Fallen Queendom

by Zeroraid

20

Haven

Still no word from Cadence and Shining Armor.

Though she didn’t say it, that was the thought that ran through Princess Celestia’s mind, and Luna knew it. Glancing at her sister, who seemed curiously interested in the window, Luna found herself blessed - or perhaps cursed - with the ability to practically read her sister's thoughts at the moment.

Something had happened in the Crystal Empire, what though, that was a good question.

All they knew was that, based on that light from a day ago, the Crystal Heart had been found and reactivated; and with that being the case, it was very likely that Sombra was gone. Then again there was no other possibility for him given that whatever filled the heart as it had, all but supercharged it.

That just led to the question of ‘what’ or ‘who’ supercharged it.

Who in the wide wide world of Equestria could fill the Heart with that much light and love.

‘No…’ Luna thought, correcting herself. “Not love…’ She thought. ‘I felt it then, whatever had caused that eruption wasn’t out of love… but a desire to protect.’ She thought.

The desire to protect, that was something everyone understood, if to a certain degree.

The power manifests in various ways; as a soldier trying to protect their nation, a parent trying to protect their child, a friend trying to protect the one closest.

It was ‘love’ in its own way, but it was more than that.

‘Still…’ Luna thought as she continued glancing at her sister for a moment. ‘You know as well as I do that whoever brought forth that desire wasn’t Cadence or Shining Armor.’ Luna made a noise. ‘Their arcane signature was completely different.’ Luna closed her eyes as she seemed to think a bit further. ‘Still, who was that then, who protected the Crystal Empire?’

---

Crystal Empire

He was still sleeping.

That was the first thought that ran through Sunset’s mind as she stared at the curious-looking stallion that was Gentle. Even though it had been more or less a whole day, the transformed teen was still out of it.

‘At least he looks better than before.’ She wasn't wrong, Gentle was looking better, in the ‘dark lines starting to fade’ kind of way. Still, he didn’t seem like he’d be waking up any time soon. Raising a hoof Sunset couldn’t help poking the young stallion’s cheek, and asa response she found him turning his head towards her in bed. He made this noise of sorts, but he still refused to awaken for her.

Still…

“He looks so small…” The mare thought to herself as she ran a hoof across his mane. “Nothing like the stallion that I’ve been seeing these past few days.” She admitted, as she crossed her hooves as she leaned against the bed. “Least he’s sleeping peacefully.” The mare fell silent as she took the time to just stare at Gentle, a noise leaving her as she did and started to think. ‘What happened yesterday?’ The mare asked. “What happened to cause him to overexert himself the way he did?’

She wasn’t sure.

Honestly she wasn’t to sure what happened yesterday after they went back to the throne room.

She remembered saying something to Gentle, then…darkness.

“Did I black out for some reason?” She asked as she poked Gentle’s cheek again as he squirmed slightly. “Gentle, what happened yesterday?”

He didn’t respond, simply staying oblivious to the world around him as he continued to sleep.

“Still sleeping I see.” Sunset turned, her attention locking on to Pale Arts as she walked into the room.

“Yeah.” Sunset muttered as the mare walked over to her. “He’s looking better though.”

“That he is.” Pale Arts admitted. “That being said, you look like you’re getting worse.”

“What do you mean?”

“You look tired dear, when was the last time you slept?” Pale asked as she gestured to her eyes, implying that Sunset had a few bags growing under them. “You’ve been by his side sense we brought him in yesterday.” The mare stated.

“Yeah.”

“Well, what do you say to stepping out? Get some rest.” She made an exaggerated sniffing of the air. “And maybe a bath.”

“But what about Gentle?”

“He’ll be fine.” The older mare stated as she used her magic to push Sunset along. “Now get some rest, and when you wake up again, get washed up.” The mare stated as Sunset looked back at her, slowly nodding her head as she gave a weak smile.

“Right, thank you.”

“Don’t mention it child, now, off with you.” Sunset just walked out the room, as Pale Arts turned her attention to the sleeping stallion. “Not to rush you Gentle, but do wake up soon. You have a friend waiting for you.”

“AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!”

With a casual turn of her head Pale Arts looked towards the door as the scream continued to echo out. “Hm… I wonder what that’s all about.” The mare muttered before looking back at Gentle and then turned her attention towards the door.

“AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!”

“Yeah, I should probably look into that.” The mare muttered, heading towards the door and took a look outside.

There stood Sunset, as well as the young Shining Armor and his wife. Well young Cadenza wasn’t exactly standing at the moment… she was on her husband, clinging to him like he was keeping her above some unseen ocean waves.

“Hm… i haven’t seen a mare this terrified in a long time.”

“C-cadence I-” Sunset started.

“AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!”

“Cadence, please stop I-

“AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!”

“I’m trying to-”

“AAAAGGGGHHHH!!!”

“BITCH STOP SCREAMING!” Sunset shouted only to recoil at the fact that she had left Cadence a quivering mess. Putting a hoof on her head the mare took a breath as she tried calming herself. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry.” She took another breath and fell silent for a moment. “I’m sorry.” She repeated for the third time as she started turning away. “I didn’t mean to yell, just…” The mare took another breath as she started to turn away. “Know what forget it… I’ll just… leave you alone.” She started walking away only to be stopped by Pale Arts, the mare looking down at her curiously before glancing at Cadence.

“I take it you two know each other.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah~” Sunset muttered. “We knew each other from back when I was Princess Celestia’s apprentice.” She admitted. “I~ wasn’t the nicest pony to her.” She admitted as Pale Arts watched the mare start walking away. She looked back at Cadence and Shining Armor for a moment before returning her attention to Sunset. “Huh? Hey!”

Without a word Pale Arts used her magic to lift Sunset up and start carrying her back to the crystal princess and her groom.

---

Water.

That was the first thing his mind started to piece together when his eyes began to open. He was under water, slowly drifting further and further away from the surface.

Why was he under water?

He couldn’t remember, in fact, he had trouble remembering anything at this point. Why didn’t that bother him? Why… why wasn’t he drowning for that matter, struggling to hold his breath?

“Oh I see.” His thoughts echoed outward. “This is a dream, isn’t it?”

He was having a dream.

That explained things, right? Why he wasn’t scared, wasn’t panicking like he should. “It’s ok then.” He told himself. “Nothing bad can hurt you in a dream.” He told himself as he watched the world start to darken around him, the light drifting further and further away. As the last spark faded away, he found his “descent into darkness” finally came to a much needed end. Something was resting against his back, but when he tried glancing to see it, all he found was darkness to greet him.

This world stayed that way, at least it did until he chose to sit up, getting to his feet and his world began to shatter.

No shatter isn’t the right word, peeling away didn’t do it justice either. The shadows flew away, flying, seemingly turning into a flock of birds that disappeared into a foggy black horizon. What rested beneath him was now, was some form of blank pillar

“Where?” The figure began. “Where am I?” He asked himself. Stopping and then staring downward, staring at the empty pillar beneath him. “I feel I’ve seen this place before.” He thought aloud. “Wait…” The youth muttered as he seemed to think. “Am I having a Kingdom Hearts dream?”

“Not exactly.” Jumping slightly the young man turned around, his attention turning to see a figure in a hoodie standing behind him. “Yes, I took the idea from there, but I as you can see, I left a few things out. It saves energy.” The man told him as he looked at the young man in front of him. “Regardless, I must say, it’s quite good to see you, Gentle.”

“Uh… right…” Gentle muttered as he ran a hand on the back of his head before looking at it. “Oh hey, my fingers are back…” He looked down. “I’m human again. How am I?”

“The image we project of ourselves is often reflects the form we take in our subconscious.” The figure stated. “Mentally, you still see yourself as a human, not an Equestrian.”

“Oh…” Gentle muttered. “I guess that makes sense…” He scratched his head. “So we’re in my head.”

“Somewhat.” The figure stated. “Rather I’ve bridged our minds for the moment. Where we stand now is a… meeting point between your mind and mine.” The figure stated. “And I have to say your head is surprisingly hard to get into when you’re conscious.” The figure stated before chuckling. “Must be something with the ‘wiring’.” Gentle just stared at the man and opened his mouth before closing it. He wasn’t really sure what to say at this point, so he didn’t say anything at the moment.

When he finally found a couple of words he felt could work for him let them go.

“Who are you, exactly?” The man simply smirked at him as he snapped his fingers, and a pedestal rose behind him. When it reached a certain height he just settled his rear on it, using it as a makeshift chair.

“As it stands, let’s just say that I am just a man invading your subconscious.”

“Ok~” Gentle muttered. Gentle just let this go. Still, seeing that the man had settled down, Gentle figured he’d do the same. Snapping his fingers as he tried conjuring up a seat. He failed. Once, twice, three times. “God damn it.” He grumbled to himself. “Even in my head I can’t snap my fingers.” He grumbled as his counterpart once again snapped his fingers and brought another pedestal into existence. “Thanks.” Gentle grumbled as he settled down. “So~” He began after a while and looked around, hands behind him as he looked around. “For a place in my head, this place is pretty bland.”

“I apologize, but I wanted something simple for our first meeting.” The man in his dream stated as he glanced around. “I confess though, this is incredibly bland - even by my standards.”

“Right?” Gentle agreed as he and the man fell silent for a moment. “So anyway-”

“You’ve grown.” The man interrupted. “But you’re not as old as I expected… how old are you, exactly?”

“I’m 19.” Gentle stated.

“Ah~ 19 years…” The man muttered to himself. “”The time dilation must be very off.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“A flaw in the portal that Starswirl created is known as time dilation.” While days can pass in this side, it can be months, years even on your own.”

“You mean like DBZ’s Hyperbolic Time ChGentle.”

“I don’t know what that is, but I will say yes, simply because you seem to have made a connection of sorts.” The figure stated. “Regardless, the time dilation is an issue with Starswirl’s portal, hopefully your mentor will be able to fix that issue by the time you are to return.”

“Here’s hoping…” Gentle muttered as stared at the figure.

“So.” The man began again. “Do you have a lover yet?” Gentle flinched.

“Had.” Gentle muttered. “She’s… not around anymore.”

“Ah~ I’m sorry to hear that.” The man grumbled. “As many say, there are plenty of fish in the sea, but you may never forget your first love.”

He wasn’t wrong, at 19, Gentle had plenty of good years still left in him. He could get another girlfriend later on in life. Well, he could if he managed to get back home; or at the very least he could just try. Well if he got home anyway, no way he was gonna start looking around here; talking pony or not, he was pretty damn sure looking for girl or pony here counted as taboo. “So anyway, you’ve asked me questions, mind if I ask you one?”

“Go right ahead.”

“Who exactly are you supposed to be?”

“____” Gentle blinked, confusion crossing his face as he dug a finger in his ear.

“Sorry… what? I didn’t catch that?”

“I’m not surprised.” The man stated. “You can not hear my name, for there is no longer a name left to be heard?”

“What?”

“I’m certain you know about how people can be forgotten.” The man stated. “Be it by accident or intended, many names throughout history go unremembered.” He grumbled, interlocking his fingers. “Those forgotten have been scribbled out of history, and will never be remembered, save by those who erased them to begin with.” He stated. “Kings and emperors, dictators and revolutionaries alike have done such throughout history; be it in your world or mine.”

“Yeah… that sounds about right.” Gentle muttered as he seemed to think. “So… your name, you… don’t have one anymore.”

“At least not one that can be heard.” The figure admitted as they turned they attention skyward. “Regardless, is there anything else you wish to ask me.”

“Yeah, why did you bridge our minds.” The figure chuckled at the youths question.

“It was the easiest way to contact you.” He made a noise. “After all I can’t just go walking up to you at the moment.”

“Why not?”

“As of now, you lie in the north, where as I lie in the south.”

“So… distance problem, you literally can’t just walk up to me at the moment.” The figure nodded his head. “Ok… so… why did you want to talk to me.”

“It’s rare to find someone from another realm. Consider my curiosity peaked.”

“That’s it?” Gentle raised an eyebrow. “You want to talk just because you’re curious about me?”

“Is that something you are unfamiliar with.”

“No, it’s just…” Gentle made a face. “It’s been a while, that’s all. Last one who really wanted to just learn about me was my ex.” Gentle muttered as he looked elsewhere. “And she’s…” Gentle raised a hand to his throat. “It’s been hard since I got my scars.”

“Ah…” The man muttered as he seemed to stare at the youth for a moment. “I apologize.” He said after a while. “I don’t know what you’ve gone through, but it must have been rough.”

“There’s no need to apologize.” Gentle muttered. “We all go through hard times, the trick is getting through them.”

“How true…?” The figure glanced elsewhere and made a face under his hood. “Great…”

“What is it?”

“An intruder; someone is trying to enter this realm.” The figure stated as he raised a hand. “And here I went through all the trouble of setting this up so we could talk in private.” he snapped his fingers as light started to gather in front of Gentle. “I guess I’ll simply need to postpone our talks for another day. The figure muttered as he watched the light take form and fall into Gentle’s lap. “Consider this a parting gift, may it aid you in what’s to come.”

“Hey, wait!”

---

Haven

The last thing Luna heard before she was pulled from the immaterial realm could only be described as the sound of a minotaur’s finger snap. Sitting up in bed the mare took a moment to rub her head with a hoof as she took a breath. Getting forced out of the mentalscape always hurt, thing was it was still pretty rare. Even before her banishment she’d only known a handful that could actually force her out of that realm.

“Interesting…”

Her shadow muttered with this humored tone.

“I think we should keep an eye out for that door…”

“Agreed.” Luna muttered. “It might be connected to what happened earlier.”