> The Monster from the Stars > by HoltBrony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue:When The Monster Fell > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Twilight looked into her telescope at the night sky her wings, horn, and mane were feeling nice in the cool night breeze. Then suddenly something caught her eye, and she saw a rare sight a star was falling from the night sky. Well actually it's a meteor due to it passing through our atmosphere, she thought to herself. "Wait what is that." As she looked into the telescope she saw something. "Is that a pony?" then she saw something through the fire surrounding the black pony a pair of wings, and a horn.. An Alicorn? "Spike were are you?", Twilight heard a voice of a preteen dragon carried over the air "I'm coming Twilight". "Spike get a letter ready for Princess Celestia" Spike went over to the writing supplies, and came back with a quill and paper. "What is this about Twilight?", Twilight turned to look at Spike. "I don't know Spike i just don't know". - - - - In the cold north of the Crystal empire a horn sat in the snow, surrounded by dark, errant crystals was the red horn of a fallen tyrant of the Crystal empire, King Sombra. His mortal body was destroyed, but his soul remained, waiting for just the right moment. As Sombra's soul sat in his horn he felt a presence of a great being coming to their world. "Yess" Sombra hissed in his mind "This shall do nicely", Sombra began to formulate a plan for the coming hours to deal with this new arrival. - - - - Whoever this new alicorn was it was going to cause quite an uproar in Equestria. For you see this Alicorn..Was a monster. > The Monster Awakens > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia was looking at the night sky such a beautiful sight. It just was beautiful when Luna set the moon and stars. Luna walked slowly behind her sister as to not accidentally disturb her happy mood. Celestia turned to see her dark blue coated sister "Hello sister I was just admiring your night sky I could never make it quite as beautiful as yours". Luna looked up at the stars of her night sky smiling, and suddenly a burning ball of fire flew across the sky roaring embers as it went across the sky. The meteor went north and crashed over the horizon in a flash of orange. Celestia and Luna, the rulers of Equestria, stood contemplating at what this meteor could hold inside. As the sisters looked at the direction of the meteor, and a letter appeared in a puff of green smoke. Celestia grabbed the scroll with her magic, and opened the letter "It's from Princess Twilight", her eyes continued reading then widened. "Apparently that meteor was a pony..., and it looked like it had wings and a horn", Celestia paused and shared a look with Luna of realization. "An Alicorn". Luna paced on the balcony "We must gather all of Equestria's forces and tell Princess Cadence to send Shining armor and...", Celestia held up a hoof "Sister you need to calm yourself", She didn't want her sister to jump to conclusions, and she didn't like to see her sister upset Luna stomped a hoof angrily using the royal canterlot voice "An Alicorn appears from the heavens and could potentially become a threat or is already a threat". She pointed a hoof to the northern border of Equestria. Luna turned away from Celestia "If we don't make contact with him or her as soon as possible they could be corrupted to chaos", Luna turned her head to look at her sister, and her eyes became slits. "You and I know that the Dark king's soul still persists in the northern snow." Celesta nodded, "Yes we will gather our forces but only for the worst case scenario", Celestia smiled confidently at her sister. "We have dealt with great threats many a time a thousand years ago", she paused "And we have Princess Twilight and Princess Cadance this time", Luna nodded "Yes, sister truly we are mightier than before, but I am worried that with the elements of harmony sealed in the tree of harmony. That we are significantly crippled in our ability to counter a mighty foe". Suddenly a small rumble went through the ground. The sisters looked toward the northern border of Equestria. - - - - In a crater filled with fire and snow a black armored alicorn was bleeding from multiple cuts deep and shallow over his frame. Slowly his chest moved up and down he stirred "Ugh" his eyes opened, and a mane of fire burst from his neck. The Alicorn dusted himself off then paused as he looked at his hooves "Huh" he tapped his hooves together. "I seem to have become an Equine like creature, but I still have my scales". The alicorn felt all over his body "A horn, Wings but I'm not even...", he paused took a deep breath and a plume of fire came out his mouth and he moved his hooves to condense the fire into a ball then snuffed the flame. "I can still do that, but its more difficult to control without fingers". The alicorn moved all his limbs, beat his wings and cracked his neck. "Now lets see what this body can do." He lifted his hooves and slammed them into the dirt around him. - - - - The impact was felt all over Equestria in Ponyvile potted plants fell from window sills, In Manehattan windows of apartments cracked across the city, Canterlot felt a small rumble, and The Crystal empire experienced a small earthquake awaking much of the populace out of their beds. Princess Cadence and Shining armor began calming down the citizens as the tremors subsided. - - - - As the Alicorn observed the indent he had made and the tremor he had caused he nodded. "So I'm running at 30 percent strength well I guess I could feed on the local wildlife until I am able to leave here and go back to my Home". He stood on his legs wobbling for a short moment, and he began to beat his wings and he flew out of his crater. As he landed on the snow around him with a thump. Then he paused ears moving and he sniffed the air turning toward the Crystal Empire. "I smell and hear a major population of...Ponies", he paused contemplating "It seems that my strength test caused quite a panic among the population". The red eyes looked up at the horn "I wonder what this horn can do". He concentrated his energy into his forehead and a blast of fire came from his horn. The alicorn began to manipulate his magic flames into multiple tendrils of fire, and used them on hills of snow melting them in a instant. A black smile formed on the alicorn's lips "That's a new one". The head of the black pony scanned the horizon and saw a strange purple light. "Whats that", the alicorn said as he opened his wings and soared into the air. He saw a red horn on a hill surrounded by black crystals. The alicorn leaned down closer to the horn, "Hello there mighty alicorn", a dark incorporeal voice came from the horn. The alicorn looked unfazed looking down on the horn "Is that what my new form is called". A shadow came from the horn "Yes in this world ponies who are a Unicorn, and a Pegasus are called Alicorns". The Alicorns eye followed the shadow intensely glaring at its incorporeal form. "You know", the alicorn growled "you remind me of someone I don't like, but I appreciate the information... I should be on my way". The shadow shimmered in the firelight "May I ask you what is your name", the alicorn looked over his shoulder and said "I am known as Grithumbar WorldBreaker". Sombra smiled This one is perfect for my plans. The shadow grew tendrils and attacked Grithumbar going down his nostrils and his mouth when he roared in anger. - - - - Suddenly the area around them disappeared and Grithumbar was in a throne room of metal his adopted sister Elexis one of the few people he loved in all of existence was fighting alongside him. She smiled such a wondrous sight, and then a shadow tore her from him. She screamed for him but he could not reach her he was being pulled by tendrils of shadow. Figures of shadow were surrounding her grabbing at her tearing her clothes off violating her, and he could do nothing just watch as she screamed for him to save her. Then one of the figures grabbed a knife and... - - - - "Grithumbar Snap out of it!!!" Grithumbar awoke surrounded by a city destroyed he was in his original body. "Garoshavann what happened?" A massive dragon flew down and landed with a thud that felled a skyscraper. "Some shadow appeared into our mind and began showing you your worst fears. The dragons maw formed a frown "I was able to chase him off..though he escaped my grasp". The dragon layed down and put his head on his arms "We need to return and destroy our enemies, but I feel where we are is not even our plane of existence". T The dragon looked around "Perhaps the wormhole we fell through was a dimensional tear and changed your body to this equine we now are". Grithumbar paced hand on his chin contemplating "Yes, you should keep trying to find that shadow, and cast him out while I try to recuperate so we will be at full strength when we return". Garoshavann nodded and flew into the air and began searching for the shadow. - - - - Grithumbar opened his eyes shook his head in the morning sun and flew toward the Crystal Empire. Inside Grithumbar's mind Sombra smiled all he had to do was wait for his brainwashing to take effect, "Yessss this will do nicely". -Chapter 1 End- > The Crystal Empire > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Crystal Empire was recovering from last nights earthquake; its buildings and inhabitants glistened in the sun. The damage from the tremor was minor, some buildings had cracks on their walls and one or two crystal ponies had sprained ankles. Princess Cadence and "Prince" Shining Armor were helping their subjects repair the damage. Shining Armor shook his head from fatigue, The late night tremor had awaken everyone, and all the crystal ponies had dark lines under their eyes. Shining Armor and his guards were repairing a house, the soldiers held two pieces of a crystal house's wall together. The Unicorn prince's horn glowed purple as he cast a spell, and the cracks in the building began to close on their own. Shining Armor wiped his brow of sweat he looked up to his men, "Alright that's the last building men go have some refreshments on me". A silver maned, brown coated guard turned to his Captain, "Sir will you be joining us?" Shining Armor shook his head, "No, Surehoof the wife and child are waiting for me to get back". Surehoof smiled "Of course sir give her Majesty our best". Surehoof's armored frame trotted to the nearest cafe with his fellow guards laughing and smiling. Shining Armor walked down the street near his new home, and he breathed in some air content with his life. As he continued to the palace he received many thanks from the people whose houses he fixed. Due to him being one of the few unicorns in the empire, he was called upon to do many magical tasks in the empire. As Shining Armor walked past the Crystal Heart, spreader of love and hope all over Equestria, and remembered when he Cadence, Twilight, and Spike defeated King Sombra years ago. Two guards opened the door and Shining saluted them and walked inside. Shining Armor made his way through the halls of crystal, a sight that never got old. But no time for sightseeing he wanted to see his daughter Skyla and his wife Cadence. After a hard mornings work all he wanted was some quality time with his family before he would be swept away by captain duties, and his wife by her princess duties. As he entered the throne room he looked around only a few guards were there. Shining Armor walked up to the guards standing by the throne he asks,"Capricorn, have you seen princess Cadence?". Capricorn, a orange coated stallion nodded and said,"Yes her Highness and princess Skyla are on the balcony enjoying some lunch and tea". Raising a hoof pointed to the western balcony, and Capricorn Said, "Her highness saw you on your way in and had a sandwich and cold water prepared". Shining Armor followed the hoof and nodded at the guard, "Thank you Capricorn keep up the good work", Capricorn saluted and returned to standing at attention. As Shining Armor walked out to the balcony a light breeze of air hit him. Cadence was laughing with their daughter Skyla over the story of how Shining and her met. "Was daddy really that clumsy and awkward around you?", said Skyla, tears in her eyes from laughing. Cadence nodded in confirmation. Shining Armor walked up to his wife, and he placed a kiss on her cheek. "So how are my two favorite princesses doing?", said the unicorn stallion. Cadence smiled her yellow and purple mane shining in the sun, "I was just telling Skyla of the song you wrote to win me over as your date to the dance". Shining Armor sat down in his chair, "Oh yeah that certainly was a dance to remember". His eyes turned to Skyla "And what has my little princess been up to?". Skyla brushed her blue and purple mane out of her eyes and said, "Well mommy helped some ponies at the clinic, and I played with the children in the street while she worked". She looked down a half frown on her face, "The other children always treat me different and go easy on me". Skyla blew her mane out of her eyes and sighed, "It's no fun when I'm the only one trying to win". Shining Armor and Cadence exchanged a look that said, "She is going to have to get used to that". Cadence looked to her foal, "Well Skyla you are the princess of the Crystal empire other kids will treat you differently". "Yeah", Shining Armor began "tell you what Skyla, I'll let you come with me on my walk around the city, and.. we could go visit the ewe petting pens". Cadence smiled at her husband's plan to cheer Skyla up. Skyla almost jumped out of her chair little wings flapping, "Really daddy I won't have to go to school for today?". Shining nodded his blue white mane bobbing, "Yes you won't but tomorrow its back to school". Skyla smiled her mane over her snout "Thank you daddy I'll get some snacks packed for us from the chef". Her tiny hooves tapped on the stone floor as she galloped to the kitchen her tiny wings flapping as she went. "That's a very nice thing to do for Skyla", Cadence smiled at her husband and placed a hoof on Shining Armor's. Cadence looked at her husband "So dear what was the damage from the quake". Shining Armor scratched his chin with his hoof, "Well about thirty homes damage ranging from small cracks to gaping holes". A look of concern crossed Cadence's face "I hope you aren't too tired in repairing that many homes". Shining waved a hoof, "I'm fine its not nearly as taxing when I had to maintain the shield for our wedding". He sat back he was full on his sandwich and was preparing for taking care of his daughter on a trip through the city. He sat up and stepped off his chair, "I should get ready for me and Skyla's bonding time see you when I get back". He kissed Cadence on the forehead and walked toward the exit. The throne room door opened suddenly as a Surehoof came panting into the room, "Your majesties there is commotion at...", Surehoof saw Shining Armor knocked over at the sudden opening of the doors. Surehoof ran up to his Captain, "Your highness I.I.. I am so s..s..sorry I did not know..". Shining Armor held up a hoof for silence. "Never mind me I'm fine... what is it you wanted to say to me and the princess". Surehoof nodded and began helping Shining Armor up. Cadence walked up to the two stallions a look of concern for both he husband and what all the commotion was over. "Well you see your Majesties there is an alicorn at the outskirts of our city, and he requested to meet you both by name". Shining Armor and Cadence looked at each other "He?"..., "We shall go meet this alicorn lead the way Surehoof", they moved at a refined gallop to the outskirts of the city. - - - - Grithumbar landed on the outskirts of a city of ponies both of which where of a crystalline nature. As Grithumbar walked down the street more and more ponies stopped what they were doing and stared at him . Grithumbar shook his head in suppressed anger Ugh everywhere I go people stare at me. As he got a few yards down the street a group of pony soldiers left a table they were sitting at and walked into Grithumbar's path. Grithumbar cocked an eyebrow, and then he smiled, "Oh good an escort, can you fetch me your ruler a..", he raised a metal clawed hoof to his chin, "..Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor am I correct". A silver maned, brown coated pony walked up to Grithumbar barely coming up to his shoulders. "I am Guard Surehoof of the Crystal Empire Royal guard" Surehoof continued "Who are you and why have you come here". Grithumbar tilted his head, "Oh! am I supposed to be intimidated, where I am from I was the Captain of the Royal Guard". He stomped a hoof and the ground shook "Now if you would be so kind as to not waste my time, and fetch your rulers to come here". He stood menacingly over Surehoof, "And I don't like to be kept waiting". He growled through his teeth, the atmosphere quaked from the concussion. As Surehoof disappeared out of sight galloping for the palace; Grithumbar let out a laugh at how fast the pony could run. The guards that remained around Grithumbar took fighting stances, and Grithumbar's eyes moved over each of them, summing up the level of a threat they posed. "That is pointless; if I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead, but I don't feel like starting a conflict". Grithumbar took a battle stance, "Unless you want to give me a reason to". The guards backed up, and got out of their battle stances. Grithumbar snorted, "I thought so", he stood tall like a monolith. Then from the crowd ponies began talking in muffled tones but Grithumbar could hear them all clear as day. He tuned into the conversations going on around him. "What is an Alicorn doing here?", whispered a Green mare to her Blue mare friend. "How does he know their Majesties"? "Who knew Alicorns could be so scary, Princess Cadence is nothing like this", a mare murmured to her husband. "I don't know dear all I've heard of is good things of the princesses". "I thought there were only female alicorn's in our land". a young mare asked an elderly stallion. The aged stallion turned to the young mare. "There was a time where male and female Alicorns ruled the world in peace and harmony, but that is another story my child". Grithumbar closed his eyes I've heard enough he listened for the approach of the rulers. He reopened his eyes as he heard the trot of three ponies and rustling of the feathered wings of a pegasus. - - - - As Cadence and Shining Armor came up to the crowd they saw the visitor. The black coated Alicorn was massive as big if not bigger than Celestia, and looked very warlike covered from head to hoof in armor. His piercing eyes were crimson red, and upon closer inspection his coat was a scaly hide of ebony. This new Alicorn seemed more like a dragon than a pony from his webbed wings to his muscular tail. A mane of fire burned bright on his thick neck, and the fire did not burn him in the slightest. His red eye moved over them up and down, and metallic hoof claws tapping the stone street as he walked up to them. He stopped just a few feet from them, and he moved one of his forelegs over the other and bowed. "Hello Princess Cadence", the alicorn's eye moved, "and Prince Shining Armor so nice to meet you two". The alicorn straitened and put a metal hoof on his breastplate "My name Is Grithumbar Worldbreaker, I am new to this world, and I am quite tired from my journey". He put his hoof down gently, "I make the request that you let me stay in your kingdom". Over the crowd rose the voice of little Skyla "Daddy where did you go"? She pushed through the crowd and fell in front of her parents. She stood up and looked at her father, and opened her mouth as if to say something then stopped when she saw Grithumbar. The Alicorn froze, staring at the young filly as if he saw a ghost. He mouthed out the word "Elexis" slowly he walked toward Skyla, and lowered to be eye to eye with the little filly. "Hello little one what is your name"? "My names Skyla whats your name". She tilted her head, "Why are you looking at me like that is something on my face"? Skyla began to fix her mane, and Grithumbar shook his head. "No its just you remind me of my sister". Grithumbar lifted his head and looked off into the distance as if lost in a memory. The ponies around him stood in silence around him not knowing what to do with the spaced out alicorn. He came back to reality with a shake of his head and sighed. Then Cadence saw his eyes inside those pearls of red she saw a deep pain and hurt."Well Grithumbar would you like to come to our palace, and perhaps you can enjoy some refreshments and food"? The black alicorn nodded " Yes that would be nice". As they began to walk down the street a path opened through the crowd to the palace. As the group trotted down the street Grithumbar passed by a brown crystal stallion, and he paused sniffing the air. The Alicorn stood waiting his eyes following Skyla. When she was farther down the street; his red eye slowly moved to the brown crystal stallion. Shining Armor turned around to look at the alicorn, "Is something wrong Grith...". The brown crystal stallion saw his throat ripped out by the jaws of the mighty black alicorn. The brown coated stallion held his hooves to his throat trying to close the gap; his neck burst with a fountain of blood. The ponies around the corpse gasped in horror as their friend began bleeding out in front of their eyes. Grithumbar spat out the throat of his kill and with a bloody smile on his maw said, "Think you could fool me with that trick?" As Grithumbar said those words a green fire enveloped the corpse; morphing the brown coated pony to a dark green insectoid pony. Grithumbar's tail wrapped around the dead insectoid pony lifting it off the ground. Then continued walking as if he had swatted a fly, and was going to throw it away. He ignored the crowds panic at his actions. Shining armor walked up to Grithumbar looking at the insectoid corpse wrapped in his tail, "A changeling, but how did you know?". Grithumbar dropped the corpse and tapped it with a hoof, "It smelled different...like a bug, and I heard multiple heart beats", Grithumbar licked his lips of the changeling blood, "I didn't notice it earlier because I wasn't looking for it, but when he smelled different than the ponies around him", Grithumbar motioned a hoof to the ponies gathered around him. "I then used my other senses to compare his vitals to the ponies around him, and when they didn't match up the only conclusion was that he wasn't a pony". The alicorn's eyes looked at Shining Armor "Which would mean it was pretending to be one, therefore was a spy, and a threat to my kind hosts". He smiled at the unicorn prince, "And I couldn't let my hosts have a spy in their midst". As Shining Armor walked down the street behind the black alicorn. They would have to make sure to not upset this alicorn. A grim thought grew in Shining Armor's mind; When there's one changeling there are hundreds more. End of Chapter 2 > Weakness From Within > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sombra was moving quickly through the inner mind of the one named Grithumbar; behind him the beat of giant wings told him to quicken his pace. As he moved down a street hovering over the black stones. His eyes were looking for an escape route, or for a place where the dragon's wings would not be a advantage. Then he spotted what he was looking for, a hole in the street, it would lead underground tunnels too small for his pursuer. Sombra stopped in front of the hole forming his head and horn and turned to face the Black dragon bearing down on him. Sombra shouted a challenge, "Well then let's fight if you want to so kill me so badly". The dragon didn't take the bait it hovered many yards away, its massive wings beating the air; Sombra cursed under his breath, "Just fantastic it has a brain", he thought. The dragon knew the shadow was up to something,and the dragon breathed a plume of fire at the shadow king. Sombra quickly created a massive dark crystal wall to shield him from the flames. The fire made short work of the crystals, shattering them into a thousand pieces on impact. The dragon landed heavily on the street, and when the dust cleared the shadow was gone. It roared in anger and began tearing at the ground digging massive holes with each strike. Despite this great upheaval the shadow had disappeared, and was untraceable for it had no scent or sound. The dragon's eyes moved as if thinking of a solution to this problem; its red eyes lit up apparently a solution had been found, and with a flap of his wings was gone. Deep in the caverns of Grithumbar's mind Sombra smiled as he heard the beating of wings grew silent. He let out a long throaty sigh; he thought to himself, "That dragon was very difficult to lose", his green and red eyes scanned the cave he had ended up in due to his escape. The dark stalagmites and stalactites reminded him of his castle in better days, but his castle no, his empire was so repulsive now. A eye sore he intended to correct if he was successful; he knew where overconfidence got him last time..as a disembodied horn surrounded by nothing but snow. Sombra began to focus on the matter at hoof that dragon was going to be back, and he needed something to distract it. Sombra's horn glowed with energy as he took a unicorn form once more, and with a second spell he made his shadow break off into a incorporeal form. The shadow hovered in front of Sombra as it waited for his command. Sombra pointed a hoof at the shadow creature, "You must keep the dragon occupied for as long as you can". At that command the shadow flew toward the surface. Sombra smiled evilly the beast would be distracted for hours, and then he'd have free roam while he searched for a weakness in his host a horrible memory, or his favorite method their deepest fear. Sombra looked at his surroundings; the cavern he was located in had stalagmites and stalactites around a glowing pool of murky water. Sombra heard every few seconds a drop of water falling from a stalactite over the pool, and with every drop the pool would emanate a flash of light. Sombra looked into a pool and saw an image float by of a lizard standing on two legs it had a slender figure hidden behind a royal cloak. 'this must be memories of Grithumbar particularly of someone dear to him". Sombra set his horn in the pool then the water grew dark. - - - - Bright flashes of memories raced in Sombra's mind of killing families, leveling massive cities, destroying planets in minutes, and civilizations in ruin. Millions of lives destroyed by Grithumbar's hands, and in the flashes of memory it was apparent that Grithumbar enjoyed destruction. In the flurry of memories Sombra was able discern the name of Grithumbar's race Proxian. When the storm of memories calmed one particular memory came to Sombra. It was raining lightly on his body, and his massive black arms were wrapped around the dying form of a green haired female Proxian. Her eyes were becoming glazed over, she was at deaths door. Her chin was covered in her blood, and a giant cut in her stomach was bleeding profusely. Sombra felt Grithumbar's mouth open, "Sister! Sister! Elexis please don't leave me". Sombra felt a warm tear go down the cheek of Grithumbar. "I can stop the bleeding and...", his massive hand was brushed away by her's. Elexis's gentle hand slowly wiped Grithumbar's tear away, her blooded lips smiling, "No beloved brother I've lost too much blood my time has come. Please don't try to fight that which you can't win against", a tear ran down her green bloodstained face. "Promise to take care of my son, and to watch over him until he can fight his own battles". His head moved nodding yes. Elexis's hand went to her breast, "As empress of the Proxian Empire I hereby free you from your oath of loyalty to me, and command you Grithumbar Worldbreaker be your own master". The vision shook, no doubt Grithumbar shaking his head, "What will I do without you? All I've ever done is follow your orders, and I've never had to think for myself". He held her close her blood transferring to his armor, and he loosened his grip leaving her hanging in his arms. "I know you will figure it out; you will have to", Elexis smiled, a look of contentment in her eyes. "No matter what you did I will always love you my big brother". She looked right into Grithumbar's eyes as if she saw right into his soul. "I am glad I found you that day, and I don't regret it". She shook her head to enforce her point, "Not once did I regret finding you". Her eyes darkened, the light of life fading from her body. "Goodbye my brother; tell Ire'brak mother loves him, and that she will see him someday in the great land of the dead". The breath of life left her body, but her brave smile remained. Sombra could feel Grithumbar's body shaking with a unfathomable rage he began breathing in and out as the fury rose inside. Grithumbar was going to make her killers pay dearly. - - - - The memory ended and bodily control returned to Sombra, and he pulled his horn from the pool of memories. Then plans began to form in the mind of the fallen king, and each was grander than the last. A laugh formed on the tyrants lips, and it soon became a deep maniacal laughter. It's sound reverberated across the walls growing louder and louder until a chorus of his laughter filled the air. Sombra smiled evilly in the light of the pool. This creature Grithumbar may be unmatched in strength, but where there is strength there is weakness. This great weakness came from a broken heart, and such a heart was easy to manipulate. This was going to be like taking candy from a filly. "Now", he placed a hoof into the waters turning it black, "where to begin". -End of Chapter 3- Here is a picture of the cave and sombra enjoy; http://thecreatorofmonsters.deviantart.com/art/Grithumbar-s-pool-of-Memories-417870138 ga_submit_new=10%253A1386228346 > A Meal at the Crystal Palace / The Purge > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Grithumbar walked into the palace he gazed upon the glimmering walls of crystal, "It's like the Imperial Palace on my home world Arus", he recalled better days with his friends and family and became sad. Shining armor and Cadence looked over Grithumbar's muscular body and saw that he was bleeding from multiple wounds. "Excuse me Grithumbar", Cadence began she put a hoof onto his wounds; a grimace on her face as she looked over the deeper wounds on him. "Where did you get those wounds from", Cadence looked at Shining Armor, and Grithumbar looked at her. "My apologies I forgot to heal my minor injuries", He waved a hoof at Cadence, "Please step back". Cadence and Skyla backed away from Grithumbar, and Shining Armor cast a shield over his family ready for what Grithumbar had in store. Grithumbar breathed in deeply and breathed a cone of fire around himself; from the fire came the sound of his two front hooves clapping together. Grithumbar said in a commanding voice ,"Healing Flames", at his words the fire grew bright in a flash. Then the fire began to dissipate Shining Armor, Sklya, and Cadence saw that Grithumbar's wounds and blood were gone. Shining Armor's horn darkened as he turned off his shield, and all the ponies in the room gazed at Grithumbar. "You can breathe fire", stated Shining Armor as he gazed warily at Grithumbars black maw. Grithumbar nodded, "Yes, I have always been able to breathe fire". He breathed a small stream of molten rock and moved his hooves around and slowly created a flower of magma. "I can breathe different types of fire, and..". He moved a hoof over the molten flower it began cool, "...I can also control the temperature". He held in his hoof a beautifully crafted rock flower, and he gave it to Cadence who took it in her hoof tenderly. Skyla, standing by her mother was smiling at the guest her wings flapping at her sides. Cadence, walked up to Grithumbar placing her hoof tenderly on his coat where a particularly large gash had been. She looked up at him, "How....does it hurt", her eyes had the look of a ruler who deeply cared for any under her care. Grithumbar did not hold her gaze, "I am....", he shook his head, "No, Grithumbar don't reveal all your cards to these creatures they have welcomed you for now, but the second the perceive you as a threat they won't aid you. I have to play nice at least until I learn of a way home", "Can we discuss this over a meal I am weary from my journey; if you have any questions I shall answer them then". Shining Armor and Cadence nodded at his request and began walking down the hall toward the dining room, and Grithumbar followed behind. They came to a beautiful dining hall, its walls adorned with tapestry's and flags of the empire, and in the center of the room was a table large enough to sit 30 ponies. This particular dining room was no doubt for the special guests of the royals. Shining Armor and princes Cadence and Skyla took the side of the table that was opposite Grithumbar. Shining Armor pulled the chair out for his wife and his daughter, but when Grithumbar tried to sit down the chair was to small for his large frame. Cadence began to apologize to Grithumbar but he was able to create his own chair of black stone. Cadence levitated a bell and rang it, and several footponies and a chef walked in with a cart of food.The chef noticeable by his hat called out proudly, "I present to you Crystal Empire Salad". The footponies placed the salad made of vegetables, flowers, and crystal berries in front of the diners. The chef trotted out of the room, and the footponies stood by ready to serve tea. Girthumbar the huge alicorn sat in his chair head tilted at the meal in front of him. He lowered his snout and nudged the salad with his snout. He took a bite of the salad a lettuce with a crystal berry, and he slowly began to chew. His face for split second showed a face of utter disgust, but he didn't want to offend his hosts so he smiled. Then he ate the rest of the salad in one bite. Grithumbar smiled and said, "Its delicious I've never had salad before, and this is delicious". He looked down at his empty plate, and his stomach growled in protest, "I'll find something to eat later", he contemplated , "I wonder what changeling tastes like". Shining Armor, Cadence, and Skyla all looked at Grithumbar while they slowly ate their meal, and after a few bites they began to ask questions of their guest. "Where did you come from", Shining Armor asked the first question. Grithumbar put his bending legs and crossed the tips of his hooves and began, "I'm from a different realm no doubt in a different plane of existence entirely, and the name of my home world is Arus". Cadence looked at Grithumbar's scaled body and massive frame, "Are you a pony there as well... on Arus", Grithumbar shook his head at the question. He grabbed a bowl using a tendril of fire to grab it, and poured his water into the basin. He clapped his armored hooves together, and he said a prayer and then dipped a hoof into the basin. He declared in a mighty voice, "Mirror of Memory". ~ ~ ~ ~ Images floated in the water revealing a group of lizard men standing in full armor and capes made of animal fur layed on their backs, "My race is a bipedal lizard race, the Proxians, we were originally created by our god Arus Ravah to be great warriors strong and swift", Grithumbar mused imagining his people running free in the jungles of his homeworld. Grithumbar began to glare and growl, "But the Dark God Illness came and with his blue demons twisted our proud race to be the perfect slaves strength, speed, agility. durability, and life span all set to just the right levels". Many millennium ago Vaxan'har and Duz'hah his brother and three other chieftains with weapons from the gods overthrew the blue demon hordes, but they could not find the Dark god or his chief demons". After those years the proxians used the left over technology of the Before people to go to the stars and create weapons to fight the Before people if they ever returned. The proxians then began to spread there influence to 20 solar systems creating a great empire under the rule of the Dragon Emperor". Grithumbar paused looking at his gracious hosts, "Then tragedy struck, Duz'hah the Grand General of the proxian forces lost control of his inner dragon Kragdoroth ...., and killed his own brother The Dragon Emperor". The shoulder pads of Grithumbar rose up as he shrugged, "Without a clear ruler to unite them the proxian tribal leaders fought among themselves and the empire split". "Then years and years later my adopted sister found me and together with her mind and my strength we overthrew the current king and reunited the empire under her rule". His eyes lowered under his brow, "Then the Androidians came, and our people needed new lands to populate so we went to war'. He sighed heavily, "I would be lying if I said I didn't want war, and hell our entire race was itching for a challenge and the Androidians fit the bill". Shining Armor and Cadence saw forms of creatures that stood on two legs and had pale skin of pink brown and white. These creatures were fighting a large group of mostly green lizard men. The battle they saw had weapons and technology ages ahead of their time, and the proxians were great warriors cutting down Androidians with their blades, and canons of light. ~ ~ ~ ~ Grithumbar turned off the Mirror of Memories the images fading from the water, "We lost a major battle, and at the end of that battle I was pushed into a wormhole..and". He motioned a hoof around him, "I found myself on your world in a crater, and found myself in this new body". He reached to his back under his armor and pulled out a red horn and placed it on the table, "I found this horn shortly after". Shinging Armor's and Cadence's jaws dropped they glared at Grithumbar then they looked at the horn, "Where did you find that" Shining Armor asked threateningly while looking at the horn. Grithumbar held the horn in tendril of fire, "I found this horn on a hill surrounded by black crystal about 3 miles from where I crash landed". Grithumbar's eyes went between his hosts looked at their expressions, "I take it you know the owner of this horn, and he was still alive", Grithumbar held a hoof to his chest, "He jumped inside of my mind and is currently being hunted down by Garoshavann". Shining Armor and Cadence looked at the horn then looked at each other. Grithumbar looked between the two rulers, "Oh how rude of me not to introduce you to him let me see if he's available to say hello". His eyes glazed over as he appeared to fall into a trance. Shining Armor waved a hoof in front of Grithumbars face, and then he turned to his wife, "This guest of ours is quite....Interesting but I feel like he's hiding something". Cadence nodded, "I agree he isn't telling us everything, but I sense a great pain in his heart something happened that broke his heart". She looked at her husband saddened by the thought of losing any of her family, "I don't think we should pressure him further on the matter..we might cause him to grow angry". Shining Armor rubbed his hooves together, "I don't know his race sounds like they were the aggressors in their war, and he seems like he was the greatest warrior among his race" Shining Armor took a bite of his salad calmly as if discussing the weather, "If he was to return with hatred in his heart we would be guilty for unleashing him back on these Androidians". He wiped his face with a levitated napkin, "That's just something I want us to consider dear, but as it stands all we know of Grithumbars personality-wise is he is a being that kills anything that is a threat to him like that changeling". Cadence's eyes looked at her food she couldn't get rid of the image of that changeling bleeding out on the crystal pavement throat torn out by Grithumbar's teeth. "That event does raise a question.. how many changelings have infiltrated our fair city...." "About 199 of those changelings the number used to be 200 but...you know". Grithumbars eyes opened his red iris glowing smiling broadly, "I could capture them all for you". He stood from his chair and smiled at his hosts, "Don't worry I won't hurt them..much". He stepped outside onto a nearby window which he opened gently, "Is that okay for you?". He turned back to his hosts waiting for their approval. "Garoshavann get ready to say hello after this you can introduce yourself". Cadence and Shining Armor looked up at their guest on one hoof they couldn't trust this "pony" they just met he clearly was too wiling to kill, but on the other hoof it was incredibly difficult to find a changeling and here he was offering to capture all the remaining changelings in there empire. "Well....if", they slowly began, "If you only capture them this time that would be okay..'. A huge gust of wind blew into the room as Grithumbar flew outside he flew high in the sky and right above the Crystal palace spreading his wings wide with the sun at his back. Grithumbar breathed in deeply chest expanding to a great size, and he breathed out a plume of flame and used his horn and front hooves to control the fire into a ball above his head. Slowly as he moved his hooves then hundreds of tendrils of fire came from the flame sphere, and they began to move down into the homes of the Crystal ponies. Grithumbar yelled his voice heard miles away, "Changelings give yourselves up I know where each of you are give yourselves up now and save yourself the burning pain when my fire finds you". ... a long silence followed no indication of the changelings turning themselves in. Grithumbar smiled, "Fine have it my way". He shoved a hoof toward the city and each of the tendrils moved at a frightening speed toward every street, every house, and every restaurant grabbing ponies across the empire kicking and screaming as they were lifted off the ground by tendrils of flame. Slowly they a green fire surrounded each of them and they turned into changelings their cries filling the air. Grithumbar looked at his ability and said, "I think I'll call this technique The Purge", as the changelings were being pulled toward him he lowered his altitude toward the dining room his wings beating. Shining Armor and Cadence stood near the window, "Well that was fast..Grithumbar could you please place them in this", his horn glowed as he created a shield of his with the top open. As landed in the large shield Grithumbar placed them all in the Sphere shield and Shining armor closed it but left holes in it of them to breath and all 199 changelings sat in the bottom of a massive shield. Inside the purple shield Grithumbar paced back and forth in the shield where ever he walked the changelings hissed but kept their distance. The changelings bucked at the shield to try and break free but their efforts were in vain. Grithumbar stomped a hoof on the crystal street. "Listen up equine insects I have a deal to break with you all...tell me where you have hidden those you replaced in this fair city". He paused and looked up to Shining Armor then looked back down at the mass of changelings in front of him, "If you cooperate I imagine my hosts will treat you fairly", he paused waiting for a response. A changeling that was just barely larger than the others stepped forward, "And what if we refuse" he asked with a forced brave tone in his voice. Grithumbar smiled, "I was hoping you'd ask", he looked toward his host and smiled, "Your highness I would suggest you increase the size of your shield Garoshavann would like to say hello". Shining Armor increased his shields size and began to ask, "What are you...", suddenly Grithumbar's neck snapped sideways and his back rippled, the sound of his bones dislocating could be heard. His face lengthened becoming more and more dragon-like, and all the while he was laughing his voice growing deeper and more menacing. The changelings cowered in fear as he grew larger and larger his hooves slowly split into five fingers each front hooves, his back hooves grew three toes. His massive wings were spread from one end of the shield to the other. When the transformation ended a black dragon a third the height of the crystal palace stood before the changelings making them seem like ants smiling with a row of sword-like teeth. Garoshavann stretched his neck out toward the changeling that had stepped forward and breathed through his nostrils at him nearly knocking him over. He opened his maw the smell of death emanating from it, "If you refuse I will find out what changeling tastes like", he snapped his jaws short of the changelings face. The changeling quickly backed up and said in a haste, "We accept the terms of your agreement, and if we are given a map we will....", he stopped as Garoshavann placed a claw on his forehead. Garoshavann growled threateningly, "We will know if your lying so tell the truth save yourself the pain". A map was brought forward by a group of guards, and the changeling placed a X on the map on a mountain range to the west of the crystal empire. Garoshavann nodded confirming to himself that was the location of the hive. The massive maw of Garoshavann turned to Shining Armor, "I can confirm that is the location of all your missing citizens". Garoshavann straitened as if forgetting something, "Oh right", he placed a claw over his chest and bowed toward the royal couple, "Garoshavann, Dragon of Destruction, the pleasure is all mine". Shining Armor and Cadence watched as their guards marched the changelings to the dungeon, and they looked up at Garoshavann, who returned the gaze his blood red iris staring down the two. "I thank you to for your hospitality, but I must ask you one question do you know of any way for me and Grithumbar to return home". Shining Armor began, "Great dragon if such a magic exists we do not know of it but....", he paused as his wife moved past him, and saw the sadness in her eyes. Cadence walked up to the black dragons side and placed a tender hoof on his bulk, and a tear came to her eye as if she was experiencing pain, "What was her name...", Cadence looked up tears in her eyes, "the one you lost...your step sister". The massive frame of Garoshavann shook and the sound of bones breaking sounded the transformation back to his normal form. When the dust cleared the two alicorns stared each other down Grithumbar's expression was of shock and rage. Shining Armor began to run forward horn glowing, but Candence held up a hoof to stay back she turned to face Grithumbar. Tears began to well-up in Grithumbar's eyes he was trying hard to hold them back as his whole body shook from the effort, "How..". "Did I know", Cadence finished his sentence as she placed a hoof on his chestplate, "My domain is not only the Crystal empire but also over the domain of love". She created a heart from her horn and it hovered around Grithumbars face, and it hit him right in the forehead. Immediately all the happy moments he had ever spent with his friends and family he felt warm and content. "As princess of love I could instantly recognize a broken heart". Cadence removed the spell and the warm feelings faded away. Grithumbar loomed over Cadence a single tear down the side of his face, his face contorted through six different emotions Melancholy, Gratefulness, Rage, Sadness, Despair, and finally Acceptance. He fell to his knees a single tear moving down his face, "Her name was Elexis", he roared and all who heard it felt the great sadness in it's pang. "She died in battle against the Andriodians, and it was my fault". Cadence placed a hoof on his shoulder tenderly to support him. He slowly stood up from the ground shrugging off Cadences hoof, and he stared at the princess, "I thank you for your hospitality and your kind treatment of me, but I can't waste any more time here". He extended his wings, "I just want to say one more thing". He lowered his eyes to hers, "Never do That again or you will discover what it is like to have Grithumbar Worldbreaker as an enemy". In a gale of wind he was gone flying out of sight in almost no time at all. Cadence looked at the sky in the direction he was headed...south to Equestria. -Chapter End-