Oblivion sat in silence as Twilight dashed around the lower level of the Library. He had come over when the World Spirit had alerted him to Twilight's spirit being in great flux. Now that he had arrived and received a basic rundown from Spike, he understood why the World Spirit was concerned.

“Where are all my quills? No, no, no, no, no... Ugh! I need the Magical Compendium volumes one through thirty-six! Where is it?!” She shouted as she scanned the shelves.

“I think she’s panicking over nothing.” Sasa told him alone, keeping her words from being heard by the upset mare.

“You might be on to something there.” He agreed quietly.

“Flashcards! I should make some flash cards. Spike, I'm going to need you to quiz me. On everything. Everything I've ever learned. Ever.” She said as she levitated a huge amount of flashcards in her aura. “That isn't going to be enough cards.”

Spike looked at the stallion and mouthed the word help as the flashcards were set down in front of him. “Twilight.” She didn’t hear him as she continued to race around the room. “Twilight…” Still no response. “Aine Saov.” She stopped in her tracks as he spoke her nickname. “Finally. I think you need to relax a bit. Your wound a bit tight.”

“Yeah. He’s right, Twilight. It’s just a test.” Spike agreed.

“Just a test? Just a test!? Princess Celestia wants to give me some exam, and you're trying to tell me to calm down because it's just a test?!” She shouted as they all stared at her.

“Umm… Yes?” Spike hesitated as he spoke.

Oblivion reached out his magic, gripped the baby dragon in his aura, and pulled him to sit close by him and Sasa. Twilight’s magic leaped from her horn as she tried to gather things for her.

“Urgh!” She shouted as her magic lashed out.

Oblivion shielded all of them from the minor explosion that followed.

At the library, her friends showed up to see her off, and she looked at the clock and realized that she would be late.

“Oblivion!” She yelled.

“Yes?” He replied.

“You were supposed to watch the time! I’m going to be late for my test! She’ll fail me for being late, then I’ll never be acknowledged and…”

“Twilight.” She didn’t stop as his magic shut her mouth, and when she stopped to glare at him, he released his magic. “I planned on teleporting you.”

She stopped and stared at him momentarily before blushing and looking down. “Oh.”

Spike giggled behind his hand and tried to hide his laughter. Oblivion said nothing in response to her sheepish expression and waited for her to speak to him again.

“So you’re going to then?” She asked as the blush faded from her cheeks.

“Luna asked me to be there, so yes.” He responded. “You will not be alone.”

“Is she giving you a test?” She asked. “That doesn’t seem right.”

“She isn’t. I’m there as support.”

“Ah, I guess you’ll be okay, but we will be on the next train,” Applejack said to her as the others nodded. “Just in case.”

“Thanks, girls. I appreciate it.” Twilight said to them as Oblivion got to his hooves.

“Are you ready?” He asked her, and she nodded.

He waited till she got close to him, and his horn lit as he teleported them to Canterlot.

Oblivion looked at the purple Unicorn with him as she walked stiffly toward the throne room. He shook his head for a moment before leaning down and tapping his horn against Twilights. She looked up, and he could see her nervous and tense gaze.

“You’ll do fine.” He assured her.

“You don’t know that.” She argued gently.

“You think Celestia will punish you for failing something she sprung on you last minute?”

Twilight opened her mouth, and her jaw hung open briefly before she shook her head slightly. “Well, when you put it that way, I don’t think so.”

“Exactly. It’s not her style to teach only to fail after giving an impossible timeline.”

“Well, it was impossible for me to study since you teleported us and… I’m blaming you for no reason,” she said as she shook her head. I‘m sorry.”

“Nothing to apologize for, Aine Saov.” He replied, his tone quiet and gentle.

Twilight blushed slightly as he spoke, and she breathed out a breath as the throne room doors loomed ahead. “Wish me luck?”

He tapped his horn to hers again and bowed his head. “You don’t need luck.”

She grinned as he opened the doors for her and walked in. He looked down the carpet as Luna approached. Her eyes went wide, and she trotted the last few feet to join him outside the throne room. He closed the doors behind her, and she happily wrapped her forelegs around his neck, enveloping him in a tight hug.

“It is good to see thee, Oblivion.” She said to him as she let go of him. “Thou brought her here, we assume?”

“I did, yes.” He replied.

“Greetings to thee, Sasa.” She said to the feline as she came around his other side.

“Good morning Luna.” She replied.

“How have thee been doing?” The mare asked him as she turned to lead him away from the throne room.

“I’ve been well.” He said to her. “And you?”

“We still feel foolish to have been away for all of the happenings during our niece's wedding.” She said, her head hung as she spoke. “We should have been here to help thee and the others.”

“You were needed elsewhere. Nopony blames you for it.” He assured her.

She brought her head back up, but her expression was still sad. “We just wish we could have been here. We were already unhappy about missing the wedding completely, and then we discovered that the city was attacked without defense.”

“You hold no fault, Luna.” Oblivion said to her, and Sasa shook her head.

“Sometimes things happen when you least expect them.” Sasa said, and Oblivion spoke for her. [i]“You might have been able to help him fight her, but challenging her to a magical duel would have ended in the same result as when Celestia did it.”

Luna listened as they walked, and she sighed. “Our sister was not specific about how she was defeated.”

“She was not strong enough.” Oblivion replied easily. “Chrysalis had siphoned enough love from Shining Armor to take down both of you.”

“Thee were able to overpower her?”

“I did, yes.”

“How?”

“Tread carefully, Chosen.” Sasa advised.

“I used the power of the Element combined with my own.” He lied smoothly to the Alicorn.

“We suppose the Element is more than the monster could defend against. It is the strength behind the Elements, after all. So that would make sense.” She agreed after a moment of thought.

“So what is so vital that she be here?” he asked as they headed for the dining hall.

“We suppose that telling you is allowed. But even if our sister does not wish it, we will speak of it anyway to thee.” Luna said with a mischievous grin. “The Crystal Empire has been seen.”

His ears flicked forward as she spoke, and the name rang a bell for him. “I recall that name.”

“Thou were sent there, we had heard.”

“By Discord, yes.” He agreed once the memory came back to him. “So she is sending her there?”

She nodded, and he began to turn around to warn the mare of what he had seen. “I have to warn her of what waits inside it.”

“Hold,” Luna yelled as she approached him. "Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance are already there. If there was a threat, they would have already dealt with it.”

He paused as she put her hooves on his shoulders to stop him. “So they are waiting for her?”

“Correct. We would not send her alone. We ask that she brings all of you to aid her in her task.”

“I see,” he replied as she turned him around to return to the table and sit with her.

“We must ask. How did thee turn him into an Alicorn?”

“Shining?” he asked, and she nodded. “I didn’t. He did it himself.”

“Becoming an Alicorn without certain requirements being met is nearly impossible.” She said to him as they sat down.

“He did it on his own. I gave him the opportunity.”

“Thee are quite prone to being vague.” She grumbled. “Our sister was quite stunned when the two of you returned, and one Unicorn was bearing a set of wings.”

Oblivion chuckled and looked at her. “He cast off his doubts and chose to protect.”

“Protect what?”

“Everypony.” He replied, and she tilted her head as he went on. “Within the cave where we were was a group of changelings. They offered help even though he was far from kind to them.”

“Are they still there?”

“No. They now live within the village with the ponies they helped to save and protect.” He replied.

She blinked as he spoke and motioned for him to go on.

“One of them chose to protect Shining when the corruption we were battling went after him. That changeling threw him away from the impact and took the hit for him. In the next few seconds, Shining made his decision.”

Luna sat back in her chair, and she nodded. “It was well done of him to protect them then. What was the magic he used?”

“I think it was a shield similar to what he and Cadance were able to create and use here in Canterlot. It removed the corruption-created pony I was fighting and then removed its influence from the ponies and freed them. As far as I could tell, it was new magic that he had created on the fly.”

“I see.” She replied and leaned her body a bit forward. “And thou did not do anything? At all?”

“I did nothing but encourage him.”

She leaned back again and considered what she had been told. “Thou will be needed in the Empire.” She said as she went back to their previous topic. “What did thee find there?”

Oblivion said nothing for a moment before he spoke. “When I was there, it had been plunged into total darkness. I would have been blind if not for my eyes.”

“Thou have the eyes of a cat if we recall.”

“You're right. Through them, I was able to see enough not to be lost. At first, I found myself outside what I later found was a town. As I moved through the town, I could hear something coming toward me, and I took shelter behind a tall building. I’m unsure what the building was, except it had tall legs. Something huge and black as night went by me. I did not confront it as I had no idea what it was and what its weaknesses could be.”

“Thou didn’t fight it?” Luna asked. “Thou never back down from a fight.”

“I fight when I must.” He explained. “If I do not know what I am fighting, I typically wait and gather information. It went past me and didn’t seem to know I was there. After it was gone, I could hear something off to my right, and I went to see it. I found what I thought was a pony at first. I got close to it, and when I was about to reach out, it turned, and the face was a horror. I pulled back as it tried to bite me.”

“What did it look like?”

“The skin was sloughing off the face, and there were no eyes. I don’t recall if it had lips, but the teeth were sharp and wicked-looking. The skin on the rest of it was sloughing off in places. I leaped back when it bit at me, and it was gone a second later when I lit my horn to track it.”

Luna looked horrified as he spoke. “T’was a true horror then.”

“After that, I could hear things around me, and things flit around the edges of my vision. Now and then, that figure would come back to attack me, but it didn’t seem to like the light from my horn. The light seemed to drive off everything in that town.”

Luna seemed to be thinking over what she had been told. “Shining Armor and Cadance have not reported anything similar, thankfully. We had heard very little from them, but what we have heard is not dire.”

“What is the goal at the moment?”

“Our goal is to return the Empire to its former glory. It was once an ally to our kingdom, and we wish it to return to that status.”

“I see.” He replied as she nodded. “Sasa.”

“Hmm?” She replied.

“Can you check in on Twilight?”

“Not going to use the World Spirit?” She asked, and he shook his head slightly. “Okay, I’ll take care of it.”

Luna looked curiously at him before he spoke to her. “Asking her to talk to Twilight to see where she is.”

“She can do that?”

“She can talk to Twilight. She can speak to two ponies besides me.”

“Our nephew is the other one?”

“Correct.”

“She’s at the train station with the others. She says you should join her when you can.” Sasa said to him.

“It appears Twilight has been sent to the train station. I assume your sister told her to head to the Empire.”

“We assume so, yes. Our sister would explain everything and then send her on her way.” Luna agreed. “We do have a request for thee.”

“Which is?”

“We trust a Witcher can see beyond that pony's outward looks?” He nodded as she went on. “The Empire was banished by its ruler, Sombra.”

“Never heard of him.” He said to her.

“Thee will learn of him through the others. We ask that thee tend to him in what way thou feels is best. No matter what it is, we will support thee.”

He nodded solemnly. “Understood.”

Oblivion got to his hooves, and Sasa came to stand beside him. He gave Luna a final short bow of his head and then teleported them to the train station. His eyes opened to see the train station sitting in front of him. Twilight and the others stood out in front of it as he walked up behind the purple mare.

“I trust you know where we are going?” He asked.

“Eep!” Twilight yelped as he spoke, and she spun around to see him standing behind her. “You need to tell a pony when you are behind them.” She laughed. “Did Luna explain things to you, or do I need to?”

“She explained where we were going and why,” he replied. "But I trust Celestia gave you more information as well.”

“We need to go to the Crystal Empire and meet up with my brother and Cadance,” she explained. “Are you going to be okay on a train?”

He looked behind her at the train car that was waiting for them. “Do we have to?”

She sighed and nodded. “Yes. We need to use it.”

“I can teleport to you. Is that not an option?” he started, and Twilight's look gave him pause. “It will be fine then.”

She smiled and led them toward the train car. He looked at it for a few seconds before a sigh pulled from him, and he fell in behind the group.

They crowded into the train car, and Twilight gathered them around her. She looked at him, and he sat beside her, his claws digging into the carpet. She patted his shoulder as Sasa chuckled in his mind. He tried not to think of the metal cage but found himself willingly sitting in it. Sasa sat beside him, and he waited for the girls to settle around him as they waited to hear what Twilight had to say.

“Okay, so we are heading for the Crystal Empire.” She began. “My brother and Cadance are already there and are waiting for us to join them. They need our help to protect the Empire. Though I’m not sure what we will be protecting it from.”

“Celestia didn’t know or wanted you to find out on your own?” Oblivion asked.

“I’m not sure she knew, honestly,” Twilight admitted. “The Crystal Ponies were ruled by a cruel and vicious Unicorn named Sombra. He ruled over them a thousand years ago, and he was the one who banished the Empire.”

“Where did he send it to?” Rainbow asked.

“No idea,” Twilight admitted. “She said you’d been there, Oblivion.”

“I have that’s true.” He replied. “Though according to what Luna and I discussed, it has changed since I was there.”

“What do you mean?” Rarity asked.

“When I was there, it was plunged into complete darkness. There was no light to speak of, and a giant creature patrolled the streets and surrounding area.” He explained. “Do not ask me what it was, and I couldn’t get a good look at it without being spotted by it. I did run into a creature that was a horror of its own, and it seemed to enjoy trying to bite me whenever it thought I was not paying attention.”

“Do I even want to know what the creature was?” Pinkie asked, her face was uncertain.

“No.” He replied easily.

Twilight looked troubled as he finished speaking, and she sighed. “Well, according to what the Princess said, there doesn’t seem to be anything like that now.”

“Luna said the same thing.” He agreed.

“Lovely.” Sasa commented as she leaned against him. “At least we will not be getting eaten by an enormous monster of unknown origin.”

“I don’t know much beyond that since there was nothing in any books. I asked if there were books I should read before we left, and the Princess said that there was little to no written information. So that would have been a waste of time.” Twilight said as she shrugged her shoulders.

Oblivion said nothing as Twilight continued explaining their goal to the others. His mind wandered as the World Spirit began to prod the back of his mind. He knew that there was something it wanted him to know. When he leaned into that power, it gave no further indication of what he should know, which told him to focus on what he saw when he arrived. The World Spirit could be very subtle when its attention was piqued.

“Chosen?” Sasa asked as he looked over his shoulder to the window. “What is it?”

“I’m not sure.” He admitted to her. “Something is ahead of us, and the World Spirit wants me to pay attention.”

“Oh? What could be ahead?” She asked as he turned his head to act as though he was listening to Twilight. “Usually, it’s pretty clear when it wants you to attend to something.”

“I agree. But this time, it’s… almost cautious. As if the thing it wants me to know is something nits not sure of either.”

“That’s odd.” Sasa admitted. “Usually, it knows what it is and what it wants to happen. Or at least it’s pretty clear about what it wants once we get there. So maybe we need to wait and see?”

“I think that’s our only option now.” Oblivion said to her. “At the same time, it’s almost pushing me forward.”

“Maybe you’re not getting there fast enough for it.” Sasa said with a chuckle.

“Perhaps.” Oblivion agreed as the train went around a slight corner, and his claws dug into the carpet further.

Sasa chuckled and nuzzled his shoulder as she purred.

The train began to slow, and Oblivion quickly got to his hooves. Sasa giggled from behind him as he waited for the others to leave ahead of him. The mares walked out of the train ahead of him, and he walked out into the driving snowstorm. The mares all yelped at the biting cold and huddled close together. Fluttershy came to stand close to him and used him and Sasa as a buffer against the driving winds. She glanced up at him, and the stallion said nothing as she stayed close to him. Sasa rubbed against him as he stood in silence. Rarity looked up as her magic pulled her luggage from the train and pulled out a thick scarf.

“And all of you gave me grief when I packed my scarves.” Rarity chimed out as one wrapped around her neck.

“It wasn’t the scarves that they were giving you grief over Rarity.” Oblivion informed her. “It was the volume of scarves.”

Spike struggled to hold up the many bags, and Oblivion's aura covered them and sent them back to the train with a flash of magic. He shook his head and looked back to the cold tundra around them. The driving snow and wind buffeted all of them, and his eyes watched a familiar spirit approach. He jumped off the platform and trotted out to meet the pony approaching them. Oblivion gave a shrill whistle that cut through the driving wind, and the pony returned the sound as he came into view.

Prince Shining Armor came into view, and he pushed a pair of black goggles up from his eyes and onto his forehead as he hoof-bumped the other stallion. “Good to see you, Oblivion.”

“You as well.” He replied as he looked over Shining’s form. He could see a thick scarf around the stallion’s neck, with another wrapped around his barrel, keeping his wings pinned to his sides.

“Shining Armor?” Twilight called out from a few feet behind him.

“Twily!” Shining shouted out from where he stood, and he trotted happily past Oblivion to meet his sister as Oblivion watched over his shoulder.

The others walked up as Shining happily hugged Twilight. “What’s with your wings?” Rainbow asked with a chuckle.

Shining looked a bit embarrassed as he looked at the bound appendages. “They kept pulling away from my body and getting me into trouble while out here. I pinned them down to keep them out of my way.”

Oblivion barked a laugh at the Prince’s expense, earning him a good-natured glare. The glare faded quickly as the wind beat at all of them. Shining Armor looked at the strong storm around them, and his face fell grimmer. “I’m glad you all made it safely, but we can’t stay here too long. Some things come out after dark.”

Oblivion said nothing as he looked back out over the snow-covered terrain. His eyes scanned the area, and the feeling that something was coming became more robust as time passed. He had one ear flicked to listen to Shining and the mares as they spoke, but his focus was far from them. He reached out to the World Spirit, and it was confirmed that something dangerous was approaching them. His nerves were on edge as the feeling washed over him, and he danced on his hooves momentarily.

“What kind of things?” Fluttershy timidly asked, her voice barely heard over the wind.

Shining tried not to look uncertain before them but failed to keep the emotion out of his face. “Let’s just say that the Empire isn’t the only thing returning.” He turned to lead them back the way he had come.

Oblivion hoof bumped him as he went by, and with a look, Shining asked him to bring up the rear. He gave a slight bow of his head as he waited for them to pass him. Oblivion was quiet as he brought up the rear of the group. Sasa pulled up next to him and kept her head down to keep the wind out of her face. Oblivion stopped as the World Spirit bucked, and he stopped to watch as the World Spirit guided his eyes and breathed in at the sight. A light was coming toward them, quickly over the frozen ground. It was coming from the left of them. A natural Spirit had a certain brightness, but all he could see was the darkness covering the ground. There was a faint light in the dark, but it faltered.

“It’s corrupted.” He whispered. “That’s what it meant.”

Ahead of him, Sasa realized he was not with her, and she stopped to look back at him. “Chosen?”

He looked at her, and she tilted her head. “Run.”

She tilted her head further, as she had not been able to hear him over the driving wind and snow. He broke into a trot as he neared her, and he spoke again. “RUN!” he shouted at her, and she was startled by his tone. His hooves drummed silently across the snow as Sasa fell in at his side as he gained on the group. He saw Shining look back over his shoulder; the yell Oblivion had voiced had been enough to catch his ear.

“Oblivion?” He called back as Oblivion galloped toward them.

“GO!” He shouted as he got closer to them.

Shining understood a moment later, and he looked at the girls. “We have to get to the Empire now!” he yelled, and the mares fell into a hard gallop with him in the front.

Spike began to fall behind, and Oblivion's aura covered him. As she galloped ahead, he dropped the startled baby dragon onto Twilight’s back. The darkness trying to overtake them on the side missed them and now flowed over the tundra as it gave chase. Oblivion looked back as the dark mass was narrowing the gap. He paused as Shining went past him. The Alicorn Prince stopped in his tracks, his eyes intent on the mass that slowed as it neared him. Oblivion’s claws dug into the ice as he stopped and turned back.

Shining looked up as the black mass loomed over him. He gave an involuntary shudder at the sight of it. A pair of vibrant green eyes shone out of the darkness as purple smoke flowed from the sides of the eyes. He looked up higher as the darkness rose to stand higher above him. Shining glared as his magic shone brightly. It surrounded him as he waited for the tyrant to make his own move. He shivered as the mass crashed down toward him. His magic stayed strong as he closed his eyes, channeling more magic into the shield he had created weeks before. His ears flicked as the sound of screaming caught his ears. He looked up to find the tall black stallion standing with him.

“Oblivion?”

Shining stared as the silver armor glowed in the darkness of the tundra. The tall stallion stood with him, his horn alight with azure flame. He stared at Oblivion's shield poured over the ground, pushing the black mass back. Shining could hear it still screaming as it was pushed back. The jewel in Oblivion's crown pulsed a steady rhythmic beat. He stared up at him as Oblivion's face was a mask of determination and strength.

The mass was pushed back a fair amount and he whirled on his heel, his magic gripped the Prince and he carried him ahead of him. He galloped hard for the Empire gates. As he got closer, he threw Shining through the gates and jumped the barrier behind him. His claws dug into the soft grass as he used his momentum to turn himself around to face the barrier. He watched and waited for the corrupted spirit to approach. He watched as it sped toward them and erected his own shield in front of the gates. The corrupted spirit slammed itself into the shield of Oblivion's own making, and it reeled back, screams tearing from it. It reeled back and vanished into the blizzard outside.

“Interesting. So it is the same corruption.”

“Shining!” Twilight shouted as her brother landed in a heap behind them.

Sasa joined the mares as they surrounded the Prince. He slowly got to his hooves and winced as he took his weight off his left foreleg.

“I’m okay.” He assured them.

“Are you sure?” Rainbow asked as she hovered above his head.

“Yeah. Thanks to Oblivion. His magic pushed that… thing back and hurt it. I could hear it screaming. Though I could have done without being tossed around like a sack of apples.” He replied, forcing humor into his voice.

Sasa nuzzled him and helped him take the weight off his leg. She waited until he was stable and could stand on his own before she backed away from him.

“Well, at least you’re okay,” Twilight said to him as she looked back at the Black Unicorn. “Oblivion! Are you okay?” She hollered to him.

Sasa watched as her Chosen flicked an ear back to show he had heard them. He didn’t reply beyond that simple movement. She could see that he focused solely on where they had come from. His horn was still alight as he shielded the Empire's front. Sasa walked up to him and reached out to him with her nose. She paused as the band on his leg was alight momentarily, a clear warning to those who got close to him. The spectral tiger understood the warning before her, and she backed up. She could sense that he was on edge and ready for further battle should the need arise. She turned to see Twilight approaching her and blocked the mare.

“Not right now, Twilight.” Sasa said to her. “He’s pretty on edge. Give him a second to get it out of his system.”

“Okay. Is he okay, though? Like not hurt?” Twilight asked.

“I promise you he’s not hurt.” She assured the purple mare. “Just give him a second to come down from it. I’m unsure what he saw, but it’s got him going.”

“What’s wrong?” Shining asked as he limped up to them.

“Sasa says Oblivion is still pretty on edge, so give him a minute. I’ve seen him before, during, and after fights, but this is different.” She told her brother as he stood with them.

“So we just wait?”

“Yep,” Twilight said. “Witchers are a funny lot sometimes. They're made for battle, so sometimes they get wound up.”

Sasa chuckled as she nodded and purred in agreement.

Author's Note

Here is the first part of our time in the Crystal Empire. Depending on how I get everything in, it will probably be three to five parts. I will work on the next part this week and try to get it out quickly. Please enjoy!

Featured: 6/1/2024