A Silent Night in the North

by GTthe4th

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

---

Luna’s night would always be beautiful, no matter where anypony saw it. They could be all the way down south in the rotten city of Klugetown, in the far off Zebra lands of Farasi, or even up north in the coldest place on Equus, yet no matter where they were, the stars would always shine, and the moon would always smile at them.

But every so often, those stars and that smile would be hidden. Not by choice, for they had no control over the storms that raged below. Such was the case on this night, when a massive blizzard gathered upon the slopes of Mount Everhoof and soon enveloped all of the Frozen North. For once, the stars and moon would refuse to be the snowbound traveller’s guiding light, and deny the filly at the window her wishes. Tonight, as quietly as nature could be, the North was buried by a sea of white.

Thus, the Crystal Empire slept, knowing that they would be safe. The Heart that beat in the center of their home would protect them, and defeat the storm that raged against the city’s shield. The light might have been gone, but their spirit wasn’t, and so the Crystal Ponies closed their eyes, safe and secure in their beds.

Had somepony looked outside, they would’ve also seen a sea of black on the horizon, and a subtle streak of purple tumbling through the sky towards the icy fields below.

---

In the Crystal Palace, precious few lights remained to be seen, although one continued to shine through a partially open window close to the top. Through the window lay a darkened room filled with an assortment of books and all manner of magical components, and upon a chair behind a desk sat the room’s solitary occupant, who shivered from the cold draft that wafted through the window behind him.

Pulling his starry robes closer to his body, Sunburst flipped through a page in the book he was reading atop the desk, eyes transfixed on the words within. Near him, three tall white candles burned bright, wax beads dribbling down their sides. Their flickering flames were perhaps not the healthiest or most optimal light to read in, but it was enough to illuminate the words on the page without disturbing anyone else. The book had been a birthday present from Starlight Glimmer, carefully packaged and sent to him from Princess Twilight’s personal library in Ponyville. He smiled fondly at the memory, picturing Starlight in his mind and sighing.

Hoof steps jolted him out of his thoughts and he lifted his head up, seeing Prince Shining Armor enter his study. The Prince tilted his head and smirked as he met his gaze. “Still here, Sunburst? I thought you’d be headed to bed by now, now that Flurry’s finally asleep.”

“O-oh, no, not tonight,” Sunburst replied, adjusting his glasses. “Too much to do, too much to read...”

“You’re just like my sister, always burning the midnight oil.” Shining rolled his eyes and sided up to him, closing the window with his magic. “What are you reading?”

“It’s a book Starlight sent me for my birthday last month, but I’m only just now getting to it,” Sunburst answered, then chuckled at Shining’s bemused reaction. “Yeah, I know, shocking. It’s really quite interesting, though!”

“Really? How so?”

“Well, it’s a fairy tale, of sorts,” Sunburst replied, then stroked his goatee with a hoof. “Well...maybe not a fairy tale, per se. More like a legend, really.”

“Historical?”

“Possibly, although there isn’t much to go off of,” Sunburst hummed. “It’s about some things called the ‘Eternal Flames’, which were supposed to be artifacts of great power, sort of like the Elements. Supposedly, after their first time appearing in history, they then vanished to various corners of the world, hidden from prying eyes until they’d be needed again.”

“Eternal Flames...now where have I heard of those before?” Shining murmured, tapping his right temple with a hoof. “Gah, at the tip of my tongue, I hate that.”

“Well, there’s the odd thing. The only other reference to them I could find was in the Prophecies of Faust.”

“The Prophecies!” Shining exclaimed, thinking back to his teenager years. “That’s where I remembered them from. I took that as an elective in college. Kind of a waste of time really, but they were still interesting enough, I suppose.” At Sunburst’s behest he lifted the book up with a levitation spell to flip through its pages. “Did you try the Empire’s Archives?”

Sunburst shook his head. “No luck. Not even Sombra’s journals yielded anything.” He shivered again, this time not from the cold. “I never wanna look in those again...”

“You and me both, buddy,” Shining affirmed with a grim nod, setting the book down again. “Well, even if it is just a legend, it sounds cool. Maybe I can try reading it to Flurry one night as a bedtime story, if you don’t mind me borrowing it.”

“Oh, absolutely,” Sunburst nodded.

The window behind them suddenly shuddered as it was buffeted by a strong wind which whistled against the Palace walls. There wasn’t supposed to be any wind within the shielded city limits tonight, and with a startled jump both stallions gazed quizzically at the window for a moment before shrugging and returning to the book illuminated by purple candlelight.

...Purple?

Both stallions blinked, having seen the same thing at the same time just as the candle flames flickered back to orange. The flames licked back and forth, but seemed to be pulled somehow towards the window. The two of them stared at the candles for a few seconds before turning towards each other. “Did you just see...?” Shining started.

“Purple flame, yeah, I saw it,” Sunburst finished his thought, adjusting his glasses once more and leaning towards the candle in careful examination. “These aren’t enchanted candles, they shouldn’t be doing that.”

They suddenly both shivered and instinctively looked out the window again. “And did it just get colder?” Sunburst asked, pulling his robes around him tighter and putting his forehooves on the window sill with a frown.

“It’s possible, that storm’s a nasty one,” Shining mused. “Odd though, the shield is supposed to keep the wind out.”

Silence overtook them before Shining yawned and stretched his back. “Well...I’m off to bed. Enjoy your--”

KNOCK-KNOCK.

Shining blinked and called out to the door, “It’s open, enter.”

The study door opened, and a nervous, somewhat fearful Crystal Praetorian stepped in. Unlike the Solar or Lunar Guards of Canterlot, these Ponies wore enchanted crystalline armor, made to withstand most weapons and magic. Few were ever afraid of anything, especially with the Heart protecting the Empire.

Which is why the fear in this one’s eyes spoke volumes to Shining Armor.

“Your Highness, you...you’re needed at the Heart.”

“What’s happened, soldier?” Shining asked, sleep leaving his eyes.

“That’s just it, sir...we don’t know,” the guard answered.

Shining and Sunburst sent curious glances at each other before deciding to follow the guard outside the room. As Shining and the guard left, however, Sunburst’s horn lit up and a black wand that had been resting on a rack on the wall floated over to him and swiftly disappeared under his robes. He then closed the door and trotted after the two stallions.

Had any of them stayed but a moment longer, they would’ve seen the candles blow themselves out and a pair of disappointed red eyes glimmer from under a hooded face in a shadowy corner of the room.

---

Cadance shivered under all three blankets on her bed, her eyes closed tight. The cold night was only part of her discomfort, the rest came from within the mind. No matter which way she turned, she couldn’t get comfortable, visions of storms and memories of Sombra returning to haunt her.

Luna may have been the guardian of dreams, but tonight she was oddly silent in her duties. The nightmares that were plaguing Cadance’s mind tonight were uncomfortable and persistent.

As if sensing her mother’s distress, her daughter, Flurry Heart, whimpered in her sleep, and instantly Cadance was awake, her eyes darting to the crib in the corner of the bedroom. Her daughter continued to whimper as Cadance rose from her bed, her nightmares quickly forgotten. She wandered over to the crib and gently nuzzled her daughter on the cheek. Flurry’s whimpers fell silent as she cooed in her sleep and rolled over, wrapping her larger-than-average wings over herself like a thick blanket.

Cadance smiled, happy to see her daughter sleeping peacefully again. Truly, there was nothing like the love between a mother and a daughter to bring peace to a troubled heart. With a less urgent, lighter step, she made her way back to her bed and once more slipped under the covers, closing her eyes and sighing softly.

Had she kept them open for one second more, she would’ve seen a purple mist emerge from the shadows above the window leading out onto the balcony, gliding over Flurry briefly before pausing over Cadance. Without a sound, it moved closer to completely encase her head, before vanishing once more.

---

Within the Crystal Palace was a secret known only to the royal family and to a select few Praetorian Guards. It wasn’t a tome of knowledge, nor was it an artifact of great power, nor even was it a verbal secret or a hidden message. It wasn’t even a secret room.

No, it was a resident. Few Ponies saw him, and when they did, they spoke of him in hushed whispers, and he would scurry away like a spider and hide in some corner where they wouldn’t see him again.

Thorax knew many hiding places within the Empire and the Palace, even some that the guards never knew about. He was, after all, a Changeling, and Changelings thrived in being undetectable. He was also the only Changeling in the Crystal Empire, as far as he knew. At least, he was the only one that was welcome to stay.

Still, despite not exactly having that many friends in the Empire yet, he knew it was only a matter of time. The royals had accepted him, as did the few Praetorians that knew of him. The maids tolerated him but never spoke to him, only in gossip when his back was turned, thinking that he wouldn’t hear. He always did, but it didn’t bother him. He knew what he was, but he wasn’t like the others. He wasn’t an emotional vampire, nor was he a killer. He was a friend, someone you could rely on and trust to keep a secret or to find one.

For the moment though, he was alone as he roamed the halls of the Palace. Nighttime was when he did his usual “patrol”, looking around and exploring. Despite having been at the Palace for almost half a year now, he was still finding new places to explore, new rooms to check, new artworks to see, and new hiding places for his little game of “go-seek” with the Praetorians. He loved seeing their annoyed looks when he would disguise himself as a spider and wave at them from the wall.

Besides, he knew they secretly enjoyed his game too. It kept them alert.

Still, all that aside, he loved silent nights like these, where he could relax in his natural form and simply roam the halls, taking it all in and breathing the fresh, chill air of the Empire. No voices in his head, no orders to follow, no need to steal love...it was great!

Wasn’t it?

Thorax sighed and lowered his head as he prowled the Palace hallways. Banishment, he had concluded long ago, was a difficult thing to overcome. Granted, he now had all the love he needed to survive and thrive, but sometimes he missed the Hivemind he had long since been disconnected from. He missed the voices of his fellow Changelings, the soothing hum and buzz of their wings, and even the gruffness of his brother.

Not the screams, though. Or the killing. He didn’t miss those.

He trembled slightly as he recalled the memories of the Canterlot attack. He was there, all those years ago. It had been his first and only battle, and he could still remember what it was like. Changelings and Ponies fighting, brawling and cutting each other up in the streets. So much screaming...he had never heard such noises before. For all his life, all he knew was the relative peace and order of the Hive and his fellow drones. He had seen them train and duel before, of course, but he never knew how vicious they could be until the day came when they had to fight for real. The transformation was unlike anything he had ever seen, and there were no green flames to accompany it.

Were all Changelings like that? Was he? Even when he found friendship in Spike and the others, could he suddenly transform at the stamp of a hoof and become...that?

No, he thought desperately. Princess Twilight and her friends changed your life that day. Had it not been for them, you wouldn’t be here. You’re not like the rest of them. You’re not a killer...not a monster...

He glanced down at the holes in his hooves and body, and whatever defence he had for himself failed. Spike could sing all the songs he wanted, Twilight could stand up for him until the end of time, and Cadance and Shining could say whatever speeches came to mind. None of it mattered in the end when his own body betrayed him. Ponies wouldn’t see Thorax the friend, they’d only see Thorax the invader, the soldier who marched under Chrysalis’s banner and helped take down the shield around Canterlot, leading to hundreds of Pony casualties and kidnappings that were never solved. They’d only see a Changeling.

A monster.

And he was alone.

He stopped and stumbled over to the wall on his right for balance, tears welling up in his eyes as he curled up. He had brought this upon himself, and now he was paying the price. He had his freedom, but he had lost his future, and he had no pride left in his heart.

His only comfort was no longer hearing Chrysalis’s voice in his head. For once in his life, he no longer had the Queen’s demeaning comments weighing him down and breaking his mind. Her voice was gone forever, replaced by silence. Blessed, blessed silence. His thoughts were finally his own.

Sighing to himself, Thorax wiped away his fledgling tears and stood up, moving once more down the hallway, although this time it felt aimless. His good mood was gone, and he doubted it would return. Nevertheless, he needed to stay strong, if not for himself then for his friends. After all, a Changeling with no love in him was a dead Changeling, and he very much doubted that Twilight and the others would like seeing one of their newest friends pass on to the next world so soon.

Despite himself, he allowed a small, sad smile to form on his face as he remembered the day that Spike stood up for him. He had never felt such love before, and even to this day he still felt it. Twilight had been the first Pony in the Crystal Empire to offer him a hoof in genuine friendship, and even such a simple gesture had been enough for him to feel as if all his sins had been forgiven. He would never forget her kindness...

Perhaps a Changeling could change, after all.

Are you sure?

His ears flicked back as the voice in his head jolted him out of his troubled musings. Looking around, he saw nopony near him at all. The empty hallway was filled only with the last, faint glimmers of starlight through the window above him left uncovered by the storm clouds in the sky, giving it an eerie sheen. As he looked up to watch the stars flicker and hide behind the clouds once more, he squinted, having seen something peculiar staring back at him in the corner of his vision.

That’s strange...were those...two yellow eyes?

He looked, and looked some more, yet nothing was there to see.

He shuddered involuntarily, then turned away from the window and trotted away, eager to escape the glare cast by the window. He didn’t know what it was that he saw, but it gave him the creeps.

He also didn’t remember his inner voice sounding so...deep. Dark and scary too. Had he really been apart from the Hivemind so long? Or maybe it was just his disturbing thoughts making him feel weird. Regardless, he began whistling a tune that Spike taught him to cheer himself up, and went on his way.

A pair of yellow eyes reopened on the window’s surface and followed him.

---

As soon as Sunburst and Shining exited the Palace and made their way down the stairs towards the courtyard, they were met by a massive blast of cold air, which puzzled them. Sure, it was supposed to be cold, it wasn’t called the Frozen North for nothing after all, but the shield that surrounded the Crystal Empire was supposed to hold most of it at bay, allowing the weather teams outsourced from Cloudsdale to do their job and create more temperate weather for the city. Cold fronts weren’t ever scheduled.

Shining furrowed his brow in dissatisfaction with the wind before he and Sunburst continued following their Praetorian escort to the center of the courtyard, where the Crystal heart lay shining and bright.

Or at least, where it was usually shining and bright. For some reason it seemed duller and more sluggish. Even...sickly, if such a thing were possible. As they got closer, they could could both hear and feel the Heart’s beat reverberating throughout the courtyard, thumping in their ears and causing their fur to stand slightly on end. It was slower than normal --- much too slow.

A small crowd of Praetorians, Unicorn scholars, and Solar Guards on loan from Canterlot had already formed around the Heart, their faces a mixture of concern and concentration as several Unicorns from each group attempted to discern what had caused the Heart to go haywire. One of the Solar Guards, a Pegasus, noticed Shining and Sunburst’s approach and turned to face them, giving the Prince a stiff salute. “Sir, thank you for coming so quickly. A dozen apologies for the late-night troubles, but I thought you might want to see this immediately,” he said.

“Captain Sentry,” Shining greeted with a nod. He stole a quick glance at the Heart once more. “What’s the situation?”

Captain Flash Sentry pursed his lips and then gave his report: “We’re...not entirely sure, Your Highness. We were guarding the Heart as instructed, and all was well until about twenty minutes ago. It just suddenly lost some of its color and luster, and its beat slowed considerably. I had the area cordoned off to prevent a panic from any Crystal Ponies that may be out and about, and then sent for you, Sunburst, and any other court mages we could find. So far, the Crystal Ponies don’t seem to be affected, but the Heart’s condition has diminished the shield integrity.”

“By how much?” Shining asked.

“About forty percent,” Flash replied with a grimace.

“Forty? Brr...no wonder why it’s so cold out,” Sunburst muttered through chattering teeth.

Shining glanced at the orange Unicorn questioningly. “Think you can figure it out?”

Sunburst shrugged and summoned a notebook with his magic. It popped into existence in the air next to him and flipped open to a new page somewhere in the middle. “I can try. I’ll gather what information the others have, and hopefully I’ll have some answers for you soon.”

Shining nodded, letting Sunburst go to work on the Heart. Flash made a nervous face and asked quietly, “Should we wake the Princess, Your Highness? Sunburst is a smart Pony, but he’s not the best mage.”

Shining shook his head. “No, let her sleep, she needs it. If the problem persists until the morning, then we’ll let her know that we might need her magic. Until then, Sunburst and I can take it from here. He may not be the best with using magic, but he’s studied the Heart extensively and knows more about how it functions than anypony else I know. He’s got this.”

Flash glanced at the orange Unicorn, who was scribbling some notes into his book while holding up a peculiar pink lens to the Heart. “Understood.”

Sunburst’s eyes then narrowed, and he looked closer at the Heart through the pink lens, humming to himself. His mouth moved in unheard words, as if doing some mental calculations, and he lowered the lens, replacing it instead with a tiny red crystal he pulled out from under his robe. He held up the crystal with his magic, and when the crystal suddenly shattered in the air, Sunburst craned his neck over to Shining and called out, “I think I’ve got something.”

Shining sent Flash a cheeky grin before trotting over to Sunburst. “What’s up?”

Sunburst stood up and looked over his notes one last time before snapping the book shut and clearing his throat. “Some of the other Unicorns had noticed that the Heart’s thaumatic potential had decreased, and is still continuing to do so at an exponential rate. This can only occur if something --- or somepony --- was draining the power directly, or siphoning it off and sending it somewhere else remotely.”

“I’m sensing a ‘but’ somewhere,” Shining noted.

Sunburst nodded, although it was clear he didn’t want to. “I used Ariscolt’s Obscure Lens technique to confirm the findings. I was able to see where exactly the leak is occurring, but not where it was going.”

Flash raised an eyebrow. “Leak?”

“You know, like a faucet?” Sunburst replied, launching into his ‘lecture mode’. “The valve’s been opened, but instead of the main flow of power going to the shield, it’s being siphoned away by something else, like a leak or another pipeline. Only problem is, that power leakage doesn’t really seem to be going anywhere that we can see, almost as if it’s just dissipating in the air, which is impossible, because the other Unicorns and I would be automatically detecting a change in the ambient magic around us, which we don’t.”

“So plug the leak,” Shining said with a shrug. “It’s a simple magical graft to fix the Heart’s thaumatic field. Seems easy enough to me.”

“And normally we’d do just that,” Sunburst agreed. “But the other Unicorns have already tried that, and the Heart...rejected them. It won’t respond to their commands, almost as if--” He froze mid-word, and then turned and looked up at the Heart, a thought having occurred to him. “Almost as if it’s being controlled from a remote location...”

Shining frowned, and he let out a soft nicker of confusion. “Controlled? Who would have the power to do that?”

“I...am not sure,” Sunburst admitted, deflating somewhat. “But it’s the only explanation I can think of! Think about it: remote spellcasting, but instead of using a conduit to the Heart, they’re using some kind of invisible wormhole spell to siphon the power and transport it directly to them. That’s why we can’t see the direction of the leakage, or why we can’t sense any change to the ambient magic. It’s brilliant!”

Flash whistled. “You were right Shining, he had it. How far would such a spell go?”

“Unicorn-level, probably a few kilometers, five at most. There may even be some scrolls or wands that could cast the spell at roughly the same level, allowing anypony of any tribe with a modest amount of magical knowledge to do it. But an Alicorn...” Sunburst shook his head. “I don’t know. Too many variables there.”

Shining nodded. Unless his wife or daughter were secretly sucking love from the Heart in their sleep, it was doubtful that it was them. They were most likely dealing with a greedy Crystal Pony, or maybe a few of them. “Flash, get a squad together and meet me here,” Shining ordered. “We’re going hunting.”

Flash saluted with a wing and flapped into the air, but before he reached the Palace doors, he stopped as a sudden thought occurred to him. Flying back to Sunburst, he asked, “Could Changelings do something like this?”

Sunburst and Shining both paused and looked at each other, with Shining tilting his head as if to ask the same question. Sunburst adjusted his glasses and shrugged, acknowledging the possibility. The Prince looked back to Flash and said, “Better get Thorax too.”

“Better hurry,” Sunburst warned, looking up at the Heart. “At the rate the Heart’s power is draining, I’m predicting a total shield failure by mid-morning.”

“I’m not called ‘Flash’ for nothing,” Flash boasted as he disappeared into the Palace.

The Prince and the Royal Crystaller remained quiet, observing the Heart as it spun slowly above its spike. The Heart’s beat had gotten fainter, and the color continued to drain at an alarming rate. Shield failure would be the least of their worries if it stopped beating.

---

Far away from the Palace, just outside the Crystal Empire’s shield, a lone plantation house lay at the foot of a small hill, surrounded by corn fields. Its windows were faintly lit by candles and rustic lamps, and the harsh winds whistled as they blew past the house and various tool sheds around it.

Normally, such a house and farm out in the middle of the Frozen North was already strange enough, but with a storm as strong as this, it was nearly impossible for any normal Earth Ponies to grow anything out here. But the Crop family was no ordinary family of Earth Ponies. Their little clan had lived on this land for centuries, before the Crystal Empire had returned. They had turned the lands of the Frozen North into a “proper, civilized frontier”, enriching the ground and strengthening any plants that grew in such harsh conditions. As a result, the corn fields prospered, as did the Crop family name.

Of course, when the Empire returned from its thousand-year absence, the Crop family had to make some concessions, by decree of Princess Celestia and Cadance. The Crop patriarch, Crop Duster, was already wary and distrusting of most other Pony tribes, and having a long-forgotten new one appear right on his doorstep wasn’t something he relished. Nevertheless, he relented, and the Crystal Empire allowed him and his family to stay, providing that he kept his prejudices outside of his business dealings with them, which he was willing to do in exchange for protection.

Tonight though, the Crop family needed no protection. Storms were nothing new, and they knew how to deal with them. Once the family of four had used their Earth Pony magic to ensure their fields were protected, they had retreated into their home for the night to enjoy a hearty supper. After dinner, the four of them were about to call it a night when a sudden flash of lightning had drawn their attention to the window.

Normally, lightning wouldn’t be any worry for them, but there was something off about it tonight. The flash they saw wasn’t white, it was purple. It could only mean one thing: something magical was afoot. Maybe even Crystal Empire-related.

Crop Duster sneered at the window and mumbled something dark under his breath before exiting the dining room, returning a moment later from the living room with a crossbow slung over his right shoulder, a small quiver of bolts slung over his left, and a hunting knife in his right hoof. “Gem!” he called out to his wife. “Take Maggie and put her to bed. Snapshot, take this.” He handed the knife over to his eldest son. “Stay here and wait for my signal.”

“What’s goin’ on, pa?” Snapshot asked, taking the knife and giving his father a concerned look. “I ain’t seen any lightning like that before. Gave me the willies.”

“Probably some no-good Unicorns or damned Pegasi kids makin’ off with my corn again,” Crop Duster grumbled, loading a bolt into the crossbow and hoisting the butt of it up against his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll scare ‘em off real nice-like. You just keep your ma and sis safe, ya hear?”

“Will do, pa,” Snapshot said with a nod.

“Crop, be careful,” Gem warned as she carried a little filly on her back. “It’s a blizzard out there. Don’t get lost in the fields.”

“Gem, the day I get lost in my own fields is the day King Sombra comes back from the dead,” Crop Duster boasted with a grin. He blew her a kiss. “I’ll be back in a jiff, don’t ya worry.”

His wife’s smile was the last thing Crop Duster saw before he opened the front door and rushed outside, closing it again after him and latching it with a heavy grunt. He wrapped his coat around him and shivered slightly. It was gonna be a rough night tonight, even with all the protective spells he and his family used on the estate.

Steeling himself against the wind, he trudged through the snow towards the path leading through the corn fields, his large hooves making sharp crunching noises against the thin sheets of ice that were starting to form on top. He could barely see twenty feet in front of him, although he was able to make out a subtle purple glow in the distance towards the nearby hill. With another grunt of irritation, he began to slowly make his way towards it.

Upon cresting the hill and staring down over the rest of his precious corn fields, he finally found the source of the purple glow emanating from them. A large hole had appeared in their midst, destroying several stalks and causing the ice and snow around it to melt. Even this far from it he could feel the heat. The glow was coming from something within the hole, although what it was he couldn’t quite tell.

More interesting, however, was the fact that several purple and black crystals had seemingly emerged from the ground around the hole. This wasn’t the work of Unicorns or Pegasi.

“Damn crystal wyrms...” he grumbled, rolling his eyes skyward. He lifted up his crossbow and stormed down the hill towards the hole, ready for a fight. “Alright you varmint, come on outta there or I’ll fill ya so full of bolts you’ll be whistling ‘Faust Save the Princess’ with every step you take!”

Nothing answered him, not even a hissing snarl like he had expected. Still the glow persisted, and almost seemed to brighten slightly as he approached.

Crop Duster sighed and peered over the edge, preparing to fire his crossbow. “Alright, I warned--” The words died on his lips and his eyes widened slightly. What he saw in the hole was no crystal wyrm.

It was a crystal; a strange, swirling, spiralling crystal that was black on one half and violet on the other. If he listened closely, a faint heartbeat could be heard from it, and as he got closer, the heat that he had initially felt suddenly went away as his fur got colder. But this was no mere chill from the wind...this cold felt unnatural and foreboding. Even evil.

Crop Duster had been fortunate to stay well out of King Sombra’s path when he had returned alongside the Crystal Empire, the mad Unicorn having no need for corn fields or farmers. Still, even well out of Sombra’s path of terror, Crop Duster could feel the evil and darkness emanating from him and the crystals he had left behind. But this...was worse. This crystal made his skin crawl, as if a hundred centipedes suddenly attached themselves to his spin and dug under his skin. With Sombra he had felt disgust, but with this he could only feel fear; not just his own, but fear from a thousand others, a million, tens of millions, clawing from within and telling him to run...

There was no way in Tartarus he was going to deal with this himself. He needed to call the guards. He needed to--

Take...me...

Crop Duster blinked, shaking his head and stepping back. His eyes widened even more and his ears flattened in dismay. Where had that come from? Who--

Weak...take me...home...

He took another step back, and the crossbow fell to his hooves. And yet, oddly enough, he also felt a strange pull. Towards the crystal. He clamped his hooves down on the ground, feeling the Earth magic beneath him as he struggled to stay put. But the magic felt wrong. It felt...tainted. Alien.

Don’t resist. Take me home...

“It’s in my head...” Crop Duster gasped as he felt the magic in his hooves give way and pull him closer to the crystal. “Faust above and Malice below, it’s in my head! Gem! Snapshot! Anypony! Help me! HELP--”

Take. Me. HOME!

A shadowy purple mist suddenly swept up over the crystal and enveloped Crop Duster’s head before his cries for help could continue. Silence fell upon the field, and soon as it had happened, it was over.

Crop Duster could see himself dumping the bolts out of his quiver and placing the crystal inside, before slinging it over his shoulder once more. He didn’t say a word as he climbed back out of the hole, nor did he say a word as he walked back to the house, but with each shuddering, shambling step, his mind was screaming at his body to stop. Even as he had touched the crystal he could feel his life draining from him. His Cutie Mark faded, as did the magic in his hooves. Even the color of his fur seemed to grey. But his body wouldn’t listen, and it continued to move closer to the house.

By the time he had reached the first tool shed, he knew he was dying.

By the time his body had reached the house and began opening the door, a single tear was running down his face as he thought of his family. He would never see them again, not with his own eyes.

By the time the door was opened, Crop Duster was no more, yet his body entered the house and latched the door behind him. He blew out the candle in the foyer, then went to the dining room and place the crystal on the table in front of his wife and son.

Before any words could be exchanged, the remaining lights blew out, and the crystal began to grow...

---

It didn’t take long for twenty Praetorians to assemble in the courtyard at their Prince’s command and form two ranks in front of Flash Sentry. Shining Armor and Sunburst stood off to the side while Flash Sentry prepared his squad. Most of the guards were Crystal Ponies, but there were a few Unicorns and Pegasi in Praetorian armor as well, as requested by Sunburst.

And hidden in the shadows, one timid Changeling stood shivering in the cold, a parka wrapped around him. Some of the guards cast wary glances over at him, but otherwise didn’t say anything. Thorax didn’t mind the attention that much. If anything he seemed more distracted than normal, although Shining couldn’t say as to why. He decided to ask Thorax about it later.

Flash turned to Shining and nodded, stepping aside to let the Prince take the lead. Straightening up and clearing his throat, Shining stepped forward and said, “Platoon! Atten-tion!”

Once both ranks had snapped to attention, Shining continued, “I don’t know what you’ve heard or seen, but I’ll make this quick so we can all get on the same page. As you can see behind me, the Crystal Heart is being drained of the love within it. I’m sure we all know what that means: if it goes down, we all go down. I’m equally sure that none of us want that, so here’s the plan: we’re going to track down the root of the problem, and stop it before it gets any worse. Sunburst here has assured me that if he can get closer to wherever the source of the energy theft is, he can pinpoint its location. All we’re mostly certain of is that it’s close by, either within the confines of the Empire or just slightly outside of it.”

Some of the guards in the back rank glanced at each other in concern.

“We’ll be working in teams of four, one Unicorn in each team, designated Charlie-One through Charlie-Five according to the numbers stamped onto your helmets,” Flash Sentry spoke up. “Prince Shining Armor, Sunburst, Thorax, and myself will be Charlie-Actual. We’ll be spreading out throughout the city, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Each Unicorn in each team will be doing periodic magic detection spells. Your job will be to sift through the ambient magic and the Crystal ponies to find any active spell signatures and investigate them, the stronger the better. We’ll be communicating through the Comm-Gems on your fetlocks, all of which have already been tuned into the correct channel. Any questions?”

One Praetorian raised a hoof, and Flash pointed to him. “Yes?”

“Why’s he here?” the Praetorian growled, nodding towards Thorax. Thorax flinched and stepped back.

Shining sighed, not wanting to get into that particular discussion but clearly having no other choice. “There’s a possibility, however remote, that Changeling spies have infiltrated the Empire and are trying to bring down the shield so that they could invade. It would certainly be within Queen Chrysalis’s MO to do this, given how the Crystal Empire has a huge concentration of love energy within it. Thorax has offered his services to help us track them, should they be around.” Thorax nodded meekly but didn’t say a word.

The Praetorian bristled but accepted the answer, returning to attention.

Shining nodded and glanced over the rest. “Anypony else?” When he didn’t receive an answer, he stamped his right hoof twice in quick succession. “Very well then. Organize yourselves into teams of four, and begin your patrols. Platoon! Dis-missed!”

The Praetorians dispersed and set off in their respective teams, and before long only Shining, Thorax, Sunburst, and Flash remained in the courtyard with the Unicorn scholars monitoring the Heart. Flash coughed into a hoof and nodded towards the city. “Shall we?”

“Yeah, we should get going. The sooner we find the source of the spell, the sooner we can stop this catastrophe,” Sunburst agreed, already on the move.

Flash and Shining turned to follow him, but Shining stopped when he saw Thorax remaining where he was. “Thorax? You okay there, buddy?”

Thorax didn’t answer for a moment, and continued to shiver. His breathing was rapid, and he looked scared. Shining couldn’t really blame him; Changelings didn’t do so well in colder conditions, and the possibility of more Changelings being out there would scare Thorax more than anypony gathered here. Eventually, Thorax blinked a few times and shook his head, as if snapping out of a daydream. He gazed back at Shining and stammered, “O-oh, sorry...y-yeah, I’m good. Let’s go.” With that, he scampered on after Flash and Sunburst, his wings buzzing.

Shining pursed his lips, not entirely believing his Changeling friend, but not exactly willing to press the issue just yet. They only had one Changeling on their side, after all, and the Heart didn’t have much time left. Without a word, he turned away from the Heart and trotted after the group, leaving the Unicorn scholars behind to keep watch over the Heart.

From the shadows a purple mist materialized, with two beady yellow eyes watching them as they left before vanishing into the night.

---

Comments

[Honor Quill]

Ooooh…
Seems a little cliched… but still gud
Very gud

[Teraunce]

Sunburst shook his head. “No luck. Not even Sombra’s journals yielded anything.” She shivered, this time not from the cold. “I never wanna look in those again...”

when did Sunburst get a sex change?

[GTthe4th]

11048528
Good catch. Fixed!