“Why does it feel like I ran my head into a brick wall multiple times?” Derrick groaned, rubbing a bump on his head.

“Because that’s what it feels like when you get hit with the butt of a spear multiple times.” Gruff answered as he stood beside the door. The other guard, however, walked right on in and patted him on the head.

“I never got to introduce myself. My name is Dazzle Gleam.” She said brightly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Derrick hissed when she patted him but sat up and looked her up and down. She was clad in the same gold crystallised armor as Gruff Voice was, her skin was dark blue and her mane was two-toned, having green and white twine throughout. “Dazzle Gleam?” He asked, rubbing his head again.

“Yuh huh?” Dazzle asked as she stopped bouncing.

“Tell me something. Your name is Dazzle Gleam and his name is *snort* Gruff Voice.”

“I heard that!” Gruff shouted into the room.

“Sorry. Can’t get over it. My name is Derrick. Pleased to meet you. Now him,” he pointed to Gruff. “Not so much.” He said and got up off the bed, stretching. He could have sworn he heard a few bones crack into place as he straightened.

“You shouldn’t be up and about so soon after you’ve been knocked out.” A voice floated through the door, accompanied by the same pink lady that saved him earlier.

“Hello Princess. I was out how long exactly?” Derrick asked, walking over to her with Dazzle following him.

“4 hours, 3 minutes and 55 seconds.” Gruff supplied as he stepped into the room. His skin was a dark grey and his mane looked like it had been lit on fire with how brilliant of an orange it was.

“There you go. Considering how hard he hit you, you should’ve been out at least another four to five hours.” Cadence said and stepped out of the doorway and back into the corridor beyond. “Now, if you’d like to come with me, I would like to ask you a few questions. My husband would like to meet you as well.” Cadence said and strolled down the hall, expecting for Derrick to follow.

“Okaaay.” Derrick said slowly and immediately began following her. Hearing the sound of clanking crystal behind him, he turned and continued walking backwards. “Who’s her husband?”

“Her husband is Prince Shining Armor. He is the brother of Twilight Sparkle, who in turn is the esteemed student of Princess Celestia herself.” Gruff said with a slight tear in his eye.

“Yes, yes. Everyone knows you hold royalty in the highest esteem possible.” Dazzle said, giving him a light slap upside his head. “At least tone it down in front of the guest.” She added.

“I will not. He needs to know just how much regard I hold for the royalty of Equestria.” Gruff said in a huff.

“Alright, jeez.” Dazzle said and walked up to Derrick, who had turned back around.

“Why does he talk like that?” Derrick asked with a bored expression.

“Like what?” Dazzle asked confusedly.

“The way he emphasises the words ‘prince’ and ‘princess’. It’s just so … grating.” Derrick answered through clenched teeth as Gruff Voice prattled on and on about how it was royalty this or royalty that. “What did Cadence mean when she said that I was meant to be out for another four or five hours?” Derrick asked, knowing that him not using a title would only infuriate Gruff.

“Exactly that. You weren’t meant to wake up this quickly.” Cadence said over her shoulder. “I don’t mind you calling me Cadence, either but at least use my title when in public.” She addressed Derrick and looking out the corner of his eye, he swore he could see Gruff glare at him but it was gone as he immediately went back to a stern but neutral gaze.

Derrick thought about how he could’ve possibly gotten up a lot more quicker than expected. If he could use flames from his hand and feet as well as drool fire, then maybe he got Natsu’s durability as well. He couldn’t dwell on it any further though as he heard two doors creaking open at the same time, making him forget about his musings for the time being. No sooner had he taken a step into the room, than a white blur stopped in front of him.

“Who are you, what do you want and why are you here?” The white person asked Derrick in rapid succession.

“Derrick, nothing and no idea.” Derrick answered just as quickly, blinking in confusion. “Who are you?” He asked, stepping to the side. The white person stepped with him. Derrick noted that this particular person wore golden armor on his body without any crystallisation effects present on the metal. He also had a horn amidst the different shades of blue in his hair.

“This is Shining. Despite how he looks, he’s the one that actually brought down that barrier around the city. Even now, he’s trying to keep it up.” Cadence said with a bright smile as she gave Shining an adoring look.

“He’s your husband then?” Derrick asked as he looked at Shining with an incredulous look.

“What you giving me that look for?” Shining asked as he took a step back and placed a hand on Cadence’s shoulder.

“What look?” Derrick asked.

“That look.” Dazzle quipped, pointing to his face.

“This is the way I usually look.” Derrick asked with a shrug. He heard Gruff sigh. Turning to him, he saw Gruff give a look that was identical to Derrick’s. “Oh that look. I was just wondering why you all have different skin colours.” Derrick said with a shrug. “Prince Shining Armor’s skin looks like mine only a heck of a lot paler, Princess Cadence’s skin is pink. Dazzle’s skin is dark blue and Gruff Voice’s skin is flat out grey.” Derrick explained.

“That’s just how we are.” A third female voice said. Derrick walked to the side and found six more different coloured people with various layers of modern-looking clothes for the cold weather.

“Oh this is just great. More colours to assault my eyes with. Sooner or later I’m going to have a seizure attack.” Derrick muttered and sighed, rubbing his eyes. “I’ll figure this out later. Why is there a shield around the city?” He asked Cadence, ignoring the new voice.

“Because Sombra has returned.” The voice said insistent on being listened.

“And who is this ‘Sombra’?” Derrick asked while making quotation marks in the air when he said Sombra.

“He is not to be taken lightly.” Cadence warned, moving Shining’s hand off of her shoulder.

“That still didn’t answer my question. If he’s not to be taken lightly, then maybe I should punch his lights out.” Derrick said with a grin, punching his fist into his palm for effect. As he did, a few flames erupted from the contact but quickly died out.

“That won’t be necessary. We’re trying to restore the Crystal Heart which is Sombra’s one weakness.” The voice spoke again and Derrick gave the female a hard look.

“What’s your name?” Derrick asked her. He saw her blink and backtrack a bit.

“My name’s Twilight Sparkle.” She responded. Derrick smiled and breathed out.

“Does that mean you sparkle in the sunlight? No? Oh well. Would have been hilarious if you did.” Derrick said to his stunned audience. “Is there anything else you can tell me about Sombra besides him being weak to some Crystal Heart?” Derrick asked, bringing the subject back a relevant one.

“That is all we know, unfortunately. The other thing is, is that he’s been gone a thousand years and has only come back now.” Cadence said recovering from the odd human.

“Uh huh.” Derrick mumbled and moved to the balcony and took a look at the sprawling city of glittering crystal structures. Focusing on a couple of pillars that looked like the gateway to the city, he found a mini black speck of something. Without any regard for his safety, he leaped the balcony railing and fell five stories before landing on the ground in a crouched position, making a crater. Ignoring the gasps and screams of the ponies above him, he began running to what he saw at the gateway.

Sliding to a stop as he got near, Derrick picked up the crystal and felt a sudden jolt as his right hand automatically spazzed, clenching the black crystal tightly. “Augh! I can’t get this thing off!” Derrick panicked and moved over to a pillar, smashing his hand against it in an effort to get his hand to unclench. “It’s not working! Why can’t I get it off!?” Derrick yelled through gritted teeth, flames spurting around the clenched hand sporadically as he kept banging it against the pillar. He flared his nostrils as he managed to break the pillar clean in half but the crystal was still attached to his hand.

Stopping his hand waving for a moment, he looked down at where he picked up the crystal and found a black and red coloured horn on the ground, which seemed to be growing another crystal. Not learning from just a few minutes ago, he picked the crystal up with his other hand but found it didn’t attach itself. He dropped it and it cracked, making fractures spiderweb across the surface. “If that can crack just from being dropped, then why can’t this one?” Derrick asked himself and proceeded to slam his hand against the other pillar this time. Repeatedly. When the other pillar broke, Derrick had enough of the crystal being attached so he did the next best thing. Throw fire at it.

“Karyu no Tekken*!” Derrick shouted as he gathered flames in his left fist and punched the crystal repeatedly, hoping to break it that way. The only result he got was a massive headache and a few bruises from the missed punches. “I really need to get this off before the- oh hell.” Derrick groaned as he saw a shadow hover over him. Looking up, he found Gruff flying above him. “What do you want!?” Derrick shouted up at him.

“Princess sent me here to see why the pillars are broken.” Gruff Voice said as he alighted down on the ground.

“The only reason why the pillars are broken is because I kept slamming my hand against them in an effort to dislodge this!” Derrick shouted angrily, waving the crystal-encased fist at Gruff. Gruff’s eyes widened but other than that, his expression remained the same.

“If that’s the case then maybe a spear could work?” Gruff asked monotonously, readying his spear. Derrick shrugged, not seeing any reason it wouldn’t. Taking the shrug as sign of permission, Gruff pulled the spear back and thrusted it forward, hitting the crystal square on. The only thing the crystal did was separate the spear’s head from its body.

Derrick hissed in pain as he looked at the crystal on his hand. He saw it slowly grow and the stop when it reached his wrist, completely encasing his hand in black crystal.

“We need to get you back to the Princess.” Gruff commanded. Derrick flared his nostrils again but only nodded as he felt Gruff pick him up by the back of his vest and fly back to the castle.

Soon as he touched down, Gruff kept let go of Derrick, who stumbled forward and held his hand close to his chest. Ignoring everyone’s questions, he stormed past them, leaving burnt footprints in his wake which led to the room he was in earlier. He left the door open but sat down on the bed with his back facing the door. He looked down at this hand and futilely tried to move it inside the crystal. Even though he could feel his hand move, it barely even twitched inside the casing.

“What was that about?”

Derrick whirled at the voice and found it belonged to Dazzle. She was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over her chest. “What was what about?” He asked, trying to play coy about it.

“Earlier. When Gruff flew you back inside, heck, even when you jumped the balcony!” Dazzle said, her arms now unfolded as she walked into the room.

Derrick sighed as he realised it wouldn’t work. “When I jumped the balcony, I saw something extremely small near the gate. I didn’t know what it was and I wanted a look at it. When I got there, I picked it up and this happened,” Derrick showed his arm. The crystal had crept up slowly, stopping again halfway up his forearm. “I broke both entrance pillars trying to get my hand out of it, I even used flames to try and punch it off. When Gruff arrived, he tried to pierce it and break it off that way. The spear broke, leaving this undamaged. And when the spear broke, the crystal started growing around my hand but it’s stopped for now.” Derrick explained.

“Well that explains the pillars.” Dazzle mumbled. “Princess Cadence needs to see this.” Dazzle said and grabbing Derrick by the other arm, pulled him up and pulled him along the hall, back to the balcony.

When they arrived, the six people from before were nowhere to be seen but Shining Armor, Cadence, and Gruff Voice remained. Noticing him before he noticed them, the three of them walked up to Derrick and confronted him. “Why did you jump off the balcony?” Shining asked, leaning in close. Dazzle moved him out of the way though and told them what Derrick told her.

“Now that we understand the situation, we have to figure out a way for the crystal to stop growing, or failing that, at least slow it down.” Shining said as he looked at the crystal arm with suspicion.

“Where’s the sparkly vampire?” Derrick asked. Cadence looked at him for a moment but remembered his strange words from earlier.

“You mean Twilight Sparkle. She and her friends went searching for the crystal heart while setting up a festival at the same time.” She informed Derrick who’s eyes widened.

“A festival. You are hosting a festival while this Sombra is banging on your doorstep and you have them searching for the crystal heart as well?” Derrick asked incredulously.

“That’s pretty much it.” Dazzle answered with a nod.

“And now we have my arm situation to deal with as well.” Derrick added and moved backwards, stopping once he hit the balcony railing.

“You’re going to jump again.” Gruff said bluntly.

“You saw right through me. Before I jump, I want to know if I can help with anything.” Derrick said.

“You can try and help with preparing the festivities.” Cadence suggested.

“That’ll do. I’ll try and find one of the other people who I saw with Twilight to see if I can help out.” Derrick said and jumping the balcony again with a salute, he felt his arm drag him down to the ground a lot faster than intended. As his arm crashed into the ground where he made his crater, he felt a shockwave travel up his body, making his teeth rattle in his skull. Righting himself, he ran in a random direction to see if he could help with any of the festivities.

Author's Notes:

*Karyu no Tekken is Japanese for Fire Dragon's Iron Fist. More info here: http://fairytail.wikia.com/wiki/Fire_Dragon%27s_Iron_Fist