Godly

Godly
Chapter 20: To the Crystal Empire!

It takes us about an hour of constant flight, but we reach the border and land to see the group of ponies arguing with the changeling border guards.

"And I'm telling you that you need to wait!" one of the changelings yells at the forest green earth pony stallion with a light brown mane and tail and two pouches strapped to his flanks who is glaring at him.

They keep arguing and I turn to Gale who looks surprised at the ponies here. "Gale? I want you to keep quiet and out of sight until things get out of hand, I want to see how they react to us first," I tell him getting a slow nod as he hides behind the gathered changelings.

Before anything else is said, I step forward. "What's going on here?" I ask with my deep dual tone voice.

The ponies all look at me wide eyed and some back away.

The changeling that was arguing with him turns to look at me. "I've told them they had to wait here until you arrived, but this stallion keeps insisting that we just let them through," he tells me in an annoyed tone.

"We've been travelling for days, our foals are tired and I'd rather put this place behind us," the stallion says gruffly.

"And you are?" I ask him as I look at the ponies here.

There's three stallions, six mares, three colts, and eight fillies. all with varying colours and marks, but some of the foals don't have marks.

"I am Blockade, I was a charger in the Equestrian army," he replies in a militaristic monotone way.

"I'm sorry, but what is a charger?" I ask him confused.

He huffs and frowns at me. "My role was to charge into enemy formations along with other chargers in heavily enchanted and full crystal armour to cause havoc and make them focus on us while our pegasi and unicorns could focus on targets and their spells," he tells me. "Now can we go or are you here to force us back?" he asks me.

"That depends. What I want to know is why you came here," I ask him and sit down on my legs.

He sighs and sits down in front of me. "I've seen plenty of battles, mostly against wild beasts threatening villages, but I've fought a few gryphon, minotaur, and even pony bandits. I've seen fresh recruits after their first battle breakdown in the middle or after a fight. The look they have as they're about to snap under the stress or guilt of taking a life," he starts telling me and then narrows his eyes at me.

"Then I saw Princess Celestia's eyes when she was brought back after attacking your City, the defeated and fearful expression while having a hole in her chest... then as the days went by, that look went from defeated, to cold and uncaring, then to... something dark. I've tried to warn Princess Luna, but she says she's looking after Princess Celestia and not to worry. But I've seen that look in some bandits before putting them down, the look of somepony who has nothing left to lose and will do whatever they can to either get what they want, to get away, or revenge," he says and look back at the ponies waiting and staring at us.

"I will not wait for a damaged and powerful ruler to snap and put my herd and family into harm's way, and two others I would call brothers agreed with me. Gale told most of the guard about your City, how Princess Luna says you're friendly and your god is kind, yet will not hesitate to use his power to protect his charges..." he then tells me.

I smirk as he doesn't realise that I'm the god he just mentioned, I guess he just thinks I'm a strange changeling.

"And what makes you think our god would allow the race that attacked us to live amongst us?" I ask him, still with my smirk.

"Gale left saying he would head here with his family, swore your god would help them. I trust Gale with my life, and he wouldn't lead anypony to their deaths if he could help it," he replies a bit angrily.

"I see. And what do you have to offer in return for residence?" I ask him, curious to his answer.

"I'm not a smart pony, I just hit things and take hits. And when not on duty, I carry heavy things from place to place. But right now, my only concern is my family, so you tell your god that we wish for sanctuary in his City, or I'll force my way there if I have to," he tells me with resolve, making the other ponies nervous.

I smile at him and then laugh, making him glare at me. I settle down and look at him. "Alright, I'll give you a chance like I have for Gale. But break our trust, and you'll be thrown out back into Equestria," I tell him sternly as I stand up.

"You'll give us a chance? I thought your god made the decisions?" he asks confused until one of the mares walks up to him and starts trembling.

"Dear... I think that is their god..." she whispers to him, making the stallion look from her to me with his brow raised.

"I am," I say and change to Janus. "You can live in our City, but you betray our trust even once, and I'll send you back to Equestria myself," I warn them and open a portal to Khepria.

Blockade stares at me before looking at the other ponies. "Come on, let's go," he tells them and they all start walking through.

While they go through, I look to the border guards. "Keep an eye out for more ponies that might come this way," I tell them.

"Yes, Sir," they reply and head back into the little outpost tower.

Once the ponies are through, the changelings that came with me go through next, followed lastly by myself. I close the portal and turn to Blockade.

"Quick question, why did you decide to come here instead of another pony village or even the Crystal Empire?" I ask him.

He snorts before speaking. "My mate wanted to go to the Empire, but we don't have the supplies or equipment for a long journey like that. And staying in any village in Equestria is impossible as some of us are now branded deserters. We only came here because Gale told us about you, so it was our only choice," he replies and looks around.

"I see. Well then, we have four other houses built so far. Pick one each for your families and get settled in. We'll provide you with food and water for now, but as I told Gale, you'll have to earn luxuries," I tell him making him take off the pouch strapped to his right flank.

"Would this get us anything?" he asks and holds the pouch out to me.

Still as Janus, I take the pouch with my metallic hands and open it to see lots of crystal coins in it. "Perhaps, our currency is different from yours, but I should be able to use these at the Empire. Keep hold of them for now until we can figure out a good exchange rate," I tell him and hand the pouch back to him.

He grunts and takes the pouch back. "Thank you. If you don't mind, I want to get my family settled before doing anything else," he says and I smile.

"Of course, the houses are over there," I tell him and point to the houses not that far from us. "Gale! Help them to get settled and what to expect!" I order him making him step forward and getting a surprised look from Blockade.

"Yes, Sir," he replies and smiles at the earth pony stallion.

"Gale? You were there the whole time?" Blockade asks him getting a chuckle from the pegasus.

"Pantheon wanted me to keep quiet to see what you would do. But we can talk about that later, lets get you guys moved in and then we can talk," Gale replies and escorts the ponies to the houses.

Once they're at the houses, I change back to Khepri and look at the changelings still here. "I want ten changelings keeping watch on them at all times, make sure they don't do anything suspicious," I tell them getting ten salutes as they take off into the air and perch on the keep, hospital, and warehouse. "The rest of you are dismissed," I say making the rest disperse.

I head back into the Hive and after asking for Chrysalis' location, I make my way down to her office, where I find her chipping away at one of her black slates.

"I take it you already know about the ponies?" I ask her making her look up at me with a smile.

"Yes, though I'm not really sure how I feel about ponies living here after all they've done to us, but I suppose the more that live here means the more we don't look like the monsters every race sees us as," she replies and returns to chiselling.

"I guess so, maybe we should see if any of the zebras want to live here? Probably would too after the help we gave them," I say and sit down on my legs in front of her.

"What I'm worried about is what Blockade said about Celestia. If she's really as unstable as he says she is, I fear she may try to attack us again, with or without her forces," she tells me and I chuckle.

"And she'd be stupid to even think of trying that, I beat her once and I'll do it again, and this time you'll be ready and have your armour with you," I tell her.

"Yes, and as much as I would love to try it on, I can't until I've laid my eggs, which means I'm vulnerable and helpless right now," she replies and places the slate into an alcove in the wall with her magic.

"True, but we still have Dragana, and maybe Shyla will help defend. While she's the most timid person I've ever met, she can get very protective of her children and animals," I say and chuckle.

I remember the time she went out to look for animals that would like to live in her segment, only to find a black bear attacking a brown bear over territory. She scolded both of them and offered both of them a home in her segment, the brown bear accepted but the black bear refused and tried to swipe at her, only for him to be pinned to the ground by her magic and lectured about being a bully before being let go.

So now Shyla has a brown bear named Yogi in her segment after I accidentally called him that as a joke when I first met the bear, he apparently liked the name and decided to keep it. He lives in an artificial cave made for him and just wanders around the segment helping out and keeping Shyla company. He also gets his food from a pond with fish in it that Shyla got her changelings to get and maintain.

"Well then, I'm going to head to the Crystal Empire to ask Amore and Cadence about the elementals and Volcanica, and if they've been getting ponies from Equestria moving in," I tell her making her look at me.

"I'd like to go myself, but I can barely walk around as it is," she tells me and I chuckle.

"Just a week left to go then you can change back," I tell her and get up.

"It's not that I dislike this form, it's just I prefer being a quadruped while carrying my eggs," she says making me chuckle as I change to Janus and make a portal to the Empire's Throne Room ceiling.

I step through and slowly float down to the middle of the room in front of the thrones. Many crystal ponies yelp and one even faints in fright.

"Carl! Will thou ever stop doing that!?" Cadence tells me in annoyance but the smile on her face says otherwise.

"Only when it no longer gets a reaction, my dear," I reply with a chuckle.

"So what brings thou here?" Amore asks me while everyone else is silent.

"I need to talk to you two in private, it's about something I discovered in Zebrica," I tell them in a neutral tone.

"Very well, can thou wait for an hour so we may wrap up court?" Amore asks me and I smile.

"Sure, I've been meaning to have a look around the Empire for a while now," I reply and change to Mercury so I can see the whole city in time. "See you in an hour!"

I lightly jog out of the Palace where crystal ponies all look at me oddly or recognise me from Sombra's attack.

I run through the streets looking for something interesting and come across a weapons store, which only took about three or four seconds. I enter the store and see a bunch of crystal weaponry in crystal displays and on the walls.

There's barely any swords or daggers as I guess only a unicorn or changeling would be able to use them efficiently. There's also wing blades, spears and hammers with either crystal or wooden shafts, but no ranged weapons like bows or even throwing knives are here.

All in all, a very limited selection. "Greetings and wel... come..." a dark grey crystal unicorn stallion with a short deep purple mane and tail with green eyes says but trails off as he spots me.

I walk over to a light blue crystal sword and pick it up. It has a one-foot long blade and the hand... I guess hoof or mouth guard is curved like a crescent moon and appears to be designed to ensnare the opponent's blade in it to either snap or disarm. The grip is wrapped in a soft but sturdy cloth and the pommel looks like a replica of the crystal heart.

"How durable are these?" I ask him and flick the blade in the middle, getting a twang similar to a bell that continues for a few seconds before dying out.

He snaps out of his confusion and replies. "Strongest blades in the Empire, Sir. It would take the strongest of minotaurs to snap one of my un-enchanted blades," he says proudly.

I hum and change to Janus before opening a portal to my forge and call for Seth. "Seth! I need you to fetch one of the swords I made and bring it here!" I tell him making him and a few others jump from my sudden appearance.

"Errr, yes Sir," he replies and runs over to the storage room where I keep a few of my crafted weapons for the others to examine. He returns and levitates the one-metre long blade through. "Here you go, Sir," he says and I take it from him.

"Thank you, continue what you were doing, Seth," I tell him getting an okay before closing the portal. I then turn back to the unicorn. "I'd like to run a test," I say and hold my sword out. "I want to see what's tougher, my steel blade or your crystal one," I tell him and gently toss him the crystal sword.

He catches it with his magic but is staring at my sword. "What is that!? What material is it made from!?" he asks and runs over to me and looks over my blade.

"A forged and tempered metal called steel. Now then, I want you to swing your sword and try to chip or damage mine," I tell him.

He frowns and smirks before raising his blade and hitting mine with it. Sparks fly off as they collide, neither blade chipping or even scratching.

He looks shocked that my blade is still in one piece. "Not a scratch?" he mutters before swinging again. More sparks fly and he gasps as a tiny little fragment of crystal breaks off his blade in the middle.

Stunned, he slowly brings his blade to his eyes, staring at the tiny chip in disbelief. He frowns and looks at me. "Stay right there, I have something special for something like this," he says with a confident smirk before heading to a back room in the store.

I hum a tune and wait for him to return. I look around at the other weapons on display more closely, they all look dull and nothing special. Perhaps none of these are enchanted?

After a few minutes and the sounds of rummaging fades, he returns with a similar sword but this one has a shiny red sheen to it.

"This sword is enchanted to make the edge even sharper and more durable. Not even a minotaur would be able to break this," he says proudly.

I hold my sword out again and gesture him to try again. He raises his sword and brings it down, and to my surprise, cuts just a millimetre into my blade while his is unharmed.

"Hmmm, that's pretty good," I say and grip the blade of my sword and hold the hilt out to him. "Would it be possible to add those enchantments to a steel sword, or are they only usable on crystal?" I ask him.

He takes my blade and places his on the counter. He hums as his horn glows brighter while looking over the blade closely.

"Maybe, it's just I've never seen a material like this before... Metal you said it was right?" he says and asks me.

"Yes, raw iron forged into steel," I tell him.

After a few seconds his horn dims down and he sighs. "Unfortunately, this steel is resisting my magic. It might be possible if you inlaid crystal or certain gems as runes to channel and empower the enchantments, but as this is right now? I don't think so," he tells me and holds the blade back out to me.

I take it and sigh. "I suppose that's something I'll be looking into later then. Thank you for entertaining my requests, though I'm afraid I don't have any crystal coins to pay you for the damage done to your sword," I tell him as I open a portal back to the forge.

He looks at my blade as I hand it back over to Seth. "Well... I won't lie and say I'm not curious as to how you made such a durable weapon without any enchantments..." he tells me as his eyes go wide seeing the forges and the noise coming from them, as well as the changelings working them.

I look at him, and then back to the forges. "Hmm... How about a trade?" I ask him getting him to look at me. "I teach you how to forge with metal, and you teach some changelings about enchantments?" I ask him.

While changelings do have some forms of enchantments, they're not good for weapons or armour, and they need constant reapplying when they start to run out, like Chrysalis' ice mirror in our room.

"You would show me how to make blades like that?" he asks intrigued.

"If you can teach us how to improve ours with runes and enchantments, then sure," I reply.

He looks back at the forges where some changelings are now looking at him. "Agreed! Oh this is exciting! I haven't had a challenge like this in years!" he says giddily and prances on the spot before blushing a bit and coughs as he stops. "I mean, I accept these terms," he tells me more calmly.

"Alright then. Are you ready to go now or do you need to close up shop first?" I ask him.

"I need to lock up first and gather my tools!" he replies eagerly.

"Very well. I'm going to look around the City for another forty or so minutes, then I'll head back to the Palace to speak with Amore and Cadenza. Go there when you're ready and ask to see Pantheon," I tell him making him gasp and shake his head.

"Where are my manners? I am Crystal Blade, and I look forward to learning this forging! Now I must get everything together!" he says and rushes off into the back room where I hear him yelp as something crashes.

I chuckle as I leave the store and explore the rest of the city. I find a couple of tailor stores, some food stops like cafes, and even a fancy restaurant. I found a Park with lots of flowers and grass, benches and some refreshment stands.

I stopped and asked the ponies about the history of the City, it only came to be when the ponies here eight-hundred years ago got separated from the others migrating to Equestria and took refuge in a cave where they found the berries, their main export currently to this day, to survive along with walls upon walls of crystals.

So while the Pegasi kept the weather at bay, the earth ponies cared for the berries and mined the crystal while the unicorns used their magic to reform it and slowly over a few decades, built the Crystal Empire. It grew out from there and a unicorn mare by the name of Heart Shine tried casting an enchantment on a heart shaped crystal she made to project a dome over the Empire to protect it from the weather or hostile threats.

While it did what she wanted it to do she died in the process, no one can tell if it took her soul into the crystal or it just took her life, but popular belief is that she's still in the crystal, watching over and protecting the Empire.

I make note to see if there is a soul in the crystal heart as Thanatos when I reach the Palace. So after I'm done looking around the City, I decide it's time to head back to talk to Amore and Cadence.