Crystal Inkantation

As Ridge carried his belongings off the train he had caught from the bustling city of Manehattan, he looked about his surroundings. What he saw amazed him to the very core of his heart. A vast and expansive looking surrounding full of lush green fields that were valleyed in by mountains all around him. He gasped in excitement as he finally gazed upon the Crystal Empire that was behind the train station. The Crystal Empire’s shear radiance poured out from the empire and filled Ridge’s very body with a shiver of positive energy.
“I can’t believe I’m actually here!” He shouted aloud in happiness. He then looked around to see if anyone else other than himself were there. It made him sort of happy that nobody other than himself were there. “Maybe I should check next time... That could’ve ended a bit awkwardly...” He said to himself as he walked out of the station and down the path leading to the Crystal Empire.

As he walked down the path to the Crystal Empire, he couldn’t help but awe at the Crystal Gate he was approaching. “How does it hold itself together?! I mean with the lack of supports those shards SHOULD be falling apart! I guess it’s magic though...” Ridge Blurted out as he looked above him when he walked under the gate. Ridge then turned his eyes to the Empire that laid before him. From his point of view, he could see the tallest structure, the Crystal Castle towered over most of the buildings in the city. A few bigger buildings in the smaller sections of the empire rose, though much smaller than the Crystal Castle, and were more noticeable than the smaller buildings around them. “I still can’t believe the legends and the story about the King... Sombrero or... Sombre...? I dunno... Some King by that name... Who took over this place and made it all negative ‘n stuff...” Ridge remarked.

When Ridge finally made it inside the Empire itself, he noticed many banner’s and festival decorations that were hung up from building-to-building. “Oh yeah! The Crystal Faire! I completely forgot about it! Too bad I spent all my bits at Manehattan otherwise I would’ve brought some stuff...” He said as he jolted and pointed his head in all directions. One thing struck him as odd however and that was the fact that no pony was around or rather, the fact that the only pony other than himself was cowering in fear. “That’s odd...” Ridge muttered under his breath as he showed an expression of confusion. “Hey, are you okay? Did something happen???” Ridge asked as he trotted over to the pony.

“The crystal... Heart... Stolen...” The pony mumbled out in fear. “The Crystal Heart... Has been STOLEN!?” B-but... That can’t be possible! Weren’t there guards guarding’ the thing or something’? I mean it’s a VERY important thing, right?” He said astounded at the answer. “T-they were... Dark... Magic... Bad omen...” The pony replied in a cowering tone. “Dark Magic? But then that means... Huh-?!” Ridge stopped mid-sentence after noticing some other pony run off inside the castle itself.

((since this is noncanon, you mind if i join, using my ghost pony OC which is meant for AU only?))

(Plus, are you looking for a particular type of pony, or is anypony feasible?)

(@dontpressenter anypony I guess)
(@Fantasyflicker Yeah sure dude. It's open for everybody.)

A curious tapping hit a nearby building. From behind a closeby corner, a strange unicorn appeared. he was short, whitish in colouration, had a thick-haired coat, exceptionally thick on his forelegs and a deep blue cowl. "Glad someone else asked. These fellows don't seem to like me." The unicorn stated, raising a hoof and rubbing his chin. "how unusual. these kind of things usually don't happen. There aren't that many ponies around using dark magic." The unicorn looked around and slid a hoof across one of the crystalline structures.

"It's not like the whole place is suddenly darker or completely without magic either. Very unusual." The talkative fellow continued, before finally giving a pause long enough for somepony else to talk or state their opinion towards him, his eyes narrowed as he stared forward in thought. Something about his was.. slightly off. It was hard to put a hoof on it, but it wasn't important now. There were larger matters to be worried about, like an evil, apparently.

As much as she loath to admit it, it was extremely difficult not to be impressed by the Crystal Empire.

It wasn't as beautiful as, say, Canterlot (which in Elegance's mind is probably the closest a city to absolute perfection), but as cities go it was...okay. It was okay enough for Elegance to record at least some ideas from them.

It was however, far too spiky. And too bright. Elegance had to don a pair of sunglasses lest her eyes got tired. The tinge of magic was in the air too, radiating nice, nice, nice... Sympathetic magic, her mother would have recognised it as. For the last week, that magic had been in the very air she breathed telling her to be happy, and at peace.

The fact that it wasn't there today was the first sign that something had gone terribly, terribly wrong. The second sign was that everypony, or almost everypony had barricaded themselves indoors somewhere, despite the fact that there was supposed to be some quaint fair or somesuch occurring. Certainly something that required a fair amount of ponies to attend.

When Elegance had left she hotel she had been staying at, the feeling of unease had grown as a frown on her face. As someone who had been in Canterlot when the changelings had thoroughly ruined the place, the inevitability of complete and utter disaster felt far too familiar for her.

The streets of the Empire turned. The once warm feeling was now cold; the grandeur, once beautiful, was now oppressive. Contrary to what her detractors said about her, Elegance did not like being alone. Yes, she didn't like talking to ponies and their trivialities, but she wanted there to be at least the existence of other ponies in the vicinity.

There appeared to be three.

One was cowering, one wasn't, and another was...strange.

For lack of anything better to do, and for lack of any other ponies that she saw, Elegance approached them swiftly, saying, "Excuse me, but do you happen to know what under Celestia's sun is going on?"

Ridge turned around to see the both ponies staring at him. "Oh... Hi there uh... Do you guys know anything about what happened?" He asked hoping either of them would have an answer to the weird situation that he seemed to have wondered into.

"Okay I have to admit... These two look cool. One that looks like he's dead and the other that looks to be a fashionista of sorts...? I'm not sure..." Ridge thought as he stared at the pair of ponies.

Fantasy Flicker was using his unicorn disguise, so he did not truly look dead, but his eyes sometimes occasionally vanished, flickering back into existence as if it were a light flickering on and off. That, coupled with the strange magic he exuberated, could easily tell any observant unicorn that he was somehow magical, ifnot completely magical. There was simply something wispy about him.

"i haven't a clue what actually happened, but i know it's something very wrong. Something with the crystal heart itself. If it's truly stolen as they say, Then the crystal empire's defenses against dark magic will slowly fall..." he theorized out loud. He would observe the large structure at the middle, but the truth was, due to his unique method of sight, he could only see so far, and after that, everything instantly became black, so he could not see the gigantic structure from his current position. He moved to the streets, his hooves surprisingly soundless, and his body moving straight despite the street not being perfectly flat. "it's a shame something so horrid could happen to such a beautiful place." he said, admittedly never having seen the sights for himself.

"We could, of course, make our way to the home of the crystal heart itself, if we would be allowed. Perhaps we could learn more there." He said. Fantasy Flicker was admittedly worried about the prospect of visiting the crystal heart's home, as he wasn't exactly pure of dark magical influence, and he might be chastised or hunted down for it, but it was of little use for him to avoid all possible issues, otherwise he'd never get down to the core of this problem.

Ridge gave the stallion a skeptical look. "What do you mean... Slowly FALL...?" Ridge asked. He seemed worried. How could he not be though? The crystal heart's disappearance seemed to have disturbed every-pony who knew.

"Oh boy... This is almost like that time the DJ in manehattan stole the power source for electricity for the city... And I had to kinda face him off..." Ridge thought in his head and he shook a little.

"Wait, wait, what."

Elegance's voice was full of concerned anger, as she questioned the cowering pony that seemed to be repeating the same four words over and over. She turned to the other two. "Isn't the Crystal Heart the only thing holding this entire place together?" The Crystal Empire, according to the articles she had read, relied on magic for everything, which is why it still was functional as a city despite remaining unchanged for one thousand years. Water supply, waste disposal, lighting, heating, maintenance...all automatically treated with magic. And all of that magic depended on the Crystal Heart.

Without it, the Crystal Empire would turn into a cesspool of filth and decay in days. And that was without the whole evil king Somber or something business.

So, who was in charge of when things went sideways?

"The Crystal Empire is entirely dependent on the heart," Elegance explained, "Without it, this place does not function. At all. It would be if the clouds stopped working in Cloudsdale, for instance. This city is located in...well. It is not called the Arctic North for irony."

She tapped her hooves. "Gentlestallions, we may be completely out of our depth here. If the Crystal Heart is misplaced, we shall soon freeze if we are exposed to the outdoors for much longer, so I agree with our friend here." She motioned to the...strange...unicorn. "We had better get inside the palace so we can find out what exactly is happening, or at least not die from cold."

She started walking.

Ridge nodded his head in agreement. "This is just great..." he muttered under his breath in annoyance. Ridge then proceeded to follow the other two ponies.

"So much for a break..." He thought as he trotted along behind both of the ponies.

Fantasy Flicker was a silent walker. His steps were unusually silent, and when a cold draft of the slowly encroaching winter storm would blow over the three, from in between some homes, he did not seem to have any issues with it. He was happy for his magical sight and hearing at the moment because it let him watch and listen the two unicorns without them knowing he was watching or listening. He wondered if they might strike up conversation. He was walking in the front of the group. He observed their surroundings, but nothing seemed to be very alarming or dangerous.

Elegance strided forward, not bothering to look about, instead focusing all her attention forward to their destination. The Crystal Palace dominated the Empire, towering above everything else. It was there that the Crystal Heart is supposed to be. Nothing else, in the face of impending destruction, really mattered.

For it was getting colder. She tried to hide a shiver when an exceptionally cold breeze washed over them. She did this by walking considerably faster. When she entered the palace, she fully expected somepony to talk to, somepony to clarify what exactly was going on.

She was immediately disappointed.

"Not a single soul," she half commented, half grumbled as she entered the palace, looking around.

Ridge also looked dissapointed at the fact that nopony was about. He did however try to stay optimistic for the outcome. "M-maybe there are ponies inside!" He accidentally shouted out. Ridge at the point was like a walking chalk piece. It was incredibly cold by this point.

Fantasy Flicker narrowed his eyes. "this is just wrong. Someplace like this should never be so empty. And there are still ponies barricaded in their homes... Shouldn't they be evacuating?" He closed his eyes, and instead of eyelids remaining on his face, they simply seemed to vanish completely as he thought deeply. He wasn't sure where to go next or what to do, but he was glad he was immune to the cold himself. In the worst given scenario, he could lead these two somewhere safer, slowly and carefully, using his magic to protect them.

He didn't give the next suggestion on where to go, as he actually never had been in the crystal empire before, as it used to shut him out. Not that he'd tell these two that, because then they'd suspect him of dark magic.

"Ah! Sir, can you tell us-"

Elegance stopped as she looked at the silhouette in the hallway ahead of them, and not just because she was now shaking. This was because by complete contrast, the silhouette was completely and utterly still, as if it were a statue. Or frozen.

She turned to one of her fellows to discuss what was going on, before jumping away in fright. The strange pony, it, it-

"Your eyes!"

Ridge seemed confused until he stood next to Elegence and also looked. "Sir... your eyes they"re uh..." Ridge was unable to finish the sentence due to the shock of seeing the pony had no eyes.

The eyes reappeared upon opening. "aw, is it really so noticeable?" he said with a slight chuckle. his eyes had already seemed strange from the start. "Suppose i should work on that. You got me though, i don't really have eyes at all. I just kind of.. Make them appear to make it somewhat easier for other ponies to handle. It's an illusion." What interested Fantasy Flicker more than his own conditions, however, was the completely still pony in the middle of the room. He cautiously went closer to it.

"Allow me to inspect this alone. I've some experience dealing with strange magic." he said, going closer himself. He watched the still pony as he got closer... He got to touching range of it and waived his hoof through it, which went without issue... Although this could be either due to the the figure being an illusion, or because Fantasy Flicker's own body was merely an illusion.

Elegance did not allow him to inspect it alone, and instead walked up beside him. "You know perfectly well that's not an adequate explanation! What do you mean, you don't really have eyes at all? Things are weird enough without-"

Then the strange unicorn stuck his hoof straight through the seemingly solid crystal pony.

The crystal pony, when examined closely, had other peculiarities besides being absolutely still. Whereas a normal crystal pony sparkled, this one seemed faded. The normal transparency had been clouded up by something, that something Elegance didn't know.

"-something like this."

Ridge paid no attention on the two other ponies and instead focused his sight on the constant threat of the cold winds that were dominating the empire "I... I think w-we'd b-be better off e-evactuating..." Ridge pointed out whilst shaking due to the cold winds.

"Well, things are only going to get weirder. I suggest you decide whether you can trust me or not, or how you might trust me, and share your thoughts on it, and then stop thinking about it. Because we've got other dangers to deal with." he noticed Ridge cut and nodded to the shivering pony. he walked a bit closer.

"For example, the storm. We can shelter here, but there's no guarantee there will be food. If we make way towards the train station, we might find others evacuating, and be able to escape easily. We'll need to make a decision quickly. If we want to unravel this situation and investigate, we'll have to stay here despite the peril." he simply stated, surprisingly calm. He was not worried about any of this. If anything, he was the convenience which would help the two unicorns fight off the storm, even if it would tire him out.

(Was sick. Got late.)

Elegance's lips were so flat, one could have used them as a ruler. "You say that as if we have a choice. I don't think we do."

She reached out and tapped the clouded crystal pony.

It gave a small tok.

"What are you?"

Just as Ridge was about to look upwards, a rumble shook the terrain. The rumbles became louder and stronger until chains struck the ground. Something above seemed to be trying to almost uproot the whole Castle. "I think i'm gonna be sick..." Ridge said whilst heavily breathing.

The ground around the castle detached from the rest of the Crystal Empire. The Crystal Castle then starting getting pulled upwards. Whilst all of this was happening, Ridge was trying not to be sick.

"I'm just your friendly ghost unic-" as he was saying that, the ground started shaking, although it was of little issue to himself, the ground just moving through him.

"What in the hay!?" He looked worried and changed to his fully ghostlike form, since it was slightly easier to move in that form. He had to float upwards to keep with the movement of the crystal castle. "You two should probably run! I can catch you if you need to jump!" Fantasy instantly assured them, as they needed to act and come with a plan, fast, because things were quickly going down.

He didn't know if they'd follow his plan, but he would follow them regardless, offering his assistance since he didn't seem in direct danger himself.

Elegance exclaimed a number of phrases that her mother would have struck her for. The whole sudden movement had caused her balance to be upset, making her knock over the clouded pony. Once again, she was struck by the fact that she had no idea what was going on, a feeling that she detested greatly.

Walking was almost impossible because the Crystal Castle simply wasn't supposed to be air lifted. This meant that the extraction was not as simple as, say picking something off the ground. The building's foundations strained against the unwanted force, causing the castle to jerk and shift violently. Every time Elegance tried to stand up straight, her hooves failed to find the ground that was instantly forced into another awkward angle.

And the noise. Elegance could hardly hear herself curse over the horrific banging, clunking and squealing. Her ears screamed at her in pain, screaming that she should stop, stop whatever was making that evil, evil sound. Elegance clenched her teeth together, mentally trying to force the pain out of her skull. Did there exist an earmuffs spell? If there was, she was sadly unaware of its existence. All she could do was put her hooves over her head and try to block the pain.