The Death of All Things Harmonious

“My Lord, we are in position and await your order.”

He took a final moment to observe the gleaming crystal city. He didn’t doubt that it stood as a shining beacon of hope for the species that inhabited it. It would make for a good message.

“The order is given. Kill them all. Leave the demon for me.”

A flaming arrow shot into the early morning sky.

Watch duty was always a dull affair. Especially this early in the morning. But Bright Lance didn’t mind too much. She had always been more of a nocturnal mare anyway. And with the first whispers of dawn creeping over the horizon, her rotation was due any moment. She would go home, sleep all day, enjoy the afternoon, then come back for the night shift. A perfect day in her books. Her partner, Stalwart Shield, came trotting from the other watch tower. He always looked about ready to pass out. He obviously didn’t appreciate the early morning like she did. With a yawn he asked, “So, end of shift, anything to report?”

Bright Lance smiled. It was a long running joke between the two of them. There was only ever one thing to report. And she reported it, “Just snow, snow and more...wait.”

Across the snow covered field, from behind the first of the hills in the distance, a flickering light soared into the sky. Bright Lance was transfixed by it. In the corner of her eye, she could see that Stalwart was as well, any trace of tiredness momentarily forgotten. “What is that?” he asked. Bright Lance took a second to process it then answered, “It...looks like...”

An arrow buried itself between her eyes. Bright Lance was dead before she hit the floor. Stalwart Shield stood there a moment gawking at her body, training warring with panic, before an arrow found the side of his head and sent him spinning from the wall. Similar fates befell every other watch patrolling the wall. Their deaths were quickly followed by grappling hooks latching on to the ramparts.

The wall had been a good idea, Shining Armor decided. The city had been wide open to attack. The wall had fixed that. Or, at least, was supposed to have to fixed that. The screams of the city echoed along the hallways of the Crystal Palace. Shining had been in the mess trying to get an early breakfast when the screaming began. Two minutes later his aide had come barreling through the door, telling him that the city was under attack. That was an understatement. The city was being massacred. What little information that was getting to Shining made this painfully obvious. A city of eighty thousand ponies was being murdered. And there was nothing Shining Armor could do about it. There was only one course of action.

Get. Cadance. Out.

He was on his way back to their bedroom now. He and whatever Royal Guard he had been able to muster on the way. They numbered around ten. They were all fresh out of bed. Most didn’t have their armor on. They all had a look of fear in their eyes.

Mingling with the screaming, the sound of splintering doors and clashing blades echoed down the hallway. There was also howling. Blood curdling, nightmarish howling. It meant whoever was attacking them was already in the palace. Their window was closing.

Shining Armor briefly wondered as to who was attacking them. Could it be the Changelings out for revenge? The last scouting reports indicated that Chrysalis was still recovering her numbers from her disastrous attack on Canterlot. The griffons maybe? There had been no signs to indicate that Griffonia had any ill intentions towards Equestria, let alone the Crystal Empire. And Griffons didn’t howl like that.

He shook his head clear. It didn’t matter. None of it mattered. All that mattered was getting his wife out of the city.

They came at last to their bedroom and, without ceremony, he kicked the doors open. Cadance, bless her heart, was already up and ready to go. She turned to her husband and asked the question that was on everypony’s mind, “Shining! What’s happening?”

“The city’s under attack. We’re getting you out. Now!”

“Under attack? By who?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. Cadance, we have to get you out of here!”

“But what about the city? What about my people?”

Before Shining could answer, one of the Royal Guard called out, “Behind us!”

Rushing back to the door, Shining Armor got his first glance of the enemy. Running up the hallway towards them were...Diamond Dogs. But they weren’t anything like the slow witted buffoons that Shining was used to. These dogs had a far more barbaric visage. Their fur was longer and a uniform grey. Their armor was of finer quality and they each carried an axe and shield, which were also of fine quality. But their eyes held the most shocking difference. They glared with an intelligent, murderous intent. Turning the corner in the hallway they saw Shining standing in the doorway and, roaring their challenge, started charging towards him. And more were coming from behind.

Shining let loose a powerful spell, filling the hallway with fire. Hateful roars turned into anguished yelps as the dogs’ fur was consumed by the flames. With a tug of his magick, Shining slammed the doors shut. He yelled to his Guard, “Bar the doors! Make sure nothing gets through! Protect the Princess at all cost!”

The Royal Guard happily obliged, locking the doors and shoving furniture in front of them. The doors began to shake violently as more dogs arrived and began bashing their way in. “Captain,” one of his guards cried out, “what do we do?” Shining wracked his brains for an answer. Those doors were their only way out. They were trapped. For the first time in his life, Shining Armor felt truly helpless. Everything was going wrong. The past few days had been nothing short of perfect. Preparing for the Equestria Games. His sister’s coronation. Little Twiley an alicorn princess! Never in a hundred years did he dream of seeing something like that. The celebrating, the laughing, the singing. And then...this.

“Shining...”

Cadance’s voice broke him from his panicked reverie. He looked up into her beautiful eyes and saw her pleading fear. He saw his reflection in them and saw his own panicked eyes.

“What do we do?”, she asked him. He worked his mouth for a few seconds, desperately trying to come up with a solution. None were forthcoming.

“I don’t know,” he answered weakly. As if to accentuate the point, the hammering on the door intensified. Splinters were flying everywhere as the dogs took their axes to it. Shining felt helpless tears leap unbidden to his face. He failed. He failed the most important pony in the world to him. Cadance placed a hoof on his back. He turned back to her and saw tears falling down her face as well. It suddenly dawned on him that this might be the last time he ever saw her.

He briefly wondered if he ever truly appreciated how beautiful she was. Those big, soulful eyes. Her shining pink coat. Not to mention her perfect pair of...wings.

“The balcony,” he whispered.

Not bothering to explain himself, Shining grabbed Cadance’s hoof and rushed towards the balcony. Throwing open the doors they ran out...and saw their city.

Shining never knew what burning crystals smelled like before that day. He decided he never wanted to smell that scent again. The city was burning. Below them, crystal ponies ran through the streets, screaming in panic. They were being hunted by the dogs. Thousands of dogs. Tens of thousands of dogs. Enough to surround the entire city. The ponies ran but there was nowhere to run to. They were being hunted. Like animals.

Shining did his to best block them out. He wasn’t successful. He turned to his wife, punched a hoof towards the sky, and said, with no small amount of force, “Go.”

Cadance’s eyes widened as her husband plan dawned on her. “What?”

“Go. Fly away. Get out of here before it’s too late. Now!”

Cadance shook her head, a resolute look falling over her face. “No,” she replied.

“This is not up for discussion, Cadance!”, Shining shouted.

“It most certainly isn’t!”, Cadance shouted back. “I’m not leaving you!”

Before they could argue any further, the sound of splintering wood, screams, and howls came from the bedroom. The dogs had broken through the doors. Slaughtering the Royal Guard inside, they made for the balcony. With a defiant roar, Shining Armor erected a magical barrier in the balcony doorway. The dogs slammed into it and immediately began hacking away with their axes. Shining strained under the pressure. Grunting with effort, he shouted, “Cadance! Please! Get out of here!”

A blast of magic from behind him was her response. The shot phased right through the barrier and incinerated the head of the dog unlucky enough to be in its way. Shining turned his head enough to see his wife. Her hooves were firmly planted and she was picking off dogs one by one with powerful bursts of magic. Shining almost smiled to himself. She had always been a stubborn one.

So, this is it, he mused. Fighting side by side with his wife against a horde of unknown enemies. Not exactly the end he had envisioned for himself. At least they’d take a few with them, he thought. And, at least they’d be together. He wondered how Twiley would...

Then someone turned the magic off.

One minute, Shining was channeling more power into his horn than ever before. The next, his horn became nothing more than a dead weight on his forehead. The shield dissipated. The dogs were all over them. Shining got one good hit off with his forehoof before being swamped by a tide of grey fur. They clawed, bit, and punched him to the ground. He uselessly screamed his defiance at them, until a fist found his throat and silenced him. He felt his heart break as he heard Cadance screaming in pain as they did the same to her. It was over, he realized. He saw one dog raising an axe and closed his eyes, waiting for the blow.

“Hold!”

The blow never came. Opening his eyes, Shining saw that all activity amongst the dogs had stopped and their heads were all pointing in the same direction. He looked to where they were looking. Standing in the doorway was a very well dressed dog. His armor was of finer quality than the other’s. A velvet cape flowed from his shoulders. A silver helmet with a scarlet plume was tucked under the crook of his arm. A wicked looking sabre was strapped to his side. His face was old and battle-scarred and his red eyes glared disdainfully down at the ponies beneath his troops.

“Wolven,” he said, “prepare to receive your lord and master!”

The dogs, apparently called Wolven, lifted themselves from Shining Armor and Cadance. A pair remained for each to keep them held down. The Wolven leader hammered his right fist into the center of his breast. His troops did likewise.

From the hallway came a dog monster. He towered over his troops by at least a head. His fur was white as snow. His eyes blazed a scarlet red. He wore armor even finer than the other leader’s. Instead of red, his cape was a midnight black. As were his claws.

The dogs on the balcony bowed their heads in respect as he approached. The dog leader looked down upon the captured ponies and smiled. A smile beaming with razor sharp teeth. He turned to his underling and placed a black claw on his shoulder.

“Well done, General.”

The general bowed his head, mimicking his soldiers’ show of respect.

“I live to serve, father.”

Turning from his general, the leader addressed someone behind Shining.

“I suppose we have you to thank for this swift victory Shadow.”

From the end of the balcony came a dog with black fur and red eyes. He wore a cloak of black and blended seamlessly with the shadows.

“It is ever my pleasure to serve, my lord,” Shadow replied, with a voice as soft as the wind. He looked at Shining and Shining instinctively knew that he was the reason for the loss of their magic. He was like a black hole, sucking all of the magic from the air.

The leader brought his attention back to the two ponies beneath him.

“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, I presume? Empress of the Crystal Empire, niece of the sun demon Celestia, and the self proclaimed ‘princess of love’?”

His troops laughed at this last title. Cadance didn’t respond. Her eyes were glued in horror on the monster before her.

With a playful flourish, the leader gave a theatrical bow.

“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lord Blackclaw of the Wolven. And, by the Mother’s blessing, I am here to rid the world of the taint of your kind. You are my prisoner now.”

With another smile, Lord Blackclaw turned away from the ponies and made for the exit.

His general spoke up, “My lord.”

“Hm?”

The general looked directly at Shining Armor and asked, “What should we do with the pony captain?”

Blackclaw thought for a moment, then replied, “A message must be sent to Equestria, general.”

He turned to regard Shining Armor and, in an instant, decided his fate.

“He will do.”

Then Blackclaw left the room without a second glance.

The general grinned wickedly and drew his sabre. Shining looked into his eyes and knew what was coming. Cadance saw it too and began thrashing and bucking wildly, trying to remove her captors.

“No!”, She screamed, “No! Please! No!”

Shining looked at his wife. She looked back. Shining saw the tearful desperation in her eyes. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to go to her, hold her, comfort her, and tell her everything would be alright. He’d be lying if he did so. He again wondered if he ever truly appreciated how beautiful she was.

For the second and last time in his life, Shining Armor felt truly helpless.

With tears flowing freely from his eyes, he said, “I love you Ca-”

A flash of steel and he knew no more.

Around the Crystal Palace, the city burned. The last of the crystal ponies were hunted down and slaughtered. All told, the attack had taken less than an hour. The death of the Crystal Empire was just the beginning.

The Death of All Things Harmonious had begun.