Cutiemark Crusaders 10k: The fourth deity

by The Psychopath

Exploration

"So what is this?" a crystallized pony asked.

There was a large team of ponies standing upon the ruins of Stalliongrad where Abstract emerged. His arrival brought about the gradual growth of black crystals to fill the hole the creature had made, and no pony managed to damage the mineral structures, so Sombra sent some scouts forward until Crystalestia arrived. She DID succeed in fighting the creature to a standstill, after all.

"Looks like a crystal."

The first pony facehoofed. "Yes, I can see that. What I wan to know is why this thing is here and why no pony has managed to destroy it yet."

"King Sombra should be able to do so with ease...if he had a body."

A loud thud resonated behind the two ponies, making them jump away in fear.

"What are you fools doing here?" a female voice demanded.

It was Crystalestia, and the two crystal ponies trembled in her presence; her shadow engulfing even the surrounding darkness created by the black clouds overhead.

"W-w-we were waiting for you a-a-and trying to understand it s-so that King Sombra would not need to bother hims-self with it," the second crystal pony stuttered.

Crystalestia angled her head and frowned at the pony. She casually absorbed his magic, turning him completely into a crystal statue. The remaining stallion yiped in fear.

"You forgot to say 'Great and Mighty', fool," Crystalestia spat. She turned to face the pony still free from her ire. "Is this the item?"

"Y-yes, m'am. Our machines can't destroy it, and our magic can't affect it. We thought that somepony with your strength with be more than capable of destroying the structure and discover what's down below." There was a long pause until the stallion spoke rapidly to correct himself. "A-all for our king, of course. You will be given all the credit as well."

Celestia snorted in response and looked onward to the towering structure of black crystals stretching skywards with smaller towers growing from and around the centerpiece.

"You had trouble with this?" Celestia laughed.

She fired a beam of crystal magic at the structure from her horn. Her smirk faded when she noticed that her power had no effect. She tried multiple times to destroy the structure with her simple magic, but nothing happened. Angered, she rose to the air, gathered all the magic particles in her forehooves, making them glow a bright blue, then slammed them together. A massive explosion of blue crystals and dust engulfed and illuminated the whole city, but the structure did not budge. Panting, the former princess stared agape at this unusual creation.

"How does it resist me when that creature was barely strong enough to face me on equal footings? Is it the source of its power?" she thought to herself.

The stallion approached the crystal and narrowed his gaze, noticing a teensy little crack. "At least you started damaging it here," he commented.

The mare glared at him and swiped him aside. "What are you?" she yelled at the crystal whilst approaching it. "Why can't I destroy y--"

Celestia's face contorted to a mixture of pain and fear when her forehooves touched the surface of the crystal.

"Hm?" Abstract hummed and stopped in his tracks at the entrance of the city.

"What is it?" Scootaloo asked.

"Hmmmmmm..." Abstract continued.

Crystalestia suddenly found herself floating in an engulfing darkness, a freezing fear running through her veins and preventing her from moving. "What is this?" she said. "Where am I?"

"Why did you do it?" a familiar voice asked. "Why did you betray them all?"

"Who is that? Show yourself!"

"You gave her your word, but you gave up on her, and you gave up on them all. I thought you were better than this! You gave your word so long ago!"

"What are you talking about? I serve the great and glorious King Sombra!" Crystalestia proclaimed.

Celestia broke through the shadows, showing her disappointment to her present, corrupted self. "Look at what you've become!" A mirror slid in front of the mare, revealing Crystalestia's form.

"What about it?"

"Chained like a dog, you serve your master at the whip of your leash," Celestia spat. "Without you, the Elements of Harmony lost their sheen and became corrupted."

"No! They did that to themselves!"

"You were their guide! Their lamp in the darkness, but then you went out, left them to become lost on the trail."

"N-no! I didn't! I tried!"

"THEN WHAT IS THIS?!" Multiple images revealing the demonic forms of the Elements of Harmony causing havoc and destruction in the sealed off Equestria. "This is your handiwork! Your neglect created this and corrupted their souls!"

"Be gone, vile apparition!"

Celestia bumped foreheads with her crystallized self, looking her dead in the eyes, then pushed her away. "You can't get rid of me: Your true self. I will come back to MY body, whether you want me to or not."

Abstract the dark appeared from the darkness, his hooves resting on the mare's shoulder's. His eyes shined faintly above the bright white of the alicorn, looking down at the once mighty pony before him. Crystalestia finally let go of the crystal then collapses to the ground, a seizure engulfing her mind. Crystance and her husband both looked at her in disdain.

"We came to see why Crystalestia suddenly disappeared from our king's vision, but it seems it was only caused by a seizure." The pink pony clicked her tongue in disappointment.

Crystal Armor amused his imagination by gazing longly at the black crystals. "I'd rather believe it was caused by this crystal," he stated.

"How are you so certain?"

"Because she froze when she touched it," the 'surviving' crystallized pony interjected.

"I see," Crystance said. "Then until we can figure out how to destroy this thing, keep this place off limits. It if starts expanding, then we'll take it as important. Until then, it is to be observed and hindered without physical contact." She looked back down at Crystalestia and tapped her head. "I wonder if she'll ever recover from this."

Back at the city, Abstract laughed at what was revealed to him. "So they DO have weaknesses through their shells, and those truly aren't their bodies."

Everypony around were worried about the state of Abstract's mind, so Sweetie Belle stepped forward to demand an answer. "What are you talking about?"

Abstract looked at the white mare from the corner of his 'eye' then turned his gaze. "The fools up north touched the crystal growing to protect my source, and the one who touched was the white alicorn I fought when I first awoke."

A brouhaha started forming around the entrance. "And?" Sweetie Belle continued. "How is that important?"

"Because I now know her weakness and can destroy her from the inside-out." The crystallion walked away calmly and laughed one more time. "Destroying a mighty wall does not require one to punch its chest in hopes of it eventually collapsing from exhaustion," he added.