Ghost of the Crystal Empire

They were definitely underground, but their surroundings suggest that they didn’t reach their desired destination.

Instead of a throne, endless staircase, or some kind of door to show one their worst fears they were in some type of underground cavern that looked as if it were made of ice.

Unlike most typical caves however, there seemed to various multi-colored, jagged crystal shard stalagmites and stalactites sticking in every direction from the cave ceiling, walls, and floor.

“I don’t think this is Sombra’s castle…” spoke Shining Armor, his breath visible with every word.

“No,” agreed The Doctor. “Something like him could never create something as vast and mesmerizingly beautiful as this place.”

Cadance shivered.

“It’s freezing down here…” she commented.

Shining Armor moved to her side pulled her close to him in an attempt to keep them warm.

“Yeah, the Empire may be surrounded by a frozen wasteland-but, it always feels like summer-no matter what time of year it is.”

“That’s because we’re not in the Crystal Empire.” The Doctor replied, pulling out his Sonic Screwdriver and scanning the crystals with it.

“What?”

“We’re underneath it.”

“Underneath what?” pressed Shining Armor.

“The Crystal Empire and Sombra’s old castle,” The Doctor replied.

“Cadance overshot the target with her spell.”

“Sorry…” she breathed weakly.

“Cadance, what’s wrong?” asked a very concerned Shining Armor.

For the past few days she’d managed to cope with ruling the Empire and keeping up her traditionally royal appearance, but the consistent lack of a decent night’s sleep coupled with the anxiety the gnawed at the back of her mind was finally taking a toll on her.

“I feel…cold…so cold…so very cold…” every word seemed to take a tremendous amount of effort.

“What’s wrong with your eyes?” The Doctor cut in, turning around.

They were cloudy and surrounded by dark circles.

“I…I don’t know…everything’s so dark…”

Ever since they had arrived, the crystals were giving off an almost ethereal glow and while by no means were they bright; one could navigate through the large cavern without much difficulty.

“Doctor…DOCTOR! I CAN’T SEE!” she shouted frantically, “I’M COMPLETELY BLIND!”

Shining Armor conveyed a worried look to him.

“Cadance, hold still.” He instructed before she heard the whirring of a Sonic Screwdriver as her sight slowly returned to the point where it seemed she was looking through a blurry filter.

“I’m sorry, but that’s the best I can do for now.”

“Doctor, what’s wrong with her?”

The Doctor put a hoof on his shoulder and took him aside.

“Your wife, is seen as the ‘Crystal Princess’-or the protector and guardian of this Empire-without her, there is no one to keep the power of the Crystal Heart sustained.”

“But, what does that have to do with-”

The Doctor lowered his voice so Cadance couldn’t hear.

“Her optic nerves are deteriorating, which is why her sight keeps fading. The reason she feels so cold is because her internal body temperature keeps lowering.”

“How?”

“Well, it’s purely speculation at this point-but, I believe that Sombra is trying to kill her by slowly shutting down parts of her body-once she dies the Crystal Ponies will start to panic and fear will envelope the Empire once more.”

“But, Sombra’s dead!” Shining replied in a harsh whisper, “We saw it happen!”

“Maybe,” The Doctor conceded. “But, that doesn’t change the fact that he’s behind everything strange that’s been going on in the Empire, lately.”

“So you’re saying he’s some kind of ghost?”

“No, of course not, I don’t believe in ghosts…”

“Doctor, even if what you’re saying is true and Sombra did somehow survive and is doing all of this…why didn’t he just kill Cadance?”

“Because he’s sadistic, he thrives on pain and fear-back when he ruled everything was cold and dark, that’s why Cadance is losing her sight and that’s why she’s chilled to the bone-he wants revenge on the one who took his kingdom.”

“But, I thought you fixed her sight.”

“No, I could only slow it down.” He explained. “His magic seems to be fading, but it’s still too powerful for the Sonic to completely push back.”

“What about the Crystal Heart?” Shining pressed. “I thought the Empire was protected as long as it was in place!”

He shook his head.

“No, it needs a representative of love and protection inhabiting the throne to channel its power-that’s the reason why Celestia sent you and your wife over here-without her it’s just a stone…a decoration.”

“But, we can stop him…right, Doctor?” Shining Armor asked hopefully.

“I can,” he looked over at Cadance, who was pressed up against the wall for support feeling her way around with her eyes half-open. “But, you need to take care of your wife, try to help her stay warm and keep talking to her…even if she can’t see you let her know you’re still there with her.”

“Alright,” he reluctantly sighed. “I’m not too happy about having you solve our problems for us so, we’re not leaving you either, Doctor…these are our people now and it’s our job to protect them.”

The Doctor’s eyes darted between the two before smirking.

“Fair enough.”

He once again turned so that he was facing forward as Shining Armor rushed to his wife’s side.

“Hey, let me help you.” He spoke softly as he draped her arm over his shoulder for support.

“How are you doing?” he asked, with a heavy note of concern in his voice she recognized that he only used when he was extremely worried about her.

“I feel like I’m dying…” she turned to look at her husband’s face, which was now a blue and white blur and gave him a weak smile.

“But, I’m feeling a little better now that we’re here.”

“We’ve wasted enough time here,” announced The Doctor. “We should be on our way-we won’t be able to solve this problem until we get to the source.”

And with that, the trio headed down the large tunnel ahead.