Within the infinite depths of the Void, an inky, nebulous figure floated lazily about the formless nothingness of Khaos. There was not much for it to do in the gap between dimensions other than meditate and occasionally take in the odd spectacle Khaos created whenever it decided to do something random. The creature was ruminating on an age long past when the oppressive nothingness was suddenly broken by a shaft of energy streaking across the expanse. A pair of baleful white orbs opened sleepily and glanced over at the disturbance.

“Huh. Quite the impressive light show, Khaos.” The figure murmured in a cool, collected tone. “But is a straight line a bit too orderly for you?”

The primordial air remained silent as always. Not getting a response from its void mate, the presence returned to its inner thoughts when the silence of the Domiciles was pierced by a distant, high-pitched whine.

“What is that?” The curious creature shifted over to look at the odd beam again.

The noise grew into a distinctly feminine scream as a golden blur rushed across the shaft of energy like a fireball. Now fully alert, the figure approached it.

“Light, energy, screams, female and direction." It surmised. "This cannot be the work of Khaos; I can make sense of it.”

Just as it reached the shaft of light it cut off, leaving the presence perplexed.

“Hmm. Odd." It murmured as it searched for any sign of the shaft. "A fluke, perhaps?”

The figure withdrew into its inner thoughts to mull over the nature of this new phenomenon. Sometime later, another beam of light pierced the darkness followed by another screaming blur only this one was lavender.

“Oh, I drifted a little.” The thinker glanced up, surprised.

The drifter looked on as the blur streaked across the Void, following its predecessor. As the blur reached its distant destination, the void presence drew a conclusion on the intrusive energy beams.

“So something or someone is sending something or someone via some type of dimensional tunnel from here… to there.” It traced the path of the tunnel to its origin then repeated the action to the termination. “If this thing is truly connecting two dimensions, it may just be my guide home. I just need to wait until it appears again.”

The figure oriented its self around where it guessed the tunnel would manifest again. As the figure drifted through the depths, waiting patiently for the dimensional travelers, it thought of what may have changed during its extended stay in the Void.

"The world was in dire straights before my exile." It recalled aloud. "Barbarian invasion, upstart usurpers, petty squabbles escalating into total war between the Lords and Ladies..."

The apparition trailed off as the overwhelming weight of the memories begged to ask an important question.

"Do I even have a home to go back to?" It wondered.

The question went unanswered as the trans-dimensional tunnel appeared once again beneath the creature along with the lavender blur.

“Ah, there is the purple screamer. Where is the golden one?” The figure wondered, its trip down memory lane pushed aside in favor of the here and now.

The amorphous figure dropped down onto the tunnel as the blur raced into the distance to its home dimension. It half expected to phase through into the shaft of light but the beam held.

“This tunnel is not going to be open long.” It reminded itself. "I need to hurry."

The stalker rushed off in pursuit of the mysterious traveler. After some time and distance, a murky image bloomed into visibility at the termination of the tunnel. The pursuing figure noticed the newly formed barrier as the blur reached the end of the tunnel.

“Either this is quite real or I have finally gone quite mad.” The possibly insane creature jumped off the tunnel and aimed for the image. "Let us find out."

To its dismay, the low-resolution image was quite solid. The lurker splattered against the dimensional wall like a raw egg.

“Urrgh.” The creature grumbled. "Quite real indeed."

Pressed against the wall, the flattened figure could just barely make out a small number of pastel-colored blobs. It peeled off part of its self, solidified it until it resembled a closed fist and started pounding on the wall. If the candy-colored blobs heard the extra-dimensional knocking, they did not address it.

“Hey! HEY!” The void presence shouted between increasingly desperate hammer blows. "LET ME IN!"

It continued to wail on the wall but to no avail. One of the blurry figures appeared to look back at it as the rest move away from the wall but the visa faded back to the blackness of the void as the tunnel closed. The lurker was left floating alone once again.

“Argh! Damn it!” It voiced its understandable frustrations. "I was so close!"

After a few minutes of cursing its fortune in anger, the stalker let out a low grumble and resumed the nebulous form it was in earlier. Calmer, it reflected on its discoveries.

“Hrmm. Well, at least something on the other side can breach the boundary between reality and the Void. Fates be praised, at least there is still something on the other side." The eldritch being mused. "It is only a matter of time before they try again. I can wait until then and wait I shall.”

The presence closed its eyes and returned to the sanity-preserving confines of its mind, waiting patiently for an opportunity to knock again. From its perspective in the realm beyond time and space, it did not have to wait too long. The trans-dimensional tunnel formed yet again but during the interval of waiting, the creature had drifted too far from it at this point to make use of it. Nevertheless, it took a moment to ponder on the identity of the traveler before working on its egress.

“It would have to be a being or group of beings of great power or magic." The dark one mused. "Although I cannot imagine why they would travel between dimensions unless they had no choice in the matter. Still, I should thank them should we cross paths on the planes of reality. Speaking of…”

The void presence faced the wall separating it from the traveler's dimension. It had hypothesized that while the tunnel was connecting two universes, the wall would be tangible and any weaknesses would be visible in the form of images of what was on the other side. This hypothesis proved correct as before the stygian being was a collage of images and vistas into the world beyond. The lurker moved from image to image searching for the clearest one that denoted an exceptionally weak part of the wall, likely due to a concentration of exceptionally powerful magic.

“Pastel blobs… fuzzy lumps…earth tones… no…no..." The entity paused as it came to a promising weak point. "Oh, what do we have here?”

The observer floated in front of a near crystal clear image of a rustic village with a few equines milling about somewhat primitive looking structures. In the distance, a bizarre tree-castle that appeared to be made of crystals loomed over the settlement.

“Something tells me that the nobility lives in that thing.” The critical creature inferred.

As the lurker took in the outlandish spectacle, the tunnel between the two worlds suddenly closed and the image faded back into oblivion.

“Wha-? Bah, just as well.” The stalker formed a chin just for the purpose of stroking it. “Even if I had returned there, I doubt that castle was just for show. The garrison would have come down on me like my brothers on unguarded virgins.”

Once again the void presence assumed its cloud-like form and waited for the dimensional traveler to make the expected return trip. As it had anticipated, the tunnel reappeared and the boundary between reality and void was revealed once again. Not wasting time, the lurker quickly searched for another weak spot.

“Alright, I may not get another chance for a while." It muttered. "Best make this count.”

After browsing through a decayed ruin, a windswept dust bowl, and a city made out of clouds and rainbows, fortune smiled on the lurker for it found another clear image, this one depicting a cozy looking room with a large bed. What caught its attention, however, was the sight of a mare and stallion lost in the throes of passion.

“Oh... Wow... Look at them go." The voyeur grimaced slightly at the unexpected lewd sight. "I wonder if they will mind me dropping in on them.”

The stalker imagined appearing, uninvited, before the pair. It then imagined being blasted apart by the enraged lovers for interrupting their love-making.

“Perhaps not the best choice…” It winced at the thought.

Before it could reconsider, the figure saw out of the corner of its eye a familiar lavender blur start traveling down the distant dimensional tunnel. Realizing that time is against it, the lurker quickly turned back to the image.

“Caution to the wind then!” The figure exclaimed as it congealing into a tangible form.

The now solid creature reared back and slammed a solid mass into the image with a resounding boom. The image reverberated but remained intact.

“It is never easy, is it?” It grumbled as it pulled back again. "Right then, I have to wear it down first."

Soon a steady beat of “boom-boom-boom” filled the expanse as the stalker rained titanic blows upon the image. With each successive blow, the frustration of the creature rose.

“Break! Break, damn you!" The presence added verbal barbs to its assault. "Yield, you accursed wall!”

With a shout of rage, the figure launched its entire being at the stubborn image. It was rewarded with a sharp crack followed by the sounds glass fracturing. It backed off to see that the image of the two lovers had now cracked into dozens of other images of hallways, startled equines, and what looked like a small shrine.

“What is all this?” The lurker briefly paused in surprise.

The figure was about to question the effect the fractured image will have on its return, but a glance at the tunnel and the sight of the purple pulse so close to its home terminus convinced it that it did not have the time to dwell on the matter. The void exile put some distance between the cracked image and itself then charged. It hardened as it approached and instead of splatting like last time, it crashed into the wall like an abyssal freight train. The wall buckled inward perilously. A few shards of reality fell free and the light of the world beyond shined through. Much to the void presence's consternation, the wall snapped back into place.

“It is just taunting me now!” The creature snarled in frustration.

The lurker put an even greater distance between it and the compromised wall and hurled itself at it one last time with arms forward. With a cacophonous crash, the void lurker finally breached the boundary between reality and unreality just as the dimensional tunnel closed. As the wall of images disappeared, the shards of the breach snapped back into place and reformed the previous image. Where it had once shown two lovers in the midst of passionate sex, it now showed two ponies huddled together in fear and a tenebrous fog drifting about the room. Soon it too faded and all was quiet in the depths of the void once more.

---

A cruel wind whipped across the snowbound plains and jagged ridges of the northernmost providence of Equestria, an area appropriately called the Frozen North. Much like the Everfree Forest in the heartlands of Equestria, this arctic tundra was wild and untamed. Feral predators stalk the night while powerful blizzards rage across the land of their own volition. One such storm was currently bringing winter’s cold embrace to the eastern end of the providence. It was here, in this dark corner of the land, that the Marked Legions had set up camp for the night.

The din of grindstones sharpening the talons of griffins, the grunts of wrestling minotaurs, and the raucous noise of at least half a dozen other species echoed throughout the war camp. They had traveled far across the southern badlands, up through the tangled Everfree, even underground via diamond dog burrows, gaining loot and recruits among the fringes of polite and not-so-polite society. All the while avoiding the watchful eye of Equestria and its Alicorn rulers. Two things keep this eclectic collection of marauders together; the love of bounty whether it be gold, mates, or glory, and a mix of fear and respect for their monstrous warlord: The draconic Dugore the Marked.

The origins of the Lash of the Marked Legions were debated in hushed tones amongst his troops. Some claimed that he was not the original war master but a juvenile drake posing as the infamous marauder. None made this accusation to his face, of course. Others theorized that their master was actually some hitherto unknown sub-species of dragon, which would explain his proclivity for violence and love of pillaging. The veterans of the Legions partially backed the latter theory as some of them had seen slots in the back of the warlord's armor where wings could have been threaded through. Whatever he once was, Dugore himself could not recall. What little he could glean from the fog of ages involved fighting alongside fellow dragons and hordes of soldiers clashing beneath a burning sky. Beyond those fragmented memories, the brute did not really care. He was the Warlord of the Marked Legions and that was all that he needed to know.

After a costly campaign in the zebra homelands some thirty odd years ago, he had managed to rebuild, retrain, and resupply his massive army of marauders. Bearing the eponymous mark upon their armor, they had marched north for one reason: the Crystal Empire. The tales of a city made of crystals had drawn them like a moth to a flame but they did not intend to burn up like the metaphorical insect. The glittering city would fall and all the treasures within would be theirs to claim. To that end, while his troops rested or trained, the warlord had shut himself up in his tent with stacks of tomes and records of the history of the region in order to plan the siege of the recently returned city-state. He was not alone, however. A sinister figure wafted about the tent, looking over the shoulder of the warlord.

“History does not favor me, wraith.” Dugore growled his booming, slightly metallic voice. “The capital of the Crystal Empire has weathered pitiless assaults from dragons, witch queens, and even you! As tempting a target the city is, I can’t shake the feeling that this is folly!”

“Oh, have some faith Dugore.” The ghostly figure replied in a voice as oily as his appearance. “Would I've gone through the trouble of showing you that pass through the mountains and creating this blizzard if I thought this was a lost cause?”

“An old smuggler’s route and a bit of foul weather do not guarantee victory.” The warlord retorted. “We will have to contend with whatever force is garrisoned within the city on top of the power of the Crystal Heart.”

“Oh hohoho, I wouldn't worry too much, my friend." The wraith chuckled coldly. "I doubt there are any zebra’s within the city.”

Dugore rounded on the apparition, fists clenched in barely contained fury. While he had suffered a crippling defeat in the zebra homelands, it was due to the intervention of the Solar Alicorn, Princess Celestia and her cronies. His legions had slaughtered hundreds of thousands and displaced countless more, effectively knocking the zebra civilization back to the Stone Age by the time she had arrived and rained fiery death upon him and his legions.

“Let me remind you, sorcerer, if my troops hadn't found that diamond dog burrow in the mountains, your little trinket here would still be some pup’s chew toy!” The warlord held up the undead unicorn’s crimson horn. “If you doubt the abilities of my legions, then perhaps I should send you back down to The Pits. I'm sure you can find an army of your liking down there!”

Dugore punctuated his point by stabbing the appendage into the map of the Crystal Empire like a knife. The wraith quickly held up his translucent hooves in placation. As much as toying with the dragon humored him, he knew there was a limit.

“Calm yourself, pillager. I am grateful for the rescue, of course." He said as calmly as possible with the last bit of his physical form in the armored grip of the war master. "I’d just like to know that my newfound allies are up to the mark…no pun intended.”

“My legion and I can handle any force of flesh, blood, and steel." Dugore snorted derisively as he yanked out the horn and reattached it to his belt like a trophy. "It is ancient magic like the Crystal Heart that gives me pause.”

“I can assure you, my cautious friend, that by the time we reach the gates of the Empire, the Crystal Heart will not be a problem.” The ghost crooned as his face cracked into a ghastly grin.

“Your assurances leave me cold, Sombra.” Dugore folded his massive arms across his chest, unconvinced.

“You've read the books. You know how the Heart works with that pink princess in charge."The undead slave driver gestured to the pile of tomes beside the table. "When the crystal ponies are happy and harmonious, a shield envelopes the city to protect it from harm but when fear seizes their hearts, the shield wavers. Can you imagine anything more terrifying than an army the size of the Marked Legions lead by an armored killing machine such as yourself and an undead sorcerer such as I?”

“I can think of one: an Alicorn calling down fiery death from on high.” The armored monster answered darkly.

He shook in a seething rage as he recalled the majority of his troops disappearing in an incinerating column of sunfire. That same flash had also fused his heavy armor to his body, forever preventing him from taking more than his horned helmet off without extremely painful and likely fatal surgery. Sombra caught on to the warlord’s long-harbored malice and gave him a sympathetic nob.

“I too have been on the receiving end of the princesses’ wrath, my friend.” The tyrant said knowingly. “I still owe them a debt of suffering for what they did to me and my empire.”

“Rrgh. King and kingdom sealed away in the depths of the earth." Dugore grunted in agreement as he reigned in his anger. "So says the historical record as penned by Equestrians.”

“Yes. Banished to the same Pits you just threatened me with.” Sombra whispered under his breath as he looked down to the ground as if he could see his former prison from the surface. “Those books of yours won’t tell of what happened to us during our centuries there.”

“Perhaps once the empire falls, you can write one that does.” Dugore offered, now down to a low simmer rather than white-hot rage.

“I believe I shall." Sombra scowled as it was his turn to be angry. "It’s not like the crystal ponies will; the ones that survived have a mental block in place that prevents them from remembering the ordeal.”

A heavy silence filled the tent as Sombra fumed over the hated memory. The warlord allowed him to stew for a few moments before he felt the need to move on.

“*Hack*Back to the task at hand, we will have to face the Alicorns eventually and I’d rather have a strategy in place before we do.” Dugore cleared his scorched throat to bring the shade back to reality.

“Indeed. More so now than ever since there are now four of them…” Sombra trailed off and started tapping his translucent chin as his fiendishly twisted mind began to fabricate a plan.

“Something you wish to share, Sombra?” Dugore inquired.

“No, not yet." The ghost said as the wheels in his mind continued to turn. "There are a few variables I would need to account for first.”

The warlord sighed roughly at the wraith’s vagueness. He was reluctant to work with mages and wizards but in a world dominated by magic, he did not have the luxury of ignoring them. Still, he found it annoying that most of them seemed to favor double talk and vague answers like the fey creatures of myth.

“When you have a plan to deal with those damnable winged unicorns, I trust you will inform me the moment you have it.” The brutish dragon said bluntly.

“Of course.” Sombra replied smoothly with another award-winning grin.

The armored beast locked eyes with the conniving phantom; burnish gold meeting witch-fire green and red. It was a warning. Neither of them blinked.

“See that you do." The warlord said as he turned away from the specter. "I need to plan out the coming siege. I’ll call if I have need of you.”

“As you wish, Dugore." Sombra bowed dramatically. "I’ll mingle with the troops in meantime. If you’ll excuse me…”

The specter of Sombra drifted out of the tent and disappeared from sight. Dugore returned his attention back to the map laid out before him. He drew a route that would take his legions through a few isolated forts for food and equipment as well as a thick pine forest. After all, they would need lumber for the siege engines.

---

If one were to cross the boundary separating the wastes of the Frozen North from the plains of the Crystal Empire, it would be like crossing into another world. Within the protective shelter provided by the Crystal Heart, the air was calm with nary a cloud in the sky. In fact, on this particular night, the city twinkled like a polished gem in the light of Luna’s moon, giving the ancient city an almost ethereal beauty. Shining Armor, Captain of the Equestrian Solar Guard and Prince-Regent of the Crystal Empire, however, was currently entranced by a very different type of beauty.

“Ooh, somepony is feeling frisky tonight.” Armor whispered as his wife, Crystal Princess Mi Amore Cadenza (though she mercifully prefers “Cadence”), ran her dainty hooves up and down his flanks beneath the heavy blanket of their shared bed.

“Hmm~. I'm feeling a lot more than frisky, Shiny.” The pink Alicorn whispered back in a sly tone.

The white unicorn barely had time to respond as his amorous wife turned him over onto his back and straddled his lower regions between her shapely thighs.

“A lot more.” She added breathily.

Armor smiled coyly as Cadence leaned down and captured his lips in a kiss. Her forehooves busied themselves by rubbing along his toned chest and solid shoulders, sculpted by years of hard knocks at the academy. He returned the favor by rubbing along her back and wings. The princess moaned into his mouth as he found a sensitive spot that caused jolts of pleasure to shoot up her spine and her feathery appendages to flare up, casting off the blanket and exposing their flushed bodies to the cool night air. When the need for air overrode their lust for each other, they broke the kiss with a wet smack.

“There should be a box of protection in the nightstand…” Armor said between pants. “…or we could use a spell. Your choice.”

“Hmmm…” Cadence cocked her head to the side as if thinking about it as she rubbed her now damp nethers against his rapidly hardening pride. “I’d rather use neither.”

"Wait, what?" Armor's mind lurched like a train.

The implication of this statement caused a lump of cold fear to drop into the good captain’s stomach like ice cubs in a drink but he maintained a straight face.

“Neither?" He asked carefully. "Are you sure?”

“Positive.” The mare sat up whilst continuing to grind on his groin. "I'm ready for a foal, Shiny."

"I was afraid of that." The white stallion felt the color drain from his face and head southward.

“Can you imagine this…” Cadenza said in a seductive tone as she ran her hooves around her lithe midsection.”…swollen with our foals?”

Shining pictured just that. His member twitches in approval underneath his wife even as his mind screamed in horror.

“What about these filled to the brim with milk for our daughter or son?” Cadence lowers a hoof to the pair of perky teats between her legs and circles the erect nubs with it. "Oh~ they will get so big."

Shining could only stare at his wife dumbly as his lust clouded mind juggled with the fantastic image of a maternal, lactating Cadence and the frankly terrifying prospect of being a sire for a bunch of little foals. It was not an easy task.

“Daughter or son?” He managed to squeak out as his brain ran on a shortage of blood.

“That’s right Shiny.” The Princess smiled and leaned back down to whisper in his ear. “But first we have to make one.”

Shining remained unresponsive but his pride was not so numb. It came alive and stood at attention, causing Cadence to gasps when it slapped against her rump with a meaty thwack.

“Now who’s the frisky one?” She giggled.

The Alicorn lifted herself off her husband and guided his stallionhood to her winking sex with her magic.

“I love you, Shining Armor.” She gasped as she kissed his tip with her lower lips.

“I love you, too.” He replied automatically, his mind still lost in a sea of lust and worry.

Cadence smiled warmly and slowly lowered herself down upon her stallion’s member. She let out a shuddering moan as his familiar length parted her puffy lips and entered her dripping love tunnel.

“Ohh, Shiny!” She moaned as her inner canal was stretched by his girth.

Armor remained silent with the exception of his husky breathing. With his mind currently shorting out, his body went into autopilot, guided by primal instinct. He shifted his hooves from his wife’s back to her shapely hips. He aided Cadence in her agonizingly slow descent by pushing her hips down whilst thrusting upward, hilting himself within her. He was rewarded for his efforts with a high pitched squeak of surprise from Cadence. Her velvety walls clinched tightly around his pride as an electric jolt shot from her groin, up her spine, and out her horn in a mini-explosion of pink magic. The princess started to fall forward but braced herself with her hooves on Armor’s chest. She held this position for a few seconds, panting heavily as the mini orgasm subsided, before looking at her wincing lover. She playfully punched his chest, causing him to let out a pained 'oomph!'.

“Warn me before you do that, Captain!” She scolded teasingly. "I almost blew a hole in the roof, again."

“Sorry, Princess. It won’t happen again.” Shinning said automatically as his mind was still in the process of catching up.

Cadence smirked at her husband’s military response and gently began to bounce up and down on his length, eventually settling into a steady rhythm. Shining's body fell back on tried and true tactics to make sure its mate enjoyed this. He rubbed small circles on her cutie marks, causing her to whinny happily. He would also slap her full flanks from time to time, causing her to clench tightly around his pride and let out an adorable squeak. It also seemed to make her bounce faster. His mind, however, had managed to start working again and was now running a mile a minute trying to process what the mare currently riding him wanted.

“She wants a foal!?” He screamed internally. “Why? We haven’t been married that long.”

Shining was glad Cadence had her eyes closed because he was sure he was scowling.

“She should have mentioned it this morning, not in the middle of the night!” He looks down at the union of their sexes, soaked in Cadence’s love juices. “Maybe I should use that ‘Blank Shots’ spell my old bunkmates told me about; give me a chance to talk to Cadenza about this without already being committed to the task.”

Shining’s horn lit up as he concentrated on the contraceptive spell but before he could cast it, Cadence suddenly fell forward, her own horn enveloped in a magical glow. Their respective sources of magic brushed together. While he was one of the most powerful practitioners of magic in the Equestrian military, he was still just a unicorn against an immortal Alicorn and the Princess of Love at that. His spell predictably fizzled, sending a splitting pain to down his horn into his head. Cadence looked Armor dead in the eye as her own glowed with her magic.

“Remember, Shiny” she breathed, her voice thick with lust and power that seemed to slither into his mind. “…I want you to cum inside; fill my fort up with as much of your little soldiers as you can.”

Shining did not respond. The combined effects of the failed spell and whatever Cadence was casting robbed him of the ability to do so as his mind went numb. Still, a small, paranoid part of his subconscious fought against the numbness and ordered him to check her eyes. He did. They were the same violet hue that she shared with his sister; no hint the tell-tale insectoid emerald. This is his horny wife, not a changeling succubus.

“So why is she casting a spell?” He wondered.

Cadences’ horn flashed and two tendrils of pink magic emerge. One coiled down his horn like a snake and brushed against his cheek. It slithered across his barrel before disappearing behind his hind leg. He felt it fondle his family jewels before melting into them, causing them to twitch and tingle. Meanwhile, the other tendril of magic quickly made its way along Cadences back, over her wings, and down between her rump. Cadence squirmed in pleasure as the magical tendril squeezed into her canal alongside her husband’s twitching member. Shining swore he felt it kiss his tip before continuing deeper into Cadences innermost reaches before entering her womb. A faint glow appeared on her lower abdomen, signaling that the spell had reached its destination and was taking effect. She giggled happily before resuming her bouncing with renewed vigor.

“A fertility spell!” The hapless stallion exclaimed in his head. “Damn it!”

Shining soon felt a building pressure in his loins as Cadence graduated from heavy panting to carnal moaning. Before long, the Alicorn was vocalizing her pleasure to the heavens.

“Yes~ Oh yes. Yes! YES! YES! YES! AH! CUM FOR ME SHINY!” She screamed in time with her increasingly erratic bounding. "CUM FOR YOUR PRINCESS!!"

“Could you scream that a little louder?" The unicorn captain grumbled in the privacy of his mind. "I don't think Canterlot heard you."

With the mounting pressure in his loins and his pride in the vice-like grip of the mare currently achieving orgasm on top of him, it appeared that he had no choice but to accept his doom as a future father.

“Well, at least I might have pregnancy sex to look forward to.” He conceded.

A dull boom, barely audible over the sounds of passion, reverberated about the room. Shining snapped out of his mental commentary and looked around the room. Everything was still in place and there was no sign of an intruder. He was about to return his attention to Cadence, chalking the sound up to night time crystal tower ambiance, when a series of hollow booms, slightly louder than the first, startup. Now certain that this was not normal, the prince tried to get his euphoric wife’s attention.

“Cadence?” The pink Princess did not respond, still in the throes of orgasmic bliss.

Shining placed his hooves on her sides and shook her, perhaps a little harder than necessary.

“Princess Cadenza!” He shouted in his captain voice.

Cadence returned to reality against her will. She stilled Armor’s hooves with her own and looked down on her husband in annoyance.

“What? ” She questioned, clearly displeased. "Why'd you stop?"

“Do you hear that?” He asked seriously.

Cadence perked up her ears and listened carefully. The only sounds where their labored breathing and the occasional creak of the ancient palace. After a few moments of silence, Cadence frowned and returned her attention to Shining.

“I don’t hear anything, Shining.” The princess says icily.

Before the object of her impending wrath could respond, a cacophonous crash blasted throughout the room followed by the sound of glass cracking. The sudden noise caused Cadence to instinctively take to the air, dragging the hapless Armor along by his stallionhood a short distance before he slid free. In an acrobatic feat normally associated with the stunt pegasi of the Wonderbolts, the unicorn bounced off the bed and flipped a few times in the air before sticking the landing on the floor. Ignoring the excruciating pain between legs, Armor instantly went into soldier mode and scanned the room for the source the noise. His gaze fell upon a most peculiar sight: a crack suspended in midair. As he looked around the rest of the room, he counted at least a dozen other cracks of various size scattered piecemeal about the room. Cadence landed beside him, having recovered from the shock of the noise.

“What are these things?” She asked, looking from one fissure to another.

In their combined experience, the royal couple has faced shape-shifted insects, fallen kings, giant worms, and even demonic centaurs. These rather simple looking cracks, however, eluded them.

“I have no idea.” Armor answered.

The Prince-Regent crept closer to the strange tears. Upon closer inspection, Armor noticed what he could only describe as darkness shining through the seams like a photonegative image of sunlight. A knock at the door brought the captain out of his analysis.

“I beg your forgiveness for waking you, your majesties, but this demands your attention!" A guard shouted urgently from the other side. "Strange cracks have formed all over the tower!”

“We know!" The pink Princess yelled in response. "They’re in here t-“

Cadence is cut off by another deafening crash. The space around the cracks distorts as they spread across the air and widen enough for more negative light to shine through. It did not take Armor long to realize what was about to happen.

“Something’s coming through!” He thought.

“Get down!” He shouted as he tackled Cadence to the floor.

He was about to conjure a shield for them both but all he got was a few pathetic sparks; his magic had not fully recovered from his brush with Cadenza, much to his chagrin. With a bone-rattling boom and a hurricane whoosh of air, the rifts broke open. Shining shielded his wife with his body as pitch blackness and oppressive silence filled the room. The captain braced himself for what grisly fate their bedroom intruder had in store for them. Rather than the gnashing of teeth and the sting of claws like he was expecting, Armor was greeted with a chorus of discordant ethereal whispers. Both he and Cadence lifted their heads and looked around, the Alicorn igniting her horn to illuminate the room. While the rifts had vanished, a thick and tenebrous miasma now hung in the air, twisted and flitting as if in some invisible breeze.

“What in Celestia’s name…” Cadence said quietly, realizing that the whispers were emanating from the ominous looking fog.

While they were soft and quiet, the voices spoke in a completely alien tongue. Both ponies felt their fur stand on in as the disembodied voices chittered amongst the stygian fog. It was impossible to be certain but they sounded confused and in pain.

“Cadence, listen carefully.” The captain whispered. “Can you get us to the Crystal Heart?”

“Hold on.” The Alicorn focused her magic and with a flash of light, the two appear before the literal heart of the empire.

To their dismay, the fog was there as well.

“It must be all over the tower.” Armor thought aloud as the whispers increased in volume as if startled by their sudden appearance.

“Not for long, it isn't!” The Princess of Love closed her eyes in concentration, her horn aglow with powerful magic.

The Crystal Heart resonated with the same power and enveloped itself in a dome of magic which quickly expanded outward. It passed harmlessly over the couple but pushed against the miasma. The hitherto subdued whispers suddenly crescendo into an ear-splitting roar. The Prince-Regent could hardly believe his eyes when parts of the otherworldly fog congealed into solid masses and not only halted the dome’s expansion but actually reversed its progress by slamming the weights into the dome.

“It’s beating the power of love and happiness with brute force?! He thought in awe. What the hell is this thing?”

A groan of pain brought Armor’s attention to his wife. Cadence was collapsing under the exertion, sweat dripping off her body and tears streaming down her face as each blow from the tenebrous terror delivered a shock to her body.

“Shining…help me…” She managed to gasp out.

After kicking himself for not aiding his wife, Armor rushed over to her side. He took up the same position as her and prepares to add his magic to the Heart. Unfortunately, the unicorn was still recovering from his failed spell.

“Come on! Work, damn it!” All he got was a fizz and a pop.

“Shining!” Cadence fell to her knees as the dome continued to collapse in under the titanic blows of the unknown entity.

“Alright Armor, forget the stupid cloud and heart." The white unicorn planted his hooves and concentrated. "Focus on protecting your subjects; focus on protecting your wife!”

The Prince-Regent focused and thought of the multitude of crystal ponies that called the city home. They looked to him to be what Sombra was not; a guide and shield from the ways of corruption and darkness. He thought of his loving wife; his steadfast companion and light of his life. He was entrusted by the Princess of the Sun to watch over her before the return of the empire and he would not fail in this task now.

"I am a Captain of Equestria!" Armor’s horn sparked a few times before a beam of magic leaped from the Prince-Regent and into the Crystal Heart just as the shield threatened to collapse. "I refused to be undone by some freaky smoke!"

Filled with the combined powers of the rulers of the Crystal Empire, the relic shone like a miniature sun as the dome fought against the interloper with renewed energy. The smoke continued to push against the magic but slowly, irrevocably the dome forced the miasma out of the presence of the powerful couple. Outside, the fight continued with the barrier gaining speed and advantage against the persistent but failing creature. The dome expanded past the confines of the tower and the surrounding buildings, pushing the now screaming presence all the while. By the time the shield had passed the outskirts of the city, it had reached speeds that would make most pegasi jealous. As the dome met the border separating the city limits from the rest of the Frozen North, it burst with tremendous force, shredding the otherworldly monster into countless little bits and sending them out deep into the wintry wastes.

Back in the tower, the Crystal Heart dimmed and returned to its neutral, rock-like state, the threat gone and its power expended for the time being. Armor let out a breath he did not know he was holding and stumbled groggily over to his wife who had collapsed completely.

“Cadence?" He asked between labored pants. "Are you okay?”

“Shiny…please tell me that thing is gone.” The exhausted princess mumbled.

“Take it easy, honey." Armor wormed his head underneath her belly to help her to her hooves. "It’s gone now. Don’t worry.”

Suddenly the door to the heart chamber burst open and a string of Crystal Guards filed in. They quickly formed a circle around their rulers as the ranking officer saluted the Prince-Regent.

“Sir! We are at your service!” The Crystal Captain reported smartly.

“A day late and a bit short, Carbon Copy.” Armor mentally complained.

“Crystal Captain Copy, glad you’re here." He said promptly as he returned the salute. "Take a company of guards and search the city. I want to be sure that…thing…is gone and that the civilians don’t panic.”

“Sir! Yes, sir!” Copy snapped another salute.

He signaled for a few guards to follow him as he exited the room. Armor shook his head as he watched him go.

“He’s no Solar Guard but at least he’s eager. He thought critically. That has to count for something.”

The Prince-Regent felt something lean against him. His wife, weary and disheveled, draped a wing across his back for support. Smiling lovingly, he gently brushed a loose lock of mane out of her pretty face as he helped her out of the room.

“You should get back to bed. Don’t want you falling asleep here on the floor." He said quietly as they passed through the crystal halls of the palace. "What would the nobles say?”

Cadence smiled up at her husband.

“You should too.” She said softly.

“I can’t. I have to stay up and coordinate the search.” Armor gestured out a window to the Empire as the first rays of dawn peek across the Eastern sky.

Cadence nodded in understanding.

“I should send a letter to Canterlot." She said with a tired sigh. "Princess Celestia will want to know about this.”

“That would be best.” Armor agreed. “Here, let me carry you back to bed.”

The unicorn hunkered down and allowed his wife to completely drape herself over his back. As they trotted back to their quarters, The white unicorn gave one last glance out over his city. He was resolved to safeguard it against this newest threat.

“Whatever you were, if you’re still out there, I’ll…” A dull pain suddenly makes itself know in the stallion’s lower regions, reminding him of the series of events prior to the dimensional intrusion with the mare resting on top of him. “…buy you a brewery worth’s of cider.”

Next Chapter: Opening Moves Estimated time remaining: 9 Hours, 50 Minutes