Crystalline Fragments

by Dragonborne Fox

Intro- Orchestrated Chaos

There was rampant clamor in a large and busy town, one big enough to have its own bloody opera house which doubled as a school for whatever reason. This was a good thing for the rich families who wanted to send their kids to see the world, as this opera-school—so named by many of the locals—provided them with the knowledge needed to survive in the harsh wilderness and such other situations like that. The outside was made of brick and stone, though the inside was lavish, with expansive halls decorated with marble columns and old, worn paintings that had famous figures performing all sorts of things in their prime.

A person slowly walked down the halls of the opera-school, their head held high. The first thing that separated this one from everyone else was the fact that they were clad head to toe in a set of armor—gauntlets, greaves, even their tailbone was covered in spiked armor sporting a grayish-azure color with red-violet trims. The armor itself was broad, flat, and sturdy—built for a male, one could say. The person also had a pair of white, feathery wings upon their back, and white pony’s ears jutting out from the sides of their face-covering, dragon-like helmet. Held tightly in one hand was a spear whose head was modeled after that of the fearsome dragon’s features.

Another person approached the winged one, tapping at its armor-clad shoulder to get their attention as soon as they were in range. It turned to meet their gaze, revealing to them only a white chin and mouth. “Yes?” it questioned in a high-pitched, feminine tone of voice.

“Hey, miss pegasus, may I sit with you at the play today?” the other asked with widening eyes, whom the winged entity noted to have been in simple bard’s clothes. It was a woman wearing a light tunic and ragged cotton pants, with a vest laden on her chest that looked as though made of leather. On top of that, she sported a slightly-warped hat and a thin red cape. The face was a petite one; a rich earth brown in tone right down to her ears, and jutting from her forehead was a spiraled unicorn's horn.

She carried a lute upon her back with the aid of a dark brown strap, and the color of the birch matched the tone of her light silver hair, and attached to her waist was a simple and small leather pouch of some kind. The unicorn blinked her set of brown eyes as she awaited the answer of the armored one whom she approached.

“I don’t see why not,” the armored person answered with a nod of her head. Her wings shifted a bit, and she cracked a small smile. “I could do for some friends at the performance today.”

Another person ran down the hall to the duo from around a distant corner, this one in a light two-colored shirt and rather tight pants. He wore a hat adorned with drooping towers and bells jingling, a hat whose fabric was a rich velvet to the touch, which also had two red towers and two blue towers. His skin was a soft ocean in hue, his hair probably all crammed up under his hat since it wasn't in sight, and the eyes were a light baby blue in color. He lacked the wings of pegasi and horns marking the unicorns; but like the winged person, he was just as hard to miss with that getup he was currently prancing about in. He came to a stop right next to the two, almost skidding and falling over on his face. He steadied himself with a chuckle.

“Hello,” he said in a friendly tone of voice with a smile to match. “I’d like to sit with the both of you fine ladies this evening.”

“To that, I’ve no arguments against your proposition,” the pegasus replied swiftly, nodding yet again. She turned around and began to once more walk down the hall with the two others persons behind her in tow.

“Say, what’s one such as yourself doing here in these halls, may I ask?” questioned the stallion who was wearing a garment of bells.

The pegasus briefly glanced at him and chuckled. “My reasons for being here are very personal,” she replied. “You could say I came here of my own will. I would not dare make a counter-argument, should you make that particular conclusion.”

“Why aren’t you serving in the king’s guard?” asked the unicorn.

“I am but a mare, as you can tell by my voice alone,” the winged one answered without stall. “And we all know how well the guard takes up on requests to join them from ones such as myself, no matter how good in combat they are.”

The unicorn nodded, smiling with satisfaction at the answer she’d received. But then she frowned, and her ears had fallen flat on her head.

“What is the matter?” the armored mare asked, taking notice of the sudden shift in her fellow mare’s emotions.

“We must get to the show, at once,” the unicorn replied quickly, breaking out into a sprint and darting past the pegasus. The armor-clad mare and the earth pony with the velvet hat followed after exchanging one glance, also breaking out into sprints of their own. The trio rounded a corner and rushed down another hall. Upon rounding a bend and reaching the middle of a third hall, they stopped in the middle to find a set of oak double doors with ornate carvings. The unicorn threw them open and all three entered the room beyond, which was one that lead to a very vast room adorned with red carpets and sturdy wooden chairs with a stage beset in front of all of the seats, currently cut off from the outside by closed red curtains.

The room was large enough that the ceiling could house a few dozen flying pegasi, and would still have enough room for the chandeliers and whatnot. The place was packed with more people already, all shifting about in their seats chattering like there was no such thing as tomorrow. The three walked down towards the stage, scanning the moving rows of people for available seats.

Fortunately, there were three seats left, and all of them were in the very front row. The trio claimed them and got comfortable, and it was the pegasus who first piped up as she waited for the red curtains to open. “Would either one of you inform me of what this play’s about?”

“To be frank, I don’t know much myself,” the unicorn answered, a giddy smile on her face as she glanced at the pegasus. “But I can tell you, I’d love to see every minute of it.”

“It’s fine if you don’t want to spoil the surprise,” the pegasus chirped, before she laughed heartily. “I understand completely.”

“My fine ladies, would you care to give me your names?” the one with the bells asked, getting glanced at by the mares to whom he was addressing.

“Only if you give us yours first,” the unicorn replied in a friendly tone of voice.

“Very well. I am Pippin,” the one with the bells answered.

“I am Melody,” the lute-carrying mare sighed, chuckling a bit.

The pegasus chuckled as well. “Swift Spear,” she said casually. Her wings shifted a bit as she glanced towards the curtains. At last, the silken red veils began to part, and she shook in anticipation.

On the stage was an elderly stallion dressed in regal robes of all colors, a golden and glittering crown adorning his head. His aged face smiled in warmth, and as he cleared his throat, the crowd silenced as they turned to his attention. “I thank you all for coming here tonight. It is an honor to have you people from the whole countryside being here to watch the play. With all of my heart, thank you,” he said.

At once, the crowd cheered in joyous uproar, hands clapping in unison. The stallion in robes walked off the stage casually, and he took a special seat in the middle of the most well-dressed of people at this hour.

The first two actors then took the stage as soon as the regally-clad stallion took his perch, one clad in bard’s clothes and the other in slave garments, right down to the shackles on their wrists and hooves. At this, Swift tilted her head to one side and lifted a quizzical brow.

“O, master!” cried the slave actor, getting onto his knees and hands. “What a terrible plight has befallen us all!”

“What plight? I see none around me!” exclaimed the bard, pointing an accusing finger at the slave like a pistol. “The only plight I see, in fact, is that you are not tilling the fields but instead wasting my time!”

“But master, I come bearing most terrible news!” the slave pleaded, shaking the chains on his wrist as if for emphasis.

“I will have none of your tomfoolery!” the bard yelled, stomping his hoof in agitation. “Go back to tilling the fields, at once!”

“Please, listen!” the slave pleaded further, just as two more actors dressed like knights stomped onto the stage with swords in hand. One dragged the slave away by the hair on his head, and the other approached the bard as though he wanted to fight.

The bard winced, raising an arm as if to grab something. “What is it you want now?” he asked, a scowl embedded in his face.

The knight didn’t answer with words; instead, he raised his sword—terrifyingly high above his head.

“No…” The bard went wide-eyed, ears flattening on his skull in that moment, “not my life!” With this, he scurried off the stage and the knight followed him closely before another stallion in simple robes came up front from behind the curtains.

“This would mark the beginning of the new era, one that would render the bards as simple slaves themselves…” he began in a monotonous voice.

“We’re not slaves,” Melody murmured under her breath, eyes narrowing as the words of the one on stage ran through her mind like a speeding bullet. “Not as a whole group of people,” she added, keeping her voice little more than a whisper.

The stallion went on for a bit before getting off the stage with, “... and the end of the wicked ones who practiced the art of the dragoons.”

Swift was now frowning as well. “And I’ve walked into a history lesson about my particular trade, great,” she whispered sarcastically. She shifted in her seat and glanced around, hoping that nobody else had taken notice of her presence, all the while clutching her spear tightly in one hand.

Another actor, this one clad in clothes much like those of the pegasus, strode onto the stage. Another three marched in before a unicorn stallion dressed like a slave mare appeared.

“Please, no! Don’t take my life! I’ll do anything you ask!” the unicorn actor pleaded in a high-pitched, almost genuine girly voice.

“Servitude is not an option, peasant,” hissed one of the dragoons, pointing a wicked spear at the unicorn.

“We leave none alive, and take no prisoners,” scorned the second dragoon, pointing the head of his spear towards the slave as well.

“I don’t wish to die!” the unicorn shrieked as the last two dragoons grabbed his arms and hoisted him up with ease. He kicked and pleaded fruitlessly as the troops dragged him offstage. From there, several more actors hit the scene before taking their leave, and though they spoke differently and performed various actions, it all became a blur for the trio—about an hour or so into the play, that is. It got to the point that, after another half-hour, the roles and jobs and such for the actors themselves may as well have been interchangeable altogether. As a result, much of the audience fell asleep, and Swift's eyelids were struggling to stay open.

While the play was going on, the unicorn bard cringed as she looked around, noticing strange people carrying even stranger objects. The people were walking slowly down the aisles, and the objects began glowing. She quickly glanced at the pegasus who was still engrossed in the acting on stage. “Hey, hey,” Melody whispered to Swift, gently tugging a feather on her wing with a hand.

“Hm?” the dragoon hummed, turning to the unicorn with a frown on her face. Her eyes widened under her helmet, now alert as they scanned Melody's tight visage.

“Look behind us,” Melody said with worry flashing in her eyes. Swift did as she was asked, and noticed people in black robes carrying strange colored orbs in their hands like they were at a sermon to deliver offerings. There were four in total, and the colors as basic as they could come: light orange, fiery red, ocean blue and grass green.

One orb lost its color as the person holding it passed another, and he slowly glanced at whom he just waltzed by. The person who was being looked at was holding a polished but uncut gem in his hand that Swift could barely make out through the rows of people around him, which matched the color of the once-vibrant orb: a fiery red. In an instant, guards jumped that sad bloke as if from nowhere, and he was dragged out of the auditorium without anyone else even noticing.

Swift froze, her jaw agape in horror.

Melody tapped her shoulder again, quickly garnering the pegasus's attention once more. She pulled her lute off of her back, before she stuck her hand into the soundhole, being careful not to split the strings as she started pawing around. When she pulled her hand out minutes later, she procured another gemstone of similar quality, although this one was light orange. She handed it to the dragoon. “Take that and run,” she said in a hushed voice.

“Where, and why?” Swift asked, ears twitching in disbelief as she had the gem almost forced into her free hand.

“There's no time for questions. Go to the forest that’s near the Lunar Creek, or as close as you can. Me and Pippin will try to meet you there,” Melody answered. Just then, another person carrying the light orange orb stopped right in front of the dragoon, and the orb he held lost all color. Then, guards sprung up and surrounded the trio, but Swift flared her wings and rapidly ascended towards the ceiling before they could nab her. Hastily, she flew towards the doors that she entered an hour or so ago, and she could hear Melody and Pippin scream as she bolted. She silently hoped that they managed to weasel out of the guards' collective grasp as she left the play and found herself in the hall on the other side.

More guards waited just shy of said hall, as though they anticipated at least one would-be escapee, and almost all of them sported bows, horns, swords, and arrows. In addition, they were equipped with chainmail that overlapped brass armor. The few who didn't carried mallets and axes that were sharpened to the point their edges reflected slivers of light, and these ones had armor made of leather. With a gem in one hand and the spear in the other, the mare glanced frantically for a way out.

But there was little time, as the guards quickly closed in at all sides—except for the open air beneath the ceiling. The dragoon let a cocky smirk grace her concealed face as she ascended and weaved above the guards who so sorely lacked in the flight department.

That was, until some more guards quickly came in with bows and loaded quivers from both sides of the hall. One let off the first release of the drawstring, the arrow barely missing the mare’s exposed left wing. Now darting about in the air frantically as the guards fired more arrows than she could count, the pegasus was still searching for a way out of the building.

It was then she finally noticed that she still had her trusty spear in her hand.

Comments

[Outa-here]

I just started checking this story out. It looks like it's going to be an interesting story and a good read. I'll read more of it when I have more time.