Chapter One: The Empire of Crystals
Author's Note
Like I said in the blog I posted, doing a lot of rewriting/overhaul on some of my stories. This story was the ronin samurai, but after some time looking over it, I decided to do an overhaul of the story. Making it a crossover of MLP and FFXIV instead of the Final Fantasy tactics series. Anyway, hope you like it and enjoy.
Ruby Kalahan
Chapter One: The Empire of Crystals
Chapter One
The Empire of Crystals
The streets of the Crystal Empire were crawling with guards, enforcing the evening curfew that was strictly emplaced on the city. “Anypony who is out during the curfew will be placed under arrest, and be taken to the dungeon for questioning!” It put fear into the hearts of Mares, Stallions, and children alike. Nothing was ever the same ever since the current ruler, King Sombra, took total control over the Crystal Empire. His greed and thirst for power lead to the corrupt king taking over total control of the once peaceful kingdom. Many times before, he had said that this was to protect the ponies. But there was nothing to protect the people from. He has said many times before about a rebellion against the empire and that the curfew was to catch any rebels. But over time, it soon became apparent that these, like everything else the king had said before, were nothing but lies. But, no matter what was said, Sombra still accused numerous ponies as traitors. All for just speaking against the king. The tyrant's reign needed to end, but the people were missing one thing. Somepony to lead them. Somepony to guide them. Somepony to save them.
“Freaking good for nothing kid!” Ruby yelled as she made her way through Aurum Vale. “That’s the last time I listen to his rumors about a thief dropping a legendary weapon in this malboro-infested place. Not to mention he wrote the direction on a piece of torn paper, which was very hard to read or decipher in the first place!”
Ruby Kalahan, age…older than time itself, and former member of the convocation of fourteen. Ever since her separation from her kind, she’s been living her life to the best of her ability as a…somewhat normal lalafell/adventurer. Granted ever since the Warrior of Light saved the source from the Endsinger’s song of destruction, things have been relatively peaceful for the most part. Guess experiencing the world coming to an end kind of makes people have a different mindset. But because of that, finding a job that pays top Gil is becoming hard to get.
“Then again, the kid has been a reliable source of information. Especially when he led me to the hidden treasure off in Garlemald. So I guess I can give him some slack.” The lalafell said as she continued to make her way through the dungeon while scanning the area for the treasure. “ Now, If I were a thief trying to run away from adventurers with an important treasure chest, where would I hide it?” As she looked around, it was only a few minutes or so later that when she found the location of the treasure chest, she saw a sign above it in her head, saying “Right here, dumbass”.
“This thief must’ve been drunk at the time of him doing this.” She groaned while making her way over to the chest. Once she was there, she kneels and pulls out a lock pick to unlock the chest. She soon heard the sound of a Click! as a grin appeared on her face. The moment she opened the chest, she quickly closed her eyes from the bright light escaping from the chest. When the light vanished, her eyes widened upon seeing what was inside. Inside was a large sword that was the length of the lalafell, the blade was made out of a mysterious emerald-green colored crystal, while the handle and guard were a mix between gold and silver. “So…this is the weapon Emet-Selch told me about…hard to believe the source would have Excalibur Two in a place like this.”
The lalafell’s eyes glittered in excitement upon this discovery as she noticed the sheath inside as well. With a nod, she placed Excalibur two in the sheath and placed the weapon on the holster on her back. She soon gave off a small victory dance upon this achievement…but that little dance was short-lived as she heard the sound of something slithering over to her from behind. Turning around she saw a malboro making its way over to her.
“...I always hated this place. Not because of the pools of poison, but because of the malboros in this place.” She said before pulling a sword and shield out of thin air. The malboro let out a small roar before launching its tentacles at her in an attempt to grab the lalafell. Ruby quickly parried the first tentacle off to the side before performing a spinning uppercut to cut off the second tentacle. The plant monster recoils back from the pain it felt as it regrows its lost tentacles before trying again to grab her. The Lalafell quickly jumps out of the way of the grab before landing on a nearby rock. “You gotta do better than that if you want to eat me!” She yelled as her sword and shield were coated in fire.
The malboro took a deep breath before unleashing a burst of foul air towards the Lalafell. Ruby took notice of this as she threw her shield at the oncoming bad breath attack. Upon making contact, an explosion erupted as the force behind it caused the malboro to be pushed back. Ruby took notice of the plant monster being pushed back as she quickly rushed over to it while grabbing her shield as it returned to her. The malboro soon recovered as it noticed Ruby coming as it tried to grab her once again, only for his tentacles to be cut off and set on fire by the lalafell counterattack.
Once she was within striking range of the malboro, she quickly delivered two vertical slashes and thrust her sword into the beast’s underbelly. It let out a roar of pain as the lalafell was pushed backward from blocking the malboro’s tentacles as it lashed out from the pain it felt. The moment she was a good distance away from it, she soon switched out her sword & shield with a red and orange staff with a red gem at the tip. Ruby glared at the malboro for a moment before closing her eyes as a ball of pale blue and black color fire formed around the tip of her staff. The malboro began to recover as it launched itself towards the lalafell while letting out a roar. The lalafell’s eyes opened as she soon fired off her spell into the monster’s mouth. The plant monster stopped for a moment as it let out a couple of coughing noises exploding into millions of pieces. The lalafell grinned upon seeing this, but her grin vanished as the liquid substance from the malboro fell upon her as she deadpans.
“...Note to self, never do something like that again,” Ruby said before wiping some of the slime off of herself. “...that kid so owes a lot more than just the sword he led me two.” She said before sluggishly making her way out of Aurum Vale.
[Eorzea, Costa del Sol]
“Attention Maelstrom company personnel, we are now arriving at Coastal Del Sol. As per orders by Admiral Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn, all members of the Maelstrom company are allowed to have one souvenir, and NO. Lalafells do not count, you pigs. It’s 0007 guys…get with the program.”
It took Ruby a good hour to return to Costa Del Sol, mainly because she had to take a shower and clean up the ooze left behind from the malboro off herself and her gear…needless to say, it was a pain to get both the smell and gunk off herself. The moment she arrived at Costa Del Sol, she was soon greeted by a young male Hyur and a young female Miqo'te.
“Hey, you're back!” The boy said as Ruby walked over to him. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
“Surprisingly yes, but next time try giving me directions on a nice piece of paper. Not on a torn-up one.” She said as the boy chuckled awkwardly.
“In fairness, it did belong to the thief we stole…I mean borrowed it from before he was arrested by the maelstroms.” The cat girl said as Ruby deadpans at her for a moment before rolling her eyes.
“I guess I’ll let it slide seeing how you've been nice and kept my identity a secret,” Ruby said before handing over two sacks of Gil to the hyur and miqo’te. “Here, as a reward for helping me out.” She said as their eyes widened in amazement.
“You’re giving this to us? But all we did was give you information on where the treasure was.” The miqo’te said as the lalafell shrugged.
“Which led me to a very ancient relic from an age gone by. So it should be fair to give you something in return.” She said before raising a hand towards the two as she saw their mouths open. “No butts, take the Gil and be on your way.”
“Um…okay, thanks!” The boy said as he and his sister were about to leave, only for the boy to pause and return over to the lalafell. He soon reached into his bag to pull out a strange book with a crystal in the center of it. “Almost forgot about your reward.”
“A book? Well, I’m not against reading. But doesn’t this belong to you and your sister after what happened to your parents?”
“Well…yeah. But my sister and I decided that we should move on and start exploring the world. Sure the book’s been in our family for generations, but maybe it’s time to start something new. It’s what they would’ve wanted anyway.” He said before returning to his sister’s side. “Thank you for the help! I hope we’ll see each other again!”
“Next time we meet, you better share your story with me over a mug of ale!” Ruby said as she waved goodbye to the siblings as they walked off. The moment she saw them leave Costa Del Sol, she made her way over to a nearby chair and hopped on it. Once she was in a comfortable sitting position, the lalafell opened the book to see what was inside. “Now let’s see what this book is all about then shall we?” Turning to the front page, the first thing she could see was a series of mountain peaks and what appeared to be a silhouette of two beings.
“Long ago, in the land of Equestria, there was a kingdom to the north that was made entirely of crystals. As in its appearance, the Crystal Empire was a kingdom that was made entirely of frozen crystals of all types. Led by their leader, Princess Amore, the kingdom was on the fast track to peace and prosperity.” One turn of the page and some images coincided with it. Images of what appeared to be Equine humanoid-like creatures. Some looked normal while others were made of crystal. Some had horns. Some had wings. Some had both. Most had neither. However, things took a dark turn real quickly as the Lalafell continued to read. “However, this peace was short-lived. One of the delegates in Amore’s court, Sombra, attacked the princess in a coup to seize the power of the throne. However, as Amore was beginning to fade away, she cast a spell on Sombra, turning his heart into a crystal. Along with that, came her final words to the Mad King.”
“You will live as long as the heart is in your possession and your magic will forever be bound by it. When someone other than you claims the heart, your reign will fall and you will fall with it!”
“Horrified by the prophecy, Sombra acted swiftly, hiding the empire with his magic. Now, the empire is said to have been all but lost.” Ruby was puzzled. She honestly thought that the story ended, realizing that there was still one more page. Turning though, what she found stunned her as the ink itself was bleeding onto the page. “But the story is not over…One hero. One that has been shunned by the likes of her kind will be chosen… and bring the end to Sombra’s tyranny. Who is that hero you ask? Well…That is you.”
“....Oh shit!” Ruby yelled as she was about to close the book, but it was too late. In a split second, a flash of light burst out of the book as it engulfed her in a veil of light. The light soon vanished as the Lalafell and the book were gone.
[Equestria, The Crystal Empire]
The lalafell let out a low groan as she slowly began to wake up. Her vision slowly returned as she found herself laying in a pile of snow. She slowly began to pull herself up from the ground as she looked around to get her bearings straight. At first, she thought she was in Ishgard due to how cold it was and the snow she was laying on. But the moment she made her way out of the dark alleyway she was in, she noticed that buildings were made out of crystal, not stone. Not to mention that there was a lot of snow covering the streets, and the plant life was less…and not dead.
“Yep, definitely not Ishgard.” She said before making her way into the streets of this unfamiliar town. The lalafell noticed that she was still holding onto the book, but noticed that the cover of it had changed. Instead of a round-shaped crystal, it was now in a heart shape with two swords on each side. Ruby quickly opened the book to find that the pages didn’t have anything on them. They were blank. No words, no pictures, nothing. As she flips through the pages, she soon notices a page with words on it as she reads it.
“Where one story ends, another begins.”
“What the hell is going on?” She asked before seeing more words appear on the page.
“All will be explained in time, yet my time has ended. For now… Look up.” Ruby blinked upon seeing this as she looked up from the book she was reading. As she did, the lalafell’s eyes widened upon seeing a giant castle made out of crystals glistening in the moonlight. The same image she saw in the book.
“Okay book, start explaining yourself. Why the hell am I in the Crystal Empire that I read about in the book?” She asked as the book said nothing. “Hey! Don’t ignore me, you bastard! I asked you a question!” No matter how many times she tried, Ruby couldn't contact whatever or whoever the magical being was in the book. “Thal's Bloody balls! Don’t think this is over whoever you are that brought me here!”
“HEY! WHO’S OUT THERE!?” yelled a gruff male's voice as Ruby turned her attention behind herself after hearing a pair of footsteps heading her way.
“Fuck me and my big mouth.” She said before looking around to see if she can find a place to hide. Sadly there wasn’t anywhere she could hide, especially seeing how a lot of the plant life is dead and she didn’t have that much time to hide back in the alleyway. She soon snapped her fingers as she quickly fell onto the ground motionless like a doll with a smile on her face. The moment the footsteps were close they noticed a small group of anthropomorphic ponies clad in black armor as they started to search the area where they heard the voice.
“See anything?” asked the male colt as a mare shook her head before noticing Ruby on the ground. She soon walks over to her and she blinks in surprise upon seeing this. “What are you looking at, private Amber Blaze?”
“I…think it was a child sir because I found this doll on the ground.” The unicorn said as her captain walked over to it.
“...what kind of kid carries around something as ugly as this?” He asks before picking Ruby up by the collar of her neck and examining the lalafell. “Is it some kind of rabbit? Hairless ape?”
“I…Don’t know sir. Should I return to the young foal or colt if we find them?” Amber asked as he simply tossed Ruby off to the side, but was soon caught by Amber with her magic.
“Do whatever you want with it. Just remember that you still have a job to do.” He said before walking off with the other stallions but soon stopped as he looked over at the mare. “Before I forget, the King wants to have a word with you in his chambers. He expects you to wear the special outfit he gave you for tonight.” The earth pony said before walking off with a slight chuckle in his voice. The unicorn glares at the captain for a moment before letting out a sigh of defeat. She soon looks over at the doll with a melancholy expression on her face.
“You must’ve had it easy before being abandoned by your owner?” Amber said as she brushed away some of the hair covering the lalafell’s face. “Always having someone taking care of you, treating you like you’re their best friend, watching them grow and become somepony that would be respected by others…What I wouldn’t give to see King Sombra dead and his head on a pike.” She said before placing the lalafell in her arms and making her way to the crystal castle.
