The Castle of Dreams

Chapter 2

In Ponyville, Midnight left the hospital that morning after a quick examination and Dr. Stable gave him a clean bill of health. He hadn’t made it to Town Square before Twilight and Spike came running to him.

“Twi? Spike? Where’s the fire?”

“In Canterlot,” Twilight panted, as Spike hopped off her back and held up a scroll.

“‘My loyal apprentice, Midnight Blaze,

You and the rest of the Knights of Adventure are henceforth summoned to Canterlot by order of Princess Celestia. This summit is final and inarguable. You are to gather your fellow knights and immediately depart for the train station where the conductor awaits you.

Yours truly,

Princess Florinda.

P.S.

This involves the nightmares.’”

“A summons from Princess Celestia?” whispered Midnight in fearful awe.

“You should get going, Midnight,” Twilight urged, “This sounds serious.”

“I will,” Midnight said but before he could leave, Twilight threw her arms around his neck, hugging him close to his surprise.

“Be careful,” she whispered.

Midnight smiled and hugged her back. They’d been friends ever since they’d been fellow students in Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. At first they’d been rivals, Midnight had been jealous, that a new student had not only gotten her cutie-mark but had become the personal protégé of the Princess, all in the same day. Midnight had worked hard and eventually proven himself before Princess Florinda, and he’d earned his own cutie-mark. Then the Princesses had partnered up Twilight and Midnight for a project. At first all they’d done was argue but then when the deadline was just around the corner, they’d put their rivalry aside, finished their project, and passed with flying colors, but the real success they’d achieved was their friendship. However, for Midnight, while he wasn’t sure if she felt the same way, he had often wondered if his friendship with Twilight could be something deeper.

“I will,” he whispered.

“Pinkie Promise?” asked Twilight with a small smile.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” laughed Midnight in confirmation while going through the motion associated with the vow, and they shared a laugh. Then to Spike, Midnight asked, “Spike, look after Dreamer while I’m gone?”

“Dragon’s honor,” promised Spike with a dedicated salute.

“Then I’m off, wish me luck!” Midnight declared, and before they could say anything, Midnight’s horn glowed and in a whirl of silvery-blue mist he vanished, the mist zooming off towards Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight look on, whispering, “Good luck…”

Midnight quickly gathered his friends; first Big Mac, then Starfyre, then Bravissimo, Forester, and Thunderlane for last, all in a rather unceremonious way of whisking them from their homes in the form of mist and bringing them to the train station.

The stallions all landed in a heap as Midnight deposited them from his mist-form and reformed his body in front of them, just in time to hear their protests and complaints.

“Wha’ in Sam-Hill, Midnight?!”

“Yeah, what’s your deal?!”

“Honestly, Midnight, I was in the midst of preparing a backdrop!

“Um, I was… kinda busy.”

“Whoa, what a ride! Can we do it again?”

“Thunder!” the others all growled with rises of their voices, and he giggled in sheepish response.

“Guys, please! Let me explain,” Midnight pleaded rather sharply. He showed them the scroll, explaining, “We’ve been summoned by Princess Celestia, and are to leave for Canterlot immediately. The conductor is already waiting for us.”

“The Princess, you say?” Bravissimo asked abruptly, stars in his eyes. “Ugh! Midnight, I am hardly presentable to appear before Her Royal Highness!”

“Trust you to worry about appearances, Bravissimo,” huffed Starfyre.

“Ah understand if’n it’s important, haystack,” Big McIntosh spoke up, “but tarnation! Tha’ wuz’ a lil’…”

“Over the top?” asked Midnight sheepishly, earning him an “eeyup” in response.

“What’re we waiting for, guys?!” Thunderlane fluttered his wings like an excited schoolcolt. “The Princess awaits!”

And without waiting for them to answer,Thunderlane flew straight for the train station, Midnight saying, “Let’s go, everypony!”

The train arrived in Canterlot about an hour later, whereupon their arrival the Knights of Adventure were approached by a group of guards.

“Sir Midnight Blaze, Captain of the Knights of Adventure?” asked the apparent leader.

“Affirmative, corporal,” confirmed Midnight, familiar with the Royal Guard protocol. “All the Knights of Adventure, present and accounted for, here to answer the summons of Princess Celestia.”

“Follow us.”

“Say, if Midnight’s our ‘captain’,” Starfyre muttered to Bravissimo, “does that mean one of us is second-in-command?”

“If so, then I vow to lead you well should ever Midnight be indisposed,” Bravissimo sounded rather smug.

“Now hold your apples!” Starfyre muttered, “What makes you so sure you would be second-in-command?”

“But of course, I would be second-in-command,” Bravissimo replied as if the very concept was an obvious truth.

“After all, I am more than worthy of leadership.”

“Ppth, yeah, like an actor has what it takes to lead the Knights of Adventure,” Starfyre scoffed. “Now I, the Spirit of Bravery, am the perfect choice for second-in-command.”

“Ugh! A ruffian weatherpony? There’s a difference between bravery and recklessness, my dear Starfyre.”

“Why I oughta…!” Starfyre started gearing up for a confrontation when they heard Midnight say, “You know I can hear you guys back there, don’t you?”

Both Starfyre and Bravissimo blushed a little, the latter then asking, “Well, Captain, if you do have a second-in-command amongst us, by all means enlighten us!”

“The proper term you’re looking for is ‘lieutenant’,” Midnight corrected, then appeared to muse, “and in this unit, that would be Big McIntosh.”

“Eeyup!” Big Mac chuckled as he and Midnight could practically hear the sounds of jaws dropping onto the pavement.

The stallions were led straight for the throneroom, inside which they saw Princess Celestia, sided by the Keepers of the Seasons, Midnight’s teacher, Princess Florinda of Spring, and her twin brother, Prince Polaris of Winter. Princess Florinda had a coat of sky blue, her mane and tail fluffy like white clouds yet radiated with the sunshine of a warm summer day, her eyes green like the beginning of spring, her cutie-mark was a stylized sunflower. Her horn behind her golden tiara encrusted with a flawless emerald, her wings folded.

Her brother, Prince Polaris, was a little taller, his coat as white as fresh-fallen snow, his eyes a deep-orange like a maple-leaf during autumn, his tail was an icy-blue and looked like a flurry of snow, he wore armor and a galea-style helmet with the plume matching his mane and tail colors, his horn protruding from a hole, shimmering like the northern lights, his wings, flecked with patterns like fallen leaves being blown in the wind, also folded. His cutie-mark was a fanciful pattern of frost, like one might see on a window.

“Knights of Adventure, Heroes of Spring,” welcomed Princess Celestia, “thank you all for coming.”

“I gathered my fellow knights as soon as I received your summons, Your Highness,” acknowledged Midnight as he and the rest of them bowed in respect of their Princess of the Sun.

“Practically shanghaied us, more-like- Ow!” muttered Starfyre who got kicked in the flank by Bravissimo to be quiet.

“I am aware of the mysterious nightmares that plagued everypony in Ponyville the night before,” Princess Celestia spoke, “but I’m afraid things are even worse than you can imagine.”

“Does it involve the Crystal Empire?” asked Midnight abruptly, but gasped and covered his mouth, fearing he’d been rude.

Princess Celestia shared a look with the Keepers of the Seasons before she asked, “Could you explain why you have come to that conclusion, Midnight Blaze?”

“My… my nightmare…” Midnight answered with a frightened edge in his voice. “I dreamt of the Crystal Empire, but… It was horrible! I saw so many dark crystals, the Crystal Ponies enslaved! But the worst part of it was… they all bowed to me, and I spoke in a voice that wasn’t mine. It was… an evil voice, filled with hate, anger… It spoke ‘Bow before King Sombra reborn’… Then, everything went black, and there was another voice… It asked for help, and mentioned the Crystal Empire.”

Midnight’s friends all shifted in nervous worry behind him as Princess Celestia had a private word with Princess Florinda and Prince Polaris.

“Midnight, this nightmare of yours,” said Princess Celestia, “it feeds my fearful suspicions though I pray I am wrong.”

“What suspicions, Yer Highness?” asked Big McIntosh.

“Last night, brave ones, the Crystal Heart vanished from the Crystal Empire, without a trace,” replied Princess Celestia, much to their surprise, and spoke further, “and with this information provided by Midnight, I fear the worst… that Sombra is behind all this.”

“But, Princess Celestia!” spoke up Bravissimo. “Forgive my interruption, but… I thought King Sombra was destroyed. Did not Twilight find the Heart and entrust it to Spike who delivered it to Princess Cadance?”

“It appears we have underestimated King Sombra,” answered Princess Florinda, her voice as melodious as the music of rainfall.

“It is true that when Princess Cadance utilized the power of the Crystal Heart, she called upon the hopes and dreams of the Crystal Ponies to help her, and in doing so, they destroyed King Sombra.”

“Or so we thought,” seconded Prince Polaris, his tone as chilling as a blizzard. “Sombra is a Unicorn whose Heart is as Black as Night. He wields dark powers we can only begin to imagine, and it seems that he was destroyed only in body. In other words, Sombra’s infernal spirit may have survived the destruction of his physical form, and possibly reverted back to incorporeal shadow, as he was when he was initially vanquished millennia ago.”

“Though even if he has survived,” Princess Celestia brought up, “he has no physical form so he would have had to force somepony into his service.”

“You mean to say somepony’s in cahoots with Sombra,” surmised Starfyre.

“At this point, there is no way truly to be sure,” replied Princess Celestia as she looked towards something next to her throne.

The stallions watched as she levitated a glass container, and revealed a lavender crystal to them. As soon as it alighted upon the floor, she charmed it with a spell that showed a shining illusion of the Crystal Empire.

“As you are aware, the Crystal Heart is the source of the Empire’s power. Millennia ago, King Sombra took over the Crystal Empire…”

They watched as the glorious landscape became a wasteland riddled with dark crystals, some of which seemed to infect the castle centered in the Empire, transforming it from a dazzling crystal castle to a bleak and nightmarish citadel, as they saw the wicked face of King Sombra, causing Midnight to shiver. Even worse, the Crystal Ponies were all chained and shackled, enslaved.

Though he kept his composure, Midnight became increasingly disturbed, It’s just like my nightmare!

“He was ultimately overthrown,” Princess Celestia continued, “transformed into shadow and exiled to the Arctic North.”

They watched as the silhouettes of Princesses Celestia and Luna unleashed their powers upon the black unicorn, his body dispersing into a shadowy smoke, his wretched face twisted into rage as he sank into an icy crevice.

“…but not before he was able to place a curse upon the empire, a curse that caused it to vanish into thin air for a thousand years. But you know all of this, and the events that transpired upon its return.”

The stallions all nodded.

“Then you also know why the Crystal Heart is so important. If the Empire is filled with love and hope, they are reflected by the Crystal Heart over all of Equestria.”

She gave them an example by making the crystal rise and shimmer a rainbow of benevolence. Then Midnight stepped forward, “But if hatred and fear take hold…”

Everypony watched as black and purple light bubbled around his horn; his eyes furrowed into ominous concentration as they smoldered a terrible green, his turquoise pupils flashed an angry red while a purplish miasma emitted from the corners of his eyes.

From his horn, Midnight shot a beam of shadow at the crystal, and the crystal turned black as its shadow lengthened towards Midnight, a dark crystal sprouting before him as the shadows surrounded the rest of the stallions, to their fear.

More dark crystals sprouting before Midnight reared up, concentrating a magical light into his hooves before he slammed them onto the floor, a pulse of power shattering the dark crystals into nothing.

“Exactly, Midnight…” Princess Celestia concurred, “And the vision you had concerning all this tells me you and your friends must be the ones to recover the Crystal Heart and protect the Empire.”

“But you must act quickly,” cautioned Prince Polaris. “The Crystal Ponies have already begun to fall into despair over the loss of their most sacred treasure.”

“Which is why you must not only seek the Crystal Heart but you must keep the hopes of the Crystal Ponies alive and strong,” added Princess Florinda.

“We won’t let you down, Your Highnesses!” swore Midnight, his friends all making similar vows.

“Then go forth, the train is waiting to take you all to the Empire,” instructed Prince Polaris.

The stallions all hurried out but before he could follow his friends, Midnight heard Princess Florinda.

“And Midnight?”

He turned to his teacher, who walked up to him, stating, “In the end it will be up to you to safeguard the future of not just the Crystal Empire but possibly all of Equestria.”

“Eh, as if I didn’t have enough on my shoulders,” Midnight sulked, but Princess Florinda laid her horn onto his shoulder in a reassuring way.

“Take heart, my loyal apprentice. For I believe in you,” she said as Prince Polaris and Princess Celestia approached.

“We have full confidence you will not fail, Midnight,” added Princes Celestia, “and you may possibly even restore something that was once thought to be lost forever.”

“But take heed, young mage,” warned Prince Polaris. “Often the greatest adversity we face is the darkness within our own hearts.”

Seeing that Prince Polaris was probably speaking from experience, Midnight felt a little disturbed by those words but only nodded in acknowledgement before taking his leave. When they were all gone, Princess Florinda asked, “Princess Celestia, I’m worried for him…”

“Have faith, my old student,” assured Princess Celestia as she looked up towards the stained glass where the image of the Crystal Heart had been.

“Midnight has proven himself before, and I am confident he will do it again. By overcoming the trials he and his friends shall surely face, it will prove that he is ready for the next level of his training.”

“Hey may yet prove if he is ready for his training,” Princess Florinda agreed, “but is he ready for the truth?”

The train arrived at its stop, and the six stallions stepped out into a freezing snowstorm. Looking around, they saw nothing but a frozen wasteland for miles, and the sky above was strangely dark given it was supposed to be just a half-hour after noon.

“Which way are we supposed to go?!” Starfyre shouted over the roar of the snowy winds.

“The Empire is supposed to be straight ahead,” answered Midnight.

“Hey guys, I see somepony!” Thunderlane yelled, pointing ahead with his wing.

They looked ahead and saw a figure coming towards them. It was a pony, tall but the winds made it hard to see until he was close enough, and Midnight gasped.

“Shining Armor!” he neighed happily.

It was Shining Armor, older brother of Twilight, one of Midnight’s closest friends since colthood.

Shining Armor was a tall unicorn pony, with a pure white coat while his mane and tail were long and unkempt in a way that made them attractive, colored in three shades of blue. His cutie-mark was a blue shield with a six-point magenta star over which were three blue stars.

He wore a black cloak with goggles to protect his eyes.

“Midnight!” called Shining Armor as they hurried up to each other, and gave each other salutes, just like they did as colts.

Then the two of them spoke, word for word.

“To Equestria I pledge my life,

Along to everypony!

To safeguard all from fear and strife,

Alongside my best brony!”

The two chuckled happily as they gave each other a hoof-bump. They then noticed the others giving them a look, and both of them blushed a little when Shining Armor urged, “Come on, we have to get to Cadance and Pollo.”

“Who?” asked Big McIntosh.

“Wait! Did you just say Pollo?!” Midnight asked. “What’s he doing here?!”

“Let’s go, I’ll explain along the way,” promised Shining Armor.

The stallions trekked terrible tundra, unaware of a dark presence watching them from afar, red eyes narrowed with malicious satisfaction as they fell upon the blue unicorn. All the pieces were coming together, and soon the unicorn-turned-wraith would have everything he required to rule not just the empire but perhaps all of Equestria!