Guardian

CHAPTER 6 - DEFENSE

A large force field stood monumentally before Terror as he stopped and gazed upon its surface. Transparent to allow light into the Crystal Empire, but solid so that the land within would have its own bright and cheery atmosphere. The shadow examined the barrier silently for a few moments before looking down at the colorless, shaking Sombra next to him.

“Behold, Sombra. My power shall perform the first of many feats that you could never achieve.”

His talon sprouting from his shroud once more, Terror lifted his hand and touched the surface of the barrier, watching as the surface around the tips of his claws slowly evaporated under his touch. He dragged his claw over the surface, cleaving open a yellow entrance for himself.

“What the...” A white unicorn stallion with blue hair suddenly raised his head from his breakfast.

“Is something wrong, dear?” The Alicorn across from him suddenly entered a state of concern, being surprised at his sudden action.

“Something just got through the barrier. I'm going to go investigate.”

“What? That's not possible, though. The Crystal Heart ensures it.”

“Yeah? Well I can feel the barrier since I'm attuned to it. Whoever or whatever just got through had to go through not only the Crystal Heart's shield, but our own augmented version of it. I need to go check it out.”

“Be safe, Shining Armor.”

“I will, don't worry.” Shining Armor winked and smiled at Cadance before leaving the magnificent crystal room, heading to the entrance of the crystal castle, and opening the door. Stepping out into the sunny atmosphere of the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor took a deep breath and smiled at the beauty of the crystal world before him.

Even in the frozen north that the Empire was situated within, the barrier created by the combined powers of him, Cadance, and the Crystal Heart kept the elements from penetrating the land, allowing it to continue being a sunny, green utopia. The buildings around the large city were all composed of various materials, the crystal residents all happy and cheerful under the sun above.

Trotting quickly down the main road towards the barrier's edge, Shining Armor returned greets from the happy residents of his kingdom. He hid his true intentions under an interminable smile so that nopony would become concerned with his actions.

Taking a turn off of the main road, Shining Armor began to run to quickly get to the barrier. Upon reaching the clearing that led into the field before the barrier, Shining Armor stopped and peered out at the odd sight before him.

A tall, black-cloaked figure hovered across the land slowly, his ethereal robe appearing to flap gently in non-existent wind. Upon looking at the figure for a few moments, Shining watched two red glowing eyes appear on the being's face, which stared directly at him. Filled with a sudden sense of dread, Shining Armor instantly knew that the entity was dangerous, putting himself into a defensive, combat-ready position. Without another second of waiting, the entity disappeared in a cloud of smoke and reappeared inches in front of Shining Armor, startling the unicorn.

“Shining Armor, Master of Defense. I have come to see you.”

“Yeah? What about?” The unicorn stallion braced himself, not letting his guard down as the intensity of the despair he felt only grew while the shadow was so close.

“You will relieve yourself of your power. It shall be mine. Allow me to claim it for my own peacefully, and I promise you no harm.”

“Oh yeah? And what if I refuse?”

“Then you will end up like this one.” The shadow lifted a talon and withdrew from his cloak the orb containing the black-and-white form of King Sombra. The very sight of the tyrannical king would have been enough to startle Shining Armor, but seeing him in such a defeated manner, in a form that was fetal and trembling, was enough to take the Prince of the Crystal Empire completely aback.

“That's...”

“King Sombra. Master of Shadows. The very same foolish unicorn who fell at the hands of your ridiculous Crystal Heart.”

“What did you do to him?”

“I warned him of the consequences of his insolence before it came to this. I calmly demanded his powers and he responded with hostility. In turn, he received hostility. And so the cycle comes full-circle.”

“I don't know who you are or why you want my powers, but you're not having them, got it?”

“And who are you to make such a defiant statement, Shining Armor? A prince? Royalty? You think that gives you power over me?”

“No, but I know that you can't harm me so long as we are within this barrier, so leave now or I'll remove you by force!”

“You say this as though you could intimidate me, little stallion. But you cannot. I can see the fear in your eyes. Doubt. Doubt that you can stand against me. From the moment you laid eyes upon me, you knew that you were nothing.”

“Shut up.”

“You knew that you could not stop me. You knew that no matter what you did, you could not keep me from claiming your powers.”

“I said shut up.”

“And you know, even though you are too afraid to admit it, that you cannot protect your precious Mi Amore Cadenza from me.”

“Shut your mouth!” The white unicorn, horn glowing brilliantly, lunged forth at the shadow.

“How brash and unpredictable. You truly are just a foolish little pony.” With a quick swipe of his talon, Terror deflected a magical beam, sending it flying into the barrier in the distance. Shocked, Shining Armor attempted a melee attack, bucking with his back hooves. To his surprise, the shadow caught his hooves in one claw, lifting him into the air and holding him upside down. Locking eyes with the shadow, Shining Armor suddenly found himself somewhere else.

Standing in the middle of a wheat field where the wind blew as calm waves across the grains, Shining armor looked to the distance and saw a lone oak tree. Under the tree were his two favorite ponies in the whole world: Twilight and her foal-sitter Cadance. Smiling, he walked to the two as they sat beneath the tree. Twilight turned her head to see her older brother and beamed at him as he sat down next to the two.

“Are you okay, B.B.B.F.F.? You were out there in the field staring blankly for a while!”

“Yeah,” Shining Armor replied, “I guess I kinda spaced out, there.”

“Hey, Shining?”

“Yeah, little sis?”

“You'll protect me when I need to be protected, right?”

“Me too?” Cadance playfully interjected.

“Of course I will,” Shining Armor laughed, closing his eyes and smiling, “Why do you ask?”

“BECAUSE YOU LIED...” His eyes shooting open at the warped and synchronized voices of Cadance and Twilight, Shining Armor was met by the terrifying sight of the flesh of the two melting away until nothing but skeletons remained. The landscape around them suddenly burned away into dust, the tree died and decayed rapidly against the flames that surrounded them. Screaming, Shining Armor closed his eyes and held his ears so that the cries of his loved ones would not penetrate his hearing, but the effort was in vain as the sounds still found a way through.

Suddenly, Shining found himself awake in a bed, sitting up quickly, drenched in sweat. Breathing heavily, he looked over and saw Cadance still asleep in bed beside him. Sighing in relief, Shining Armor laid down again and kissed his beloved on the cheek, but suddenly realized something. The being next to him sat up in bed and turned, her mane falling free and revealing the face of Queen Chrysalis.

“Shining, my dear, you're up so early...”

His breathing rate increased again, Shining Armor moved backwards quickly out of bed and fell out, rolling quickly and running out of the room and into the open area of Canterlot, where his eyes widened in pure shock.

The skies were red, clouds darkened with evil that lingered over the city blocking out the sun's rays from reaching the earth. Collapsed buildings and broken statues lined cracked and destroyed streets. Ponies of all forms and colors were kept in cages where multiple Changelings gathered around to snarl and laugh at the groups within. Ponies were used as slaves to pull massive amounts of rock and gems around the city to an entrance beneath the castle. The worst sight, though, was the one in the town square: Cadance, Celestia, Luna, and Twilight and her friends – all crucified upon crosses of bone.

His breathing becoming sporadic and fast, Shining backed away from the sight, suddenly feeling a hoof find itself beneath his chin and turn his head. Chrysalis looked deep into his eyes.

“Beautiful, isn't it, my King? And to think you tried to stop me before...”

“Shining... Shining Armor...” A voice rang out from the town square. Reluctantly, his pupils as small as ants, Shining Armor turned his head and looked out to the crucifixions of his friends. There, the empty, gouged eye-sockets of his beloved pierced his soul. “You promised to protect me, Shining! Why did you lie to me? Why!”

“Why, big brother? Why didn't you help us?”

“Why? Why? Why?” The words continued to ring through his mind as tears fell down his face and he collapsed on the floor. Shutting his eyes tightly, Shining Armor wept for a few moments before opening his eyes again, witnessing a different vision.

The Crystal Empire, completely destroyed. The Crystal Heart cracked in two and laying on the ground in halves. Bits of crystal strewn about the ground randomly as snow fell through the now-empty and unguarded sky. His subjects, the crystal ponies, sat in corners huddled together for warmth, crying. The voice of a small filly pierced his heart like a dagger:

“Why didn't Prince Shining protect us, mommy? Why...”

“I don't know, sweetie... Just try to sleep... It will all be over soon.”

“No! No!” Shining Armor cried out with tear-drowned eyes as he reached out for the freezing family and collapsed in the snow. “No more! No more... Please! Don't show me any more!”

“No more... No more... No more...” The white unicorn hung upside-down from Terror's talon, quivering gently and staring blankly at the green grass below.

“Twelve seconds. Interesting.” The shade looked down at the spasming ball of Sombra next to him. “Even this typical unicorn was stronger than you, Sombra. Pathetic.”

Dropping the white, shaking unicorn in front of him, Terror extended his talon and the tendrils sprouted once more, enveloping Shining Armor and dragging back towards the shadow, claiming the colors of the unicorn and his cutie mark as well. After absorbing Shining Armor's power, the barrier over the city flickered a few times. Terror looked up at the barrier above and snarled.

“This wretched force field bars the cooling environment from the land. Such an unnatural defiance against the nature of this planet... Is sickening.” Raising a talon to the sky, Terror released another pulse of energy, this time both black and rose-tinted, and viewed it hit the barrier. The barrier flickered violently for a few moments before suddenly burning to nothing. Crystal ponies in the nearby city were suddenly shocked at the occurrence, watching in horror as the Crystal Heart nearby cracked violently down the middle and fell in halves.

In the field, feeling the snow fall slowly upon him, Terror chuckled. He looked down at the shuddering Shining Armor and extended his talon to him once more, encapsulating him inside of another gray orb, then taking both him and Sombra back under his cloak. The shade then looked into the distance at the crystal castle and chuckled once more.

“Come, Shining Armor. Come with me and witness the fall of your beloved. I promise that you will not be parted from her for much longer.”

The shadow began his journey towards the crystal castle, the snow slowly building up upon the unprotected land.