Chapters Crystal Night: The Shadow Prince
Chapter One: Leading the Charge
Small 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.
The two stallions bearing a dark purple armor approached him.
"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.
"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.
"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.
He stepped forward and cleared his throat.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.
"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."
"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!"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 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.
"Master." - he bowed.
Crystal Night: The Shadow Prince
Chapter Two: A Shadow Among the Light
"How did the battle went? I'm certain it was tedious to watch." - King Sombra stated.
"They decided to finally show themselves, just like how I expected."
"They have proven to be quite useful."
Crystal blinked a couple of times.
"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.
Crystal bowed and left the throne room closing the doors behind him. A guard that was waiting, approached him.
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?"Probably her sister and maybe that one royal captain.
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
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.
"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?"
"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.""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.
Leaving the house, he made his way towards the castle. Surely by now the princesses must have from yet another defeat.
"Princess Celestia!"
"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."Captain Strike ."
Celestia noticed the guard approaching and smiled.
"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."
"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.
"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."
Crystal Night: The Shadow Prince
Chapter Three: Following the Twilight
The 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 would seem like they have no idea about these Elements.
Crystal nodded, seeing no point to argue.
"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.
"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.
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?
"I'm willing to explain all that," a quick knocking on the door caught everypony by surprise. "Come in."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.
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?
"Oh, Captain Strike, I'm sorry I didn't noticed you."
"I was looking for a book, when one fell on my head." - she blushed softly.
Twilight scratched the back of her head.
"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'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?"
"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.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..."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.
"Yes, now I can learn more about I need to know. Thanks for your help captain."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.
"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."You did the right thing."
He narrowed his eyes and disappeared out of sight.
