The Lunar Chalice

by Spirals95

Chapter 9 - Some Heart to Heart

Chapter 9

Nightfall over the Crystal Empire came with the city's street lights brightening rapidly, and the residents returning to their homes for the evening. The only activity left in the magical city was a soft glow from the center of the Crystal Palace, continuing to generate power for the thermal shield that kept the bitter cold out of the habitable zone of the city limits. During the day, the Crystal Heart stayed at the base of the palace, but at night it rose up into a specially guarded room, perhaps also as a way to make it easier to defend in an emergency.

Two guards of the night, clad in the heavy silver armor typically issued to Crystal Guard members, stood outside one of the main entrances when the blue carriage pulled by four earth pony stallions arrived at the front. The doors opened, and Techorse exited with his friends. After quietly tipping each of them enough so they'd be able to spend the night inside the warmth of the city, he started to approach the guards.

“Identify yourself,” said the first one, his eyes unmoving.

“Techorse, here to discuss some pressing issues with the royal family,” answered the inventor, stepping forward.

“What kind of matters?”

“Are we seriously doing this?” sighed Flaming Ivory, rolling his eyes at the guards.

Shadow Breeze took the initiative and presented the two guards with the now voided deal to trade for the chalice.

“Hey, sorry, my name is Shadow Breeze, I'm a diplomat for Equestria,” he said shyly, “these papers might help. Princess Luna has lost her magical chalice, and the crazy guy who stole it is headed this way. It's a dark artifact, so we kind of want to stop it here, before it makes the crystal ponies upset.”

“Haven't heard of you, sorry,” answered the other, yellow-coated guard, “you'll have to wait here until we get someone to check your files.”

Flaming Ivory finally lost all patience and stepped forward confidently, he knew the guards would only try to stop him from pushing past, or else they'd be overstepping their boundaries. His horn and eyes softly glowed orange as he pulled the first guard's dog tags to his eyes.

“Soo, Mr.... Pilum, nice name, by the way, awesome parents ya got there,” he said quickly, “you're telling me you can't recognize an Equestrian hero?”

“It's a matter of safety,” returned the guard calmly, with no verbal urge to harm Flaming, “and I would really appreciate it if you admired my new tags from a distance.”

“Man these are good tags though, I really mean that,” answered Flaming as he turned off his magic and let them fall back under the guard's armor.

“This is a really pressing issue,” urged Shadow Breeze, in hopes of persuading them, “we've got to speak with them soon.”

“We can't really do anything until we know this guy is really Techorse...” answered the guards, who were starting to enjoy wasting their time.

Techorse's eyes moved away slightly from the guards and onto the door of the palace, which had opened slightly. Shining Armor had poked his head out of the doorway, apparently having overheard the conversation while wandering around the palace, and smiled when he saw Techorse. The unicorn slowly walked up behind his guards, and he made a motion with his hoof telling the friends to stay quiet.

“And what if it is me?” asked Techorse, smirking, “you'd look pretty stupid, wouldn't you?”

Pilum finally lost it, “Look, we don't know who you are, but we're going to make you leave if you don't wait.”

“Hey Techorse!” shouted Shining Armor, springing the trap, “These two morons giving you trouble?”

“Celestia's blood...” muttered Pilum as he hung his head.

“No trouble at all,” teased Flaming Ivory, smiling.

“What are you doing here?” asked the former captain, “It's ten at night.”

“We'll tell the whole story once we get inside and settled, I don't think you're going like this,” said Techorse a bit sadly, “is Cadance here?”

“No, she went to deal with a rocky marriage out in Cloudsdale, she'll be back tomorrow hopefully,” he answered, “come on in guys, I'll get some snacks going.”

“Awesome, food!” cheered Flaming Ivory.

As they started to walk to the entrance, the annoyed Crystal Guards behind them grumbling about their humiliation, Midnight looked up at the spire of the palace and saw the soft glow of the Crystal Heart coming from the center of the tower.

“Do not go near that.”

---

Most of the rooms in the Crystal Palace, had tall, imposing reflective rooms and hallways, and even the lounge Shining Armor brought his friends to was no exception. It was a cozier room with a fireplace burning fresh wood cut from the pine forests outside the Empire, and some comfortable bean bag chairs that were clearly his wife's idea surrounding a stained glass coffee table rounded out the large room. A grand piano sat to the left of the area, ebony casing around ivory keys and brass pedals, but the entertainer had gone home for the evening leaving it unoccupied. The table was piled with cookies, chips, slices of pizza, and plenty of drinks both hot and cold for Shining's guests to enjoy.

“So, since Cadance won't be back until tomorrow, thought maybe we could just chill for tonight, already got the maids getting rooms ready for you,” suggested Shining Armor, pulling out a canvas bag from underneath the table.

He removed a few plastic boxes from the bag and set them on top, “I got out some Power and Valor decks, we could have a sweet five-way game.”

“Shining, I know Cadance isn't here, but I really want to talk about the situation,” interrupted Shadow Breeze bravely, “please.”

“Oh... all right,” he said, frowning in disappointment.

“Thanks,” answered the pegasus, “so, in a nutshell, Princess Luna found out that her magical chalice she lost a long time ago was in the collection of a griffon duke. We went to go get it, but it was stolen by a zebra named Rosseth.”

“I think Twiley was telling me about Princess Luna's chalice a while ago,” Shining Armor interrupted, scratching his chin, “that's the one that makes bad potions, right?”

“Right, right,” continued Shadow Breeze, “so anyways, that zebra with her chalice is coming here.”

While they were talking, Flaming Ivory's brown eyes wandered over to the grand piano, and he started to lose track of the conversation as the urge to play built up in his heart. Eventually the temptation overpowered his manners, and he quietly slid off of his bean bag chair, creeping up to the piano. He climbed onto the ebony playing bench in front of the massive instrument, and carefully lifted off the cover, beginning to play a soft, quiet piece of his own to sooth his nerves. The others looked back at him a little bit, but they didn't seem to mind his playing since he wasn't participating in the talk anyways.

“... hey I'm happy to help you guys catch a thief,” said Shining Armor confidently, “we can send the guards around to look for him and get the chalice back. You seem worried over nothing.”

“But it's not nothing,” insisted Shadow Breeze, his eyes displaying worry, “Rosseth also stole a dark artifact and is taking it with him.”

“So?”

Midnight Blaze cut in, “So, we think that maybe Rosseth is trying to use dark magic within the Crystal Empire. You know what will happen when the Crystal Ponies see dark magic, right?”

Shining realized what they were implying, and he gritted his teeth, “Oh...”

Shadow Breeze declared with a pained voice, “If Rosseth combines the chalice with whatever dark artifact he stole, he'll be able to demonstrate a massive act of dark magic, scaring the crystal ponies and sending them into a panic. There will be chaos, disorder, screaming...”

Flaming Ivory ramped up his musical piece into a dramatic, loud, and scary set of chords to emphasize Shadow Breeze's dire choices of words, making everyone stop talking and give him a nasty look. The unicorn stopped playing immediately and covered up the keys again.

“Heh, sorry... couldn't help it.”

“Anyways, we think there's a good chance he wants to cause civil disorder in the Crystal Empire,” said Techorse, “we need to come up with a way to stop him and take back the chalice.”

“Yeah, but... why would a zebra want to get the Empire to riot?” argued Shining Armor, “I mean, what's in it for him?”

“Crystals,” suggested Midnight Blaze, “the power crystals naturally occurring around here are the strongest power source on the planet. Maybe he wants to steal a good number of them during the chaos. He had hired some mercenaries to deal with us back in Stargazer's Peak, maybe he has more here. All your guards would be diverted away from the stockpiles by the rioting, and he could just walk right in and help himself.”

“Woah, you know a lot about the power crystals,” said an impressed Shining.

“They're the centerpiece of my magical tool project, I call 'em mindstones,” said Midnight Blaze, reaching for his bags on the floor magically.

He removed a smaller example of the stones and set one on the table in front of Shining Armor, “I've learned how to modify Imperial Crystals to read the brainwave patterns of the owner, letting objects be moved by thoughts just like magic.”

“Sounds interesting,” he said, picking up the stone with his magic and looking it over, “guess it's for earth ponies, huh? Sounds a lot like how Techorse says his saddle works.”

“Right, but mine runs off of electronic components, Midnight's is something the laypony can use,” answered Techorse, “I think most ponies would be more comfortable with something that looks like an artifact, which is why I've supported Midnight's project.”

“Plus you're known for kitchen stuff,” teased Flaming Ivory as he returned to his chair, “it'd be an awfully big leap from ice cream makers to mind reading doom robots.”

Flaming Ivory laughed as he avoided a hoof swing from Techorse. Shadow Breeze shuffled around on his bean bag chair, and wanted to get the conversation back on track.

“Shining, will you help us out?” he pleaded.

“We can have a patrol set up to look for him, sure,” said Shining Armor, “so what's this guy look like?”

“Well, he's a zebra with a thick mane, but he has a patch of brown coat fur running from his chin to his stomach,” described Shadow Breeze, “and he has an amulet like mine, but it has a rounded opal gemstone, and it creates evil copies of himself...”

“So he's armed and dangerous.”

“They're really only good for making a distraction, which is how he got away from us,” Techorse answered, slightly disagreeing, “he's done a lot of bad things for this grand robbery, but I'm not sure how dangerous he actually is, yet.”

“Then we'll have to treat him as if he's the most dangerous type of thief,” said Shining Armor, sighing because he knew Techorse was being soft, “we can't take any chances.”

“Just remember, he wants us to go on the offensive,” reminded Shadow Breeze softly, “we really don't want to be too harsh, or he'll take advantage and get away again.”

“Let's not get ahead of ourselves, we need to wait until Cadance gets back tomorrow morning anyways,” said Techorse in hopes of ending the conversation.

A few moments of time passed in silence before Shining Armor pointed with his trimmed hoof to the deck boxes.

“Soooo, want to play now?”

“I don't know the rules,” admitted Shadow Breeze meekly.

“Best way to learn is to play.”

“I call the superheroes deck!” interjected Flaming Ivory.

Techorse was just glad the conversation was over for now. He was worried that he might mess up again and lose the chalice for a second time to his new enemy, but he was also concerned Shining Armor would throw too much military force into the situation and lead to a diplomacy crisis that would upset Princess Luna and make her feel even worse about the impact of her lost chalice. Despite all the possible hazards, Techorse was aware he was being trusted as more than just a plan B to sending Twilight to take care of the situation. Now he was concerned only about how he was going to stop Shining Armor's ridiculous deck he'd played against before that prevented him from doing anything even remotely close to resembling winning the game.

---

After a long, well-fought game, the stallions were taken to their rooms for the evening to sleep well for the day ahead. Midnight was ushered to his own by one of the castle employees, it was a large, open room with a giant king-sized bed made from the finest fabrics that could be imported. Fancy curtains hung from the singular, gigantic window at the side of the room, and the walls were lined with various dressers.

“Sheesh, I'm only staying one night!” he chuckled.

“Ever been to the Crystal Empire before? We kind of like guests,” said the maid who took him there, giggling, “plus, you're friends of Shining Armor. Only the best!”

“Well thanks, I think I'll settle in!”

She nodded and turned around, closing the door behind her. Midnight quickly discovered a large, equally luxurious bathroom was connected to his bedroom, and took an hour-long bath in boiling hot water to ease his mind. Following brushing his teeth and brushing the knots out of his slick haircut, he started to head for the massive bed when he heard a knock at the door. Opening it, he found Techorse, who was dressed up in a simple set of thin gray pajamas with light blue stripes.

“Techorse, you ok?” he asked, “This isn't about Shining clobbering you again is it?”

Techorse said with a chuckle, “No, I'm not too hurt about that. Shining spends all his disposable income on games, anyways, so he has the best cards.”

Midnight laughed, “How does Princess Cadance put up with him?”

“Same way any wife puts up with her husband's hobbies I bet,” he answered, “a lot of eye rolling and 'that's nice, honey'.”

“Anyways,” continued Techorse with a more serious tone, “I've been noticing you've been acting worried, or like your head has been hurting. Is something wrong? I wanted to ask you myself because Flaming would have picked on you if I brought it up back there.”

Midnight began to sweat a little, and hoped it was just the soaked heat from the hot bath,“Oh, well... Flaming's a cool guy. I wouldn't have cared.”

Techorse didn't seem so convinced, “Well, I'm still a bit worried about you. What's wrong?”

The unicorn feared the voice in his head would torture him if he squealed, and answered, “It's just... about my father. No big deal, I'll try not to let it get to me so it doesn't worry you.”

“All right,” said Techorse, accepting the answer, “have a good night Midnight, and try to forget about it.”

“I've been trying my whole life, Techorse,” sighed Midnight, closing the door.

The green stallion's ears sank in pity about Midnight's situation with his dad, and left to go back to his own bedroom.

---

It had been about a half hour since Techorse had left, and Midnight lay in the darkness of the bedroom, snuggled up underneath the thick, heavy blankets of the bed. He was trying to get to sleep, but he feared falling unconscious and having another encounter with the strange specter in his mind. How in Equestria was he going to be able to keep the voice from coming back?

The young unicorn bolted up from his bed, “Wait a minute... it told me not to go near the glow. I wonder...”

Midnight Blaze got out of his bed, and took with him one pillow and a smaller blanket he found in the drawers, dragging it behind him with his magic as he exited the room quietly.

“What are you doing?”

Ignoring the voice, he wandered down the empty, dark hallways of the palace, avoiding the guards until he reached a central section near the center of the citadel, where a guard stood by an armored door. Midnight wondered how he was going to get past the guard, until he wandered away from the door in a bored manner. The unicorn seized the opportunity, and got through the armored door quickly.

Behind it was a large, rounded room with narrow, thin windows surrounding it. The room was bright as day, a large column in the center rising up to half of the height of the room, and a soft, light-blue colored field of energy surrounding it in a tube. At the apex of the ceiling, the Crystal Heart hovered, rotating slowly and sending pulses of energy down the tube into the palace's depths. Midnight couldn't believe he was looking at what might be the most famous artifact in Equestrian history, and slowly approached the powerful object.

After staring at the power source for a good long minute, Midnight Blaze placed his pillow on the floor of the room, then the blanket, and laid down to go to sleep, ignoring the light in his eyes.

“So this is your plan? Using the Heart as a night light?” teased the voice in his head.

“If it gets you to leave, sure,” answered the unicorn, practically talking to himself.

It laughed, “You're being ornery, yet I don't blame you. I will depart for now and leave you be, sleep well.”

The Crystal Heart stopped rotating, and reversed direction slowly until the flat edge of the heart faced the unicorn on the floor. Midnight Blaze, his eyes closed, didn't notice the artifact's behavior, nor the fact that the room was dimming quickly. Finally, the unicorn managed to drift off to sleep, convinced the voice would leave him alone for one night.

---

“Midnight!”

He bolted awake again, certain the voice had returned despite agreeing to leave him.

“You said you were leaving me alone!” he screamed, not waiting to take in the environment.

Ignitus recoiled from his son's shouting, “Easy son, it's me!”

“D... dad?” he asked with surprise, “What are you doing here?”

Behind Ignitus stood Shining Armor and several of his guards, standing in surprise at the scene. The Crystal Heart was shining down a spotlight from its center upon Midnight Blaze, and the instant Ignitus stepped towards him, the circle of bright light widened to accommodate the detective.

“I came here to help Techorse stop the chalice thief,” he said, “Shining Armor's stallions noticed the Heart wasn't producing power, and we came to check it out.”

Midnight Blaze stood up as Techorse and the others entered the room. Immediately Techorse opened up his saddle and pulled out a small diagnostics tool, which he began to work with using his robotic arms in order to examine the Crystal Heart.

“What's going on, Techorse?” asked Flaming Ivory, a pair of headphones over his head which normally helped him to sleep to some classical music.

“My scanner shows that the Crystal Heart is lining this room with some kind of invisible shield,” he said.

“So it didn't stop making power?” asked Shining Armor, “That's a relief.”

“Yeah, it's as if... it was protecting Midnight, for some reason,” continued Techorse, “artifacts are not my specialty, reactors are, but all that energy output usually goes somewhere.”

“Am I in trouble?” asked Midnight Blaze, looking at the guards who were glaring at him.

“There's a reason the Heart is on the ground floor during the day,” answered Shining Armor gruffly, “it's off limits during the night. We should have you arrested for this.”

“And the instant you do that, I'll be happy to let the Princesses know you did,” chuckled a voice behind the group.

The ponies in the room turned to watch Arbiter and Limpwing enter, the captain's black cape fluttering behind him.

“Arby, Limpwing, hey!” said Techorse eagerly, stowing his PDA and walking over to them.

“Good morning, Techorse,” he said, “I'll be happy to talk to you once I put my predecessor in his place.”

“Arbiter...” growled Shining Armor, his eyes narrowing.

The pegasus was larger than he was, but Shining was not scared of Arbiter, nor his scarred-over patched eye.

“Shining, it seems the Crystal Heart called out to Midnight Blaze in his sleep, and he must have sleep-walked into this room. You should think about the fact that a piece of mineral has more pity for the lad than you do,” he teased.

“You're out of your jurisdiction,” reminded the blue-haired unicorn sharply.

“And you're out of your mind,” countered Arbiter, “arresting one of Techorse's friends would surely earn you the frying pan from Cadance. Or worse, when Techorse inevitably tattles on you to Twilight. Given their status together, it'd be quite a risk.”

Shining Armor groaned and stepped back from Midnight and Ignitus, “Fine. I guess we can forget about this for now. It's late.”

The Crystal Heart stopped projecting the spotlight, and returned to its normal pattern of rotation and sending power pulses down to the ground level. Midnight Blaze and his father walked away from the center of the room back to the others.

“Let's just go back to bed, ok?” said Shadow Breeze.

“I didn't realize we were having so many guests, I guess this chalice going missing is pretty bad after all,” Shining figured, “we'll meet up again in a few hours to go over the plan.”

“All right, later,” answered Flaming Ivory, leaving the room as he switched to a brand new music track.

Everyone left the core room to go back to sleep, but as Midnight headed back for his room, Ignitus stopped him again.

“Who's giving you trouble, Midnight?” he asked, “That artifact decided to lend you help, and I'm thinking maybe our suspect is after you.”

Of course, Midnight wanted to tell his father that his overbearing nature was the problem, but he knew it'd be pointless and lead to more yelling, so he came up with another lie.

“I guess I've just been having trouble getting used to hero work,” answered the unicorn in hopes of appeasing his strict dad, “the anxiety's gotten me all worked up and the Crystal Heart wanted me to relax.”

“I could believe that, it's very tough on you, but I'm happy you're finally stepping up to the challenge,” answered Ignitus, “you're becoming a real stallion.”

“Sure,” answered Midnight groggily, turning around and heading for his bedroom, “have a good night, dad.”

Ignitus knew his son was making things up, but it was just the way it had to be. Midnight was going to be a good soldier no matter what, it was what was required of him. But as he left for his own room, he heard some kind of a strange ringing in his ears that wavered in sync with the pulses of the Crystal heart.

It was as if the artifact was silently judging him.

“If only you really knew,” muttered Ignitus at the iron door that led back to the room, “you'd be on my side.”

Then, as he pushed the tinnitus out of his mind with a low cough, the detective walked away into the darkness of the palace to go get a good night's rest.

Comments

[Grekoy]

So cool.

[Spirals95]

8016065

Glad you're enjoying it so far. Hoping to get a few new chapters up soon.