I stood atop the crystal walls looking out at our visitors who had made camp a few hundred feet from the wall. Wished that I hadn’t reacted so quickly when the ponies tried to claim the kingdom but I had and so I would deal with the consequences. I turned behind me watching as Chrysalis shifted into the form of a white alicorn with a pale pink mane. She had said something about the ponies respecting alicorns more. When I had asked the name she planned to give she told me she would be Queen Molly which made me groan as Dart looked at the two of us oddly.

The plan was for her and two crystal guards to go meet with the Ponies while I would stay on the walls due to the fact that my presence seemed to bolster the morale of any crystal guards and shifted changeling guards. Chrysalis also knew as Chrys and now Molly wore heavy plate armor which immediately banished the image of a black leather armored Molly from my mind. I also remembered that powerful magic-users could read minds. The crystal guards wore the most intact armor that was left after the long time left to rust and fall apart. Eventually, we ended up with one crystal guard earth pony in heavy armor and a pegasus disguised changeling in light armor. Both guards also carried two large combat knives which I had quickly made for them from crystal and each had their own personal weapon with the crystal guard carrying a war hammer and the changeling carrying a crossbow.

“My king unfortunately we do not possess a weapon that fits a mare of my stature. Do you think you could make something large and hard for me to play with?” said the altered voice of Chrys which made me jump as I hadn't noticed her.

“Here!” I said as a large weapon which only I knew of formed a Terranic Greatsword. I then infused the weapon with a burst of dark energy.

“Thank you, my king I shall use the utmost care when playing with your sword now and later on today,” she said causing me to shiver again.

Chrys and her guards then left to go meet the visitors with Chrys’ sword resting on her shoulder.

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I split my magic between two projects keeping the cold out and the warm in. Shining had been helping but he tired out in a few minutes. I had really been questioning why I married the idiot. Oh, right I liked watching how he handled other swords especially Zebra made swords while I played with a minotaur warhammer. Twilight had been with us but she had to go back in the snow to grab Barb who had gotten lost. I was still angry at that creature for claiming to be king of an empire that should be owned by ponies or some pony-like creature, not a mutated diamond dog. Suddenly the weight of the shielding magic was lifted and the magic fire flared, waking my guards and the being I hesitated to call my husband instead of wife.

“I hope you don’t mine but I used my magic to lessen the burden,” said a soft voice that was like Celestia’s but off somehow. The shield widened and blocked out the blizzard allowing three forms to enter one of which was an alicorn wielding a massive blade. “I am Queen Molly of the Crystal Kingdom.”

“You mean empire,” I insisted. Why couldn’t these ponies get the name right?

“I’d stop calling it that the crystal ponies associate that name with Sombra’s rule. We renamed it after Sombra was...removed.”

“So you are married to that diamond dog?”

“The King?” she laughed. “Oh, that’s a good one no he still hasn’t warmed up to the idea of interspecies relationships he told me his people don’t like that kind of thing or at least his dreams told me that when I made him have confusing dreams.”

“But Diamond Dogs don’t care who they have relations with, is he not a mutated dog?” I asked.

“No he has more in common with the great apes but unlike them he possesses magic and by the makers is it powerful,” she said looking back at the city. “Mind if I join you by the fire?” she asked.

“Go ahead and sit, the others should be back soon,” I said.

“Others?”

“They went back for their friend who got lost,” I explained only for my eyes to meet a concentrated face that turned to her crossbow toting guard. “Go inform the King of the other beings out in the blizzard and tell him I heavily recommend he send out search parties.”

“Yes my queen,” said the pegasus before he ran back towards the city.

“Assist the guards here with watching for her friends,” she told her remaining guard. “Awaken your wife we must move into the city so that you are not in the way of the search parties.”

“My wh-oh you mean shiny,” I levitated the sleeping unicorn.

“My queen I see a group of seven leaving the blizzard.”

“Do you also feel that?” asked one of my guards to another before the ground cracked and deep beneath it something massive moved.

“Tunnelers shit run!” yelled the crystal guard as The Elements and Barb joined us and a loud noise echoed across the winter wasteland.

“CRACKOOOM!” the icy earth shattered upward and a massive worm-like creature jumped from the ground causing me to suddenly gain a new boost in stamina.

“Why not teleport?” I asked the alicorn queen.

“Magic here is too raw and untamed, causing blizzards. When there isn’t a storm maybe we could do short jumps but nothing big.”

“The buck is that thing?” asked the blue pony.

“Ice worm!” shouted Molly. “Usually don’t come too close the ley lines play hell with their senses or at least that’s what the king said,” she explained before planting her left foot and using her momentum and both arms to hurl her massive blade at the worm.

“WHUM WHUM WHUM!” the blade made an odd sound as it spun through the air, black and purple energy flowing after it. “BOOM!” the blade impaled itself to the hilt in the side of the beasts head slowing it as the carapace and flesh around blackened as energy dispersed from the blade.

“Added a bit of magic to the blade both mine and the king’s,” she explained as the blade began to glow brightly. “Makes a great target!”

I looked to the walls and saw an almost wall of crossbow and spellfire hurtling at the beast which chased us but unfortunately it didn’t save two guards who were crushed by the worm’s body.

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“Captain what chance of no more losses on their return do you suspect and who will die if more do?” I asked looking to the captain who was manning a large darkness enhanced ballista.

“Well, at least one of the seven grouped together will die. I reckon either the white and purple or yellow and pink ponies will die if the worm is not dealt with.”

I jumped from the walls and ran into the armory remembering a weapon I had seen inside it a few hours ago when Chrys first left. There it was a large magically hardened spear. I ran from the armory increasing power to my robotic legs in a way that I had learned to do with what I guessed was techno-magic. I used my now enhanced robotic legs to jump up onto the walls starling multiple people. By this time the worm had recovered and was charging after the group with the last of the pony guards having fallen creating a shield that barely fazed the worm. As I walked I flexed all three of the magical muscles in my body in a way I had never done mixing all three while before I had kept them as far apart as possible. My right arm began to glow with a light that hurt the eyes of others but not mine and forced the metal of the armor that covered my arm to melt off it as the heat given off by my arm turned the armor to magma. Crystals floated from the ground black energy coating them giving the appearance of shadowy crystal wings. The spear shifted in my hand which now also glowed black with crystal snaking up to the tip of the spear and sucking up massive amounts of dark energy until it looked like the spear was tipped with a miniature black hole. My eyes which glowed black in the reflection of a guard’s helmet locked onto the worm which seemed to sense the new challenge and roared its own challenge.

“RAAAAHHH!” it roared loudly as the shadow crystal wings broke apart and shot into its hide each hit cracking the thick armor. Once all of the crystal had been shot I reeled my arm back.

“Fwip,” I threw the spear at impossible speeds breaking my arm into multiple pieces all linked together with a magical glowing cable that quickly reconnected the arm using what I guessed was techno-magic after the spear left my hands. After a few seconds, a second sound followed the sound of me throwing the weapon. “BOOM!” the sound made by the spear which moved almost faster than sound punching through the head of the large worm and out the other side before flying off into the blizzard.

“THUD!” the worm fell on its face dislodging Molly’s blade which I pulled to my hand using crystal manipulation. I looked at the guards who seemed to be preparing for me to drop like before but I didn’t feel like I had used any energy at all instead I felt energized like something that had been chained down had been released. My best guess was that upon finally merging all three magics I had connected myself to this world's magic field and no longer drew upon my own energy but upon the world’s energy instead. It felt like I had just awoken from a mind-numbing haze. I could literally feel magic in crystals and I could feel it thrumming in my chest dark chaotic energy pulsing in time with my heartbeat. I felt the magic that I had unconsciously focused on my mechanical enhancements making them better in every way and continuously regenerating chipped metal or drained energy by converting magic but I would have to focus on my new sense of magic later.

“BAM!” the handle of the crystal blade slammed into my metal hand and I turned to see the group of out of breath ponies now inside the walls.

“Welcome to the Crystal Kingdom as you have already met Molly I am Jekyll king of this great land ruler of the icy wasteland,” Molly came and stood next to me allowing me to pass her the large blade.

“Oh, such a big sword for me to play with thank you, my king.”

“Take the ponies in the spire and find them somewhere to stay,” I said to Molly as her eye flickered. “Gotta keep them where we can watch them,” I told her and her eye returned to normal as she walked off to the group.

Author's Note

Yes, I hate Shining and will also probably "accidentally" turn him into Gleaming who will then get stuck in the changeling warrior's barracks somehow.