1056 AD, January 12th

Knock knock knock

“Captain?”

“… What is it?”

“We’re coming up on the Crystal Empire. Six minutes, maybe less.”

“Okay. I’ll be out soon. Tell everypony to gather at the bridge.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Their steps were muffled as they trotted away, and faded altogether when they were far enough. Complete silence was impossible with the ever-constant fwip-fwip of the airship’s propellers and the stifled roar of its furnace, but within the first hour of riding on the ship Ebony had learned to tune out the ambient noises and find a quaint peace in her quarters.

As it turned out, being undead made it easier to find one’s inner peace, although it was more of a thoughtless trance.

Lucky for her.

Her first solo mission? Away from her Empress? She’d have worked herself up several times over in this cramped, metal space on this five-hour flight thinking up all the ways she could mess this up if it wasn’t for the ease of clearing her mind.

‘At least now I won’t have time to worry about how things can go wrong…’ She thought to herself, hopping down from the simple cot that took up the majority of the room. ‘Hm... hopefully there’ll be nothing wrong with the Crystal Empire; maybe it’s just a small issue that’s interfering with communications.’

She walked over to the door, her hoof briefly resting on the handle.

‘Faust, I hope it’s got nothing to do with the Rouge Knights. If that Caed guy’s there… I don’t know if I could handle him.’

Pushing her fears and doubts aside, Ebony turned the handle and stepped out into the corridor.

“Fancypants calls it the Frost Giant.”

Ebony examined the airship as it came to a halt several metres above the soil of the courtyard, its propellers slowing to a complete stop. A large iron anchor hanging at the end abruptly dropped on a long length of chain from a metal-rimmed hole and crashed into the dirt.

“It’s not that big.”

“I told him the same thing, but he has a flair for the dramatic when it comes to his airships,” Nightmare Moon gave a short chuckle. “And this is a fairly new design, so it’s to be expected.”

“New?”

“It’s almost as fast as the airships used for racing in optimal weather, and despite its size it can withstand a great deal of punishment. The furnace is magically protected so that its flames won’t die out once you get to the frigid temperatures of the north,” The Empress watched in silence for a little bit as a hatch opened on the side of the airship’s rotund body and a rope ladder was pushed out to clatter against the dirt. “She was christened just two days ago if I remember correctly.”

Ebony had never been on an airship before, but she had been taken into the air by pegasi before, so she imagined it was similar to that experience only a lot more safe – she hoped – and with a lot less jostling.

The Frost Giant didn’t have the open poop decks that the larger airships had, where tourists could gawk and point over the railings and nobility could converse and clink their glasses full of wine together; it didn’t seem to have a poop deck at all, it was almost almond-shaped with the only flat bit being the stern, presumably to hold the four propellers arranged in a square-pattern.

There was a single window at the front – ‘bow’, her Inner Haze staunchly corrected – and Ebony saw a shadow through the thick glass before it slinked away and reappeared at the open hatch as an aged stallion wearing one of those sailor caps with the anchor on the front. He took the ladder down rung by rung, swift but cautious at once.

“That is your pilot – Broad Sails,” Nightmare Moon told her. “He will get you to the Crystal Empire, so you would do well to make sure he stays alive. I would hate to have to send another airship looking for you.”

Ebony nodded. “I will, Empress.”

“Have you gotten your troops ready?”

“They’re ready.” Ebony nodded again, glancing over to the side where six guards stood at attention.

Well… more like ‘five’ since Lightning Dust had broken formation to adjust her armor again. Not entirely without reason, but it still annoyed her.

She wished Fade wasn’t busy, wished that there was somepony else as good a flyer as him or Lightning Dust, but there wasn’t, so she’d have to grin and bear the mare’s company.

“Then this is farewell for now…” Nightmare Moon turned to face her fully, one hoof coming up on the side to stop the airship’s pilot in his tracks when he tried to greet them. “I place my trust in you, my Right Hoof – do not disappoint me.”

“I won’t, Empress. I promise.”

When Ebony arrived on the bridge, the six guards she brought along were all lined up in threes on either side of the bridge. Impressive – she didn’t even order them to do that.

She walked down the middle – surreptitiously eyeing Lightning Dust as she passed her – and approached Broad Sails. The stallion had been single-hoofedly piloting the vessel, and though Ebony was no expert on airships, she assumed that was worthy of admiration.

Especially when she saw the mess of a blizzard through the window.

“Aye, it be a fierce ‘un out there, lass!” Broad Sails said when she stopped beside him. The brown pipe sticking out the corner of his mouth twitched as a few puffs of smoke curled out the end. “No pegasi ta be corrallin’ this here weather, sure as sure be. Gives ye some insight ta th’ power of that ol’ witch, Mother Nature.”

‘Why is he talking like a pirate?’

Ebony shrugged and turned her attention back to the window with narrowed eyes. “How can you even see where you’re going?”

“Sailor’s intuition, lass!” Broad Sails chuckled, and then released one hoof from the brass iron steering wheel to tap one of the many gauges on the control station. “Also, this be a compass.”

“Ah.”

“We’ll be headin’ through th’ Empire’s magical-whatchamacallit shield in a few ticks, lass, so ye had best be prepared.”

“Okay.”

Ebony nodded and turned to face the guards.

Her guards.

“You heard the stallion: we’ll be in the Crystal Empire shortly,” Stiffly, she marched back down between the rows, catching each guard’s eyes as she did. Some flinched. “You’ve been briefed, but I want to remind you all that we’re going into unknown territory: the Crystal Empire could be under siege or it could be just having some issue with communications and travel. Whatever the situation is, we’re going to get to the bottom of it.”

Reaching the end, she abruptly turned and started trotting back up.

“If anypony has any questions, then ask them now.”

Almost immediately, Private Tremor cleared his throat.

“Captain, what happens if we discover Rouge Knights? More than we can handle?”

“Then we retreat,” Ebony said. The words left a bad taste in her mouth, but she had to let them all know. “We retreat and inform the Empress of what’s happened so that we can plan another course of action.”

Lightning Dust was keeping quiet so far – though Ebony could hear her running up and down the ship during the trip – but she was shifting restlessly and flexing her wings. The blades attached to them slid against each other with a soft skritch, skritch.

She worried that the pegasus would get too excited if they did encounter the knights.

‘Although if she dies…’

Ebony swiftly cast that thought out of her head.

Annoying she may be, but unless she does anything that actively compromised the mission, she was a Praetorian Guard just like Ebony and unworthy of those kinds of thoughts – albeit, one that still had to refer to her for orders.

Hopefully, she’d take to them without much complaint – this was their first mission together.

Facing the window, Ebony had no defense when the raging blizzard that blinded their way suddenly came to a grinding halt and she was blinded by a flash of light.

Her lich eyes burned and she sucked air through her teeth in displeasure, and squinted.

“Here we be, lads and lasses!” Broad Sails announced with a grandiose gesture towards the window. “Th’ Crystal Empire.”

When she could bear to face the light, Ebony moved closer and peered out, awed by the sight of beautiful buildings and spires constructed out of materials that glittered and shone in the sunlight. As if the city wasn’t already stunning enough, fields of lush and healthy grass surrounded the empire as far as the magical barrier extended.

‘Well…’ Ebony thought with a small smile as they soared over the greenery. ‘I finally saw the Crystal Empire in person, so I can cross that of my bucket list.’

…

‘Oh. Right…’

Fade was right: she could get a lot of material from being undead should she ever decide to pursue the path of comedy.

“Don’t seem ta be in th’ middle of a crisis, eh?” Broad Sails asked, reaching off to the side to push a lever up to make something in the airship’s belly go click-clunk. “S’pretty as th’ eye of a storm an’… Eh?”

Ebony frowned worriedly when Broad Sails leaned closer to the window, and attempted to follow his gaze. “What’s wrong?”

“Ya can see th’ train tracks from here.”

“Oh?” Ebony searched for the tracks far below and found them. “Yeah? What’s wrong about…?”

Then she saw it.

A huge cluster of crystals as black as a shadow that ran along the tracks, all the way up to the train station in the distance.

But even from their height she could see the missing train – waiting for nopony at the station with jagged spires of black crystal gouging out the carriages.

Ebony stared with a cold weight in her belly, and only vaguely heard Lightning Dust calling for her. “Yo, what’s up? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Get up here. All of you.”

The clanking of their armor filled the bridge as they crowded around Ebony to look out the window. She heard some gasp and others swear.

“Black crystals?”

“You heard the stories, right? About him?”

“Shit, is that…? Is Sombra back?!”

Ebony blinked, suddenly alert, and spun to face Broad Sails. “Stop here. Now.”

Broad Sails took his pipe out of his mouth and cocked an eyebrow in confusion. “Empire’s got a landing space near th’ coliseum, lass, so I might-”

“No! Not in the city,” Ebony said firmly, pushing her way through the throng of bodies so she was mere inches from the now-unsettled pilot. “Let us off here. That’s an order.”

He placed the pipe back between his lips and worked the controls, and the airship shuddered to a complete halt.

“King Sombra was the only unicorn who used black crystals…” She said, pulling away from the window. “So either he’s somehow come back or there’s somepony else doing the exact same thing.”

“The Empire has that heart-shaped crystal thing, don’t they?” Lightning Dust said, turning away from the window. “Why don’t they just activate it and blow whoever’s ass to shards?”

“That’s what we’re going to find out,” Halfway to the bridge’s door, she turned and said, “Broad Sails, if you go into the city with a unicorn that’s strong enough to form crystals – Sombra or no – on the loose, then they can easily shoot down this ship. Let us off here with the ladder and keep well out of the city’s range.”

“How long, lass?” Broad Sails tapped his hoof against a gauge. “Can only hold so much fuel, ye know.”

“Until we send out a green flare or… or if you’re in danger of running out of enough fuel that you can’t return to Canterlot. If you get anywhere close to that, then turn around and head back. Tell the Empress of what’s happened.”

Broad Sails frowned and reached up to adjust his cap. “Five hours, lass. That’s as long as I can give ye.”

“Understood,” Ebony nodded firmly before beckoning her guards. “Come on. We’re getting to the bottom of this.”

“Hell yeah!” Lightning Dust hoof-pumped and was the first to trail after her. “Let’s kick some ass!”

“Reign it in.”

Ebony was partly relieved that it didn’t seem to be Rouge Knights that the Empire was dealing with because at least with Sombra or whatever created those crystals, they were from the same world so they would be affected by magic just like anything else.

But on the other hoof, Lightning Dust brought up a point: why didn’t the Empire just turn to the Crystal Heart to vanquish whatever evil was plaguing them? It worked the first time, so why not a second?

Unless it was somehow stolen again.

Considering how most of these things went, that might just be the case.

Ebony shook her head to clear any ‘if’s’ and ‘might’s’ and focused on getting the airship’s escape door open. The hinges gave a most unpleasant squeak when she pushed it open and knocked down the rope ladder. She was quick to descend it down to the fields, knowing that time was of the essence.

Once all four of her hooves were safely on grass, she turned to face the city; they weren’t too far away – they’d be there in under two minutes if they galloped – and from her new vantage point, she could see something that she didn’t pick up on in the airship.

“Ensign Onion…” Ebony turned her head to address the petite unicorn mare that shakily got off the ladder. “Pass me your binoculars.”

Onion nodded and rummaged through her side satchel to hoof them over. “S-sorry – I’m not a fan of ladders…”

Ebony said nothing and brought the binoculars to her eyes. “Hm…”

It was easier to see on ground level than from the airship: there was nopony traversing the city’s streets.

She doubted a settlement as large as the Crystal Empire would have a quiet day where everypony simply decided to stay indoors – she doubted that even from a place like Ponyville.

And a few seconds of scanning confirmed spikes of black crystal jutting out from the streets in random places.

‘If it was King Sombra, then I’d guess he’d be putting the citizens to work again…’ Ebony frowned as she lowered the binoculars and hoofed them back to Onion. ‘But it’s quiet.’

“Everypony’s here, captain,” Lightning Dust said, walking up to her side and glancing at the city before looking back to her with a cocked eyebrow. “I can do some scouting if you need info.”

“No, we’re going in as a group. For now at least,” Ebony retorted, and looked over her shoulder at the other guards. “Did you all hear that? We’re going in together: pegasi keep their wings folded and unicorns keep their magic on hold. Don’t need anypony injuring one of the civilians because they’re jumpy.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Alright – let’s move out!”

Broad Sails had already rolled the ladder back up and shut the door, and as Ebony and the others moved in a tight formation, the airship’s shadow passed over them to begin its route around the city. Ebony watched it shrink in the distance, recalling Broad Sail’s words.

‘Five hours. Hopefully we can settle this by then.’

Ebony started off at a canter that quickly developed into a brisk jog. Another great thing about being undead: she didn’t ‘tire’ in the traditional sense. She still felt the strain that came with using magic, but physical exertion had no drawback. Haze had offered an explanation, but she admitted that she zoned out around ‘lactic acid build-up’ and ‘muscle fibre stasis through arcane influence’.

Fortunately, it wouldn’t be too long a run, and the guards had been trained extensively enough to handle a jog in full armor for considerable distances.

Lightning Dust kept up easily; she seemed to be making a conscious effort to not pull ahead, as her competitive streak demanded.

“So what’s the plan if it’s Sombra or some unicorn with dark magic?” Lightning Dust asked as she slowed her pace for the third time and fell alongside Ebony again.

“Pegasi take to the air and circle until you see an opening,” She responded, raising her voice loud enough for the others to hear. “Earth ponies – that means you, Tremor – hang back behind the barriers that me and the unicorns will put up. A unicorn’s a unicorn, and Sombra’s not immortal or a lich, so he should be just as vulnerable to fatigue and Mana Exhaustion as anypony else.”

“What if he’s not?”

“Then we slit his throat and burn his body so there’ll be nothing for him to come back from.”

Lightning Dust laughed, surprised. “That’s what I’m talking about!”

“Moreover, we want to get to the castle and the Crystal Heart, if it’s still there. If it isn’t, then we need to figure out where the prince and princess are. And if it isn’t Sombra or a unicorn…” Ebony paused as the Empire’s buildings grew closer, and the lack of ponies on the streets became painfully obvious. “Then we need to observe and figure out a new approach.”

The soft crunch of grass flattening beneath their hooves became a chorus of clip-clops as they ended up on the Empire’s roadwork; Ebony raised her hoof and slowed her pace to a slow trot, and her platoon followed suite.

Together, they traversed the barren streets, looking on at the silent buildings. There were more crystals here: they covered buildings, the roads, and even a white-stone fountain with flowing symbols on the rim.

The sculpture of a pony rising on their hind legs in the middle didn’t seem too happy, and miserably dribbled water.

Now that she was closer, Ebony saw that the crystals weren’t actually black, but a very deep shade of purple; it looked black from a distance, but it wasn’t.

Whether that meant it was Sombra or not… she didn’t know.

“… Lightning Dust, fly up and give us a view.” Ebony ordered, gesturing for the others to stop.

“Sure thing!” Lightning Dust nodded and leapt into the air with a strong updraft.

She rose, hovering a hundred yards in the air and turning in a full circle before coming back down.

She looked disturbed.

“Soooo there’s a whole bunch of these crystals beneath the castle. Like… literally covering the entire space where the Crystal Heart is; I can’t even see the damn thing.”

Ebony’s brow furrowed in worry. “What about ponies? Anything?”

“Not as far as I could see.”

“… Let’s keep moving. Be on your guard.”

There wasn’t much else they could do. It was either move forwards and figure out what was going on at the castle or head back to the airship, which defeated the point of getting off it in the first place.

Doing nothing would accomplish nothing.

Ebony took lead once more and led her platoon in the direction of the castle.

Their approach to the castle was just as eerily quiet as when they first entered the city, but the closer they got to the massive building, the more presence the crystals had.

It wasn’t just clusters anymore; there were great, conical spikes that jutted up from the cracked roadwork and tiny little shards no bigger than her hoof scattered across the ground like pebbles.

The others were unnerved, and made a conscious effort to avoiding treading on them. Even Lightning Dust seemed put-off; she didn’t say anything aloud – nor did Ebony think she ever would – but it was all in her expression and body language: the way her eyes shifted about, the way her tongue rolled about in her mouth and pressed at her gums, her cheeks…

Ebony wondered if they felt something she couldn’t; she was unsettled, yes, but no more than any regular pony would be upon discovering a place overrun by deep purple crystals.

Her hooves crushed several of the smallest pieces littering the ground before they turned a corner and came upon the spacious plaza which the Empire’s castle was built upon. The structure was immense and towered over them, but its magnificence was lost upon Ebony as her attention was drawn to what was underneath the castle’s arching foundation.

Dark crystals – covering the area like a giant spiderweb: they jutted out from the ground, stretched across the concrete like a sickly rash, and ran up whatever other surface was close to it.

And in the very midst of the crystalline mess was the Crystal Heart, still floating serenely, completely untouched by the plague.

Ebony swallowed, disturbed at how… unnatural the growths seemed; it spread everywhere and layered upon itself like a healing scab.

Still no sign of life.

“What happened here?” She murmured beneath her breath.

“Maybe we should check inside?” Lightning Dust suggested with a shrug. “I seriously didn’t see anything else when I was up in the air aside from… this.”

Ebony nodded. “Yeah, good idea,” She took a few steps forward. “The entrances are in the castle’s legs, aren’t they?”

Ensign Onion pointed off to the side. “There’s some stairs over th-”

Krk-crack

Ebony stopped dead in her tracks. “Did anypony else hear that?”

“… H-hear what?” Onion asked.

Ebony turned towards the sickly infestation of crystals. “I thought…”

Krk-crack

“That. Did any of you hear that?”

“I did.” Private Tremor nodded.

“Same here,” Lightning Dust agreed with a twitch of her wings. “Came from the crystals.”

Krk-crack

There was no doubt that everypony heard that one because it was much clearer and a portion of crystal was shaken loose from the body of one of the larger spikes. It shattered upon hitting the ground with a sound like glass, and the sound from earlier, the one of something moving, stretching, cracking, continued.

“F-formations!”

Ebony’s silent heart leapt into her throat as her platoon rushed into their positions: pegasi taking to the air, unicorns moving to the back, and earth ponies getting in front with their weapons drawn.

She remained in the front as she was the leader and many degrees tougher than the average unicorn.

Krk-crack

More crystal fell and shattered.

Ebony drew her sword, taking comfort in her magic gripping something solid and with weight.

Krrrrrk

Some of the larger crystals were pushed to the side: somepony or something was in that mess, hidden beneath the blanket of mineral and substance. Maybe if they were regular crystals that weren’t dark as a shadow, then she could see what was beneath it, but they weren’t.

Krrrrrrrrk-crack

crackcrackcrackcrack

The chorus of snapping crystals assaulted her ears as even more crystal was pushed up into sight, previously hidden by the first layer, like skin peeling away to reveal muscle and bone.

Whatever was beneath that mess must have been huge, or at least larger than a regular pony to be pushing so much mass aside like it was of paper, but no matter how hard she peered Ebony saw nothing except that damned crystal!

But she kept peering, kept trying to see who their enemy was.

Until a portion of the crystals twisted in a way that shouldn’t have been possible, and Ebony was struck with the chilling sensation of being watched.

‘No… No way…’

One of the spikes – longer and more slender than the rest – shifted and rose into view, followed by another piece almost identical in shape and length that was fused to the first, and then another piece that was fused into that one. The joined pieces bent and anchored themselves against the ground like-

‘Legs…’ Ebony thought with another splash of cold realization.

Two more ‘legs’ crawled out at different angles and stabbed the concrete. With a shudder that ran through the entire infestation – like a creature tensing up – the mass of crystal that Ebony thought was merely being pushed aside rose into the air.

Once, Miasma had gone to the coast, and brought back a sea urchin. It was small, round, and so completely covered in spines that it took several minutes – and pricks on Fade’s end – to find the mouth.

Ebony was reminded of that odd creature as the mass of crystal – easily twice her size in every dimension – clumsily turned on its three legs to face her, and a crevice stretched sideways across its face widened even further only to abruptly snap shut with a shower of shards falling from its maw.

The inside was pure blackness, but Ebony swore that she saw…

“What the shit is that?!” One of the guards cried – might have been Ensign Crème.

“S-stand your ground!” Ebony shouted, trying not to flinch at the sounds spilling from the creature’s maw.

Crystal breaking and growing back on itself, heavy clunks as its legs stabbed the ground in irregular patterns, ghastly groaning as…

No. It wasn’t the creature that was groaning.

A cluster near one of the creature’s legs shifted as a shimmering body rose up.

‘Moon’s shadow…’

Wide, bloodshot eyes stared blankly at her as the pony – a stallion, earth pony – staggered over towards her. His ribs pressed against his skin and dried blood flaked off his matted fur. He groaned through dry, cracked, and bleeding lips – a sound of pain and misery.

Crystals tore through the skin on his face, cluttering around his temples – it would have been the most horrific part of him had his eyes not held some light, and had his chest not rose and fell with irregular breaths.

He was alive.

Ebony balked and took a step back in disgust as three more bodies rose from the bed, each just as gaunt and haunted as the stallion.

An ageing mare with crystals shredding through her fetlocks.

A young stallion with jagged spikes sprouting from his ears.

A small filly with a line running on top of her muzzle and between her eyes.

Another mare with her jaws stretched wide open like it was broken; glittering crystal peeking behind her teeth like a second row.

They all stared with wide and unseeing eyes, but it was the mare with the bleeding mouth that pointed towards them, hissing out air as she struggled to speak.

“Do you... have... it?”

Ebony gritted her teeth, panting needlessly as she brought her sword to bear.

“Did he… send you?” The mare croaked, still reaching towards her. “To… help?”

The creature stumbled towards them, maw opening and snapping like a trap with two glowing green dots burning within its body.

“Please... Don't leave... I just need your help... to find him...”

Author's Notes:

Note 1: "It's getting harder and harder to drag myself back to the light. This magic is unfathomably dark and primal; it speaks to a decrepit part of me, a part I would rather leave alone. Were it not for my love, I would abandon this altogether. But for my love's sake, I will endure. This magic may be the only thing which can save her, and I will risk all that I am to save her. I can only hope my subjects can forgive my meddling in the dark arts.

Right now, the main thing keeping me lucid is writing in this journal. Going back over it and reading my previous entries gives me closure that what I am doing is for a reason, a good one. As long I have this journal, I can endure." -Entry from a journal found in King Sombra's personal quarters. There is no mention of who this 'love' is, and no pony in the Crystal Empire remembers seeing Sombra as anything other than a tyrant, much less a loving ruler.