Peace Comes With the Cost of Death

The Tardis whirred and then let out a loud CLUMP. SaberStar Brightwing and his friends walked out of the Tardis, aside from the kids. The Crystal Empire. At night. The crew gave a sigh of relief. Rainbow Dash leaned against him and kissed him on the cheek.

Princess Cadence heard a strange whirring and looked outside the Crystal Palace. A blue box had appeared. Walking out were several ponies she didn't recognize, but she saw Twilight and her friends and Princess Luna. She cried out in relief and flew down to greet them

Saber heard the sound of wings behind him and whirled around, blades spreading over his own. He saw a princess, not one he'd seen, but heard of. It was the Crystal Princess, Cadence. He withdrew his blades and folded one against his side and put the other around Dash.

"Twilight!" Cadence called, landing in front of them. Twilight looked at her sister-in-law, sadness etched on every line of her face. "What's wrong?"

"Oh just Daleks and Changelings and Celestia and Weeping Angels and Cybercolts. Nothing to worry about." Saber replied, sarcastically.

"Saber!" Twilight scolded.

"What are Daleks and Weeping Angels?" Cadence asked, confused by the sudden hostility. The Doctor explained and Cadence grew grim. "Not just those. A killer as well. Bodies are showing up everywhere. Always older Unicorn mares, always with a hole in the forehead and a slit neck." She said, shuddering. Saber glanced at Vinyl Scratch, the only older Unicorn mare in the crew.

"They won't kill anypony while I'm here." He growled, eyes turning ice-blue.

"Don't be so sure." Cadence warned.

"Don't underestimate him. You should see Saber try to protect someone. He will, at any cost, protect those he cares for." Dash replied, putting her wing around the distressed soldier. "He nearly killed Discord when he had hurt Vinyl." She said, a hint of laughter in her voice. Before they could react, a scream tore through the air, piercing they ears of everypony present.

"What the hell was that?" Saber demanded.

"Our killer has just claimed another victim." Cadence replied

"We need to find them."

The crew galloped and flew towards the source of the scream. It was a shack made from wood. Saber opened the door. It creaked and light flooded into the room. He was disgusted by what he saw. It was a body alright, with the same markings Cadence had described. Light blue with red eyes and a blue and yellow mane, she couldn't have been more than nineteen. Saber fumed. She had been too young to die. Movement made Saber's ears prick up. It sounded like stone scraping. He dismissed it. They were in a kingdom made from stone. He went to the doorway.

"It was your killer, Cadence. Same markings as what you said."

Cadence had rooms for them at the Crystal Castle. For once, Saber was on his own. He couldn't sleep that night. A knock sounded at his door.

"Come in," He replied, getting out of bed. Vinyl opened the door and walked in, eyes darting from side to side.

"Do you mind?" She asked nervously.

"Not at all. Come on in." The Pegasus said, in a comforting tone, reassuring the scared Unicorn. She came in and looked up at him, fear evident in her eyes. "That killer story scared you?" The answer was obvious, but you could never know. Vinyl nodded quickly and slowly walked in, relaxing a little. Saber flexed his newly healed wing and had the plates on it go out, keeping the other normal. "Don't worry. Nothing is gonna get you," He said, putting a non bladed wing around her. She let out a sigh and leaned into his shoulder. The black stallion looked a bit surprised at first but then realized it was to be expected. Stone scraping made a set of black ears and a set of white ears prick up.

"Wh-what was that?" The white mare stammered nervously. Saber poked his head out of his door. Angel statues made from stone were in front of every pillar. Stone. Almost everything was made out of crystal, not stone. Stone. Come to think of it, these fit the description of the Weeping Angels. Saber looked away quickly, and sure enough, the statues had moved.

"Vinyl, don't look away from the statues. It's the Weeping Angels."

Vinyl's eyes widened.

"Can we fight them?"

"I don't think so. They have us trapped."

"Oh god........oh god." She said, putting a hoof over her mouth. Vinyl wasn't too scared of dying. She was scared that she wouldn't be able to do all the things in her life that she'd wanted to.

"I might be able to get you out, but if I do, I won't get out. Or, It's a very low chance that I will." Saber replied, putting on his armor, breastplate, helm, boots. Then, he put on pieces Vinyl had never seen. A mask-like piece that covered his mouth and snout, extensions from the boots and breastplate. White instead of black to go with his wings, Saber was a fully fledged warrior. "Follow me," He said, voice muffled by the mask, "We need to get this right."

The Angels were different when the two got out. They had fangs and faces pinched into a snarl. Saber walked out of his room, grabbed Vinyl by her arms and spread his wings. In one huge, strong movement, he shot them into the air, just barely landing on the part of the rooms without Angels. He let her go and began to walk towards where he had just been. Vinyl stopped him.

"Where are you going?" She demanded,

"I need to save the others in the rooms down there." came his muffled voice, "I can't just leave them. They'll be killed if I don't."

"But what about you? Aren't you going to come back?"

"Maybe. Probably not."

"But you have to come back! Who's going to protect the others?"

"................................."

"That's not an answer." She shot back,

"I won't, that's for sure." Saber began to walk again towards the Angels.

"Wait!"

He stopped.

"I-if you don't come back.............."

She looked down and then pulled of his mask and kissed him on the mouth. His eyes turned cherry red for the first time in ages and he blushed too. She put his mask back on and let him go.

"If you come back, don't tell anypony about this Sky-boy." She said. Saber smiled under his mask and flew above the Angels silently as he could. Vinyl watched him painfully, seeing him open doors and manage to fly others over. The last one, a navy blue Pegasus with a spiky Mohawk, (Not like Saber's) was where it fell apart. Saber managed to get him over, but the Angels were getting closer. One grabbed his left wing, the recently healed one and he yelled in pain.

"Go! All of you! Run!" He shouted. The Pegasus turned to Vinyl.

"Do you know someone named the Doctor?"

"Don't you mean 'somepony'?"

"No time!"

"Yes, I know him. If you want him, he's down there." She said miserably. The Pegasus flew down at full speed. Every time they all looked away from the Angel holding Sabers' wing, it twisted. He yelled in pain again. Vinyl heard a commotion behind her. She turned around and there stood the Doctor, holding his screwdriver and aimed it at the Angel. It froze in its tracks.

"Doctor," Saber panted, face contorted in pain, "Go! It's too late for me! Just protect the others!"

"It's not too late. I can get you out of here." the Doctor replied, followed by the Pegasus from earlier. The two did some kind of magic and the Angels' hand crumbled. Saber fell on the ground, slowly losing consciousness. The last thing he saw was Vinyl kneeling next to him.