The door to Blood Rose's office began to beep and hiss as it opened again, as Silver and I sat outside it. We saw Sharp step out of the office, her saddlebag filled with stuff. Behind her we saw the fresh corpse of Blood Rose. Next to his big fluffy rose hair was a pony skull with a hairdo I swore I'd seen before. The stallion on the Ministry of Fun poster, that was his hair.

Silver stepped beside me as she stared into the room, before muttering, "Is he dead?"

Sharp, now standing next to her as the door began to close, replied, "Yes."

After the door had finished closing, Silver finally replied coldly, "Good."

My sister looked around. "Where's Armoured Wall?"

Silver shook it off. "Outside, one of the bridges failed to crumble."

"We can pick him up during our escape," Sharp said as she led the way.

I looked back at Silver’s carving, it was a message. 'Do not trust Sharp - A.W.' It must have been a message from Armoured Wall. That was the second pony who told me not to trust Sharp. But Sharp herself never gave me a reason not to trust her. She is family, she saved me, I trusted her. I wondered why Armoured Wall and Sex Beach both seemed to harbor distrust for her, what did they see that I didn't?

We proceeded down the corridor, before stopping at a window as we could hear gunfire from down below. We looked at Armoured Wall at the gate of the south bridge, where dozens of guards tried to push forward. He was holding out, but he was slowly being overwhelmed. I stepped forward and aimed down at the bridge with my missile launcher, opening fire.

My four missiles shot down and exploded in the herd of the enemy. Armoured Wall waved at us from below, the smoke clearing as most of the Iron Gem guards were obliterated. The bridge was, however, still intact, damn you post-war construct! In the distance, I could see dozens of guards assembling at the end of the bridge. We rushed over to the elevator to help Armoured Wall.

Boarding the elevator yet again. "What is the plan?"

Sharp hit the lowest button on the elevator, the Bird Cage. "Why the Bird Cage? Shouldn't we help Armoured Wall?" Silver asked.

Sharp pulled out a detonator. "We're going to hijack Blood's private sky carriage," Sharp said.

Silver looked at the detonator with one charge remaining. "Where are you going to get a Pegasus or Griffin to pull it? It'd be pretty unlikely to find one you didn't drug?" Silver stated.

I snickered. "We'll be fine, trust me."

When we got to the fifth level, I was surprised the elevator walls went away. We were now being lowered into a mostly open space. There were only two walls, the rest completely open to the elements. Looking up at the roof, I saw a few dozen or so turrets. These ones weren’t the five-millimetre self-defence turrets, but in fact anti-machine gun turrets. Luckily Sharp deactivated them, or they would have turned me into a cheese grater.

Down below I saw some sky wagons with guns and bombs on racks on one side. A few of the racks on the other side held spark batteries and wagon parts, including armour. Now empty cages were there too, where Pegasi were previously being held like animals. A few dead Griffins lay about the place as well, seemingly having failed to close some kind of chain net barricade for the hangers.

Looking below us,I jumped back when I saw a Sentinel robot. But this one was different that the one I had seen before, it had a brain in a dome for a head, unlike the other one, who had a vaguely pony esque shaped head. Well, it was similar anyway, it in fact was bigger than the one I knew from a memory. Just by looking at it, I could tell the difference between a Sentinel and an Ultra Sentinel, size and weapons.
"Up. Now," I said quickly.

Silver leaned forward and had a look, before smiling back at us. "It's okay, it's just Edi. Armoured Wall's private robot."

Sharp then proceeded to look over the edge. " A Customized Robonco Ultra Sentinel unit with a brain control system. Heavy anti-air flak cannon, grape mortar, chest minigun, flechette missiles, and a tri-barrelled nine-millimetre mini-gun. A hulking anti-air behemoth with four large spider-like legs with grip ball rollers."

I swear my jaw made a ding as it hit the bottom of my helmet. Silver smirked. "If Armoured Wall didn't send it to Brain Power for maintenance and reprogramming, then it would have been patrolling the Smelt with its dragon incinerator and seven mini-guns." She gave a chuckle. "That sucker could melt power armour."

"Lucky us," I said, the elevator stopping in the floor.

We stepped forward and Silver hugged the robot. Me, well I couldn't stop looking at the brain. "Where did they get the brain?"

Sharp placed a hoof on my shoulder. "Do what the old world did. Don't think about it."

The four of us followed Sharp as we made our way to a fancy carriage. The carriage was black with gold trims, a metallic red Blood Skull icon on its side. Its windows were thick, possibly bullet resistant glass. Sharp entered a code on the back of the carriage and it began to open. The inside of the carriage was lavished in pillows and comfortable seats.

I looked at the armoured door of the carriage, seeing it was almost a hoof thick. I then looked under the carriage, noticing a row of spark batteries powering something. The carriage had beefy, yet small off-road wheels, more for take-off and landing, not travel. There was a speaker system on top and a duel harnesses out front. The harnesses didn't offer any protection, so I assumed the fliers must worry about their own protection.

Silver and Sharp hopped in. I was about to enter with the armour when Sharp stopped me. "Might be too cramped."

The Sentinel whistled, beeped and turned. I turned around and followed it as Silver and Sharp watched through the window. It stopped in the front of the Pegasus cages, I saw the filth and a floor of hay. I heard whimpering, so I turned on my lamp, there was a shriek and a figure moved back at the sudden light. In the back of the cage was a male Pegasus that was nothing but skin and bone.

I pointed a hoof at the robot and proceeded to attempt to order it. "Go help Armoured Wall at the bridge," I said, not really knowing if it'd follow my commands.

After a short silent pause, the robot turned and went to the carriage. I turned off my lamp and tried to speak to the stallion. "It's okay, you can come up." Only after saying that, did I realize my voice was rather loud and scary through this armour.

I activated the armour's open function and it began to shift and move. As soon as the back opened up, I slipped my wings out of my jacket’s wing slits and stretched them. I then proceeded to climb out of the power armour.

The scared Pegasus crawled forward slowly and spoke softly. "You're a Pegasus?" he stuttered.

I snickered as I could hear Silver yell the same thing in surprise. "Yes, I am."

To my surprise, he mustered a burst of energy and hugged me. "Thank you!" He started crying. "I knew the Enclave wouldn't leave us here! I'm so sorry for breaking the laws and coming down here! The others said we'd be killed if we went back, but I knew they were wrong!"

I patted him. "It's okay, you're going to be alright. But I'm not with the Enclave." It was then that I saw his wing was in a makeshift cast. Regardless, he was definitely unable to fly at the moment.

He sat back and wiped his tears. "But where will I go? How will I survive?"

Silver and Sharp walked over with Edi. "You never told me you were a Pegasus," Silver said, somewhat annoyed.

I shrugged. "You never even asked my name. It's Star by the way."

I looked to the power armour and tapped it. "This might help."

"What? That was a pain in the ass to get," Sharp said, also seemingly annoyed by my suggestion.

"What? We're not taking it with us." I watched the Pegasus look at the armour in awe.

Edi beeped. "Edi says she can't get to Armoured Wall unless she goes the long way," Silver said in Edi's place.

"You can understand robots?" I asked, looking at Silver now.

She shook her head. "No, just Edi, she can't operate elevators or open doors. Edi would have to go down to Underworld, up through Iron Gem and all the way around."

The Pegasus hopped into the armour and it closed around him, which made him yelp. "Relax, it's okay. You'll get the hang of it."

He moved his now power armoured head side to side. "Okay, I'm okay. How do I use this thing?"

I walked over and took off my mare's leg rifle. "Crash course." I then walked over to a dead griffin and grabbed a Pipe-shotgun.

"So, what's your name?" I asked as I looked over the gun. Yet again, another crude weapon made ineffectively, albeit cheaply and potentially customizable. Wood and metal fused together to simply fire rounds designed for better guns. This one was however for twelve gauge shotgun rounds, of which it came with a drum load.

"Name? It's been a while. It's, um... Velvet Chaser," he said as I installed the Pipe-shotgun onto him.

I then turned to Edi. "Edi, I want you to stay with Velvet Chaser until you can regroup with Armoured Wall."

Edi looked over to Silver for confirmation. "Edi, do it. We'll pick up Armoured Wall and meet up with you later."

"Thank you so much, you guys saved my life." Velvet Chaser tried to take a step forward and face planted.

I couldn't help but laugh, even Sharp couldn't contain herself. "You better get moving, we're going to blow this place soon."

Silver and Sharp hopped onto the second elevator and were lowered down into the Underworld. Silver walked over and punched my shoulder. "Ow, hey!" I retorted.

Silver and Sharp walked back to the carriage. "We better hurry, Armoured Wall needs out help."

I harnessed myself to the wagon, tugging at it a little. It was surprisingly light for its size. Although it had two Pegasi puller slots and harnesses, hopefully, one will do. The weight probably had something to do with some built-in old world technology, that would explain the spark-batteries. I began to gallop and beat my wings as I ran to the abyss, hoping I could manage it. The carriage began to bounce a little as it started to get airborne, of course, I went along with it. I felt like a large, slow-moving bird, as we were now off.

I flew up in a long circular pattern, before stabilizing in a tight circle above the east gate. I could see more troops approaching down the bridge. They didn't open fire on us, possibly assuming we were Blood Rose, given we had his private carriage. Unfortunately, we seemed to have missed a crucial detail. We couldn't land, even if I knew how. I was left simply circling Armoured Wall's location.

"Armoured Wall!" The P.A. System on the carriage blared out Silver's voice. "Hang in there!" she yelled into the microphone as I clenched my ears and tried to focus on flying upright.

I looked down at Armoured Wall, only to see him waving us down and shaking his head in disagreement. He then seemed to signal us with his hooves, showing something expanding?

[centre]'Boom!'[/centre]

Explosions ripped through Iron Fort's underside in a ring. The snow-covered courtyard birthed red flowers of fire as the bridges waved like long hair in the wind. The blast pressure blew us around. I struggled to regain control as the air roared. I opened my eyes as the explosions died down, I was shocked to see all of Iron Fort obscured in thick black smoke. My eyes darted for any sight of Armoured Wall.

The plumes of smoke were pushed to the side by the wind. Iron Fort, it was still hanging above the Underworld. The bottom half of the building was on fire, as was the courtyard. At first, I thought I was flying at an angle, but it wasn't me, it was Iron Fort. The whole megastructure hung from the east bridge at a forty-five degree angle. The single bridge was bend under the weight.

I heard crackling coming from above me. I then saw the speaker system had been damaged in the blast. Silver and Sharp were looking down in awe as they searched for Armoured Wall. Through the fire we saw something, it was a large mass of bubbling red semi-transparent liquid flame. It took the shape of some bipedal creature with large horns.

In the centre of this mass was Armoured Wall, floating within the energy. Bright red lightning lined his body as it seemed to converge and seep out of his eyes, a primordial red and white energy emanating from them. His strange power aura looked like a minotaur, with its massive muscular arms at it’s sides and its hands clenched into fists.

Guards and soldiers who managed to stay on the bridge began to move forward. Armoured Wall moved up the sloping bridge, I could hear and see the bridge shake with each step he took. When some guards came in sight, they mostly ran. But some were brave or stupid enough to attack Armoured Wall. He simply ignored them as they were not affecting him at all. He walked to the middle of the bridge and stood on his hind legs.

Armoured Wall’s aura brought down its arms, slamming its fists into the bridge. The whole bridge buckled and broke with explosive force as it sent out a shockwave. Iron Fort fell down into the Underworld, along with Armoured Wall and half the bridge. His aura dissipated and his body looked heavily burnt, his flesh almost completely missing.

I dove after him, Silver opened the back door. I flew past him in the increasing dark, before slowing down, trying to let him fall into the carriage. The ground was becoming visible, fast. I pulled up hard, dodging large bridge wreckage as I felt it get colder. I could feel the extra weight in the carriage as I pulled us out of our dive and back up. Flying away, I looked back and saw Iron Fort, now a small burning spot in Underworld.

It was strange to look at Tri-Hole without Iron Fort there. I looked back to see the window steamed up, still being unable to talk to Sharp or Silver. But we had to leave, so I decided to fly east. There was no real reason to it, just the direction we were pointing. We were now finally free, we escaped, we won?

After about an hour of flying, I decided to land. It was a bumpy, yet satisfying landing on a road in the middle of nowhere. I stopped and unbuckled myself, before having to go and knock on the carriage door. After waiting for a moment, the door began to open. Heat poured out of the door, just before it touched down. Armoured Wall was laying on his back Sharp and Silver on each side of him. Silver sobbed onto what was left of his chest. All of his muscle was exposed and burnt, his blood had soaked into the cushions of the carriage. Armoured Wall was dead.

Sharp made her way out of the carriage, before taking me to the front of it. "How could you do that?!" Sharp yelled at me.

I avoided looking her in the eyes. "I couldn't land."

She pushed me back. "No, how could you take all the blame for what we did! Do you have any idea how many will come after you now?" Sharp started to hit my chest in frustration. "Why?!" she cried out.

She stopped and rested her head on my chest, panting. "I did it for you. They don't know about you, they won't come after you. Sharp Shot is gone, you're free to become someone else and get away from this all." She sighed and backed off, saying. "We need to bury Armoured Wall."

We then went back to Silver and Armoured Wall, she was still weeping above him. I went and touched her shoulder, but before I could blink, a knife was being pressed up to my neck with a magical hold. Silver stared at me with anger, before sniffling and lowering the knife. She looked at something embedded in his chest. I hadn't noticed it when she was above him, but now I could see what it was. It was a spherical white orb with a keyhole in it.

Silver pulled at the thing in Armoured Wall's chest, his muscle seemingly attached to it. "The Star Core, a device that can turn your rage into physical power. Most who try to use it burn away or explode in seconds, after succumbing to maddening rage. But the fact Armoured Wall managed to control it is a testament to his strength," Silver said coldly as she began to cut it out.

She wiped it clean. "I hid it from Blood Rose, planning on having Armoured Wall sneak it out later." She took off her eye-patch and looked right at me with her one eye. Her other was an empty socket of scar tissue. "I was born with a tumour that enveloped my eye. Thanks to the hole it left, I was able to sneak the star core as far as my room. Blood Rose didn't like or trust me, had me searched whenever I left or entered Iron Fort." I was left petrified as Silver pushed the star core into her eye socket with a pop, before moving it around so the hole faced forward.

She then put her eye-patch back on. We didn't need to say anything, we knew what had to be done next, the three of us got out of the carriage and headed over to a nearby dead tree.

We all began to dig a grave, leaving it up to Silver, who had stopped crying, to decide when it was done. We then proceeded to climb out of the grave. Silver began to carve into the tree as Sharp and I grabbed Armoured Wall, after wrapping him up in the blankets of the carriage. We gently laid him down before we all silently filled in his grave. After which we all stood around.

I looked to Armoured Wall's tombstone.

[centre]'Armoured Wall
Age: 52'[/centre]

"When my mom died, Armoured Wall comforted me. He treated me like the child he never had. In all that time, I never told him what he meant to me." Silver's eyes began to water up again. "He was like the father I lost long ago. Armoured Wall, I love you." She sniffled and wiped her tears.

Sharp stepped forward to speak next, but to our surprise Silver just turned around and started walking away. Sharp opened her mouth to speak out to Silver, but I placed my hoof on her shoulder, shaking my head to let her go. I looked at Armoured Wall's grave, it should have been me. I was meant to be the martyr, the scapegoat. I was the one who wanted to die now that this was all over.

I looked to Silver as she stopped in front of the carriage, picked something up and continued walking away, no longer choosing to travel with us. In the short time with Armoured Wall, I barely got to know him. But if it wasn't for him, none of this would have been possible. If he hadn't destroyed Iron Fort then I wouldn't have been able to clear my sister of Blood Rose's fallout. So I know exactly what I needed to say. "Thank you."

Sharp turned towards the carriage. "We have work to do."

I turned to her, confused. "What? I thought we were finished?" I wanted it to be, so I could simply go out in a blaze of glory, like Armoured Wall.

Sharp didn't even look at me as she boarded the sky carriage. "I know the reason for all of this. But we have to go to a special place before you can understand the true meaning of it. Fly East to a huge hole and head to the centre." Before I could reply, she started closing the door.

Maybe it was curiosity or the fact I had nothing better to do, but I decided to go along. It was a steady uneventful flight, until it wasn't. Physical pistol fire shot at and around us as the Ninety-Nine had caught up with us. At this point, it was high noon and the aforementioned hole was visible on the horizon. I simply flew as fast as I could, but this vehicle was made with double the horsepower in mind.

I took a quick look back, seeing the Ninety-Nine for the first time, kind of. They had sixteen armoured sky wagons pulled by Pegasi in light pre-war military armour. The Pegasi all wore visors to keep them looking forward as a pony whipped and steered them from above their carriages with reins. On the helmet of the Pegasi was the word “Engine”, followed by a number painted on it.

It made me sick to see them use Pegasi as simple tools. But there wasn't anything I was able to do about it now. I got a good look at the ponies at the reins. They were stallions and mares, unicorns and earth ponies. All of them had their hair cut down to a military buzz cut. Their tails were cut short and tied up. They all had square black frameless glasses, along with something in their right ear.

Their clothing was also the same, a black waiter vest with a white long sleeve button down shirt under it. They had a blood red tie on the outside with a Blood Skull logo at the bottom. On their left side was a holstered pistol and on the other in a straight wooden sheath was a guardless katana. There also seemed to be a number burnt on the bottom of their sword handle.

To my amazement, that number was the same that was on their right flank, which seemed to have had their cutie marks removed. On the other side was a black equal sign, but no sign of scarring. Oddly enough their coats also seemed to be faded of colour. The sky wagons themselves seemed to be patched with thick sheets of metal, with Blood Skull's icon painted on the side. While on the other was the number ninety-nine. The reason I could see all this was because they were closing in.

I looked to the ground and saw a growing ring of rubble, before it suddenly gave way to black earth. There was no snow on the rubble and ground before it. The closer I flew to the centre, the the smoother the ground became. There were a few square pools of misty warm water near the rim of the ring, streams running from them down towards the hole. That's when I realized what this was.

It was rumoured, well, more like a legend. The capital of the Crystal Empire was hit with the biggest bomb of the end time. So big in fact that it was thought to be a second sunset, a green sunset. This whole circle of black ground was a still warm crater.

The crater was a shallow slow incline to a hole rivalling one of Tri-hole's. But where Tri-Hole had cliffs that ranged thousands of feet before Underworld, this place had a shallow incline that spanned all the way to Underworld. From what I could see, the hole was a lot more rough and spiky. Probably because of pieces breaking off the thin ground.

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to take it all in as I was still under fire. After flying past the boundary of hole I saw something in the centre, above the original ground level. But there was one thing I noticed. I was flying towards a large orb shaped sphere. Looking at it, I saw my own reflection. Unable to talk to Sharp and unwilling to turn around or enter the Underworld, I flew at it.

Reluctantly, I was about to fly head on into my own approaching reflection. When all of a sudden there was an explosion from underneath the carriage. Suddenly it got a lot heavier, just before we flew into the sphere. I screamed as we entered it, feeling heat and electricity run through and over my body. There was also a bright green light so intense that closing my eyes did little to block it. But as suddenly as that all started it seemed to stop.

I opened my eyes to see a city of crystal floating in a place I could only describe as not fucking anywhere like the Crystal Empire. It seemed to be in a limbo of energetic strong rainbow lightning storms. The Crystal City, I assumed. It was, in fact, a city made of crystal. It had twelve large roads that led to the towering castle in the middle.

The castle and buildings, and even roads in the city were made of crystals of different hues. Most of the buildings were between two to eight stories tall, rising as they grew closer to the castle. The castle itself would have cast a shadow all the way to the rim of the city. The city was built as a sundial, used to tell time with shadows, according to Dad’s history class. But there was no shadow, just light from everywhere, unlike the wasteland’s dimly lit cloudy sky.

I aimed between a crystal gate with three floating crystals, managing to fly above it and over a park-like area as we went down. Before we flew down a main road, avoiding builds. Oddly enough these buildings were a lot more rigid in shape, compared to the square nature of old world homes in the wasteland. Then again, I was the pony wondering about old world architecture during mayday.

The wagon bounced once before sliding and taking me along with it. As I spun around I saw everything was solid crystal, trees, wagons, houses, and even ponies. Wait, ponies?! The wagon flipped before landing on its side and came to a screeching halt in the middle of the road. That was probably the worst landing I have ever had with a sky wagon.

Hanging from the harness of this wreck, I struggled to unbuckle myself. Dropping to the ground with a thud, I stood slowly. Immediately regretting my decision to stand as I fell to my side, not from injury, but dizziness. Worrying about my sister, I got up and slowly made my way to the back of the carriage, leaning against the warped roof for support.

The door slowly began to open with a few groans and creaks. The bottom of the wagon was burnt and sparking as the batteries threatened to explode any second. Sharp stumbled out of the wreck, her head bleeding. I quickly let her lean on me as she still had her saddle bag with her. Her knife still holstered at my hoof, I pulled out my mare leg rifle and readied for a fight.

We moved to the street, away from the carriage, just before it went up in an explosive electrical fire.
Sharp steadied herself, before turning to face the castle. I watched as the dozen Ninety-Nine carriages entered and landed in the park-like area. I wasn't hopeful of our odds, I wasn't even sure where we were. I tried to pull out my wings, that's when it hit me. My right-wing burst in pain as I just now realized it was broken and misshapen.

I was so pumped by the chase and crash that I failed to notice till now. I screamed in place as my wing bent in ways it shouldn't have. I wasn't even able to put it back under my jacket. I groaned and went to take a step towards my glorious death when I was stopped. Sharp bit my tail, before letting me go and standing.

"Run, we have to get to the castle!" she yelled, already galloping away.

I looked to the approaching Ninety-Nine in the distance and gave chase to my sister. As we ran I saw a semitransparent pony made of crystal. The stallion seemed to be frozen in place. I really had no clue what this place was, but it wasn't natural. A stray bullet hit the crystal pony and he shattered like glass. I wasn't sure if he was alive or ever was in the first place. But he did have a Cutie Mark and real looking eyes.

We passed many more crystal ponies but didn't have time to look. Managing to avoid fire by using side paths, we entered the hexagram-shaped road. But the Ninety-Nine opened pistol fire at us yet again, in the open road. I shielded Sharp with my one good wing as we ran as fast as we could in a beeline. I even used the mare leg to take unsuccessful pot shots.

The castle doors were in sight and open, but a visible magic barrier blocked the entrance. The castle had multiple legs and entrances, all the same. Above us was a balcony and a banner. A purple flag of many hues, with a ringed snowflake in the centre, the flag of the Crystal Empire. The palace was made out a blue-white crystal decorated with gold, its towers coming out of large square bases.

“Almost there!” I yelled as we ran over a snowflake shaped road, we then got to a door at one of the legs of the castle. I spun around at the top of the steps to the castle.

At the base of the steps were a dozen Ninety-Nine. I holstered the mare-leg, before drawing the combat knife. In unison, they all drew their katana. They all took a step forward. I took a step down one stair. I had ninety-nine problems, but fear wasn't one of them. But just before I was about to charge, I felt magic pull me by my tail, making me fall down.

There was a tingle up my body. Before I knew it, I was through the magical barrier at the door. I looked at the Ninety-Nine as they charged into the barrier, only to be repelled by it. I blinked as I looked at the pinkish-purple hue. Slowly I stood, realizing I wasn't going to die. I looked to Sharp, she had pulled me in. She was still bleeding from her head lightly and wavering in her stance.

I looked back at the Ninety-Nine. They all sheathed their soulless metal silver blades that looked clean and sharp, reflecting their surroundings like a steel mirror. Then they drew what seemed to be identical huge muzzle held pistols. If I had to guess, I'd say they were fourteen-millimetre semi-automatic pistols. A bulky pistol that had a metallic black finish over it. Iron sights and a wooden mouth grip connected to the body of the gun. Under it all hung a magazine in the middle of the pistol.

I flinched back as they opened fire on the barrier, but to no avail. Now that they weren’t a iminiate threat, I turned my attention to Sharp. "Sharp?!" I rushed over to her, but she put out a hoof to stop me.

"I'm okay, we need to get to the throne room." When she said that the castle doors swung shut.

[centre]'Thud!'[/centre]

A giant white bear fell down from the ceiling. I slowly looked up at its body. Thick strong short legs connected to narrow long rabbit feet. Black pads on the paws were obscured by long black claws protruding from the tips of its fingers. The snow white fluffy creature’s bulk was barrel-shaped. Its massive arms and paws were a good half of its height. Its head was that of a rabbit, ears and all, but with the addition of razor sharp alongside its buck teeth.

This twelve feet tall bear-bunny thing looked down at us with red eyes. Its pink nose twitched as did its whiskers. I looked at its fluffy white fur, large blue shards of crystal protruding from its arms and back. The crystals seemed to glow a light blue hue. The creature dropped to a knee and bowed its head to us as it placed one of its massive paws on its chest.

Before I could ask Sharp what it was doing, four more dropped down from above before kneeling. One had an arm completely made of light blue crystal showing the bones inside. It was able to even move a crude crystal claw. Unlike the others who had a few crystals on their back, this one had a whole nest of sharp thin crystals all over its body. This distinctive one also stood first.

"Welcome, royal descendants," the thing spoke but also didn't. I could hear its voice in my head as it looked at us.

"Royal descendants?" I blurted out.

There was another, much softer 'Thud.' I spun around to see Sharp lying unconscious on the floor.

"Sharp!" I ran over to her, she was still breathing.

One of the big bunnies moved me to the side and picked her up. "We will provide what medical care we can," it said, before walking off with her.

I sat down and panted, the exhaustion only now hitting me. "Where is he taking her?" I asked.

The crystal-armed bunny stepped forward. "He is taking the young princess to rest and recover. He will then return with medical supplies for the young master."

I rubbed my sore throbbing wing, before looking at him. "Before you said we were royal? What did you mean?"

He put forth his crystal arm, which had a light glow. "Only Royal Guards such as ourselves and royal blood can pass the barrier. Also, we feel and glow when in the presence of a royal bloodline member."

I had so many questions buzzing through my head. I took a second to breathe before asking, "Where is this place? What is this place? Why is this place? What are you? What about the ponies outside? What about the crystal ponies? How are we royalty?" I stopped to take a big gulp of air.

I was about to speak again, but my stomach growled in hunger. The bunny chuckled. "Perhaps you would prefer to eat first, my Lord? May I prepare a bath in the meantime?"

Now normally I hated baths, but given my day, I couldn't argue. "Yes, that would be lovely."

He stood up and I promptly followed him. I looked around the crystal palace, heading upstairs as I looked out a window. Even that had a magical barrier over it. I looked out to the weird sky in disbelief. A flash broke my gazing and I almost fell back, but not before the bunny caught me in his magic. Looking out a glass window, I saw the Ninety-Nine were in their sky wagons, shooting at me, to no avail.

The bunny bear growled. "Permission to destroy them, my Lord?" he asked in my head, angrily.

I steadied myself. "Yes," I said firmly.

He put out his crystal arm and it began to glow with a magical aura. Suddenly one of the wagons came to a sudden halt as it was enveloped in magic.

"Wait!" I ordered, looking at the Pegasi. "Free the Pegasi, kill the rest."

The rabbit flicked his middle claw finger and a slash of magical energy shot out from just outside the glass. It cutting right through the metal beams holding the Pegasi to the wagon. He then proceeded to crush the armoured wagon and pony atop it into something the size of a watermelon, before dropping it.

Despite that display the other near dozen wagons still attacked. The royal guard bunny proceeded to cut another Pegasi loose. The wagon fell but was engulfed in magic. It didn't stop like the other one, no, this one sped up. It hit the ground with such force that once the dust cleared, I could see a crater in the street and a pancake thin wagon.

The magic around his crystal arm began to move to his claw tips, almost touching the glass and its barrier. His four claw fingers shot out magical bullets harmlessly through the glass and shield. I said bullets, but it was more like cannon fire. It sounded like plasma fire as the magical orbs shot right through a carriage. It left holes bigger than my head. The driver was now just a pair of hind legs. The wagon soon began to fall down.

I gasped, worrying about the Pegasus. But the bunny bear simply remained calm as he pulled the Pegasus out of his harness, without harming him. The wagon then crashed into the street. The three free Pegasi flew away, looking around due to their restricted sight. Soon the remainder of the Ninety-Nine began to retreat to what appeared to be the same portal we all entered through.

I patted the bunny on the back, not that there was much that wasn't spiky crystal. "Impressive." I had to mentally stop myself from moaning at how soft his fur was, although I had to be careful to avoid the protruding patches of crystal spikes.

I could hear him purring lightly in my head. "Do you wish us to pursue, my Lord?"

I stopped petting him and cleared my throat. "No, that shouldn't be necessary."

We then proceeded up the stairs, reaching a large room with high ceilings and crystal pillars. There were a few comfy sofas and more than a few doors leading to who knows where. The whole room was lit by crystal circles on the ceiling, illuminating the room evenly. I saw the door to the balcony that I saw from the outside, the curtains were closed. I think my whole house could have fit in this room.

Coming through one of the many doors was another bunny. He carried some Med-X and a few healing potions. "My lord," he said inside my mind, "Lady Sharp is stable and is currently resting in the castle infirmary." He placed the medical supplies before me and bowed.

"Thank you," I said as I injected myself with Med-X and felt the pain and throbbing in my wing dull, before drinking a healing potion.

I moved my wing slowly under my jacket to rest and recover, assuming it to be just a sprain. . The medicine healed my wounds, but I felt it best to rest it a bit longer. Although I couldn't help, but worry about Sharp and her injured head. I was unsure how she had known about this place, or how we managed to pass through the shield.

I looked up to the doors and saw signs. Staircases, library, throne room and many more rooms a castle would be expected to have. The head bunny lead me to a room, well a bathroom, or more like a spa. Water fountains flowed and smooth crystal floors shone, the water steaming warm and bubbling. I took off my jacket, resting it on a hook as the bunny waited outside. I moaned as I stepped a tired hoof into the water.

I walked in and lay back into the warm water with a sigh, relaxing my worn muscles. Many questions still buzzed through my head. I held my breath and sank to the bottom of what seemed more like a pool than a bath. Royalty? You'd think that would be the prominent thing on my mind, but it wasn't. I resurfaced, looking around to see some bath controls.

I trotted through the wing high water and pressed the ‘Bubbles’ button. Soon soapy slime dripped down from the ceiling, mixing with the frothing water. A foamy, neck high bubble layer formed on the surface of the water. The bubbles made me feel a little better, but it was not realy what I sought.

I set a timer to something called a rain function. I then went back to the centre of the pool and lay back, sinking below the bubbles and the water. Once again I lay on the bottom, the foamy bubbles blocking the light. I closed my eyes in the dim light under the bubbling water. I felt the warmth flow and bubble move around me.

I had a second chance to live. I had gotten away with killing Blood Rose and wound up in a palace. But you know what? I didn't want it. I wanted to die, to escape the guilt. I killed a foal, I failed Candy and I had a darkness inside me. Sharp could use whatever power the royal status could provide and make a better world.

I could feel the air bubble out of my lungs. I wondered if I was able to will myself to drown? The sounds of bubbles and rushing water stopped, replaced by utter silence. The bubbles melted away as the roar of rain battering the water surface filled the room. My chest ached and I instinctively squirmed, before breaching the water as I gasped for air.

I sat up, panting heavily as I slumped over. I stood up and turned off the water, slowly drying off, before hopping out. I decided to not put my jacket on, not wanting to dirty myself now that I was clean. My jacket draped over my shoulder, I stepped out of the bathroom. The bunny was waiting outside for me patiently. I proceeded to hand him my jacket as he held out his paw for it.

"Dinner is ready, my Lord, I shall have your clothing cleaned in the meantime," he said with a bow.

We proceeded to a dining hall, where a banquet was spread out. There was more food than I had ever seen. The long decorative table had two seats at each end and three chandeliers hung over it. There were cakes, patisserie, fruits, sandwiches, stews, crystal corn, pies, soups and many more spread out for dinner. A few of the more extravagant items I didn't even know the name of.

The head bunny, accompanied by four more bear bunny things, entered the room and pointed to the feast. "Today we have Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness, Exquisite Éclairs, Donutopia, Chocolate Mousse Moose and the Crystal Empire Rainbow Crystal Blizzard cake."

I began to dish out my food, but had to ask, "What are you?"

Five of the six bunny bears stood at the sides of the table as the leader stood at my side. They all seemed to be smiling and trying to sneakily take a peek at me. "We are known as Royal Doom Bunnies. I am the captain of the Royal Guard, my name is Fluffy."

I almost choked on my food as I tried not to laugh. After calming down, I then took my time eating the food, after having been stunned at the fresh and flavoursome taste. "Tomorrow I want you to fill my sister and I in on everything. For now, I need to get some rest," I said with a bit of a yawn.

The captain, I still couldn’t bring myself to think of him as of Fluffy. "As you wish, my Lord."

After that, I prompted to fill my belly with more food than I ever have. I almost had to waddle behind the captain as he led me to my bedchamber. There was a queen-sized bed adorned with pillows, a canopy, and curtains. There was a chandelier, dresser, wardrobe, and bed stand with a fancy vinyl record player on it in the room. I decided the best thing to do was to back dive onto the soft springy bed.

I sighed as I sank into the soft bedding. To think I came from two hundred-year-old stained mattress to a two-hundred-year-old spotless royal bed. I smiled and nodded to the doom bunny, seeing a smile on his face. I then closed my eyes as he turned off the lights and left my room. It was only then did I let my smile sink away. I didn't want the doom bunnies, who, despite their professional demeanour, seemed delighted to have us here.

I went to hold my paperclip. But felting my zipper with my feathers, I was surprised to feel that it wasn't there. I sighed and closed my eyes, just something else to go wrong today. I guess I'll hold off my new found death wish for a little while longer. For now, it was time for me to sleep, I expected a dark dream to be waiting for me.

I slowly sat up after falling asleep who knows how long ago. I rubbed my eyes as I stretched my wings, yawning. I then opened my eyes to see the bed and I were floating in darkness. I was going to hop out of it, but something bumped the bed. I saw some hooves grab at the base of the bed, one pair, then two and more. Ponies crawled towards me, groaning. Their eyes were hollow and pitch black.

One of them I recognized, it was the pony that was cut in half by a stable door. His head was missing, but the body was still moving. I quickly moved to the side of the bed to see a mountain of bodies climbing each other to get to me. Screams, groans, and cries echoed and emanated from the mound of bodies. I tried to take flight, flapping my wings, but nothing happened.

I began to kick and push the slow-moving corpses off the bed, but more just kept coming. Soon they overwhelmed me, pinning me to the bed. Then all of a sudden, they froze in place like statues. The roof fabric of the bed began to blacken and move, molding itself into a pony shape. The pony of black velvet cloth blinked its purple, shining eyes. The figure smiled as it moved close to caress my cheek.

"Star, you have been busy." Dark, yet another one of his forms in ever-changing dreams.

I groaned, not wanting this. "What do you want."

Dark’s fabricated smile dipped. "I know you want to die."

The statue-like victims of mine moved ever so slightly, I ignored them and looked to Dark. "What's it to you?"

Dark's smile grew yet again. "Why not give in, let me simply take over."

The figures grabbed my wings. "What happens to me then?"

His clothed smile grew as wide as ever. "You'll get to stay here, in your mind. You can do whatever you desire in here. Although right now you desire three things."

In a split second my wings were ripped from my body by my victims. I let out a loud scream as I thrashed under the hold of hooves and claws. Teeth sank into my hide, through my jacket as claws ripped it off my body. I was lifted off the bed as I saw the towering horde rip it in shreds, making their way towards me. The square canopy of the bed that housed Dark, cloth edition, floated above me, apart from the bed.

[centre]"Purpose."[/centre]

I saw griffins and ponies of all race bite into my body, taking chunks that turned to dust within their mouths. No blood bled from my wounds, but the pain and feeling was certainly real. There was a pop louder than my screams as my forehooves were pulled off my torso by the gravity-defying horde. My tears floated weightlessly as I saw my dismembered hoof burn with no fire or heat, blackening and turning to ash.

[centre] "Punishment."[/centre]

Dark’s words rang through my screams and cries with surprising clarity. Looking at him through the encroaching masses, I saw his woven body gain a more defined imprint of certain body parts. Behind the sheets was something amassing, something I thought that was previously attached to me. Blood began to stain through the cloth and began to drip down towards me. But it evaporated before hitting me or the corpses.

[centre]"Peace."[/centre]

They ripped and scratched at my flesh, pulling more limbs off my body. A swift claw disembowelled my entrails while a mouth ripped into my neck. A swift hoof hit my ribs and broke them before they were pulled away. Even as my lungs were popped like balloons, I still managed to breathe. My screams were silenced as one consumed my cheek, ear, and tongue in a frenzy.

Did I really want purpose? Was the punishment of being consumed by my victims enough? Peace? Could I find peace in my mind? A pair of claws and a set of pony teeth ripping my heart apart brought me out of my mind, within my mind. My right eye was pulled out of my skull, still attached by the optic nerve, before being yanked out. My one eye watched Dark as the bloody cloth's chest began to beat and a purple light shone through one eye hole.

Soon I was nothing but an eyeball, pieces of broken skull and some scraps of flesh. I was about to be finished, brought to peace in an oblivious limbo of my own mind. My punishment of being devoured whole while being denied death seemingly was enough. A new purpose born, the purpose of Dark, using his power and skill set to punish those who deserve it. It's bad when your inner demon is less monstrous than you.

The bloody cloth was ripped asunder in seconds as Dark had my body, albeit stitched together, missing only the last bit of myself that I still had left. But I remembered the bathtub, I chose to resurface, to live. It's true, death was what I wanted, what I still want. But for now, some part of me wanted to keep going, just a little longer. I wanted to endure life and watch over Sharp, just a bit longer.

"No," I said, almost a whisper. But it was enough to freeze the bodies in their tracks.

Dark looked perplexed. "No? What do you mean no?"

The corpses began to move back, back into the darkness. I just stared at Dark, seeing his stitching slowly unravel. "Your offer sounds great, I'll certainly keep it in mind. But I don't want to give up just yet."

His body, I mean mine, began to turn to ash. "Very well, Star. But if you ever wish to work together, just ask." My body began to be restored by the ash until I was whole again. I sighed and closed my eyes in the ethereal dark void.

I slowly opened my heavy eyelids, seeing I was back in bed. Well, I kind of was, hanging over the side of it as the blankets were thrown everywhere. I slowly righted myself, stretching and yawning. It felt unnatural to have slept on a clean soft bed, but it sure was nice. I contemplated just staying in said bed forever, but begrudgingly opted to get out. I shakily stood on my hooves, rubbing my eyes with my wings.

I then fixed my crooked jacket, seeing that the paperclip decoration was in fact missing. I trotted to the bathroom, happy to see a toothbrush and toothpaste after so long. I solemnly stared at myself as I brushed my teeth, still a little drowsy. Once I was finished, I trotted out the chamber doors, pausing as I saw the head doom bunny standing post. I opened my mouth to ask him if he was there all night, but I could tell by his smile that he was.

He led me to the throne room with a wave of his hand. "Is Sharp awake yet?" I asked as I followed.

"Yes, my Lord, she is currently waiting in the throne room. There is much we must discuss," he said as he hopped along, his tail wagging in joy.

We entered the throne room, two doom bunnies opening a set of huge doors. This room was even longer and taller than the dining hall. The ceiling of the room had hexagonal skylights, filling the room in pure light through blue windows. Along the pillared crystal walls were windows and curtains with mosaic windows depicting scenes I assumed were from history. Along the smooth clean floor ran a long rug, all the way up to the throne itself.

I saw Sharp standing at the base of the throne with two doom bunnies and ran over to her immediately, "Sharp!" almost knocking her over with a hug.

She winced in pain, causing me to lighten up at her. But as I looked at her, she smiled and patted my head. "Star, it's okay. I'm fine."

I released her and sniffled a little, standing back. "Good, I was worried about you," I said as I smiled at her.

The head doom bunny cleared his throat to get our attention. "My lords, shall we explain the history of the Crystal Empire?"

I looked to Sharp, who nodded. To which I turned to the head doom bunny and said, "Yes, go ahead."

He then led us over to a mural window on the left of the throne room. It depicted a pony atop a dark black crystal, looking down on ponies off all types in chains, sad enslaved crystal ponies. The pony atop the crystal tower was a grey unicorn with metallic hoof armour and a metal chest piece with a royal red short robe with a black and white dotted fur frill.

His mane and tail seemed to melt into a storm depicted above him. Sideburns and a strange darkness covered the sides and centre of his face. A fanged barely white smile was plastered on his grey face as his eyes had a devilish glare of sin.

Speaking of his eyes, they were rather abnormal. The whites of his eyes were not, in fact, white, but green. His blood crimson pupils peered down at the enslaved subjects. A purple wisp smoked out the side of his eyes as a strange magic emanated from his horn. Speaking of his horn, it was grey at the base, but grew even redder, curved and smooth all the way up.

From the tip of his horn emanated a strange magic, it was solid purple with a green outline and black lightning. it seemed to bubble in solid spheres from the tip of his horn. This was rather odd and off-putting, as a normal unicorn's magic was more ethereal and smooth with sparkles of light.Just from the mural, I could feel the dark and uneasy presence this pony brought.

The chief doom bunny gestured to the mural. "This is the previous ruler of the Crystal Empire, King Sombra. Little is known about his reign before his darkness, it's unknown if he was always evil or fell into darkness. But it is known that he was cruel and sadistic to his subjects, haunting their minds and lives for unknown reasons. But it's believed that he had desires of world domination." He seemed to glare at the mural with anger.

The chief then gestured us over to the next mural, but I couldn't help but wonder about King Sombra, never having learned about him. "What happened to King Sombra?" I asked as I was still looking at the mural.

"Please save all questions for the end," the chief said, now pointing at the next mural, which also answered my question.

The next mural depicted two alicorn shadow figures, one of white with gold trimming, one of midnight blue and black trimming. They joined their horns together, forming a blast of rainbow light. King Sombra was once again on his crystal tower, although this time he was cracking up under the light. Below him was a depiction of what I assumed was the Crystal City, although it seemed to be falling into a white oblivion below it.

The crystal bunnies all around seemed to all look down with a sombre sadness. "One thousand years, the Crystal Empire disappeared under King Sombra's last spell for one thousand years. The rulers of Equestria managed to defeat the dark king, but that was the price the kingdom paid." Despite not having been there, I assume, the doom bunnies seemed saddened by the transgressions.

I trotted over to the next window as Sharp and the doom chief followed. The next mural was much more heroic, a large green and purple dragon was breathing fire on a dark evil faced cloud. There was a depiction of the Crystal City with a large crystal heart above it. The dragon held the heart in its claw as it faced the face that was on the other two murals, Sombra. The dark king screamed as the darkness was consumed in flames.

The chief smiled, taking a breath as he looked at this mural. "A dragon from the neighbouring nation of Equestria defeated the evil King Sombra and freed us." He took a moment to wipe a tear from the corner of his eye, before exhaling happily.

He lead us to the next historical window, before he kneeled down and placed his crystal claw on his chest. After a patriotic moment, he proceeded to get up and show us to the last windowed history on this side of the hall. Tragedy and tension. A zebra was having a stare down with a pony, a boat floating between them. Below them was a pink Alicorn, looking saddened by the growing tension. Beside the zebra and pony were caravans of gems on one side and black rocks on the other.

He clenched his fist in anger at the sight of the zebra, before relaxing it. "Zebras and ponies used to trade valuable resources. But there was an incident involving hostages and a boat. Both parties blamed the other for the disaster and lost livest. This was the beginning of trade embargoes and withering peace." He then proceeded to escort us across the room, after a lingering glare at the zebra in the mural.

The Crystal Empire’s capital city was depicted in the middle as its rulers were handing out what looked like crystals to the surrounding ponies. Fluffy then spoke once more. "Although Equestria was not in fact short on magical gems and crystals, being raised in Equestria, both our king and queen decided to help by contributing the Crystal Empire’s natural and abundant resource." I was a little confused by the need for crystals, but thought back to Blood Skull and how they were stockpiling ammo and equipment for war.

I raised my hoof as if I was in school. "Was it so they could build an army to attack the zebra?" I asked.

Fluffy smiled at me. "Not quite, my Lord, both sides built their militaries in response to the threat of their need. But I do not believe either side wished to actually go to war." He then moved onto the next mural.

This window was more like a clear image, depicting a scene from a massacre. In front of a moon crescent building were ponies and zebras fighting each other, a pink cloud pouring from the building.

"This, this is what started the war." Fluffy suddenly punched the mural and it shattered. Sharp and I were both taken aback by his anger. But he just walked over to the next mural. As I looked back I saw the smashed mural begin to repair and regrow itself.

The next mural contained a depiction of a city, but not the Crystal City. This city seemed to be of wood and stone. Although half of it was on fire. Above it was a zebra and a pony fighting, guns beside them. On the very bottom were crystals, but they were fading as they grew higher. This was by far one of the more information-rich murals here. Despite that, I couldn't really make much of it out.

Fluffy walked right past it, only muttering, "When we ran out of crystal, we were abandoned." Whatever the last mural was about, it seemed to anger him even more than the mural of the massacre, so neither Sharp nor I decided to push him for more information.

This was the last mural on the wall, it depicted a sea with blackness, the pink Alicorn that I assumed was Princess Cadence, above some buildings that seemed to suck at the ocean. The sky was golden and coins seemed to rain down. Out of the three buildings drinking the black sea came guns, armour, ammo and other vehicles and tools of war. Fluffy stopped sharply and spread his arms open wide in praise.

"Behold! Our great nation was saved from poverty by the black primordial ocean beneath the sea! Oil! With oil, we gained wealth and power! We rose up and manufactured the weapons of war out of our very crystal we sold. With that our place as the suppliers to the greatest war was founded. We were saved." Fluffy seemed to be swept away in his grand gesture as all the doom bunnies began to clap, only quieting down as he lowered his arms.

"You mean The Docks, The Smelt and The Forge?" Sharp asked, seeming to know more about this than me.

"Smelt? Like Smelt city?" I asked, interjecting.

Fluffy looked confused, but Sharp turned to me. "Smelt city is just a small area of The Smelt that the Yellow Bees clan managed to get under control after having managed to overcome the robotic and turreted defences of The Smelt itself."

Fluffy rubbed his chin. "I do not know of the outside world, but The Smelt, just like The Forge or The Docks, is a large mass of factories, heavily defended against attack or invasion.

As we were talking, Fluffy made his way to the throne and raised his crystal claw to it. He then used his magic and began to move some crystals away from the wall, revealing a ninth mural. This one was by far the most simplistic, a black diamond symbol in a white circle with a crimson red dot in the centre of the tall gem. The outside of the circle in the square window frame was bright scarlet red.

Before I could ask about the ominous symbol, Fluffy's eyes began to glow. The white magic glow coming from his eyes and crystal claw turned into sickly purple spheres with a bright green outline, black lightning dancing around his claws. Even more worrying was the fact his eyes became that of Sombra.

He shot a beam of magic that seemed to make Sharp step back in horror. The beam hit the diamond mural and in turn, shot a light on the centre of the floor. The floor soon began to vanish as a dark and descending spiral staircase was revealed. The light faded and Fluffy blinked a few times, reverting back to normal. He then gestured to the staircase as the other doom bunnies stood watch.

"Shall we go see the princess?" he said, as casually as he asked if we wanted a snack.

Sharp and myself slowly approached as we looked into the dark hole and at the staircase that led down into it. We were about to take our first hesitant step, when our path was blocked by his claw. "My lords, I must warn you, you will have to overcome a difficult trial to reach her majesty. But it is not one of physical danger."

I looked to Sharp, giving a little nod as I wanted to see where this was going. She then turned to Fluffy. "Step aside, we can handle it." We began to make our way down the stairs together, Sharp’s magic lighting the way. Fluffy and some other doom bunnies followed us down. I could have flown ahead, but chose to stay with Sharp.

Not a single word was spoken as we descended the stairs into the depths of the castle. After a point where the entrance was but a pinprick of light, we reached the bottom. There was a smooth crystal floored room with a single black wooden door and a black crystal above it. Sharp and I stood in front of it, the doom bunnies stood at our sides, facing away from the door, except Fluffy.

"Her Majesty is behind this door, but to pass one must first face their worst fear," one of them said.

Fluffy rolled his shoulders in anticipation. "I'm the only one amough us to pass through the door, the rest of the royal guard had failed. So shall you attempt it then?" He looked at us in worry and conviction. We both nodded firmly before the door began to open.

As soon as he opened the door, the crystal above it began to glow with the dark magic the doom bunny had used. I turned to look at Sharp, feeling the same. But it was only when I did, did I realize the magic's effects. I was in the middle of Frost Crystal, it appeared to be sundown on a calm clear day. Not really understanding how this was my fear, I began to explore my hometown.

There didn't appear to be any guards around. I had also yet to see any of the residence. Trotting through town, there wasn’t any snow build up, so it wasn’t like the town was empty for more then two days. I went to Doc’s place, finding the door unlocked, however the house was abandoned. I did find it oddly untouched, all his belongings right where they should be.

I tried the general store and bar, finding them to be unlocked and abandoned. I was usually annoyed at the rude owner, although this time I was more concerned to find it empty too. I even made my way to the town's main building, its town hall and barracks. But just like all the other places I had visited, it too was empty, not just of ponies, but weapons and gear. The town’s food and water supplies were also completely ransacked.

I made my way to the towns mayor's office, a pony my dad had known. I only met him once, when we were in town trading supplies. If I remembered correctly, he was also the chief of the Blood Skull's garrison guarding the town. Neither he or his stallions cared for my family, leaving us to defend ourselves from attack. We'd never been welcome to live in Frost Crystal, the reason unclear to me. Even now with the information about Blood Rose and The Immortals, it was still unclear why my family wasn’t welcome and Doc, formally known as Red Cross, was.

But regardless, the mayor, an old scarred stallion, was nowhere to be found. This place was rather creepy for a ghost town. It was when I looked out the window of Frost Crystal's only second story building did I realize the sun had still not set. It, in fact, was in the exact same place, but that was not the correct spot. The sun normally sets in the west, but this was setting north of Frost Crystal. I looked around and failed to see any moon rising.

So I decided to fly into the setting sun. After only a few minutes of flying, Frost Crystal disappeared behind me, swallowed by a falling sky cover of grey clouds. Ahead of me, outlined by the sun, was a building, a familiar building. It was a house, my house. I gulped nervously, before landing at the undamaged building, hearing faint screams and groans coming from within.

Slowly I reached for the door handle, before pulling back hesitantly. The door creaked open a hair, letting the cries from within out. I steadied myself, before entering slowly. The world behind me faded to darkness as I entered the house, looking down. I could hear my heartbeat thumping in my chest, it was then that I felt a hoof on my head.

"Star." Dark, he was talking to me as he held my head down. "Do you want me to do it? I don't have any fear. Because you definitely can't do this."

It took a great deal of effort to swallow the fear in my throat, but I managed to. "No, I have to try." I felt him remove his hoof from my lowered head.

Although I was now free to raise my head, every fibre of my being didn't want me to. Once I did look up at the house, the fear and screams stopped suddenly. But this strange feeling compelled me to head to the basement, having looked around, seeing no one home. I pulled the rug away, revealing the hatch to the basement that was once our raid shelter and storage area.

As soon as I went to pull the handle, the screaming and fear returned. I bit hard into the handle as I was in a cold sweat. But I was determined to keep going. I got the door open, looking down into the small dark room. I took the first step and was hit with a new level of fear and screams from below. I could feel a wave of heat as I smelled burning coming from below. One step down, twelve to go.

With each step, the heat, fear and screaming intensified. Smoke even began to rise from the floor. I groaned in agony as it felt like my hooves were on fire. I tried to use my wings, but the fear kept them locked firmly against my body. I pushed forward still, in a sweat of fear and heat. As I got closer to the bottom of the stairs, my sweat began to sizzle as it dripped on the step ahead of me.

The darkness broke as the concrete floor of the basement cracked, releasing smoke, steam, and light. It was a raw red glow, like fire, but liquid, magma I believe. The smoke collected on the wooden roof, spilling out of the gaps in the wood. What couldn't escape out the wood fast enough left through the open cellar hatch. The screams were piercing my skull. To step on the floor was pain, my hooves felt like they were cooking, which they probably were.

A brick on the opposite wall to the stairs began to shake and rattle, before falling on the floor. The second that brick shattered, all the heat and screaming stopped. But my fear only grew, as now I was frozen in place. For behind that brick wall was a door, a black door. Brick after brick began to fall out of the wall, shattering into rubble on the floor. Soon the door was the only thing that remained. I tried to run but was unable to move.

Suddenly, against my internal begging, the double doors, as black as night and cold as steel, swung open. My eyes would not shut, no matter how much I willed them to. Tears kept them moist but did not blur my vision. My mouth would not stop screaming, in conjunction with my mind. My heart raced in panic as I found myself wishing death before what was behind those doors. I stared into the abyss and the abyss stared back at me.

I suddenly found myself able to move, to which I did. I looked around in a panic, seeing faces, before looking up and seeing light. I flew towards it at full speed, screams still thrashing my throat raw as they were my screams. I blinked rapidly, tears running down my face. My whole body was shaking as my heart raced in a panic. I had a split second thought that I was no longer in the basement, now, in fact, being in the real world once again. Of course, that thought came just before I flew at high speed into a thick crystal ceiling skylight.

I awoke in bed, bandages on my head. For a few seconds, I had the bliss of contemplating what had happened. But then I remembered, causing my stomach to clench uptight. Although I didn't have any memory of what happened after I took the final step in the burning basement. I did, however, remember the fear I felt and the crash into the skylight. My head ached and throbbed as I looked around the dark room. I found some food on the nightstand, probably left by Fluffy or one of the other doom bunnies.

I groaned as I sat up, rubbing my head, eating the flower sandwich. I took off the bandages and proceeded to leave the room, finding two doom bunny guards outside my doors. They bowed to me, before standing up.

"Your Majesty, are you all right? You were unconscious for a whole day," the Doom Bunny on my left said.

The one on the right then bowed to me. "Miss Sharp is waiting for you in the throne room. We still need to fill you in on some important information, but I'll leave that to the chief."

I nodded and proceeded to be escorted to the throne room, seeing the stairway down to the door was gone. Sharp and Fluffy were at the base of the throne, talking. I flew over and they smiled at me before Sharp patted me.

Sharp chuckled lightly. "I'm glad you're okay, brother."

Fluffy nodded at me. "Sorry, Your Majesty, the dark magic on the door is rather strong. I should have warned you better."

I shook my head. "No, it's okay. How did it go for you, Sharp?"

Sharp smiled largely. "I managed to get through the door, although it wasn't easy." I could see Sharp trying to act tough, but deep down she seemed a little shaken by what she saw.

I decided not to ask her about what she saw. "So what's the princess like? Why hasn't she come out?" Fluffy lowered his head in sadness, as did every other doom bunny in the room.

Sharp placed her hoof on my shoulder. "Star, she's trapped in crystal, fuelling the spell keeping this place stuck here."

Fluffy looked to the empty throne. "The spell was meant to last for one hundred years, to save the capital at the very least. But the spell has still not dispelled and we have no way of saving her majesty. So now we need a new leader."

I looked up at him. "Is this what you were waiting to tell me?"

He took another second to look at the throne, before looking down at me and Sharp. "No, well not right away. What you need to know are the side effects of staying within the Crystal City’s spell zone." He put a paw on my shoulder and a crystal claw on Sharp. "Have you seen the ponies within the Crystal City?"

Sharp looked at me and we both nodded before I replied, "Yes, the crystal pony statues?"

Fluffy solemnly nodded. "For those who stay within the zone for seventy-two hours, they will start to grow cancerous crystal. After another eight hours, those crystals will envelop and replace any biological components. Then after four more hours, one will lose all movement suddenly. The only way to stop these effects is to leave the Crystal City. But this won't reverse the crystallization."

It was at this point I raised my hoof, before asking my question. "What about the creatures in the wasteland with crystal in or on them?"

Fluffy nodded in response to my question. "I have no clue, I wasn't even aware about that."

Sharp spoke up, "Does the time limit reverse if you spend time outside of the dimension?"

Fluffy shook his head. "No, this has not been the case. Some small group calling themselves the Enclave tried to invade us. In the battle, they managed to kill and capture one of our own. But the grave losses we inflicted on them seemed to discourage any future attacks. We were able to capture the survivors and learned much from them. Unfortunately their scientists were unable to develop a cure in time to save themselves, or the others."

While I was caught up in the idea of the doom bunnies fighting an army of flying armoured Pegasi, Sharp proceeded to continue the conversation, "So basically we can only stay for another day?"

He then proceeded to place his claw on his chest. "We, the royal doom bunnies will stay by your side. But some must remain for the princess. But that brings me to case of who gets the throne, along with the rules of ruling."

"Can't we share it?" I asked, not familiar with the rules of the throne.

Fluffy shook his head. "No, to avoid conflict within ruling, only one royal is allowed to rule at a time, excluding marriage. But other royals are allowed one un-detested challenge to the throne. After that, the ruler may decline any follow-up challenges."

I looked to Sharp, then at the empty throne. "Sharp can have it," I said with a smile.

"What?" both Sharp and Fluffy said as they stared at me, their jaws dropping open.

I couldn't help but blush a little, being put on the spot. "I think Sharp would be the best to rule. Without her, I wouldn't have gotten this far anyhoof. Besides, I’d rather just stay back and help advise her in any way I can."

I looked up to see Sharp almost in tears. But Fluffy interrupted this touching moment, "Unfortunately per the rules, you two must compete for the throne before you can pass the throne to another royal."

Sharp wiped her face, before backing up from me. "Let's settle this with a fight, my hooves and magic versus your knife and wings."

I had some reservations about fighting my sister, but memories of us training and fighting each other with smiles on our faces brought me at ease. "Sure, I, Sharp Shot, accept your challenge." I then pulled out the knife that was once Sharp's birthday present and dropped it on the floor. "But I want to do this the old-fashioned way."

Fluffy and the other doom bunnies gave us a wide berth before Fluffy raised his crystal claw and his arm and eyes began to glow. "The first one to admit defeat, get knocked out or get completely pushed out of the harmless ring is the loser." A white ring of flame encircled us, all the way from one side of the hall to the other.

Sharp took on a defensive stance, her horn already aglow. "Are you sure you don't need the knife? You know I was always better at hoof to hoof combat."

I smirked at her, crouching down low with my wings extended. "I want to see how badly you want this."

I bolted towards Sharp, a hoof extended towards her. But a sudden smooth motion of her forehoof deflected my blow to a skimming miss. A second punch to my face followed, luckily I was also able to block her attack with my other forehoof. Following all the momentum from my dash fly, I pulled out my rear legs to attempt hitting Sharp's chest as I moved along her side.

But surprisingly I came to a sudden stop, feeling magic yank my tail. I fell down next to her, having to roll out of the way of a stomp from her. I tried to pull away from Sharp, but I was yanked back by my tail. Now on my back in front of her, I held my hooves up to shield myself from her stomping attacks on my head, luckily she was light. When she reared for a duel hoof stomp, I braced it, before pushing her hooves aside, causing her to lose her balance. I then used my wings to springboard myself up and headbutt her in the horn.

She fell on her rump, in a daze, her magic fizzling out. Now somewhat airborne, I backed up, feeling a slight sting as I had cut my forehead on her horn. I looked at her, a big grin on my face as I saw she had a little laugh and was enjoying herself. A little wobbly, Sharp stood up on her hind legs and waved a hoof at me to come at her. I stood up on my rear legs as I then dashed forward yet again.

I advanced with a raising flying kick. While Sharp used her upper body in a twist to gain momentum in a counter-spinning rising kick. "Have you forgotten what dad taught us, Star?" We both stood on all fours, my rear leg aching. Sharp was most likely feeling the pain as well, I could see her leg tremble.

"Defending is better than attacking," I said, shaking my leg to stop the stinging.

Yet again Sharp took a defensive stance. "Correct, use the flow of forces to minimize the damage you take. Dodge when you can, deflect when you can't and block if you must." She then egged me on with a hoof once again.

I was about to charge at her, yet again, but stopped. "Then that's what I'll do."

She smirked at me, her horn sparking before igniting in a glow. "But you shouldn't let your opponent regain themselves by missing an opportunity." Three magic bolts shot out at me, I was able to dodge two, but one hit my chest.

I grunted as it stung and bruised my chest. "Care to remind me how to attack?" I said with a little laugh.

Sharp rapidly approached me. "Certainly brother. One must be patient, waiting for the right moment to strike."

I went to punch her with a hoof, but she anticipated my blow. She used her front hooves to push my hoof the opposite way from my knee. Then her other hoof punched my knee inward, in a direction it doesn't bend. I let out a yelp as the strain hurt, although the constant pressure locked me in place. I tried to move back, but Sharp simply pushed my knee a little.

Sharp smiled at me. "I could have broken your hoof." She then let go of my forehoof, before backing away from me. "But when you must attack, you need to be precise. Your first strong blow should be your last. Follow up with rapid light attacks on organs, such as the kidneys. Disable your enemy by targeting joints and, or gaps in armour. With that, you can use pressure, weight and, or flow to help amplify damage. You could also follow with blows to the head to stun your opponent, just don't forget armoured spots require more force."

I wiggled and flexed my hoof and knee. "You almost sound like dad. Not that this catch-up lesson hadn't been wonderful. Shall we take this battle for the throne that I am willingly giving you a bit more seriously now?"

The look on her face, she wasn't going to hold back anymore. I couldn't even get a yelp in before a magic blast almost knocked me out of the ring, luckily the diamond mural stopped me. I didn't have time to dodge or deflect, so I blocked. Managing to stop Sharp's double hoof attack, the mural wasn't so lucky. I ended up flying out of the window and the ring.

Both Fluffy and Sharp proceeded to catch me with their magic, pulling me back inside the crystal castle, before the mural began to repair itself. Out of sheer luck, no glass embedded itself in me. The white harmless ring of magic flames extinguished as the surrounding doom bunnies cheered in joy. Sharp was already trotting towards the throne as I was chuckling lightly, having enjoyed the competition.

Some of the doom bunnies brought out a box decorated with gold and jewels. They opened the box to reveal a crown, a royal crown. It was a gold banded crown with four stars connected to a diamond, the same as the one in the mural, by jewelled gold bands going up and out, before dipping back in and down. Under those bands in the empty space was a rich purple shiny cloth and at the very bottom of the crown was a white furred rim.

Next to that was some glass sphere with a gold band around it. In the centre was a small black sphere just floating steadily. Next to that was a sceptre of gold and platinum, one jewel of white atop and markings along the length of the shaft. Both of which floated up to Sharp's side, enveloped in her magical glow. The fellow doom bunnies floated the crown atop her head, before kneeling in front of her.

Fluffy, now kneeling to Sharp, next to me, raised his head. "Your Majesty, all doom bunnies are magically obligated to follow any order given by the royal they recognize as the monarch. Not that there would be many if any orders a loyal doom bunny would not wish to follow." Even I decided to kneel before my little sister, smiling as she stood up.

Although there was an unsettling blank expression on Sharps face as she spoke. "I order you to restrain Star Shot."

"What?" I was the only one to say that.

Magic enveloped my body as the royal crystal doom bunnies’ eyes smoked and glowed with dark magic. I could barely move my limbs, but my body as a whole wasn't moving at all. I could only watch as Sharp walked past me without so much as a glance, only stopping to pick up the knife. I tried to speak, but no words came out of my mouth, not that it was easy to even move my muzzle. From there I was painfully dragged down the castle, only Fluffy coming with the three of us.

After an awkward short walk through the castle, we reached the centre ground floor of the Crystal City. My rump hurt from being dragged down the castle steps, I also still didn't know why Sharp was doing this. Sharp approached me as I squirmed, getting annoyed by this little prank. But whatever this was, it became a whole lot more serious when she held the knife to the tip to my throat.

"Let him speak," Sharp said before the magic around my head let me go.

I gulped and looked down to the knife, before looking up and Sharp. "Sharp, what are you doing?"

"Funny. That's what mom said before I cut her head off." She said that completely seriously.

Her words shook me to the core, taking me a moment to even usher out a single word as a whisper, "What?"

A slow sadistic smile grew on her face. " I slit moms throat, before shooting Straight Shot in the gut with his own gun. Before I soaked him in fuel and set him on fire, alive. I then cut mom’s head off after I finished killing Straight Shot."

I struggled against my magical restraints with my whole might as I growled in anger. "Stop! Stop lying!" I yelled through gritted teeth.

Sharp sighed, waving the knife around, expressing her disappointment. "Let me show you my virtue, conviction. Bow him over." Fluffy arched my top half down to bow to Sharp. "I am not the daughter of Straight Shot, well, not that one of the four Immortals anyway." I was warned about Sharp, multiple times by multiple ponies. But be it ignorance or disbelief, I didn't heed their warnings.

I groaned as I found my anger clouding my mind as I couldn't focus, only managing to growl out in hate. "Sharp."

I froze as I felt a cold metal tip move down my spine from the base of my neck. "Spread his wings out," Sharp ordered Fluffy as the knife I paid for with months of saved pocket money threatened to cut me. But worse than that, my wings were forcibly spread against my will. My muscles tensed and throbbed as they couldn't pull my wings close. But then I felt the serrated teeth of the knife's spine.

In a cold sweat of fear and panic, I shuttered and spoke. "Why? Why did you do all of this?"

Sharp chuckled to herself, before bending down to my ear, her breath on my neck. "Power. I was aiming to rule Blood Skull, but ended up reaching heights I never knew about." I screamed out in horror as the blade’s teeth cut into the base of my left wing. Once the blade had finished moving up, it then slowly moved back down, cutting yet deeper. "So I don’t need you anymore, brother."

My body trembled as I howled in pain, barely hearing Sharp's confession over the sound of my tendons and muscles being shredded. "Stop!" I screamed out in a blubbering drool. Tears ran down my face. This was the greatest punishment I could receive.

Sharp stopped the blade, causing me to stop screaming for the moment. "Fluffy, shut him up." The magic holding me moved to the lower half of my face. Unfortunately Sharp soon continued her methodically sadistic slow cutting once my agony was silenced. "Now Star, I wasn't sure I could keep up the loving sister act. But I must say, I did great."

Just because my cries were silenced, didn't mean I had stopped. Through the torment in my head, I begged for Dark, but got no answer. Once again Sharp began to speak, "Although you didn't make it easy. Getting captured, a few times in fact." For a second it felt as if lightning had struck my wing and gone into my very soul. The pain was so intense I blacked out, only for a few seconds.

I awoke by the horror of wood cutting teeth grinding on bone. I most certainly had defecated myself by now, but that wasn't on my mind, no. What was currently flooding my skull weren't screams or even pain, although those would have been better. It was the sound of my bones being cut into, the deafening internal grinding sound. All while I felt the vibrations travel throughout my body.

"As it turned out, one of our parents was somehow a descendant of royalty. That was the very power Blood Rose and the Blood Skull clan had spent over two decades and three generations looking for." I felt a snap and a loud crack as my bone broke to the blade. I felt my wing hanging on by a little bit of flesh and muscle. It was only then as a Pegasus, did I realize the true horror of losing a wing.

She laughed, before continuing her speech. "I mean Fluffy did admit to having repelled the might of the Enclave. Now I don't know if you know this, but they are most likely the largest organised, powerful group in the known world." This was hell for me. The short few seconds of hope vanished as I felt the wing separate from my body. But even that was surreal, no, it only hit me when I saw my wing on the floor as my head was raised.

I was frozen by disbelief and terror, but what came next, Sharp spoke yet again. "You even got that dead weight Pegasus filly to join us. Luckily a tip-off to the Slave Town guards. Plus a convincing talk is all it took for me to convince her to kill herself, freeing us up."

I pushed forward with more strength than was my own, my eyes filled with the desire to kill Sharp. But she just laughed at the prospect of my hate-filled wrath. "Glad to see Nightmare also had the desired effect. You know after the first display I just had to see it again. Amazing what a few words in a stable can do. But they didn't disappoint, I did get to watch your avocation yet again."

Despite my anger, my vision began to be encroached by darkness. I assumed it was due to blood loss from my wing and its now remaining stump. Sharp herself was covered in sputters of my blood, the droplets joined and ran down her in lines. My eyelids grew heavy as I felt cold, the last thing I was looking at was Candy's killer.

But before I could slip into unconsciousness, a bolt shot me wide awake. My eyes shot open to see a needle of some injector in my chest. I looked up at Sharp, feeling my anger grow even more. Yet again, she was simply smiling happily. "Amazing what a little Rage can do." She then ferociously pulled the drug pack and needle out of me, before throwing it aside.

Sharp then walked out of my view, but I saw she had one more very large syringe with her. She commanded Fluffy. "Follow." With that order, I was dragged across the ground behind Fluffy, my wing left behind as I stared at it. Blood skid marks remained on the road as we moved along one of the main roads, away from the castle. I was still in great pain, but now I was wide awake and quite hot.

Soon Sharp barked out another order like the bitch she was. "Keep going ahead." With that Sharp was now walking along the crimson red trail I was leaving behind me, as I was being dragged across the ground backward.

Sharp smiled at my scowl sweetly. "Brother, let me tell you a story." I was turned away from Sharp, seeing Fluffy's white fur covered in my blood as he was still being controlled. His magic still held me, turning me to see, we were at the edge of the city. I looked into the dimensional void, all its psychedelic colours like a distant storm as I was held slightly over the edge.

"There once was an earthbound equine who crafted wings of wax and feathers," Sharp spoke yet again. But she also started cutting yet again, this time my remaining wing was to be the next to be amputated. "As a hubris to nature and Pegasi, this equine flew in the sky." My agony and screams began once more, as I was powerless to stop her.

"Spitting in the face of those who were born with such a gift." I was unable to tell through my raw dry screams and still flowing tears if she was going faster, or simply talking slowly. "But this equine, known as Icarus, flew too close to the sun." I threw up, my vomit falling through the magic as I had to listen to the sounds and feel this pain a second time.

"The heat melted his wings of wax and feathers." Yet again, it was like lightning coursing through my being as the nerve to my remaining wing was shredded. "As he fell, no Pegasi nor creature of flight came to Icarus' aid." Oh Cadence, Celestia, Luna, whoever zebra pray to, even Dark. Please, I beg you, make it stop. The sound and the feeling of bone being cut and broken reverberated through my soul.

It was gone, my remaining wing was no longer mine, no longer a part of my body. "Thus he plummeted to his death." The magic holding me slightly over the edge began to let me go. At this point I was catatonic, drooling and crying steadily as I was happy to die. But life is cruel, as is Sharp. Before I could fall away, but after that sensation had washed over me, I was caught once again by magic.

This magic turned me around, after which I was stabbed in the chest with that large syringe. I could see Sharp slowly inject me with it. Although I couldn't see what it was, I knew based on the feel. It was Nightmare, a lot of Nightmare. Only after she had finished injecting me with it and pulled it out, did she let me fall. After which I blacked out, feeling cold, no more pain, just cold.

[centre]"Peace is written in blood"[/centre]

I awoke lying in the cold fresh snow, looking up into the grey sky above, moonlight shimmering down through the dark gaps in the cloud cover. A light powdering of snow falling down upon my dying body. Thankfully, I was numb from the shock and cold as I was badly hurt, but I’d have to say although I hated the grey cloud covered sky, I did love the stars and sky above them. Through the gaps in the roof of the clouds, I could see the stars as my vision grew darker. The snow around me turned crimson with my own blood as the cold crept over my limp body.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time it happened, dying I mean. But by the circumstances, this might be the last. To think I’d lived such a peaceful life a week ago, well, considering I grew up in a wasteland. I grew up at the outskirts of a small town called Frost Crystal, which was more or less in the middle of nowhere in the Crystal Empire.

I wasn't sure how I wasn't even strong enough to really even think about it. But somehow I was lying in a shallow snow grave. Looking around with only my eyes, I saw a wasteland style wooden board tombstone. One on my left and another on my right, they read as followed:

[centre]"Black Pot
Age: 40"[/centre]

[centre]"Straight Shot
Age: 41"[/centre]

I was faintly remembering my parents and my life. Sharp, not really being my sister, but instead a half sister. Anyway, here I was, seeing my life before my own eyes, getting stuck on a few loose ends. For me, however, my life wasn't flashing before my eyes, no, more like slowly playing out before them.

I remembered saving the radio pony. I remembered my first time having sex, Selen. I remembered saving the fillies and colts from the butcher. I remembered how happy they were when they got home. I remembered Soothing Sound's joy when I flew with her. I remembered my first kiss with a filly named Orchard Night. I remembered my loving and caring parents. I remembered all the best parts of my life.

I felt myself drift away. But then. I remembered. I remembered the Black Door and Dark, the dread I felt, the guilt. I felt like I was sinking, but I also suddenly remembered all the worst parts of my life. Losing my wings, Akira, Akira's mom, Stock, Candy, my parent's death. Sharp. The anger inside me began to boil and bubble as I felt rage and hate grow. I want to make this world feel my pain, I want Sharp to feel my pain. We. Weren't. Done.

I felt something hit my face as I had my eyes closed at this point. But as soon as it did, I lunged up and forward. My body shivered. The only warmth I felt was the blood entering my mouth as I bit down onto a hoof. My body about to give out, I looked up to see Doc, Red Cross, holding a shovel in his magic and cigarette in his mouth. Our eyes looking into each other, my face one of anger, reflected in his glasses, along with my purple eyes.

Still biting down on his hoof, I mumbled, "We're. Not. Done."

Author's Notes:

Wings lost: Minus 2 agility, minus 10 to your melee for your lost combat style.

This is the first arch in Star's story, I hope you all enjoyed it and are looking forward to the rest.

Edited by the amazing, awesome and wonderful:
https://www.fimfiction.net/user/275628/EverfreePony