Security Breach

Kneeling down in front of the crystal heart with not a single soul around, closing my eyes metaphorically I let the heart hum with energy before making a connection with me, the beam of energy keeping us connected drift and dance in the air as my mind merges with the crystal allowing myself to communicate with the gem.

At first I thought this gem was just an empty vessel containing powerful, ancient magic within its hard shell, but instead it contained the soul of a being very similar to the sleeping Princess Cadence within the palace above me, it was a being of immense magic and intelligence, someone who crafted this gem to help the Crystal Empire but it seems with every connection I make with it I can see into it more clearly, I can hear what it was whispering to me, trying to get me to see what it sees.

It was communicating with me, and I was talking back to it.

I don't know who this pony was but the entire Crystal Empire wouldn't exist because of this one pony, seeking its knowledge I learned that it has learned a way to make this land a paradise for the unicorn race and them alone. A very powerful spell that needs the love and joy of the ponies around it to make a connection with it, to power it up, to keep it charged on a daily basis to turn this frozen wasteland into a fertile landscape, its crops to grow faster and in greater bounties, its mines to give pure minerals, metals and gemstones, its weather to always be fair, to always be perfect for every occasion including rain, snow and sunshine.

This spell was perfect, its connection with the empire proved to me that this land and those beyond its reach can become a paradise for all, but that was when I saw its downside, its caster had to sacrifice herself to keep it going, a price she gladly paid for to make sure her unicorns can live free from the other races, but she was wrong. It wasn't before long after her 'death' did the pegasi and earth ponies started to show up, apparently the three pony tribes was heading south across the mountain ranges of the empire and with them came death and an endless winter, they managed to stop the endless winter with friendship but those few who disagreed with that verdict came up here to start a new life.

The unicorns of the Crystal Empire at first thought they were brigands and bandits but when they proved their worth they were happily allowed entry into the city with no problem at all, adding their love and joy to the heart, allowing it to spread its gift beyond its boarders. It was when one of the unicorns that was from a noble house started to get disgruntled with the new arrivals, snarling and hating that these non-unicorns were entering his precious city, eating their food, drinking their water, claiming their land that he decided that something had to be done about these 'intruders'.

And from this one dark unicorn alone he delved into the dark arts, learning forbidden magic to subjugate those he thought were underneath him. With his dark deeds in place and those that are in his sights being drained mentally, emotionally and physically, their bodies shriveling up to the point of being nothing more than an empty husk of its former self, something that caught the attention of a pair of young alicorns.

The two alicorn sisters fought against Sombra, harming him greatly and before they could smite him down and free the crystal ponies he pulls out his trump card and instead makes the banishing spell against him spread out and affect the entire empire, leaving behind nothing but a frozen tundra in its absence, scaring both ponies for their failure to protect the innocent.

Right when I was going to ask the spirit living within the crystal I started to see something else, it was a very large changeling, something akin to a horse in shape and size but I saw holes in its legs and a small crown resting on its head and it was looking at-

The sounds of barking can be heard throughout the tunnels underneath the land above, dozens of dogs yipping and snarling at each other as they ready themselves for the raid of a life time. They were told that their alpha has found a city, gleaming with gems and crystals, rich and ripe for the taking as they were all alone from the ponies far south from their territory.

When they were told that this place was easy to rob and quite possibly get a whole new bundle of slaves to add to their own stockpile, they finally had a means of paying off their debt to their higher ups in Dimondia without having to fear of being sent off to the salt mines in the deep deserts near Saddle Arabia. The sounds of swords being sharpened on whetstones, maces being swung to test their weight, clubs and hammers being checked for any weakness in the shafts, dogs baiting each other on to see who is getting first dibs on the treasures they will be bringing back.

GONG

With the signal made the dogs now scrambling into their packs, their alphas barking orders at them to get in line and prepare to dig up. The barking only grows louder as the first group of diamond dogs starts their climb upwards, paw after paw of dirt, rocks and bones being shoveled down past the other dogs.

It doesn't take them long for the dogs to breach the surface, their paws uplifting the glittering cobblestones of the road and sidewalk, piles of dirt being tossed up and out, coating the surrounding exit with filth.

All throughout the crystal city emergence holes start appearing, and it wasn't before long the first horn was blown that was followed by the first cry of pain and anguish.

It was the beginning of an invasion of which that was not seen coming.

A group of diamond dogs claws through the dirt and surfaces right next to the royal palace, thinking they hit the jackpot they all scramble out of their hole only to be spotted by two guards, thinking they got numbers on their side they make a mad dash to the guards, thinking that with their overwhelming numbers that they can induce fear into the two ponies but instead see that they are not alone. A strange figure with four arms was kneeling down in front of a heart shaped gemstone, and it was glowing with a powerful warm aura that drew their attention long enough to make them redirect their plan, to steal the heart stone and capture the guards if it was within reason.

One dog in particular, Maxi, this dog had black fur with pot marks of brown with white highlights and this was his first raid. He wanted this to go right so he did what was natural and went for the most expensive looking thing there is and ran straight for the heart-shaped gemstone, he barely managed to duck under the wide swing of the stallion holding a glaive with his mouth and wing, the blade was just an inch away from cutting him in half he hadn't had ducked at the right time.

As soon as the other guard made her appearance he was already at the heart and snatched it off its raised pedestal before quickly turning tail and running back to the hole he came from.

What he didn't know is that as soon as he grabbed the crystal heart he as broken the connection between the crystal heart and the empire along with heart to the strange four-armed being. As soon as the heart was removed from its stand the pink and pale blue dome that surrounded the empire and bathed it in its serenity of life shattered, the magic that held everything together is gone, and with it comes the harsh, cold gale winds of winter.

Once again the Crystal Empire is clouded in the harsh winters of the Frozen North.

But this time these ponies are prepared for war against an enemy that dares to steal their home away from them.

The first thing that I feel is something clawing at my body, trying to remove something from me and as my eyes open up all I saw was a white expanse of nothingness. As I feel the thing clawing at me increase in ferocity my eyes started to focus more quickly, color started to return to me and blotches, and when I thought that the thing that was stripping me of valuables had finally found what it was looking for my vision returned to me and I saw that it was a dog, it was snarling and growling at itself as it tried to remove my gold crown from my arm but as soon as I let out a snarl of my own it let out a yelp of terror, looking at me as I glare menacingly at it before my lower right arm grabs it by the wrist and breaks it.

Snarling at the thieving dog I slowly pull myself up while holding onto the dog, as soon as I get onto my knees I cocked back with my upper right before punching the dog in the face, the force of the blow completely cracking its skull and jaw, effectively killing the beast as shards of bone penetrate into its brain.

Throwing the dead dog aside I looked around, my balance has been shaken as I try to find what has caused my sudden unconsciousness but when I looked around I stopped, frozen in shock as my eyes lock onto the source of my sudden slip into darkness. It was the crystal heart, it was gone, and there wasn't a single sign of where it is.

"Kell!" a voice shouted at me from behind and as I turn around I see Bastion galloping right at me before tossing my staff right at me like a spear before coming to a halt a fair distance away to trip a passing dog holding a rusty looking maul in its paws.

With the staff coming at me I wait for it to get closer before my reflexes kick in as I reach out with my upper right arm, grab it right at the middle point before spinning it around and clocking a passing dog across the muzzle, cracking it and rendering the rogue beast knocked out cold.

Letting loose a loud snarl, high enough for those under the palace and close enough to it to hear me I raise my staff before pressing the button, turning it into a spear as my smaller arms pull out their respective shock blades from their sheathes. My roar was clearly heard by the dogs and when they saw my height they all started to shake in fear but if it wasn't for their alphas they would have fled in terror, instead they are whipped back into shape and once again go on the offensive.

I don't know what is going on all around the city but I can only assume that we are being attacked from all sides and that we have no means of knowing how many of the enemy is already inside the walls wrecking havoc.

"Push them back! Send them running back to whatever hole they crawled out of!" Bastion shouted over the sounds of battle raging on all around them, a unicorn ran by him before shooting a sphere of magic at a passing dog, the sphere collided with him, forcing him down onto the floor in pain, the sphere not once letting up as it prevent him from moving without risking any more pain to be added.

To Bastion the capture of enemy combatants was not high on his list of important matters right now but at this very moment anything to reduce their numbers would be greatly appreciated.

"The dogs are all over the city!" a guard shouted just before cutting down a retreating dog with his sword, blood seeping out of the fresh wound as the dog gave one last whimper before having a sword rammed through its neck.

"Then put them down like the beasts they are and snuff them out! If they want to start a war then they have earned themselves one!" I shouted as I kicked a dog in the chest, throwing it back several yards and into a building, cracking the masonry before falling over in a heap, dead or unconscious I don't care.

"Batter up!" I shouted before clocking a dog that wasn't paying attention to me at the time as he was more focused on Bastion, my staff reeled back and let loose as it arced around and cracked the bipedal dog upside the head, effective ripping it off the base of its head as I watched it go sailing off into the distance as the body falls over. I could have made it a donkey punch but this was too much to pass up.

Turning back I see a dog running right at me, a long two handed mace in its hands as I side step out of the way as the head came down, cracking against the crystal floor. Tsking at the dog in shame I proceeded to cut his arms off as he had overextended them just to get a swing at me, the shock blade easily cleaving through flesh and bone as the dog steps back in shock, howling at the pain of losing both arms but his howling comes to a stop as I bring my other sword up and rammed it into his open mouth, the sword coming out the back of his head.

"Looks like they can play dead after all."

"Hey boys! Fetch!" I yelled with an evil grin on my face as my upper left arm reaches back and grabs one of my shock grenades off my belt and with a bit of effort I chucked that son-of-a-bitch as hard as I can, and like a baseball pitching champion that fucking thing flew far and all of the dogs stopped what they were doing to see what was flying by, their baser instincts kicking in for a second before shaking it off and returned to fighting for their lives.

One dog on the other hand wasn't so smart, he jumped into the air and caught the grenade with his mouth, holding the stick end in his mouth, right as it stopped moving the grenade detonated, blowing his entire head off along with his neck and a part of his torso.

"Follow the stick little puppies!" I yelled again but this time I threw my staff but with the blade extended out, turning it into an ornate spear of death, the long piece of metal and crystal flew through the air before colliding with a dog's lower abs and embeds itself into some poor pony's door. The dog tried frantically to pull himself off of the spear but his legs wasn't responding to him until he met his end by receiving a maul to the face, the octagonal shaped mace crushing his muzzle, breaking teeth and cracking his skull open like Gallagher at a watermelon contest.

I don't know who lives here but whoever does, I owe them a new door, this one currently has blood and brains splattered all over it.

"Don't let them through! Protect the civilians!" I hear Hammer shout right behind me just as she puts her namesake down on top of a dog, the hammer pretty much caving its skull in, digging down a good two feet before pulling out, the body all but crumpling in on itself.

'Note to self...do not anger giant mares, they will crush me.'

The process of helping my guards fight back against the dogs was a long and tedious process, there was just as many dogs as there was crystal guards, if not more but it was all the same to me, they pissed me off.

"Beat 'em down! Force them to play dead forever!" Forge shouted as she charged right by me, a pair of metal axes float beside her as she thunders right by me, chasing three diamond dogs as they haul ass to get away from her. The giantess was splattered with blood and she looked like she was enjoying herself.

'I wonder what Forge was doing when all of this went down, probably was asleep early or something.'

A FEW MINUTES AGO

Forge was down in her workshop, working on the new project that has been given to her. It was a strange contraption that truly made her wonder whether the stallion upstairs is either mad or a genius, a weapon like this that can fire a heavy object over a great distance and cause horrendous damage to their enemies is unheard of other then a unicorn magical barrage.

While she was busy on constructing the lower chassis to hold this new weapon of war she heard for a moment something rumbled and it wasn't her stomach nor was it the door that was on its last legs due to faulty hinges. Thinking that it was nothing the giantess forge-mistress went back to work hammering out the chassis piece but stopped again when she this time saw the disturbance turn into a problem.

As she trotted over to the source of the rumbling it erupted into a shower of stone, dirt and rocks before revealing a diamond dog head poking through the opening.

Without even thinking her horn turned on and grabbed the nearest heavy crossbow from its stand, loaded it and shot the dog in the head, the arrow going through the side of its skull before embedding itself into the rock on the other side.

"Get the hell out of my house!" Forge shouted before tossing her crossbow aside to grab a metal bucket from the refinery and scoops out a bucket load of molten slag before dumping it down the hole, the sounds of howling and screams of agony can be heard before she gets a second bucket load and drops that down as well before tossing the bucket aside and went for her personal weapons.

Kicking off the lock that was on an inconspicuous trunk her horn glowed again but this time staying on as she levitated out a pair of axes made of old wood and metal, the hoof-carved wood had drawings all around the handle and haft depicting the life of its wielder, and ax head had old stenciled glyphs forced into the metal, the words having no direct translation into any known language but to her it says one thing clearly.

'Your blood will decorate my body and your bones will be my trophies.'

The sounds of more screaming echoed out of the foundry as the dogs were pulled out of their tunnel and were mercilessly butchered by the blood-frenzied mare, her shouts of glee can be barely heard from the outside world and those that can hear it know that someone has angered the forge-mistress.

PRESENT TIME

"DIE BEAST!" a dog shouted as he smacks me across the chest with an ax, the blade shattering into over a thousand pieces as I looked down at him with contempt. Dropping my swords I grab him with all four of my arms, my upper ones grabbing his arms while my lower ones grabbed his legs. He didn't even know what I was going to do before I placed my foot on his chest and pushed, hard, his body being ripped apart as I held onto his removed limbs before tossing them aside.

"How about no, and besides, you dropped these." I said while grabbing my swords and went on somewhere else, the dog was staring at the night sky as his heart slowed down before giving out.

Grabbing random weapons that have been dropped by the knocked out and killed dogs I was holding an array of rusted, but sharp weapons. I was holding a claymore in my upper right, an ax in my upper left, a sword in my lower left and a mace in my lower right, in all this would be awesome if it wasn't for one little thing.

"God damn piece of shit weapon! Who thought it was a good idea to take a degrading weapon into battle!" when I went to take a swing with my ax the head of it came undone and flew off the wood, goes sailing over a few houses before crashing into somebody's window, leaving me with nothing more then a stick which was then used to bash the intended target upside the head.

Whoever supplied these dogs with these weapons, either it was from their own hands or was given to them by a 'generous' giver who wanted to get us angry...or maybe I am overthinking this and these dogs are just raiders as their species were called by the crystal heart.

And speaking of the crystal heart, where the hell is it?

Maxi was heading straight for the treasure room with the crystal heart in his hands, he can feel it hum with energy and power, small voices started to echo in his head but to him he just thinks that he is hearing things. Pushing a door open with his shoulder Maxi saw other dogs carrying other prizes in their paws, he saw gemstones, gold objects, a bag of gold coins and a few had furniture in their paws.

As soon as he gets to the pile of hoarded treasure it was his turn to throw in his acquired ill gotten goods he stopped and looked down at it.

In his hands he feels a strange connection with it, he can hear the voices clear up, trying to talk him into not throwing the heart away, to hold onto it and return it to its master.

Before he could think otherwise a dog that was behind him simply shoved him aside before throwing in his gold statuette of a unicorn standing on its hindlegs. Looking down at Maxi the dog wretches the gemstone from his hands before tossing it into the pile as well before snarling at him.

"You no keep heart gem, it goes to high dog lord back home."

And before Maxi could talk back he was picked off the floor and shoved back into line to return back to the surface to steal again.

I need to get that heart back, we need to get that heart back, without it the empire is subjected to the harsh weather that is all around us, our crops will start to die because of the cold temperatures and these ponies are already starting to revert back to their lackluster appearance and saddened disposition.

We have to end this soon and fast, I don't know how long these ponies can keep their spirits up knowing that the crystal heart has been removed from its stand.

I hope that the other guards are pushing them back to their holes so we can make a counter attack.

Private First Class Sharp Tack is exhausted, he has been fighting the diamond dogs since he first spotted them within the city limits for the past two hours, he wasn't expecting these dogs to put up such a fight let alone raiding and fighting to the point of dying to the last dog. This isn't what diamond dogs do, they usually go in, grab whatever they can get their greedy paws on then retreat, if they meet resistance they try to go around it to steal, but to actually fight back and almost kill a pony to steal valuables...

It is highly unlike them.

As Sharp Tack rounded another corner with four other guards, one was knocked unconscious when a dog came from behind and clubbed the mare upside the head with a club. Standing behind the guards pretty closely are a group of civilians, those they picked up along the way to the palace to drop them off and to find any more stragglers and bring them to safety.

Turning another corner and seeing no dogs out looting or fighting the stallion waved his hoof and was soon followed by the soft thundering of hooves as they rushed out of cover and galloped straight to the palace, the fighting there has subsided for the moment and that was when they saw the empty pedestal standing underneath the palace, dead diamond dogs littering the area as they see their Kell throwing a dog into the ceiling before letting it drop to the ground in a heap of broken bones and pain.

"Private Sharp Tack, get those ponies inside and regroup out here."

That was all I heard my Kell say to me I saluted at him and herded those we found into the palace, I pray to the gods above that we got everyone away from those dogs.

Walking over to the groaning beast I kick him over and look him dead in the eyes as I lift him off the ground and snarl loudly into his face.

"Why did you come here, dog." the dog squirmed in my large hand, trying to get away from me but all it did was agitate his wounds and test my patience.

"I will not ask you again dog. Why. Are you. Here!" I tightened my grip around his neck as he tried to claw my arm away from him but in the end he wheezed out a few words.

"We...have to pay...debt!" the dog said as I loosened my grip on this throat, allowing him to keep speaking.

"And you thought it was a good idea to attack an empire just to pay off a debt!" I shouted as several of the crystal guards that are standing watch around me glanced at each other, wondering what this dog is saying, wondering what this debt is.

"We only wanted to be free!" the dog wailed as I squeezed harder before loosening my grip.

"And now your people are going to pay the price for this transgression!" I roared as I raised him higher and pulled out my swords, having both blades pointed at his lungs and heart.

"No! Please!" looking at the fear in the dogs eyes I lowered himself down so I can see the terror in his eyes and so far it looks like he is about to shit himself.

"Why should I spare any of you dogs? You dare invade my home, kidnap my ponies, break into their homes and rob them blind and you expect mercy from us?" I asked as I looked the dog over, wondering why exactly they would incur the wraith of a nation to pay off a debt? They could have asked us to pay it off for them and in turn they owe us but instead they took the aggressive route.

"P-please!"

"I'll decide your fate when its over." I tossed him aside and looked at two guards that were waiting for me. "Take him to the infirmary, get him patched up, can't have him dying on me just yet."

Walking by the guards I entered the palace, the blood of several dogs dripping off of my armor as I walked through the halls under I stop when I see the equestrians sitting in one room, all of them together with their guards guarding the door.

"I am sorry to say this but we must cut your stay short, diamond dogs seem to have attacked the empire in the dead of night and stole the crystal heart. I am going to make sure that all of you get out alive by sending with you twelve of my Kellguard, they will make sure you get to your destination safe and sound. I am terribly sorry for this but this is for your own safety." as soon as I said that I left the room and with twelve of my high ranking guards that I have trained the hardest standing by.

"Make sure they get out of here safely, do not let them come to harms way." and with that said and done I walked off, it is time I calm the masses and assure them that those responsible pay for this unwarranted raid.

I just got the report from Bastion, it was everyone that was kidnapped from the diamond dogs, over forty ponies have been taken from their homes, including Shining Pearl. Forge knows this and she is beyond furious, I can only pray that those dogs surrender before they get killed by the enraged mare.

Wiping blood off of my face I flick the dark red liquid off of my hand before presenting myself to the scared populace of crystal ponies, the equestrians are still inside but are now leaving the palace and are heading towards the south gatehouse. The crystal ponies are scared if not even more so as they saw me covered in what must be over the blood of over a dozen dogs.

"Ponies of the Crystal Empire! These Diamond Dogs think that we are defeated, they think they have cut the head off the snake by capturing the crystal heart, your family, your friends, your loved ones and everything you hold dear!"

"You and I are all that remains but that is all that is necessary to take back what is ours!"

"For together we will rise from the blizzards of winter, together we will show those that dare think we are weak who the real boss is!"

"Those dogs think they can take your prosperity, your happiness, and your family and leave you with nothing but anger!"

"We will take that spark and start a fire which will become a great conflagration that will burn those that dare go against us into nothing more than ashes!"

"Peace! Though! Power!" I roared out as I hear nothing but the thundering of hooves, every single citizen and guard within the empire applauding, all of them letting our battle cries of their own, they are demanding retribution and I am going to give it to them.

"Crystal Guards! Arm up! Grab your Arbalests, your Glaives and your Swords! Rise up and take back what was stolen from you! Citizens of the Crystal Empire, get into the palace and hold yourselves there until our return, we will come back with those that were taken and what was stolen from us returned back to the surface where it belongs!"

"Prepare yourselves my brothers and sisters, tonight we will go down into their tunnels and flush them out! We will make sure that anyone else that dares to try this will know that our retribution will be great and the price they will pay will be high!" and with that last shout I watched as every single pony gave one last applause before scrambling, the biting cold starting to get to everyone as they worked hard to enact my plan to free those that have been captured by the diamond dogs.

Grabbing my shrapnel launcher from Forge I look at her, the giantess was wearing her old armor from her tribe, the blood-stained furs and metal plates gleaming dully in the moonlight, this mare has taken several lives and her blood is boiling with rage. Those dogs have not only injured Bastion but they have foalnapped Shining Pearl, her only friend beside myself, Bastion and Glittering Quill, and she was not going to be showing any mercy to those dogs.

Walking over to one of the uncovered holes I feel electricity coursing through my armor before jumping down the hole, only the occasional sparks of electricity can be seen as I fall down the hole.

Sparky was having a great day, their raid was off to a great start and tomorrow in the morning they will go back up to the surface and resume with their raiding, they have enough to pay off their debt but now they wanted more, they know that the crystal ponies have more treasure up there, more gems, more gold.

The doberman was patrolling the hall that held the tunnels leading to the surface alongside with seven other dogs at the back of the group, all of them were the ones that didn't manage to snatch anything from the homes or grab a pony on the way back but they did manage to distract the guards long enough for others to do so.

It was during their patrol did they hear something out of the ordinary and started to move straight to the source of the sound.

They were not expecting me coming down from above, my body wreathed in electricity and as soon as my feet slam down into the crudely carved stone, the force of the impact cracked the stone but my slam unleashed my power as those that were standing directly in front of me was were immediately vaporized as the high voltage blast annihilates everything that is made of water. Those that were further behind the first three were knocked back, parts of their fur was singed and their metal armor crackling with an electric charge. And for those in the back they are just knocked off their feet.

All of the dogs looked up from where they were laying down and saw the most unholy sight to behold, a tall being covered in dried blood and battle scars all adorning the metal plates as if it was a trophy, and tied to its waist was a pony skull with a red horn and its new addition was on its opposite side, and it was a freshly flayed skull with blood still dripping off of it.

"I am Skolas, and you dogs will know pain unending now beg, beg for your lives!"