The Crystal Empire, the frozen kingdom of the northern lands of Equestria. The beautiful Crystal City is still one of the most important and remarkable places in the world, its people are uplifting and wonderful as their culture and grand festivals makes their source of power; the Crystal Heart, strong enough to protect everypony in the empire.
It was hard to imagine that this wonderful land was once ruled by a tyrannical king, who dappled in the forbidden dark magic and enslaved the entire empire to mine crystal every day of the crystal ponies' lives. It was only when the princesses of Equestria liberated the empire from their king's rein, did the empire knew peace, even if it disappeared for a thousand years. But when it returned and fought the evil king once more, placing the long lost crystal princess on the throne of the empire, did all the crystal subjects celebrated and cheered, returning to their transitions and celebrations once again. With a loving queen and a new king on the empire's throne, the crystal ponies never needed to worry or fear anything anymore... Excepted the Crystal Province.
Far up north, where temperatures are always freezing, the Crystal Province darkens over the Crystal Empire. Giant ice spires and crystal spikes bursted out onto the northern lands, making intimidating landscapes and terrifying myths about the Province. All of its histories are filled with evil, from beliefs that it contains fearful monsters or the tales of the remains of the Shadow King, from the myth of the Horror-storms to the presence of being watched by something that's not from this realm. For the residents of the Crystal Empire, no pony has ever set hoof into the Crystal Province, nor would dare to go there if they didn't have no choice. It's unknown why the crystal ponies fear this region of land, maybe it just looks evil or maybe those myths are true, but no pony has ever found out.
Until their newest king ordered his finest, to check it out.
Two crystal knights were patrolling a region of the Crystal Province, a region called the Spires' Canyon. It was named that because of huge crystal spires that blocked the canyon's pathways, making those who walk through said canyon, to go either inwards or backwards. Every time one goes into that sinister place, the sunlight darkens as the Spires' Canyon gets more claustrophobic every step one takes. The only redeeming feature about the region, was that it helps ponies shelter themselves from the blizzard raging throughout the Province. The knights- wearing scarfs to keep them warm and light armour to make them move faster whilst having protection- marched into the Canyon, scouting and patrolling for anything that might need to be reported to their king. They were the best of the best, that was why they were sent to the Crystal Province, to make sure nothing in the land would threaten the empire and its inhabitants. As the canyon got tighter and the crystal spires moved in closer to one another, the knights moved further into the canyon, obeying their orders from their king.
One knight, a senior and loyal pony, led the way whilst a much younger knight looked around the canyon with unsure eyes and guts telling himself not to be here.
"Um, Sir S-Shimmer Cake?" The young knight called with a shaky voice. "I...I got a bad feeling about this p-place, I think it is wise if we g-go back"
Sir Shimmer Cake sighed disappointedly. "For the last time Proudfoot, we have no options" He turned to meet Proudfoot's gaze. "That blizzard will be the death of us if we leave this canyon, are only hope is to find shelter till it dies down and the only place in this wasteland with shelter is through here!"
Proudfoot swallowed nervously, he has never heard Shimmer Cake use his ordering tone voice at him before, not unless he had to shout at a whole platoon to get everypony's attention. Nevertheless, Shimmer Cake continued down the path that leads deeper into the Spires' Canyon.
"Come on!" Cake grumbled, shaking some of the snow off him. "The sooner we get inside the better" Proudfoot moved his hooves quickly through the snow- now knee height thanks to the blizzard- reaching near his fellow knight. The heavy winds from the blizzard, cold and unforgiving, brought forth its snows, landing onto the ground and onto the knights' backs and armours. Proudfoot shivered from the cold, whilst Shimmer Cake, whose mind was focused on the task at hoof, didn't show a single sign of him shivering from the blizzard's wrath. The knights kept marching further into the canyon, which by now the crystal spires were almost coming together, making their shadows darkening the white snow. The winds blew through the spires, making eerie sounds, some sounded like heavy chains being swung around mercilessly and crudely. The sounds frightened the young crystal knight, jumping from the sound and halting his marching as his fellow knight continue on.
"D-do you hear that, S-Shimmer?" Proudfoot's trembling voice spoke, looking at the spires with widened eyes. "If...if this isn't an evil omen of e-e-vilness, then I don't know what is"
"Oh by the love of the Heart" Shimmer Cake muttered through his teeth, having enough of Proudfoot's voice, jumping and shaking from the moment they'd entered the Crystal Province, turning once again to face the scared knight. "It's the damn winds, Proudfoot. They're making those noises by traveling past the crystal things, you know that, next minute you'll be saying there's an evil forgotten deity, or a horde of yetis or-"
"Or Bone-lords" Proudfoot whimpered, remembering one of the many reasons no pony ever wants to enter in the Crystal Province. Surprisingly, this actually made Shimmer chuckle softly, like a foal asked a ridiculous question.
"You don't actually believe in those silly foal-tales, do ya?" Shimmer chuckled, grabbing the attention of Proudfoot as he stared back at the senior knight.
"You don't?"
"Of course not, you idiot!" Shimmer barked harshly. "They're made up! 'Monsters of Death', 'Warlords of Carnage' and 'Devourers of Bones'? They were made up for foals that went into caves without knowing what could be living inside. They're just a legend"
"B-but even legends has a bit of truth in them" Proudfoot caught up to Shimmer Cake, trying to not sound like a gullible colt. "Ever since Sombra took over the empire, he used his dark magic to experiment on bad things before being overthrown"
"The legend might of been made from seeing yetis or whatever!" Shimmer rolled his light blue eyes. "But Bone-lords are made up, that's that! Now come on, the further in we go, those spires will form a cave for us to have some shelter from the blizzard, and for the winds to stop making those sounds that turns you into a frighten alley cat"
Shimmer led the way again as Proudfoot muttered something under his breath, quiet enough that no pony but himself could hear it. The cold winds blew harder and mercilessly, making the eerie sounds louder and more terrifying. The knights proceeded to quicken their pace, trying to get further into the canyon so that they would have some shelter from the blizzard, thanks to the crystal spires that will form a cave by coming together further inwards.
As each step Shimmer Cake and Proudfoot took, the spires closed inward, forming the cave that Cake was talking about. But somehow, when the crystal spires finally joined, everything fell to darkness. The knights could not see what was five feet in front of them, the darkness was everywhere and it consumed every bit of light the world could offer.
"Er, I can't see a damn thing" Cake groaned, annoyed by how this day is treating him. "Proudfoot, got something that might help us?"
"I think we might have a Bright-gem" The knight replied as he looked into a small bag, around his neck. He brought out a round, silver stone with a magical rune symbol in the middle. Proudfoot shook the gem for a couple of seconds before it gave a glowing aura that lit part of the cave with light, letting the knights see what the cave contains. The cave's floor was smooth thanks to the snow, flat and white, no pony or anything has ever reached this cave it would seem. The walls and the ceiling held icy clear spikes and the reflection of the Bright-gem's light. Cold water dripped onto the snow below, as well as onto the knights' warm backs. Shimmer Cake took the Bright-gem and held it in his right hoof, the gem did give some light, but again it only shows a couple of metres of the cave before the cave's darkness devoured any light that wondered off away from the ponies.
"Well, it's better then nothing" Cake sighed, moving further into the cave with Proudfoot following nearby. "Come on, let's get moving, the further we are from the entrance, the better"
The knights slowly walked through the cave, only hearing the harsh blizzard winds behind them, along with their hooves walking through the smooth snow. The gem's light made the icy walls and ceiling glow with a faint aura, if this wasn't in the Crystal Province, the knights would no doubt look at the beautiful ice. This cave has not been disturbed by anything, nor any being, as if it was waiting for somepony to marvel at its beauty and wonder, seeing how the light changes the glow of the Bright-gem as the ponies walked by. In someway, it was like a hidden work of nature, in a dangerous environment.
"What do you think might live here?" Proudfoot's voice echoed the cave, catching the attention of Shimmer Cake.
"I do not know" The senior knight replied, holding the Bright-gem up high to see where those cold water drops came from as well as how to avoid them as they were getting on his nerves. "My best guess is maybe a yeti, they hibernate during blizzards like this and by the looks of this one, it won't die out anytime soon"
"So we're staying in a cave? In a cave that may contain a hunger pony eating yeti?"
"Well it's better than wandering around outside, where we'll most certainly die from the freezing temperatures"
"That doesn't help us right now"
Suddenly, Shimmer Cake stopped in his track, making his companion stop as well.
"What is it?" Proudfoot asked as he looked at Shimmer Cake.
"Something's in front of us" The senior whispered. He raised the Bright-gem higher to let its light shine brighter. They couldn't see what it was but they did see a dark shadowy figure, moving across the cave. It was massive and had what looked three horns on top of its head, before disappearing further into the cave.
"Wh-what was that?" Proudfoot shaky voice whispered to Shimmer Cake as he drew out his sword.
"A Yeti" Cake replied with narrowed eyes. "Stay close, we're going to take it out"
"What? Are you crazy?! It takes a whole platoon to take one down"
"Then we'll be the first to prove otherwise"
As Shimmer Cake held the Bright-gem in his right hoof, ready to deal with the yeti with no hesitation. Proudfoot held his sword tightly and tried to not show any fear, remembering why his king chose them to enter the Crystal Province. They were the best, and Proudfoot will not give into fear anymore.
"...Lead the way" Proudfoot sighed, getting all of his nerves out of him. "I'll cover you"
"That's the spirit" Cake smiled as he began to move forward, ready to take on a yeti. Yetis are not good listeners, so the knights did not need to worry about alarming the beast with the sound of snow being stomped on by hooves. They marched carefully, letting the Bright-gem guide their way towards the beast. If they are going to stay here till the blizzard dies down outside, then they'll need to make sure that this yeti won't be bothering them nor chewing on their bones.
As they marched, they saw the shadowy figure again, seeming to have its back turned against them. The knights could just make out its slivery fur hide, almost blending perfectly with the snow below it.
"There it is" Shimmer Cake whispered to Proudfoot, lowing the Bright-gem's light to not give away their position to the beast. "It got its back expose to us, so we only have one chance to kill it quickly"
But suddenly, before the knights could come up with a plan. They heard something eerie and frightening. They heard a sound, like heavy chains being swung around... mercilessly and crudely.
"Y-you hear th-that, Shimmer C-Cake?" Proudfoot trembled, as fear returned within him from the very sound, echoing the cave.
"Yea, yea I do" Cake responded, confused and a bit spooked. "But, there's no draft? How could it..."
The knights stopped their talking when they saw the yeti standing up from the snow, dwarfing the ponies by its height. As the eerie sound grew louder, the yeti's arms rose up, coming ever closer to its head. But instead of seeing the yeti's claws, the knights saw...Hands. And instead of the beast turning around to roar at the knights, it... removed its head like...A hood. What the Knights saw was not a yeti, but something else.
"S-Shimmer Cake...?" Proudfoot's shaky voice quietly called his fellow knight, as they watched this, this thing pull out from under its...Cloak, a large hook-like axe.
"Let's get out of here" Shimmer Cake ordered as they slowly move away from this creature, not letting it out of their sight. Their biggest mistake.
Before Shimmer Cake could even react, the eerie sound snapped and he saw at the corner of his eyes Proudfoot being pulled back by his neck. With Proudfoot's screams echoing the cave, Shimmer turned around to see what's happening to his friend. He saw Proudfoot being mercilessly dragged away, pulling far from the safety of the Bright-gem's light. Something was around his neck, something grey and hard, and was being held by another shadowy figure. Although Proudfoot's screams grew ever louder, Shimmer Cake could hear the sound of a menacing chuckle from the shadowy figure, dragging the pony out of the Bright-gem's light and into the darkness of the cave.
"Proudfoot!!" Cake called for his fellow knight, only to be answered by a snarl from behind him. He turned around and raised the Bright-gem to stare into the eyes of the creature with the yeti skin.
The first thing the pony noticed of the creature was that it was covered in bones, from head to toes. This bipedal creature had skin pale and having only a hint of pink, although most of its skin was covered tribal black tattoos and of course, bones. The only things that wasn't made from bones was the creature's yeti cloak that kept it warm and the leather straps that keeps its bony armour from falling apart. It held in both of its hands the hook-like axe, swinging from left to right. Its face was covered in black tattoos, only its greenish-blue eyes could be seen, glaring pure rage and holding no mercy.
"A...A Bone-Lord..." Shimmer Cake spoke with nothing but fear and horror in his voice. His respond was only the Bone-Lord's roar, deep, booming and hungry for combat. The Bone-Lord then began to swing his axe towards the crystal knight, uncontrollable like it was already in a frenzy. The knight dodged its attacks, still in shock from the fact that the Bone-Lords were real, never minding the fact that his friend was still screaming and being dragged away by no doubtably another Bone-Lord. Knowing full well of what this Bone-Lord could do to him, Shimmer Cake bolted in full retreat, calling for Proudfoot as he held the Bright-gem even higher for its light to shine even brighter.
As he grew ever closer to the cave's entrance, Shimmer Cake saw where the another Bone-Lord had taken Proudfoot. Near the cave's entrance, he saw Proudfoot dangling from the air by what looked like grey chains, being held by the other Bone-Lord, with only a sinister smile showing from under a equine skull its using as a helmet. Accompanying it was two other Bone-Lords, with similar tattoos, only in the colours of misty blue and violent red. They held large daggers with a barbaric style, stabbing deep into Proudfoot's exposed belly like shovels to the earth. Proudfoot's eyes were gouged out, only empty sockets filling up with blood was all that remains of Proudfoot's light purple eyes.
It was all that was needed for Shimmer Cake to scream in terror as he dropped the Bright-gem, grabbing the attention of the dagger-wielding Bone-Lords, as they roared and hissed savagely at him. The Knight bolted through the snow and out of the cave, feeling the cold and harsh winds of the blizzard across his face. He did not turn around to see the three Bone-Lords chasing after him, swinging their weapons around their heads like wild animals. The Bone-Lord with the hook-like axe just marched out of the cave and pointed at the fleeing pony with a mighty, bone chilling roar.
"Dewch i mi ei guddio!!!"
Hours passed and the blizzard was still going when another pony was walking through the Spires' Canyon and reaching the entrance of the cave like the others did before him. But instead of knights, this pony was a king. A king to the Crystal Empire and husband of Queen Cadence of the empire; King Shining Armour.
He wore his royal armour that he used when he was captain of the Royal Guards in Canterlot, with only a scarf covering his snout and large bag over his back. His face held no emotions, nor did he felt the cold or feared the warnings form Shimmer Cake, who survived the brutal attack by the Bone-Lords who had brutally slain his friend. Shining had to come here after hearing this and solve this problem before it gets out of control.
As the stallion entered the cave and was consumed by the darkness, Shining could hear snow being crushed under his hooves...As well as theirs.
He glowed his horn bright, much like the Bright-gem that his knights used when they arrived and blasted darkness a few feet away from the king. Shining was greeted by three of the Bone-Lords, surrounding him and roaring in anger from the sudden light that took them by surprise. Shining did not flinch from the sight of the Bone-Lords, nor from the roars he was getting. Then, coming out of the edges of the cave's darkness and into the unicorn's light, came the Bone-Lord with the yeti cloak. Snarling at the captain, the creature brought it face towards Shining's, mere inches from clashing into one another. It did this as a sign of intimidating the captain, to see if he break or even sweat from the sight of its kind.
"I don't have time for your stupidity" Shining Amour granted, as he spoke through his snarf. "You know why I'm here, so let's get this over with"
The Bone-Lord chuckled from the king's courage and moved away from his face. It tilted its head to the left and began to walk away from Shining Armour. Shining followed the Bone-Lord, as the others followed suit, keeping a triangle formation to make sure the king of the empire doesn't make a run for it.
The Bone-Lord that carried its grey chains looked at the stallion and gave its menacing chuckle, just like it did when killing Proudfoot.
Finally, after going through a labyrinth of tunnels and climbing icy walls. Shining Armour and his 'escorts' could see another light at the end, this time, not by magic or Bright-gems, but by fiery blue torches held by four more Bone-Lords. They guarded the location that Shining was heading, being watchful and sorting out their bone armour. Shining could hear the hint of music ahead of him, distorted woodwinds yet harmonised with the drums deep beats that even Shining could feel hitting his fur. The Yeti cloaked Bone-Lord spoke in its native language at the guards, almost like order. Two of them stepped aside whilst the other two opened two massive ice doors with tusks decorated all over them. As the doors opened, the three Bone-Lords that were escorting the stallion stayed behind with the other guards, chatting and laughing in their native tongue. Only Shining and the Yeti cloaked lord walked through the doors and entered Bone-Lord Country.
Bone-Lord Country, or Zin'avitha to the inhabitants, was a crater in the form of a colosseum and built like one by the inhabitants's ancestors. From top to bottom, left to right, blue flames similar to that of the torches outside glowed the crater with shadows dancing wildly and feral. Huts made of leather dotted the crater, from high and low, from the ground and into the colosseum's icy walls. From these huts, dozens to hundreds of Bone-Lords roamed their homeland, each with their own unique bone armours, tattoos and weaponry. From the east, they held the grey chains that were used in the attack. To the west, their females shrieks with fury as they attacked corpses with their halberds like training dummies. To the far end of the crater, a large arena made from stone held tournaments for their younglings to pass trials to become true Bone-Lords. Finally, right in front of the entrance and Shining Armour, the Bone-Lords rode fearsome beasts like Sabre-tooth tigers and giant dire wolves. Said fearsome beasts growled, snarled and hissed at the pony king, standing next to the Yeti cloaked lord with no fear to their threatening actions.
Shining's companion simply looked at him and pointed to the centre of the crater. There stood a spire made from rocks, blackened by the lack of sunlight and because they found deep in the Crystal Province's mountains. They held banners of the Bone-Lords, a symbol to be feared when ponies sees the first skull of the Bone-Lords's chieftains. But that is where one pony must go to, to sort this problem before everything turns ugly.
Shining started his journey toward the blacken spire, with only the Yeti cloaked lord following him and the distorted woodwinds, harmonising drum beats singing in the stallion's ears, along with other noises from the beasts and the locals. Some of the locals watched him, others didn't care as they were sharping their weapons or adding more bones to their armours. Shining could feel hundreds of eyes watching him from above and knew well what would happen if he made any sudden movement. As he got closer to the blacken spire, Shining pondered at how these people survived in the Crystal Province, so far from any crystal villages and where blizzards constantly ran amok. It amazed and terrified Shining Armour from just knowing that these barbarians are so close to his people and yet most just believe them as creatures from legends.
Shining Armour stood in front of the blacken spire, hearing laughter and where the music was strongest. The Yeti cloaked lord pushed the stallion forward, making him go through the leather drape with a stumble whilst his pusher laughing to himself as he brushed the drape to let him in.
Inside was a throne hall fit for a barbaric king. Huge braziers half enclosing each of the ten obsidian columns lit up most of the throne hall and covered the hall in cold blue and dancing shadows. The simple and symmetrical design patterns on the rocky ceiling, danced in the flickering light whilst skulls from multiple species, both animal and sentient, looked down upon the stone floor of this monstrous hall.
Sitting on the left, on chairs crudely made from silvery stones, were six bulky Bone-Lord brutes, each looking unique with different tribal tattoos, armours and weapons. They were watching eight female dancers wearing masks with hypnotising colours and bells around their wrists, dancing to music being played on the right side of the throne hall. Their movements bewitched not only the bulky brutes, but also the several guards watching as well. The source of the music that were playing throughout the crater, played as wild as their musicians, swinging their heads from left to right and stomping their feet with the drums that was being played in a steady pace. To Shining's ears, it sounded horrible, but to the Bone-Lords, it suited them nicely.
Far at the back, rested the throne of the Bone-Lords. Up onyx steps, guarded by the finest, rested a throne made from the bones of the enemies that perished by hands of the chieftain of the Bone-Lords. It was large and intimidating, especially with huge bone wings displayed high and a large unicorn skull resting on the top of the throne, its empty sockets glaring straight at Shining. Sitting on the skeleton throne was the biggest of them all, the Chieftain of the Bone-Lords;
Chief Praldratalf the Warlord.
Praldratalf sat on his throne with one of his hand resting his head whilst the other held a horn he was using as a mug for whatever liquid he was consuming. Praldratalf's armour looked like an exoskeleton, a replica of all the bones residing within himself, a walking skeleton to some. He had no tattoos, but rather scars and burnt marks that covered all the gaps in his bony armour. Although he was wearing a skull as a helmet with its jaw over his own, Shining could see a white stubble beard across Praldratalf's face. He had one red albino eye on his left whilst in the other wasn't an eye, but rather an almandine garnet he placed in himself after losing his original eye in a fight. He watched the dancers with a smile before turning his gaze to Shining Armour and his escort.
"Croeso, your highness, Croeso!" Chief Praldratalf greeted Shining Armour in both Equestrian and his native language, grabbing the attention of the six bulky brutes, who looked at the stallion in disgust and hatred. He lifted his head and raised one hand in the air to stop the dancers and the music, whilst finishing the last mouthful of liquid that remains in his tusk-made mug. With the hand in the air, the chieftain ordered the other Bone-Lords to leave with but a wave. The bulky brutes, the dancers, the musicians and even the guards all obeyed their chieftain's order as one by one they started to leave the throne hall. Soon, everyone was outside, leaving only Praldratalf, Shining Armour and the Yeti cloaked lord alone in the hall.
"Rhesskol!" Praldratalf called, making the Yeti cloaked lord kneel before his chieftain. "Get our royal guest a seat!"
Bowing his head, Rhesskol moved across the hall and picked up one of the stone chairs from the left and placing it in front of Shining Armour, pointing at the chair to the stallion.
Shining narrowed his eyes, but nodded his head, sitting on the chair and facing the chieftain, who had just thrown away his mug to the side and resting his arms on the throne's arms. Shinning placed his large bag next to him with his magic, not letting go of eye contact from Praldratalf.
"King Shining Armour of the Crystal Empire" Praldratalf began with a strong deep tone in his voice, leaning forward from his throne. "This is your first time here in Zin'avitha? My homeland and capital of E'kuviri, or what your kind call the Crystal Province?"
"You could say that" Shining answered, still narrowing his eyes and not showing any fear towards Praldratalf.
"Don't play tough, little King" Praldratalf growled at Shining. "If you are the king of your cowardly crystal kind, then you should know exactly what happens to those who tried to act tough in front of a Bone-Lord in his home; All that'll remain is a pile of flesh, stripped from its bones and added to our armoury"
Praldratalf grinned wickedly at Shinning as he got up from his throne "Tell me, do you feel safe behind those crystal walls in your Kingdom? Protected by your knights and loved by your people?"
"You could say that"
"You think your crown gives you power? Only weak fools would believe in such shit like that" The chieftain laughed as he sorted out his right shoulder.
"At least I don't constantly need to show off my power as if I'm suppose to impress somepony" Shining answered boldly, causing Rhesskol to snarl at him for his talking back at his chieftain.
This only made Praldratalf laugh even more from Shining's boldness. "You've got some fire in you, it seems. But that's common in people like us, warriors and leaders, only I have led battles and war parties while you only led a garrison and that failed when Changelings attacked your own wedding!"
'At least I don't have a fetish for bones, you barbaric freak!' Shining angrily shouted in his mind, as Praldratalf descended down the onyx steps. Once the chieftain descended the steps, he looked down at Shining, who was dwarfed by the chieftain's height.
Praldratalf smiled sinisterly at the stallion. "But putting your military shame behind us, you're here because I allowed it and because we're here to discuss what happened during the blizzard hours"
"Those were my finest knights in the Crystal Empire that your forces attacked" Shining explained as he watched Praldratalf pacing back and forth, still keeping eye contact with one another.
"Was it?" Praldratalf asked angrily as he narrowed his eyes at the pony king. "Two entered the cave, one escaped. I don't call that the finest warriors in your little empire. It would seem you're taking me for a fool, that wasn't your finest, little king"
"Perhaps your forces were just slower than expected?"
"Do you take me for a fucking fool?!" Praldratalf shouted at Shining, pointing his finger at the stallion suddenly. "Or have you forgot our little deal, your majesty!?"
Praldratalf stomped his feet and brought his face up against Shining's, who moved his face back a bit from the sudden burst of anger.
"Have you forgotten The Pact?!"
Shining Armour did not answer the chieftain's question, as he knew the answer but hates it with all his might. Praldratalf tilted his head as he snarled at the stallion.
"Perhaps a little education is in order as it seems your pony brain cannot even grasp a simple pact between two fucking people"
The chieftain moved away from Shining Armour and turned his back against him, placing both of his arms behind his back.
"Two thousand years ago" Praldratalf spoke calmly, having calm himself down from his outburst. "When the Bone-Lords was but one of the seven clans of my people. We worship Serrika, the Skull Goddess and patroness of our clan. In honour of her, we would hunt for her and offer skulls to her shrine in the northern region of E'kuviri; Kinvere. We would hunt dire wolves, yetis, mammoths and even our rival clans to gain favour from the Skull Goddess as we gather their bones and make it as our armour. If you are truly the King of the Crystal Empire, you will know what happened next, thousands of years ago?"
Shining snorted, he wasn't here for a history lesson. But when Praldratalf looked over his shoulder and gave a death glare to the stallion, Shining Armour sighed.
"During that time, King Criostal of the Crystal Empire expanded his territories north, where your clans roamed and hunted. When the village of Snowfur was established, your clan saw the ponies as new prey and hunted down the settlers, claiming their bones for your own"
"Yes" Praldratalf chuckled, turning around to face Shining with a toothy grin. "Hundreds of Crystal Ponies perished by the blade of a Bone-Lord, each kill added more skulls for Serrika and more bones for our armoury. The other clans envied us and soon they also joined the hunt, claiming hundreds of more lives for Serrika. Then finally, King Criostal -Who by now had stopped pissing himself from the very name of our clans- ordered a full invasion against the clans and to purge them from ever harming his subjects again. A big mistake, why's that?"
"I'm not here to talk about the past, Chief-"
"My apologises, did I say you had a fucking choice about this?!" Praldratalf yelled at Shining armour, eyes filled with anger and rage. "In your little palace you maybe King. But here, you are just an easy prey that needs to learn how to keep quiet when predators are on the prowl! Now, why was the invasion the biggest mistake King Criostal ever made?!"
Shining narrowed his eyes as he continued; "Because the clans knew everything in the Crystal Province. From where yetis usually sleep, to how to pick off ponies one by one. More lives were lost than saved and Criostal was enrage to the point where he led the next war party, and landed right into a Bone-Lord ambush"
"Four thousand crystal knights against a endless wave of Bone-Lords and other clans. The Battle of The Province it was called, or to my kind, the Glorious Hunt. We tore that herd apart like wolves to a stalk, until only the Crystal King stood alone, surrounded by his dead knights and hungry hunters. But his death was given to my bloodline, to Chief Smagnar the Blighted, who slaughtered him and collected his bones to decorate his throne. The same throne I sit upon, little king"
Praldratalf simply laughed as he pointed to the skull and wings displaced on his throne. Shining looked at said skull and wings and couldn't even comprehended the feeling of losing his army to these creature nor the pain he must of gone through, both physically and mentally.
"Smagnar took his prize back to Zin'avitha" The chieftain went on with smile on his face and glaring back at Shining Armour. "The bones of the last Crystal Ailcorn, he cemented his rule over all clans. The Bluesongs, the Howling Chainians, the Sirens of Savariko, Swift-runners, Burning'glades and the Cloaxuhna and the apex of all of the clans; The Bone-Lords. All submitted to his rule from then on to the present day, the same day you are here, talking to the clans' true chieftain. But happened to the crystal ponies, hmm? Hehe, what happened next after their king's death?"
"Why don't you enlighten me?" Shining answered, annoyed of Praldratalf taking forever to end his conversation and the fact the Shining does not want to be here any longer and just want to go home. "What happened next?"
"Well" Praldratalf grinned. "His little daughter, Princess Amore, knew well that her armies could not win this conflict, but she cannot simply stand by and let her subjects be hunted to the point that the hunters may attack the Crystal City. So she called for a truce, she called for her father's murderer and they signed a deal, a pact that'll stop the killing...For awhile"
"The Pact" Shining answered as he looked at his bag for moment before looking back at the chieftain, who leaned on one of the obsidian columns.
"Correct, The Pact. Every three hundred and sixty-five days, the Crystal Empire sends their two finest warriors to be sacrifice to the Bone-Lords, in return the Bone-Lords will not harm any Crystal settlement or population for another three hundred and sixty-five days"
"And we've sent you the finest, it's your warriors's fault for not doing their part of the Pact and perhaps you've grown slow this year!" Shining got up from his chair and bravely shouted at Praldratalf, he didn't want to send Proudfoot and Shimmer Cake to them and he damn well didn't want to be here in the first place.
In retaliation for Shining's boldness, Chief Praldratalf gave deep roar, spilling words native to his language. His shout was a surprise to Shining as well as Rhesskol, who was backing away slowly from his chieftain's anger. Suddenly, Praldratalf charged at Shining Armour, catching the pony king by surprise from how fast he was compare to his size. The chieftain picked up Shining by the neck, lifting him off the ground and dangling in air, gasping for air.
"You better keep your fucking thoughts to yourself if you're going to speak like this!" Praldratalf yelled furiously at Shining, having the urge to just snap the king's neck. "Because I only have one of your finest's skulls, your side of the Pact is not completed, which gives me and my kind the legal right to slaughter you like King Criostal or attack your people! Or better, I can simply change the Pact to the Sombraian Pact! The Pact made by the pervious King of your Crystal Empire; King Sombra!"
The Sombraian Pact was made a thousand years ago, during the apex of the Shadow King's reign over the Crystal Ponies. This pact was signed by Sombra and Praldratalf's ancestor; Chief Moddieth the Grey-Wolf. This pact changed everything in the Crystal Empire's history, the Royal Crystal Guard would be replaced with the warriors of the Bone-Lords and the other clans. They would fight for Sombra and keep the population loyal to their king, in return any crystal pony who disobeys, lacking behind in the mines or looks funny would be slain by the Bone-Lords to have their skulls and bones as payment in service of King Sombra's will. The deaths during the three years the Sombraian Pact was enforced was uncountable and because of this pact and more, did the Princesses of Equestria stepped in and liberated the empire, although it was a hollow victory. The Bone-Lords and the clans did retreat to the Crystal Province, and stayed there till the return of the Crystal Empire a thousand years later, during Praldratalf's reign.
With a final roar in Shining's face, Praldratalf threw the stallion back onto the stone chair, making the stallion's back clash on the solid stone with a painful grunt coming out of his snort. As Shining adjusted himself on the chair, the chieftain began to ascend up the onyx steps to his throne made of bones.
"So, little King!" Praldratalf growled as he sat back down on his throne, looking down at Shining Armour with a glare that could very well topple a mountain. "Are you going to keep your end of the Pact!? Or are the Bone-Lords going to have to bring the Doom-Flames to your kind's homes and collect more bones for our armoury once more!?"
There was a long period of silence between the Bone-Lord Chieftain and Crystal King, only the sound of the harsh winds blowing outside and the cracking of the blue flames in the braziers could be heard. Neither rulers breaking eye contact nor showing any emotions apart from hatred for one another. Shining narrowed his eyes as Praldratalf did the same with his left red albino eye and right almandine garnet eye.
Finally, after three minutes of silence. Shining Armour glowed his horn and a magical aura surrounded the bag next to him. He levitated it towards Praldratalf, it steady pace and humming sound made the chieftain lean forward from his throne, placing his right arm on his knee as he analysed it with much interest. As it reached to the top of the onyx steps, Shining ceased his magic and made the bag dropped from the air and landed in front of the chieftain. Chief Praldratalf rolled his eyes from the foolish action and leaned down to pick up the bag, placing it onto his lap. He opened the bag with his massive hands and looked inside. The chieftain chuckled sinisterly as he put his right hand into the bag and brought out what was inside.
Holding in the right hand of Chief Praldratalf was the severed head of Shimmer Cake. His eyes rolled up and his facial expression held nothing but fear, shock and betrayal. The neck looked like it was cut off by a longsword, which are owned by high ranking officers of the Crystal Royal Guard and even the Royal Family. Shining closed his eyes and lowered his head when he saw the head of one of his finest and loyal knights, how it pained him from just bringing it here and giving it to none other than the chieftain of the Bone-Lords.
Shining sighed sadly, before raising his head and glared daggers at Praldratalf. "We've held our side of the Pact! Now what about yours?!"
Praldratalf continued his chuckle as he looked at Shining with a wide toothy grin. "Glad to see you remember the Pact, little King. With these tributes, The Clans of E'kuviri and the Bone-Lords of Zin'avitha will not bring any harm to the inhabitants of the Crystal Empire nor its territories for another three hundred and sixty-five days. Our meeting is done, Rhesskol escorted you in, he'll escort you out. Don't come back unless this happens again!"
With that, Praldratalf ordered Rhesskol in his native language to escort Shining Armour out of Zin'avitha, as said Shining Armour rose from his stone chair. Rhesskol bowed his head as he headed up to Shining Armour and gave him a whack across his left ear. Shining turned to face Rhesskol angrily, only to met with a snarl from the Yeti cloaked lord, daring him to strike him as he pointed to the exit. Shining couldn't strike Rhesskol, but he forcefully brush past him as they both headed towards to the exit.
"Oh, little King!" Chief Praldratalf called Shining before he left the throne hall. "I did not like your attitude towards me, so next time, bring me four of your finest!"
"W-what?" Shining asked in disbelief as he looked over his shoulder. "That's not-"
"I have altered it because of your foul talk!" Praldratalf rose from his throne and threw the severed head of Shimmer Cake down the onyx steps. It fell with a thud as it faced the pony king with the same expression as before. "You may own the crown, but I own the throne of the Crystal Empire! So hope that I don't alter it in the next three hundred and sixty-five days! Now get out of my Province...And send my regards to your whore and your little shit!"
Shining was boiling with rage from what the chieftain just said to him. It got worse when Rhesskol pushed Shining through the leather drape like he did when Shining entered the blacken spire, still with the same laughter like before.
Stumbling forward, Shining was greeted by dozens of Bone-Lords holding weapons, big and small, with soulless eyes staring at the stallion. They watched him as he walked forward, towards the cave that brought him, accompanied by Rhesskol. They continued to watch him, like he was a criminal being sent to the executioner to be beheaded. The wind blew harsh and the snow being crushed was the only sound that rang through Shining's ears. It was unsettling to the King of the Crystal Empire.
Suddenly, one of them started to bash its chest in a steady rhythm. Soon, another joined it, then another and another. Soon, all of them were bashing their chests in the steady rhythm being played through Shining's ears. But it was getting louder by the seconds, which puzzled the King of the Crystal Empire. A revelation sparked in his head and he did not like it. It wasn't just these Bone-Lords that were bashing their chests, it was the entire clan. From high and low, from left to right, forward and back, all of them were bashing their chests. Each bash sounded like a thunder as the clan watched the pony king exiting their land. They did this to tell Shining one thing;
They were legion, they were everywhere. Not just Bone-Lords, but Bluesongs, Howling Chainians, Sirens of Savariko, Swift-runners, Burning'glades and Cloaxuhnaic. They could easily attack his subjects, the only reason they don't;
Was because of The Pact.
