Crystal Empire Chronicles

by Northern Course

Prologue - Four Words

It was a very cold day in the Crystal Empire; an exceptional one for the winter, but that fact did that change the streets all around the crystal palace were filled to the brim with mares and stallions of all ages. The night glowed with the colours of their sparkling crystal coats as they reflected from crystal to crystal, homes to homes, creating an array of mixing colourful sparkles that shined through the streets and over the sky like some kind of beautiful mist that could only be created by the gods themselves. From the highest points in the empire, it was the most beautiful sight any pony would ever see in their lifetime.

All of these ponies came for the same purpose, and were waiting for news of the birth of their new prince or princess. No matter how long it took. They loved their Queen, and through cold weather or hard times, they would support her as best they could, and how ever they could.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The hall outside the delivery room was void of all sound except the rhythmic tapping of hooves. A pure white unicorn stallion walked the length of the door to the delivery room, over and over to the slight annoyance of a blue earth pony in Crystal light armour and light grey unicorn who had his head and horn stuck in a book.

“Sire, if you could please stop pacing and sit down. Everything is going fine” said the earth pony Strong Head.

“You can’t stop me from worrying, captain” responded King Stratege, who did not stop, in fact his pace quickened.

“There was a reason you appointed Precise as the Head of Medicine. No other pony can do what she can. So, if you could stop pacing because it’s about to drive me insane” said the unicorn Crimson Crystal, trying to stop his king by blocking his path.

“Crimson” said King Stratege as he placed his hoof on his shoulder.

“If you could do me the favour of checking on the progress” Stratege asked. Although the response was certainly the same for every pony given this task.

“No, no, no, no, no, no way, I’ll face down a dragon before I interrupt Precise at work” Crimson immediately responded, backing away as he did.

“And your sacrifice will be come with great honour and the right to position of god-father… if you happen to survive” Stratege responded with great seriousness in those last five words.

“Two dragons… make that two dragons and really pissed off griffin” Crimson argued back.

“You’ve always been hung up about the griffin incident” said Stratege in a somewhat tired tone, as this was not the first time he had spoken this exact sentence.

“Notable because it was YOUR FAULT. I spent the better half of the following week picking feathers out of wounds…” Crimson yelled out, just as he realised he was yelling these words out at the king.

“Captain?” Stratege said he turned his head towards Head Strong, realising that Crimson wasn’t going to bunch on the issue, and instead turned to the pony he knew would put his life on the line for the ‘empire’s best interests’.

“Well… Sire, I would, but I fear how my… condition… afterwards might affect moral among the troops, sir” replied Strong Head in his proper and respectable manner he always spoke to his king with, even though what he said could be understood as a total lie.

“Come on Head Strong, surely with your ‘conditioned’ body, it would be nothing more than flesh wound. You’d be up and about in no time” Crimson commented with a smile.

“That is true, but I don’t want to be hospitalized under the care of the pony that put me in such a condition” Strong Head said with a very true concern in his voice that could possibly be the case.

For the next hour or so the king continued to worry, and the two tried to distract their king’s worries with several activities, all to no avail. Chess was too one sided, I Spy seemed pointless in a hallway that at most contained just about seven items, and tick tack toe had the misfortune to be a game that Crimson himself defined as “unwinnable for player 2”.

The king went back to his worrying, and would switch between pacing up and down the length of the door, and putting his ear up to the door to try and get a listen. Listening at the door proved impossible and pointless however. Precise’s magically silent rooms; no sound escapes, no sound can get in. That doesn’t stop ponies walking in, but Precise herself was famous enough for her no tolerance to disturbance, fear her if you’re the pony that ever has to go under her care.

After another hour of that, the doors to the delivery room opened. To reveal a light pink unicorn wearing doctor equipment. The three knew at first glance that it was Doctor Precise. She looked around the hall and her vision fixed on King Stratege. She walked over towards him and put her hoof over Stratege’s shoulder.

“King Stratege. Queen Sky Handler is doing fine, she is just resting” said Precise with such a happy tone in her voice.

A breath of relief escaped Stratege’s mouth. He had waited hours for news. He knew the best of the best were here delivering his child, but the news of everything turning out fine, was better than any feeling he could ever hope.

“It’s a filly” said Precise.

That breath immediately turned into an almost violent cough.

The doctor made a sign to follow them into the delivery room. As they entered through the double doors of the delivery room, it could be seen that at one end of the room was a bed that Queen Sky Handler could be seen resting in. At the other end were a group of other medical staff working with water, cloth and the new foal. Precise went over to the staff and was handed the small foal in a blanket. With her magic she brought the foal over gently to her father.

What Doctor Precise held in the blanket was a beautiful pink foal with a purple and pink mane with a white line running her hair. She had the most beautiful purple eyes that just stared up at Stratege. “She’s beautiful” King Stratege said as he admired her, stroking his new daughter’s hair. She was awake and giggled at the sight of her daddy, and grabbed his hoof with both her small little hooves, and as squeezed as hard as she could.

As King Stratege admired her, Precise smiled at the happy moment. She could see through an opening in the double doors that Crimson and Strong Head were still outside in the hall, trying to get look in. “You two can come in as well” she said, opening both doors wide with her magical horn. She then went over to wake the mother; “no matter how much she wanted to rest, she must want to meet her new daughter much more” was the thought running through her mind.

“Queen Sky Handler, would you like to see her? Would you like to meet your daughter?” Precise said shaking Queen Sky Handler to wake her.

There was no response.

“Sky Handler…” Precise said worriedly as she reached to check every vital, temperature, heart rate, eye movement. With one glance at her medical staff from across the room, they knew from her expression, they were needed right away.

“Every pony, make room!” ordered Precise as her medical team brought over equipment and prepared the room for the worst of situations, if they should happen.

“What’s happening?” screamed King Stratege as he tried to push his way to see what was happening to his wife. He was however stopped by a hoof at his chest. It was Doctor Precise and she did not look happy.

“Sire, in this room, I give the orders, so I can force you to leave or you give me the damn room I need to do the job you gave me” ordered Doctor Precise, and followed those orders as he moved to the side of the room next to Crimson and Head Strong.

He handed his foal out to Head Strong, who in response took out his hooves and reached for the foal, taking her with one of his large strong hooves.

“Head Strong, take my daughter; make sure not to drop her on her horn. My wife needs me in here. My daughter doesn’t need to see this” King Staege said, and as they were about to leave with his daughter.

“But…” Crimson stuttered.

“But she’s a Pegasus”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

In the small room in the north section of the royal castle, sat at a table were the ponies known as the council of eight, made up of the most well versed scholars of the land. Those eight gathered today, each one represented a wellspring of knowledge, each in their respected fields. Seven had gathered thus far, and no debate would begin until the last had arrived.

The first to arrive was Green Hoof (Farming and agriculture).
Green Hoof was a light green earth pony with a multi-shaded mane that resembled all the colours of wheat. In charge of overseeing all crop workings and food production, his job was not an easy, but he proved time and time again. Even though he was considerably the youngest among the council, he was the hardest of hard working even among earth ponies. His cutie mark was of a field of crops.

The second to arrive was Crimson Crystal (Magic and Magical artifacts).
Crimson Crystal was a light grey unicorn, which was a very rare thing to see in the Crystal Empire. Outside of the Royal Family, there were only 6 known unicorns to call the Empire their home and each one there for very different reasons. Crimson’s cutie mark was three red crystals, and his speciality was the study of magic and the magical uses for the Crystals. His most pressing job was the study of the Crystal Heart.

Crimson was shortly followed by Keen Eye (Monster researcher).
Keen Eye was a female earth pony with a fiery red coat, and a yellow mane. The most descriptive thing about her appearance was the multi-functional glasses she wore, which functioned as reading glasses, goggles, a magnifying lens, and strangely an eye patch that she always wore. She studied all creatures that threatened the empire’s borders, and found ways to deal with them that would allow the troops to do so with less losses or injuries. In some cases, even communicate with the creatures. Her cutie mark was a magnifying glass with a bull eyes over the glass lens.

The next two members arrived together.
Precise (Head of Medicine) and Head Strong (Captain of the guard).
Precise was a light pink unicorn with a white mane that had a thin section of red hair. She was the head of medicine and most recently the one to deliver her majesty’s daughter. Her prime rule was “concentration is key, and distractions need to be taught a listen”. Her cutie mark was a needle and medical cross.

Head Strong was dark blue earth pony with a jet black mane. Being the captain of the guard, he had complete faith in every decision his king made. In close combat no pony to compare to his skills. His cutie mark was crystal shield over the symbol of an alicorn.

The sixth member to arrive was Chipping Tool (Masonry).
Head pony in the creation of new crystal homes and buildings. Chipping tool was an orange coloured earth pony, with a violet mane that covered nearly both of his eyes. He was a pony whose age allow could define his amount of experience at the job, being told at one point to retire, his response being “Over my dead body”, quite seriously. He wore a tool belt around his back, always ready to fix anything at a moment’s notice and even through that wasn’t part of this job, he loved doing it. His cutie mark was a tool chipping a piece of crystal.

The seventh member to arrive was Writing Quill (Historian).
He was an earth pony with a very light brown coat but a very dark brown mane. He was in charge of documenting and storing of important events and times in the history books, while also teaching many ponies about the mistakes of the past through his own created story books. His cutie mark was an open book with a quill and ink next to it.

The last member to arrive would be Misty Frost (Weather).
Misty Frost was a bright blue Pegasus with a silky grey mane. She is the newly appointed head of the Weather Division for all of the crystal empire, after the previous head, Queen Sky Handler left her post after finding out that she was with foal. Newly appointed did not mean a lack of experience, as she was one of the finest ponies at dealing with “natural” weather patterns. Her cutie mark was a cloud raining snow.

She arrived by bursting through the closed doors to the room and “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. First I didn’t know where I was to go, and then the guard’s stopped me and…” as Misty Frost was going to continue, she looked up to a group of faces that did not have the slightest interest in her story. She sighed, and brought herself to the last¬¬ open chair at the table, and sat down so the meeting could begin.

“Each of us has been gathered today, in discussion of our Queen’s Condition” said Precise, lowering her head.

“And the future we should help build for our new heir” said Head Strong. The other members shared glances of brief discussion knowing where the topic might lead.

“How is our Queen’s health?” said Misty Frost worriedly.

“She is alive, that much I can say for certain. Her condition has not worsened… but neither has it improved. She has fallen into a coma, and the only thing we can do for her, is to hope and wait” said Precise lowering her head. She could not deliver any good news about the condition of their Queen. It was good she was alive of course, but it wasn’t the news every pony wanted to hear.

“Were there no signs this could happen?!” cried out Chipping Tool.

“It was a normal foal birth, up until she just… didn’t wake up” Precise said sadly closing her eyes, trying to force herself not to remember those awful feelings she had at that moment.

Head Strong briefly tried to make the situation better “Precise. There was nothing you could have…”

“DONE, yes and that’s the problem. I should have known at least something. In all my years working as a doctor I have never seen anything like this” screamed Precise. Her eyes wide open to every pony, and they were clearly bloodshot from lack of sleep.

No pony made a sound. It was as if they were at a funeral where every pony gives a moment silence to think about the dearly departed. It was an uncomfortable moment, but no more uncomfortable than the conversation would be continuing to expose what feelings they all had when they heard about their Queen’s condition.

“Tell us, how is the new heir?” asked Green Hoof trying to steer the conversation to something easier to speak of.

“She’s a happy bouncing healthy foal as if I’ve even seen one” said Precise, all while giving a little chuckle to get around the awkwardness and give her a chance to lift her head off of the table.

“And she’s a Pegasus” Bluntly put by Crimson.

Every pony at the table turned their heads away from Crimson, for fear of starting some sort of discussion that would not lead anywhere good.

“What! No one wants to speak about this matter. This is not a matter of ignorance, or racism. I believe in factual arguments” said Crimson, making what he was about to say next very clear.

“If that foal were to take the throne, the Royal Family will lose one of the most powerful magical bloodlines in the world. Do you understand what that would mean for the Empire?” screamed Crimson.

“That point doesn’t stand, my research has shown that ponies whose ancestors are of a different race, can still give birth to a pony of that ancestry” said Precise, as she fixed her glasses up to her eye line, trying to at least be smart about something.

“At what percentage is that?” Green Hoof asked.

“I’d… well… it’s… it’s not as simple as… it all depends on… about 30% if the next father isn’t a unicorn… most likely” Precise said, the explanation hardly making it out of her mouth in bits and pieces.

“Forgive me for asking this, but why should it matter if the heir isn’t a unicorn?” said Misty Frost, curious about the answer, but feeling as if she was treading on some forbidden topic.

“The unicorn bloodline of the royal family is a very important root in our culture” said Writing Quill drawing all attention in the room towards himself.

“It has also acted as a great source of defence for our empire in times of attack. It is a very powerful bloodline to say the least. When any powerful creature dared attack our border, the royal unicorn was there to defeat it, no matter how dangerous it was, they were there, like some white knight. The empire rests easier, and the crystal heart is still fuelled by hope and love” said Writing Quill, telling the story as if it were tale of old.

“We have however in recent times, by our king’s orders, let the guard be more involved in matters of protecting the empire, or as our captain here would put it ‘If we can’t protect our homes with our own hooves, we have failed our king and our own families’” explained

“It was as if our king had seen this outcome, and prepared”, formulated Writing Quill.

“It doesn’t matter. For over 6 generations the Crystal Heart has protected us from harm. Whether our heir be unicorn or not, that will not change” said Chipping Tool, sure that his words would solve the discussion.

“We don’t know if that will always be the case. It would be an act of idiocy to solely rely on its protection”, Crimson said smashing his hoof into the table. This was not the first time he had made his feelings about this clear. He was head researcher for the crystal heart, and after his years of study, what had he uncovered? Nothing they didn’t know already. The crystal heart absorbed positive emotions such as hope, happiness and a whole bunch of other feel good emotions. The point being, Crimson theorized that if the kingdom was consumed with negative emotions, such as fear or confusion, then the crystal heart would absorb those feelings and drain it of its stored power.

How hard do you think it would be for the ponies of this kingdom to keep up their spirits up during a time of war, or being attacked by some powerful monster? Thought Crimson.

“I agree with Crimson” said Strong Head. Misty Frost, the one shocked face at the table looked round to see a lack of other shocked faces. What Misty Frost saw were about 6 sets of eyes (minus one for an eye patch) preparing to roll themselves.

“However” said Strong Head. “He seems to have forgotten that I run the toughest and most--”

“Well trained soldiers in the Empire, who are capable of dealing with any threat that dare challenge our great Majesty’s rule and our citizens” said the entire table of ponies, with the exception of Misty, who sat with her jaw as low as it could reach.

“Misty, you may be new to these meetings, but Captain Strong Head is here for one and just one reason only. To keep an update on the progress of his soldiers, and aside from that, I don’t know why he’s on this council” said Keen Eye, giving a wink to Misty, followed by a small chuckle at her reaction.

Captain Strong Head however did not find that funny and called her out “I do a better job for this kingdom than you. I train my troops day and night to be in the best condition they can be to defend are homes, they are what keep this empire safe, and not just from monsters.”

“I research the monsters that have attacked our home for centuries. Where would your troops be if they didn’t know the weak spots of that dragon your “oh so well trained troops” fought last winter? Where would you be without me and my notes you oaf? Dead!” said Keen Eye holding nothing back as she put her hooves up high on the table, so as to challenge Hard head.

“Well you’ll be out of a job soon anyway. Where are all the monsters if you’re such a specialist? He haven’t had an attack in months” replied Hard Head, taking the same standing his front hooves onto the table to reach her, until their heads were locked in a push and shove argument.

Each one of them looked to be at each other’s throats just about ready to start a fight with the other.

“Hope for the best, prepare for the worst”, Writing Quill said looking over the argument at the table.

“Well it’s kind of hard to prepare, when every pony keeps getting at each other’s like this”, said Misty. She continued talking with a sadden look on her face “This should have been a time for celebration, but it isn’t”.

“With the council of eight continuing to act this way, I fear the Crystal Empire will fall, someday” Crimson said in a somewhat threatening tone in order to get every pony a moment to think and to calm down.

The doors to the room burst open as it revealed two guards. They proceeded to enter and each one of them held one of the double doors open. From the open door way a figure in shining crystal armour could be seen. The glow from the crystal crown and unicorn horn, made it clear it was King Stratege. The king held his head high as he entered the room, and each guard bowed their head slightly. The council of eight all turned their attention and bowed their heads to their king. King Stratege was a large pure white coloured unicorn from head to hoof, and wearing a crystal set of armour dawned with a red cape with the symbol of the empire on it. His cutie mark was two king chess pieces, which was hardly ever seen when he was wearing his armour and cape. “A fair point Crimson, but you’d best watch what you say, or others would get the ideas that you do not have the Empire’s best interest at heart” said King Stratege.

“Forgive me. I am not giving threats, your Majesty. You know better than any pony what I would be willing to risk to protect my home.” Crimson said in an apologizing tone.

“But how does somepony protect an empire without first knowing how to fix its problems, and others refuse to even acknowledge that they exist” Crimson continued, as he stood to face his king. He was sure he would make his points clear.

Among the very few that were brave enough to speak up to their king, Crimson was one who did so with passion. Many ponies expected nothing but the finest of rooms in the dungeon, or the most fantastic of executions. For some reason, the King shared a very deep connection to Crimson, that was unknown to all there but two other members of the council. What the King said next however, shocked every pony.

“And what would be your solution to my daughter?” asked King Stratege.

Crimson stopped and lowered his head. There were many ways this could be solved, each one he listed off in his head stepped over every moral fibre he had in his body. The ones that could be called “Morally grey” would betray all trust he had in his king.

Knowing defeat to the question, Crimson raised his head slowly, looking at his king with the most despair in his eyes and proclaimed “I don’t have one.”

“I look forward to serving under her new majesty in the future. I am sure she will grow to be a well-loved and excellent ruler, even after our own time has passed” Crimson said and then bowed his head to the king. The other scholars out of respect, followed suit.

“Long live the rule of the Crystal Empire” said Crimson, and was followed by every pony saying the same as a chant.

“This meeting is dismissed” proclaimed King Stratege. Every pony pulled their seats away from the table, and stood. Each one taking their time to leave and not to meets eyes with their king out of respect in these dire times of sorrow.

As Crimson was following suit, about to exit through the large doors, he was stopped by King Stratege’s order “Not you, Crimson.” Crimson stopped with a chill going down his spine, as he turned around to see his king looking at him with piercing eyes.

Crimson’s thought immediately went to the worst, Oh no. I am so dead… or banished… or dead and banished.

“You and I should talk” said King Stratege.

Comments

[Rose Quartz]

What did they name the daughter?

[Eclipse LunarSol]

You have done well....But I will always stick by The Heart of Shadows.