Fallen King

Chapter 2 *The Beginning of the End*

Topaz watched as the King, his best friend whom he would protect with his life, die in front of him. The spirits engulfed him and he could do nothing as the dark creatures held him back. He had failed, the King he was supposed to protect was now dead and soon after, his family. He had failed his entire Empire; the Darkness had taken over the palace and the city. He let his body fall limp and the creatures end his life. There was nothing left to live for. Everything went black then Topaz shook his head back and forth. When he opened his eyes he realized that he had almost reached the gates of the city.  He could tell by the sun that it was already getting late. He looked down at his legs and realized that his coat had faded just like the others. "I don't like this, it feels like the relic is...inside of me but we have to use it. It showed me what would happen if we did not." he said turning to the king.

"Now you understand what I feel. Once we get into the city, I do not want the relic to come close to anypony. It must not show them what it showed us." Diamante said. Once they entered the city, the archaeologists disappeared into the streets not saying a word. "We must get to the tower where there is privacy." he whispered turning his head towards Topaz. The citizens stared in confusion and silence at the king's faded coat as he passed.

"Father, Father!"  came a yell startling Diamante. He watched as he son approached from the crowd. "Mother was so worried but you're back. It will be okay now...You look so different, is everything alright."

"Son, please don't come any closer. I am still very busy, we can talk later. I'm sorry." Diamante said sadly.

"But father please..." Ritmo cried.

"No son!" the King shouted but realizing what he had done, apologized once more. He began walking away in silence, Topaz close at his side.

Finally the two reached the tower and made their way up the crystal staircase. Diamante slowly opened the door to his quarters making sure his wife was not there. He quickly closed the door and placed the relic on the floor below him. The two stallions gazed at the glowing object. "I hope this works." Topaz said.

"Yes, if it does not then all will be lost. What do we do now?" the king asked.

"Get rid of the Crystal Heart; hide it from your citizens. Its power dilutes my own and I can only stop the coming invasion with full power." said the voice reappearing in his head.

"But, the Crystal Heart, it is will save us."

"You saw the Crystal Heart; it will fail and if you do not act then everything will be lost because of your choice. I need as much power as possible to save your kind. Do what I ask!" the voice yelled. Diamante shook his head as the voice disappeared.

"You talked to it. What happened?" Topaz asked, only hearing one side of the conversation.

"We must take the Crystal Heart from the fairgrounds. It cannot be active any longer. I know how it sounds but the Crystal Heart will fail, I saw it happen, we both did. The relic must have full power." the King said

"This doesn't sound right but as I said before, I trust you and after what I’ve seen... How are we going to do it?"

"I do not know. They will all know something is wrong."

"Use my powers. Show your guards the truth and they will aid you without question."

Diamante shook his head once more "I know now, follow me." he said to Topaz

The king approached a small group of guards. "I'm sorry but I need your help." he said taking the Relic from his satchel. A burst of red came from the relic, engulfing the guards. They stood at his attention like lifeless husks, eyes glowing red. "What did you do? This is not what you did to me." Diamante said to himself.

"Do not worry; they are fine and ready to serve. Command them." the voice said.

"We must retrieve the Crystal heart, I need you to keep the citizens away and if suspicion arises, tell them it is imperial business and they must not interfere. If they are persistent, threaten and push them away but try not to harm them." the king commanded. "Topaz, you do the same." Diamante pushed his way through the crowds at the bottom of the tower followed by the guards, the setting sun casting their long shadows against the ground. Many citizens stood and watched wondering what their king was doing. Diamante approached the Heart which levitated in its rightful place. The guards circled around, making sure nopony could approach.

"What are you doing with the Crystal Heart." said a frightened crystal pony peering over the guards' shoulders. "...and what is wrong with you." she said staring at the guards non-crystalline coats. As the king took the Heart, the stalactite and stalagmite which held it in place quickly retracted. The increasingly large crowd began to grow frightened and restless.

"That is our only protection!" one yelled. "Is something wrong?" asked another "What is happening?" Diamante began slowly walking away, the Crystal Heart in hoof and the guards surrounding him. "Why are you keeping secrets from us? We have the right to know!" yelled an angered pony approaching the guards.

"Stand back!" yelled a guard pushing her back causing her to fall to the ground. "Do not interfere with Imperial business."

"Why did you do that?" a young stallion asked stomping towards them.

"Official Imperial business… STAND BACK!" the guard yelled even louder.

"..and what if I don't!" the stallion taunted pushing his body against the guard. The guard's eyes flashed red and he slammed his helmeted head into the stallion. He stumbled backwards and another guard pinned him to the ground.

"Remember, do not harm civilians." Topaz said pushing the guard off the stallion. His eyes too, flashed red "Do not interfere and no harm will come to you." he said as he pushed his hoof deep into the stallion’s chest. The crowd quickly raised the stallion from the ground, gasping and muttering in fear. The crystal ponies kept their distance now, but still followed. Once Diamante entered the tower, the guards stayed making sure the crowd could not follow.

Diamante entered the dining hall as if nothing had happened and the Heart was still where it always was. "I apologize for returning so late. We ran into many unexpected difficulties." He said as he approached his wife.

"I heard about what just happened!" she yelled. "You should tell me what’s going on and your citizens deserve to know too. Why are you keeping things secret?"

"Not now." the king said watching Ritmo and the staff stare at him.

"I don't understand, you're not acting like yourself... nor do you look it." Alma said tears beginning to drip from her eyes and onto the floor. "Please, just tell me!"

"Okay, okay, just follow me." Diamante said looking back over his shoulder. "We cannot talk here." The two exited the dining hall and went into the hallway. While the sun made its way behind the horizon, Diamante explained everything. He told her of the relic, what it had shown him, why he had changed, why he was keeping it a secret, and why he took the Crystal Heart.

"I understand this and I know you want to protect them but we all have a right to know." Alma said pointing her hoof at the window. "Look at them, they are still waiting in fear and wondering what has happened." The king looked out of the window and down at the crowd now barely lit by the moon, barely able to see the fear and confusion on their faces.

"I cannot, this relic is not like the Crystal Heart. It is much more sinister. It changes something inside of you, I am not the same and do not believe I will ever return to normal. I feel as if it is taking over my entire body, I feel as if I am becoming a slave, it advises what choices I can make and leans me towards the one it wants. I have no choice but to do what it asks. Yes it will save us but I cannot let its control run rampant. I will only sacrifice myself and as few others as possible to do it. If you can see what it did to those guards outside you would know. They act as if they are just machines waiting to be controlled, what if it does the same to everypony else? If so, then there is no point in saving our empire because we have already lost."

“Maybe you're right but the relic does not have to show them the truth. If you could just explain it to them..." Alma said

"They would not understand. All that would do is instill more fear and confusion. What we need is hope." Diamante said turning from the window.

"I understand and I still have hope, they will too." the queen said putting her hoof on his back.

"I will think about it." the king said walking away.

Alma was quite intrigued by the relic that Diamante had told her about and wanted to see it for herself, but she knew he would not willingly show her. She lied in bed waiting, wide awake but as still as possible, her back facing Diamante. Alma waited until she heard the familiar sound of slow, heavy breathing and knew that he was asleep. She pushed the covers away from her body and quietly got to her feet. She cast a small light with her horn and made her way towards the door. She slowly closed the door behind her and relaxed her tense body. Then she began making her way towards the staircase. She knew exactly where Diamante hid it, the place that he hid everything he wanted nopony to find. It was at the top of the tower. Alma began laughing at how silly this was, making her way up the staircase. It was true though that almost nopony ever attempted to take the exhausting climb upwards and if they did, Diamante had magical security measures.

The cool night breeze brushed against Alma's face making her shiver. At the center of top floor were both the relic and the Crystal Heart. The Heart although levitating in the air looked weaker than ever before. Alma shook her head at this slowly approaching the relic. Diamante had made it so her magic could disable the security measures, so she was easily able to make her way.

"She was right; you must let me show them the truth. If they have not seen what is to come then they will not be able to prepare for it. If I cannot show your citizens, then the fate of your Empire will stay the same. Let me become the heart of your city." The voice quickly dissipated and the King realized he was being shaken. He opened his eyes to see Alma staring at him with urgency and fear, her hooves still shaking him back and forth.

"You're right, the relic...it's horrid, evil and nothing like the Crystal Heart. It's even worse than you think. Do not let this thing's "grasp" reach anypony else!"

"But, what you said was right, they must see the truth. They must be prepared." he said, astonished by her change of heart.

"That thing is evil, you just don’t understand. It's not showing you the future, only lying and tapping into your greatest fears. Look at yourself, you're even worse off than yesterday and you don't even act like the king I know and love." Alma said staring at his dull grey coat. I was able to resist it and you can too, don't listen to it and let go."

"It must be done!" Diamante said, shoving her aside.

"Please, you mustn't do it" she pleaded but he paid no attention.  Alma stood in silence knowing she could not stop him.

As King Diamante exited the tower, some ponies still stood waiting for their answer but the guards easily pushed them away. “You’ll see soon enough.” The King said. The city streets were nearly barren in the early morning as King Diamante walked across them, the relic in his satchel. A few early risers and ponies just heading home, stopped to greet him, all grimacing as they saw his strange new look. Others glared at him the events of the night before still fresh in their minds. He passed by barely giving any of them a glance, headed straight for his destination. As he pulled the relic from his satchel, the few ponies in the streets stood still, watching his every move. As he placed the relic in position, the stalactite and stalagmite returned to their original position.  They were quickly reached by the relic’s power and began to turn black. The ponies broke from their frozen silence and turned to run as the wave of black headed towards them engulfing everything in its path; but they froze once more. Diamante knew that it was showing them what he had seen and shook his head hoping he was doing the right thing. He heard the voice in his head once more. "They are ready to do anything you ask them and will do so with unwavering dedication. We must build up the defenses and prepare these Crystal ponies for war."

"Will this work?" the king asked, staring across the blackened crystal city and up into the foggy brown sky.

"It will."

"What's happening?" Topaz asked rushing to the Kings side.

"Now they all know the truth and the relic is using its powers to aid us. It had to be done. We must prepare for war. You have stood by me for a long time now, but in this time of war your new position is Grand General of the army. Our army is already strong and organized but we need as many troops as possible. Recruit as many fighters as you need, they are all willing to join after seeing what is to come. Organize them into units with the help of the other officers and prepare for the invasion.  Do not worry, I will be fine on my own; our Empire is what needs protection now.

"As you wish, it is an honor." Topaz said with a salute. "I will get to it at once."