work? Did I not believe in my family enough? Am I not passionate about protecting them? Before she could ponder her situation further, a loud spurting noise grabbed her attention. Mantissia had spat a glob of the substance out on the floor at her hooves and retched in disgust.

“Why did you have to bring up thoughts of self-doubt in the middle of my love binge, Celestia? You've absolutely ruined my meal!” The queen poked at her tongue. “Now I’ll have to dispose of this batch and distill another!” Pouting briefly at her victim, Mantissia’s look soon returned to ecstasy. “I have to say, though, your love is perhaps the most delicious and nutritious thing I've ever had the pleasure to taste. Be a dear and fall asleep once more, please? I wish to dine upon your dreams of Luna again.”

Reeling with revulsion, Celestia glared at the emotion succubus. “You shall not have any more of my love, foul creature! I’d sooner die than have you absorb another drop of my power. You deserve nothing that you take by force. Why do you not try making a pony fall in love with you by actually being a decent member of society? Is that so difficult for you?”

The queen looked like she’d been slapped in the face. “A pony, fall in regular love, with me? Hah!” Mantissia laughed, without humour. “Have you even considered the fact that your race finds us disgusting on principle? Look at me! I’m dark, chitinous, holey, and my voice terrifies foals. How could anypony love a changeling the natural way? We've had to remain underground, in the shadows, stealing snippets of love from our victims. We've never had a choice!" she snapped. Turning away from Celestia, the queen felt long-suppressed tears begin to well up.

“From the very beginning, we were monsters. I hatched from a pod, much like the one containing you now. I was immediately hungry, yet no foods could truly satisfy my craving. You have no idea what it’s like, eating as much as you can possibly find; gorging on an amount that would make a dragon explode, only for it to leave you wanting. It was like the food passed right through me as I ate. Nothing sated my hunger.

“One day, I happened across a lone Earth pony’s crop. Unable to resist, I devoured an entire tree-full of apples, only to have him sneak up on me and knock me out from behind. Later, I awoke, bound and gagged in his storage shed, with him glaring up at me. I was terrified. I started crying, pleading for my life. Then, unexpectedly… he softened. His face dropped its scowl, his muscles relaxed. It was then that I felt the barest of positive emotions emanating from his heart. I latched onto the emotion that he unknowingly provided me, unaware myself of what was about to happen.

“His mercy filled a pit in my stomach that no food had ever been able to. It wasn't exactly the most delicious feeling I've tasted, but it was something. I felt stronger, calmer, more confident in myself. I apologised to the farmer and offered to work for him, as compensation for destroying his crop. He begrudgingly agreed, although he kept a very close eye on me for the first few days. I wasn't so good at the harvesting of the fruit, although I was very efficient at scattering new seeds. I covered five fields in less than half a day.

“The farmer began to respect me, and to praise me for my work. These new positive feelings welled up inside him, and I extracted them. Every day, I grew stronger. It wasn't long before I began to feel the emotions’ potency increasing. I required less and less each day to feel full, refreshed and energetic. The farmer, in turn, was delighted to have such a diligent worker. I, who never asked for anything in return, but took only that which he never seemed to miss.

“A day came when I was approached by the farmer, a different emotion surrounding him. It was the most juicy, sweet thing I’d ever tasted. It was his love. He had learned to love me. I myself had begun to feel some kind of reciprocation. He loved me as a stallion loves a mare, and during those times, I was never happier. I grew so powerful from his most potent of emotions. But it was not to last.

“I could not stop myself gorging on all of his love. Very soon, I was taking much more than he could give. He came to resent me. He refused to lie with me, stopped speaking to me. Eventually, he had become so cold and devoid of emotion that he stopped responding to me altogether. One fateful day, he threatened my life, told me I was… disgusting. He told me to leave his property and never set hoof on his land again, under pain of death. Something in me just snapped… pretty soon, his neck had also.

“I retreated to the natural caverns beneath Sky Mirror Lake. There, several months later, I underwent the most agonising experience of my life: labour. I birthed exactly one hundred foals, all drones but for one little daughter. I suddenly found myself with an over-sized hive that I could not supply adequate nourishment for. Every minute, a foal screamed into my mind about the lack of food, and how they were starving. I cursed the day I had ever allowed that stallion to love me.

“It was not long before I discovered the accidental advantage of having a pony for a lover. My children were able to shape-shift their bodies into the form of any other pony they had laid eyes on. To do so required nutrition, though. Nutrition that we lacked. So began the raids. Every night, we would sneak around under cover of darkness, gently siphoning minute amounts of love from sleeping mares and stallions, feeding off their love for each other and their own children. Yet we never dared to openly reveal ourselves again. Stories and tales had already began spreading about the vampires in the night. The ones who would steal a pony’s soul before killing them.

“That,” concluded Mantissia, “is the reason why we are unable to act like decent members of society, Celestia. We cannot control our urges for the taste of love—we're insatiable.” The queen bowed her head. “I didn't ask to be made this way. Blame my creator, whoever they are.”

Vorjhan. It all comes back to him. The most wretched of all Dimiourgia’s creations. Celestia felt her own small amount of pity towards the queen, something she had not imagined possible only moments earlier. But the fact remained that the queen was attempting to overthrow an entire nation of ponies, make them emotion slaves, and feast on their feelings while draining their souls and hearts of any worthwhile substance. Whether I like it or not, they are the enemies of harmony. They must be stopped.

“I’m sorry.”

Celestia did a double take. The words reached her ears, but her brain delayed their processing. “What?”

Mantissia glared back at Celestia. “I said I’m sorry, Princess. Sorry it has to be this way. But nopony will ever accept us for what we are. Especially not now—not after what we've done. I have to continue this invasion. It’s the only way to feed my children. Now return to sleep, Celestia, and I promise the extraction process will be painless.”

“The process will never be completed, My Queen."

Rotating on the spot, Mantissia turned to face her new adversary. The waiting snarl on her lips died as suddenly as it appeared, to be replaced by a look of incredulity. There, standing before her in the throne room, were four of the most ridiculous-looking ponies she’d ever seen. She recognised one as Clover the Clever, one of her drones having briefly taken the mare’s form as a disguise. The other three she had never seen, nor even seen the likes of. A shining orange Earth pony mare, an equally-as-radiant light blue pegasus colt, and the most brilliant of them all: a small, pink unicorn filly.

“Hahahahahahahahahahaha!”

Mantissia’s cackle echoed throughout the room. “So, these are the champions that stand between me and the fruition of my ultimate plans? What a riot! You all look like you belong in a jewellery store!” As Mantissia continued to laugh, she failed to notice the berries that Aura and Clover popped into their mouths. She did, however, notice the beams of concentrated magic that shot past either side of her head.

Crash!

Startled out of her fit, the queen recoiled while pieces of Celestia’s pod rained down upon her. As the final shards fell across her protected face, she gasped. The alicorn had taken up a defensive position against her, side by side with the other mismatched ponies. Clover and the filly stood on either side of Celestia, horns lowered. Recovering rapidly, Mantissia readied her own defenses and faced her opposition.

“So this is it, huh? The battle for your precious Equestria?” Mantissia taunted the defenders. “You've forgotten who you’re dealing with! I hold the ultimate power, at my exclusive disposal. Now, your precious love shall be your undoing!” The queen took a single step forward… and slammed into Celestia from behind.

The champion of Harmony was sent flying towards the throne. Celestia grunted from the impact, though her shield had managed to absorb most of the blow. How did she move so fast? She barely had a moment to let the thought pass before a black hoof slammed down onto her face. Even through her shield, Celestia felt a bone in her nose crack as she tried to suppress a cry of pain. Charging up her own horn, she made to fire a concentrated beam at her would-be assassin…

Only to find that Mantissia had been knocked off her feet. Rising to her hooves—a healing spell already going to work on her bloodied nose—Celestia observed the cause for Mantissia’s unexpected flight: the pegasus. The little colt had flown at an impossibly fast speed, his dense bone structure inflicting massive damage to his target.

At least, it should have been massive damage.

Mantissia flitted back onto her own hooves, no longer grinning. “You pathetic, insignificant larva! You’ll pay for that!” The enraged queen zipped towards the pegasus, intending to squash him against the ceiling. An infinitesimal amount of time before she connected, the colt vanished. Mantissia was unable to pull up before the momentum carried her into the ceiling instead. With a soft pop! the pegasus re-appeared at Clover’s side, preparing another launch.

“You foals! Thinking you can defeat me!" Mantissia screeched. “My power stems from all of the love that my hive has absorbed. I myself possess the love of Celestia, along with your precious king and queen! I’m unstoppable!" Mantissia launched herself from the ceiling once more at Celestia, swerving at the last second to catch out an unsuspecting Valencia. The Earth pony gasped as she was hit in the face by a solid chitin hoof. She was launched back toward the opposite wall, lucky to be spared the second impact by the protective magical net that Aura cast her way.

Thinking fast, Aura altered the momentum of the pony in the net, flinging her back towards her target. Mantissia was unable to avoid the glistening Earth pony’s return hoof to her cheek, the power of an entire family behind the impact. A resounding crack cut the air as Valencia produced a break in Mantissia's face.

The queen yelped at the sudden, unexpected pain, knocked off her hooves once more. Valencia quickly galloped back into formation, bringing up a hoof to rub her own damaged cheek.

“So, you’re all fighting as one, are you?" Queen Mantissia panted. "I admit, your minds work well together. Perhaps even as well as my own connection with my children. But we’ll see who’s really the last one standing!"

Comments

[Albi]

A good chapter. But Mantissia's story leans a little to the exposition side if I'm to be honest. Though the whole story explains how Changelings got to be where they are.

[Jioplip]

This review is brought to you on behalf of the group: Authors Helping Authors
Name of Story: Keeper of the Crystal Heart- Love Conquers All- Part two!
Grammar Score: 9
Pros: - Mantissia is both totally hateable and completely pitiable. Two emotions I wish she'd choke on.
- Luna's selfless strategy is just awesome.
- That fight scene seriously gt my blood pumping! Well, not literally, my heart did that.
Cons: - There's a section of the story (after Mantissia's tale of woe) where a *****-type scene-break is present, but it doesn't seem to fit, since Mantissia picks right back up with talking to Celestia.
- Mantissia's backstory was a tad meandering, but the way it ended was powerful enough that I will forgive it.
- Cliffhanger... (Not really, I ran out of complaints xD)
Notes:
So... This may be my new favourite chapter. Also, Mantissia not technically being a Changeling? Did not see that coming, excellent twist on her and her kin.

I'm honestly overwhelmed, usually only Bronywriter gets my emotions boiling in this way, I feel honest, genuine, strong emotions, happiness, sadness, anger, pity, more anger, genuine sympathy even.

Sorry for being super-late with this review, I was sick for a while and it slipped my mind, but I'm mostly better now. Also, congrats on EQD!

This is Type Cast, signing off!

[PaulAsaran]

I'm with Luna; how is it possible Valencia, of all the ponies present, would suggest surrendering? talk about OOC.

And then I question how Luna would know that the 'fire in Aura's eyes' are uncharacteristic to her? They literally just met.

Aaaaaaaah! And Luna wants to serve Aura? Celestia annoyed me, but this? I have no words.

And she's keeping aura from fight, when she is guaranteed to be able to defeat the changeling hordes, for her safety? When you have an uber-weapon, use it. so now Luna's going to go – pointlessly – get her ass kicked and captured just like her sister, cementing once and for all the total worthlessness of the royal sisters, while sending Aura and co. to a city that they already have solid reason to believe is filled to bursting with hundreds if not thousands more of the very things she's trying to protect them from.

Why are the sisters even in this story? To be abused? To make us like them less? To make the die-hards feel all angsty when they inevitably lose?

Yeah, that super-lengthy exposition on Mantissia's background and the origins of the changlings? Didn't move me one iota. Kinda hard to be moved while Celestia' stuck in a soul-sapping pod of evil. You want me to feel for Mantissia? Do it when she's on her last leg and doomed, not when she's more or less won. Why is she even bothering to explain all of this to Celestia? This whole thing could have been done in one or two paragraphs and been much more emotional and realistic.

On the plus side, I do like that you've rendered the changelings irredeemable by having them unable to control their hunger. Pretty much wipes away any and all opportunity for, say, reforming them, and forces them into a tragic life-or-death struggle for which there can be no positive outcome. That is a good idea.

Okay, I'm going to put my doubts aside and assume that you'll be explaining exactly how Clover is with Cirrus, Aura and Valencia – probably by needless extrapolation or – even worse – a monologue. I also imagine you'll have a reason they were able to get there within what appears to be no more than a matter of minutes. I shall hold off my criticism on this point for now.

Last but not least, why is Mantissia resorting to physical attacks? If she holds the supreme powers she claims to possess, shouldn't she be, I dunno, using them? Oh, wait, you were doing the 'I don't need to use my full strength to win' thing, weren't you?The typical cluelessness of a typical villain.

[Ice Star]

Mantissia is by far the most unique name I have seen for a changeling. She also reminds me of some character from Greek myths although I am having a hard time figuring out which one. Gaia? Hera? Echidna? Probably one of those...I'm pretty sure it was a goddess of some sort. Maybe a Titaness or monster.