World of Equestria

by Lunar Soldier

Wrath of the Crystal King: Part I

Author's Note:

I'm changing the format a bit. Thought I would keep the chapters shorter, easier to digest segments instead of 10k word epics.

Exile, Mike thought as his boots plowed through the snow, exiled in their hearts for my sin. One year had passed after the wedding incident. The wedding wasn't held until the next month so the other ponies could rebuild and repair the damage done during the attack. He had tried to offer aid where he could, but no pony would even dare look him in his runic eyes. Celestia had addressed her kingdom concerning the events that had transpired on the day that came to be known as "The Verdant Wedding."

The risen army had returned to their resting places only hours before Mike regained consciousness. Risen Pegasi made sure those changelings not caught within the blast zone were quickly dispatched. Undead Earth ponies were gathering the bodies dead changelings who hadn't disintegrated in the mana bomb's energy. Risen unicorns were preparing a mass grave to the north of Canterlot, on the other side of the mountain. At least I had the courtesy to throw some dirt on them and return their essence to the soil. Mike thought as he raised a hand to block a spot of sunlight that had broken the veil of blowing snow. I could have ended up like...him.

The training of Celestia's army had hit a standstill. Soldiers were reluctant to show after they learned they would be taking lessons from Mike, if they even showed at all. Some deserted and became pacifists, while others simply went AWOL. Cowards. Hellscream would have their heads, he thought as he picked up a handful of snow, placing it in his mouth.

While his back was turned to the other guests, Mike couldn't shake the feeling that everypony in the room despised what he did, raising their passed family members to fight. As the wedding parties preceded down the aisle, Celestia motioned for Mike to walk with her. A murmur of fluttered, hushed voices filled the hall; he could hear them. "How can she stand with such a vile beast?" "After what he did, I'm surprised he's not on the moon." "I think I saw my parents on that day. They passed away two years ago. They were to be at peace forever." Peace? The last pony's words clung to him like the snow and ice now did on his cape, only to be blown and whipped by the arctic winds. Do they really think they find peace in death? There is nothing there. Nothing but emptiness.

Mike had not dared show himself at the reception. Twilight was the first to notice his absence, and quickly galloped to Mike's suite to find him packing his things. "I thought I would find you here." she managed to say between puffs.

Mike hadn't brought his sight to her until she spoke. "Then you understand why I wasn't at the party." He noted her wedding attire. "You look lovely, by the way."

"Thank you," she started, "but no, I really don't." She walked to a window which overlooked the reception. "Cadance herself gave you her blessing as her first royal duty. It was her way of thanking you for saving-"

"But her blessing meant nothing." Mike butted in. "It needed to have come from Celestia." Mike threw a backpack over a shoulder. "Then, in the eyes of everyone, they would have at least understood why I did what I did."

"They DO understand though." Twilight trotted over to him, bringing a front leg to his stomach and pushing him down onto the made bed. "Celestia told them what happened and why."

"The ponies heard and understood the 'what' part." He stood, "They don't care about the 'why.'" He made it halfway to the door before Twilight took his hand by magic.

"Please, don't." Tears now began to fall. "Please don't leave."

"I have to, Twi." He knelt down, taking her in his arms in a deep hug that lasted what felt like a lifetime. "What else am I supposed to do?"

"Come stay with me." she whispered in his ear.

"And do what?" he said back.

"Teach me," she sniffed, "Continue our lessons."

Mike backed away from her, keeping her hooves in his hands, "There's nothing more I can show you." She frowned. "In these eight months that I have taught you, you've absorbed what should have taken years of dedicated study."

"You never did show me portals." she said in a whimper.

"Portals? Those are easy." He walked over to his nightstand and grabbed two runes of portals. "Here," he placed one in her hoof, "it's simple. You think of the destination that you want to go that has a receiving rune, create the image of the place, channel the image to the rune for ten seconds," he thought of the rune in Ponyville, "and give it a toss."

Mike was too flustered with his explanation to realize the rune he had in his hand started to glow with arcane energy. Only after the rune hit the floor and the portal to Ponyville opened did he take notice. "What the..." he tried to comprehend his ability to open portals, "That shouldn't have happened."

"You retain your mage powers as a death knight?" Twilight asked.

"I must have." Mike quickly shut the portal. "The magics here must be stronger than even I can realize. Or..." He thought of when the essence of the val'kyr disappeared into him, "That was their final gift."

"Who's gift?"

"Bulwark's, and the others." Mike put his hand over his heart, "Whatever remained of their powers must have been transferred into me."

"So you can go back to teaching me the ways of the arcane?" Twilight hopefully asked.

"You already know more than enough." he responded as he adjusted his backpack. "Now it's time for you to create your own magic."

"Create...magic?"

He put his pack on the ground, "Twi, the ways of the arcane are infinite. Archmage Antonidas theorized we were just barely scratching the surface when it came to magical prowess." He approached her. "I was trying to summon weapons that would be bound in hand, made purely of arcane energy. Some magi were beginning to toy with time-space manipulation when I left." He turned, now observing the commotion in the courtyard. "Can you imagine what kind of power a person...or pony, could have if they could be anywhere, at any time?"

"You could go back to when you weren't a death knight!" She frantically blurted out.

"Twi," he swung back into the room, "by the time Antonidas even considered the possibility of infinite uses of magic, I was already dead." I'll never get used to saying that. "And we never had the time to consider the possibilities of experimenting with space-time. We had to deal with the reintegration of the other death knights, the patching of relations after the Wrathgate incident, and, on top of it all, the cataclysm."

She trotted over to him, magic taking both hands this time, extending them forward. She placed her hooves in his open palms, trying her best to maintain balance on her two hind legs. "We will find a way. If what you say is true, we can at least banish the curse of Ner'zhul from you once again, just like your council did."

"Those powers are lost to me now." He held her hooves in place, "It took the combined powers of six aging archmagi eleven agonizing days to purge the taint that now resides within me, in a process that damn near killed me...permanently." Mike pulled his hands back, now letting Twilight rest on all fours again. "I know that you, Celestia, and Luna are all powerful...but I don't think it will be enough." He glanced over to beside his bed, seeing Sorrowmourne standing upright, propped up against a dresser. A swing of it around to his back sheathed the sword. "I hope, in time, you can forgive me for what I did." he said as he started again toward the entryway.

"I forgive you." he heard her say. "And," he heard a hoof come down in his direction, "I need you."

"Twilight, this world holds no place for me. We Death Knights are the remains of an age long lost. Who I was died with me on the day of my falling, both on the first and second day. These ponies will never accept me, as I will always be an abomination to them. This place is full of love and life, something I am not. Arthas may have been a tyrant and a monster, but he gave us purpose. He gave us meaning, one that this mortal realm cannot offer. And now, I am doomed to wander." He opened the door. "And that is exactly what I intend to do."

---

Stupid, he thought, now slowly making his way down the backside of a mountain, I could have been nice and warm-ish, with good food instead of this mage garbage. The land he traveled was mostly barren, with only sharp rocks jutting up out of the ground, blocking the blowing snow. Their formation puzzled him, as they looked more crystalline than they did rock.

There was no feeling of cold to him. Whenever the wind would whip around him, or a gust came in, all he felt was a dull ache in his joints. It was the same feeling he remembered as the armies of the Horde and Alliance approached Icecrown Citadel. The snowstorm had let up some, and visibility was returning. Mike hadn't noticed until he reached the bottom that he stood at the basin of a circular bowl, surrounded entirely by the raised edges of small mountains. Eerie, he thought, observing the landscape, Completely flat. Prime real estate. Another break in the clouds brought his hand up, blocking the light that shown through, but also illuminating the other side. "Can't be more than twenty clicks." he told himself as the light was hidden by clouds again. He hadn't taken more than a couple of steps when another break in the clouds appeared, this time shining directly on him. The blinding light past over him, paused, then shone over him again. What in Celestia's name is going on?

Oh, no...Celestia, he thought as the warmth of the sun turned to fire on his exposed skin. They're looking for me.

A break in the wind caused Mike to hear what he thought was a faint voice. "Mike?" the light called out. The wind blew again, closing the break in the clouds.

He didn't know what possessed him to start running. Mike's legs just moved, trying to get out of the holy rays. Beams of light started streaking through, penetrating and shining on the snow. Even the reflection off the pure white snow burned Mike's skin. Crisscrossing beams of light formed around him, and he did his best to try to become the artful dodger death knights were not usually known to be. A beam fell on his shoulder, irradiating his cursed armor. It was enough pain to cause Mike to lose focus on moving his feet, sending him face-first into the pure white snow. He reeled in agony, only to notice his armor had either been superheated or the magics of the light melted the snow beneath him.

He managed to sit up in the wet snow, only to see the beams of light beginning to converge in front of him. Still on the ground, he shuffled back when he saw another crystalline-shaped rock. He leaped to take cover behind it before being rebuked by a bluish-white flash.

Mike was flung several feet from the rock, landing on his back. He cursed under his breath, and brought himself upright. The impact with whatever magic had left him dazed, as he could only see a blur the still converging light and where he came into contact with the now arching magic. He could hear it crackling, and when his vision returned, Mike could see arcs of energy coming in from all directions, curving in from above and laterally. They seemed to be converging around a circle where he hit.

"What in Celestia's name is this?" He unsheathed Sorrowmourne and approached the impact point. "Some kind of..." Mike gave the circle a poke from Sorrowmourne, "shield?" The circle flashed, throwing his sword back, and grew in size. The arching energies were coming in greater numbers, coalescing around the zone.

The force of Sorrowmourne being thrown back took Mike with it. Landing on his back again, he became so infuriated with the shield that he didn't notice he had landed on soft grass until he stood. The holy rays had melted the snow and softened the ground, but had now disappeared, and the green grass was becoming snow covered again. He looked back to the shield, the impact circle now decreasing in size. He assumed it must have been damaged when he came into contact.

Mike recovered Sorrowmourne, and brought both hands around the hilt. He yelled, bringing his unholy blade from an overhead swing down to the shield's scar. In a flash that left him blinded by light, he had felt the blade hit snow. After reopening his eyes, he observed blue-hued cracks forming on the curve. The once invisible shield became distorted, turning from a bright blue to a violet-black. The ground began to tremble, and he saw chunks of the shield disintegrate.

It took no more than sixty seconds for the shield to fully reveal what looked to be a city. Tall, jagged spires took the place of distant mountains. Mike found it most peculiar to why someone would want to keep a city hidden under a blanket of snow and ice, but when the final remnants of the shield fell, it revealed green grasses that seemed to be untouched by the weather. He felt the winds shift direction, now blowing in the direction of the city. Why not? he thought as he stepped from thick snow to grass.

---

The snowstorm had ceased by the time he reached the outer edge of the city. Moving from dirt to gleaming crystal streets made a satisfying "clink" when his boot came down. The sun had broken through the clouds, illuminating the great crystalline structures lining the path, giving it almost a heavenly glow. He took note of one great spire positioned on what he assumed was the center of the city. Hmmm...might be a good place to start, he thought as he turned to move toward it. Figure out where I am...or, he looked around, where everypony else is.

Mike hadn't taken note of the eerie absence of any ponies that might be inhabiting the city. He had been too focused on the crystal buildings and replaying the collapse of the shield in his head. "Hello?" he called out to the empty air. "Is anyone...or anypony, there?" Silence and a gust of a breeze were the only responses. "Anypony?"

A creak of a door hinge made him swing around in time to see a pony close a door. He walked up to the door, knocking three times. "Please," he tried to reason to whomever he saw, "I'm just a wanderer." Desperation got the better of him. "I need help."

A latch on the door turned, and Mike was relieved to see the nose of a pony emerge. "I'm sorry," the voice sounded shaken, "but I've never seen anypony like you before."

It reminded him of Twilight, That's one of the first things she said to me. "Well, I've never seen anypony like you, either. Do you know what this means?"

"No?" The voice from behind the door asked.

"We've known each other for less than twenty seconds, and we already have something in common." He heard the sound of a huff for a laugh, and the door opened a little more. The pony had eyes he'd never seen, with sharp edges and vibrant color to them, though they looked sad and tired. The mare's ears were down, and her mane almost looked artificial the way it shone in the light, with clear separation between the highlights and lowlights.

"I suppose that's true." The pony stepped onto the stoop, revealing an aqua coat and a cutie mark of a head of wheat. "I'm Autumn Gem."

"Hello, Autumn Gem." He did a shallow bow. "My name is Mike."

He saw her eyes flash down to his boots, then back up to him, "Where are you from?"

"It's a complicated story I'll have to tell you another time." he answered. "For now, let's just say I'm not from around here."

"Okay." she said with an upward inflection in her voice.

Mike brought his head up to observe the surrounding landscape. "So, can I ask you an awkward question?"

"Of course." she said, apathetically. "I don't think this day could become any more awkward that it already has."

Mike huffed, "Well, prepare to be in awe." He stepped back. "Where am I?"

He could tell she hadn't been ready to ask such a mundane question. "You really don't know?"

"I'm sorry, no I don't."

"This," she motioned to the towering spire, "is the capital city of the Crystal Empire." She paused, "I don't know why they call it an empire anymore. It's just this city now."

Mike brought his gaze from the tower to Autumn Gem, "It used to be bigger?"

"That was before the subjugation of the throne by the pony sisters." she replied, still speaking in a monotoned mood. "Until then, King Sombra ruled over an expanse that stretched from here all the way south to the town of Canterlot." She looked down at the crystal steps. "He made us work in the mines day in and day out, mining the crystals that lay underneath this land. He was obsessed with the magical power they contained...or the magic they supposedly contained."

He looked to the top of the spire. "What happened to him?"

"We don't know." she replied as she brought her sight to his. "After the alicorn sisters came through and freed us, there wasn't a trace of him found. All we know is he took the Crystal Heart with him."

Mike sat on the top step, "What's that? The Crystal Heart?"

"I don't really remember." The mare stopped talking, making Mike turn to see her sitting down in the doorway, "Sorry, I seemed to have gotten light headed. It's some kind of relic. All he said was that we would never find it, because we would never think to look there."

"Intriguing." Mike muttered. "Never think to look there..." his eyes caught a glimmer that shone from the spire. "I'm willing to wager it's there." he said as he pointed to it.

"How...why do you think that?"

"Because," he stood, "no one ever thinks to look at themselves for answers." He took a quick look around, "Is there a library around here? Somewhere I might be able to get some more answers? Maybe a map?"

"Yes. I'll give you some directions."

She gave Mike a piece of parchment to scribble the location of the library. "Autumn Gem, I thank you for your assistance. If you remember anything more, please find me if you can."

"Of course. Goodbye." She said as she backed back into her home and shut the crystal door.

Mike looked down at the parchment and his hastily written notes. Okay, Mike thought as he stepped from the porch to the street, let's find out why these ponies have amnesia.

---

Autumn Gem had under-estimated the time it took to get from her home to the library. The city landscape was deceiving big, and what she said would take a pony fifteen minutes took Mike thirty. Must be the difference between quad and bipedal locomotion, he eventually concluded. As far as he could tell, it was approaching mid-morning when he reached the large double-doors of the library. He had walked past several other ponies during his trek. Some raised their heads to observe him, but many of them didn't look at all, keeping their sights set on the ground or wherever they were walking.

They must still be under some kind of suppression spell. Mike thought as he burst through the doors. Closing the doors behind him, he spun around to see almost endless rows of crystallized bookshelves packed full of books. The days I wish Twilight were here... He didn't have a chance to complete the thought before being addressed by an older mare.

"Can I help you?" she calmly asked, seemingly not fazed by his appearance.

"Um, yes." Mike began, regaining his composure. "I was wondering if you had any books on the history of the Crystal Empire and anything to do with or that covers the artifact called 'The Crystal Heart.'"

"I believe we do." The librarian replied.

"Ah, good." But the pony just stood, not motioning or moving. A few uncomfortable moments passed before Mike finally said, "So...can you point me in the direction of those?"

The mare's mouth opened, but no words escaped. "I seem to have forgotten." she sadly replied.

"That seems to be the running theme of the day." Mike said under his breath.

"I don't really remember if I work here or not."

"Well then," Mike stepped toward the towering columns of books, "I'll just have a poke around."

"Let me know if you find anything or need any other assistance. My name is Agatha." The librarian called out. The search on his own proved fruitless for the next hour. The sun was at the top of the sky, gleaming down into the library through the crystalline ceiling, giving the bookshelves a radiant glow. The only question Mike had for the librarian was where the index catalog was located. He found it peculiar that she knew the location of it like she had been asked it several times before.

Mike jogged over to the catalog and quickly found the "H" section through the hundreds of drawers. Flipping through the cards brought him to "Histograms, A Study of" to "Hitting the Books: A Guide to Better Studying." "Odd." he thought aloud.

"Find anything?" The mare asked as she walked by.

"Quite the opposite." he replied. "It doesn't seem there's even a record of a history book being here."

"It could have been lost." Agatha said. "Many things were when Sombra ruled."

Mike brought a hand to his chin. "Suppressing one's own history? Why?"

"I couldn't tell you." she replied. "We think he managed to destroy all books relating to the past of the Crystal Empire in his four year reign."

Mike was taken aback. "When was he defeated?"

Agatha raised an eyebrow. "I don't remember the date, specifically," she began, "but it must have been a year and a half ago."

"Interesting..." Mike said quietly, folding his arms.

"Not to make assumptions, but I think you would have liked it," she started with an animated tone that she hadn't previously displayed. "since you look like the warring type. Have you ever fought in a battle?"

"Just a light skirmish or two." Mike replied with a shrug.

"It was fantastic. Glows of light streaking across the sky like the shooting stars, magic spells illuminating the night air with the brilliance of the sun, and when the pony sisters delivered the final blow, the rainbow...oh the rainbow. I had never seen such colors before." A flash came off Agatha, and her coat had transformed from a dull shade of gray to a more vibrant hue of blue. Her eyes became alive, and for the first time, he saw her smile. "Ponies almost mistook it for a celebration."

Mike had become enthralled with the story, not only because it was a good tale of Celestia and Luna fighting, but it was giving him information he was starving for. "So what happened after his defeat?"

"He was banished to the north." she answered. "Whatever the alicorn sisters did turned him into a shapeless form, a cloud of black smoke and mist." Agatha walked to a window that faced the giant spire. "In that form, though, is the location of the Crystal Heart. Without it, the Crystal Empire is defenseless."

"In what way?" Mike questioned. "Just what kind of relic was the Crystal Heart?"

"The magic of the Crystal Heart is powered by the love and hope of the Crystal Ponies." Agatha turned to her left, facing a crystal bust. She tapped the nose three times, and the deceivingly solid pedestal opened, reviling a dust-covered book. "Think of it like a conduit, or a concentrator." She opened it to a page that showed an illustration of the Crystal Heart in action. "It focuses that energy and projects it outward, creating the shield that keeps the kingdom safe."

"Wait." Mike held out a hand. "As I was approaching, I took down a shield that was encasing the entire city."

"That can't be." she said, stunned, "Since the Crystal Heart is still missing, there shouldn't have been one."

"This doesn't make any sense. My landfall was..." Mike's words trailed off as he brought his attention from the book to the nearby window that showed the capital building. The spire was a breathtaking building in its own right; a feat of engineering, even by Azerothian standards. The tripod structure must have been at least five hundred meters tall from base to flagpole, glowing and shimmering in the sunlight. He felt the light reflecting off of it, not really feeling what one would consider a feeling of warmth, but more of an absence of cold. He brought his folded hands to his mouth, extending his index fingers on his nose. "What was the Crystal Empire's reaction to Luna's fall, subsequent banishment to the moon, and now reintegration?"

Agatha brought her head back, "Excuse me?" she asked, in awe of the words that had just been said. "When did this happen, and why have we not heard about it?"

"That would be my next question." Mike replied. "But I think I have an explanation." He closed the book. "This place - this city - must have been put on a temporal hold for some reason. The banishment of Luna to the moon happened one thousand years ago, right around the time that, if I go and ask them about it, the princess sisters defeated and banished Sombra from your kingdom. Either they or Sombra, in some twisted, evil revenge, put the Crystal Empire in a temporal flux, freezing time." Mike turned to Agatha to make sure she was keeping up with him. He only saw her with mouth agape, staring into oblivion. "You've been gone...for a thousand years."

Agatha had not moved since Mike began his theory. Finally she blinked after he concluded. "Sorry...it's not every day you learn you've missed a millennia." She shook her head, as if to get the cobwebs out, "Are you certain of this?"

"I'm almost willing to bet my life on it." Mike said as he stood, book in hand, "And I fear that my tampering of the shield may have put you and the other Crystal Ponies in danger. So, if you don't mind, I need to place a receiving rune of teleportation, so that I may bring the sisters here."

"By all means," Agatha had finally brought her composure back, "Do whatever you need to do."

"I am also going to borrow this book." Mike added, patting the cover.

"Of course." she called out as she made her way back to her desk. "Keep it as long as you need."

Making the rune in the crystal floor of the library turned to be a tedious task. Whatever crystalline structure it was proved to be more robust than any gem or crystal Mike had ever had to cut in Azeroth. It had become late afternoon by the time the rune was carved and charged, which, with his thanks, had taken no longer than the ones at Ponyville or Canterlot. After calling out he would return the next day with answers, and a teleportation incantation, he arrived back at the Canterlot statue garden, rain pouring from the sky, and the familiar shape of a spearhead to greet him.

"Gentlecolts," he began, "I must speak with the princesses."

"For what purpose?" one of the guards asked. "Our orders are to take you to the dungeon."

"The Crystal Empire has returned."

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[poisonicefire]

When next update

[Lunar Soldier]

4370229 It's coming. A little busy with finals right now.