Crystal Night: The Shadow Princeby Crystal NightChaptersChapter One: Leading the ChargeChapter Two: A Shadow Among the LightChapter Three: Following the TwilightChapter One: Leading the ChargeSmall snowflakes fell on the battlefield, only to be crushed by metal hooves. The war cries and sounds of metal clashing against each other was heard everywhere. Equestria's Royal Army was met with a tough and numerous defence by King Sombra's Army, their task was simple, defend the border and crush everything or everypony that was a possible threat. Beyond the other side of the battle, two green eyes peered over the chaos. The one in question was in full metal armor, also covering his face, only the eyes and mane could be seen. Parts of the armor had crystals, suggesting it was fused for a better protection, or for more offensive purpose such as the metal hooves that seemed to have crystal talons. A gray cape laid on his back. In the middle of the chestplate, a small purple crystal shaped in a star, glowed softly. The two stallions bearing a dark purple armor approached him. "Sir, we bring reports from the battlefield." "You may speak." His voice was deep but soothing. "The enemy is slowly losing terrain." He took a long breath, this battle had last more than he thought, if it wasn't for the orders to stand down and do nothing, he would had finished this much sooner. But there's something else he wanted to personally see, if the information he got from his spies was correct, that is. It's been more than an hour and nothing happened. "However the left side of the defensive line was taken several casualties. Reinforcements have been-" Before the soldier could finish, a explosion on the left side caught everypony's attention. "Lieutenant Orion, watch over, I must see this." The other guard saluted. "Follow me captain Steelstrike, and bring more soldiers." The captain nodded and waved at a group of soldiers standing by. Ever so calm and slow, they proceeded to their destination, the remaining soldiers opening a path for them. "This might become interesting" He said to himself. "Eyes open captain, is that clear?" "Yes sir!" Several soldiers were sent flying away after getting hit by rays of light, others used their magic to create shields, but it wasn't strong enough and it quickly shattered. "Hold positions!" - one soldier shouted. "How's everypony?" The soldier suddenly turned is head to the right, only to see his leader next to him. "S-Sir, we are doing our best to push them back, b-but..." He raised an hoof and the soldier stopped talking. His green eyes brightened brighter than before with purple mist coming from them. "Such a pleasure to finally meet you," He grinned, even if it wasn't able to see it. "Princess." Her heat could be felt from far away and her radiance gave a different view to the battlefield. The golden armor with the symbol of the Sun was enough to say who it was, the horn and wings also confirmed a lot. "It's a shame I can't say the same thing." - the princess replied with a stern voice. His eyes locked on her before searching the terrain. "Do tell, where's your sister?" As if to answer his question, a blue magical sphere was intercepted by his captain's shield. Looking up, they saw the princess of the Moon descending, landing next to her sister. "Thank you captain." Princess Celestia took a better look at him, noticed the crystal resting on his chestplate, she then inquired. "You are not King Sombra, who are you?" He stepped forward and cleared his throat. "I'm prince Crystal Night, King Sombra's Army Leader." Princess Luna glanced at her sister, her look didn't falter after hearing such statement. So the rumors are indeed true. "I'm princess Celestia and this is my sister, princess Luna, and we are rulers of Equestria." "I know well who you are." "Surrender, this battle was gone too far!" - Luna stated. "No." The royal sisters glanced at each other, their magical grip still holding their weapons. "Before you do something you might regret, look around you and tell me what you really see." That's when they noticed more soldiers had showed up and that their numbers were far too small to deal with all of them. Not only that but Celestia could feel dark magic emanating from the prince, it was strong enough to sent shivers down her spine. "I'm certain my soldiers can stand against the cold, but what about yours? They also look really tired, are you willing to keep this battle when victory is far from your reach?" As much she didn't want to admit, he was right. Fighting wasn't an option anymore, they needed to fall back and rest. "He is right Luna, we can't win like this." - she whispered. "We fell right into his hooves." Celestia nodded. "Retreat we shall then." "Wise decision princess." "We shall meet again." Celestia then turned to her army. "We are retreating at once." The princesses and the prince shared a final glance before departing opposite ways. "Oh, we will princess, sooner than you might think." - he grinned. "Rebuild the defenses and take the injured ones back to the Crystal Empire to be taken care off. I want a full report Lieutenant Orion as soon you get back, understood?" He quickly saluted. "It shall be done sir!" The prince climbed into his chariot. "Good, now let's leave." With that command, the chariot made its way to the empire. It was going to be a long ride, probably best to rest his eyes before talking to him. It's over, for now... - he thought as his eyes slowly closed. The sudden stop of the chariot could only indicated one thing, they had arrived. He rose up from his seat and left his chariot. Crystal glanced around, only to see several crystal ponies chained and working, being very carefully watched by the guards. He paid the workers no mind, as their pain wasn't his concern. He entered the castle, following one of the many stairs it had. I still don't understand why. Some time later he stopped in front of two large purple crystal doors. He took a deep breath before using his magic to open the doors. On the other side of the room a dark stallion was seated on the throne. "Welcome back my dark prince." King Sombra greeted him a devious smile. "Master." - he bowed. Chapter Two: A Shadow Among the Light"How did the battle went? I'm certain it was tedious to watch." - King Sombra stated. Crystal Night stood still in the middle of the throne room. "It was, until the royal sisters decided to show up." Sombra immediately rose from his throne, the anger in his eyes very clear. "What?!" - he pratically shouted. "They decided to finally show themselves, just like how I expected." Sombra lifted an eyebrow. "Was this the information you got from your spies?" He nodded. "Maybe using spies wasn't a bad idea afterall." "They have proven to be quite useful." The King descended from his throne, the look on his face said there was much more to tell. Crystal could probably guess what it was. "How did your meeting went with Queen Chrysalis?" Sombra huffed in return. "Let's just say the Queen did a poor choice." Crystal blinked a couple of times. "Wait, she refused to join us?" Sombra trotted towards the windows, watching his empire through his green eyes. He felt no emotion or concern for the wellbeing of his so called 'citizens'. The only thing he cared about was ruling the Frozen North and then Equestria. But he also had another plan in mind. Unfortunately, this meant he was going to cross path again with the changeling Queen, and he wasn't very amused how she denied his offer. "Doesn't matter now, I have already assembled a small army near the Badlands frontier." "Do you want me there?" The King shook his head. "Then what my Master?" - he inquired. He turned his gazed back to the younger stallion. "For now, I want you to rest, then maybe go to Canterlot. I would like to see Celestia's face when she has to tell them they lost again." He almost chuckled at the thought. "You may go now." Crystal bowed and left the throne room closing the doors behind him. A guard that was waiting, approached him. "Your Highness," - he said with a quick bow. "the spies have some important news for you." The young prince started trotting towards his royal chamber. He gave the guard a slight nod, which meant for him to follow. "Apparently the royal sisters kept some secrets almost well hidden from us." He lifted an eyebrow. "I'm listening." "It said that Celestia kept six powerful gems in a hidden vault." That statement made Crystal stop for a brief moment. "Do the spies know where's that vault?" The guard shook his head. "Only a few ponies know." Crystal thought to himself. Probably her sister and maybe that one royal captain. They keep going through a set of hallways, until they finally reached a grey door with two guards standing next to it. "Return to Canterlot, gather more information on the whereabouts on this vault, I'm going to rest but, I'll join them later, you may go now." - he told him with a dismiss of his hoof. The guard did a bow before disappearing into a flash. The other two guards saluted as Crystal pushed the door open and entered. After he closed it, he let out a big sigh of relief. Slowly, he removed his armour and tossed into a corner of his room. Normally he would take the time to put it on its place, however this was not one of those moments. Cursed changelings He stood in front of the mirror and glanced at himself. His fur was a light gray colour, after removing his helmet, it was easier to see his white mane. As for his eyes, they were bright yellow. His cutie mark was a purple crystal above the crescent moon. He let out another sight and trotted towards his chair. Using his magic, he picked up a book that was laying on the table. It was the same book he was reading before he got summoned to battle. The book had many Equestrian tales, and this one certainly was full of them, including The Royal Sisters, something that his master wouldn't approve. Reading had become one of his favourite hobbies to do, aside from casting new spells. He opened on the last page he was reading, however a knock on the door caught his attention. "Come in." - he ordered, already knowing who could be around that time. The door slowly opened, and a dark stallion bearing a purple armour gave his prince a bow. "Your Majesty, my most sincere apologizes for not meeting with you upon your arrival, I was training the Shadow Guards." "It's fine Obsidian, you were simply doing your task." "How was the battle?" - he inquired as he approached Crystal. "A little boring, a little exciting, they certainly helped in killing the boredom." "The Royal Sisters? I heard some rumours." The prince nodded. "That is indeed exciting, care for some wine Your Majesty?" The guard picked a bottle of wine and poured into the glass, he levitated towards Crystal, who accepted it. "Thank you Obsidian." He took a small sip, enjoying the flavour. Funny enough he could drink a lot of wine before getting drunk. Not that he wanted, but it would help in certain situations. "What do you intend to do about the changelings?" "Nothing, the King already dispatched an assault on them. Surely that won't fail." - he said, rolling his eyes. "Anything else I can do, your Majesty?" "No, I need to rest before departing to Canterlot." Obsidian saluted and left his room. "Rest well." A few minutes later Crystal placed the book down and went for his bed. As he laid down his head on the pillow, he started to relax. Even though this was only for a brief moment, Crystal enjoyed this, there was something about the silence that called to him. "Why didn't you fight them?" - a voice that was deep inside his mind inquired. "We could simply ended this war." "You know why." "Ah! I remember well, because Sombra wishes for him to defeat them. We both know he can't, but you however. You possess the power that he can only dream about. He's holding you back. Break free from his grasp." "I can't do that, also it's King Sombra. Now leave me alone." "As you wish." Once Crystal was fully rested, it was time to depart to Canterlot. One would think it take a long ride there, however the prince developed a teleportation spell. He made two purple crystals that channel dark magic, one was here while the other was back on Canterlot. The spell was similar to a normal one, the only big different is that he needed cast it on the crystal. Upon receiving the right amount of dark magic, the crystal would glow before teleporting who was near to it. The issue was that required a lot of magic, the longer the distance, the more magic it would require. After that he would need to rest or not use much magic. It was quite the risky move if he had to admit, in case he was discovered or caught off guard, things wouldn't end well for anyone, specially for him. It was an easy way to get inside. As the spell was finally ready, the crystal glowed and the prince was no longer there. For his disguise, he decided to take a look of a soldier, not any soldier of course, but a captain. That way he could go any place and information he desired, right at the tip of his hooves. His body took a shadowy form, before revealing a white fur stallion bearing the royal armour of the sun. He stretched out his limbs, feeling a bit weak. His purple crystal turned into a golden sphere. He decided to keep the same eye colour. His hideout was medium-sized house, one suited for a royal captain. Captain Quick Strike. It was a name he gave some thought into it. Leaving the house, he made his way towards the castle. Surely by now the princesses must have from yet another defeat. As he trotted down the streets of Canterlot, he could feel several ponies doubts and fears. Many times Crystal had heard the guards complaining about their losses and this war. The guards saluted him upon his arrival to the castle. Moments later Crystal spotted Princess Celestia in the gardens, she had a grim look on her face. Yet no emotion for anger or hatred, just slight sadness. "Welcome back your Majesty." - greeted a guard with a low voice. Crystal turned his head slightly . "Nice to see you again Ambar Petal." The guard gave him a small nod. It was a mare with a light green coat. She was definitely the best of his spies. Nopony would suspect of a mare being a spy afterall. "Any thing new about those Elements?" She shook her head. "Nothing yet." "Princess Celestia!" The disguised guards quickly glanced at a purple unicorn, running towards the princess before giving her a much needed hug. A small group of five ponies also showed up. "I didn't know Celestia was expecting visitors." Meanwhile Crystal had his focus on something else, like that unicorn. Judging by the hug and the way they talked, indicated him that those two were very close. Perhaps close enough for the princess to reveal her the Elements. "What do we know about that mare?" "Not much I'm afraid. First time I have seen her in Canterlot. Is she important?" "Maybe. I need to get closer somehow." "Well I was on my way to deliver this letter to the princess." Ambar levitated the letter in front of his eyes. "This should help." He smiled as his magic took hold of it. "Thank you. You're a dear you know that, right?" The mare smiled back. "I know, have a good day, Captain Strike." Celestia noticed the guard approaching and smiled. "Captain Strike, I can see you're doing better now. I was informed you were sick." He bowed, glancing back the Solar Princess. "Indeed I was, pardon me if I made you worry." "It's alright, I'm just relieved you're fine." "Also ready to work." - he pulled out the letter from his armour. "This is for you, your Highness." Celestia's magic covered it. She then noticed that he was glancing at her guests. "How rude of me. Captain Strike, meet Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Fluttershy." "His armour looks so shiny." - said a bouncing pink pony. "How ya doin' sir?" A pony wearing a Stetson asked. "I'm fine, thank you for asking." "He's such a gentlecolt." - stated a white unicorn. A blue pegasus with a rainbow stepped forward. "Who cares about that? I want to see him fight." Meanwhile a yellow pegasus mare decided to stay a bit behind, giving a simple 'Hello'. "I thought I knew all of Celestia's guards." "I'm new around here." He took her hoof and kissed it softly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Twilight Sparkle." Chapter Three: Following the TwilightThe group of ponies made their way into the castle, Celestia and Twilight seemed to be lost in a deep conversation. As for Crystal, he decided to hang out behind everypony and watch the whole scene. It was very clear to him that those two had a deep connection. He was a bit surprised that none of his spies had any information about these ponies. He managed to get bits and pieces, like where they came from and what they were doing, but nothing too important. It would seem like they have no idea about these Elements. As soon they arrived the throne room Celestia glanced at the captain. "If you don't mind captain I would like to speak in private with them." Crystal nodded, seeing no point to argue. "Of course your Highness." He made his way around the corner and waited for the sound of the door closing. The disguised guard looked around, making he was indeed alone, he turned himself into a shadow and entered the room, quickly making his way into a nearby shadow in order not to get spotted. From his point he could see and listen very well. This spell certainly had its use. "I have a favor to ask all of you" - begun Celestia. "As you know the war against the Crystal Empire isn't going the way that me or my sister wished, we haven't been able to break into their territory." "The Crystal Empire isn't that large, it's impossible for them to have more soldiers than you." - stated Twilight. Part of it was true. The empire itself wasn't large, it was mostly surrounded by snow, but due to the harsh freezing weather it was very difficult to survive that long out there, only a few animals could do that, like the snow wolves. "That may be true, however we just made a recent discovery. There have been rumors about somepony leading Sombra's army. That pony releaved himself to us. By the look of things, it seems like he has a pupil of his own." "Why would he have a pupil? Is he afraid to fight? I bet he's a coward." Crystal Night glanced at the blue pegasus, her time would come, just not now. "King Sombra is no coward, clearly he's planning something and his pupil knows very well how to pushed us back every time we tried." Rarity trotted closer. "Maybe there's a chance his being controlled by him." The princess of the sun pondered about that, it was very possible, but at the same time she felt his dark magic. Unlike the other ponies that were being mind-controlled, they didn't carry any trace of dark magic even if they were unicorns. "I believe his doing by his own will. As for why, it's too soon to understand." Celestia descended from her throne and cleared her throat. "What I'm about to tell can never leave this room, for we do not know who to trust." Everypony nodded. "My sister and I have decided to use the Elements of Harmony, it has helped us plenty of times in the past, unfortunately we can't no longer harness that power." Elements of Harmony? Never heard of that. He did his own little research on Equestrian history and never came across this. Well it was possible that maybe some of the books were outdated or concealed that part. If that was the case, then why would they hide that? "In all my studies, I never found that." - stated the purple unicorn, catching Crystal's attention. "None of my books mentioned those elements. What do they do and how they work?" "I'm willing to explain all that," a quick knocking on the door caught everypony by surprise. "Come in." A group of nobles and diplomats made their way inside and bowed to her. "Your Highness, we are sorry for interrupting but there's some urgent news that needs to be discussed." The solar monarch sighed, the explanation would have to hold. "I'm sorry my little ponies, I must attend to this first. I'll tell my staff to get the guest rooms prepared." The mane six bowed and quickly left the room, leaving the newcomers and their princess. I must learn more about these artifacts, perhaps the royal library has the information that I need. He snaked his way out the room into an empty area, ceasing his spell. With this disguised with was quite easy to trot around Canterlot without been detected, however he had to keep his magical presence very low, otherwise one of the princesses could sense it. It wasn't the first time he went to this library looking either for knowlegde or simply something to read in his spare time. The library back home wasn't very packed with books and he has read all of them, at least twice by now. It was one of the few reasons coming here was worth it. Needless to say, more often than normal, he would lose track of time in the middle of these books and shelves. Not that he cared anyway. "Now let's see if we can find the right book, it shouldn't take long." One hour later The dark prince sighed, this search was proving to be quite the challenge and annoying to say the least. He already saw many books but none had any hint or information. How hard was it really to find that? "Ouch!" A noise in the next bookshelf got his attention. He took a glance around the corner and once more saw the purple mare from earlier, who was rubbing the top of her head. "That book was heavier than I thought." Twilight went to grab the book, but it was already in somepony magical grasp. "I'm going to guess this fell on your head, right?" "Oh, Captain Strike, I'm sorry I didn't noticed you." He shook his head. "No need to apolagize, I was nearby when I heard something." "I was looking for a book, when one fell on my head." - she blushed softly. Crystal placed the book back on it's place and smiled. "Mistakes happen, say what book are you looking for?" Twilight scratched the back of her head. "Well, I can't really say what it's for, but I'm looking for a book about magical artifacts." "Magical artifacts? Hmm, I'm sure we can find one, if you let me help of course." Also that way perhaps he could get what he wanted. "I suppose two heads searching it's better than one." "I'm glad I can help," - he grinned, this foolish mare had no idea. "afterall I do like to spend quite some time in the library." "Wait, are you a bookworm too?" He stared at Twilight. Bookworm? She did call him a worm? "Excuse me?" "Oh sorry, it means you really like to read books. Like a lot. My friend, Rainbow often calls me that." "Oooh I see, well in that case, yes. I do enjoy spending my time reading. Knowledge doesn't occupy space. It helps to calm my nerves." He wasn't really lying about that part though. "It's because of the war right?" The captain responded with a nod. "I have always been a bookworm really, I know what you mean." The duo spent the whole afternoon searching through books, while discussing spells and other threories, such as time travel. Crystal was admired by the mare's knowledge on a lot of subjects. He never met somepony who had such a deep grasp, it was actually enjoyable. Too bad she's on the wrong side. "It looks like this search was a dead end." - Twilight was growing tired, meanwhile Crystal's eyes scanned the pages of the book when it suddenly the words 'Elements of Harmony' caught his immediate attention. This is it! So let's see, the Elements of Harmony are six supernatural artifacts representing the aspects of harmony. The prince rolled his eyes. They represent honesty, loyalty, generosity, kindness, laughter and the last one is magic. However the effects are non-lethal and temporary, usually a form of banishment or imprisonment. Was their plan to banish King Sombra? If so, why would the princesses need their help? Unless... "Ah! This so annoying! So many books and yet I can't find what I need." He could feel her anger, frustation. Usually he would paid no mind to it, but it was slightly disturbing to him. He glanced down at the books on his hooves. Crystal let out a sigh. He shouldn't. "This is the chance we have been waiting for. He will never know." He didn't want to betray his master, but at the same time he couldn't stand the mare's feelings. He glanced at Twilight making sure she wasn't looking. When the coast was clear, he tossed the book aside closer to Twilight, with his magic he made sure the book was still on the same page. He quickly grabbed another book and pretented to be reading. Twilight turned around only to find an open book inches from her, as she picked it up, her eyes drifted to the royal guard who seemed to be lost in his reading, or so she thought. After a few seconds of silence, a loud gasp was heard quickly followed by cheers. "Yes, yes! Finally, this is what I needed." Setting the book down, he gazed at Twilight, pretending he didn't know what was going on. "Did you find what you wanted?" "Yes, now I can learn more about I need to know. Thanks for your help captain." He smiled back, her happiness was something entirely new to him. It felt...nice. "I'm happy to hear I manage to help." What happened next caught him completely off-guard. Is she...hugging me? He didn't noticed she moved closer to him, when did she do that? Nopony ever hugged him in a very, very long time. The touch of somepony else, the warm hug, the feelings that threatened to rise again. He needed to leave. Now. The distressed guard cleared his throat, fortunately getting her attention. "Uh? Oh, sorry sorry." - she let go of the stallion, clearly embarassed by herself. "N-No worries," - Crystal lied. "Now if you don't mind I have uhm tasks...to do." He bowed his head and made a fast exit. "Thanks for the help again." As she dove into her newfound research, a living shadow gazed at her. "You did the right thing." He narrowed his eyes and disappeared out of sight. "We shall see."
Chapter One: Leading the ChargeSmall snowflakes fell on the battlefield, only to be crushed by metal hooves. The war cries and sounds of metal clashing against each other was heard everywhere. Equestria's Royal Army was met with a tough and numerous defence by King Sombra's Army, their task was simple, defend the border and crush everything or everypony that was a possible threat. Beyond the other side of the battle, two green eyes peered over the chaos. The one in question was in full metal armor, also covering his face, only the eyes and mane could be seen. Parts of the armor had crystals, suggesting it was fused for a better protection, or for more offensive purpose such as the metal hooves that seemed to have crystal talons. A gray cape laid on his back. In the middle of the chestplate, a small purple crystal shaped in a star, glowed softly. The two stallions bearing a dark purple armor approached him. "Sir, we bring reports from the battlefield." "You may speak." His voice was deep but soothing. "The enemy is slowly losing terrain." He took a long breath, this battle had last more than he thought, if it wasn't for the orders to stand down and do nothing, he would had finished this much sooner. But there's something else he wanted to personally see, if the information he got from his spies was correct, that is. It's been more than an hour and nothing happened. "However the left side of the defensive line was taken several casualties. Reinforcements have been-" Before the soldier could finish, a explosion on the left side caught everypony's attention. "Lieutenant Orion, watch over, I must see this." The other guard saluted. "Follow me captain Steelstrike, and bring more soldiers." The captain nodded and waved at a group of soldiers standing by. Ever so calm and slow, they proceeded to their destination, the remaining soldiers opening a path for them. "This might become interesting" He said to himself. "Eyes open captain, is that clear?" "Yes sir!" Several soldiers were sent flying away after getting hit by rays of light, others used their magic to create shields, but it wasn't strong enough and it quickly shattered. "Hold positions!" - one soldier shouted. "How's everypony?" The soldier suddenly turned is head to the right, only to see his leader next to him. "S-Sir, we are doing our best to push them back, b-but..." He raised an hoof and the soldier stopped talking. His green eyes brightened brighter than before with purple mist coming from them. "Such a pleasure to finally meet you," He grinned, even if it wasn't able to see it. "Princess." Her heat could be felt from far away and her radiance gave a different view to the battlefield. The golden armor with the symbol of the Sun was enough to say who it was, the horn and wings also confirmed a lot. "It's a shame I can't say the same thing." - the princess replied with a stern voice. His eyes locked on her before searching the terrain. "Do tell, where's your sister?" As if to answer his question, a blue magical sphere was intercepted by his captain's shield. Looking up, they saw the princess of the Moon descending, landing next to her sister. "Thank you captain." Princess Celestia took a better look at him, noticed the crystal resting on his chestplate, she then inquired. "You are not King Sombra, who are you?" He stepped forward and cleared his throat. "I'm prince Crystal Night, King Sombra's Army Leader." Princess Luna glanced at her sister, her look didn't falter after hearing such statement. So the rumors are indeed true. "I'm princess Celestia and this is my sister, princess Luna, and we are rulers of Equestria." "I know well who you are." "Surrender, this battle was gone too far!" - Luna stated. "No." The royal sisters glanced at each other, their magical grip still holding their weapons. "Before you do something you might regret, look around you and tell me what you really see." That's when they noticed more soldiers had showed up and that their numbers were far too small to deal with all of them. Not only that but Celestia could feel dark magic emanating from the prince, it was strong enough to sent shivers down her spine. "I'm certain my soldiers can stand against the cold, but what about yours? They also look really tired, are you willing to keep this battle when victory is far from your reach?" As much she didn't want to admit, he was right. Fighting wasn't an option anymore, they needed to fall back and rest. "He is right Luna, we can't win like this." - she whispered. "We fell right into his hooves." Celestia nodded. "Retreat we shall then." "Wise decision princess." "We shall meet again." Celestia then turned to her army. "We are retreating at once." The princesses and the prince shared a final glance before departing opposite ways. "Oh, we will princess, sooner than you might think." - he grinned. "Rebuild the defenses and take the injured ones back to the Crystal Empire to be taken care off. I want a full report Lieutenant Orion as soon you get back, understood?" He quickly saluted. "It shall be done sir!" The prince climbed into his chariot. "Good, now let's leave." With that command, the chariot made its way to the empire. It was going to be a long ride, probably best to rest his eyes before talking to him. It's over, for now... - he thought as his eyes slowly closed. The sudden stop of the chariot could only indicated one thing, they had arrived. He rose up from his seat and left his chariot. Crystal glanced around, only to see several crystal ponies chained and working, being very carefully watched by the guards. He paid the workers no mind, as their pain wasn't his concern. He entered the castle, following one of the many stairs it had. I still don't understand why. Some time later he stopped in front of two large purple crystal doors. He took a deep breath before using his magic to open the doors. On the other side of the room a dark stallion was seated on the throne. "Welcome back my dark prince." King Sombra greeted him a devious smile. "Master." - he bowed.
Chapter Two: A Shadow Among the Light"How did the battle went? I'm certain it was tedious to watch." - King Sombra stated. Crystal Night stood still in the middle of the throne room. "It was, until the royal sisters decided to show up." Sombra immediately rose from his throne, the anger in his eyes very clear. "What?!" - he pratically shouted. "They decided to finally show themselves, just like how I expected." Sombra lifted an eyebrow. "Was this the information you got from your spies?" He nodded. "Maybe using spies wasn't a bad idea afterall." "They have proven to be quite useful." The King descended from his throne, the look on his face said there was much more to tell. Crystal could probably guess what it was. "How did your meeting went with Queen Chrysalis?" Sombra huffed in return. "Let's just say the Queen did a poor choice." Crystal blinked a couple of times. "Wait, she refused to join us?" Sombra trotted towards the windows, watching his empire through his green eyes. He felt no emotion or concern for the wellbeing of his so called 'citizens'. The only thing he cared about was ruling the Frozen North and then Equestria. But he also had another plan in mind. Unfortunately, this meant he was going to cross path again with the changeling Queen, and he wasn't very amused how she denied his offer. "Doesn't matter now, I have already assembled a small army near the Badlands frontier." "Do you want me there?" The King shook his head. "Then what my Master?" - he inquired. He turned his gazed back to the younger stallion. "For now, I want you to rest, then maybe go to Canterlot. I would like to see Celestia's face when she has to tell them they lost again." He almost chuckled at the thought. "You may go now." Crystal bowed and left the throne room closing the doors behind him. A guard that was waiting, approached him. "Your Highness," - he said with a quick bow. "the spies have some important news for you." The young prince started trotting towards his royal chamber. He gave the guard a slight nod, which meant for him to follow. "Apparently the royal sisters kept some secrets almost well hidden from us." He lifted an eyebrow. "I'm listening." "It said that Celestia kept six powerful gems in a hidden vault." That statement made Crystal stop for a brief moment. "Do the spies know where's that vault?" The guard shook his head. "Only a few ponies know." Crystal thought to himself. Probably her sister and maybe that one royal captain. They keep going through a set of hallways, until they finally reached a grey door with two guards standing next to it. "Return to Canterlot, gather more information on the whereabouts on this vault, I'm going to rest but, I'll join them later, you may go now." - he told him with a dismiss of his hoof. The guard did a bow before disappearing into a flash. The other two guards saluted as Crystal pushed the door open and entered. After he closed it, he let out a big sigh of relief. Slowly, he removed his armour and tossed into a corner of his room. Normally he would take the time to put it on its place, however this was not one of those moments. Cursed changelings He stood in front of the mirror and glanced at himself. His fur was a light gray colour, after removing his helmet, it was easier to see his white mane. As for his eyes, they were bright yellow. His cutie mark was a purple crystal above the crescent moon. He let out another sight and trotted towards his chair. Using his magic, he picked up a book that was laying on the table. It was the same book he was reading before he got summoned to battle. The book had many Equestrian tales, and this one certainly was full of them, including The Royal Sisters, something that his master wouldn't approve. Reading had become one of his favourite hobbies to do, aside from casting new spells. He opened on the last page he was reading, however a knock on the door caught his attention. "Come in." - he ordered, already knowing who could be around that time. The door slowly opened, and a dark stallion bearing a purple armour gave his prince a bow. "Your Majesty, my most sincere apologizes for not meeting with you upon your arrival, I was training the Shadow Guards." "It's fine Obsidian, you were simply doing your task." "How was the battle?" - he inquired as he approached Crystal. "A little boring, a little exciting, they certainly helped in killing the boredom." "The Royal Sisters? I heard some rumours." The prince nodded. "That is indeed exciting, care for some wine Your Majesty?" The guard picked a bottle of wine and poured into the glass, he levitated towards Crystal, who accepted it. "Thank you Obsidian." He took a small sip, enjoying the flavour. Funny enough he could drink a lot of wine before getting drunk. Not that he wanted, but it would help in certain situations. "What do you intend to do about the changelings?" "Nothing, the King already dispatched an assault on them. Surely that won't fail." - he said, rolling his eyes. "Anything else I can do, your Majesty?" "No, I need to rest before departing to Canterlot." Obsidian saluted and left his room. "Rest well." A few minutes later Crystal placed the book down and went for his bed. As he laid down his head on the pillow, he started to relax. Even though this was only for a brief moment, Crystal enjoyed this, there was something about the silence that called to him. "Why didn't you fight them?" - a voice that was deep inside his mind inquired. "We could simply ended this war." "You know why." "Ah! I remember well, because Sombra wishes for him to defeat them. We both know he can't, but you however. You possess the power that he can only dream about. He's holding you back. Break free from his grasp." "I can't do that, also it's King Sombra. Now leave me alone." "As you wish." Once Crystal was fully rested, it was time to depart to Canterlot. One would think it take a long ride there, however the prince developed a teleportation spell. He made two purple crystals that channel dark magic, one was here while the other was back on Canterlot. The spell was similar to a normal one, the only big different is that he needed cast it on the crystal. Upon receiving the right amount of dark magic, the crystal would glow before teleporting who was near to it. The issue was that required a lot of magic, the longer the distance, the more magic it would require. After that he would need to rest or not use much magic. It was quite the risky move if he had to admit, in case he was discovered or caught off guard, things wouldn't end well for anyone, specially for him. It was an easy way to get inside. As the spell was finally ready, the crystal glowed and the prince was no longer there. For his disguise, he decided to take a look of a soldier, not any soldier of course, but a captain. That way he could go any place and information he desired, right at the tip of his hooves. His body took a shadowy form, before revealing a white fur stallion bearing the royal armour of the sun. He stretched out his limbs, feeling a bit weak. His purple crystal turned into a golden sphere. He decided to keep the same eye colour. His hideout was medium-sized house, one suited for a royal captain. Captain Quick Strike. It was a name he gave some thought into it. Leaving the house, he made his way towards the castle. Surely by now the princesses must have from yet another defeat. As he trotted down the streets of Canterlot, he could feel several ponies doubts and fears. Many times Crystal had heard the guards complaining about their losses and this war. The guards saluted him upon his arrival to the castle. Moments later Crystal spotted Princess Celestia in the gardens, she had a grim look on her face. Yet no emotion for anger or hatred, just slight sadness. "Welcome back your Majesty." - greeted a guard with a low voice. Crystal turned his head slightly . "Nice to see you again Ambar Petal." The guard gave him a small nod. It was a mare with a light green coat. She was definitely the best of his spies. Nopony would suspect of a mare being a spy afterall. "Any thing new about those Elements?" She shook her head. "Nothing yet." "Princess Celestia!" The disguised guards quickly glanced at a purple unicorn, running towards the princess before giving her a much needed hug. A small group of five ponies also showed up. "I didn't know Celestia was expecting visitors." Meanwhile Crystal had his focus on something else, like that unicorn. Judging by the hug and the way they talked, indicated him that those two were very close. Perhaps close enough for the princess to reveal her the Elements. "What do we know about that mare?" "Not much I'm afraid. First time I have seen her in Canterlot. Is she important?" "Maybe. I need to get closer somehow." "Well I was on my way to deliver this letter to the princess." Ambar levitated the letter in front of his eyes. "This should help." He smiled as his magic took hold of it. "Thank you. You're a dear you know that, right?" The mare smiled back. "I know, have a good day, Captain Strike." Celestia noticed the guard approaching and smiled. "Captain Strike, I can see you're doing better now. I was informed you were sick." He bowed, glancing back the Solar Princess. "Indeed I was, pardon me if I made you worry." "It's alright, I'm just relieved you're fine." "Also ready to work." - he pulled out the letter from his armour. "This is for you, your Highness." Celestia's magic covered it. She then noticed that he was glancing at her guests. "How rude of me. Captain Strike, meet Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Fluttershy." "His armour looks so shiny." - said a bouncing pink pony. "How ya doin' sir?" A pony wearing a Stetson asked. "I'm fine, thank you for asking." "He's such a gentlecolt." - stated a white unicorn. A blue pegasus with a rainbow stepped forward. "Who cares about that? I want to see him fight." Meanwhile a yellow pegasus mare decided to stay a bit behind, giving a simple 'Hello'. "I thought I knew all of Celestia's guards." "I'm new around here." He took her hoof and kissed it softly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Twilight Sparkle."
Chapter Three: Following the TwilightThe group of ponies made their way into the castle, Celestia and Twilight seemed to be lost in a deep conversation. As for Crystal, he decided to hang out behind everypony and watch the whole scene. It was very clear to him that those two had a deep connection. He was a bit surprised that none of his spies had any information about these ponies. He managed to get bits and pieces, like where they came from and what they were doing, but nothing too important. It would seem like they have no idea about these Elements. As soon they arrived the throne room Celestia glanced at the captain. "If you don't mind captain I would like to speak in private with them." Crystal nodded, seeing no point to argue. "Of course your Highness." He made his way around the corner and waited for the sound of the door closing. The disguised guard looked around, making he was indeed alone, he turned himself into a shadow and entered the room, quickly making his way into a nearby shadow in order not to get spotted. From his point he could see and listen very well. This spell certainly had its use. "I have a favor to ask all of you" - begun Celestia. "As you know the war against the Crystal Empire isn't going the way that me or my sister wished, we haven't been able to break into their territory." "The Crystal Empire isn't that large, it's impossible for them to have more soldiers than you." - stated Twilight. Part of it was true. The empire itself wasn't large, it was mostly surrounded by snow, but due to the harsh freezing weather it was very difficult to survive that long out there, only a few animals could do that, like the snow wolves. "That may be true, however we just made a recent discovery. There have been rumors about somepony leading Sombra's army. That pony releaved himself to us. By the look of things, it seems like he has a pupil of his own." "Why would he have a pupil? Is he afraid to fight? I bet he's a coward." Crystal Night glanced at the blue pegasus, her time would come, just not now. "King Sombra is no coward, clearly he's planning something and his pupil knows very well how to pushed us back every time we tried." Rarity trotted closer. "Maybe there's a chance his being controlled by him." The princess of the sun pondered about that, it was very possible, but at the same time she felt his dark magic. Unlike the other ponies that were being mind-controlled, they didn't carry any trace of dark magic even if they were unicorns. "I believe his doing by his own will. As for why, it's too soon to understand." Celestia descended from her throne and cleared her throat. "What I'm about to tell can never leave this room, for we do not know who to trust." Everypony nodded. "My sister and I have decided to use the Elements of Harmony, it has helped us plenty of times in the past, unfortunately we can't no longer harness that power." Elements of Harmony? Never heard of that. He did his own little research on Equestrian history and never came across this. Well it was possible that maybe some of the books were outdated or concealed that part. If that was the case, then why would they hide that? "In all my studies, I never found that." - stated the purple unicorn, catching Crystal's attention. "None of my books mentioned those elements. What do they do and how they work?" "I'm willing to explain all that," a quick knocking on the door caught everypony by surprise. "Come in." A group of nobles and diplomats made their way inside and bowed to her. "Your Highness, we are sorry for interrupting but there's some urgent news that needs to be discussed." The solar monarch sighed, the explanation would have to hold. "I'm sorry my little ponies, I must attend to this first. I'll tell my staff to get the guest rooms prepared." The mane six bowed and quickly left the room, leaving the newcomers and their princess. I must learn more about these artifacts, perhaps the royal library has the information that I need. He snaked his way out the room into an empty area, ceasing his spell. With this disguised with was quite easy to trot around Canterlot without been detected, however he had to keep his magical presence very low, otherwise one of the princesses could sense it. It wasn't the first time he went to this library looking either for knowlegde or simply something to read in his spare time. The library back home wasn't very packed with books and he has read all of them, at least twice by now. It was one of the few reasons coming here was worth it. Needless to say, more often than normal, he would lose track of time in the middle of these books and shelves. Not that he cared anyway. "Now let's see if we can find the right book, it shouldn't take long." One hour later The dark prince sighed, this search was proving to be quite the challenge and annoying to say the least. He already saw many books but none had any hint or information. How hard was it really to find that? "Ouch!" A noise in the next bookshelf got his attention. He took a glance around the corner and once more saw the purple mare from earlier, who was rubbing the top of her head. "That book was heavier than I thought." Twilight went to grab the book, but it was already in somepony magical grasp. "I'm going to guess this fell on your head, right?" "Oh, Captain Strike, I'm sorry I didn't noticed you." He shook his head. "No need to apolagize, I was nearby when I heard something." "I was looking for a book, when one fell on my head." - she blushed softly. Crystal placed the book back on it's place and smiled. "Mistakes happen, say what book are you looking for?" Twilight scratched the back of her head. "Well, I can't really say what it's for, but I'm looking for a book about magical artifacts." "Magical artifacts? Hmm, I'm sure we can find one, if you let me help of course." Also that way perhaps he could get what he wanted. "I suppose two heads searching it's better than one." "I'm glad I can help," - he grinned, this foolish mare had no idea. "afterall I do like to spend quite some time in the library." "Wait, are you a bookworm too?" He stared at Twilight. Bookworm? She did call him a worm? "Excuse me?" "Oh sorry, it means you really like to read books. Like a lot. My friend, Rainbow often calls me that." "Oooh I see, well in that case, yes. I do enjoy spending my time reading. Knowledge doesn't occupy space. It helps to calm my nerves." He wasn't really lying about that part though. "It's because of the war right?" The captain responded with a nod. "I have always been a bookworm really, I know what you mean." The duo spent the whole afternoon searching through books, while discussing spells and other threories, such as time travel. Crystal was admired by the mare's knowledge on a lot of subjects. He never met somepony who had such a deep grasp, it was actually enjoyable. Too bad she's on the wrong side. "It looks like this search was a dead end." - Twilight was growing tired, meanwhile Crystal's eyes scanned the pages of the book when it suddenly the words 'Elements of Harmony' caught his immediate attention. This is it! So let's see, the Elements of Harmony are six supernatural artifacts representing the aspects of harmony. The prince rolled his eyes. They represent honesty, loyalty, generosity, kindness, laughter and the last one is magic. However the effects are non-lethal and temporary, usually a form of banishment or imprisonment. Was their plan to banish King Sombra? If so, why would the princesses need their help? Unless... "Ah! This so annoying! So many books and yet I can't find what I need." He could feel her anger, frustation. Usually he would paid no mind to it, but it was slightly disturbing to him. He glanced down at the books on his hooves. Crystal let out a sigh. He shouldn't. "This is the chance we have been waiting for. He will never know." He didn't want to betray his master, but at the same time he couldn't stand the mare's feelings. He glanced at Twilight making sure she wasn't looking. When the coast was clear, he tossed the book aside closer to Twilight, with his magic he made sure the book was still on the same page. He quickly grabbed another book and pretented to be reading. Twilight turned around only to find an open book inches from her, as she picked it up, her eyes drifted to the royal guard who seemed to be lost in his reading, or so she thought. After a few seconds of silence, a loud gasp was heard quickly followed by cheers. "Yes, yes! Finally, this is what I needed." Setting the book down, he gazed at Twilight, pretending he didn't know what was going on. "Did you find what you wanted?" "Yes, now I can learn more about I need to know. Thanks for your help captain." He smiled back, her happiness was something entirely new to him. It felt...nice. "I'm happy to hear I manage to help." What happened next caught him completely off-guard. Is she...hugging me? He didn't noticed she moved closer to him, when did she do that? Nopony ever hugged him in a very, very long time. The touch of somepony else, the warm hug, the feelings that threatened to rise again. He needed to leave. Now. The distressed guard cleared his throat, fortunately getting her attention. "Uh? Oh, sorry sorry." - she let go of the stallion, clearly embarassed by herself. "N-No worries," - Crystal lied. "Now if you don't mind I have uhm tasks...to do." He bowed his head and made a fast exit. "Thanks for the help again." As she dove into her newfound research, a living shadow gazed at her. "You did the right thing." He narrowed his eyes and disappeared out of sight. "We shall see."
