Of Iron and Crystal

by King-Mac-13

Mustering the Forces

It was rare for Shining Armor to have a moment of rest. Between leading the Crystal Guard and helping raise Flurry Heart, ‘rest’ was a word he was becoming unfamiliar with. But with Cadence taking Flurry Heart to Ponyville to visit Twilight, he finally got some down time. Granted, he would have loved to visit his little sister again, but the duties of the royalty weren’t going to take a break long enough for them both to do so. Thus, he remained in the Crystal Empire. Of course, a true Royal Guard never rests.

And he really wished they could… Sounds of the Crystal Guard shouting “Halt!” at the front door of the castle caught his attention. He quickly made his way to the doors as they opened to show a pegasus he didn’t recognize in a black and gold uniform. Though… he supposed he sort-of recognized him, since he shared a few similarities with one of the guards he was given from Canterlot to help with training and defense. The blue and blonde mane gave away that this was somepony else.

Shining Armor stood in the hall, confronting his ‘visitor.’ “Can I help you?”

“I believe you can, Captain Shining Armor. I am Commander Steel Bastian. I need to take a few of the guards under your command for a mission. First, Warrant Officer Flash Sentry.”

“Hold on! I understand you need them for a mission, but I’ll need to know what the mission is before I can commit troops.”

“That is sensitive information I must discuss only with those on the mission. Can’t have wondering ears for this…” He turned his head toward the two guards at the door, listening to their conversation.

“Okay… If that’s the case, we may still have a problem. I can’t give you troops without orders from Canterlot.”

“I am the orders from Canterlot, Captain.”

“Pardon?”

“You’ve been away for too long. The Royals decided they preferred to have somepony on duty to command the guard in Canterlot while you’re here in the Empire. So, with you away, I’m in charge of the guard. Which makes me your superior. So, those guards…”

Shining Armor sighed in defeat. He couldn’t fault the logic of a back-up Captain now that he lived in the Crystal Empire. “Alright… Other than Sentry, who else do you need?”

“Just one more. I had a list…” He pulled out a small piece of paper from his uniform pocket. “Oh! And look at that. Welcome aboard Captain.”

“What?!”

“Did I stutter?”

“You can’t take me away from the Empire!”

“Oh? And why is that? Are you unable to serve?”

“Of course not!”

“Then what’s the issue?”

“Cadence is away and nopony else would be here to command the Empire.”

“Not to sound rude, but that’s not my problem. I don’t need you to move out immediately, so use some of this time to get the Empire’s affairs in order. I expect you and Warrant Officer Sentry at the Train Station at 14:00. Bring your armor, some bits, and any material you deem absolutely necessary. See you then, Captain.” Commander Steel Bastian left and had the guards close the doors and let the Captain think.

Shining Armor was left alone. He needed time to process what he had experienced. When he finally pulled himself back together, he looked up at the clock, 11:45. He had time to get things together and gather his armor.

\/

Bastian made his way through the streets, stopping after a few blocks. “It’s rather rude to skulk around, not to mention unbecoming of a Royal Guard.

Flash Sentry approached from an alleyway. “And you should at least call ahead. It’s the least you could have done.”

“Dearest brother, you know I have a good reason for coming here short notice.”

“I’m guessing a mission.”

“Correct. I’ll go over the details when your team assembles at 14:00.”

“Alright… So, who is on the team?”

“Captain Shining Armor, our brother Grey Hat, and one more under my orders.”

“Why the mystery on the last pony?”

“He’s the kind of pony you need to see to believe. For now, finish your patrol and prepare for deployment.”

“Understood.”

\/

14:00. Shining Armor was punctual for his assignment, as always. Though a part (okay, all of him) of him wished he didn’t have to go on this mission. He left a note behind for Cadence, explaining the situation as he understood it, but it still felt wrong to leave without really being able to warn her. As he arrived, he found himself in the company of four other ponies. There was Flash Sentry digging through his pack, doing a triple check before they left. The ponies to his right looked rather similar to Flash and Bastian, just with a brighter blue mane and lunar armor. There was, of course, Commander Bastian. The last pony was dressed in full plate armor, his face was covered.

Shining trotted over to Bastian and nodded toward the mystery pony, “Who’s that?”

“Your fourth member. More on that later. Right now, we need to discuss your mission.” The three ponies without the masked armor gathered around Bastian. “At 01:13 last night, the Equestrian Royal Guard arrested Ersatz Heart, a criminal running a gem smuggling operation in Manehattan. One of the crates contained a crystal roughly the size of a grown stallion’s head.”

Flash gave an impressed whistle.

After rolling his eyes, Bastian continued, “The point is, a gem that size is not natural in Equestria. I also have reason to suspect that the gem may be of a similar material to the Crystal Heart. We cannot allow something like that to fall into malicious hooves. Your mission to track the mystery gem down and bring it back to Canterlot. Is that understood?”

The trio listening saluted, “Yes, sir!”

“How you go about the mission is up to you. However, you will not receive any more supplies or personnel from the guard. If my hunch is correct, we must be ready to defend ourselves. You are all I can spare while still assembling a capable team.”

“Speaking of,” Shining chimed in, “Are you going to tell us why mister heavy armor isn’t listening to the orders?”

“The corporal will follow your direct orders on this mission. What I tell him will be irrelevant. By the way,” Bastian held out a small pendant to Shining Armor, “You’ll need this.”

“What is it?”

“Insurance. Put it on before we continue.”

Shining put the pendent over his head and it hung around his shoulders loosely. After a moment, the chain shrank and made the pendent a tighter fit around his neck.

“Good.” Bastian trotted over to the Corporal and signaled the others to back up. “you might want a healthy berth for this.” Once the others were far enough away, he tapped the helmet three times and flew back to the group. “Wake up, Corporal!”

The full-armor pony began to stir and looked around. He remained silent, only letting out a small groan.

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow, “He was asleep?”

The mystery pony froze upon hearing Shining Armor and turned toward him. “You…”

“Um…”

The Corporal charged Shining Armor. When he got close, however, the pendent Shining was given began to glow and he was pushed back. The force knocked away his helmet. Now it was Shining Armor’s turn to freeze at what he saw. The Corporal was a grey unicorn with a black mane; nothing too incredible so far. His eyes were a deep red filled with hate. The magic might not be flowing from them as they had, but they were unmistakable. This Corporal… was King Sombra.

Shining Armor was in shock for about a minute before anger took over. He used his magic and dragged Bastian toward him by the collar. “What the hell is this?!”

“Your Corporal and he has a name, you know.”

“Why is he here?! Last I checked, that megalomaniacal mad-stallion was dead!”

“I’m right here.” Sombra replied with seemingly uncharacteristic dry annoyance instead of his over the top anger. “And this was far from my idea, little prince. Also, ‘megalomaniacal’? What, do you have a word a day calendar or something?”

Shining pointed a hoof at Sombra, “I’ll get to you in second.” He returned his attention to Bastion, “Now explain!”

Bastian took a deep breath before replying, his voice as calm as ever despite the angry prince at his throat. “Alright then. But first, I’ll kindly ask you to release my collar.” Once he was released from the Captain’s magic, he cleared his throat. “It’s simple, we were informed by one Grimoire Maleficarum that those who wield Dark magic can cheat death and return from a fatal defeat if they are powerful enough. He stated that, while unlikely, Sombra could have had enough power at his defeat to do just that. If there was even a fraction of a percent of a chance that he could have returned, the Black Gold Guard decided it would be on our terms.”

Sombra growled at them, but didn’t make a move of attack.

“See? He can’t fight back because we hold the chains now. The once proud King Sombra is now the pet of the BGG. Isn’t that right, Corporal Sombra?”

“I hate you.”

“I know. Good news is, I’m not your commanding officer for the mission. He is,” Bastian pointed a hoof to Shining Armor.”

Said Captain was shocked, to say the least. “Wait, what?”

“You are the highest rank, the most experienced, and the most likely to be able to rein in Sombra should it become necessary. So long as you wear that pendent, he must follow your orders.”

“That doesn’t make this any less insane!”

“Please, Captain, ‘insanity’ is hardly the term for this. Sombra, could you educate the Captain.”

Sombra grumbled before speaking, “Insanity is repeating an action expecting a different result.”

“Right. So, hardly insane. In the end, however, it doesn’t matter. You have your orders, you have your team. You will do your job. Good luck soldiers.” Bastian trotted off and caught the next train to Canterlot.

After a moment of silence, Sombra spoke up, “Well, Captain… What’s our first move.”

Shining Armor wasn’t sure about any of this, but he had a job to do. “Okay… I’d suggest combing the scene for any clues first. But I get the feeling we won’t find anything…”

Flash watched for the next train, “What makes you say that?”

“Because our mission is to track that gem down. If they had a clue, they wouldn’t need us.”

Sombra nodded, “He’s not wrong.”

“As for where to start, I’m not total sure… A gem the size of a pony’s head is hard to hide and, if it is the same as the Crystal Heart, it would be impossible to sell. And, if the Commander did his job, the gem was blacklisted for jewelers. Other than those points, there’s nowhere to really start.”

“I suggest a start in Ponyville.” The group turned toward Sombra.

“um…” Flash chimed, “Any particular reason?”

“If I’m not mistaken, the Captain’s sister and her friends live in Ponyville. What’s more, I can sense that there’s powerful Dark magic in the town.”

“You can tell all of that from here?”

“I may be your military’s ‘pet’ now, but I am still Sombra. Do not doubt my power. As I was saying, they may be able to help us figure out who would steal a large gem and for what purpose? Twilight, I think it was, may be able to track a magic signature if the gem does turn out to be like the Heart. Beyond that, the Dark magic wielder should be able to help us.”

“So, Ponyville?”

Shining Armor sighed. He didn’t like dragging Twilight and her friends into this if he could help it. But, he had to admit, they were very experienced at saving Equestria. “I guess it’s a start…”

Author's Note:

Back again! Hope you're enjoying the story so far.

Comments

[Mkchief34]

Oh, this gonna be good!