Home is Where The Hearts Are.
The barrier above the Amore Palace swelled with love and faith, encompassing the Empire like a blanket as it protected everypony inside from the harsh winter storm that bombarded their shield.
The dome above them, which held the barrier above the Amore Palace swelled with love and faith, encompassing the Empire like a blanket as it protected everypony inside from the harsh winter storm that bombarded their shield.
The dome above them, which held an illusion of a clear summer day to obscure the cruel weather outside, flickered as a dark shadow suddenly smashed against the wall of magic. The living darkness pulled back like a wave, preparing for another attack against the shield.
Still, the peace inside the Empire remained unchanging with only a few silent screams escaping inside.
There was a calm stillness that came from the frozen eyes that stared up at the artificial sky, a moment captured in time that would soon be disturbed when the barrier would inevitably fall. The methodical sound of blood dripping like a leaky fountain was a graceful melody that played through the streets.
The morbid song of death was only interrupted by the thunderous clash of shadows hitting the shield.
An assault from the outside that desperately chased after the slaughter within. The barrier remained firm, unwilling, or perhaps unable, to fall as the last of the crystal ponies inside drew their last breaths.
Only two remained inside the trapped Empire as the darkness fought to break in.
Shining Armor, a young and flawed copy of a unicorn that had once lived, stood against the cloaked alicorn that trotted through the bloodshed. A magical shield covered himself and the limp body of his wife, protecting him for only a moment before a tendril of magic shot through his paper-thin defenses, piercing him in the heart as the mare drew closer.
She trotted in measured steps, taking her time to pass the familiar stranger as his last breaths slipped from his body.
Beyond their still bodies stood the Crystal Heart, a divine jewel that fed off of her own power to keep the shield raised. Plucking the artifact off of its pedestal caused the barrier to fall, allowing the darkness to sweep through the streets as it raced inside.
The tidal wave of shadows swarmed around the Amore Palace, giving the mare a wide berth as she lazily looked at the dark twister that surrounded the plaza.
A dark stallion with a crimson soaked horn emerged from the shadows, glaring at the hooded figure as she held the Crystal Heart aloft in her magic. She had known the stallion well enough as King Sombra, albeit a bit larger than the other familiar false kings she had met before.
Removing her hood revealed a crown holding a pink star, and a red lightning bolt gem decorating her necklace. Splatters of blood were scattered on the three other necklaces that were wrapped around her legs. Sadly, the element of kindness was missing from her morbid collection, but she was certain it would join the other elements soon.
“King Sombra,” the mare greeted.
“You know of me. Then I see my reputation proceeds me.”
“Don’t flatter yourself. I kill monsters like you all the time. The only reason I even know your name is because you all have the same one.”
“Monster? You slaughter my property, desecrate my homeland, and spread senseless death, and I’m the monster? I know that demons cannot look in mirrors, but I thought a creature like you could understand your hypocrisy. I—”
Any more words were silenced with a single step towards him, causing Sombra to shy away and briefly retreat into the mass of shadows around them. The light coated mare couldn’t suppress a smile as the former king growled at her.
“Filthy wench. You will pay for what you’ve done!” He promised, sending a volley of magical attacks at the mare.
Each enchanted spell and hex bounced off of her shield, or completely missed their mark as they suddenly veered off course.
Another step drew her closer to the desperate king.
“All I’ve done is protect my home,” the mare argued with a bored voice, launching her own attack with a bright flare that burned the dark vortex.
A shrill cry sprang from the inferno as Sombra leapt out of his twisted shadows. Without warning, a tendril of light wrapped around his throat and brought him closer to the young alicorn.
“I’d do anything to protect the Crystal Empire.”
“Y-you killed them all,” Sombra weakly wheezed as he tied to teleport away from her grasp.
He was only given a second of reprieve to catch his breath before another spell bound his legs to the ground below him. In a flash of light, the gnarled horn atop his head shattered, eliciting another cry from the king as the bone of his horn fell around him.
“I’m doing you all a favor. After all, at least your elements are still intact. Besides, there are worse fates than death,” the mare stated, earning a tear-filled glare from Sombra.
“You… You’re insane!” He yelled. “Y-you killed them all, you monster! What is there left!? The elements, the sisters, you killed everypony! How does this protect anypony?!”
“It protects my ponies,” she argued in turn. “You’ve always thought too small, Sombra. In this world and every other that I’ve met you in, and I’ve already tried to explain this to them. They all died without understanding, and frankly, I don’t care if you do either. Take solace in knowing your world will protect mine.”
“You… Discord will—”
“Stay away. Nearly every Discord does,” she stated before killing one of last Equestrians on Terra.
In another world, in another time in a familiar Empire, Princess Flurry Heart stepped through an oval portal to connect two similar worlds.
The peaceful stillness of death in that world was quickly forgotten as the portal closed, allowing Flurry Heart to admire her collection of stolen artifacts as she used a small spell to clean her body.
The tallest tower of the Crystal Empire had once held only one Crystal Heart during King Sombra’s reign, hiding it from everypony to ensure his position as king. The Crystal Heart was eventually liberated from its prison and returned to the streets below, but other hearts and artifacts remained locked away.
The once empty tower held a large collection of glass cases, each displaying a set of familiar necklaces, crowns, amulets, and assorted magical relics with only slight differences between them. The jewelry pieces and recently acquired heart soon joined the others in her collection, becoming one of many relics from dead worlds.
She admired her collection closely, touching the glass panes that separated them. Bright cracks raced up the length of her foreleg, spilling light onto the floor as if it were blood. Flurry Heart either didn’t notice her own disfigurement, too enraptured with her own morbid display, or didn’t care.
Her foreleg was still marred in colorful cracks as she stepped away, each one slowly crawling up her front limb to wrap around her tuft and barrel.
Her eyes never left her menagerie of stolen trinkets, even as a flash of light erupted behind her to summon this world’s most powerful ponies. A collective gasp rung in the air before a deafening silence fell over the intruders.
Flurry turned to look at the creatures who had encroached on her home. The first thing that drew her attention were the two yellow coated pegasi and the pair of Discords. The other worlders were noticeably younger than their counterparts on Flurry’s world.
The rest of them weren’t a surprise for her. Princess Twilight, the Element Bearers, the Royal Sisters, and her mother, Princess Cadence, stood stock still as their eyes traveled across her collection.
“What… No, no, this can’t be real,” Cadence quietly pleaded before allowing her gaze to rest on her daughter.
“Well, I suppose the other Discord and Fluttershy already told you what happened, didn’t they?” Flurry mused, returning her eyes to her many trophies and tools. “I guess I was wrong when I said he’d stay away. I really thought you were smarter than that, Discord.”
"And I thought you weren't a monster," Discord hissed as Twilight stepped forward.
"Flurry... What have you done?"
"What I needed to. I'm protecting the Empire."
"At what cost?' Celestia asked, joining Twilight as the other alicorns stepped forward. "What you've done is beyond evil, Flurry. The other Discord and Fluttershy told us what you did to their world. You slaughtered them."
"If I didn't then something else would. Do you think I started off conquering worlds? I started exploring them, and most of them were already dead. Look around you, Celestia," she exclaimed as she gestured wildly to the many replicas of the Crystal Heart hovering around him.
“There are monsters out there that can survive the Elements of Harmony, the two princesses, the god of chaos, and the power of the Crystal Empire all at once. I’ve seen them with my own eyes, a golden-haired demon that can slaughter entire countries in a year, an armored warrior who could crush nations with his thumb, a skull faced monster that conquered the Crystal Empire, a demon made of bubblegum that eats ponies. They’re real, and they’re out there! If we don’t prepare for them, then we’re just asking to be slaughtered!” Flurry Heart tried to explain desperately.
The other ponies flinched under her gaze, taking a step back as the cracks running along her fur began to grow. “You’re saying that what I’m doing is wrong, but you’re not giving me an alternative! What do we do when one of them comes to our doorstep, offer them the gift of friendship?! Look at those Elements!” she commanded as she pointed at a side collection of necklaces and tiaras that resembled of the Elements of Harmony.
Unlike the divine jewels that the Element Bearers were currently wearing, the ones in the tower were old and battered. Several of them were stained with dried crimson while others were shattered and hanging off of the necklaces that held them.
“Those used to be worn by naive ponies who thought friendship would fix everything, but it clearly didn’t since they’re DEAD!” Flurry Heart shouted. “That one was from a world where Discord reverted and went on a rampage, that one is from Tirek, and I don’t even know what killed the other bearers."
"And what gives you the right to take them?" Celestia challenged. "Those worlds needed the Elements."
“Buck those worlds. Most of them were dead or dying. We don’t need to care about them because they’re not us! They don’t live on our Terra, they don’t fight the monsters that come to our door, we do! We need to be prepared when the elements and the heart aren't enough."
"Flurry, this is crazy!" Twilight finally chimed in. "We've been able to protect our home without the Elements, we shouldn't need to resort to this."
“Ha! Yeah, and every other world could protect themselves too, until they couldn't. Look at this, do you know what this is?!" Flurry yelled, ripping one of the Crystal Hearts out of its case to slam it on the ground. It was one of Flurry's favorite trophies, a constant reminder of why she needed to get more power. "It’s a Crystal Cock!" She exclaimed, presenting the phalic crystal with a stained smile.
"One reality was overrun by Caribou who overwhelmed the Empire’s defenses and did this to the Heart. With it, they controlled every single stallion on the planet, and forced them to enslave the mares. They died because they only had one Heart. But if ours gets taken and reshaped into a phallic object, then who cares?! We’ve got dozens more!” Flurry joyfully exclaimed as his wings shot into the air.
The equestrians and draconoqui stared at her with nothing but fear in their eyes. Even Cadence couldn't help but shrink under Flurry's gaze, falling behind the taller alicorns as she hid away from her own daughter.
Dropping her wings back to her side, Flurry picked up the Crystal Cock with her magic and placed it back in its case. "But, I knew none of you could see it my way. I've tried to explain it so many times, but you never listen," she said, turning away from the collected creatures.
"Flurry... you.." Her mother struggled to speak, searching for the right words that would bring her back to the "right path".
She heard her mother plead before, and her arguments were always weaker than any of the alicorns.
Grabbing one of the Elements of Magic, Flurry placed the crown atop her head, her mother's words falling on deaf ears as she opened a portal to another world.
"—don't have to do this, Flurry. You can stop before you—”
"Before I kill you?" Flurry interrupted, glancing over her wings at the alicorns and Discords. "... I should tell you this now, the Elements of Honesty are begging for me to tell you the truth. Your Flurry died eight months ago. And you never noticed a thing."
Flurry carefully tugged on the edges of her spell, preparing her escape route to another dimension. The room around her began to grow warmer, rising with the tempo of the Hearts as they sang a familiar tune. Their power suddenly coarse through the air, swirling around the pink alicorn as Flurry's words began to sink deeper into her soul.
Love was a powerful and dangerous thing, and a mother's love knew almost no bounds. But a mother's righteous fury? The anger they would feel from losing a child? From being deceived for nearly a year?
The rage of an immortal mother was enough to tear worlds apart, and Flurry would be able to let another world burn in the embers of Cadence's fury.
