Fallen Kings and Crystal Hearts

by TheGreatPandaKing

A Train to a Small Town, A foreboding dream and the Click of Friendship

Darkness awaited the opening eyes of Kaleb. The impenetrable darkness gave off a foreboding sense of sorrow as Kaleb grew more awake. The chill that was ever-present in the blackness surrounding him chilled him to the bone and made his teeth chatter, or was that the fear that seemed to accompany this darkness?

An eerie cackle slowly gurgled from the air around him causing his eyes to shoot open and for a cold bead of sweat to run down his face, cutting across his cheek before it fell into the vast emptiness. His body shook from a sense of doom and despair as the malicious chuckle only grew in volume, as if it was feeding off the poor pegasi’s trepidation.

“Ah, so you are the one with the power of the heart,” a voice slithered from the incessant dark. “You are a hard one to find.”

The tan pegasus looked all around the room searching for the owner of the dry, dark voice but couldn’t see anything through the blackness. Only after another wake of bone-chilling laughter did a pair of green and red eyes cut through the darkness, the only signs of his malicious guest.

“I cannot believe you are the reason Luna beat me,” the voice then cut with a wild rage. “I cannot believe that you could boost her magic so well, unconscious!”

Kaleb took a step back but couldn’t escape the eyes which only seemed to float in the dark void around him. His heart pounded against his ribcage as more and more droplets of sweat slid down his face, his pupils grew to the size of pin pricks. A devious smile emerged below the, now amused, glaring eyes, parting only for another shrill cackle to snake out and crackle through the air.

“Soon,” stated the slowly emerging feature, “soon, your location will be known and I can, once again, have my crystal heart.”

Nostrils flared as more of the muzzle seemed to melt slowly into existence. The smile grew as its pony ears flicked free from the sledge of the darkness around it.

“I will have you and ALL MY PONIES!”

Just as the horn of the black furred unicorn became visible, an explosion burst from the darkness, accompanied by a familiar midnight blue alicorn standing in front of Kaleb, her wings flared and her horn alight with power.

“Thou shall stay away from our charge!” Luna boomed to the fraction of the dark stallion.

With a stamp of her hoof and the light of her horn the figure and blackness dissolved into nothingness and a grassy field took their place with the night sky gently twinkling above them.

Kaleb’s unease slowly melted into a sea of tranquility as the sight of the beautiful sky above him. A small smile made its way to his lips and his mind thought about an old memory, one that he hadn’t thought about for some time. The only difference was, he could see it going on before his very eyes.

---

He saw himself a few years back, as well as a slightly tipsy Luna, walk into the clearing. Kaleb’s face was slightly flushed from alcohol and he nearly stumbled as he flopped onto the grass. Luna gave a bit of a smile before she “fell” onto him with a bit of a drunken chuckle.

“So, why’d we have to go drinking again, Madame Vice Principal?” He managed to slur out as his friend sat back-to-back with him.

The air rang for a bit in Luna’s rare bubbly laughter for a while before she rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes drifting lazily to the moon in the sky.

“Well, how else are we supposed to celebrate, Mr. Author? Besides, it’s been a while since we’ve hung out like this.”

The night wind lapped at their faces as they both looked into the sky. The smell of the air hung about the still air presenting the smell of water and wild grass. Cicadas and crickets both sang their tune for the two as the stars danced for then their slow, almost romantic waltz.

“Do you remember when we used to always come here?” asked Luna, “Back before we could drink and all?”

“Do I?” Kaleb scoffed with a smile, “How could I forget? You and Celestia always insisted we come here. Even when we were young you’d say this was your kingdom and that, as your loyal knight, it was my duty to defend you.”

“Well, sir knight, you were always good at you job.”

The two laughed the whimsical laugh of pleasant memories as they stared at the stars in the beautiful night sky. A smile crossed the face of the young Kaleb as he listened to the soft breathing of his drunk friend.

“You know, I never really got why you and your sister always wanted to come out here with me.” Kaleb breathed out. “I mean, it’s not like either of you were ever starving for friends.”

The red-cheeked new vice principal looked softly at her best friend, the one who was there for her even more than her beloved sister, and couldn’t help but tenderly smile.

“Tia was always the one with friends Kale.” She stated in a matter-of-fact tone. “She was the one that the guys wanted and that the girls wanted to be. I had you and that’s all I wanted.”

The tipsy woman brought her cheek to Kaleb’s before closing her eyes in bliss.

“You never treated Tia better than me and you didn’t just put up with me, you were with me because you wanted to be with me even when my head was in the air.”

“In the clouds,” Kaleb lazily corrected his friend while the warmth of her cheek spread to his.

“Right, that one.” Luna giggled “I don’t know if I could have chosen a better friend.”

Once more, the light breeze of the night licked the cheeks of the two as they basked in their company. Kaleb’s smile was just as lazy and content as it ever had been, while Luna now looked at the sky with a slightly serious look on her face.

“You’ll always be with me, right? You’ll never leave and never speak to me again?” she chimed in lightly.

“Do you really have to ask that?”

Luna turned her head on Kaleb’s shoulder to look at him, his eyes transfixed on the moon above them.

“I can’t even imagine life without knowing you. You and Celestia have been my only friends since I was a kid. You two have always been there for me and I’ve always been happy about that but out of the two of you, I’ve always gotten along with you the most. Not to mention, I don’t know who would correct you if I wasn’t around.”

Kaleb’s mirth was shown as he laughed and closed his eyes. Luna’s serious visage now had a smile and she brought her lips to his cheek before quickly getting up, nearly causing Kaleb to fall back.

“Come on, Kale, we’d better get back. It was nice drinking with you but Tia’s probably wondering where I am.”

Kaleb stood, in a daze, and softly felt his cheek before Luna took his arm and practically dragged him into the trees and back toward the city.

---

As Kaleb watched this shade of his past vanish, the sting of a tear came to his eye. He hadn’t really thought of that moment in a while and now it was all that it took to cause him to break.

The somber chorus of his wails struck the silent moon princess that also watched the scene. She knew not what those creatures were but she knew they held great significance for her quivering subject. The memories that came with that vision were warm and full of a love that she had never felt before and, for some reason, it caused her heart to beat for the mysterious stallion all the more.

It was then that with a glow of her horn the forest slowly faded away and was steadily replaced by a memory of her own: a stone flooring and regal rug cover the once grassy ground until stopped by a wall with a hearth and fireplace. The entire room that the two now found themselves in was almost medieval in furnishing without furs. The banners that were held on a wall held the old Banner designs from the founding of Equestria and a young blue filly lay close to the hearth.

Kaleb’s weeps slowly stopped as he beheld the scenery around him that seemed to appear out of nowhere until his eyes rested on the blue filly.

---

A little Luna yawned in silent content as the fire of the fireplace crackled for her drawing a smile to her face. She went about stretching like a cat as the gentle blaze of the fire helped warm her little filly frame. The gentle light making sure that she didn’t wake up too fast.

The door to the room then began to slowly open, casting a light into the room that cascaded across little Luna.

“Sister, are you still sleeping?” came a gentle voice in the pathway.

“Tia! We wew just waking up.”

“Oh, Woona, you know mother and father asked us to be up for them while they met with the different tribes.”

“We know, Tia, but the wight of the fiwe is so nice.”

The little blue filly finished her stretching and slowly trotted over to a slightly older Celestia. Both their manes and tails were in solid form signifying how young the two really were. The young Celestia nuzzled her little sister when she approached, a smile on both of their faces.

“I know, little sister, but rules are rules. Though, I guess a little nap might be fine after they get back.”

The two sisters laughed and giggled for a bit before Celestia opened the curtains to the room as a small ball of light rose in the sky, brightening it to its pastel blue hue.

“Daddy alweady wose the sun?”

“That’s right, mother and father will be back soon.”

“He always wises the sun when I’m asweep!” harrumphed the tiny alicorn.

The elder white alicorn giggled a bit as she trotted over to her downtrodden sister. She delicately put a hoof around her shoulder before nuzzling her affectionately.

“There, there, little sister,” she hummed, “father knows you are supposed to be up at night and he cannot ask you to forgo your sleep.”

The midnight blue filly looked up to her sister, a slight sadness reflecting in her eyes, before burying her muzzle into her.

“I just wanna see him wike you do ‘tia.” little Luna exclaimed through her sister’s fur.

The young Celestia placed a hoof on her younger sisters back and rubbed it reassuringly as she began crying into Celestia’s chest. The little blue filly hugged her older sister and cried her little heart out as the orange glow of the fire watched them as an ever-silent guardian.

---

The image that appeared before Kaleb began to waver and dissolve as Luna softly landed beside him watching as the two young shadows faded. A piercing silence permeated the air between the two as they stood on the now blank dreamscape. Kaleb looked to the mare beside him to find her still looking to the spot where the two fillies were just moments before, her eyes on the brink of tears.

“We…I just thought you should see our memories since we saw...”

The princess couldn’t bring herself to finish what she was about to say, instead diving into her own silence again. Her tears began to finally stream from her closed eyes as she lowered her head and began sniffling.

Kaleb felt his heart ache at the poor mare and did the one thing that he thought would cheer her up, he nuzzled the weeping mare’s cheek.

It was then that an outside noise crept through the atmosphere.

“Hey….wake up…Ponyville.”

The dreamscape began to tremble a bit and Luna righted herself as she walked away while the voice continued.

“…wake up! We’re in Ponyville!”

The world got hazy as Luna vanished from the crumbling dreamscape and reality finally broke through.

“Hey, come one you, wake up! We’re in Ponyville!” screamed a slightly angry Ditsy Doo. “My muffin’s waitin’ for me and I really gotta get home.”

“Huh…what’s that about a muffin?”

“Come on sleepyhead, we gotta go!”

The mare steadily pushed a still groggy Kaleb Brown out the door of the train where they were both met with a flash.

“Perfect! Just the kind of picture I was hoping for.” came a happy voice behind the temporary dots that the flash left behind.

“Muffin!”

“Hey beautiful, it’s been a bit huh?”

“Yea, stinkin’ overnight shipping.”

Kaleb’s vision finally began clearing up and her was greeted with a green stallion with a brown and orange mane and tail as well as orange fur covering half his legs.

“Nice to meet you, name’s Click.”

Author's Note:

Here's your new chapter, sorry it's taking so long I will try and rectify that.

Comments

[Whiskey Drops]

the mane is brown and orange xp and half of his foreleg is orange. x3......Silly Ditzy...

[TheGreatPandaKing]

4453294 Soon, I assure you. Thanks a lot for the feedback. I know there's a lot I have to work on but, for now, I can only rely on critiques, trial and error. I don't have the money for college classes.
4450802 I'll edit that right away! Glad you're liking it, my friend.
edit: Fixed it!

[TheGreatPandaKing]

4454696 And I do that enough now. I mostly rely on the wonderful people that give me honest critique. Thank you and I hope you continue to give me feedback.

[Fimguy292]

Great story!! Can't wait for more!