Iolite sat in her study, writing out a letter addressed to her associate in Kemaut. A silver bracelet studded with amethysts rested off to the side, the princess intending to send it along with the letter.
The sphinxes were an odd species to her. She knew several who had immigrated to Equestria, and had been lucky enough to meet one named Tiye who was willing to be taken under her wing.
Tiye had since become a member of Iolite’s royal guard, and she was the one who had given Iolite the contact she was currently addressing. She had many stories to tell of her homeland, as well as the gods they worshipped.
Although Bastet was their matriarch, two others had drawn most of Iolite’s interest. Ra, a patron of order and light, and Apep, a patron of chaos and darkness. Tiye had tentatively compared their roles with those of Celestia and Nightmare Moon, respectively, with Khonsu being the closest analogue to Luna.
With Kemaut being directly on the other side of the world, Ra and Khonsu served as the sun and moon’s caretakers after they had set in Equestria. When the sun rose over Equestria, night fell in Kemaut, and vice versa.
Iolite had learned of the importance of the alliance between the two nations from her mother and the other princesses, and she intended to do her part to keep it strong. Having a contact within Kemaut was invaluable, but communication was often slow. Spike’s dragonfire was much faster than normal post, but there were faster ways.
As the royal spymaster, she would need the quickest method possible.
The alicorn levitated the bracelet in front of her, slowly sweeping her magic across it as she performed one last inspection. Gems are set correctly, spell matrices are stable…
One more test couldn’t hurt.
Her horn glowed a brighter purple as she channeled magic into the gems. She spoke a single word at the bracelet, as she had many times before, with a hint of humor in her voice.
“Test.”
The gems on the matching necklace she wore lit up, and she heard her own speech immediately echoed back to her as a voice in her head.
Good. I hope Khamut’s magic is compatible, otherwise I’m giving him this for nothing. It worked for Tiye, but I can’t be sure that sphinx magic is as consistent between individuals as unicorn magic.
She set the bracelet back down and looked over her letter. ‘I hope this finds you well,’ etcetera. There would be time for a more casual conversation once he had the bracelet. With careful strokes, she wrote her closing, and ended with her signature.
A flicker of purple light dried the ink, and another rolled the parchment up. A signet ring lifted from a bowl of wax and sealed the letter. She cooled the wax in the same fashion as she had dried the ink, picking up the bracelet as well. With a sigh, she tilted her head until she felt a crick from her neck, then stood.
Now to find Spike.
Iolite lifted up the saddlebags next to her chair and put them on, tucking the letter and bracelet into them. Her horn glowed brighter, and she closed her eyes as she envisioned Friendship Castle.
Aaaand-
With a bang, her door burst open, and her concentration shattered.
A beige, blue-maned sphinx stepped in, her tone urgent. “Princess, someone’s just teleported into the atrium. Flurry Heart, she’s in bad shape.”
Iolite’s blood ran cold, and she blinked in confusion as she recovered from her broken spell. “W-what? Here, now?” She quickly took her saddlebags off and set them aside, shaking her head to try to clear it. “Go back and stay on guard, whoever it was could be trying to follow her.”
Tiye nodded, turning around and dashing back the way she came.
Iolite channeled magic into her necklace, tuning it to reach the guards in the entrance hall as she struggled to keep her voice from shaking. “Make sure Flurry’s safe.”
Why would she be here, and why would she be injured? Did something happen?
She galloped out, melting into the shadows around her. Her vision went black, and she emerged into a darkened corner of the entrance hall a moment later, She quickly swept her gaze across the room, spotting her cousin from between two columns.
Flurry Heart was surrounded by a weakly-shining yellow bubble, glaring out of it at the three guards around her with wild eyes. “I told you to get her, where is she?!”
A gray thestral stood at a distance, shadow swirling calmly around her like black mist. “She knows you’re here. There’s no need for that shield, Princess, you’re safe.”
“I’ll believe that when I see Iolite!” Flurry snapped back, her bubble flickering out for a moment before flaring to life once more, making the alicorn put a hoof to her horn and hiss in pain.
Iolite winced.
Quit watching and go!
She shook her head, galloping toward them. “I’m here, Flurry, put the shield down!”
Flurry’s wide eyes locked on the other alicorn, and her shield immediately popped. Her legs shook, but she stayed upright. “Oh, thank the stars…”
Iolite stopped a few feet from her cousin, worriedly looking her over. Smoke curled from her singed horn. Her coat and mane were disheveled, but there were no signs of physical injury. Only burnout?
“Flurry, what-”
The other alicorn suddenly lurched toward her, wrapping a hoof around Iolite’s neck and pressing her cheek into it.
“W-we were attacked, right before the Crystal Faire.”
Iolite’s eyes widened. She let Flurry cling to her, her words nearly failing her as she tried to wrap her head around the situation. “By who?”
“I don’t know who they were!” Flurry blurted, unable to keep her voice steady. “Ponies, using dark magic. T-they…” She began to tremble, and tears wet Iolite’s coat. “Iolite, they took the Crystal Heart.”
She felt her heart nearly skip a beat. “How? Wouldn’t Cadance or Shining have-”
“I put them in a shield.” Flurry’s cheek pressed harder against Iolite’s neck. “I-I panicked, keeping them safe was the only thing going through my head.”
Flurry let out a bitter, quiet laugh, stepping back and hanging her head. “...They could have stopped it. By the time Mom broke through my shield, they’d already vanished.” Her eyes closed, and she shook her head.
“This is my fault.”
Iolite placed a hoof on Flurry’s shoulder, her lips moving a few times before she finally spoke. “Flurry, no it isn’t. You couldn’t have known this was going to happen. You kept your family safe, that’s something.”
We don’t have time for this!
“I... messed up my teleport,” Flurry said, looking up at Iolite with her head still downcast. “I meant to go to Canterlot, but you popped into my head.”
Panic itched at Iolite’s mind, and she struggled to keep her composure. “We need to go, then. Now.” She lowered her horn, offering it to Flurry. “You don’t need to give any magic to the spell, I'll be fine.”
I’m going to burn myself out doing this, bringing someone else along during a teleport is difficult. It’ll be a few days before I can even use my necklace, but I can’t have her objecting to this.
Flurry raised her head, nodding slightly and touching her horn to the other alicorn’s.
Iolite’s horn flared with purple light, and they vanished with a pop.
Author's Note
This is an idea I've been working on for quite some time now, and I'm excited to finally start developing it beyond small drafts and snippets. Updates might be a bit slow, though. Hope you enjoy.
The doors of a centuries-old castle creaked open, throwing light across the stone floor.
The inside was carefully maintained by the ponies that made use of it, while the outside was a facade meant to suggest disuse. They strengthened the walls through magical reinforcement rather than repairing them with new stone.
The castle had once belonged to a feudal lord or lady before the Empire’s unification under Sombra, as had all the others scattered across the land. They were lost to time when the north froze, eventually being rediscovered when the return of the Crystal Heart brought life back to the frozen wastes.
This castle, however, had stayed hidden by a forest of pines that had thrived under the Heart’s power.
Onyx Shard had established his cult in this place two years earlier, though their first major accomplishment had only just been realized.
A unicorn shrouded in a plain brown cloak stepped into his castle with a triumphant grin on his face. Two others followed.
“I can’t believe that actually worked,” another unicorn said, his voice tinged with excitement. A burlap sack rested on his back, red light barely visible from within as his horn glowed an identical color.
Onyx lowered his hood. With the flick of an ear, he raised an eyebrow at the steel-gray unicorn. “We’ve been preparing for this moment for nearly a year, of course it worked.”
“...And to think you doubted me, Flamberge.” The corners of his lips curled into a smirk. “Take the Heart down to the cellar and keep that containment spell going. It won’t be soaking up any love here.”
Flamberge nodded, splitting from the other two and heading down one of the castle’s many corridors.
The remaining unicorn looked at Onyx with blank, lifeless eyes.
“Inform the others and send them down to help Flamberge with his spell, would you? He can’t maintain it alone for very long.”
The unicorn bowed her head and went on her way, leaving Onyx alone.
He made his way up a staircase at the end of the atrium, trotting into the vacant great hall.
Oh, Signet. You could’ve been so much more if you hadn’t gotten cold hooves.
Onyx’s magic permeated both her body and her mind, leaving her little more than a mindless thrall.
He didn’t enjoy using his magic in such a crude, forceful way, but he didn’t have a choice. She would have exposed them and ruined a year of preparation.
What a waste of a perfectly good mind. I should’ve worked on her more when I still could.
Onyx made his way through the great hall, coming to a door that nearly reached the ceiling. His horn glowed black for a moment, and the door swung open.
The throne room was dim, sunlight from clouded windows scarcely lighting the floor enough to walk. A faded red rug trimmed with gold led to the dais containing the throne. Two similarly colored tapestries hung both above and behind the throne, the symbols they bore having faded long ago.
Onyx slowly walked to the dais and stepped up to the throne, lowering himself onto it. He closed his eyes, purple smoke trailing from them as he focused. Magic flowed through him, making a dull thrum in the back of his mind.
He reached out mentally, the various connections he’d made branching out from him in his mind’s eye like a spider’s web. His followers stood out the most, dark magic pulsing black and purple through their bodies.
He could warp their minds to his liking if he wished, though he mostly left them alone. Willing servants were more versatile than thralls.
He stretched further, furrowing his brow in concentration as he searched for one particular pony. Her dread and confusion rang out like a discordant bell along their connection, and he tracked it to the source.
Flurry Heart.
It was so difficult to worm into your head from afar, but you’ve been very useful.
Making her put a shield around her parents had been easy. The impulse to defend them had already been present; all he had done was amplify it.
His horn glowed black, and a grin slowly crept onto his face. A thin net of magic crept along her mind, trawling up snippets of conversation.
“-And what am I supposed to do in the meantime?”
Another voice spoke, sounding more composed than Flurry’s. “We both need to let our magic recover. If you go back now, you’ll be helpless.”
Anger flared in Flurry’s mind. “I can’t just sit in Canterlot and do nothing, Iolite!”
Iolite sighed. “What are you planning to do, then? You’re still burnt out.”
“I don’t care about that; I can still be there for my subjects.”
“And if these cultists attack again with the intent to kill while you have no magic?”
“I’ll... stay near Mom and Dad. You can’t stop me from leaving.”
Another frustrated sigh escaped Iolite. “...I’m sending a few of my Guard with you, then.”
“Iolite, that’s-”
“If you say no, they’re shadowing you anyway, so it’s a question of whether you’d like the company or not.”
“...I know that you’re burnt out too; you can’t contact them.”
“I know an enchanter’s shop in the city. I’ve contributed to their stock in the past; I’m sure they’ll gladly give me a charged piece of quartz to use with my necklace.”
Onyx gently nudged Flurry’s mind, his own curiosity fueling hers.
“And how are your guards getting here?”
“Tiye has her ways of moving ponies around.”
He scowled for a moment, pressing further.
“...What ‘ways’?”
“How she and the others get here is irrelevant.” Iolite’s voice softened slightly. “...Look, Flurry, it’ll take me twenty minutes. I don’t want you going alone.”
Onyx shook his head and let his horn flicker out. Flurry’s thoughts grew faint, then left his awareness entirely. His body grew slack, lightheadedness washing over him as he felt the magic leave.
We’ll lay low for now. Keep quiet, let the Empire weaken without their Heart.
He rose from the throne, swaying slightly and shaking his head. A cough wracked his form, followed by another as black spattered the dais. He lifted a hoof to his mouth, slowly lowering himself onto the floor as his lungs burned with the increasing intensity of the coughs. Eventually, they subsided. When he pulled his hoof back, it was stained with the same black fluid. He stared at it, shaking slightly.
...I may have overdone it during the theft.
He cleared his throat, wiping his hoof on his cloak. With a deep breath, he stood. He weakly trotted to the doors and out the way he came, making his way toward the cellar while thinking of how to address his followers.
