Prologue
Energy swirled around the ship, its pale blue light reflecting off the black that covered every inch of the vessel. Lights, sounds, smells, and even images raced past as the Crossover flew from its trigger-happy pursuer. Even with all five rockets expelling every bit of force they could, the Crossover could not escape its foe. A crimson wreck pursued the black ship, its hull constantly sparking or bursting into flames. Despite this, what cannons it had left continued to hammer the Crossover with a constant barrage of energy bolts.
Within the crimson vessel, a hooded figure sat in a large chair, the only piece of furniture on the dark spacious bridge. With his left hand, he rested his elderly head. With his right, he slowly, almost lovingly stoked a glowing green orb floating next to him. It pulsed like a heart, its glow brightening and diminishing with every beat. With his eyes, the hooded figure watched his enemies run before him.
Yes, oh yes. How sweet it was to watch them. How his heart swelled with every explosion that appeared upon the Crossover's hull. They would suffer yes, they would die yes, but best of all? Their cause would be lost, their long crusade would end, and their Author would perish with them. The old man closed his eyes remembering the power of the Author. How it had devastated their world, how it had consumed it like leaf in flame… Yes, their Author would die, but slowly, painfully. Opening his eyes, the man smiled as a starboard rocket tore clean away from the Crossover. His smile changed quickly to a frown as a giant transparent purple hand sprang from the ship, latched onto the detached rocket and literally rammed it back in place. A second passed, and then renewed fire exploded from the tail end of the piece.
"My lord."
The old man stood and turned, facing one of his last surviving servants. Black. Anyone unaccustomed to Black would have been scared straight to the grave. Two floating giant disembodied eyes appeared from the shadows, followed quickly by huge fanged mouth. The being moved toward his master with unnerving slowness.
"How much longer will you force me to wait? When will you release me? We fall upon our enemies with victory assured and yet like a cowardly Sike you have me remain within this kagged ship!"
The man made an upward sweep with his left hand, Black immediately recoiled, all three facial parts converging toward each other as a cage of electricity enveloped him. Black howled with pain as the electricity from the man's palm tightened its grip.
"Your time will come, but it is not now! Why risk you when I could kill our enemies within seconds?" The electricity vanished. Black did not respond for a few seconds, breathing heavily. Finally he resumed his normal face and growled at his master.
"I understand your desire Master Mutarko. However I cannot allow… him to simply be killed by this ship. He must die at my hands. It is my right!"
Mutarko smiled returning to his chair. As he sat he replied, "Do not fear losing him to this, Black. Need I remind you that it was through his efforts that any of us are still here today. Phantom is as resilient as he is insane. Considering exactly what he is I doubt that a mere exploding ship would kill him." The orb suddenly floated itself in front of Mutarko's face concealing the battle before him. It pulsed in rapid succession, mist forming within it. Mutarko's face hardened, "I mean nothing of the sort!"
It flashed several times again.
"Does it truly matter where they would end up? We have our weapon and our strength is infinite. Even if they were to survive-"
The orb began to flash in quick succession, its core discoloring to a dark orange.
"Perhaps, but we-"
The orb interrupted with one final blinding flash of orange light before returning to its original orange-mist-free state. All at once the ship's cannons stopped their fire. Black watched the scene with contempt one eye fixed upon his master. With his other he gazed upon the Crossover.
He was there, Black just knew it. He could feel Phantom's power even from this distance through the energy of the Copywrite. How he hated it. How he loathed the feel of that power he might never be rid of. Phantom had to die, and by Black's own hands. There was no other way.
"Well my servant…" Mutarko looked up at the eye that gazed upon him. "It would seem that my command has been overridden. Despite my arguments, our friend has shown me several similar instances of galactic chase, in which the fatal blow was not administered. Each scene ended with the survival of the victims."
Black began to grin.
"You may begin."
Closing his eyes, Black began to laugh, a loud booming laugh that resounded throughout the ship. Returning his gaze to the Crossover, a black transparent hand materialized next to him. With one deft movement, Black snapped his fingers.
There was a loud BANG! A third ship suddenly passed by, its appearance similar to a UFO. Mechanical creatures poured from it straight for the Crossover, their heads glowing as they all chanted the same battle chant.
"DALEKS ARE SUPREME! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"
Black snapped his fingers.
On the opposite side of the ship, a massive Imperial Star Destroyer appeared, TIE fighters already pouring from its hangers. Black continued to grin. Oh yes… Final blow indeed.
"Oh! Shining Armor, be careful with them! They might be crystal, but that doesn't mean they can breathe underwater!" Cadance gazed with a worried eye at her husband from her seat near the large royal pool. Her husband paused in the act of dunking yet another wriggling colt. Shining Armor looked at his wife.
"Don't worry dearest. They can take a little rough housing every now and then. Right kids?" Thirteen young voices all yelled, "YEAH!"
Cadance closed her eyes and shook her head. Returning to the book that floated before her, she couldn't help but feel pride for her husband. Despite the burdens of royal duties that plagued him, he still found time for the young ones. After the Crystal Empire had been freed from the evil grip of Lord Sombra, Cadance and Shining Armor had found these thirteen fillies and colts, sick, homeless, and without families. The young couple had taken the youngsters in, and had nursed them back to full health. While Cadance adored and cherished every one, she and her husband had decided against the idea of adoption. Thirteen new children for a couple who had yet to be married for 2 months was more than simply overwhelming. However, several families had been found willing to raise the children, each one meeting Cadance's approval.
As she continued to read, she failed to notice her husband whispering mischievously to the children. She failed furthermore to notice him move behind her and silently approach. All of a sudden she found herself trapped within a mighty bear hug from him.
"Ah!" She gasped "Shining Armor what are you, wait! No! Don't you dare! Oh no no no no! Shining Arm-" Her pleas for mercy were cut off as he backpedaled with her straight into the pool. As the new temperature shocked through Cadance, Shining Armor released her, both returning to the surface at the same time. From inside the cage of hair that now enclosed her face, Cadance glared at Shining Armor. For his part, Shining Armor was laughing so hard he struggled to stay afloat. His laughter and that of the children that surrounded them soon caused Cadance to smile and giggle herself.
"Alright kids!" said her husband "Now that we got our princess to join us, let's all give her a grand royal welcome!" Cadance's eyes widened in mock terror as every happy filly and colt screamed "YAY!" and lunged for her. As they all clung to her, Cadance made her way to the shallow end laughing all the while.
Suddenly the floor beneath her hooves shook and a sound like a clap of thunder echoed forth. Every young pony screamed in fright, jumping off Cadance and out of the pool. She looked toward her husband who was quickly approaching his face set in a puzzled frown.
"What was that?" she asked him. A moment passed as he looked out toward the city.
"I don't know…" He replied slowly. "Perhaps it's nothing, just a-" Another tremor shook the whole city, causing waves to appear in the pool. Both royals stumbled, grabbing one another for support. The young ones, all huddled in a group not far off, yelled in unison with fright. As they regained their footing, both Cadance and Shining Armor looked at one another.
Something most definitely was not right.
"I'll take the children inside, you go figure out what is making these." A third tremor, the most powerful yet, interrupted Cadance. As everyone recovered, Cadance spread her wings, and flew toward the group of frightened ponies. Using her horn, she levitated the entire group and flew with them inside the castle.
Galloping for all his worth, Shining Armor ran for the main balcony. Not a defensible location by any standard but defiantly the best place to look out over his kingdom. His heart dropped at the sight that met his eyes. Cracks and small fissures already covered the streets; signs and carts had flipped over. Many of the crystal ponies ran here and there screaming in terror.
Another quake; another clap of thunder.
Shining Armor looked around. Where could that be coming from? He couldn't see anything causing the quakes, and not a single cloud lay in the sky!
"Guards!" He cried "Soldiers of the Empire!" Hundreds of armored white and black stallions began to gather beneath the balcony, all filing into battle formation. Shining Armor looked down over his small army. "Protect our brethren! Guide every crystal pony to the emergency shelters until further notice! Mares and younglings are top priority! Go! Go!"
Every warrior galloped off toward a different direction, their number quickly adding to the growing crowd of ponies looking for safety. Suddenly everything went dark. Shining Armor looked up and was shocked to see the moon spinning like a top among a display of swirling stars. A few seconds later, the sun reappeared moving through the sky in the shape of a square.
"Shining Armor!"
"Cadance! Where are the younglings?"
"They're in the secret chamber, they're safe. Has anything happened to show the source of all this?" She gestured around them. Another quake.
"Not yet. However I've got a feeling it goes beyond just the Empire. Whatever it is, it's affecting Princes Celestia and Luna!"
"What else can we do?"
"We'll form a barrier. I've done it in Canterlot and you've done it here, if we combine our powers we should be able to double the strength of the shield."
"Alright." As they bent their heads toward each other, their horns glowing with the needed energy, everything turned red.
"Now what?" cried Shining Armor raising his head to look around. "It's like a destructive light show!" The tint of red dimmed and brightened like a heart. Ba-bum, ba-bum, ba-bum… Both royals looked to the sky and to their amazed eyes, beheld a sight no pony had ever seen.
A huge sphere of energy began to build high in the heavens. Its pale blue tendrils of light a stark contrast to the red of the air around it. It flashed and sparked lightning as it spun in a circle. A huge gust of wind came from it, like a giant fan, blasting across the entire city. Smells and sounds assaulted every pony. The royal couple looked at one another with worried expressions, then returned to the fantastically dangerous spectacle above them. Faster and fast the sphere spun. It bulged; it contracted; it stretched; it shrank. Finally the sphere exploded releasing a massive shockwave that knocked every pony to the ground. Heat seared down upon the city, cracking many of the tallest spires on many buildings.
A massive black vessel covered in flame burst from the explosion, a loud metallic shreeeeeen echoing forth as it shot through the air. The vessel tilted and swerved as it tried to maintain a straight course. Despite this, it collided with the topmost tower of the Crystal Castle, causing the entire structure to sway precariously. As the tower itself fell, thousands of deadly shards flew freely from it. Grabbing his wife, Shining Armor teleported them away from the balcony just in time to avoid a painful death. The doomed vessel flew past the city's walls, even beyond the grassy plains into the snow filled tundra. The vessel showed no signs of slowing as it crashed into the snow and approached the base of a huge cliff. One final powerful tremor rocked the city as the vessel smashed and burrowed into the cliff, vanishing completely in a cloud of smoke and steam.
TO BE CONTINUED!
