Chapter 8: A Crystal Heart
Chapter 8: A Crystal Heart
Edited by: cosmic flash
“Are you ready to give the big speech in front of all the citizens your highness?” Ruby Quill asked as she patently waited for the emperor at the door frame to his self-claimed private chamber.
The monarch in question was simply standing in his room, looking out from a nearby window as his mind was once again lost in thought.
“Me, Emperor Mateus, previous emperor of the Palamecian empire, conqueror of worlds and heaven and hell itself as well, now being the leader of a nation filled with colorful talking equines within a crystallized city in the middle of a snowy wasteland. It’s so ironic it’s almost comical.” The emperor thought to himself as a small amused smile made itself known on his muzzle until it quickly dropped as a distant memory of his past yet again began to replay in his mind.
“This day feels a lot similar to the time of my coronation, something my mother had always pointed out when I was still young, how eager she was to finally see the day where her precious son would finally take his place and continue the royal bloodline of the Palamecian royalty.” He mentally remembered the exact words and wishes of his mother, a wish which will forever stay unfulfilled. A depressing truth which his slight immature self, would love to blame his very strict father even though he fully knows that he had absolutely nothing to do with her passing.
Though to be honest the similarities of this current moment to the days long passed are not the only things occupying his mind right now. There was something else within his subconscious that was trying to make itself known, but for heaven’s sake he couldn’t place a finger or in his case hoof on whatever it might be.
He mentally sighed as he simply shrugged all of his current thought into the background. He had his new subjects to greet and announce his plans and desires for their future to them, so any other internal problems could wait for later date.
Without saying a word or making a sound the emperor turned himself away as the sun was already slowly setting outside the window. He casually trotted past Ruby Quill with his staff lazily following him from behind.
Ruby Quill, of course quickly followed as she trotted beside the golden unicorn. As they silently made their way to their desired destination. Their hoof clopping audible on the crystal halls of the palace.
“Did you arrange the making of the podium in front of the palace and central plaza as I desired?” The emperor suddenly asked as they continued their trek through the halls.
Ruby Quill quietly sighed as this somewhat awkward silence was well…awkward to her before quickly looking at him with a smile. “Yes your highness, the podium was quickly set up to your wishes with the crowd having been gathered in front of it for your arrival, same with a few re-established crystal guards that have been quickly gathered by Captain Silver Sword and Lieutenant Shimmering Sapphire.” Ruby Quill listed on as the two slowly approached one of the four main exists of the Palace.
When he heard that the meeting and announcement was going to be held on the large balcony that overlooked the large central plaza in front of the castle he immediately declined that offer and suggested that he would meet the citizens of his new realm ‘face to face’ so to speak, not just his desire to have a much better look at the ponies he would call his own but for them to also have a better view on their new ruler as well. Having to look up to only see nothing but a vague shape standing on a balcony was not a very good first impression in his opinion.
The distinct sounds of a loud crowd talking and muttering to each other was getting clearer and louder as they neared their destination.
Stepping through the massive portal that made one of the four entrances of the palace he was honest to god a bit surprised to see that his path was not flanked by a few crystal guards like he had expected but two whole companies of fully armored and armed crystal pony guards flanking the portal from both sides.
“Need to ask the captain after the public meeting just how many of the previously disbanded crystal guards were actually in hiding. Also note to self, need to give them better weapon designs in the future, those basic spears of theirs will NOT do.” He thought to himself, wondering just how much of a naive, narrow sighted fool this Sombra really was to not have noticed such a large collection of possible rebels within his own realm. As he and Ruby Quill made their way to the newly constructed podium in front of them.
How this guy got to power he would never know. Furthermore, how naive were these crystal ponies that they would allow such an idiot to come to power here in the first place.
All of those thoughts were quickly abandoned though when he first got a good look of the citizens of the crystal empire himself after he had ascended the few steps leading up to the flat wooden platform.
“15.753 In total, 15 percent of them probably children while another 5 percent are most likely absent, most probably the sick and those too elderly to move.” He mentally counted and theorized as he looked upon the living sea of colors in front of him.
And yes, he just successfully managed to count every single pony present in front of him in just an under a minute. At least he now knows the almost exact citizen count of his new city.
Ruby Quill cleared her throat before stepping up to the very front of the podium to address the crowd.
“CITIZENS OF THE EMPIRE.” She called out loudly which immediately caused all of the murmurs and commotions to cease. All eyes quickly turning to her as Ruby Quill took this as a sign that she got everybody’s full attention.
“TODAY IS A GREAT DAY AND THE BEGINNING OF A NEW AGE.” She began before looking out to the crowd for a few moments before continuing. “YOU HAVE ALL PROBABLY HEARD OF THE PRESUMED DEATH OF KING SOMBRA AND HIS REMAINING GUARDS, HAVE YOU NOT?” She questioned loudly to the crowd, which again caused a couple of murmurs to erupt from the ponies.
Ruby again took this as a sign that she has the crowd’s full attention as she continued on. “WELL I AM HERE TO HAPPILY ANNOUNCE THAT THESE RUMORS ARE INDEED TRUE, IF IT HAS NOT BEEN ALSO OBVIOUS AS SOME OF YOU HAVE PROBABLY NOTICED THE SUDDEN CHANGE OF MOOD ACROSS THE ENTIRE CITY. KING SOMBRA IS NO MORE AND ONCE AGAIN THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE IS FREE FROM TYRANNY.” She shouted out with great glee. Imagine her confusion when instead of a massive uproar of cheers all she got was a collection of silent stares aimed at her.
“Ah finally something that I did predict.” The emperor thought as he watched the spectacle from the back of the podium.
One of the ponies in the middle of the crowd raised his hoof. “Who exactly is this pony or person who has supposedly killed King Sombra?” A stallion asked which again was met with murmurs from the crowd, all of them agreeing to the question.
“Why in the god's name are you questioning that now, we already told you all of it, you git.” A noble called out from the crowd an action which caused again another set of approved murmurs.
Ruby Quill on the other hoof was a bit clueless on what to say or even what to do in this point, having not prepared for such a reaction to the situation from the crowd to begin with.
The emperor on the other hand simply rolled his eyes as he decided to finally step up into full view for the first time. The collection of murmurs quickly stopped as he finally took front stage with his staff again lazily floating next to him which a lot of ponies in the front rows quickly found mesmerizing for some reason.
Silver Sword also quickly joining him up the podium as he stood behind the emperor tall and ready.
“Greetings.” Was all the emperor said which caused every single pony present to look up at him.
Suddenly a hoof was raised once again which almost made the emperor groan before giving the pony in question a simply hoof gestured.
The pony…or rather mare nodded. “Well uhm…” She began nervously. “Is it…is it true that you truly defeated king Sombra…and…and that you won’t enslave us or send us to the mines to uhm…rot?” The timid sounding mare asked which was a question really every pony present was also wondering at the moment as all eyes present were firmly fixed at the golden unicorn in question.
The emperor again simply rolled his eyes before looking back at the mare to answer her and in no doubt everybody’s question once and for all.
“No.” He casually stated. “Once again I have no interest in slavery or mining of any kind, especially when it’s just a bunch of crystals.” He responded before the first question clicked back. “And yes I was the one who slew your previous ruler.” He quickly added.
A moment of silence was present afterwards for just a brief moment when all of the sudden the entire crowd erupted into a chorus of happy cheers which honesty caused the emperor to flinch back for a second time this day.
“For the love of heaven and hell, what is it with these equines and cheering?” The emperor thought to himself wide eyed as his staff once again, on instinct, quickly moved in front of him in a defensive position.
“ALL HAIL THE NEW EMPEROR!!” They all eventually started to chant which again left the emperor speechless from the huge amount of approval he was receiving.
“ALL HAIL EMPEROR…wait what was his name again?” One of the ponies, a mare, suddenly asked out loud which caused a lot of ponies around her to stop and wonder that themselves.
“Uhm…his name is Mateus.” Ruby Quill automatically answered which again caused the mare and all the other ponies around her to switch up their cheering.
“ALL HAIL EMPEROR MATEUS!!!!” She and her large group immediately chanted out, some of which even throwing up their forelegs while standing up on their hind legs.
“Well ok, maybe a bit too much attention for my liking.” The emperor thought to himself when out of nowhere a sudden large spike of magical energy came to his attention.
His gaze quickly hardened once more after noticing it as his eyes carefully began to dart around in order to find its source. Though before he could even react to it a sudden bright flash and a low rumble quickly appeared out of nowhere.
Having finally pinpointed the source the emperor quickly turned his head behind him and was immediately greeted with a sight that seriously caused him to raise an eyebrow.
Coming right off the ground and also right underneath the suspended palace came out what the emperor could only describe as a shining crystal shape like a heart. A massive wave of light suddenly shot forth from the heart itself, expanding from it to all directions. The emperor had no other choice but to brace himself from the huge wall of magical energy speeding towards him. Imaging his surprise when he quickly found out that the wave passing through him did absolutely nothing besides filling his mana reserves with so much magical energy that it was almost intoxicating. It also felt strangely warm as a low electric like tingle travelling throughout his body, and somehow shattering every single magical lock or boundary he felt within him that were the main cause for his weaker state of magic previously.
As much as he hated to admit it…it felt…nice. Very nice in fact. Though just as quickly as it appeared, it immediately disappeared as well leaving him somewhat dazed from the experience and also momentarily confused.
That confusion though quickly faded into intrigue as a sudden beam of purple light emerged from the crystal shaped heart, shooting upwards right into the center of the palace before reemerging again from the very top spire before flattening out and slowly forming a magical dome shaped shield right above the city and fully encasing it within.
“How very intriguing.” The emperor thought to himself while rubbing his chin in thought as even the thick layers above the city slowly started to dissipate causing the sun to truly shine through for the very first time.
“HEY LOOK EVERYBODY WE ARE ALL BACK TO NORMAL!!!” The emperor heard somebody shout from the crowd.
He turned himself back around to see what all the commotion was again when he suddenly paused after getting a good look at the scene presented in front of him.
“Seems like crystal shaped heart plus magic creates crystal like ponies.” The emperor wondered to himself with another raised eyebrow as he watched ponies…crystal coated ponies happily observing one another and jumping around in utter joy and happiness in there so called ‘return to their normal looks’.
“Silver Sword look, we are back to normal, we have received our crystal shine again.” Sapphire’s voice suddenly came up from the noise of the cheering crowd as she galloped up the podium. A smile on both Silver’s and Sapphire’s muzzles.
“Yeah! And I can suddenly remember things as well…things like that…that my parents….” Ruby tried to happily butt in before her cheeriness slowly died down with every word. She eventually lowered her head, tears started to stain her eyes as she remembered everything once more.
Including the bravery and eventual murder of her parents under king Sombra’s rule for being crystal unicorns. Same with both Silver and Sapphire who also wore sudden expression of sadness and loss something the emperor quickly noted.
“That would prove that the information I read in one of the old tomes I found in the king's chambers were accurate after all.” The emperor thought to himself while rubbing his chin as he also remembered a lot of other details in them that could potentially be useful later on.
His train of thoughts were quickly interrupted though when he suddenly heard a gasp coming from beside him.
“Uh…Mateus…dude. You…you look surprisingly different after that magical explosion. You never told me that you were actually a crystal pony as well.” The voice of Thera suddenly made itself know.
“What are you talking about? Also I thought that you had left to continue your journey back home since you were completely missing the rest of the day.” Mateus replied as he turned his head to the left to look at her. Both Silver and Sapphire staring at him as well with shocked expressions while Ruby was strangely nowhere to be seen.
“Well…it’s just…you are so much more shiny too, just like everybody else here.” Thera answered which again caused Mateus to furrow his brows before lifting a hoof in front of him.
He casually removed the glove covering his right hoof with his magic and was immediately intrigued at what he saw under it. The pale yellow fur that made his hoof had just the same crystalline shine and shimmer to it just like every other equine here, glistening brilliantly within the light of sun giving it almost a halo like appearance from the right angle.
“…and this is just my hoof, who knows how the rest of my appearance looks.” The emperor thought as he continued to move and turn his hoof in all kinds of direction to view it from all angles.
“Well what an interesting day indeed.” He muttered out loud before focusing back at the ponies all around him.
“Well if not anything, this sudden surprise will at least help to solidify my new position and rights of the new emperor even further. It is much easier for locals to accept a ruler who seems to be one of them, instead of the complete outside. Even more true regarding their previous ruler.”
He cleared his throat before addressing the still overzealous looking crowd with his royal and surprisingly booming voice. “CITIZENS OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE.” He began which had the immediate effect of getting thousands of crystal pony’s attention.
“THIS DAY SHALL BE A DAY OF CELEBRATION, NOT ONLY HAS YOUR PREVIOUS RULER BEEN PERMANENTLY REMOVED AND ALL OF THE EMPIRE'S CITIZENS FREED FROM HIS CONTINUOUS TYRANNY (and foolishness), BUT ALSO THE CRYSTAL HEART HAS BEEN RETURNED AND REACTIVATED TO ENCASE ITS PROTECTIVE MAGIC OVER THIS FAIR CITY AND RESTORED ITS INHABITANTS TO THEIR ORIGINAL FORM AND GLORY. WHAT DO YOU ALL SAY, WOULDN’T THIS BE THE PERFECT MOMENT TO PREPARE AND CELEBRATE THE CRYSTAL FAIR?” He continued to boom out. Having read about the crystal fair and its traditions and meanings in one of those old tomes prior to this.
At first there was silence, before the population answered in a massive uproar of cheers and approval to the idea, once again shouting phrases such as ‘all hail the emperor’ and ‘glory to the crystal empire.’
The emperor smirked as he told everyone in front of him to prepare for the festivities today so the crystal fair can be celebrated all day tomorrow as a national sign of their newly reclaimed freedom and independence.
After that the emperor turned over to both Silver and Sapphire and simply told them he needed to discuss something with them back in the privacy of the throne room in which the two saluted before trotting off.
“Thera.” The emperor casually called out which caught the Thestrals attention.
“Could you be so generous and go see where Ruby Quill has run off to, I am of the impression that the two of you have somehow managed to form a connection one way or another, so it’s obviously better for you to confront her than anyone else at the moment.” He gently requested before moving down the podium and making his way back into the palace, leaving the Thestral mare behind.
“She did look somewhat distressed when I passed her earlier coming out from the palace.” She sighed “Might as well go look for her then to see what seems to be up with her.” She muttered to herself as she watched the collection of crystal coated ponies to slowly disperse from the plaza to obviously prepare for the so called ‘crystal fair’ tomorrow.
She sighed again before descending from the podium herself to look for the ruby colored mare.
“Why do I feel like I am going to receive more than I have bargained for here.”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
Ruby Quill ran, she didn’t knew where she was running to but the point is that she was, and in all honesty she didn’t care where she was galloping as any place where no other pony is, was good enough for her.
Tears were running down her cheeks as she run through the hallways of the palace, not stopping or slowing down for anything.
Prior to today her memories of her past were for the most part completely foggy and mushy at best, only ranging to a few feelings and emotions. But since the restoration of the crystal heart she was able to once again recall everything about her past, her foalhood, her friends, her family, the previous queen before Sombra, her achievements and also failures in life but also the death and execution of both of her parents and even the rest of her family as well.
A family of crystal unicorns.
She never knew specifically why she was the only filly or ‘black sheep so to say’ in her family to not have been born as a unicorn, neither did her mother and father. She got teased by it constantly by her older and younger siblings and even cousins but overall her life as being the only normal crystal pony in her family was more or less…normal. Sure she had major disadvantages, like not being able to grab things properly like how her brother or sister could with their magic, but again overall she managed to adapt as a filly and forced her to use her creativity a lot more in comparison to her sibling.
Who knew that being basically the black sheep in her own family would eventually end up saving her? But all of that really didn’t matter to her anymore as she was in fact the ONLY one still alive from her family.
A feeling and realization that stunk more than a dagger going through someone’s heart, even more so when you were once forced to watch them die right in front of your weary eyes while being completely helpless to do anything about it.
Their pleas for mercy and the last looks her mother gave her before she was burned alive were still freshly resonating with in her mind, making her feel sick in her stomach, almost to the verge of upchucking.
She hated Sombra, she hated him so, so much for what he had destroyed for her. She only hoped that this bastard will burn in the deepest depths of Tartarus for all eternity.
After a while she finally slowed down, her constant nonstop running in combination to her silent cries and overall emotional turmoil having done their job in running her energy dry.
She eventually collapsed, laying perfectly flat on the reflective surface of the crystal floor as she finally broke down crying. Her muffled cries echoing through the walls of the empty hallways as her face was buried deep within her forelegs.
Letting all of those crushing feelings of knowing her terrible past and loss finally take a hold of her, when all of a sudden a set of hoofs slowly approached her from behind before a gentle hoof was placed onto one of her shoulders.
She looked up with her tear-filled eyes only to see Thera looking down at her with genuine worry in her eyes.
The Thestral mare eventually laid herself down onto the floor beside her as she gently began to rub her back with said hoof in a calming and overall caring manner.
Nothing was said between these two.
On Thera’s side, however she was more or less at a loss here. She had never been in such a position or situation before in her life, so her overall knowledge on how to deal with such a problem was pretty much nonexistent, besides acting on her own morals.
Not risking to ruin the moment by saying something stupid she decided to just be by her side while gently massaging her back in hopes that she would calm down over time.
Thera was somewhat unsure what exactly could be the cause of her…surprising new friend’s source of grief, but what she understood and also guessed was that it most likely had something to do with her restored memories.
How an entire civilization got their memories wiped out was beyond her, and she doubted that it actually was the fault of that darkly colored wanna be king that they (or more specifically the Emperor) disposed of two days ago, judging by his lack of planning and narrow mindedness.
The other obvious thing that she can’t really wrap her mind around was just how…shiny and sparkly her and basically everybody else here suddenly became after that crystal heart thing appeared, let alone casting a dome shaped shield right above the city and its surrounding lands which somehow made the air outside a lot less colder and a lot more…moderate.
She might not have a lot of magical knowledge and experience but even past that magic in and of itself was still a complete enigma to her, and she doubted that, even some of the most talented and skilled unicorn magicians knew all of its secrets.
It just goes to show how truly large and mysterious the world really is, and it would mostly likely stay like this for many more millennia to come.
She shook her head. “What am I doing, I should be focused more on her then allow my mind of wander off to the topic of magic. But then again… I have no clue on what to do or what to say, I have never been in this position before. The only thing I have been good at all my life was sticking things with my swords.” Thera thought to herself before shaking her head again and focusing her gaze down at the still distressed looking friend beside her.
“Huh…friend, how that happened I am not sure, but I guess we somehow managed to grow and understand one another after our short time somehow, especially after that…humorous incident in the kitchen yesterday morning.”
Thera simply continued to rub the mare gently on her back as she continued to quietly cry into her forelegs. She eventually stopped which Thera quickly noticed.
“Hey you feel better now?” Thera asked with concerns.
Ruby lifted her head from her forelegs and sniffed before looking right towards the Thestral mare beside her. “Yeah…kind of…” she simply replied with a tired sounding tone.
Her cheeks where wet and her eyes looked bloodshot, a sight that Thera had to admit looked very depressing on the rather, upbeat and sometimes really awkward ruby mare.
Thera in return offered an encouraging smile in hopes to lift her spirits somewhat. At first there was nothing, but after a short while her plan in making her smile a bit worked as Ruby gave a sad smile of her own which only made Thera grin wider.
“Thanks by the way for…well…just being here I guess. Having someone by your side when feeling down can really help sometimes.” Ruby admitted before looking down at her reflection on the floor.
“Hey no problem, to be honest I was too afraid really say something cheesy so that is why I was so quiet.” Thera admitted sheepishly which in turn got a giggle out of the ruby mare beside her.
“I am not too sure, something cheesy might have gotten a small smile out of me besides my depression. You're not really good with words anyway as far as I can tell.” Ruby responded with another giggle which caused the Thestral to roll her eyes before chuckling as well.
“Well anyway…let’s just go somewhere else for now. Laying on a cold, reflective crystal floor in the middle of the hallway is not exactly an ideal place to hang out…or in this case lay down if I want to be honest.” Thera suggested as she quickly got up on all fours.
Ruby wiped a few tears away still stuck in her eyes and cheeks and nodded before getting up herself up with the help of Thera offering a hoof.
Both mares smiled to one another before Thera suddenly got surprised by a ‘hug’ from Ruby. It only lasted a couple of moments but it was enough to momentarily cause her mind to be blank for a moment which again made Ruby giggle at the expression Thera had from her action.
From Thera’s point of view she was not really used to physical contact that much, especially ones that are so sudden. The most physical contact she has gotten was either in training or in an actual life and death situations. So suddenly receiving such an affectionate hug from someone she barely knew is more or less…awkward for her.
Ruby on the other hoof just continued to giggle happily at the expense of her nocturnal friend which in turned earn her a quick glare from said mare which only made the situation even worse as Ruby simply collapsed to the floor laughing her ruby coated ass off…literally ruby coated.
“Well at least she is back to her old self now.” Thera muttered to herself with a huff as she was forced to listen to the rolling mare continue to make fun of her.
After a good while she calmed down which in turn made Thera sigh in relief. She was slowly starting to consider whether to knock her out or not, just to get the ear-piercing noise to stop, her high pitch voice in combination to these echoing halls and her hypersensitive ears make for a WONDERFUL combination.
Ruby eventually stood back up on all fours, huffing and taking in much needed air as she wiped her forehead a bit.
“So-sorry for that.” She openly apologized while rubbing the back of her crystal coated head…yes even her mane looked like crystal now.
Thera shook her head “It's fine. It’s actually really hard for non thestrals to remember that our ears are vastly more sensitive compared to other races, or at least that has been my experience so far.” Thera assured her with a dismissive wave.
“Quite a surprise I haven’t gone deaf yet to be honest.” She quickly added which in turn just made Ruby shake her head in amusement.
“Anyway, you want to come with me back to the Throne room? I am sure that both the two head guards and the emperor are there, plus I am enlisted as the royal assistance and record keeper anyway, so technically I have to be there if anything important is being discussed. We can maybe go out into the city later to check out the preparation for the crystal fair if that is more your cup of tea.” Ruby suggested which made Thera think for a moment before she simply shrugged.
“Yeah sure why not, it’s not like I have anything better to do anyway.” Thera replied which made Ruby nod her head.
“Alright, then let’s just get going. Good thing I know these halls like the back of my mane, otherwise well…you can imagine.” And with that the two were off, going back to the throne room together.
“Wonder if I should ask her what the reason of her outburst of despair was, what kind of memories got rekindled. But then again I guess it’s none of my business either, she would tell me automatically when she feels like it.” Thera wondered to herself as they rounded a corner that would lead them closer to their destination in the beautiful but also ridiculously large halls.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
The emperor sighed quietly to himself as he sat down on his throne. Distant noise could be heard from outside the windows on his left, most probably the citizens already busy preparing for the crystal fair in the morning.
He blocked the pretty much quiet commotions out of his focus as his gaze went down to the two guard leaders who had accompanied him back. He cleared his throat ready to start the discussion as the two armored equines patiently await his proposals.
“Captain, I wish to modernize and upgrade the entire crystal guard in conjunction to rebuilding and improving the city's infrastructure.” The emperor announced, immediately getting to the point.
The captain tilted his head a bit as the first part of his announcement registered fully in his mind. “Wait…upgrading and modernizing the guard? If you allow me to ask, but, what seems to be wrong with the guard we have now? Shouldn’t we focus more in increasing the garrison first though?” Silver asked as both him and his mare companion looked up at him for more of his thoughts.
The emperor smiled in response as he leaned himself back on his crystallized seat and crossing his hind legs like he usually does before replying. “Well the recruitment part will be of course your focus while I will personally see fit that your weapon, training, and equipment will be receiving a notable upscale.” The emperor explained.
“For very good reason too.” The emperor continued. “As you should be easily aware, the position and lack of any solid defensive structures means that the city is literally vulnerable from all sides with its only means of defense being the guard themselves. Sure we could just start up a construction program to erect a solid wall all around the city, but I am more keen in using such funds in first rebuilding the damages caused by your previous ruler instead of the latter.” The emperor added.
It was at that point when Sapphire for the first time stepped up. She bowed her head first quickly in respect before questioning what is on her mind. An action that the quickly waved away as he deemed it unnecessary in which the mare simply nods.
“Well...about your concepts of overhauling the crystal guard your highness…” She began. “…and the training ideas as well, may I ask what exactly you have in mind regarding these two?” She curiously asked, a question the emperor predicted.
“In all due time Lieutenant Sapphire.” The emperor casually replied which sapphire felt disappointed for but nonetheless accept it as she stepped back beside Captain Silver.
The emperor took this as a sign to continue as his gaze switched back the dear captain. “Do you perhaps know anyone who is responsible for armor and weapons manufacturing or even better, machines and equipment in general?” The emperor asked while twirling the staff a bit in the air.
Captain Silver in response thought to himself a bit while rubbing his chin with a hoof before a ping of realization crossed him. “Actually…yes, I do know a certain pony who is well known for providing the guard in the past with all of its gear and equipment…but sadly also infamous for having conducted a lot of mechanical experiments that resulted in a few fires here and there.” He replied while rubbing the back of his head with the same hoof. “He goes by the name of Cid Hammers sir.” He quickly added which caused the emperor to quickly pause.
“Cid…this world has a mechanical maniac name Cid too?” The emperor thought a bit dumbfounded as memories of that one airship captain that continuously spited him with that ship of his.
“All this new Cid is missing would be a love for flying and he would be the perfect Cid mimicker.” He continued to think before banishing these memories in the depths of his mind to focus back at the matter at hand…or hoof.
He will never get used to this, also thinking about hoof what is it with these pony names in just adding two words from any dictionary and calling it a name. Ridiculous, and once again something he will just never get used to.
He looked back at Silver. “Well do you perhaps know where this Cid resides or better where his workshop and smithy is? I would like to personally discuss my plans and ideas with him for the improvements, weapon plans, armor and over all machinery as well.” The emperor’s questioned which in turn made Silver swiftly nod in response.
He was about to reply before another voice suddenly did that for him. “I think both his shop and residence are located between the old military district and noble district North West from here.” Ruby casually answered as both her and Thera appeared in the throne room from the right staircase behind the throne.
Both of them looked very calm and relaxed despite Ruby’s distressing behavior earlier, which was good because the emperor was going to need her to provide more information on the layout of this castle, primarily where the treasury was where the previous king no doubt hoarded all of the city’s riches. Half of it needs to be returned to its citizens immediately so that swift and immediate reconstructions of the city’s infrastructure can get going.
Though one question quickly gained the emperor’s attention when Ruby mentioned something about a noble district.
“Is this Cid Hammers a noble?” He curiously questioned which in turn made Ruby nod her head as she and Thera stopped at the base of the throne’s stairs.
“He is actually, plus one of the wealthiest ponies in the city. The Hammers family actually goes quite a long way back in the empire's history. Though how long I am not sure. Nobles tend to keep the history of their family tree to themselves. Including Cid obviously.” Ruby quill summarized.
“At least that explains where he gets his funds in conducting all of those experiments at the first place.” Mateus mentally noted as he rubbed his chin in thought.
“Well then, please send a message to him that I wish to see him, either here in the palace or back in his workshop if required. Either way is fine by me.” The emperor announced in which Silver stepped up.
“I can go to his place personally and relay this message to him sir.” Silver offered.
“Very well, do that.” The emperor casually replied.
Silver gave away a final parting salute before he swiftly turned himself around to act upon the emperor wishes with Sapphire quickly following him, leaving the emperor and the two mares alone in the throne room.
“Ruby Quill.” The emperor announced which caught rubies attention in an instant.
“Yes your highness?” She replied while looking up at him.
“Do you perhaps know the whereabouts of any underground vaults or national treasuries by any chance?” He questioned as he stood up from his throne.
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...I can almost see Cadence's scrunchy-face from confusion as to why the Crystal Ponies are celebrating.
7747482
And Shining Armor's jealousy!
now lets see if this follows other fics like this. Candence shows up, demands the thrown, gets kicked out, then everyone argues and celestia is brought in, with more escalation
7747520 Nah...even though THAT fic was the main inspiration for this one. I will have her more closely related to her canon character type. In being some of the most level headed ponies in the show.
I feel a bit embarrassed now to be honest, that somebody managed to figure it out.
7747538 yeah i like these type of fics with replacement rulers of the crystal empire. I have read enough that follow the same outline, glad you are taking a different approach, eh maybe have her act as a ambassador for equestria or something
It will be an interesting conversation between the Emperor and the rest of Equestria, as represented by Cadance.
"Thank you for visiting, but you are not needed."
Where has this been all my life? The Emperor is my second-favorite FF villain behind Kefka.
7747610 And Shinning Armor will be all pouty before getting dragged by his hindlegs by Cadence to some corner to have celebratory sex. And thus, Flurry Heart was born...Earlier than expected.
Loving this fic so far.:D
Hmm... final fantasy machinery... i have a feeling under Mateus rule the crystal empire will very quickly rise to steampunk levels of magitech, remember the floating bikes and airships from 12? or the mako reactor from seven? maybe not something so destructuve to the environment, they are ponies after all.
7747615 Yeah I was thinking the same thing in some point until i was like "Fuck it" and just decided to write it myself.
7747765 ...what?
7748455 Huzzah! Ye hath been confuzzled.
7749064 ehh...whatever, to late now and i really needed to start somewhere without having it drag out.
Plus as far as i understand in the actually show he was poorly handled in comparisons to all the other villains, which gave him this bad rap in the first place. Unlike the emperor in final fantasy 2 and the dissidia games in which he was always portrait as a brilliant strategist, cunning and a genius.
Also he is more powerful then Sombra anyway. If the Emperor can die, kick the devil himself in the face and take his power and place in the game and come back from hell itself, then a simple power hungry unicorn should be a problem.
Oh and if you played the remake version with the added content of "soul of rebirth" then its also applied that he took gods place as well.
Guys remember that this a story about the Emperor Mateus and not King Sombra. There are plenty of excellent stories about his possible deeds, origins, motivations, abilities and even *shudder* "redemption".? How the author choose to portray Sombra in the grand scheme of things is not relevant to the bigger picture of the story.
7749572 Yes, yes I know. Looking back at it now I can see that I could have made the fight scene a bit better, but to be honest I didn't wanted the chapter to drag out to long, as you can probably tell from my writing style I do have a tenancy to drag things out automatically as it is.
I wanted to get to the meat and bones of the Fic as quickly as possible.
But for the sake of keeping it somewhat canon lets just say that Sombra in the end got a bit cocky and let his anger get the better of him, which eventually let do his downfall quickly against an opponent who is already naturally stronger then him.
Same with the Emperor. He had the power and position to ultimately dispose of both Firion and his gang many times before, but he didn't because he viewed them nothing more as pests and completely underestimated them, which as we all know (or at least the once who played the game) lead to his downfall.
A mistake he learned and wont make twice.
Also I never watched the particular episode, nor have I read any of the comics of it as well. The only exposure I got from mister Spanish name was from the internet itself and fan fiction.
Being honest here about the editors; the use of language in the chapters covered by your previous editor reminded me of a one legged blind man attempting to learn to tap dance amidst a mine field.
The current editor is a vast improvement. To continue the metaphor, he has both legs, is merely extremely nearsighted and knows the basics of tap dancing. It's far from perfect, but it doesn't ruin my appetite.
My largest and most pressing suggestion is checking for redundant language. It seems as if you feel that your point fails to come across unless you reiterate, repeat, and reinstate the same thing over and over again.
Aside from the writing, the actual story is fairly interesting so far. I'd quite like to see where this goes from here.
Can you tell me on which movie or game this story is based on? I want to get a rough idea on what the character can do, how his personality is and if he is going to be an asshole like Villain, or maybe even a good ruler, but with a firm hand which could appear mean to the ponys.
I'm somehow interessted but I hope he isn't going to enter the bad side of being totally awesome. (you know what I mean, so good that it starts looking boring and stuff like that.)
7762272 Emperor Mateus is the main antagonist of Final Fantasy 2 and some of the most overpowered villains of the series.
7762286 okay, well I read it and see for myself where the story is going.
Not sure what I want from a dark story right now.
However the picture of him makes me kind of hoping, that he isn't going to be the typicall asshole, and something more complex.
Maybe you know what I mean, some people may think that he is evil, but he actually is going to do many things right, then something even more powerfull is going to appear or something like this is what I would actually enjoy right now. I mean I didn't had something like this or a while.
However the only thing I'm hoping for is, that he isn't just the asshole
7763223 So many comments
I'm suddenly in the mood for a certain type of comedy.
At first I only thought about Cadance or Shining reporting everything to Celestia, and that she would somehow have a problem with it, since she has her "plan for the future" going on. (If this should be a serious thing in this story (the plans she has for Cadance and or Twilight without their knowledge)).
However now I would think it could be pretty funny to see a flirty Celestia and a maybe grossed out Artemis
edit: I can see her being all serious when they meet, and before she has to go, she maybe would actually make a rather flirty comment. (If it is done right I can like stuff or characters that are like that too).
7715961 I tried to figure out what you wanted to say with that comment, probably you would think that she still somehow manage to be the princess in the Crystal Empire?
I guess if I don't take my personal hate about some story versions of her into account, then I probably have to agree that she and Luna are the most leve headed in the show. (I say Luna because I don't remember anything bad about it right now, and since she was bad once, and "harmonic", she can probably judge all the stuff a bit more realistic (grey), instead of good(white) and evil (black).
Okay that had nearly nothing to do with it, but so far I think our main Char is learning to be a good ruler, even if he should still take a more human approach on it, than being completely....uuhhh peacefull like Celestia?
....and maybe....I'm just happy to see Cadance not getting what she wants, or is destined to do by Celestia.
I like Cadance sometimes, but for my taste she is kind of forcing the matter of love on the ponys in most storys, rather than taking a subtle apporach.
I would kind of expect her to give them advice if they "want it", and if they maybe have a pretty bad heartache, but not kind of forcing them to finally advance on somepony and stuff like that. No matter if they are happy for the help after they got their special somepony, I never liked the way she was doing it in most storys, they should act if they are ready and get their tips if they want to.
I would like to see a story where maybe the help and probably pressure that Cadance is putting on one pony when acting like that, would actually cause somepony to go away and deny themself their chance of love. Who is saying that Cadance couldn't still learn how to be an even better princess of love?
Sorry, I didn't really planed for this to end in my personal opinion on Cadance storys, but I hope I still explained it pretty good.
Can't wait for him to witness his first Heart-song.
And still nopony seems to have realised the Empire was in stasis for a thousand years. I'm sure there'll be a lot of shocked ponies when they realise that.
I found it a little odd Mateus was reading and knew about the Crystal Fair, but not the Crystal Heart. However, right while I was reading this, I recalled that in canon, Twilight assumed the Crystal Heart was just an ornament thing used for the Fair, not realising there was an actual, legitimate magical artifact until she found it in one book out of thousands later, so it's not surprising Mateus wouldn't have found out about that in time for the Heart's reactivation.
15% of the Crystal Empire being children seems rather off. Real world populations are closer to a 25-30% range of people under 18, and more like 40%+ in some third-world countries (whether the Crystal Empire would work better as a first-world analogue or third-world analogue in that regard is up for debate). Obviously, Sombra killed off a lot of ponies for being unicorns, but I doubt there would be a higher proportion of unicorn children than there were unicorn adults.
If Ruby's parents and siblings were all unicorns but she wasn't, then undoubtedly it means the genes for the unicorns still exist in the population, just no unicorns themselves.
7871338
Late reply I know, but someone like Sombra probably had the children in the mines and other dangerous work.
The only constant in the Multiverse, there is always someone who is a mechanical maniac somehow named Cid.
Yep. Cid is a man who can transcend life and death and be in anything and everything; even Kingdom Hearts.
*stung
10323680
Yes, the main villain of FF2